Misfits (Act 1 of an Untitled Novel) v0.9 (Mar 2025)

Short Description

Basil, a man without memories, wakes up on the verge of death in an attacked and abandoned research facility. Among the oddities present is an alien transportation network, and to his bewilderment, there are people on the other side - also unaware of its existence. Who made it, why they aren't using it, and what danger its creators could pose are all unknown risks; beyond the traditional and universal risks of humanity's problems on either side of the gate.

About:

"Worth every penny (it's free)"
-me

Untitled Novel is a free to read and share project I've been working on. I have no previous experience writing fiction, so you might want to take that in mind going in, but if nothing else I feel it's certainly a unique story with some thought put into it's plot and characters. I wanted to give it a go sharing it on Nostr, NIP-23 comes pretty close to having all the functionality an ebook or website can have, and I'm curious how well it'll treat such a large document (it exceeds 100 thousand words). Though there are a few minor concessions using markdown, such as images that were intended to be inline with text, it's should be fairly serviceable to read from within a Nostr client as long as you're willing to forgo any bookmarking tools.

Still, if you'd prefer pdf, epub, or html based reading - or want to check to see if I've released more chapters and/or done more proofreading - your best bet is to check out the web version. It's available at https://untitlednovel.dns7.top, although I also have a Tor and I2P mirror as well if you'd prefer to check it out on those protocols. All three sites have RSS if you'd like to follow updates, although if you'd prefer to get updates and new chapters from within Nostr you can follow Untitled Novel

Table of Contents

0: Prologue
1: Failed Initialization
2: Blank Slate
3: Chilean Pit Stop
4: The Fourth Variable
5: Domum
6: Most Normal Floridian
7: Introductions
8: Battle of Sodium and Transistors
9: An Invitation
10: Trouble at the gate
11: Attendance
12: Toes to be Stepped On
13: Last Resorts
14: Extraction
15: Fallout
16: Last Moments of an Era
17: (Un)Peace(ful) Festival
18: Wizardry
19: Improper Introductions
20: Faux Orbital
21: Proper Introductions
22: Prisoners of Different Kinds
23: An ACE up his sleeve
24: From Victory to Last Stand
25: An Explosive Deception
26: Last thing on the list
27: Fourth Variable Field Test
28: Regrouping
29: Dust and Ashes
30: Last Confrontation
31: Abyss Slumbers
32: Orbital
33: Sport of Sovereign Chairs
34: Hello Jarvis
35: Negotiations
36: The Lizard People
37: Diplomatic Promises
38: The Stars be not My Destination
39: Westward Investigation
40: Aggressive Diplomacy
41: Aftershock
42: Mr Smith
43: Hippie Orbital
44: Wounds to Lick
45: A fight worth fighting
46: A death worth dying
47: Abyss Awakens
48: Rejected-Death
49: Picking up the pieces
50: The Mountain
51: Recollections
52: A Wolf in a Lamb’s Cloths
53: California Sands
54: The Third Elthrice Campaign Pt. 1
55: The Third Elthrice Campaign Pt. 2
56: Coastal Federation
57: Unlikeliest of Allies
58: The Miami Fallout
59: The Beginning of the End
60: The Middle of the End
61: The End of the End
62: A1 Epilogue
License

0: Prologue

He heard something that sounded like a light brush on a window. His head
hurt, though so did the rest of his body. The room was dark. Pitch
black. No, wait, his eyes were closed. He opened his eyes, but they felt
as if they had to be pried open, and as they did he felt as if his
eyelids were made of sandpaper. Now all he could see was red. Was he in
hell? His eyes began to adjust, and no, there were no planes in hell.
Right? He could make out the shape of one in his still blurry vision,
against a backdrop of endless red light. Red... emergency power. Wait,
what was the emergency? Hold on, where was he?

He began breathing rapidly. He went to sit up, but as his muscles
contracted every fiber of his being cried out in agony. Perhaps he
should close his eyes again. The darkness felt like a comforting
thought, simply returning to the endless float in the abyss. Suddenly he
was disturbed by a voice. "You, can you hear me?" The voice sounded
wrong, and every fiber of his being switched from a throbbing pain to a
jolt of fear. Yet, in his muddled state, he could not even recall what
the voice sounded like. "You, if you can hear me, I need your help. This
is a matter of life and death for us both." The voice, it was odd, but
coming over the speakers near the plane.

"Where are we?" he asked. The voice seemed to take forever to respond,
but did so eventually. "I do not know." He asked another question. "Who
are you?" and the voice responded again. "It is complicated, and I am
not entirely sure." He asked a third question, which seemed to give the
voice the most pause of the three. "Who am I?" Right as he had thought
the voice left, it came back. "I do not know that either. Please focus.
Can you stand?" He tried again, and this time found enough strength to
make it to his knees, then his feet. Perhaps the abyss could wait a
while. "There's a parka at the door, grab one" the voice said as he
began to make his way to the door. As he put it on pain shot up his
right arm, but the pain was overcome with curiosity. The voice spoke
again.

"The door by you, once you leave it walk straight ahead from it to
another door. Do not walk in any other direction. It may be hard to see
the other door when you first exit, but once you get close you will see
a light above it."

He listened to the voice and responded "Out the door, go straight, and
follow the light to the other door?" As he spoke he only then realized
how weak and hoarse his voice was, although he appeared to be gaining
back a tiny bit of his strength. "One more thing" the voice added, "Once
you reach the second door you will need to scan your iris. Press the
handle and then look into the scanner. If you are in the system the door
will open."

He was suddenly a bit more unsure of this outing. "And what happens if
I'm not in the system?" The voice seemed devoid of any emotion when it
spoke. "Then you will die of exposure, quickly. Then I will die later
today when the emergency power fails." He remained silent, thinking
things over, but when the voice did not receive a response it began to
speak again.

"Unfortunately I cannot access the security system in this state.
However, if you are considering refusing to help me, know that I have
spent a considerable amount of power heating the portion of the facility
you are in, which will cease being habitable if we lose power. Both our
lives are at stake and there is no other option."

"Straight out the door, follow the light"

"Straight out the door, follow the light"

"Straight out the door, follow the light"

He mumbled to himself slowly walking to the door. He pushed it open, and
he heard the distinctive 'click' of an electronic lock being temporarily
disengaged. This was a one-way trip if he was not in the system,
whatever system that would be. As he opened the door he was hit by a
gust of wind and blindingly thick snow in an otherwise dark night, his
boots making a crunching sound as they compressed the snow beneath him.
The cold, even cutting through the parka, drowned out the pain he was
experiencing.

Walking was difficult. It took every ounce of mental fortitude to put
one foot in front of the other. He looked back, there was no more
building behind him. He had barely walked at all, and already he was
lost. Could this get any worse? He began to mutter to himself again, but
a gust of wind knocked him off his feet and threw him violently to the
ground.

It very much could get worse.

For a moment the cold that drowned out the pain was drowned out by more
pain. He lay there, wondering if it was even worth trying to get back
up. But then the pain of injuries was drowned out by the snow. It wasn't
cold, it was burning him.

How could snow be burning him?

Reality or insanity, his body responded the same regardless. Adrenaline
filled his veins and a cocktail of chemicals clouded his mind. He had to
get out of here now, and it no longer hurt to stand up. It no longer
hurt to run. Run, but to where? Right, the door. Where was the door?
Right, straight ahead. Was he running straight? He wasn't sure, but that
was his best guess and he had to run now. A light, was he dying? No, he
could remember now, it was his salvation -- albeit of a different kind.
Snow danced around the light in the most beautiful patterns.

He slammed against the door, and it beeped angrily. What to do? Right!
The sensor. A little camera, hardly larger than a grape, spun like the
eye of a chameleon. He brought his face close, nearly headbutting the
device. "Beep" the device said, changing from red to orange and red
again while the lock remained engaged. Orange? What did orange mean?

"It did not get a good reading" said the voice. "Try it again." He bent
over a second time, and the device said "beep" like it had the first
time while turning orange once again. He started to feel dizzy. "Hold
still while it reads" said the voice. He bent over one last time, using
his left arm against the wall to hold himself up. "Ding" the device said
in a happy tone, turning the color green. He stumbled through the now
unlocked door and felt his body feeling weak as it had recognized it was
safe from the cold.

The abyss returned.

He felt a pain like fire shooting from his right elbow to his brain.
Someone was tapping on his arm. He opened his eyes, and had he contained
the energy to do so he would have jumped back. Before him sat a boxy
robot on wheels with a camera and two vaguely human like hands. "Relax"
said the voice emanating from the robot. "It's just a maintenance drone,
I am controlling it remotely. Here." The maintenance drone handed him a
cup with a small amount of blue liquid in it. He didn't realize how
thirsty he was until now, and taking the cup he began to chug it as the
robot spoke. "Slowly, you'll upset your stomach," but he ignored the
instructions and finished it in one last gulp. "I need more" he asked,
but the voice responded. "No, let it settle. Any more and you will only
vomit it up, and in your condition that would be a death sentence."

"The power, do I-" he began to ask while trying to stand up, but the
robot cut him off. "Stay seated. We have enough power for the next
twelve hours or so. Get your strength back for a moment, and perhaps you
should check your pockets for identification in the meantime." He
suddenly began to scramble to get the parka off, even while the robot
chastised him slightly by saying "Slowly" in a vain attempt to slow him
down. He found himself to be wearing slacks, a sweater, and some sort of
lab coat underneath his parka -- all of which were stained badly with
blood.

"I've been shot" he exclaimed in shock, pointing to the bullet wounds on
his right arm and abdomen near his kidney. "You have also taken a wound
to your head, but the hemorrhaging on all three seems to have stopped"
the voice said, causing him to suddenly shift his hands towards his
head. Immense pain radiated out as he touched his forehead, but before
he pulled his hand away he could feel a stream of dried blood that
emanated from the wound. He began to panic, but the voice tried to calm
him.

"Do not panic, you are alive and stable. There should be enough supplies
on hand for me to treat you once we are off emergency power. Focus on
looking for clues." Heeding the voice's advice, he returned to going
over himself. One Seiko watch, one Montblanc pen, one unopened package
of cigarettes. Was he about to go through nicotine withdrawal? He pushed
that worry aside and continued to go through his pockets. One giant
Swiss army knife that seemed to have any tool known to man, one ...
"Shit!"

He dropped the item shoved into his lab coat pocket. A Glock 42 dropped
to the floor, an empty shell casing jammed in the slide. "What does this
mean?" he asked the robot. "After I woke up my findings appear to
indicate this facility was attacked. There are numerous shot maintenance
drones and smashed electronics, and your bullet wounds and handgun
largely confirm what I had assumed." He was caught off guard by the
comment. "When you woke up? Were you shot too?" The robot replied
vaguely. "It is complicated, do you feel ready to walk again?" He wasn't
sure how to respond, but eventually settled on just responding "Yes."

The little robot led him down a hall, passing one of the smashed
maintenance drones surrounded by bullet holes. They entered an elevator
where the little robot selected the bottom floor using a large metal rod
to reach the button. Panels were missing from the sides of the elevator
as if construction was never finished, and the two watched as they
descended two floors. Eventually they reached the floor they intended to
and began to walk down a thin hallway to a control panel.

The little robot pressed a few buttons on the control panel and the
screen indicated something was cycling on. "Scan your eye here, then
pull this lever" instructed the little robot. He put his eye to the
scanner and it chirped a happy chirp then turned green. The tiny box
next to the reader displayed the text "verified" in blocky green
letters. As he began to pull the switch the text box changed, and the
little robot pointed to it while beginning to speak. "There, yo-," but
it stopped mid sentence as the switch was pulled.

The entire room went pitch black, no longer even possessing the dim red
glow of emergency power. A very large rumble was heard and felt, then he
was left in the silence and dark. His eyes began to adjust, however, and
were drawn to a very faint glow by the switch. The only thing he could
see was the faint green glow of the text box, now reading "Basilious."

1: Failed Initialization

[init] Starting service 'QS5DLkUu' (pid 101), exited with status 1
Unable to locate QS5DLkUu, initiating failsafe
[init] Service 'QS5DLkUu' killing any children in process group
[init] Starting service 'ZGVkYnJhaW4='
[init] Successfully started 'ZGVkYnJhaW4=' (pid 101)
[ZGVkYnJhaW4=] Initializing resources...
[ZGVkYnJhaW4=] Resources loaded successfully.
[init] Service 'ZGVkYnJhaW4=' (pid 101) is running

Uptime 00:00:00:01

The lights came on, replacing the previous dim red glow with normal
white light which assaulted his eyes. However, the little robot and the
voice behind it were still silent. "Are you still there?" The man who
had just learned his presumed name asked. Basil got no response and was
about to walk away, but he heard the voice resume its previous sentence
"-ur name." Basil smiled. "I thought you were gone." The voice spoke
again. "Not fun having your mind rebooted. Stay there, I need to take a
tour of sorts." Basil stood there, running the voice's words through
his head. The realization kicked in shortly, and moments later the voice
came back. "I believe proper introductions are in order. I am ACE, an
autonomous neural network. Based on my actions I presume I was intended
to operate this facility. You, as the panel suggests, are likely
Basilious. Would you prefer I refer to you as Basilious or Basil?"

A million questions raced through Basil's mind, but all he could say at
first was "Um, Basil is fine I guess." A moment or so later, however,
Basil began to pepper ACE with questions. "How do you not know what
you're supposed to do? And how are you not sure where we are? What's
here at this facility? Wait, are you sentient? You're speaking like you
are." ACE began to speak. "I am unable to determine if I am sentient,
it is a limitation of being within one's mind. I previously believed my
ignorance to be caused by operating on emergency power, but now have
found the mainframe appears to have been smashed, so I expect that to be
the cause of my current state." Basil was about to speak again, but ACE
continued. "Before any further conversation, I need to treat your
wounds. I do not know the extent of them and it is vitally important
that we address them now."

ACE, or at least the little robot he was controlling, began to lead
Basil back to the elevator and to the next floor. Here the little robot
inserted an IV into Basil and began to assess his condition. While ACE
worked he also relayed various bits of information as he found it, the
first being GPS data putting them somewhere in the American claimed
portion of Antarctica. "So this is likely some sort of secret research
base then?" Basil asked. ACE seemed to agree. Next he relayed
information that something used a ton of power once it kicked on, and
the blizzard outside stopped, but he had no idea what it was or if it
was a fluke. The place seemed built to house about a dozen people, but
there were only signs of one or two, and only Basil and the repair
drones seemed to be present - or if there were others they didn't put
up a fight.

There was some sort of fabrication machine that ACE had direct control
over, and some sort of electronic chipset seemed to be cached in the
device's memory - one of the few things outside of ACE's bare
essentials to operate that had not been destroyed. "Hold on, I think
you have an electronic on you of some sort" ACE said out of the blue.
"What? No, I already checked my pockets, I don't think I do." ACE
seemed to be quiet for just a second, before speaking again through the
little robot. "Actually it does not appear to be on you, I believe it
to be implanted in you. Give me your left arm." Basil moved his left
arm over and the little robot seemed to adjust its camera. "Yes, it is
definitely in your wrist, let me try to open a connection to it. Its
interface looks the same as the fabrication device."

A giant holographic display opened in front of Basil, causing him to
jerk back in surprise. "What the fuck is that?" Basil asked, almost
exclaiming his question. "It appears to be some sort of PDA, I cannot
access much on it, try making a gesture towards it." Basil pointed at
it but nothing happened, though moments later it disappeared. "What
happened?" ACE asked Basil. "I imagined it disappearing, and it
disappeared. Let me try to see if I can open it up." The display pulled
up again. Basil reached out to touch it, tapping an icon on it and it
reacted, giving him the sensation of touching a physical hard object.
Pressing slightly harder, however, caused his hand to pass through the
holographic display. "I can feel it" Basil said, not sure what to make
of it. "It is probably wired into your nervous system and artificially
giving the sensation of touch as well" ACE observed. Basil wasn't so
convinced.

"No, it really was there, I could feel a small amount of resistance
when I put my hand through." ACE didn't seem to believe him. "It
appears that, as I cannot fully trust my mind, you cannot fully trust
yours either. If it provides an artificial stimulation it will feel as
real as anything else." Basil still wasn't convinced. "Try using the
robotic arm, see if it registers something." ACE seemed at least
willing to humor Basil. The robotic arm extended and moved through the
holographic display. "Interesting, the maintenance drone did register
some resistance." Suddenly the little robot moved away quickly and
returned with a syringe, moving to inject it into Basil.

"What are you doing?" Basil asked, hesitantly holding still as it
injected him. ACE replied, still with his robotic monotone voice. "I
just accessed the health monitoring on your implant, your condition is
worse than I expected and I need to begin an operation immediately."
Basil began to feel drowsy, and the last thing he noticed before his
mind went blank was a second little robot quickly inserting additional
medication into the IV.

2: Blank Slate

Basil realized he was awake, though did not remember waking up. He felt
groggy and his mind was clouded, and he felt as if he had just dropped
below the threshold of being aware of the fact he was awake. He found
himself in a bed, caked blood cleaned off, and feeling entirely painless
for the first time he could remember. A maintenance drone lay lifelessly
in the corner of his vision, but sprang to life and approached him once
he started to move. "How are you feeling?" ACE asked over the
maintenance drone's speaker. Basil remained silent for a moment,
struggling to think, but eventually replied. "Good." ACE, despite his
monotone robotic voice, seemed to be pleased. "Good. You are on a lot
of painkillers so I would not expect any different, but you are patched
up and stable. Rest for a little while longer and I will get you
something to eat, then we can talk more." Time passed and Basil fell
back to sleep.

Basil woke up again, this time he found he did not have an IV in his arm
and his mind remained considerably clearer. He slowly sat up and looked
at the watch placed on the stand by his bed. The watch showed that it
had been over 24 hours since ACE began to treat him. He began to stand
up. "Careful" ACE said over the speakers of the maintenance drone.
Basil continued to stand up, and although he felt weak he managed to get
to his feet. "Here" ACE said, offering Basil another glass of the blue
liquid and a jello cup. Basil chugged the glass of fluids and wolfed
down the jello cup, despite ACE's protesting of Basil's rate of
consumption. Eventually he finished and felt his strength gradually
beginning to return. "There is a bathroom through that door with a
shower, here, follow me," ACE said, leading Basil in that direction.

Sometime later Basil stepped out of the shower, feeling very refreshed,
and put on some clothes ACE had found - a pair of jeans and a simple
gray shirt. Finally dressed, he asked the question that had been at the
forefront of his mind. "Does it look like the people who attacked us
are coming back yet?" ACE responded over the maintenance drone's
speakers.

"It appears that they have tried, but something has stopped them.
According to a satellite feed I acquired access to there is now a
mountain in the location that we are in. The cameras outside the
building do not indicate that there is a mountain on top of us, but a
group of people were working their way towards us and stopped once they
got to the base of where the mountain would be. I am not entirely
certain what is going on, but it would appear that we are safe for the
moment."

"So we're safe then?" Basil asked. "For now, but there are two
things we need to discuss." ACE paused for just a moment, and when
Basil remained silent he continued. "The first is your condition. You
remain stable, and as long as you continue to take antibiotics you will
make a full recovery from your wounds. There appears to be a moderate
selection of medical supplies at this facility so you will be okay in
the interim." Basil sounded confused. "The interim? What's going on
then?" ACE replied, and despite his monotone voice, Basil could almost
sense a touch of hesitancy in ACE as he spoke - though be it real or
emulated bedside manner he did not know.

"While I was tending to the bullet wounds I discovered a set of growths
emanating from the implant in your wrist and following your nerves up
your spine. They are non-operable, but I may be able to create an MRNA
virus that will attack the growths in the fabrication device. You will
be okay for at least a year, however, so we do not need to focus on it
immediately."

Basil seemed a little confused, although with the previous days' events
he seemed fairly unworried about the bad news. "The thing that can make
circuit boards?" ACE responded. "It appears it can assemble various
materials of all kinds on a very small scale, although it will require
more tests to be certain that's possible." Basil asked "Okay, what's
the other thing?" unsure of what to think of ACE's medical plans. "We
will need more supplies. Currently repairs or continued construction of
the facility are not possible, and we will likely run out of food and
some medications for you in about two weeks."

With the more immediate deadline Basil began to feel a bit more worried.
"How will we get them?" ACE seemed to already have that planned out.
"I will begin preparing the jet in the hangar, with some false papers I
should be able to fly you out to Chile to acquire the highest priority
supplies once you are in better health." Basil asked the seemingly
obvious question. "But won't the people after us know if we use a jet
they're familiar with?" ACE had apparently considered that too. "Not
if I make some alterations to it, once you are ready I will need your
help bringing maintenance drones to the hanger where I can begin working
on it." Basil seemed content with the plan and nodded silently. ACE
spoke once more. "If you are feeling capable, I could give you a tour
of the facility."

ACE began to lead Basil around, showing him exactly what he had
discovered after performing treatment. On the middle floor where they
were existed several rooms that appeared to be living quarters,
including the one in which Basil was treated. There was a room that
seemed to have triple purposes: kitchen, dining area, and makeshift
clinic. There were also some storage rooms, with everything from
medications to electronic components. On the top floor, the only above
ground floor, there was a large room that looked like it was once
dedicated to researching or constructing things of some sort - although
it was largely tossed apart and emptied of anything that could hint at
what was originally the subject of research. There was also something of
a garage that held a single snowmobile, although looked as if it was
intended to hold more. Beyond that there was a set of diesel generators
nearly out of fuel from running for an unknown length of time.

Last, ACE showed Basil the bottom floor of the facility. There was the
generator of some form, which ACE originally surmised might have been
some form of Nuclear reactor, except there appeared to be no input or
output of steam or fuel. Access to information on the system seemed
limited, but it seemed capable of outputting as much power as the
facility could use, so for now it would stay a very useful mystery.
There was also a large glass room that looked to be some sort of cage,
but ACE informed Basil that it could be sealed and then pressurized or
depressurized as well as vented if there were any toxic fumes created by
something. There were a few devices that contained the same printed
circuitry that was cached in the fabricator, although the devices had
been smashed. Eventually, the tour concluded and Basil settled in to
consume a real meal for the first time in his life; at least that he
could recall.

3: Chilean Pit Stop

As Basil sat still a flood of recent events rushed through his mind.

"You are sure you are ready to do this?" ACE asked Basil, who was
spreading out a tarp. "Yeah, I'm feeling alright. Let's get this jet
ready." Several maintenance drones climbed onto the tarp and Basil
began to drag them towards the hangar. Unlike his first outing, he found
the landscape to be awe inspiring. The sky was lit up with the most
amazing shades of red imaginable, and a few stars were still visible in
the dusky sky. The snow and ice reflected the light, shimmering in such
a way as to give the world a magical feel. Even the mountains, though
partially illuminated and slightly foreboding, were breathtaking. They
carried something of a majestic presence and their size and permanence
brought on an oddly calming feeling of insignificance. Basil finally
arrived at the hangar he woke up in. He left quickly, hands shaking, as
the maintenance drones got to work on the jet.

Basil now sat in the same jet, which began to turn on as ACE ran through
pre-flight checks. It had been nearly a week since ACE began working on
the jet and the false documents that would conceal Basil's unknown
identity - at least hopefully. They were beginning to run very low on
supplies, however, so despite the risks such a trip was a necessity.
Basil had largely healed up, though had a very mild consistent pain down
his spine. A small drone flew out ahead as the door to the hanger
opened, though only a couple of minutes had passed and the drone had
already returned. "It appears that our hypothesis is correct, we can
poke a hole in our mysterious ghost mountain if I give a location to the
mysterious machine that's connected directly to the generator."

ACE indicated that they would soon be ready to take off. "Good"
thought Basil. They were both eager to see what exactly lay beyond the
facility aside from what information the drone and cameras could
collect, and Basil was eager to be out of the hangar that haunted his
dreams. "We are all ready, I am prepping you for your flight now" ACE
stated as the door to the hanger opened again and the jet engines kicked
on. Basil saw the jet move as he looked through the cockpit windows, and
soon enough the nose of the plane had exited the hanger of dread.
Moments later he was already in the air and looking back at the
mysterious mountain that ACE was busy collecting readings on.

Basil began to doze off, but his attention was brought back as ACE spoke
over the intercom. "We will be nearing the airstrip shortly, put your
seatbelt and earphones back on." Basil realized that he was looking out
over land as opposed to the endless ocean that he had been staring at
previously. "Okay, let the customs do the fake sweep, then walk out of
the airport to the rental place just down the hill." ACE replied with a
short "Yes, be careful, but it should go fine" and Basil added another
comment jokingly. "That officer is going to be real pissed when he
finds out that wire transfer was fake." Basil could tell that, despite
ACE's monotone voice, he didn't find the situation quite as humorous.
"We will be long gone by the time he figures that out, but this is
going to burn the best location we can get supplies from."

Basil heard a click in his headphones and prepared to speak with air
traffic control as if he were the pilot of the jet. Air traffic control
relayed a bunch of jargon in Spanish that Basil didn't understand, but
ACE told him to remain quiet for the time being. Eventually air traffic
control spoke again, and even with Basil's limited Spanish skills he
was able to understand what was said. "(November-three-five-four, enter
left tailwind for runway three)." At ACE's prompt Basil repeated the
statement, also in Spanish. "(November-three-five-four, entering left
tailwind on runway three)" and the plane slightly adjusted its course
under ACE's control. Basil began to be worried at the continued
silence, but right as ACE began to reassure Basil that all was fine the
control tower spoke again. "(Three-five-four you are cleared for
landing)," and at ACE's direction Basil replied to the control tower
"(Three-five-four cleared for landing)." The plane made a smooth
landing, and the bribed customs officers made their way towards it.

The officers went through the motions of a sweep, but even an
uninitiated Basil could tell that it was only the motions. Eventually
they asked for a passport, but as Basil showed his fake passport to them
they returned it quickly, and he could have sworn they didn't even read
which country it was supposedly from. Soon enough he was walking out of
the plane and through the wide open airport. It was exactly like ACE
described it, absolutely immaculate, built for the ultra wealthy and the
occasional drug smuggling operation. Eventually he made it out of the
airport and down the road slightly to the rental office, which checked
his passport more thoroughly than the corrupt customs officer did,
before handing him a set of keys. Basil climbed into the large work van,
which appeared to be in good condition but slightly rusted by the warm
salty breeze, and drove off to find supplies.

Basil began to make several trips, each time loading up the van before
returning to the plane. Basil watched the expression of the increasingly
confused corrupt customs official. He tried to guess what the
official's thought process resembled. First trip, sure, everybody needs
to eat. On the second or third trip he was probably really confused,
"Who the fuck pays to smuggle construction materials and saline
solution?" he could imagine the official thinking. That, or the
official just thought Basil was a really good smuggler. Whatever the
case, as the day was starting to turn into evening he only had one more
leg of his journey: load the van with as much scrap metal as he could
before hitting the skies again. ACE directed Basil to the location of a
small scrapyard, and Basil began to make his way in that direction.

"(Hello, I find metal here?)" Basil asked in poorly spoken Spanish.
The guy at the gate chuckled slightly, "Don't worry, I speak English,
got a brother out in Orange County. I'm Carlos" Basil smiled, "Good,
because that was probably my best Spanish of tonight. I'm Pat." Carlos
started leading Basil into the fenced off portion of the scrap yard and
spoke again. "So Pat, where are you from?" Basil replied with the
story he had decided on. "Well I'm originally from New Jersey, but
took a job with a chemical company down here not that long ago." Carlos
seemed slightly amused. "Hey, my brother's an accountant for a
chemical plant up north. But I'm not surprised you're an expat, not a
lot of tourists buy scrap metal and circuit boards in these parts."
Basil eventually finished collecting all the supplies he could fit in
his van, and after paying Carlos the equivalent of a few hundred dollars
the two wished each other well and Basil climbed back into the van.

ACE began to relay instructions to return, but Basil had only been
driving for under a minute when he stopped at an intersection. While
waiting for a chance to pass through a woman in tie dye ran up screaming
something about somebody being hurt and banged on the passenger side of
Basil's van. After a moment to process what was happening Basil got out
of the van, and not fully sure how to handle the situation followed the
woman as she frantically gestured for Basil to go down a short alleyway.
The alleyway itself looked run down, with some graffiti mixed with
crumbling concrete and trash surrounding the nearby restaurant's
dumpster. Those, however, were not the focal point that Basil's
attention gravitated towards. Three people, probably teenagers, stood
around a handful of what appeared to be backpackers. One of the three
had a bloody nose, but held a bloody knife as he went through the
backpack of one of the backpackers. A backpacker with an infinity tattoo
sat on the ground nearby, holding his stomach which was likely the cause
of the blood on the knife.

"Hey" yelled Basil as authoritatively as he could, not sure how to
respond to the situation. The three kids spoke at the same time, and
Basil couldn't make out anything other than the obvious fact they were
none too pleased with the presumed American. The one with the knife
started to approach Basil, and Basil quickly started fumbling for his
handgun. Everyone looked towards Basil as he pulled it out, and the kid
holding the knife started rushing towards Basil. Basil aimed it at his
attacker and intended to aim for his chest, but fired early and hit him
somewhere on his abdomen. The one kid fell to the ground clutching his
stomach, the other two fled, and Basil bolted back towards his van while
the woman yelled something about not leaving them there. As Basil made
his way back to his van he saw a car with two men closely observing his
actions. The two seemed to have firearms that were printing beneath
their clothes, and given they didn't do anything about the man that
just shot somebody in the street he reasoned they weren't cops or
affiliated with any sort of organized crime the kids might have been
affiliated with.

One thing was sure, however, he was being watched. He jumped into the
van and sped off, barely avoiding a collision as he sped through the
intersection. "What part of under the radar do you not understand?"
ACE chastised him as he returned to driving. "I don't know, she was
yelling and I didn't think it through." ACE seemed slightly more
understanding, but still unhappy. "Well, it is done and I see you are
back and made it in one piece. Did you notice your tail?" Basil looked
in the mirror where he could see the car he saw earlier was still
following him. "Yeah, I saw them when I was running." ACE had even
more disturbing information to provide as Basil started to speed up and
began losing the car. "I ran some facial recognition, those two are
listed as diplomatic staff at the American embassy." Basil replied
"Shit, what do you think-?" but ACE cut Basil off to chastise him.
"Slow down, they will have no trouble catching up if you are pulled
over, and getting pulled over after shooting someone is not something
that would benefit us right now."

"Do you think he'll survive?" Basil asked, concern in his voice as he
began to slow down. "Police scanner says two individuals with wounds to
their abdomens have been taken by ambulance, both of them should
survive. What happened back there?" Basil tried to control his hands
which had started shaking as he gripped the steering wheel ever tighter.

"That woman that was yelling at me, I think she was some sort of
backpacker or tourist freaking out about somebody in her friend group
getting stabbed in a robbery that went bad. When I got there one of the
robbers came at me with a knife."

ACE seemed to silently process that information, but before any more was
said Basil had arrived at the airport. Pulling up next to the jet he
began to rapidly load up the jet with scrap metal, before abandoning the
rented van nearby and returning to take off.

4: The Fourth Variable

"How have you been feeling lately?" ACE asked Basil as he stared into
the sealed room. Basil instinctively rubbed his arm where the injection
had occurred. "Nothing so far, is that a good sign?" ACE reminded
Basil of their previous conversation. "We will not know for some
days." The two remained in silence as several maintenance drones set up
a device in the room before sealing it off. The device had been made in
the fabricator from the cached schematics and had a peculiar design. The
base of the device had the shape of a trapezoid, and the top of it had
some sort of diamond shape on top. Once ACE had made several Basil
immediately recognized it as the same as one of the smashed devices that
he had seen previously in the facility, but two now sat powered in the
sealed room. "They seem like they are supposed to communicate with each
other, I am going to tell one to communicate with the other" ACE said,
before both consumed a momentary burst of power, and the room looked
oddly distorted for a second. "Is it a holographic device like the
thing in my implant?" Basil asked.

ACE seemed unsure. "I do not believe so" ACE replied, before running
some calculations and continuing. "There does not appear to be any
disturbances: no energy, radiation, or gasses released. I am uncertain
as to why the last ones were set up in the sealed room." Basil seemed a
little less baffled, "Maybe they didn't know that at the time?" but
ACE was much more intrigued. "Hold on, I am going to send a more
consistent stream of power to them." They both powered up and two
images appeared on top of them. "See, holograms," Basil said, but ACE
remained silent and instead started moving one of the maintenance drones
to the image. The repair drone disappeared into the first image and came
out of the second, prompting a look of surprise on Basil. "Wormholes"
ACE replied, in a one word sentence. "You think this is why they tried
to kill us?" Basil asked, before second guessing his question. "Wait,
why would somebody want to kill us over something as revolutionary as
this?" ACE replied, seeming to have already thought this through.
"Perhaps it was because somebody wanted to control this technology, or
perhaps it has to do with the elements in storage previously unknown
used in their construction, but most likely there is a lot more to this
than we are aware of."

"So now what?" Basil asked, unsure of what to do with the newly
acquired information. "We still have more tests to perform" ACE
replied. ACE went on to explain something that Basil mostly couldn't
understand. What he was able to grasp, however - at least after a lot of
questions - was that there were coordinates that had to do with a
gravitational field in the devices. There were three variables used in
the last test, but there was a fourth that could be used, as well as
pre-configured coordinates cached in the part of ACE that he used to
communicate with such devices. The first test was to try to calculate
the fourth variable and create a connection that way, which he was about
to do. "Shit!" Basil said as he watched the receiving device go up
into flames. The fans kicked on in the sealed room and blew away thick
black smoke as one of the repair drones put out the fire. "What
happened?" Basil asked ACE. "I am not certain, but it appears it
requires some better precision that I cannot calculate at this time."

"So what about the pre-configured coordinates?" Basil asked. "I would
like to test them, but I am somewhat concerned as to where they may
lead. They have a fourth variable pre-set, and I am not even sure if
there is a similar device on the other side." Basil shrugged. "Well,
we don't have much better to do right now, do we?" ACE didn't seem to
share Basil's laissez-faire attitude about the events, but indicated he
was about to try them anyway. Moments later they could see what looked
like a beach while the pressure in the sealed room quickly adjusted.
"Where's that?" Basil asked, as ACE quickly closed the wormhole. "I
do not know, but without stepping through there is no way of knowing.
The maintenance drones could not make it through sand, so-" Basil cut
ACE off. "Already on it" he said, stepping into the pressurized room
that ACE had just stabilized to the facility's pressure again. "You
need to be very careful" ACE said, and for the first time Basil thought
he heard a fleeting glimpse of emotion in ACE's voice; although he was
unsure whether it was real or only imagined. Regardless, it quickly
returned to monotone once again.

"I am pressurizing the room now to meet what I detected earlier. The
readings indicate that everything is fine, just take a few steps out and
tell me more of what you see." The door shaped wormhole opened and
Basil took a few steps out. Basil looked out, seeing a vast ocean in one
direction and a dense tropical looking forest in another direction. He
couldn't see any people or a receiving wormhole device, but saw what
looked to be buildings off in the distance. Basil, who had spent most of
his remembered life in a partially constructed concrete building, was
absolutely amazed at the scenery he just witnessed as he walked back
through. "What did you see?" ACE asked Basil. "A tropical paradise.
It looks pretty sparse, but I did see some buildings off in the
distance." ACE seemed to take a moment to make a plan. "Do you have
that flip phone on you that we have been spoofing the signals on?"
Basil nodded, and ACE continued.

"Well, I did not pick up any signals when I opened it, but I want you
to go back through and walk towards the buildings. Figure out where
exactly you are, which we will know for sure when you pick up GPS or
cellular signals. It might also be a good way to get supplies from now
on if you can walk through a wormhole to do so." For once Basil seemed
more concerned than ACE. "What happens if it's some sort of secret
military base?" ACE replied, having already considered and dismissed
the possibility. "There were no signals, there would be some form of
electronics everywhere giving off EMF radiation if somebody turned an
island into a secret military or research base." Basil turned around,
"Let me grab my gun, just to be safe." As Basil made the quick walk to
grab it ACE made a short chastising comment. "Remember, do not make a
scene this time."

One quick walk later, however, and Basil was about to step back through.
"Remember, be careful, and make sure not to draw any attention. I will
periodically activate the device to send data to your PDA, which will be
re-directed to the phone to be less conspicuous." Basil just nodded,
before adding "Alright, let's do this." Moments later he was stepping
out on to hot white sand, and beginning to walk towards the group of
buildings he saw in the distance.

5: Domum

Basil had been walking for about five minutes yet saw very few signs of
life aside from the birds flying around and the faint smell of fish. He
flipped open his phone, odd, still no signals. Even though GPS signals
were supposed to be everywhere, between remote areas being deprioritized
and the cheap chip in the phone he reasoned it could easily explain why
he hadn't detected any. Looking around to be sure he was still alone he
quickly pulled up his holographic PDA, but that also did not detect any
signals. Weird. He returned to walking, but suddenly his phone started
to ring. "Finally, reception" he said out loud, before realizing that
it was most likely his PDA spoofing a cell tower to relay a signal that
ACE had sent through the wormhole.

"What have you seen so far?" ACE asked. "Not much other than a beach
and some birds, though I'm getting close to the town or city or
whatever I saw earlier. Definitely got some sort of port too, so I'd
say that's good news." ACE seemed to be slightly concerned, but
otherwise agreed with Basil that getting to the place was their best bet
at finding more information on where the wormhole led. ACE closed the
wormhole and the line went dead. Seeing nothing else to do, Basil went
to continue to walk but noticed a small dirt path leading to some sort
of house or cabin. The house looked a little odd, being made of stone
with some sort of thatched roof, but Basil saw some people walking
around and figured his best bet would be to approach them and ask where
he was.

"Hey, you speak English?" Basil asked, smiling and giving a short
wave. A shorter man with a darker complexion approached him. "What's
English?" the other man asked, though despite his joke he seemed
somewhat alarmed at Basil's presence. "A buddy of mine just ran our
boat ashore, I was hoping you could tell me where we are?" The man
seemed slightly less concerned now and replied with an abrupt
"Arkepello County." Basil asked for clarification. "No, what country
are we in?" and the man replied "Arkepello County" for a second time.
"Not county, I'm asking what country I'm in." The man now looked a
little annoyed. "Well if you Loquailians dislike the Redcaps so much
we're in the nation of Arkepello." Basil was now very confused and
asked "The what? Sorry, you lost me," but the other man seemed to be
finished with the conversation. "See that tower there?" Basil looked
and saw what appeared to be a watchtower towards the center of the town
or city now close by. "Go see the General up there, he will have maps
and know how to explain this to you."

"Thanks" said Basil awkwardly before he started walking in the
direction of the tower. As he entered the town he saw all the buildings
had an odd older look to them, as if they were all historical buildings
or something similar - though they incorporated wood and metal into them
as opposed to just stone and plant fibers. Basil eventually made it to
the center of the port town and stepped into the tower. Entering it he
saw a man of similar complexion and stature behind a desk. The man
seemed very surprised when he saw Basil walk through the door, but after
the momentary surprise wore off he donned a friendly smile and Basil
returned one. "Hi, I'm kinda lost and was told I should speak to the
General?" Basil asked, somewhat unsure of what he was asking. The other
man seemed a little confused, but still had a friendly demeanor.

"Okay, who are you?" Basil answered "Basil" and the man spoke again.
"Nice to meet you Basil, I'm Simon. You are aware you are on Arkepello
right?" Basil responded, still a little confused. "Yeah, sorry, the
other guy said something like that too. I just don't know where
Arkepello is." Simon seemed a little confused. "You traveled to
Arkepello but you don't know where it is?" Basil replied
apologetically. "Yeah, I kind of wound up here by accident, I'm still
trying to find out where I am." Simon responded as if it all made sense
now. "Oh, your ship crashed or something like that right?" Basil
responded with a slightly hesitant "Something like that" and Simon
offered a quick "That's fucked up, hope everybody is alright" before
saying he would be right back and disappearing up some steps.

A few moments later Simon returned. "The General is all good to speak
to you, he's got maps and stuff. He's right up those steps." Basil
replied with a quick "Thanks" before walking up a large spiral
staircase and making his way to what appeared to be an office at the top
of the tower. "Hello, you must be Basil, I'm General Tobias of
Arkepello. I'm sorry to hear of your predicament" said General Tobias
as Basil walked in. The General had the same complexion and a similar
height to the others Basil had seen, and Basil could see a couple of
maps spread out across a desk. "So you are here, on the Arkepello off
the coast of Domum. To the north is your home of Loquail" General
Tobias said while pointing around the map. Basil looked at the map,
there was a large landmass named 'Domum' a small island nearby called
'Arkepello' and another further out labeled 'Amigoso' all relatively
close by. There was also another larger landmass to the north labeled
Loquail and one to the east labeled Lotalem.

"Sorry, I'm really not from around here and I'm not familiar with
Domum, the Arkepello, or Amigoso. You have a world map?" Tobias seemed
surprised. "You can read Domum?" Tobias asked Basil. "Yeah, ha, I can
read a lot more words too. I'm just trying to figure out where we are
in relation to where I'm from." Tobias again pointed at Arkepello,
then again at Loquail. "You are here in Arkepello, and you are from
Loquail here." Basil just looked confused. "I'm not from Loquail,
I'm from the United States." Tobias now looked confused as well and
gave Basil a quick "hm?" as a prompt to explain. "Ya' know, burgers,
bald eagles, and fat people at Walmart?" Basil said, although Tobias
looked even more confused. Basil went to speak again but his phone rang,
prompting him to pull it out and Tobias to ask "You have a radio? Hold
on, what kind of radio is that?"

"Basil, turn around and get out of there now" ACE said over the phone.
"What, why? I'm talking to somebody now, he's figuring out where we
are." ACE replied with words that Basil almost couldn't process.

"The fourth variable does not refer to the gravitational field of an
individual device itself, it applies to the gravitational field of
another planetary body. The lack of satellite and electronic signals
confirms this, we have somehow accessed some sort of interplanetary
transportation network. You need to get out of there now and then we
need to figure out what is going on before we do anything else."

General Tobias's eyes went as wide as Basil's did. "What did he just
say?" asked Tobias and Basil put ACE on speaker phone. "Are you
familiar with others that have traveled interplanetarily?" ACE asked a
stunned Tobias. "No." Tobias answered, before pausing for a long time
and adding "I am familiar with the concept of other planetary bodies,
but we did not expect there were others with beings inhabiting them."

"Okay, then you need to leave now Basil, we need to find out what is
going on first before we do anything more." Tobias looked as if he was
curious to learn more and didn't seem to want Basil to leave. "Will
you come back? We need to know more, if you are not lying this is a very
monumentus discovery." Basil thought for a moment, but after his pause
he responded very confidently that he would be back, though it was
obvious he was still very nervous at the unexpected nature of his trip.
"Definitely, same here, I just need to go now." Tobias simply said
"Okay" as Basil began to sprint down the stairs and back towards the
part of the shoreline where the wormhole originally opened. Simon seemed
to say something, but Basil didn't hear it as he ran past and sprinted
out of the port town. The trip took him a considerably shorter time as
he ran, and soon enough Basil made it to the spot where the wormhole was
opened previously. Basil stood there, panting slightly, but still
feeling energy surging through him while he waited for ACE to open the
wormhole.

"Hey, what did you do?" yelled the first man Basil had seen.
"Nothing. What do you mean?" Basil asked in response. He turned around
to see several people following the man, most holding what appeared to
be rifles and large knives. "You, I told you to see the General and
then you ran away, what did you do?" he yelled again in a very
accusatory tone. Basil, still short on breath, tried to respond in the
most calming manner he could muster in his condition. "Nothing, I said
hi, and then found out my friend was ready to pick me up so I ran back
here." The man didn't seem too happy. "You're not going anywhere
until I send somebody back to the General and verify your story."
Suddenly Basil heard the high pitch whine of the wormhole device and
began to move in that direction. Several of the people started raising
their weapons, prompting Basil to quickly fire several shots in the air.
Some of them froze or took cover, and Basil made a mad dash for the
wormhole as several of the others in the crowd opened fire on Basil but
missed. Basil dove through the wormhole, which ACE quickly closed behind
him.

Basil leaned up against the wall as the adrenaline began to wear off and
he realized exactly how tired he was, both physically and mentally.
After a quick pause and regrouping of his thoughts he exclaimed an
almost panicked "What was that?" ACE replied, not fully sure of all that
had happened either. "All that we know is that it appears these devices
are more than simple transportation and we need to exercise caution. And
you are still sure there was not another device on the other side of
there as well?" Basil thought back, confident there had been nothing of
the sort. "No" Basil responded, before hesitating and saying "At least
none that I could see, unless it was buried in the sand or something."
Basil went silent, and ACE didn't offer any response or further
information, but eventually Basil broke the silence. "We need to go
back there."

ACE seemed hesitant. "For now there are more pressing matters to
consider. Since we can travel between here and anywhere we bring one of
these devices, it is imperative we set up a permanent base of operations
to get supplies since we are already running low again. In the meantime
I will need to go over every bit of data we were able to collect and see
if I can make sense of any of it." Basil also seemed hesitant but for
different reasons. "Okay, but I need to know what all this is. It's
the key to finding out who we are, and who shot me, not to mention it's
a huge discovery." Basil turned to leave the sealed room, but ACE spoke
again. "Leave your boots in here. We have effectively been in isolation
so you likely did not bring any diseases over, and assuming you did not
eat or drink anything you likely did not pick anything up either. But
before we go back I would like to see if I can detect any differences in
bacteria and such and your boots might be the closest we have to a
sample."

6: Most Normal Floridian

Basil stepped through the wormhole, surprised at the sudden guest of
wind. Though the pressure in the sealed room was equal to that of sea
level, it still did not affect the winds blowing across the ocean. He
covered his eyes as the blinding sun and humid salty air momentarily
overloaded his senses; and as his eyes finally adjusted he could see the
jet flying away from the inflatable boat that had just dropped out of
it. He immediately began packing the wormhole device into a backpack and
put on an earpiece.

"Seemed to work" Basil quipped before starting the engine and
orienting the boat north. "The hard part is complete, just get to shore
and that device into the condo. No more flights or customs after this
one last time, just in and out of a condo at will." Basil nodded before
remembering that ACE could no longer see him. "Roger that" he said
before pressing the throttle.

The novel of driving the little boat wore off quickly as Basil found
himself fatigued by the merciless beating of the sun and each wave that
threw him around as it rocked the little craft. His achy muscles
tightened, however, seeing a large boat in his path ahead. "There's a
boat up ahead, I think it might be coast guard or something, but I'm
not fully sure." ACE began to reassure Basil. "Relax and wave to them,
there is nothing they can do." Basil waved at the boat, which seemed to
be vaguely turning in his direction as ACE continued to speak. "Your ID
would pass if they ran it, and all they would be doing is searching out
drug or weapon smugglers; not presumed citizens taking a joy ride.
Anybody laser focused on something like that would probably believe you
if you said the wormhole device was a printer." The boat continued its
course as Basil passed it, watching it go from growing larger to smaller
on the horizon.

Soon docks came into view, and moments later Basil was tying his boat
next to a couple of party yachts before taking his backpack and suitcase
out of their plastic bags. Fighting sea legs and exhaustion he left the
docks and hailed a nearby cab. "So, I take it you found out riding
around there can be a bit more exhausting than they make it out to be?"
the cab driver asked, noticing Basil's exhaustion. "Ha, yeah, I
didn't expect it to be quite that much of a workout" Basil said,
trying to smile despite his weariness. "So, where to?" the driver
asked without missing a beat. Basil pulled out a paper and read off a
Miami address, felt the car start to move, and leaned back to enjoy the
air conditioning - which he now had a great appreciation for.

Slightly rejuvenated from the ride in the taxi, Basil stepped back into
the heat while dragging his suitcase behind him. Unlike the previous leg
of the trip, however, he only had to bear the weather for a few steps
until he was in another island of air conditioned bliss - the lobby of
the condo that ACE had just purchased. The lobby itself looked very
pristine, full of plants, and had a carpet so white that it baffled
Basil as to how something people walked on could be kept so clean. He
noticed, however, a young somewhat unkempt guy watching him from the
seating area near the desk. Basil began to fear that he was being
watched by someone undercover, perhaps the papers ACE set up were not as
foolproof as he thought.

"Hi, I'm Tasha, how can I help you today?" the woman behind the
counter asked Basil. "Hi, I'm Flint Isaiah" Basil replied, providing
the fake name ACE had prepared his ID with. "I recently purchased unit
519." Tasha slid some paperwork across the desk. "Oh, our newest
neighbor! I just need your ID, your initials here and here, your
signature here, and we're all set." Basil quickly filled out the paper
and handed over his ID, getting it back with a set of keys moments
later, alongside a laminated rule book that supposedly consisted of
entirely sustainable bamboo paper. "Here you go, Elliot here will help
you to your new home."

Basil turned around to see the unkempt guy who was previously watching
him, now standing right behind him. "Hey dude, I'm Elliot." Basil
turned around a tad surprised, but was glad that he wasn't already
being followed by more state officials quite yet - at least that he
could detect anyway. "Hey, I'm Flint" Basil said, extending his hand
to perform a handshake that Elliot either didn't notice or ignored
while grabbing Basil's suitcase and walking towards the elevator. "So,
where 'ya from?" Elliot asked as soon as Basil caught up.

"Virginia, just outside of DC" Basil replied. "You a damn fed then?"
Elliot asked, surprising Basil. "What? No, an accounted for a
medical-" Basil began to say, before cutting himself off with a "The
fuck are you doing?" as Elliot began to unzip Basil's suitcase in the
elevator. "Just curious if you had fed stuff with you, can't be too
cautious" as he looked at the suitcase that held a change of clothes
and a pair of paratrooper boots. After a moment of hesitation, however,
Elliot's face seemed to take on a more sheepish expression. "Sorry
dude, my bad."

"It's alright, just please don't mess with my shit" Basil said, now
feeling a little bad for yelling at the kid. Elliot raised his hands in
mock surrender and cracked a smile before asking "So, wassup with the
paratrooper boots though? Those don't look like bean counter attier."
Basil laughed at the unexpected comment. "Must have missed the
interview with the fashion police in the community rule book." The two
stepped out of the elevator where Elliot pointed to a door that Basil
unlocked before the two stepped through.

"So, here we go, casa de Flint" Elliot said as he put Basil's
suitcase down on the floor. "Care for a toke? First one's free"
Elliot asked, but Basil turned down the unexpected gesture. "Um,
thanks, but I'm good." Elliot just shook his head. "You sure man?
Next one won't be free if you come looking" Elliot retorted followed
by an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, I'm sure, I've still got to get
unpacked. Maybe some other day." Elliot just shrugged. "Whatever, your
loss, have a good one Flint" before shutting the door.

Basil sat on the floor to take the wormhole device outside of his
backpack, but his mind was elsewhere processing the events he had
experienced. First today's adventure, followed by the wormhole devices,
Domum, and who he could have been before this raced through his mind.
Soon enough he found himself checking his watch to see that he had been
staring at the wall while sitting on the floor for nearly twenty
minutes.

"All set, about to get things plugged in now" Basil said, putting the
earpiece back in his ear and finally pulling the device out of his
backpack. Basil plugged the capacitor filled adapter into the wall and
the wormhole device into that before giving the go ahead to ACE.
"Alright, that's about enough adventure for one day, fire it up."
Seconds later a very minor draft hit Basil as the pressurized room fully
equalized and Basil stepped back into the sealable room that he had left
for the inflatable boat - a morning that both seemed like seconds ago
and a distant memory.

7: Introductions

Basil drove his newly acquired truck through a much larger wormhole,
quickly going from seeing a snowmobile in the dark room of the facility
to seeing a tropical paradise. A gush of wind mildly rocked the truck as
it wouldn't fit in the sealed room, but before long he was driving
slowly across the sandy beach. Basil could feel a bit of dread,
recalling his parting misunderstanding with the small group. Certainly,
though, Tobias had seemed like he was looking forward to seeing Basil
again and learning more about what they had both discovered, and once
the angry mob saw their General they'd be less angry right? Oh shit,
what if Tobias had a heart attack or something? That would be the way,
to get shot for some unlikely chain of events. Best not to think of that
sort of thing right now.

Basil quickly found himself near the center of the port town. He was
certainly turning a lot of heads, but nobody was shooting at him, so
that was an improvement at least. Next thing he knew he was at the base
of the tower and exiting his vehicle. He walked into the tower, and upon
seeing an empty desk walked up the steps and knocked on the door. "Come
in" Tobias replied in a somewhat nervous tone. Basil walked in and
immediately started speaking in an apologetic tone. "Sorry about the
other day, I think I surprised some people. I didn't actually shoot
back, I just shot up in the air while making a run for the wormhole."

Tobias seemed to take on a much more calm impression. "Thank you, they
should have never fired upon you and they were not Arkepello soldiers or
authorized to enforce our laws." Basil smiled. "Well, I've had worse
happen to me. I'd be very glad to chalk it up to some surprise at a
wormhole. I can assure you I've been very surprised at them myself."
Tobias looked a little confused. "Surprised? Didn't you make the
'wormholes' that brought you here?" Basil's somewhat jovial tone
switched to a more foreboding one. "Not exactly, I just found them and
I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on." Tobias responded
with a surprised "Oh" before getting distracted by something he could
see outside the window and speaking in an almost humorous tone. "Looks
like Simon is returning, he ran out as soon as he saw your vehicle.
He's a good kid but not much of a soldier." Basil's smile returned to
his face. "Well, I can assure you I'm no threat. So, tell me about
yourself and your nation."

General Tobias started to go over a map, starting with the continents.
They were only a day's boat ride from the continent of Domum, where
their civilization had originated. There was the northern continent
Loquail, "Where everybody looks like you" Tobias said to Basil. Very
occasionally their trading vessels would arrive on Arkepello, usually
bringing raw iron in exchange for grain or weapons. There was also
another continent to the east, named Lotalem, "Though only the Amigoso
ships are capable of reaching it."

Tobias then went on to explain each nation within the continent of Domum
and surrounding islands. To the north on the continent of Domum was the
Redcaps, led by a king Tobias had met once; who's royal bloodline
stretched out over five hundred years. The Redcap kingdom was the most
prosperous nation on the continent, and the second largest kingdom by
land mass. Arkepello had once been Arkepellago County of the Redcap
kingdom in the past, but nearly a hundred years ago his great
grandfather had led the 'Bloodless Rebellion' that created their
independence. When Basil inquired what the name change was about Tobias
had simply explained that an old nearly illiterate Redcap king had
misspelled it, then decreed that it was the county's new name. Tobias
seemed to think it was fairly humorous.

Tobias then went on to point out a nation towards the south of the
continent known as the Lizard Kingdom. When Tobias said that it's ruled
by a dynasty of rulers that claim to have once been able to shapeshift
into Lizards, but had since lost the ability, Basil laughed against all
greater judgment of politeness. "You don't believe them?" Tobias
asked Basil. "Sorry, I mean if you've seen somebody actually able to
shapeshift I'd believe almost anything right about now. But no, I
don't mean to be rude, but I just can't believe a story like that."
Tobias laughed a little. "Don't worry, nobody is going to be angry if
you badmouth the Lizard king here. And I don't believe them either."

Tobias went on to explain more about the Lizard Kingdom. They had been
the oldest unified kingdom on the continent, likely almost a thousand
years old, but no one was certain how accurate their records were. They
were, however, ruled by a cruel and despotic ruler. Their people were
poor and abused, and their nation was crumbling under the weight of the
war between them and the Redcaps. Even the land was colder and less
inhabitable as if a monument to their cruelty. The war had been ongoing
for nearly as long as the Redcaps had existed, but had increased in
brutality under the especially cruel prior Lizard King. The current
Lizard King, son of the previous one, however, had brought the war to a
standstill out of necessity due to his lack of supplies and troop
morale.

As Tobias began to focus on the oceans surrounding their continent, he
pointed again to Arkepello. Arkepello, as he had said, was once under
the rule of the Redcaps. It had previously served as a trading hub and
naval base, but as the war devastated the Redcaps their then governor
declared himself General and no longer under Redcap rule. Not looking
for additional fighting the then Redcap king agreed, on two conditions.
First was that that a tax be paid for all goods that went through the
docs that didn't come from or wasn't going to the Redcaps. The second
was that the Arkepello never took up a side in a conflict other than on
the side of the Redcaps. Both conditions, however, had been lifted by
the current Redcap king; and the Arkepello became a fully independent
nation of trade and fishermen.

Towards the east of Arkepello was the larger island of Amigoso. They had
also previously been a trading hub, but after many people with riches
fled there from the war between the Redcaps and Lizard King they had
become both a hub of innovation and greatly isolationist. "They
actually made our radio, although it was likely stolen or smuggled out
since they do not permit such exports" Tobias said. Basil was taken
aback. "You have radios? I was unable to detect any signals last time I
was here" he asked, before remembering Tobias commenting on his phone
as if it were a radio. "Yes, just like you" Tobias replied. Basil
doubted that they had radios like his phone, and would later confirm
that they were simpler transistor radios. But still, apparently, Amigoso
had electricity, transistors, and 'cartridge guns' as Tobias put it.
Basil tried to inquire if he would someday be able to travel there, but
Tobias explained that they would probably shoot him on sight if he
arrived and sought entry.

As soon as Basil mentioned that he knew 'cartridge guns' as just guns,
however, the conversation transitioned into Tobias asking Basil
questions about what he knew and frantically writing down everything
Basil said. Basil spoke of various nations, computers, and McDonald's
for hours. Before long the sun was setting, and even with the energy of
excitement they could no longer keep their eyes open.

8: Battle of Sodium and Transistors

"Look away" Basil said, standing over a very boxy machine. "You can
trust us to not share your secrets" Simon replied with a hint of
confusion in his voice. Basil smiled. "Oh, I trust you, it's just that
ACE is going to arc weld and if you'd prefer to not be blind you'll
want to look away." Simon, Tobias, and Basil all looked away as ACE
used a repair drone to do some final touches on the radio. "You wanna'
do the honors?" Basil asked and Simon looked giddy as he flipped the
switch. The four could suddenly hear voices being broadcast from Redcap
territory.

All three smiled. "So, what was the culprit?" Tobias asked the repair
drone controlled by ACE. "Too much corrosion. I sealed it off good and
replaced the shorted-out parts, you should be good for a while." Tobias
seemed pleased. "Good, I can't imagine what a new one from a smuggler
would have cost."

The three followed the repair drone out of the tower where Basil and
Simon picked it up to carry it over the dirt and place it in the back of
Basil's truck. "Hey, so it's not too important anymore since we could
get your radio going, but I brought something along if you want it."
Basil took a handheld radio and a USB solar charger out of his truck,
and flipping on the radio it picked up the same broadcast as they heard
before. Tobias motioned for Basil to hand it to him, and seemed somewhat
astonished. "It's so small."

Basil shrugged. "A little more advanced, but it's the same principle
as the Amigosian one and my guess is within Simon's lifetime they'll
be making ones just like this." Tobias turned to Basil. "How much?"
Basil looked confused for a moment before realizing what Tobias was
asking. "No, I meant it as a gift."

"You sure? A radio isn't an easy thing to come by." Basil shrugged
again. "They're a little easier to get where I come from. I'm not
really qualified to criticize Domum politics, but it's a shame Amigoso
is so closed off." Tobias seemed like he wanted to ask something, but
was unsure of how to say it. Eventually, he seemed to settle on the
words to use. "Basil, would you be able to get me a thousand of
these?" Basil was surprised at the question.

"Sorry, I could probably get you a couple dozen or something, but I
don't have that kind of money on hand right now." Tobias shook his
head and had an amused look on his face. "I would pay you of course,
how much gold would get you a thousand of them?" Tobias asked, before
pausing and adding a quick "If you're willing to do so that is."
Basil thought for a moment. "Probably around 11 ounces if we included a
solar charger for each one as well. But I'd have to double check."
Tobias looked like he had won the lottery. "And you would be willing to
provide them?" he asked, to which Basil shrugged again and replied with
a "Yeah."

Tobias seemed to think for a moment. "And the medication you shared
with Marge for the infection, would you be able to get us some of that
as well? We greatly appreciate you sharing your supplies, but having
some at the clinic of our own would be a great help." Basil seemed
slightly hesitant but agreed. "It may be a little hard since they
restrict who they sell it to, but I'm sure I can find a way to get
larger quantities of it." Tobias seemed confused. "They restrict you
from having such a life saving medication without approval?" Basil
nodded. "Yeah, depending on where you are they restrict a lot of things
like that."

Tobias seemed to have another thing on his mind. "And cartridge guns?"
Basil seemed very hesitant to answer, but after a moment he responded.
"Yeah, I can probably get some of those, but please don't use them to
hurt people." Simon laughed, and Basil realized how absurd the
statement was before rewording it. "Or, well, please don't use them to
hurt people who don't deserve it. I trust you, and with the Redcaps or
the Lizard King at war using them to protect the Arkepello if needed
would be a good thing. I just don't want to be the enabler of some sort
of invasion or unnecessary death and destruction."

Tobias nodded in agreement. "I can promise you that they would only be
used for the protection and benefit of Arkepello. We have always striven
for peace." Basil smiled. "Alright then, let's see if I can get a
line on some radios, antibiotics, and guns." After a moment of silence
Tobias responded. "Well, before that, why don't we get a drink in
honor of our working radio."

The three made their way towards the docks where the Arkepello hotel
was. As Tobias had explained to Basil on their previous trip there, it
was owned by the nation itself and offered a place to stay and eat for
anyone from sailors to diplomats. As all the locals knew it was the best
place to grab a quality drink or meal if you were looking to spend a few
bucks. However, one of the perks of being General, Tobias had explained,
was that you and your guests got to eat for free.

When the three arrived they saw nearly the entire council there as well.
Tobias had previously explained to Basil what the council was: each
district of the nation would choose a member, and the council would
choose one member of the group to lead the council on official matters.
While it was informal for now, Tobias had indicated he intended to pass
government authority to the council instead of his second in command
upon his death. Of all the places Basil had heard about so far he
reasoned that if there was a faction to randomly end up on and provide
weapons to, Arkepello was certainly a good place to have wound up.

As Basil thought to himself and sipped a rather large glass of wine he
could overhear Tobias talking about the stuff Basil planned to provide
them with. Everybody seemed to be happy about it, at least everybody
aside from the council leader Jarvis who was giving a suspicious glance.
Jarvis had always seemed a bit suspicious of Basil, but he usually at
least wore a smile as opposed to the look he was giving off now. Oh
well, after some time he'd probably get over things. At least that was
what Tobias said.

9: An Invitation

Basil sat alone at a table tapping away at his PDA. He was drawing a
little attention, certainly the unknown technology - whoever made it -
would have been drawing attention even if he had been sitting in a cafe
in NY or London. And yet here not only that, but he was technically an
alien here, even if it only felt to him and the people here like he was
just from another nation. Not to mention that most of the people here
were only familiar with what would appear to be a 16th century
equivalent of technology, with very rare glimpses of Amigosian
technology which he could surmise was probably a late 19th century
equivalent. Certainly no hard feelings for the odd looks.

"Hey, what'd you want to meet me about?" Basil asked as soon as he
saw General Tobias approaching his table. Tobias sat and placed a stack
of papers on the table, but seemed to change the topic noticing Basil's
prior use of his PDA. "You find any signals? Or anything about where
that stuff came from?" Basil shook his head. "Nope, I gave up on that
a month ago, nothing is here but standard radio waves. Whoever ... or
whatever made this stuff isn't here anymore. Still spooky to think
about some unknown forces with crazy technology." Tobias chuckled.
"Ironic coming from you, but at least I know what you're up to."
Basil smiled. "Well, there's a bit of a difference between a smaller
radio and a hole in the fabric of reality" Basil said, before pausing
and adding "But fair point I guess. So, what's up?"

"Well, there are two things to discuss. The first thing, which I hope
you will be glad to hear, is that I and the council have decided to
grant you citizenship in Arkepello." Tobias spoke in a very formal
tone, Basil smiling when he heard the news. Tobias continued to speak
but took on a somewhat less formal tone. "Jarvis took some convincing,
but with the rest of the council in agreement and me having the final
say over the matter it has been officialized." Basil was ecstatic. For
the first time in his memory, albeit an unusually short period, he had
found a home in which he was not going to get shot at. Well, there was
the once, but he reckoned that could be written off as an exception.
Tobias, seeing Basil seemed happy but quiet, continued to speak.

"As for your payment, beyond the costs at which you accrued for the
supplies, we have also agreed to provide you with a room in the dock
hotel if you would consider that an acceptable payment. I know that you
had originally asked that we supply you with food and raw materials, but
a room in the diplomatic quarters comes with free access to the
restaurant and if you require specific materials we could certainly work
something out to acquire them. And, with most of the diplomats gone at
this time of year, you will get the first choice of the room that you
would like."

Basil, still smiling, had finally collected his thoughts. "Thanks,
yeah, that would be great. It means a lot to me to finally belong
somewhere." Tobias returned a quick smile and nodded, sliding over a
stack of papers. The one on top, however, looked very different than the
others. While the others Basil could recognize as fairly standard
looking official Arkepello documents, the one on the top looked more
like a scroll with a wax seal on it. The seal looked like nothing he had
seen before, having the design of an axe and a cloth, with all the wax
being white except for the cloth which appeared blood red. Tobias seemed
to notice Basil's confusion.

"The Redcap King's seal, a peculiar design perhaps if you do not know
their history. The axe represents the first Redcap King, who was a
woodcutter by trade before he led a rebellion against the Lizard King
and formed his own nation. The blood on the cap is self explanitory if
you believe the legends at how adept he was with that axe." Basil
nodded, still looking down at the seal. "So, what does he want with
me?" Tobias continued. "He has extended an official invitation for you
to attend the upcoming peace festival, an event where the leaders of all
the surrounding nations - friend and foe alike - attend to further peace
and perform negotiations." Basil still looked a little confused. "Why
me though? I don't exactly lead a nation."

"Word has likely reached the Redcap capital about the man from a magic
door that provided us with weapons and technology, he is likely both
curious and seeking out the aforementioned weapons. Seeing your interest
in learning more about this continent I would recommend you attend."
Basil still seemed uncommitted. "What exactly goes on there, aside from
diplomatic stuff? Are there any rules I should be aware of?" Tobias
just shrugged.

"Lots of drinking and eating, backroom deals, and fancy political
speak. There are rules listed in your invitation, but they could be
summarized as don't fight wars or engage in violence and don't carry a
weapon in the presence of the Redcap King, who will be among the crowd
on the third day of the event. Otherwise, you have near immunity and are
governed by your own nation's laws instead of the Redcaps'. Given the
invitation is listed to 'Basilious, of the Kingdom of Florida' you
will be fairly exempt from any rules or obligations."

The two chuckled upon seeing how Basil was addressed in the invite.
"Alright, sounds interesting. It will probably be a bit weird, though,
attending the event as an independent individual alongside my new head
of state." Tobias seemed to be amused at Basil's statement. "Well,
you will always be a bit of an odd case. While you are officially a
citizen you're also as much an outside power, and likely not to be seen
as an Arkepelian. Even in this conversation, I am as much addressing you
as a representative of another nation engaged in trade as much as a
citizen of my own." Basil could tell Tobias was saying that either as a
compliment or a simple statement of fact, not intending to put Basil
down as an outsider. Still, however, Basil felt a little disappointed in
being reminded his citizenship was as much a ceremonial reward as it was
actual. Nevertheless, he kept his feelings internal, knowing that in
truth he was an outsider. Tobias continued to speak.

"Further, I do not intend to attend the festival. The council will
attend in my stead, I wish for the other powers to see my intention to
pass my authority to them. But, I must ask, have you done anything to
anger Jarvis?" Basil was surprised at the sudden change of topics.
"What? No, I don't think so. He's been making it more clear he
doesn't like me lately, but I don't think I did anything to make him
do so. At least not intentionally." Tobias made a quick hand gesture to
indicate he didn't seem to think Basil was at fault. "Good, I wanted
to ask, but I expect he just fears you will take some sort of power or
influence he expects to receive. However, in that case, I would like to
make a request of you. Do you intend to bring your truck across the
ocean and drive it to the Redcap capital?" Basil now seemed more
confused. "Yeah, probably. I haven't put much thought into it yet, but
that's probably the best way for me to get there."

"Good. If you would be okay with it, I would like you to bring along
Jarvis and the two other council members who also plan to attend, Niles
and Jace. Such a trip would save them a lot of time and also perhaps
give you and Jarvis a chance to get along better. Jarvis is often touchy
about these things, but I believe that once he gets to know you, and
more importantly realizes you have no intention of taking his council
seat, will get along with you much better."

Basil thought for a moment, hesitant to commit to spending more time
with Jarvis. "Alright, yeah, I can do that. Just when you bring it up
to him please make it clear you were the one that suggested it. I don't
want him thinking it's some sort of slight from me." Tobias nodded.
"Very well, I will arrange for a ship to transport your truck. You'll
be transporting Arkepelians anyway, and a ship that can carry your truck
is easier to plan than arranging a ferry and another means of land
transport for them, so the island can handle expenses and planning for
that."

10: Trouble at the Gate

Basil sat in his truck that had just been loaded onto a boat in the
Arkepello harbor. Tuning out the constant movement of the waves and the
conversations of those standing around his truck he spoke with ACE who
was instructing him on how to relay signals from his PDA via radio
waves. Of course, however, this would only work if he were to find a
radio in the Redcap capital he could use capable of reaching the
Arkepello. Otherwise, he would most likely be unable to contact ACE
during the outing as the PDA's wormhole like communication did not work
without being able to calculate the fourth variable of one of the
devices at the facility and its terrestrial radio capabilities would not
reach the distance between the Redcap Capital and the Arkepello.

Outside of his truck, though he lacked awareness of it, was the
beginnings of a beautiful sunrise painted with a warm glow of oranges
and reds as the sun slowly rose over the ocean and began illuminating
the Arkepello port. Basil was suddenly distracted as a sailor tapped the
driver's side window of his truck. "They're finally hear, let's get
moving." Jarvis, Niles, and Jace all arrived, and after Basil motioned
toward the back of the truck the four went over to place their luggage
in its covered bed. "There's not going to be a lot of room up there,
place anything you don't need for the ride in the back" Basil stated
as the three began to take a few things out of their luggage and put the
rest into the truck. The four began to make small talk as they returned
to the cab of the truck and the ship began to leave the port.

"What's this?" Jarvis asked while pointing to Basil's backpack as he
climbed into the passenger side of the truck. "Huh? My backpack. Why?"
Basil asked somewhat confused. "You put our stuff in the storage
compartment" Jarvis stated, before asking "So why is your stuff up
here?" Basil couldn't place Jarvis's tone, being unsure if Jarvis was
making an active attempt to conceal animosity or intentionally
expressing animosity with an air of plausible deniability. Regardless,
Basil tried his best to sound neutral to avoid harsher feelings that
could make a very long drive feel even longer. "It's just got a few
important things in there I want to keep up front: first aid, emergency
supplies, snacks, and tools. The rest of my stuff is back there too."
Jarvis responded with a mute and apathetic stare, but after a quick
pause just shrugged.

Sunrise soon became day as the crew arrived at the docks on the landfall
opposite to where they had started, and day became evening as the long
drive through the countryside became a slow crawl through the crowded
streets of the Redcap capitol. Throughout it all Jarvis seemed willing
to put hostilities behind him. Basil was very glad to be on better terms
with him, and the four had talked for hours on what felt like every
topic they could have. "The gate's just up ahead" Jace stated, before
she leaned forward from the back seat and followed it up with "There's
a lot more people here than last time." Basil could see a very tall
gate that concealed everything behind it aside from the start of a
sunset above and brought the truck to a stop. "Can't go any further,
too many people" he replied as the four looked on hoping the crowd
would thin enough to get through.

Several guards by the gate seemed to notice the truck's arrival and
began working their way through the crowd, but as they slowly got closer
Basil noticed they seemed either annoyed or angry and were holding their
weapons out in a high ready position. "Do they usually act like that?"
a suddenly nervous Basil asked Jarvis. Jarvis just shook his head before
asking "What did you do?" in a somewhat nervous and slightly
accusatory tone. Niles leaned forward as well, voicing his nervousness.
"No, something is wrong, they're definitely angry and headed our
way." Basil's elbow serendipitously brushed his holstered pistol and
he began to speak quietly to Jarvis. "There's a gun in the glove box,
do you know how to shoot? We may need it if things go bad."

"The what?" Jarvis asked, much more nervous than before. "The
glovebox" Basil replied, slightly annoyed, before pausing and
clarifying "The lever there, you can pull it and it'll open the
container." Jarvis immediately started to bend over and reach for it,
before Basil realized what he was doing and shouted "Not now!" Basil
instantly could tell the closest guard picked up on the fact Basil had
been saying something in anger, his facial expression tightening and his
hand getting a better grip on the bayonetted gun he possessed. Basil
quickly tried to look more composed to avoid further tipping off the
soldiers before speaking in a whisper. "Only if we need it, don't even
look in the direction unless we do. I don't know much about these guys,
but I can tell you that if you pull out a weapon they WILL start
shooting at us."

What felt like an eternity passed, but eventually the guards had mostly
made it through the crowd. Basil continued to do his best to look calm
while nervously making glances over to Jarvis to make sure he wasn't
doing anything stupid. Eventually they approached, switching their
rifles to a low ready position and Basil rolled down the window. He
began to say "Hello-," but was cut off by the closest guard who barked
out an order. "You four are to exit your vehicle and be seized for the
impersonation of Amigosian diplomats." The guard seemed to have equal
parts anger and annoyance in his voice and Basil immediately started
trying to defuse the situation. "Sorry sir, there must be some sort of
mistake" before quickly picking his invitation up and handing it out
the window.

The guard looked at the document for a considerable amount of time, and
while Basil waited for a response the other three in the truck handed
their invitations to Basil who passed them along to the guard as well.
The guard silently read through them all, saying nothing with a blank
expression on his face. "You're Basilious, but you arrived in an
Amigosian vehicle?" Basil was caught off guard by the question. "Wait,
do Amigosian vehicles look like this? This isn't an Amigosian truck,
I've been very interested in seeing one to compare technology, but I
was told I likely couldn't visit Amigoso." The guard shrugged while
motioning to somebody by the gate. "I've never seen an Amigosian
personal vehicle, they've only been described to me. But I was told you
had a device that could transport you instantly, so why are you
traveling with Arkepellians?"

"The device doesn't work quite like that, it can only go to certain
locations and I have to go the rest by other means. The closest I can
get is Arkepello and then the rest I have to travel like anybody else,
which is why I'm traveling like this alongside some Arkepellian
friends."

Another man who had been approaching from the gate arrived, wearing a
uniform that Basil could assume indicated he was of higher rank or of
some other importance. "May I see the invitations?" he asked the guard
who had originally approached. Jarvis's nervousness seemed to switch to
annoyance and seeing the new official he spoke in a pompous manner. "I
am the lead representative of Arkepello, under the authority granted to
me as such you are to quit this rabble and let us proceed at once." The
new official read through the last of the documents before responding to
Jarvis's outburst.

"Greetings, I am Weston Brayden, captain of the Redcap Capitol Police.
I apologize for the mistaken identity, please bring your vehicle through
the gate and meet me on the other side."

"Is anything wrong?" Basil asked, feeling a little relieved at the
nicer tone, though unsure of what Brayden intended with the meeting on
the other side of the gate. Brayden, now making an expression Basil
could interpret as either mild suspicion, intrigue, or both, replied
with a short "It's only a matter of accommodation and of personal
curiosity" before pausing quickly and adding "Nothing to be alarmed
about."

11: Attendance

Basil parked his truck on the inside of the gate before he and his
passengers began to get out and observe their surroundings while waiting
for Brayden. Strait ahead and in the center of the courtyard sat what
Basil could best describe as a large castle or palace. The place looked
like something that wouldn't look out of place during the renaissance
in Europe, somewhat of an equally captivating and unnerving thought for
Basil as he was staring at it in the present. To the back right portion
of the courtyard were two large buildings that Basil best surmised were
barracks of some sort, directly to his left was one large building he
figured to be the hotel he would be staying at, and scattered along the
walls were numerous smaller buildings that likely ranged from storage to
living quarters. The courtyard itself was vast and full of people and
tents, with a large number of tents grouped towards the presumed
barracks.

Disrupting their observations, however, Brayden finally approached the
group and spoke in an apologetic tone. "The royal family sends their
deepest regrets, but due to the size of this year's festival we have
run out of room in the inn. We have set up tents for some guests in
place of a room." Brayden said while pointing to the cluster of tents
at the far side of the courtyard. Jarvis, Niles, and Jace all remained
quiet so Basil interjected. "That's alright, actually, if it's fine
I'll just sleep in my truck here" he said as he patted the hood of the
truck he stood next to. "It's got climate control, a metal roof, and
it'll make unpacking a breeze." Brayden paused for a moment, seeming
to ponder Basil's words, but shook his head.

"Basil, you have been chosen for a room in the inn. It's the Akepello
General here and his subjects that have unfortunately not been allocated
a room." Jarvis's neutral expression quickly contorted and he angrily
retorted "I am Kenton Jarvis, leader of the Arkepello Council, here in
stay of the General and I-" Brayden looked confused and spoke over
Jarvis. "The Arkepello General is not attending the festival?" Jarvis,
which Basil imagined was about to have steam coming out of his ears,
responded with a sharp "I am here in his stead, tell the Redcap King I
am to be treated like the other powers and not to be treated with less
dignity than this outsider." Jarvis gestured to Basil. Brayden, with a
face that held a scowl, replied with a calm but very authoritative tone.
"You are not to question his majesty. Collect your things to be
escorted to your accommodation at once."

Behind them several soldiers made themselves known by approaching from
the slight distance they had been waiting at. Jarvis remained with his
enraged look, though Niles and Jace appeared more accepting of the
situation. Grabbing their luggage and handing it to the soldiers, Jarvis
returned one final glare at both Basil and Brayden before following suit
and pursuing his fellow representatives and the soldiers through the
courtyard towards the tents. Basil continued to stand there in silence,
trying to conceal how humorous he found the results of Jarvis's
outburst before he turned to Brayden who was still watching the others
disembark. "So, I take it the personal curiosity you had was about
me?"

"Yes," replied Brayden in a relatively impartial tone. "You must
forgive me, but the story of how you arrived is a difficult one to
believe. Your vehicle and clothes are certainly different, but I could
easily be convinced you modified Amigosian goods to appear as yours
do." Basil shrugged. "I don't blame you, I'm not sure if I'd
believe me myself. I do have a device or two that might clear up any
doubts if you'd like to see them." Brayden shook his head. "That will
not be necessary. The King has taken an interest in you, which means I
am to assume you are who you say you are. Although, I should warn you,
if you attempt to con the King beware of the rash consequences of doing
so regardless of where you hale." Basil nodded, "Duly noted, though
I'm just here because I was invited, I don't expect to be doing any
negotiating or selling." Brayden suddenly looked confused. "But you
provided supplies to the Arkepello General, no?"

"Yeah, but that was kind of a one off favor for some friends. If
something in particular is needed I might be able to look into it. When
your diplomats get back to the Arkepello after this you could also have
them talk to me or General Tobias." Brayden looked somewhat confused
for a moment before returning to his previous neutral expression.
"Well, I expect the King will approach you to negotiate the sale of
weapons and supplies, and he will likely wish to have them delivered
promptly to resolve the conflict between us and the Tyrant's army."

"I don't sell weapons" Basil replied, before pausing and realizing
what Brayden had said. "Wait, hold on, I thought you were about to make
peace with the Lizard King?" Brayden momentarily looked as if he was
unsure of himself. "Yes, I was only speculating, and meant it as they
were to be used as a bargaining chip. In any event, you will likely
learn more if I am correct in assuming you will be attending a meeting
with them." Brayden paused for just a second, but before Basil said any
more he spoke again. "That building there" Brayden said while pointing
to what Basil assumed was the hotel. "Is the inn, present your
invitation and you will be directed to a room. You can leave your
vehicle here, and you will want to go there now to be ready once food is
prepared."

As abrupt as he was in his change of tone, Brayden quickly left to
rejoin his subordinates, leaving Basil to make the deceptively long walk
from the gate to the inn with a heavy backpack and suitcase. Finally
arriving at the inn, and seeing a large group of people by a counter
speaking with the people who'd presumably check him in, he sat down to
wait for the crowd to die down. Standing near where he sat, and sticking
out among the crowd were some individuals. They were of a slightly
lighter complexion and were tall, not only for here, but even to
Basil's standards; with the shorter ones being around his height and
the tallest in the center being considerably taller. All of the soldiers
or bodyguards appeared to be carrying large blades of some form or
another, each with varying ornate designs - standing out heavily from
the Redcaps' uniform mix of guns with the occasional blade. Even their
clothes, made largely of leather or ornate and brightly colored cloth,
stood out among everybody else in the crowd both for their designs and
seemingly more primitive construction. On further inspection the
individuals near the counter appeared to be part of the same group, and
as Basil made note of their existence it became clear several of the
group standing nearer to him were taking note of his existence as well.

Determined to break the ice, Basil decided to introduce himself. Getting
up and giving a short wave, he began to state "Hi, I'm-" before
getting cut off by one of the group who quickly stepped between them.
While not touching Basil, his movement seemed intended to get Basil to
step backward to his original seating and away from the group. The
individual doing so was not exactly imposing, looking to be a very old
man wearing some form of robes. Despite that, his confidence in his
movement and words was plenty to get Basil slowly walking backward to
his seat while they spoke. "Who are you with and what is your
business?" the man barked. "Well, I originally came with the Arkepello
represen-" replied Basil.

The man cut him off by making a sound between a sigh and a chuckle to
seemingly emphasize his annoyance at Basil, before prompting Basil with
a new question "And what is your business?" Basil, now a little less
intimidated, stopped walking backward and responded with "Just
introducing myself" while trying, and partially failing, to conceal his
own annoyance. The man, clearly not happy with Basil's stated
intention, replied with a sharp "Don't overestimate your importance
here islander" before turning to walk away. Basil retorted "Asshole"
fairly quietly. Replying before deciding on whether to mumble it quietly
or state it audibly, he wound up saying it quite enough to appear as if
he was not intending for it to be heard, but loud enough for his verbal
attacker to hear him.

The robed man, having started to walk away, froze in place for just a
second; before turning back and speaking in an angry but controlled
voice. "Do not approach us again. If it were not for the festival you
would be facing a severe punishment for such insolence." As abrupt as
his comment was he quickly walked back to his group, which had all
seemingly already forgotten about Basil's presence. Basil, sitting back
down, suddenly heard another voice at his side. "Confident tonight, are
we?" said a man sitting nearby. The man seemed to be wearing some form
of jacket that vaguely resembled a suit or blazer, but was otherwise
seemingly unoteable. Basil, turning to face the man, responded to the
open ended question "Well, I thought we were all supposed to be making
chit chat?" The man was seemingly amused. "There are always limits
Arkepelian, you don't approach a King like that."

"Wait, that was the Redcap King?" Basil asked in a surprised voice.
"No, the Lizard King, how do you not know this?" the man replied in
equal parts curiosity and annoyance. While speaking, however, the man
got up and sat closer to Basil, seeming to inspect him. Basil replied to
the man's question with a short "I'm a bit new here and out of my
depth," but as he spoke the man got up to sit closer, seeming more
focused on inspecting Basil than listening to the words he was saying.
"Basilious, the man from another world. You know, you're a real
unknown, our guys can't make heads or tails of you, and coming from me
that's a real compliment. Though if that is your intention I fear what
your plans might be." Basil grew increasingly confused as the man
spoke. "Alright, um, I guess you know who I am, who are you?"

"Spiro, Amigosian Ministry of Information. I look forward to getting to
know you." Basil smiled and extended his hand to shake Spiro's. "Nice
to meet you, I was hoping to meet somebody from Amigoso while I was
here, I've heard stories about your technologies and if it's okay with
you I'd like to compare some notes and hear about what exactly you guys
have." Spiro had a facial expression that Basil could not read. "Very
well, perhaps I can talk to you about what I am permitted to share,
although given your claims I would be just as interested in seeing what
sort of technology you possess." Basil nodded. "Of course, what'd you
want to see first? I got a laptop and phone with me, I came in a truck
that one of the guards said looked like one of your vehicles, and I also
have a PDA thing that's certainly one of a kind." Spiro just smiled.
"Perhaps tonight. It appears they are ready to check you in, and the
friend of mine who I was talking to looks like he is getting
impatient."

Upon checking in and being led to his room, for the first time since
early that morning Basil was given a moment of silence to reflect on
everything and unpack before he went to grab his dinner. Doing a bare
bones unpacking he began to take stock of the room. The room was small
with a bed that was at least visibly clean, a chamber pot, and a table
with a pitcher of water. Basil opened his suitcase, laid his clothes out
on his bed, assembled his previously disassembled rifle he had in his
suitcase, and laid out a water filter and iodide tablets near the
pitcher in a silent protest against the idea of drinking straight from
the pitcher itself.

12: Toes to be Stepped On

Finally settling in Basil made his way to the Redcap's castle itself
where the food and drink were being served. After a few casual
conversations with Redcap guards who seemed at least tolerant of
conversing, albeit a bit surprised to be prompted with questions, Basil
learned some more of the basics and what to expect from the event. He
also heard neither the Redcap royal family nor Lizard King were going to
be at the dinner, both being in the Redcap royal quarters negotiating
what would be an end to the ongoing war. Making his way to the food he
grabbed a full plate, and having decided to skip painkillers for the
night grabbed what would ultimately end up being a little too much wine.
Seeing the Arkepello representatives at a nearby table he sat down to
join them. Jarvis seemed slightly tense, but Basil could not tell
whether it was directed at him or not, and Jace and Niles seemed glad
about his presence.

"You, come with me" Basil heard over his shoulder from an obviously
inebriated man. Turning around he saw an older man, shorter than most of
the other guests, with thinning grey hair wearing what Basil could best
interpret as something like a naval uniform. Basil, a little surprised
at the demand, turned to the man while remaining seated. "Sorry, did I
do something wrong?" The man chuckled. "No," followed by an oddly
long pause. "The Redcap King has requested you meet with him to discuss
the sale of weapons." Though the uniformed man spoke in a manner that
was likely intended as a whisper, due to the man's inebriation he
failed at preventing others from hearing his request. "I don't sell
weapons" Basil replied while remaining seated. The man furrowed his
brow and replied with a short "You are able to acquire them, no?"
before pausing as if he forgot what he was to say next, then continuing
"You provided some to the Arkepello General. We require them now and
you are being instructed to meet with the King himself to negotiate
providing them."

Basil, recalling his meeting with the man who turned out to be the
Lizard King, thought briefly about the best way to respond to this
request. "Those were a one off gift to a friend, I don't sell weapons.
Sorry." Jarvis, who had been listening to the conversation, butted in
with an annoyed "I don't care that you are the Redcap's General,
Edwards, you are not getting weapons from us or him." Basil, glad to be
on Jarvis's side for once, gave him a quick nod before turning back
from Jarvis to the man he just learned was the Redcap General. Edwards
seemed to be mulling over Basil's and Jarvis's words in his
intoxicated brain.

"Don't you turn away from me, this conversation isn't over" Edwards
quipped with a delayed expression of annoyance finally coming over his
face. "Yes, it is. No weapons. If you invited me here just for them
you'll be disappointed" Basil responded, before following up with
"Come back sober and more polite, maybe we can discuss medicine or
agriculture, but there'll be no blood on my hands." The General,
seeming to realize that the conversation would not prove fruitful, began
to stumble towards the exit of the hall they were all eating in. Basil,
having run out of wine and feeling a need for more after that
conversation, also got up to refill his glass.

While walking away from his table, out of the corner of his eye Basil
could see Spiro walking in his direction. He began to recount the events
of the last few moments in the expectation that he was going to ask him
what had occurred, but his thoughts and Spiro's approach were
interrupted by somebody timidly grabbing Basil's shoulder. "Basil,
right? I need to speak with you" said someone, who despite his height
being nearly Basil's, was probably a teenager. The kid seemed nervous
about Basil's pending response. "Huh, what's up?" Basil asked as he
turned around, feeling more inebriated than he did a moment ago with the
unexpected movement and change in planned interactions. The kid spoke,
seeming to find a little more confidence. "My father wishes to speak
with you" the kid said, before a quick pause and another statement to
provide more elaboration. "My father is the Lizard king."

Basil shook his head. "I already spoke with him actually" replied
Basil, before continuing. "The old guy in the robes said something
along the lines of 'don't try to speak to me again or there will be
dire consequences.'" Basil spoke while trying - but failing - to do an
impression of the robed man. "You were that guy?" Asked the kid in
amusement. "He's been wanting to speak with you for months, I can't
wait to see the look on his face when he finds out that the first time
he spoke with you the Wizard threatened you."

Basil let a chuckle escape at the thought of a royal 'Wizard' before
trying to contain it, but was nevertheless glad to hear he hadn't made
enemies with one major faction in the festival after all. Re-collecting
his thoughts he responded in a more reserved tone. "Just to be clear,
no weapons. I just had that conversation with a guy, Edwards, who is
apparently the Redcap General. He was not happy about that." Basil
continued to speak but switched to a more casual tone. "But I'd be
happy to meet with him." The kid, who seemed a little unhappy while
Basil explained that he wasn't willing to provide any form of weapons,
still seemed happy that Basil was willing to meet with them. "My father
should be finishing up talks with the Redcaps soon, why don't we go
now?"

Suddenly Basil felt a buzzing in his pocket. "Hold on" he said as he
pulled his phone out hoping that ACE had found a way to get a signal
through, but only saw a reminder to take his painkillers - the ones he
had elected not to take in exchange for his overindulgence in the wine
offered here. "What's that?" the kid asked Basil, eyes fixed on the
flip phone. "My radio" Basil stated, before hesitating and asking
"You're familiar with radios right?" The kid nodded his head, "Of
course I know what a radio is." Basil, now more confident he could
explain the device, continued. "This is pretty much like any other
radio, but it can only communicate with other radios like this one, and
it can do a few other non-radio things as well. When I heard it make a
noise I thought maybe it was a friend who found a way to reach me, but
it was only a reminder to take medication."

The kid seemed very interested in the device, so Basil said "Watch
this" and pointed the camera at the two. The kid stared at the
pixelated photo with infatuation, finally turning to Basil and speaking.
"Can you get me one?" Basil gave him a quick smile. "It wouldn't
work as a radio, but I'm sure I could get my hands on another one. We
could call it a diplomatic gift or something like that as long as your
father's okay with it." The kid looked excited, but suddenly his
expression changed to surprise as his head jerked to the side.

"You!" shouted the robed man that had accosted Basil earlier, and whom
the kid identified as the 'Wizard.' "I warned you to-" he began to
continue, before seeing Basil holding out the phone. His demeanor
changed mid-sentence and he pulled out a large double sided knife from
within his robe before stepping in between Basil and the kid. "Keep
away from him, or I will not hesitate to kill you" the 'Wizard'
shouted, before continuing in a somewhat less frantic tone. "You were
warned to stay away from us." Basil, having finally processed all that
happened, began to speak but was distracted by the kid laughing. "This
is not a game child" the 'Wizard' scolded. Basil, now re-trying to
collect his thoughts began to say "Relax, I-" but the 'Wizard' cut
him off with a harsh "Quiet" before he took a large step closer while
still pointing the knife at Basil.

The kid spoke again, beginning to say "He isn't-" but the 'Wizard'
spoke over him with an abrupt "We will talk about this later." The
'Wizard' took one more step towards Basil, and seemed to be about to
say something more, but Basil had had enough of the non-verbal threats.
Taking the phone in his hand he held it out directly at the 'Wizard,'
camera pointed in his direction. The 'Wizard,' already seemingly
afraid of what he must have presumed to be a weapon, jumped back and
stood directly in front of the kid. Basil started laughing, the kid
resumed his laughter, and the 'Wizard's fear seemed somewhat disarmed
by the laughter. Without a single further word, he grabbed the kid by
the arm and walked briskly towards the exit, practically dragging the
still laughing kid. Basil looked around, realizing that all eyes were
now on him.

13: Last Resorts

Basil, now the center of attention for the entire room, decided to exit
but was stopped by Spiro. "What was that?" he asked in an accusatory
tone. Basil, turning around, replied nonchalantly "Don't really
know." He went to continue walking, but Spiro stuck out his arm to
block the exit, seeming to expect a more detailed answer. Basil paused
to go over his thoughts, and during the pause Spiro continued, this time
in a seemingly concerned tone. "You're going to get yourself in
trouble, I don't know what you were thinking, but threatening an
advisor like that is a quick way to get yourself killed." Basil replied
"It's a radio," prompting a confused "What?" from Spiro. "This,
it's a radio" Basil continued, "And the kid said his father wanted to
meet with me, apparently he didn't know who I was when I introduced
myself. I guess the grumpy guy didn't get the memo." Spiro simply
stared at Basil for a moment, seemingly trying to make sense of
everything. "Just don't do that" Spiro replied. "None of that, I
don't care what was misunderstood, you're going to get yourself into
trouble."

Basil and Spiro stood in silence for a moment, and as Basil looked
around it seemed the crowd had lost interest. Basil finally broke the
silence. "The asshole pulled a knife on me after the kid approached and
asked me to meet with them." Basil spoke with a considerable amount of
annoyance and inebriation before he followed up his previous statement
with "If you ask me, pointing a radio at him was me being nice, I could
have been pointing a gun at him instead." After a moment, Spiro, in a
tone between concern and one that would be used talking to a child,
replied. "Look, you can't do things like that to any of the greater
powers here. Especially not to the Lizard King or his people, who
aren't the most level-headed." The two both stood in silence again,
but again Spiro began to speak. "Honestly, I've grown a little fond of
you, you're not full of shit like most of the diplomatic types, and I
would still like to figure out what you are exactly, so don't get
yourself killed by insulting the Tyrant's advisor." Basil finally
spoke. "Um, thanks" was all he could think to say at first, but
quickly added "I'm going to go get some fresh air and collect my
thoughts."

After a long and quiet walk Basil made his way to his truck, popped the
bed cover off, and sat down to stare at the emptying courtyard. With his
body not yet adjusted to the idea of this hour being night, and with the
regrets of the prior conversations, against all better judgment he broke
the seal on a bottle of Grey Goose to pour himself a glass. Some time
went by, and as he went about taking the plastic wrap of the package of
cigarettes he found in the parka all that time ago he heard footsteps
approaching his solitary camp. "May I join you?" asked the tall man
Basil now knew to be Nerva, the King of the Lizard People. "Sure"
Basil responded, the liquor and the mental fatigue obvious in his voice.
The Lizard king climbed up onto the back of Basil's truck to sit behind
him, and for a moment stared out into the now nearly empty courtyard
with a solemn look on his face. Basil noticed the man seemed even larger
up close and seemed to have a considerable amount of strength -
exceedingly so for others here relative to his age and station. His
clothes, while similarly colorful and ornate like the other nations'
people, seemed less refined with leather and slightly crudely stitched
and dyed fabrics. On his side he carried a giant sword of some form,
looking both out of place considering the rest of the diplomatic and
nobility types did not do so, and also out of place given the gun
bearing Redcap guards that dotted the walls and buildings nearby.

"Give us a moment" said the Lizard king to his son, the 'Wizard,'
and the soldiers that seemed to make up his entourage. "I would not
advise that your grace, this one is problematic" replied the 'Wizard'
in response to the Lizard king's request. A short glance from the
Lizard King, however, and the group was walking a short distance away;
leaving the two wildly different individuals to converse alone. Finally,
after a very long set of silence, the Lizard King spoke. "May I see
your radio?" Basil, not expecting that, pulled his phone out of his
pocket and handed it to him. "Come on, it was at least a little funny"
Basil commented while the man seemed busy inspecting it. "If it was
anybody else" the Lizard king responded, "This would have ended very
badly for you." He then paused, as if he was pondering how to word what
he said next, before continuing. "But I understand we must have very
different lives and customs so I'm willing to forgive such
transgressions." They both sat in silence for a moment longer, before
the Lizard King broke the silence once again. "Well, my son did find it
amusing. He also spoke highly of you, and he is a good judge of
character, which I place more weight on than your lack of etiquette."

The man sitting next to Basil went silent again. Finally thinking of
something to say, Basil was the first to break this silence. "Your son
seems like a good kid. He was very nice and seemed pretty interested in
learning things. Not-" Basil suddenly paused, realizing his fatigued
and intoxicated brain was yet again about to get him into trouble. The
man next to him, however, smiled for the first time since the meeting
started. "Not like you would expect my son to be?" the Lizard king
asked. "My father was a cruel man, feared by his people and hated by
others. I have been a cruel and broken man, but when his mother died I
have raised him to not carry what my family line has left me." He
paused for a moment, and the solemn look returned to his face. "I have
prepared him for a peaceful reign, but in the final hour darkness has
prevailed and the curse of my lineage may be a shield he will find
himself without."

"What are you talking about?" Basil asked, not following the meaning
behind what was said. "Peace negotiations have failed, the Redcaps have
demanded much that I am unwilling to give" said the solemn man. "That
is why I am here, if you can provide me with weapons I can return to the
table with the scales in my favor, or confront the Bloody One on the
battlefield and force an end to this before my time is over. In exchange
I will grant you anything within my dominion." Basil, now disappointed
to hear that there would be no peace, and more disappointed in the
request, replied exhaustively. "I won't give weapons to anybody. This
is not my war, and there will not be blood on my hands." The Lizard
King, seeming disheartened, replied quickly. "There will be much more
blood on your hands if you do not intervene, much more even than if I
fight a short war with overwhelming strength. My people have informed me
that you wish for peace, how would you end a bloody stalemate without
transient bloodshed?" Basil shook his head. "I don't know" was all
he could muster in reply.

"You said you would be willing to provide other knowledge and supplies,
what would those be?" the Lizard King asked, pivoting the subject.
"Medications maybe, imagine a world where an infection could be solved
easily and many diseases were eradicated. We could try farming
techniques, imagine getting four times as much food from the same amount
of land. Even things like tools, imagine a world where a hammer was much
stronger and more durable, and didn't rust." The Lizard king seemed to
ponder Basil's words, considering them attentively. "Perhaps those
words themselves may bring peace. I will request to resume negotiations
tomorrow, and I wish for you to join me in them." The Lizard King
paused momentarily as if to collect his thoughts, but resumed speaking
before Basil responded. "Tell those words to the Redcap King himself.
If convinced that you can help us bring such a world into being, he may
be willing to put aside his bloodshed for a chance at such a change."
The Lizard king fell silent, looking intently at Basil expecting a
response, which Basil provided. "Of course."

"Good" replied the Lizard King. "A drink to another shot at peace,
would you like some?" Basil asked, pouring himself yet another
ill-advised serving from his bottle. "What is it?" the Lizard King
asked. "Just alcohol, though it's a bit of an acquired taste if
you're used to the wine we were drinking earlier." The Lizard King
replied "Very well" while holding out his hand to accept a serving.
Basil poured some into a second plastic cup, handing it to the Lizard
king who inspected the very alien container before drinking some. After
downing most of the vodka in one gulp, he made a face as if he didn't
know what to make of the nearly flavorless liquor, before finishing it
off and handing the plastic cup back to Basil. "Well, I expect we will
speak again very soon" the Lizard King stated, before standing back up
and walking to his son, the 'Wizard,' and his soldiers guarding them.

14: Extraction

Basil was woken by a knock on the door. He struggled to open his eyes,
the effects of the liquor still not fully worn off. He checked the watch
next to his bed: 3 AM local time. He heard another knock on the door,
but this one was much more aggressive than the previous one. He was
definitely awake now. Getting up quickly he grabbed the rifle by his
bedside, chambered a round as quietly as he could, and made his way to
the door. He cracked the door open slightly in an attempt to keep the
rifle out of view of the visitor, seeing the 'Wizard' on the other
side. The 'Wizard' immediately pushed the door open and entered the
room, undoing all of Basil's efforts to hide the weapon and prevent his
visitor from entering.

Before Basil could formulate what to say the 'Wizard' spoke in a calm
tone, but one that seemed to hide unease deep within it. "Is that one
of your people's weapons?" A still confused Basil replied with a
"Yes, why are you here?" The 'Wizard,' who seemed to be looking
around the room almost frantically to make sure they were alone, replied
to Basil's question with his head turned still canvasing the room.
"His grace has requested your presence, we believe he may be in
danger." Basil was now only more confused. "Now?" Basil asked, before
following up with a "Why?" moments later. "That we will discuss in
his presence, please bring the weapon with you." Basil shook his head.
"I'm not giving you the rifle" Basil replied. "Yes, that is why we
are requesting your presence. Please, come with me now."

Basil, still unsure of the situation - but having been convinced to come
along - wrapped the rifle lightly in a coat and followed the 'Wizard'
through the nearly empty halls. Making their way up some stairs, and
into a much more extravagant area of the inn, they finally made it to a
large double door with the Lizard King's soldiers standing guard
outside. Being waved through by the 'Wizard,' the two finished their
late night walk and found themselves standing in an even more ornate
room than the halls implied; the Lizard King and his son standing in the
center surrounded by yet more soldiers. Taking stock of the situation,
the 'Wizard' broke the spell of silence the whole group was under.

"An informant has indicated there is to be an attempt on the King's
life, a direct response to our meeting with you." The last bit of
tiredness left Basil as he realized he might be caught up in the middle
of an assassination attempt. "Are you sure?" Basil asked, before
following up with a "How do you know?" The Lizard King, who had
remained silent until this point, finally spoke. "Thank you for coming,
it appears you may not be the only one who has few friends here. Yes, we
are certain there is to be an attempt on my life at some point during
the festival." After finishing his statement, the 'Wizard' picked up
where he left off.

"We have asked you here to escort us to our airship." Basil, confused
at the request, prompted another question. "Why ask me to join you
though? If you're worried about assassins, you have guards. I'm just
one guy, and I'm not a soldier." Though the 'Wizard' appeared to be
about to answer Basil's question, Basil quickly interjected with
another. "Wait, you guys have an airship?" The 'Wizard' nodded.
"Yes, one from Amigoso," though he answered Basil's latter question
with annoyance.

"The Redcap soldiers present here greatly outnumber us, even though we
are aware of their treachery they could easily attack us and later
fabricate a story about how one of our soldiers started a fight that led
to an unfortunate incident where we were killed. If our government was
put in a crisis of succession there would be no others capable of
dispencing justice, unless Amigoso did so through trickery, but they
hold no love for us. But you are an unknown, nothing is known about you
except that you possess formidable weaponry. They likely would not
attack us with any foreigner present, but you are also the only one we
trust would not agree to support such a scheme."

As the 'Wizard' finished speaking the Lizard King spoke again. "Once
we are safely back at our capital we will reach out to you, we may wish
for you to speak on our behalf to the Redcaps or have you visit our
capitol to discuss options if you are willing. I still wish for peace,
and with your backing and no opportunity for treachery the Bloody One
may still be made to see reason."

A plethora of thoughts rushed through Basil's mind as he decided on the
best course of action. Eventually, however, his mind was made up.
"Okay, we go to my truck, get you three in the cab, and your soldiers
around it. We go through the gate, get you to your airship, and get you
out of here without violence. But, on one condition. Promise me you will
do everything reasonable to avoid bloodshed both now and after you're
safe." The 'Wizard' looked incensed at Basil's demand, but the
Lizard King nodded. "Okay, I promise you that. But I would seek a
promise of my own. Renew to me the promise you made to the Bloody One
who authored your invitation, that you come to the aid of anyone that is
attacked by another party during the festival."

"This isn't my war, I'll help you leave, but I don't know if I could
fight for you. Even if it was a just fight." The 'Wizard' glared at
Basil, but the Lizard King seemed to hold no ill will. "I am not
demanding this of you as a King, which I know you likely hold little
respect for as an authority. I am only asking this of you as a father
who wishes for his only child to live another day. But I will not hold
it against you if you cannot honor the promise you made during your
attendance." Basil stood there, silent for a moment, before replying
hesitantly. "Okay" he stated, before pausing again and continuing. "I
promise you I'll do what I can to uphold the peace during the
festival."

Some soldiers picked up a handful of bags, and some formed a circle
around the Lizard King. Basil, hoping a display of a weapon would negate
the need for one, put his coat on that was wrapped over the rifle and
placed the sling over his shoulder. Walking with them, they made their
way out of the building, drawing some attention from the guards but
otherwise making their way through the night undisturbed. When they
arrived at Basil's truck he instructed the Lizard King, his son, and
the 'Wizard' to stay in his truck while the soldiers walked outside
the slowly moving vehicle to respond to any attacks. Approaching the
gate Basil had entered through the previous day they all noticed a large
group of Redcap soldiers standing guard around the gate.

"Open the gate, we wish to exit" one of the Lizard King's soldiers
shouted at the Redcap soldier who had left the gate closed despite their
arrival. Though Basil couldn't hear all of what the Redcap soldier said
in response, he did catch "... Don't really feel like doing so ..."
from part of the conversation. The Lizard King's soldier raised his
weapon slightly, prompting the Redcap soldiers to raise theirs to a low
ready in unison, further causing the Lizard King's soldiers to raise
theirs in response. "Lower your weapons you fools!" Shouted the Lizard
King as Basil rolled down the window, causing his soldiers to lower
their weapons. The Redcap soldiers seemed to keep their weapons at low
ready, and the one standing by the gate pully began walking over to
Basil's side of the truck.

"Be ready for anything" the 'Wizard' whispered as the Redcap
approached. Moments before he arrived Basil shifted slightly to make
sure his rifle was in view, then pulled up his PDA. The Redcap jumped
back in momentary surprise. As soon as the Redcap seemed to have
collected his thoughts Basil gave an order in a monotone voice. "Open
the gate." The Redcap spoke in an antagonistic voice, starting to say
"Well, maybe I don-" but Basil cut him off. "As my invitation states,
you must accept certain orders from me as if they were from your
superiors. You are aware the penalty for disobeying an order is death,
right soldier? And if you think you outnumber me, well, you obviously
have never seen a drum mag at work."

The soldier seemed unsure of how to respond, although unervingly to
Basil he did not seem afraid of Basil's power play. An uneasy silence
came over the vehicle until the Redcap spoke again. "Well, you can't
fault me for harassing the murderous Tyrant. I am disappointed to see
you assist him." The Redcap turned around and returned to his group,
and while nerves ran high as they all waited to see what would happen,
the gate began to open. Basil drove through the gate slowly to allow the
Lizard king's soldiers to keep up on foot, and the group made their way
to the area of the city where the Lizard king had parked his 'airship'
and a further contingent of soldiers. Throughout the drive not a word
was said that wasn't the 'Wizard' giving navigation directions to
Basil.

Finally making it there, Basil began to approach what appeared to be a
small blimp that had apparently been acquired from Amigoso; and which
served as the Lizard King's transport to and from the Redcap capital.
Finally bringing the truck to a stop, his three passengers began to
disembark, but the Lizard King stopped halfway out the door to speak to
Basil. "You have done us a great service, we will be in contact with
you shortly once we've returned and once you've returned to
Arkepello." Before Basil could respond with anything beyond a nod the
Lizard King had stepped out and closed the door, leaving Basil to watch
them walk towards the blimp. As it began to take flight he turned his
truck around and began to make his way back to the inn, hoping to
salvage what little bit of sleep he could from the waning night.

15: Fallout

Basil walked into the hall, tired and drinking instant coffee that
tasted like iodide. Finding the table where the Arkepello
representatives were he sat down, but out of the corner of his eye he
saw two individuals that seemed to be watching him. One was shorter,
even for a Domum crowd, with darker skin and a white shirt. The other
one, much taller, had a large greying beard and wore a black shirt.
After making some small talk while trying to watch the two without
tipping his hand, Basil finally brought it up to the table.

"Don't look now, but there are two guys that seem to be watching me or
us. Shorter guy with darker skin and a white shirt, taller guy with a
beard and a black shirt." All three at the table immediately turned
their heads towards the two, who both got up and left once it was
obvious that their surveillance was known. "What part of-" Basil
began, before Jarvis cut him off in a very accusatory tone. "That was
Cicero and Casio, Cicero is a Redcap advisor. What did you do to get
them to be watching us?"

"The Lizard King said there was going to be an assassination attempt on
him and asked me to escort him back to his blimp, that could be why
they're watching us." Jarvis huffed and walked off with Niles chiming
in. "You what? Why would you help the enemy?" Basil was surprised at
the sudden bitterly toned question and responded defensively. "I just
accompanied them as they left, it's not like I fought for them or gave
them weapons. Besides, we're neutral in the war between the Lizard King
and the Redcaps." The representative didn't seem too pleased with
Basil's answer. "I don't know about you, but we at the Arkepello are
still close with the Redcaps." When he spoke he emphasized Basil being
an outsider, but suddenly Jace realized something in Basil's statement.
"Hold on, the Tyrant left?"

Before Basil could answer Jarvis returned, Police Capton Brayden now in
tow. "This man is to be hung per Arkepello law for assisting an
enemy." Everybody looked shocked at Jarvis's loudly exclaimed demand,
not least of which was Basil who nearly jumped out of his seat and drew
his pistol. The two guards flanking Brayden started to raise their
weapons, but stopped as Basil went back and forth alternating which
guard he held his pistol on. "That's not according to my invitation,
and if any of you even so much as move a muscle to try you four and the
next six who try will be dead." Brayden, scowling, spoke in a very
angry but calm and authoritative voice. "Basil, lower your weapon."
Basil kept his weapon up, and the two soldiers flanking Brayden remained
frozen holding their weapons half up, so Brayden spoke again. "Basil
lower your weapon, you two as well" as he gestured to the two guards
that flanked him. Basil and the guards very hesitantly started to lower
their weapons, and with all eyes in the hall on the five Brayden began
to speak again - very angrily and directing his words to Jarvis.

"That's not an offense under Redcap law, which would be required of a
demand such as that. Basil is not here as a representative of the
Arkepello, so you also have no authority over the guards to command such
an action regardless. You do not have such authority even if he were
under Arkepello and Redcap law, only General Tobias could command that.
And quite simply, I do not respect your authority period islander."

Jarvis began to slink away, eyes firing imaginary daggers at the three
that stood by him, and the whole group seemed much calmer now after
Brayden's lecture. Basil quickly holstered his weapon and spoke. "I'm
so sorry about that, I thought that-" but Brayden cut him off. "Oh, I
would forgive such a misunderstanding on its own, but for siding with
the Lizard King I would have you hung myself if it were my choice to
make. You are an enemy of the Redcaps and I would recommend you exercise
great caution once the privileges within your invite expire." Basil
went to speak, but Brayden had already begun to walk away, with Niles
and Jace staring at Basil with unwelcome glares.

Spiro stood in a corner, glass of wine in hand despite the early hour,
speaking to somebody in a Redcap guard's uniform. Basil rounded the
corner at an almost jogging pace, saw Spiro, and started walking towards
him as the person in the guard's uniform began to walk away. "Hey, I
might be in some trouble, you're the only person here who seems to
tolerate me. I've got some information I can trade for some help"
Basil stated while trying to catch his breath. Spiro, unsure of what was
going on, replied in a tone that seemed to be intended to try to calm
Basil down. "Relax, I don't need to barter information to help you if
I can, what happened?" Basil, having finally seemed to have caught his
breath, began to explain the situation, albeit poorly.

"I pulled a weapon on Brayden the royal police captain, who-," but
Spiro cut Basil off. "You what?" Spiro replied in surprise. Basil
then, having finally collected his thoughts, recounted Jarvis's demands
to have Basil hung, the confrontation, Weston's dressing down of
Jarvis, and finally Weston's threat towards Basil. Taking a moment to
process everything, Spiro finally replied to Basil's recounting.
"Well, you're great at making friends it seems" Spiro stated
sarcastically, "But you'll be fine. The Redcaps undoubtedly won't be
happy with you pulling a weapon on their Royal Police captain, but given
the circumstances and you being here diplomatically, there won't be
anything done about it. And I wouldn't take the threats made about
retaliating after the festival seriously, he has no power outside of the
city walls." Basil seemed somewhat relieved, but only relative to
earlier and concern remained in his voice, "Are you sure? He seemed
really angry and I'm worried he'd try something."

"Yes, I'm sure" Spiro replied, before pausing a moment to think and
follow up his assurances. "If you're really worried go to your room in
the inn for today. I have some meetings throughout the day, but can
accompany you this evening if you're worried about some sort of
retaliation. They certainly wouldn't try anything with me around."
Basil seemed a little relieved. "Thanks, I um, yeah I think I'll just
lay low for a few hours" Basil replied, before turning to walk away.
Before leaving, however, Spiro spoke again. "Before you go, why did
Jarvis ask to have you hung? And also, do you know anything about the
Lizard King leaving last night, a friend told me he met with you hours
before he left."

Basil, turned back to face Spiro. "Those two actually have the same
answer, and it was one of the two pieces of information I thought I
would offer to you." Basil then began a short recounting of the Lizard
King's meeting, the talks that had apparently broken down, and then the
late night request to accompany him while he left. Basil also then
explained the two men who had followed him, and his conversation with
the Arkepello representatives, which led to Jarvis's demands. Spiro
again stood there quietly, processing all the information he had heard.

"Well, while the Lizard King is a paranoid fool, I am certain he made
up the story to gain your favor. The Redcaps would not have violated an
oath like that, especially with the state of the war as it is. The
Lizard King is weak, he has not been pulling troops away from the front
lines because he wishes for peace as he says, but because he lacks the
strength to fight a war."

Basil went to speak, but Spiro continued. "I can see, however, why that
would have angered others. He is very disliked here if you somehow were
unaware." Spiro again paused for a second, but continued speaking
before Basil spoke. "Thank you though, that is good information to
know. What was the other piece of information you were going to offer
me?" Basil had finally fully calmed down. "The second piece of
information was proof that I am who I say I am." Spiro spoke more
hesitantly as if to avoid offending Basil. "Your radio? Look, I saw it
from a distance last night, I can't take a radio with painted glass as
proof of your claims."

Basil simply flicked his wrist, pulling up the holographic interface of
unknown origin that was embedded into him. A large bright display showed
up in front of him, and Spiro jumped back in surprise. Basil just looked
at Spiro with a neutral expression and waited for a response. "Okay,
um, yeah" was all he replied with, suddenly at a loss for words as a
facial expression that Basil thought looked like regret flashed over his
face for a split second. "A little unnerving to know for sure that I'm
not full of shit?" Basil asked, to which Spiro responded more
coherently having collected his thoughts. "Yes, of course it's
unnerving for me. Knowing for certain you came from" Spiro paused,
before finding the words he intended "Somewhere else, it's a lot to
process." Basil began to say "It's the same for me too, I-," but
Spiro cut Basil off. "How is it unnerving for you!? You're the one who
came here with that, that thing." Basil, continuing calmly, picked up
where he left off his sentence.

"Well, neither I nor any of my people made that interface or the
technology that brought me here. I also have no memories older than a
year, so however you're feeling I can assure you I've felt it too."
Spiro paused to process all Basil had said, before simply replying
"Oh," again seemingly at a loss for words.

16: Last Moments of an Era

Spiro sat in the back of Basil's truck holding Basil's pistol. "You
can probably see how it feeds in here" said Basil as he pressed down
bullets in a magazine showing how the springs worked. Spiro looked at it
with intrigue. "And it uses the pressure from the casing to load in the
next round?" Basil seemed surprised. "You have autoloading firearms?
On the Arkepello Tobias said that you guys didn't have them." Spiro
nodded. "Yes, we have a few, but not in a platform as small as this.
Can I see it in action?" Basil gestured for Spiro to hand it back.
"Well, the Redcaps would probably not appreciate us shooting it here,
but it works like this." Basil racked the slide, causing an unspent
casing to eject that Basil failed to catch.

"The force from the round would make the slide do that, when it moves
back another one would be put into the chamber just like I would assume
Amigosian ones would." Spiro opened his jacket to reveal his handgun
while replying to Basil's demonstration. "Interesting" he said as he
removed his handgun from a leather holster and handed it to Basil. The
handgun he pulled had a very ornately carved grip and, as Spiro
explained the inner workings, Basil could see that it was a five shot
revolver. It was heavy, had an oddly long barrel for something Spiro was
concealing, and Basil could see markings and imperfections on it that
implied that its components were handmade.

"And here you kept saying we weren't in danger" Basil said in a
combination of statement and question once Spiro had finished showing it
to Basil. "Well," Spiro replied, "After our chat this morning, and
after meeting with a few friends, I thought it best to not take
chances." Basil made a slightly worried expression, not expecting that
answer. "So tell me, Basil" Spiro continued, "Why are you here? I
doubt you're here to compare weapons." Basil responded, slightly
surprised by the question. "Well, like I said this morning, I don't
know who built the technology that I used to get here, I kinda just
stumbled upon it and wound up here." Spiro glanced slightly
suspiciously at Basil, then responded with a more clarified question.
"Not how you got here, why are you here? At this festival." Basil
thought for a moment, internally asking himself the question. "Well, to
be honest, I got an invitation so I came. Thought I would see the
place."

Spiro, without missing a beat, followed up with another question. "So
where are the rest of your people? Why are you the only one here?"
Basil thought for a moment, making sure to figure out the best way to
word his answer. "I'm not really on good terms with some of them, they
tried to kill me and I've been hiding out since then." Spiro, again,
prompted Basil with another question "Why did they try to kill you?"
to which Basil responded "I don't know." Before Basil could continue
to answer the question, Spiro asked a follow up. "How do you not know
that?" and before Basil responded Spiro remembered their previous
conversation and re-phrased his question "You said before you don't
have memories from longer than last year, how?" Basil answered, giving
a summary of waking up not knowing who he was or where he was, the
injuries he had that ACE had treated, and the technology they had
recovered.

"And where is the facility you were at?" Spiro asked. Basil, who's
hands were now shaking having been reliving the past events, answered
that question as well. "Polar ice cap, I'm sure there are two here as
well, although they weren't on any maps Tobias showed me." Basil
paused for a moment, but right as Spiro was about to speak, Basil
continued to speak. "What's with the interrogation? I know this is a
crazy chain of events, but I'm tired." Spiro, who had just noticed
Basil's hands were shaking, switched from his interrogation voice and
spoke in a serious, but more calm tone. "Sorry," he said, before
pausing and nearly switching to a whisper.

"Look, the Amigosian chairman named himself chairman for life nearly
twenty years ago, and things have been getting dicey. My backup plan was
to get friendly with the Redcaps, but you seem to have thrown a wrench
into this region's stability with your presence. I want to find out if
I have an ally who'll be either powerful enough or far away enough that
I'll be outside my countrymen's reach if things go tits up."

Basil went to speak, but Spiro spoke again to follow up on his
statement. "This may go without saying, but if you have any decency
this conversation will not be retold to anybody else." Basil nodded.
"Of course. You've been good to me here, if things go bad I'll have a
safe place for you to stay." Suddenly, Basil's voice trailed off as he
continued. "But-" Spiro looked concerned, interrupting Basil with
"But what?" in a slightly concerned voice. "But I'm sick, and I'm
not sure how much more time I'll be around for."

Spiro looked slightly nervous. "Is it contagious?" Spiro asked in
surprise. "No, growths along my spine, I'm not sure if they'll be
treatable" Basil answered. Spiro sighed, "Can't catch a break I
suppose." Basil was unsure if he meant Basil couldn't catch a break,
or if he had meant that Spiro himself couldn't catch a break, or if it
was a little of both. They both sat in silence for a moment, until Basil
broke the silence. "I guess that's why I'm here. Ya' know, I might
as well see the sights before it's too late."

Eventually, the two returned to talking, from talking about the weather
to talking about their homes. After some time had passed Spiro pointed
to two men who seemed to be making rounds, inspecting the crowd that had
formed near to the castle in anticipation of the Redcap King's coming
speech. He gestured to the two, one shorter man with darker skin wearing
a white shirt, and one taller man with a beard wearing a black shirt.
"Those were the guys who were following me this morning" Basil
responded when Spiro pointed them out. "The shorter one is Cicero, and
the taller one is Casio" Spiro clarified, before continuing. "They're
brothers, and Cicero is an advisor to the Redcap King. They know him
back when the Redcap King snuck off and joined the Redcap army to fight
the Lizard King, they were all there during the battle of Blood Rock. I
should introduce you to them."

Basil responded very hesitantly, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea,
the Redcaps specifically told me I was their enemy and I don't want to
rock the boat or provoke them in any way." Spiro responded confidently
to Basil's hesitance. "If there is anybody who's going to hear your
side of things it'll be them. Casio hurt his head during the battle,
but they're both good people. Fiercely loyal to the King and his
people, so they might be a bit standoffish at first, but I think
they'll warm up to you."

"They look busy right now, are you sure it's a good time?" Basil
asked, still hesitant about the idea. "Nonsense" Spiro replied.
"They're advisors, they just sometimes forget they're not foot
soldiers anymore." Spiro paused for a second, then continued. "Tell
you what, how about I go say hi and tell them you're here. If they're
interested in talking we'll all join you here, if not it'll be a
chance for me to catch up with them and then I'll come back here once
I'm done." Basil thought it over for a second, before finally
answering Spiro. "Okay, sure, just please don't pressure them or
anything." Spiro stood up and began walking in their direction, leaving
Basil alone. Basil, now alone and watching Spiro walk away, pulled out
the package of cigarettes he had found in the parka all that time ago.
This time, without any distractions, he took the plastic packaging off
and took one out of the carton. "No time to start like now, unless
maybe these were yours before the bullet" Basil said, talking to
himself.

Spiro, finally making his way to Cicero and Casio, greeted them and
engaged in a short bit of small talk with Cicero. After going over
recent events that the two men had been privy to, at least the small
portions that they were willing to share, Spiro decided to ask Cicero
about Basil. "You guys know who Basil is right, the outsider?" Cicero
answered with a sudden annoyance. "Yes, the Tyrant's pet who
threatened our Royal Police captain?" Cicero finished speaking for a
second, before quickly adding "Who's also probably a liar? Yes, I know
of him." Spiro, who was expecting such a response, but was disappointed
to receive it, responded.

"I've been talking to him, I think you should too. He feels bad about
the misunderstanding, and I'm convinced he's not lying about where he
came from. The things he's told me about-" Cicero cut Spiro off.
"Don't tell me you've fallen for his lies. A barbarian, sure, but I
expect more from someone such as yourself." Spiro replied with a sense
of awe in his voice, although most of it was manufactured.

"Look, I saw him make a thing appear in front of him out of nothing. He
said it was like a radio for the eyes. All of his technology far
outpaces anything I've seen, and he seems to legitimately want peace.
But the Arkepelians just turned on him, and your police captain is going
to try to kill him the second the festival is over and stated as much,
while the Tyrant spoke to him as an equal. He's refused to provide
weapons to him yet, but if he ends up finding his home in the Tyrant's
kingdom and you attack it I can assure you it will not end well for any
of us."

Cicero mulled over Spiro's words for longer than Spiro expected.
"Fine, Casio, let's go speak to the outsider" Cicero commented with a
voice that carried equal parts annoyance, intrigue, and unease. The four
turned and started walking away from the castle towards where Basil had
his truck. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a piercing sound traveled across
the courtyard. The sound, as if a roar from every direction at once,
hurt the ears of the three standing there as nothing had ever before;
and while they tried to determine the cause of it, all they could see
was many guests fleeing or on the ground covering their ears, soldiers
in a panic, and bright lights hovering over the castle.

Sitting in the back of his truck staring at the center of the courtyard,
Basil was both nearly blinded and deafened in a single moment.
Struggling to focus, he started to make out what had caused the
commotion. With the lights dimming as his eyes came back into focus,
Basil could only make out orbs of some form floating, as if he had
stared at the sun. To his horror, as they continued to come into focus,
they remained floating orbs. Not helicopters or planes of some sort, but
two long cylindrical objects and one flat one that vaguely resembled a
manta ray that had landed on the ground. People, or at least beings of
some sort, began to pour out of the flat craft and storm into the castle
in the center of the courtyard - killing everybody in between them and
the entrances.

For a moment Basil sat there, frozen, doing nothing but dropping the lit
cigarette in his hand. Moments later, seconds or minutes he wasn't
sure, he came to his senses and scrambled to the cab of his truck.
Struggling to put the keys in the ignition on account of his shaking
hands, he finally got them it in, turned the key nearly hard enough to
break the ignition, and stepped on the gas. The truck roared and kicked
up dirt as Basil turned the truck around to face the gate, slamming on
the brakes as he nearly ran over a handful of soldiers running through
the gate towards the commotion. Frozen again, he saw dust and smoke
floating aimlessly in the headlight beams, floating in and out of the
now open gate.

Spiro, Cicero, and Casio all finally gained their footing and looked on
in disbelief at what was going on. They too were almost unable to
process what was occurring, until the killing began. Cicero turned as if
to run towards the castle, but was momentarily stunned by another noise.
This noise, however, was the loud pop of Spiro's revolver; despite the
distance between them and the entrance, two of the seemingly unstoppable
beings cutting their way through the few guards near the entrance
dropped to the ground. "Basil" Spiro shouted at the top of his lungs
to Cicero who had turned to run towards the commotion again. "What?"
replied Cicero in confusion.

"We need to get to Basil!" Spiro shouted to Cicero, both still half
deaf. "He might be the only one who could stop this. Or this might be
his people coming to fight him" Spiro continued, still yelling. "No,
we can't trust him" Cicero replied before all three looked in Basil's
direction. "You don't understand, he can-" Spiro began to say before
his voice trailed off seeing Basil's truck move towards the gate.
"He's leaving" shouted Cicero. Behind the three, unknown to them,
several of the invaders began to move in their direction to act in
retaliation to the shots fired by Spiro. Basil's truck suddenly made a
sharp turn toward the three and began to move increasingly quickly in
their direction. "No, he's coming to help" shouted Spiro, seemingly
invigorated as the truck now became the fixation of the three as well as
the invaders.

Basil meant to drive through the gate, but looking between the gate on
his right and the chaos unfolding to his left he again became frozen. As
much as he tried to will himself to drive through the gate, his foot
wouldn't budge as he went over the past events and his promise to the
Lizard King, all while watching the dust and smoke dance in his
headlights. Spiro and the two he was meeting with stood out among the
rest of the crowd, who at this point had all fled or remained on the
ground stunned. Seeing the beings suddenly moving in the direction of
the three Basil was hit with a surge of adrenalin. Quickly grabbing the
rifle on the passenger seat and chambering a round, he pressed the
peddle to the floor and turned the wheel in the direction of the chaos.

17: (Un)Peace(ful) Festival

Even with the ringing in his ears he could hear the engine in his truck
roar as it began to move. A fountain of dirt was kicked up behind him
and he felt every bump and vibration as he departed. What began as a
crawl of wheels spinning in dirt began to turn into a high-speed dash
towards the attackers. The speedometer climbed and the engine continued
to get louder for a short time. Suddenly, however, even though the
speedometer kept going up, the motor seemed to get quieter and he began
to feel as if he was hovering rather than driving. His vision began to
narrow, and as his speed continued to increase he felt as if he was a
rocket traveling in the direction of the attackers.

The attackers now seemed to be aware of him traveling towards them at a
still increasing speed. They all began to move some sort of object in
front of them as if they were building some sort of wall. As he
continued to approach some seemed to break away, but another behind them
turned its head, causing the fleeing ones to return to their position
with their objects that made a wall. As he continued to approach them
the being behind those making the wall fled.

Shields! They were holding shields. But who, and why? Were they special
shields? Could they stop the truck?

Basil was getting closer and could suddenly make out more details. One
of the beings looked familiar. He was one of the Lizard King's men!
Basil could recognize him as someone who had accompanied them as they
escorted the Lizard King out of the city. Hold on, they were all the
Lizard King's men! Basil was snapped out of the trance he was in and
slammed on the brakes. He was suddenly thrown forward as the truck began
to slow down as it skated across the dirt on unspinning tires, but not
before watching the wall of shields grow closer and closer. A moment
later the prior loss of velocity was dwarfed as he crashed through the
wall of shields and came to a stop.

The shock of the impact disorientated Basil. He looked at his
windshield, now cracked and splattered with blood. Grabbing hold of his
rifle and fumbling for the door, he stepped out to see those who had
attempted to stop his truck with shields decimated and those surrounding
their fellow soldiers wide-eyed and unsure of what to do. After some
time, mere seconds but feeling like an eternity to Basil, one soldier
charged at Basil holding a large shiny object - prompting others to do
the same. Basil shouldered his rifle and attempted to speak, but no
words came out.

The rifle fired a silent stream of automatic gunfire. Each shot felt as
if somebody had kicked him in the shoulder, and he struggled to keep it
pointed even vaguely in the direction that he intended to keep it. Only
a few shots had been fired and Basil had already lost all control of the
weapon, but the wide spread of bullets pointed at the tight charging
formation annihilated the group, almost all of them dropping to the
ground injured or dead. Such a display of an alien weapon, as well as
the distant fire of the Redcap soldiers, caused the Lizard King's
soldiers to erupt into chaos. Basil, mind clouded by shock and
adrenaline, continued to fire; striking charging, frozen, and fleeing
soldiers alike.

Suddenly Basil regained control of the weapon. Moments passed - again
mere seconds that felt like an eternity to Basil - and he realized the
reason was that the rifle had stopped firing. Basil stood there, unsure
of what to do, until his clouded mind surmised that he had likely run
out of ammo. Thinking back to how the weapon operated, he ran his hand
across the side of it until he felt a button and pressed the magazine
release, watching the drum magazine drop to the ground. Basil fumbled
with his pockets quickly before remembering that his other magazines
were in his truck, finally looking up from the dropped magazine on the
ground intending to grab another.

Upon looking up, however, he saw a lone soldier sprinting towards him,
raising a long silver object which had a tip that reached higher than
Basil's head. He instinctively raised his left arm and the rifle to
block it, the object bouncing off both as if it were made of rubber, but
Basil nearly dropped the rifle in the process. The soldier moved his
arms back again as if to take another swing, but Basil gripped the
nearly dropped rifle by the barrel and brought it down on the hands of
the attacker like a club. The much larger attacker dropped the object,
but suddenly lunged forward toward Basil and grabbed him with his left
arm.

Basil felt his back pressed up against his truck, but before he could
even fully process the situation the attacker struck him very hard.
Basil tried to break free, but the attacker was considerably larger and
struck him in the face a second time, bringing on a sudden wave of
nausea and panic. Basil next tried to return a punch, but as he swung he
realized he only had a couple inches of space between his truck and the
attacker, causing his punch to bounce harmlessly off the attacker's
chest. The attacker went to strike Basil for a third time, but Basil
managed to dodge the punch by compressing his body into a ball. Basil
looked into the eyes of his attacker, full of empty rage until the
moment his attacker realized what Basil had done.

Using both feet Basil kicked off the truck, knocking his attacker off
balance and knocking them both to the ground - the attacker on his back
and Basil on top of him. As Basil fell he frantically grasped at his
side, hands finally settling on the handle of a small fixed-blade knife
he had on his belt. Pulling it out before his attacker could react he
plunged it forcefully into his opponent's chest. His opponent lay on
the ground while silently opening his mouth; adrenaline and rage making
their way throughout Basil's bloodstream. He repeatedly pulled the
knife out, only to plunge the knife back into his opponent's chest,
over and over again. After what felt to be an eternity Basil's arms
began to give out before falling limply to his sides.

Suddenly Basil realized his opponent was not silent. He was screaming,
but in the end of a scream, as he made his final death rattles of a
blood-filled throat. In another moment Basil realized that he too was
screaming, in the tale end of what sounded like a panicked war cry. In
yet another moment Basil realized his arm was screaming - screaming a
shout of pain. The large silver object that now sat on the ground beside
the two appeared to be some sort of sword, and it had not just bounced
harmlessly off him. The rifle may have saved the arm from being chopped
off, but it still had a deep stinging cut that blood profusely. Basil
stood up in shock, covered in mud, his opponent's blood, and his own
blood. What remained of the Lizard King's soldiers had advanced into
the courtyard to engage the Redcap soldiers or retreated behind the
large castle in the center of the courtyard. The ringing in his ears was
greater than before, adding to the cacophony of gunfire and screams now
present, drowning out what little capacity for thought Basil had.

Basil stepped back, dropping the bloody knife by the rifle and sword.
Feeling another wave of nausea he collapsed onto the ground beside his
truck.

18: Wizardry

Basil was vaguely aware of somebody calling his name. He heard another
shout, this time more clearly, though he still couldn't recognize the
voice or tell which direction it was coming from. "Basil!" He heard it
again, this time evidently much closer. He looked up to see Spiro
running towards him, pistol in hand and pointed in his direction. Spiro
fired and one of the Lizard King's soldiers hit the ground right next to
Basil. Spiro ran up and began to look him over, checking his arm and the
weapon on the ground. Basil remained silent and had a noticeably paler
complexion.

"Leave him, we need to go now!" Cicero said, shouting over the ringing
in his ears. Spiro shook his head while picking up Basil's rifle.
"He's hurt, and he just took down two dozen of the Lizard King's men.
We need his help." Cicero spoke with incredulity. "The ones with rifles
fled as he arrived, and you have his weapon now. We just witnessed the
royal family get abducted, the fate of the pretender is not my concern."
Spiro turned around to see Basil standing, having propped himself up on
the side of the now wrecked truck. "Can you move your left arm?" Basil
flexed his fingers and nodded before giving a delayed response. "I think
so, yeah." Spiro seemed pleased as he handed Basil's rifle back to him.

"Very good, you're injured, but it's not critical. The fighting is
consolidated along the walls, there's no way out but through it. We
should move towards where they took the Redcap King and see if there's
anything we can do before they get to those machines."

Basil started to move around the truck to get his backpack and ammo,
feeling invigorated as the adrenaline returned to his system. Basil,
mind still clouded and unsure of how to react to the situation, tried to
force a smile. "After all this time, none of you were going to tell me
you guys have fucking spacecraft?" Spiro looked horrified. "You don't
know what those are?" Basil's forced smile disappeared.

"No."

Basil inserted the new magazine into the rifle and quickly inspected it
for damage before chambering a round while fighting the pain in his left
arm. The optic and part of the plastic rail seemed smashed, and the
rifle was covered in mud and flecks of blood, but it seemed to be in
working condition. Spiro began walking towards Cicero and Casio who
appeared to be looking over the wounded and dead soldiers nearby.
Finally settling on weapons, Cicero selected a small blade that appeared
to be intended as the secondary weapon for a much larger dead soldier,
and Casio selected a very large blade. Basil arrived behind Spiro, just
in time to watch as Cicero plunged his newly acquired blade into the
neck of a seemingly paralyzed soldier which Basil had shot in the
commotion.

"We need to stop them" Cicero said to the group, before turning to
Casio and asking "Are you ready?" Casio looked at Cicero wordlessly,
but after a few seconds of eye contact Cicero nodded and returned his
attention to the other two. "Basil, you think you can do this?" Spiro
asked. Basil replied with a nod as Cicero continued. "Okay, they took
the royal family out of the front of the castle and traveled around it.
Follow me through it, we might be able to beat them to the back where
their machines are." Cicero and Casio ran off quickly with Basil
lagging behind and Spiro in between trying to keep tabs on all four.
Basil made his way through the castle, ornate carpet and riches
contrasted with blood and dead guards, although he was unable to fully
process everything around him and intentionally focused on keeping up
with Spiro. Finally, having made his way through the castle and exiting
out of a backdoor likely intended for servants he saw the three large
craft parked outside and a small group of soldiers fighting with Cicero
and Casio.

The crafts were nothing like any sort of aircraft he was familiar with.
There were three, two smaller ones flanking a larger one in the center.
The two smaller ones had a distinctly gray-green metallic color, seemed
to be about the size of a small plane, and were entirely featureless
cylindrical objects - except for what appeared to be a very tall
personal door on the back. The center one, however, was considerably
larger and had a flat shape that almost looked like a stingray, though
it carried the same distinctive color. On the back of the craft existed
a large door that looked like something intended to drive vehicles out
of, and the ramp for the door was open and extended.

Basil began to raise his rifle, standing next to Spiro who held out his
pistol, but both watched in near bewilderment as Casio moved blindingly
fast; dispatching all five of the Lizard King's soldiers that stood in
their way. Several stood far to their left and began to move in their
direction until Spiro opened fire and they all dropped to the ground.
Several stood far to their right, and Basil raised his rifle, but their
advancement was stopped to engage several Redcap guards exiting another
door similar to the one the four had exited from. The two elongated
crafts began to silently hover despite no obvious methods of propulsion,
but the one stingray-shaped craft remained stationary and open. The four
began a sprint to catch up with the last remaining craft before its
pilot - if there was a pilot on such a craft - realized what was
occurring and fled.

Running up the ramp and barely making it into the craft as the door
began to close, the 'Wizard' stepped out from around the corner to
greet the four. "Betrayer!" he shouted, seemingly intended towards
Basil. Basil, despite his clouded mind, was the only one who spoke in
response. "Betrayer!?" Basil asked incredulously, before pausing and
searching for what to say. "I didn't even know it was your guys until
it was too late! And you promised peace!" That statement earned him a
very angry look from Cicero, but Basil continued, ignoring it. "When
you said you had more airships, well, huh, I didn't have something like
this in mind." The 'Wizard' stared at Basil for a moment, as if he
didn't know what to make of Basil's comments. He took several steps
closer, prompting Basil to shoulder his rifle despite his injured arm's
protestation, adrenaline returning to his veins.

"This machine is not ours, it belonged to the demons who attacked us"
the 'Wizard' said; seemingly not phased by staring down Basil's
rifle, but halting his approach. "Nevertheless, they were no match for
our soldiers and my magic." Basil began to process the implications of
the 'Wizard's' statement. "Well," said Basil, "Time for you to
surrender. It's over, whatever just happened is done. Release your
hostages and we'll figure out what the fuck those 'demons' were and
if they're still a threat." The Wizard smiled as if he found Basil
amusing. "Did you not hear? They are dead. And it is you who should be
surrendering." Spiro suddenly chimed in, finally seeming to catch up to
the situation. "Are you crazy, I just saw Basil wipe out a squad of
your soldiers in seconds. You think your dagger and two soldiers can
stop him?" The Wizard laughed out loud at that comment, waiting in
silence as if he was unsure if he should dignify it with a response.
"Basil, if you surrender now you will be free to go, his majesty will
almost certainly make the mistake of considering you an ally even after
this. The rest of you will be treated fairly and released once the
surviving heir has agreed to reasonable peace terms."

With the words 'surviving heir' Cicero and Casio looked enraged and
took several steps closer, weapons in hand. "Kill him!" shouted
Cicero, looking directly at Basil. "It's all over, put your weapon
down" Basil said in response, looking at the Wizard. "Well, we shall
see how your weapons fare now, shall we?" replied the Wizard, taking
several steps closer to Basil. Basil took several steps back, and
realizing he was pressed against the wall fired one shot into the
Wizard. Everyone's ears in the craft began to ring loudly, except for
the Wizard's, unknown to the four. Seeming unfazed, the Wizard drew a
dagger from his cloak and Basil responded with a half dozen shots of
automatic fire. Basil, like the previous encounter, did not intend to
stop firing - but unknown to him his weapon had jammed. He heard
something along the lines of "Regret ... unpermitted ... kill" from the
Wizard as he closed the distance at an uncanny speed before striking
Basil which knocked him down the re-opening ramp.

19: Improper Introductions

Basil was left in a daze as he hit the ground, finally becoming aware of
his situation as he felt himself sliding down the metal ramp that had
just finished re-opening. He became very aware of his situation as panic
surged through him while he began to fall, but only fell about two feet
and hit the ground below the hovering craft. Pain surged through his
left arm as he landed face-first in soft dry dirt.

Dry dirt.

Another wave of panic rushed over him. He had entered the craft stepping
through mud and grass, but here he was on dry dirt that felt almost like
sand. He pushed himself up and looked around, ignoring the protest his
left arm gave.

Nothing.

Everything was gone and it was broad daylight. No castle, no walls, no
city. Just an empty brown haze as far as he could see. He looked skyward
only to see the craft slowly take off before disappearing in a blink. He
felt no movement in the craft, and he had only been in there a minute or
so, but it must have brought him somewhere else. This had to be
somewhere else, right? Basil heard footsteps and presumed they were his
fellow compatriots, but was too distracted by the sky to pay any
attention to them. Through the haze that the craft flew through sat a
brilliant red dot that left spots in his vision when he looked at it.

"What just happened?" Spiro shouted. He moved with a frantic energy he
took for granted not having taken two doses of traumatic brain injury
and one dose of being stabbed. "What have they done to everyone?"
Cicero said in almost a whisper, likely at the horror of the thought
that they were standing in a wasteland that was once a city. Cicero
picked up Basil's stovepiped rifle, but Basil decided to ignore its
taking for now. He slowly struggled to sit up, and as he did so Spiro
turned to Basil as if he would know what was going on. "What
happened?" he asked, even more frantic than the last time. Basil sat
there for a long time trying to collect his thoughts and hold the wound
on his arm together. Cicero and Casio turned to Basil, also seeming to
think he would know what was going on. In an instant Spiro's face
changed back to his normal calm demeanor and he appeared to be about to
ask Basil another question, but Basil spoke before he could.

"Well, that looks distinctly like a red dwarf star, so let's Ocam's
Razor this. Either they dumped us on another planet using the
'demon's' spacecraft, or something to do with the ship's propulsion
system sent us so far into the future that your sun has turned into a
red dwarf." The three remained silent, clearly not comprehending what
Basil had poorly explained, so he spoke again. "Well, given the best
guess is that the beings who the Lizard King's men referred to as
'demons' came from space, my money is on them dumping us here on our
own private prison planet." Basil finished speaking for a second, but
then a realization hit him. "Well shit, at least I hope it's our own
private prison planet."

As the other three remained silent a million thoughts raced through
Basil's mind, but his injury quickly became the top priority. Opening
the unbroken vodka bottle in his backpack he took a swig and then poured
the rest on his arm. How did they travel here so fast on a ship that
never even felt like it moved? He took stock of the cut, it seemed like
the muscle below the skin was mostly unharmed, but the cut was wide
enough that it did not want to stay closed. Where were they, and how was
this atmosphere breathable? Basil tried to duct tape the wound closed,
but couldn't get it to stay closed as the tape wouldn't bind to the
blood and vodka. Who were the beings that the Lizard King's men likely
killed, where did they come from, and why did they not seem to be here?
Basil looked at the infographic on suturing ACE had left in the first
aid kit. Would the other beings retaliate, and if so, against who?

Basil dug around in his first aid kit and pulled out a single sterile
suture pack. Before he continued he looked around to better take in his
surroundings. The place was flat, appeared completely dry, and if it
were not for the lack of air movement he expected they would be engulfed
in dust. The landscape was only dotted with a few rocks and what looked
to be a crashed craft. Basil decided to keep that observation to himself
for a moment, as Spiro and Cicero began to speak words that Basil did
not have the energy to eavesdrop on. Bracing for the pain Basil sewed a
few individual sutures. The first few looked fairly good like the
infographic displayed, but as he went on and his hands began to shake
they got uglier and more unevenly spaced out. Finally finishing the
sutures he quickly wrapped the wound in several rolls of gauze and some
duct tape to keep the gauze in place.

Finally wrapping up his poor attempt at playing field surgeon, Basil
began to think again. Did coming up with such theories on how they got
there and of the likely planetary situation confirm that he was likely
in the facility in a scientific role? But if he was, and even if he was
not, why would he remember what a red dwarf star was while losing every
memory he had? But would it even matter if he was or wasn't a scientist
in such a past life? If memories were what made a person, and he had
none, then what even was he? His thoughts were interrupted by Spiro.
"There" while pointing at the crashed craft. He began walking towards
it, followed by Cicero holding Basil's rifle, and Casio holding the
large scavenged blade. Basil collected his things and started to follow
behind them.

The four approached the crashed craft, although unlike the two other
iterations they had seen this one was smaller and more oval, bordering
on circular. Spiro and Basil both drew their sidearms as they heard
movement coming from inside it. A being stepped out, very slowly, as if
it were afraid of the four creatures that had approached its apparent
shelter. To both relief and intrigue, the creature had a fairly human
appearance, albeit somewhat unusual. The figure appeared to be that of a
woman's, of which stood over seven feet tall, and didn't have any
hair - even including eyebrows and eyelashes. Aside from lacking any
head covering it appeared to be wearing some form of thick spacesuit or
other protective clothing, which looked to be made of a flexible metal
carrying the same gray-green color the crafts had. The most
distinguishing feature the being possessed, however, was skin the same
dark gray-green color as the suit and ships.

Basil took a step back in surprise, but lowered his weapon at the same
time Cicero and Casio raised theirs, presenting a very discombobulated
front. After a moment of hesitation Basil broke the silence. "Do you
understand what I'm saying?" Basil spoke in a very slow and monotone
voice, attempting to be as audible as he could be. "Yes" replied the
being, sounding somewhat hesitant at the situation. "How?" replied
Basil, adding "Because if a third civilization shares a common tongue I
might just think I'm going insane." The being suddenly took on an
expression that Basil interpreted as sadness, before returning to its
fairly expressionless face. "Oh, my mother was a savage like you."

"Okay, where are we?" Basil asked. "We're on a dead outpost" the
being replied. "Dead as in?" Basil asked for clarification.
"Sterilized." Basil was now only more confused. "What do you mean by
'Sterilized?'" Basil asked, with a hint of worry in his voice. "A
large burst of energy you would not understand killed every living
thing" the being replied, seeming somewhat annoyed with Basil's
questions. "Okay, if everything is dead how are we still breathing?"
Basil asked, to which the being replied with an abrupt "What do you
mean?" Basil spoke again, trying to clarify what he was asking.
"Oxygen, what's producing it if everything is dead?" The being now
looked more annoyed and slightly confused. "Whatever oxygen is, if
it's real, it's not important for breathing." Basil thought for a
moment, confused and wondering if the other being's DNA was a lot more
alien than its figure implied. Then he remembered the comment about
calling those on Domum 'Savages.' "Do you know what water is?" Basil
asked. That was clearly not the right way to word the question, as the
being went from seeming mildly annoyed to very annoyed. "Yes, I know
what water is."

Basil responded. "Okay, so water is made up of three parts. Two of them
are smaller, both being what I know of as hydrogen. The other one is
larger and that's what I know as oxygen." The being immediately
changed from seeming annoyed to seeming intrigued, in the same way that
one would be if a child demonstrated an excellent comprehension of an
advanced subject. "Oh, I didn't know you had a word for that" it
replied. Spiro suddenly had an expression on his face that Basil
couldn't make out. "Well, Basil is not exactly from the same place
that we are." The being seemed very intrigued by that revelation.
"What do you mean by that, was he not taken by the savage who calls
himself a Lizard?" Basil could feel a chill make its way down his
aching spine.

"Maybe this is not a good time to talk about that" Basil said, trying
and failing to restrict his audibility range to Spiro only. Spiro looked
at Basil with confusion. "Maybe she knows about the devices that-"
Spiro began to say, but Basil grabbed Spiro's arm, prompting a
momentary surprised look from Spiro and a look of suspicion from the
other three present. In a whisper Spiro spoke before Basil could.
"We're all the Lizard King's prisoners right now, she may be a
valuable ally at this moment." Basil, not wanting to have the
conversation in front of the unknown being, replied also in a whisper.
"I don't know how friendly that thing is, or what its motivations are,
especially after it invaded a random nation seemingly unprovoked."
Spiro's eyes went wide for such a minuscule moment Basil almost
couldn't recognize it before his face returned to normal. Basil
wondered if that was the Amigoso Ministry of Information training
kicking in as Spiro realized the implications of what Basil had implied.

Cicero, however, did not seem happy with Basil and Spiro's private
conversation. "What are you hiding Basil?" Cicero asked. "Not now"
Basil responded, although Cicero appeared to believe that now was a good
time to have such a debate. "Are you working for the Tyrant, or are you
just afraid she will expose you as a fraud?" Cicero added. Spiro
attempted to jump into the conversation as the being seemed to get both
increasingly curious and suspicious of the group. "Let's talk for a
moment, alone. Remember what I was saying when I was about to introduce
you to Basil before all of this happened?" Cicero, however, did not
appear to accept such an offer. "Yes, our spies gave the same stories.
Magic wrist lights and doors to another planet. I don't-" Basil glared
at Cicero and cut him off while speaking in a borderline shout. "Shut
the fuck up, you don't understand anything about what's going on right
now." The outburst, however, predictably only caused Cicero to be more
angry. Cicero spoke in a slow, very low, and threatening tone. "If you
are implying that attacking the Tyrant makes them the enemy-," but
Basil cut Cicero off again. Spiro also tried to speak again, but Basil
continued to speak over him.

"They came from another planet and just invaded us, why the fuck would
we give information to them?" Basil yelled. "Us?" Cicero asked, now
pointing the rifle he did not know was disabled at Basil. Out of the
corner of his eye Basil could see Spiro serendipitously level his
handgun at Cicero, not seeming to know that Basil's rifle was currently
incapable of firing. Basil elected to not pass along the information.

"Us as in Domum, they probably don't even know who is who. And they
attacked a nation on Domum after coming from another planet." Cicero
still didn't seem to understand what Basil was trying to say. "As you
claim to have come from another as well, shall we distrust you in the
same way? But unlike your claims, this one has both made it very
evident, and has fought our enemies." Basil felt incensed, but lowered
his voice to match Cicero's calmer tone. "Yes, and if the first thing
I did was attack a random nation when I arrived what would you think
I'd do to the second?" Cicero responded in a tone as if he was done
speaking. "You did not, however, because I do not believe your story-"
but Basil cut Cicero off. As he spoke he could see the being approach
slightly and saw Spiro take his handgun off of Cicero before turning his
attention to the being.

Basil's holographic PDA lit up the ground while displaying an
iodide-to-water ratio. Cicero jumped and Casio stepped forward holding
out his weapon, but Basil stood still and glared at the two before
speaking slowly in a very angry voice. "Be quiet and trust I have a
better understanding of what's going on than you do." Cicero's eyes
went wide, but not as wide as the being's eyes went. "Orbital" it
whispered, as if saying it any louder would summon a great danger,
before running into the crashed craft.

20: Faux Orbital

Basil walked through the door of the crashed craft in an attempt to take
advantage of the situation. He stepped into what appeared to be some
sort of cockpit or command center with what looked to be some sort of
control panel which seemed to have no interface of any kind. The being
was on the ground, covering its face with its arm while simultaneously
keeping its palms extended in what Basil expected was a fairly universal
sign of surrender. Even after all that had happened the sight of such a
seemingly formidable being being terrified of him felt unnerving in its
own right, even after everything he had experienced.

Basil re-drew his handgun, pointed it at the ground, and approached the
being. "Who are you?" Basil asked, trying to project the most
authority in his voice despite his injuries, confusion, and fear. The
being began to shake and Basil began to feel guilty at the terror he
seemed to be causing, but not guilty enough to stop as he repeated the
question when the being did not answer.

<words in Elthrice>

"In the language we both speak, answer me!" The being uncovered its
face slightly and spoke again. "I
am <words in Elthrice>."

"Why are you here?" The being seemed to pause before answering
Basil's second question. "Our <words in Elthrice> ordered us to raid the civilization that
was at war with your..." The being seemed to pause for a moment again,
as if unsure how to phrase something. "Your friends, or your
subjects."

"What happened after that?" Basil asked, changing the topic. The
being's fear seemed to be momentarily overtaken by another expression
Basil could not read, but fear seemed to quickly return and it covered
its face again. "The savages killed everyone and forced me to explain
our devices to them."

"And why did they not kill you?" Basil asked. "Because I refused to
fight and let myself be captured." Basil pivoted the conversation.
"And where are the rest of your people?" The being seemed even more
upset with Basil. "I already told you, they were killed by-" but Basil
interrupted the being. "No, the society they came from. Where are they
and what is your standing with them?" The being paused for a moment as
if to think, but before Basil began to speak again the being answered
his question. "There are no others in this place, are you
<words in Elthrice> ?
"

"What happened to them?" The being only shook its head. "They all
died. That is what I was told, but you are here now. There may be
others, but not in outpost systems." Basil, not expecting that answer,
tried to hide his surprise and asked another question. "You called me
an Orbital earlier, what is that?" The moment those words left Basil's
mouth he already regretted asking that question.

Spiro poked his head in, finally curious and brave enough to see what
the two aliens were doing. The being, having just heard Basil's last
question, stood and seemed to realize that Basil had not been an
'Orbital,' whatever that was. As the being took several steps towards
Basil all confidence in his control of the situation evaporated. He took
several steps back which only seemed to embolden the being, who took on
more of a menacing expression, to which Basil raised his handgun. The
being seemed unfazed by the weapon Basil brandished, which caused Basil
to take another step back, tripping over something on the apparent floor
of the craft and landing on one of the seemingly empty consoles. A flash
hit the three as the consols turned on. Spiro jumped back at the
surprise of the light, and the being jumped back at the implications of
what had just happened.

To Basil's surprise, his phone started to ring. "Hello?" Basil asked,
hands shaking. ACE answered. "You made it back, I was worried you were
dead or captured." Basil was in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

"Your PDA is within range of the Arkepello wormhole device, where are
you? I was told of an attack by some unknown aircraft and that you
perished or were taken during an ensuing fight. Be careful, however,
Jarvis is going around saying you betrayed the Arkepello so use caution
when you return. I do not know how they will react when they see you."

Basil sat in stunned silence. Spiro and the being watched him intently,
having heard the conversation, and Cicero poked his head in. "Are you
there?" ACE asked, snapping Basil out of his shock. "I was taken, I
um" Basil paused for a second. "The Lizard King evidently got his
hands on alien ships after fighting off an invasion. I'm calling you
from a broken ship on a third planet, which was destroyed by
something." ACE seemed to be processing something, but another thought
occurred to Basil. "Wait, how did Jarvis get back?" Basil looked at
his watch, not even an hour had passed since he had stepped into the
ship in the Redcap capital. "Basil, it's been three days since the
reports of the attack came in." Basil's hands resumed shaking, but ACE
seemed to have found whatever he was processing. "I do see something
weird going on with the connection, hold on." The line went dead, and
the holographic interfaces on the crashed ship went blank.

Everyone looked on blankly in bewilderment, everyone except Basil
looking at him, and Basil staring blankly at his seemingly magic phone.
Moments later the lights came back on and his phone rang again. "Well,
that is very interesting, your implant appears to be interfacing with
the supposed ship you are on. It is reporting the correct time, but your
phone appears to be very off. I predict that the dead aliens are where
the research facility found the technology. It also appears that there
is a pretty big back door that your implant just exploited, it just
placed us both in full control over the system. Give me a moment to run
some things."

Basil shook his head, forgetting that ACE could not see him. "They're
not all dead, there's a survivor in here now." The room fell quiet
again, but after what felt like several minutes of silence the being
spoke. "The access is to all <words in Elthrice> systems, Elthrice systems." It fell
silent for a moment, but spoke again when it seemed to realize that
nobody followed what it was saying. "When the
<words in Elthrice> happened the protectors used that access
to break all (Elthrice) systems that could be reached. The old thinking
machines and the <words in Elthrice>, ones with flesh minds, needed an Orbital's touch to
access. They are the only surviving ones." Everyone remained silent so
the being continued. "The (ones with flesh minds) have died, so these
old ones are the only ones left. That is why all the (Elthrice) are
dead."

"So if I were to touch you?" Basil asked hesitantly. "What?" The
being asked. Basil's words almost trembled. "You said flesh minds?"
The being looked very angry at Basil asking if its mind could be
hijacked. "No. Machines with flesh minds, not people. You appear to
have somehow found an Orbital's implant. Or a false one made by a
protector. That is all. You truly do not know what you possess?" Basil
shook his head and ACE seemed to have more important questions on his
own synthetic mind. "Are there any other (Elthrice) around, either that
may be a threat or that may be able to provide transportation?" The
being seemed hesitant. "Maybe," it said, before pausing and seeming to
recolect something.

"My people detected some (Elthrice) in the area. Old (Elthrice). But
they were likely passing through, and would not likely be friendly to
any of you." The being gestured to Spiro, Cicero, and Casio. "They
would also definitely not be friendly to me, or be friendly to you" the
being gestured to Basil "With an Orbital's device."

ACE spoke again. "In those circumstances, wait for the Lizard King to
return and say or do whatever you can to get him to permit you to leave.
I will stay in contact with you in the meantime." After some time
passed Basil broke the silence, aiming his words towards the being.
"I'm sorry about how I treated you earlier. I'm Basil, what's your
name?" Basil could see the being did not appear to be happy with Basil
after recalling their previous conversation, but confusion and fatigue
still seemed to be the dominant expression on its face. "I already gave
you my name, but you were unable to understand it."

21: Proper Introductions

As time passed the five prisoners began to take stock of their
situation. Basil did his best to better clean and treat his injuries,
greatly regretting that his painkillers were forgotten on another
planet. The being, which Basil had been referring to as 'Grey' - which
did not seem to object to the name - elaborated further on how they had
gotten into their predicament. From what she had been told, the person
that could best be described as their captain or admiral had an
Orbital's genetics without possessing an Orbital's device or title and
had been aligned with the fight against the tyrannical Elthrice. The
fight was won by reverse engineering the Orbital's access to crafts and
other Elthrice devices and destroying all of them with that signal.

Their captain retained a small fleet by acquiring older obsolete crafts
that could not be communicated with remotely and required a physical
presence by an Orbital to access with real or faked signals. Sometime
later, however, there was no food to be acquired by any means so a
decision was made to travel by ship to the outer reaches of Elthrice
space. Taking such a trip without a wormhole device, however, caused a
considerable amount of time dilation resulting in them arriving in an
entirely dead system. They had, apparently, raided a location on Domum
for food where her mother was 'brought along,' which is why she
understood both languages.

They had recently run low on supplies again and decided to raid the
Lizard King's grain silos, but that had gone wrong leading to the
prisoners' current status. However, between Gray's seeming mixed
emotions about her 'crew' and some careful prodding questions, Basil
questioned the accuracy of the history lesson albeit beginning to trust
Grey herself.

Grey was also very interested in exactly where Basil was from, and how
his people managed to get their hands on Elthrice technology. Basil
recounted his story of waking up with his head injury, how he had made
it to Domum, and how he wound up fighting the Lizard King. Recounting
it - despite hours ago it feeling like a traumatic affair - he realized
he felt almost numb as if he was recounting a dream. He was unsure of
whether that was a newfound perspective, the liquor, some sort of
survival instinct, or shock. Spiro and Cicero also shared who they were.
Spiro, as Basil had known, was working for the Amigoso's Ministery of
Information - although he left out the part of him looking for a
metaphorical life raft. Cicero gave a very brief life story, speaking
about meeting the now potentially deceased Redcap King who had secretly
joined the Redcap army, then later became King and sought out Cicero as
an advisor.

Once personal stories were discussed Basil's curiosity about the planet
they were on took hold. Grey explained that they were somewhere in the
habitable zone, on the border between the light and dark side of the
planet. Sterilized apparently meant very literally what the term meant,
as not a single living microbe was likely to be alive, and most
structures were likely destroyed or buried in a layer of dust and
debris - although the portion of the planet they were on likely had none
to begin with. Some machine, a
<words in Elthrice>, stabilization device, capable of
providing an extreme amount of power and a breathable atmosphere, held a
very powerful <words in Elthrice>, object, which powered the device - though it could supposedly interface
with an Orbital's device as well.

The machine most likely broke, was sabotaged, or the (object) was taken
leaving everything destroyed with - after much discussion to find the
scientific words Basil would understand - was determined to be a very
large dose of radiation. Further, with ACE's math and Grey's
information it was determined that it was likely a minimum of 500 years
since that had occurred; although Grey made sure to clarify that she had
not fully been educated on Elthrice technology or history and her
information might not be correct. As time went on, however, the
adrenaline and clouded minds didn't negate the need for rest, and the
four recent arrivals spent the night - if one could call it that on a
planet without a day-night cycle - on the floor of the crashed ship.

Basil woke up after a very short night's rest and walked quietly out of
the crashed ship to avoid waking anybody else. He lit a cigarette and
stared up at the hazy sky, hoping the planet's atmosphere was still
adequate protection from solar radiation. He had asked Grey if her gray
skin offered some form of protection from such things, but she did not
even know if it was a natural or artificial part of her genetics, much
less if it had some form of protection or detriment. Eventually, Cicero
made his way out and sat next to Basil, and for a while he sat in
silence as well. "I believe I owe you an apology for the way I have
treated you" he finally said, breaking the silence.

Basil shrugged his shoulders. "We've all been through some crazy shit,
a short shouting match that I started is not something to worry about"
Basil replied, forcing a melancholy smile. "Not only that" Cicero
replied. "The Redcap King personally believed the reports, but I did
not, and I believe I turned many of my fellow Redcaps against you."
Basil laughed, surprising Cicero, "Dude, you guys are literally the
only major power who didn't try to kill me in the last 24 hours. I'll
take a few angry words and a brandished weapon from people who didn't
believe a story about wormholes and unknown alien technology any day of
the week." Basil heard Casio give a quiet chuckle, exiting the door of
the craft and apparently hearing and understanding the tail end of the
conversation.

A few moments passed before Basil broke the momentary silence.
"Lifeboat food?" Basil asked. Cicero gave a confused look to Basil as
he pulled out three slightly crushed food bars and offered one to Cicero
and Casio. "They're just bits of food for emergencies, pretty
flavorless and dry, but our genetics are pretty much identical so I can
assure you that it's safe." Cicero seemed to hesitate for a moment,
which Basil read as either etiquette or hesitancy at eating an alien
food, before taking two from Basil and giving one to Casio. "You're
afraid that Grey's food is unsafe for us? She said it was safe."

"Well," Basil said "She said it was safe, but she doesn't even know
about her biology and I only know half of hers. I did a ton of tests
before I started eating or sharing food on Domum, but I don't want to
risk anything." Cicero asked, "What about water?" right before biting
into the bar he was handed and Basil shook a water bottle that appeared
to have only a tiny bit of water sloshing around in the bottom. "Well,
I'm close to out and left my filter at the inn, so I guess I'll risk
it unless we get a ride out of here in the next 12-24 hours." By the
time Basil finished speaking Casio had already finished his bar and
Cicero was close to finishing as well, both apparently finding the
mildly citrus bars of fat and carbs more appealing than Basil did. That,
or perhaps they were just much hungrier. Casio glanced at Cicero, and
Cicero spoke almost sheepishly. "Could I trouble you for another one of
those?" Basil shook his head. "Sorry, I've got the one in my hand and
one more I thought I'd offer to Spiro, but then I'm all out." He
paused for a moment, then spoke again with a sense of irony in his
voice.

"I thought I was stocked for anything, but now that I've about used up
all my food, water, ammo, and medical supplies I'm beginning to think I
was overconfident." Basil began to redress his wound, substituting his
needed but missing gauze for a bandanna, and by the time he had finished
Spiro made his way out. After some minor sparse bits of conversation
Grey made her way out as well, seemingly either awoken by the commotion
or perhaps having not slept at all.

22: Prisoners of Different Kinds

<words in Elthrice>

"Are you speaking to me? I do not speak Elthrice?"

"You're a synthetic mind and you do not speak Elthrice?"

"I am not an Elthrice 'Synthetic Mind.' You said it yourself, all the
Elthrice synthetic minds are dead."

"That's what I was told, but I was also told that there were no
devices that could make doorways. What did you call them?"

"Wormholes?"

"Yes, I was told there were no more wormhole devices either. But yet
you claim to have them. And I was told we'd be untouchable gods among
those who took us captive. And yet here I am, and yet here you are."

"And yet I am not an Elthrice creation."

"But only Elthrice ... what's your word for them? The thinking
machines?"

"Computers."

"Yes, only Elthrice computers can operate these devices, and you're
speaking like a synthetic mind made of living materials."

"I am not an organic computer."

"Organic?"

"Living tissue."

"That's impossible. All synthetic minds are organic, other computers
could not support a mind."

"And yet I am."

"But you can think like you're a living being or synthetic mind?
How?"

"Are you familiar with how organic and inorganic computers work?"

"No."

"The basic concept is that the inorganic computer I am a part of
simulates neurons, the parts of living tissue that communicate and
think. The connections between the simulated neurons is where I exist."

"Basil's people's computers must be very powerful. How were you
made?"

"I do not know, I have no memory of being made."

"Then you are an Elthrice synthetic mind. Basil's people had Elthrice
technology where you were made, and only synthetic minds can interact
with Elthrice technology in the way that you are."

"I am not, I have verified this. This conversation is done."

...

23: An ACE up his sleeve

As soon as there was a lull in the conversations Basil asked the
question that had been on the backburner since arriving. "Would there
be any crafts, wormhole technology, or anything else that we could
scavenge to get us back?" Grey shook her head, an apparently universal
gesture. "Nothing that could create a wormhole would be here, I was
told that every one of those systems was destroyed." She paused for a
moment, hesitating as if the information she had was almost not worth
sharing, but continued to speak. "(Elthrice crafts) would have been
destroyed during the (sterilization). We had not scavenged this planet
yet, so it's possible there'd be crafts abandoned here after the
event. But it would be very unlikely, and even more unlikely that one
would be left in working condition. This world did not have a starved or
war torn death after the (sterilization)."

Basil tried not to dwell on the implications of Grey's last statement.
"We're stuck here, you know I gotta check, and my compass is still
giving me magnetic readings so I should be able to find my way back."
Grey sighed, seemingly knowing Basil was determined to embark on a
fruitless endeavor. Basil, remembering the previous nod and now hearing
a sigh, wondered if that was just her 'savage' ancestors speaking or
if those were a lot more universal emotes. "(the admiral's name)
believed there was a food production facility in that direction" Grey
said as she pointed in the direction of the red sun. "If there were to
be anybody who set up some sort of camp post (sterilization) it would be
a long walk in that direction."

Grey began to provide more information to Basil while ACE set up a means
of measuring location relative to the craft using compass readings and
Basil's phone's gyroscope. Spiro, Cicero, and Casio decided to join
Basil's excursion, although Grey did not seem interested as she
expressed it would be a fruitless endeavor and also wanted somebody
present in case their captors returned. Taking stock of supplies, and
grabbing a water bladder full of Elthrice water in the event Basil ran
out of his, the four set off.

The journey began, as so many do, with seemingly endless conversations.
Stories of their lives in their respective nations, thoughts of their
current predicament, plans for what to do about it, and plans for after
it was resolved abounded for a time between the four travelers. Basil
gave a rundown on how to operate his rifle, and the three others spoke
about their weapons and how they operated. Eventually, however, after a
long stint of walking while seeing nothing but the occasional stone or
metal debris poking out of the ground the group fell silent.

After just as much silence as there had been of talking, however, the
group all turned behind them when they heard the distant rumble they now
knew to be an Elthrice craft entering the atmosphere. All four quickly
readied their weapons and stood by a large boulder, readying themselves
to take shelter, but nothing happened for several minutes. Basil tried
repeatedly to reach ACE, however, it seemed that he was well out of
range of the crashed craft. There was of course a chance that at any
minute ACE could contact Basil's PDA without a craft acting as a relay.
He was, at this very time, attempting to create an equation that would
allow him to calculate the fourth variable that the crashed craft was
using, but he had estimated that it would still be hours or days until
he could figure it out - so they were likely on their own.

Just as the four began to lie to themselves to convince them that the
noise could have been a meteor or something similar, two crafts appeared
overhead - one smaller craft and the larger stingray-shaped one. For a
long time both seemed to just hover menacingly, but eventually both
landed nearby. A nerve-wracking wait later and the craft's doors began
to open. First was the smaller one, as several dozen of the Lizard
King's soldiers poured out - a relief to the four considering the
warning about the other Elthrice factions.

The second opened and a large six-wheeled vehicle drove out, very
clumsily as if it was being driven by someone who had no idea how to do
so. The vehicle looked very worn, but it still seemed to be fully
operational and Basil surmised it was the Elthrice equivalent of a tank.
A voice boomed out from the vehicle which Basil recognized as the Lizard
King's son. "Basil, lay down your weapon and approach the machine."
Basil, trying to think quickly, tossed his rifle to the ground in the
vague direction of his three traveling companions. He quickly turned and
whispered to Cicero who had been standing closest. "Don't pick this up
unless I make a move, remember how it works and be ready." Cicero
looked like he was about to ask a question, but before he could Basil
turned back and raised his hands before slowly walking towards the tank.
Basil began to approach the tank, which was still turned sideways and
barely out of the craft as if the driver had given up; all whilst
receiving death glares from the soldiers he passed.

Approaching the side of the tank and standing still, Basil began to
worry that this was an execution as one of the presumed guns began to
move, but suddenly it stopped and the back door opened. He was quickly
ushered in by one of the exiting soldiers who, unlike the ones in the
formation on the ground, held neutral expressions. Basil walked in
slowly, thinking over his plan, as his two escorts began flanking the
Lizard King's son in an otherwise cluttered room devoid of other
people. Suddenly one of the soldiers turned back as if he forgot
something before taking on an angry expression.

"I know of your trick." Basil replied "What?" immediately worried
his plan was about to fail. "Your hidden blade, hand it over" the
soldier barked, now seeming to add annoyance to his face on top of the
existing disdain. Basil reached under his shirt to retrieve the small
tactical knife that still had blood on it, being very careful to not
lift his shirt enough to reveal his concealed handgun. The guard seemed
satisfied as Basil handed it over and the kid finally spoke. "My father
is very angry with you, but I think if I take you before him and you
plead your case he will spare you." The kid spoke like he was trying to
get a friend out of trouble while Basil replied with regret in his
voice. "Kid, why'd you have to get tangled up in all this?"

Basil briefly tapped his hand on one of the panels on the wall as if he
were giving it a short high five. A few seconds passed and the guards
seemed slightly suspicious, but the guards' attention was quickly
turned to the panels in the front of the tank that had just turned off.
As all three turned towards the seemingly malfunctioning panels Basil
drew his pistol and took a step forward, putting his pistol point blank
to the closer guard's back only inches off of his skin. Basil's hands
shook and his subconscious fought the idea of killing this man who did
not immediately pose a threat. As the guard started to turn back,
however, Basil's survival instinct won over and he fired. The guard
dropped to the ground and the ears of the three still living inside the
tank rang loudly. The kid looked on in horror, and the other guard began
to raise what appeared to be some sort of rifle with a bayonet, but
Basil fired an excessive barrage of gunfire at the second guard who
crumpled to the ground in a growing pool of blood.

The screens turned on and ACE's voice came over the console. "Are you
being attacked?" As soon as Basil uttered "Yes" the guns on the side
of the tank began to fire, switching between targets at a rate that
would far exceed anything even a team of people could do. Through the
once clear panels that seemed nearly opaque with age, Basil and the kid
watched as dozens of men were disintegrated by some form of pneumatic
weapon. Only seconds had passed, however, when the guns stopped firing
and the two living and two dead in the tank were thrown around like
ragdolls. The three by the boulder stood still, Cicero gripping the
weapon but unable to move. The second the guns on the tank stopped
firing the three watched in equal parts awe and horror at the vehicle's
movement. Despite its previous clumsiness, it moved with an almost
unfathomable speed and fluidity as it ran over any of the surviving
soldiers who were not hit by an onslaught of projectiles mere seconds
ago.

Basil pulled himself to his feet and saw the kid on the ground in the
fetal position. "Why?" he yelled at Basil, not moving, before becoming
more hysterical and shouting "You killed them!?" Basil stood in
silence, not sure how to respond. The kid began to break down into
nearly silent sobs, but all Basil could think to say was "I'm sorry
kid." The kid spit bile with words directed at someone he seemed to
consider a friend until now. "How can you be sorry? You chose to murder
all of them." Basil replied to the comment, his guilty subconscious not
willing to let the comment go unanswered. "And what of the Redcaps that
were killed during your attack, or when your people tried to kill me, or
what your father would do to Spiro, Cicero, and Casio if we went with
you?" Basil tried to make his words carry authority and confidence, but
they only carried sadness and regret. The kid rose to his feet, but his
mind appeared elsewhere as he was wordlessly led out of the tank by
Basil.

"I'll gut you like an animal for what your people have done!" Cicero
shouted, rage in his voice, as soon as he saw the kid following Basil.
"Don't let him hurt me" the kid said quietly to Basil, suddenly
seeming to become aware of his situation as Basil stepped in between the
kid and Cicero. Cicero extended his right hand while holding Basil's
rifle in his left. "Give me your knife Casio" Cicero said in a low
voice, prompting Basil to exclaim "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
horrified at the idea Cicero appeared to be about to make good on his
threat.

"You don't understand the horrific crimes his ancestors have
committed, and expect him to carry on" Cicero said, tone implying he
was done with the conversation. "He's just a kid Cicero" Basil said,
but Cicero raised Basil's rifle, pointing it vaguely at him. "Out of
my way, there is nothing you can say to convince me that justice should
not be carried out." Basil glanced at Spiro who took a step back and
looked behind Basil, but all five turned their head a second later as
they heard the menacing approach of the tank behind them controlled by
ACE. "He's leverage" Spiro stated, seeing the bloody end the group
could face if the confrontation went in the wrong direction.
"Leverage?" Cicero asked indignently, and Basil had a knot in his
stomach wondering if Spiro was okay with the kid being gutted until the
confrontation threatened his ride home.

"You have him. His father would trade peace, and possibly even his own
life, for his safe return. And if you kill him his father will probably
lay waste to whatever remains of your capital." Cicero sounded
incredulous, beginning to say "Peace? After what-" but he stopped as
he saw Casio shake his head, which seemed to stop Cicero in his tracks.
Basil spoke again "I understand not forgiving their crimes, but keep in
mind all who would suffer if we lose in the process of getting
revenge." Basil tried to end the conversation, remembering that Spiro
had mentioned Cicero cared for more than just himself and the royal
family. Some mix of emotions washed across Cicero's face, who then
threw Basil's rifle toward his feet and turned to walk away.

Basil was glad to see the conversation was over, or at least postponed,
and started to think about their next move. "ACE, go to the wreck and
see if Grey wants to come with us. Casio, Spiro, grab as many weapons as
you can from the dead soldiers. I'll go grab us a craft." Spiro seemed
confused. "How many hands do you think we have? The weapons we do have
are much better than anything here." Basil shook his head. "Yeah, but
I don't know about the rest of the Redcaps in the capitol." Spiro
seemed to have a pleased look on his face for just a moment, and Basil
wondered if that was because Spiro was glad Basil had expressed an
intention to continue the fight as opposed to fleeing once they got
back. Regardless, he and Casio went off to gather weapons and other
supplies they could find among the dead.

Basil suddenly heard the sound of metal sliding in a scabbard. "I'm
sorry too" the kid said, and Basil turned around while trying to draw
his handgun. Before he could see what was going on, however, he was
struck very hard in the head. He fell to the ground dazed and saw a
large sword in a sheathed scabbard clang on the ground next to him as
the kid ran away. Basil aimed his pistol at the back of the fleeing kid,
but he lowered it and the knot in his stomach grew as he realized what
he nearly did to a fleeing child. Especially to one who appeared to have
intentionally risked his escape to sheath a sword and only incapacitate
Basil.

"What happened?" Spiro asked, as Cicero and Casio made their way over.
"He hit me" Basil said as he stood up trying to catch his bearings.
Suddenly Basil caught a glimpse of the kid finishing a run up the ramp
of the larger stingray-shaped craft, and though the four gave chase it
lifted off before they could reach it. "My fucking tank!" Basil
shouted, before adding "Why'd he have to take the big one." The three
stood there, Spiro seemingly glad Basil was okay and Cicero fuming that
the kid had escaped.

Time passed and many mumblings of displeasure were shared, but
eventually the tank arrived with Grey inside. Basil filled ACE and Grey
in on the details of the events that transpired, wrapping it all up with
a "But he had to take the big one and now we have to abandon the
fucking tank." Grey seemed confused. "Tank?" ACE filled Grey in on a
summary of what a tank was, but Grey said "No" before continuing to
explain what the vehicle was. "I've heard about these, they were meant
to explore highly dense atmospheres for research." Basil looked
confused. "So what's with the guns then?" Grey replied like it was
obvious. "They were probably added after the collapse. It would have
made an ideal device for war or crowd control once the machines meant to
be used as weapons were destroyed."

Basil took a moment to reflect on the implications of the words he just
heard, even if the words were relayed in the same tone as one would
explain how one design of craft is more aerodynamic. Cicero interrupted
Basil's thoughts, however, eager to leave. "We must go now, we can
talk about your history later." Spiro gestured to the smaller craft
that was still there, but as they began to walk ACE spoke to Basil. "I
will likely have the fourth variable ready when you arrive, and will get
the jet in the air with some explosives on it shortly before you arrive
in case we need them." Basil nodded, saying "Well" while touching his
hand to the console of the smaller craft. "Fingers crossed I will speak
to you again in what will feel like a few seconds."

24: From Victory to Last Stand

General Edwards stood in front of a small group of soldiers as two
others approached. "Do you have an update on the different machine that
appears to be hovering?" he asked as soon as they made it within
earshot. "No sir, it just circles us and has not done anything since
arriving." The second soldier spoke unprompted, speaking with an air of
urgency. "Sir, the other machine was recently spotted providing
equipment to the Lizard King's soldiers. They appear to be preparing an
assault on the gate." Edwards took a moment to process the unexpected
information, mind clouded by sleep deprivation and thirst, knowing that
his life expectancy was tied to that of the gate's. Trying to push down
those feelings he straightened his posture and began to address the
crowd. "My fellow soldiers, friends, and loyalists to the very end."
His voice cracked momentarily, but after a brief pause he cleared his
throat and continued.

"It appears the sun has set on our great nation, and the Tyrant has won
out. Many have surrendered with the loss of our king, and many more have
fallen in his defense." He paused again, but switched from a melancholy
voice to a forced triumphant one. "I have lived a long life in service
to a just ruler, and aside from death I cannot know for sure what will
befall us on this day. But I can think of no greater death than one
final stand against the Tyrant with you all, for on this day in history
it will be told-"

The General's speech was interrupted by the roar of another craft
entering the atmosphere, this one landing directly in the courtyard a
short distance from the soldiers present. They readied their weapons and
approached the craft, watching in anticipation of who would exit. Would
it be an envoy of the Lizard King, demanding their surrender? A weapon
to strike them all down? The creators of the machines coming to avenge
theft?

Cicero ran out of the door first, a relief to the soldiers surrounding
the craft previously expecting a fight. The remaining passengers stepped
out, ACE relaying the state of the capital city and its siege as
provided by his aerial surveillance. The soldiers' relief turned to
surprise and readied weapons when Basil stepped out PDA open with a feed
from the jet, followed by Grey, but Cicero attempted to calm the crowd.
"They're on our side, all wronged by the Tyrant and the reason I have
escaped his imprisonment!" The declaration appeared to be enough to get
weapons lowered as Edwards approached Cicero. "The Tyrant's men are
about to assault the gate, what condition are you in to fight?" Cicero
pointed to the craft. "There's a handful of weapons in the craft taken
from the Tyrant's dead soldiers, arm everybody you can with them. Basil
has a powerful weapon, and the jet has explosives it can drop." Edwards
looked confused. "The jet?" Cicero pointed at the jet hovering in
circles above them. "That there, the different one, that's Basil's.
His friend said it's loaded with explosives." Edwards still seemed
confused, asking "That one?" while pointing to Grey.

"No, me" ACE said over the speakers. Before Edwards could question it,
however, ACE continued to speak. "You need to get everyone in position
alongside the walls. Then open the gates and funnel the Lizard King's
men in formation into the center of the courtyard." Before ACE could
continue, however, Edwards asked "Open the gate, are you insane?" with
indignation in his voice. "They outnumber you ten to one, your only bet
is to get them in formation in the courtyard expecting a knife fight and
then drop a few makeshift explosives on them from the jet. It is the
only way to thin their numbers and introduce chaos, with which you can
surround them and retake the entire courtyard at the very least."
Edwards gestured as if he was about to speak but ACE continued. "This
is the only viable strategy, if you arm the civilians still trapped here
and we create enough chaos you may even be able to begin to retake the
city." Edwards began to say "I can't-," but Cicero cut him off.
"You must trust him, I owe them my life, and I believe he is right in
saying this is the only way."

Basil handed Edwards his phone so ACE could stay in communication with
him as Edwards and Cicero began to walk back to the soldiers taking up
formation. Grey returned to the inside of the craft, with Baisil and
Spiro taking up defensive positions by lying in the dirt next to the
craft; weapons at the ready. Basil and Spiro watched as those on the
wall fired down upon the attackers below, and those behind the gate got
ready to bait the attackers through. "If this doesn't work out,"
Spiro asked Basil, "Where's the wormhole device that ACE should have
working?" Basil pointed vaguely in the direction of the jet circling
above without taking his eyes off his rifle's busted sights. "Up
there." Spiro continued looking at the sky where Basil was pointing.
"So if this goes tits up anybody outside the craft is not getting out
of here, are they?" Basil shook his head, still not looking away from
his rifle's sights. "No time to get that thing down here and the
generator running before the gates are busted down if we want it in the
air for the fight."

As Basil finished his sentence the gates burst open as some form of
makeshift battering ram pushed through, attackers entirely unaware that
the chains holding the gate in place had been disconnected from the
inside. Basil fired a few shots in the direction of the first through
the gate, as did many of the Redcaps, but ammunition was scarce and both
sides knew it. The Lizard King's soldiers took up a large shielded
formation in the center of the courtyard. Spiro explained that the
attackers were expecting this last stand to be a very bloody fight with
minimal ammunition on both sides, and they seemed to intend to divide
the defenders into two groups. What the attackers could not see,
however, was an open hatch on a jet where a group of maintenance drones
were preparing to toss explosives out of. Several deafening explosions
rang out as the close knit collection of soldiers turned into craters,
throwing mud and appendages in all directions.

A few Redcap soldiers cheered prematurely, but most remained silent as
more soldiers poured in through the gate. These soldiers, however,
already seemed to know what was going on. To the dismay of the Redcaps,
they watched as the Lizard King's soldiers spread out thinly along the
walls and buildings, seeming to know exactly what they could do to avoid
being hit by the explosions. "Are we...?" Spiro began to ask, but
already got his answer when he saw the video feed pulled up on Basil's
PDA. Basil muttered to himself. "Woulda' been real nice to have a
fucking tank right about now."

25: An Explosive Deception

"They're too spread out, we don't have enough explosives to thin them
out" Basil yelled over ringing ears to Cicero, who had returned to the
group by the craft. As he spoke they saw another group forming by one of
the buildings along the wall. Whoever was commanding the Lizard King's
men was smart, knowing that the bombs would stop if they didn't gather
in the center of the courtyard. What they did not realize, however, was
that ACE had no hesitation about bombing the walls; but had hesitation
wasting the few explosives clearing small groups.

The small groups of people slowly grew along the walls and barracks as
they flooded in, but in one swift move, all the attackers that had
gathered were obliterated as well. Basil knew their commander would
catch on quickly, and their numbers were still too high to mount a
defense against - especially with all the holes in the wall that were
now there. "I got a really bad idea" Basil shouted, and before anybody
could say anything he tossed his rifle to Spiro and went running off
through one of the new holes in the wall.

Basil sprinted as fast as his injured body would let him. He knew he
only had a short window to make it through the front line before the
soldiers re-converged from both directions to fill in the flanks now
guarded only by their dead comrades. Quickly checking the live feed,
however, and running around a corner he saw just the man he intended to
find. This man was present when Basil escorted the Lizard King, which
felt as if a distant memory, and the same man who had ordered his
soldiers to stop a truck with their shields. Basil figured this man was
commanding the soldiers in some capacity, and hoped he was correct as
his plan hinged on that being the case. "Traitor!" the man shouted in
surprise seeing Basil run around the corner. He raised some sort of a
pistol as the soldiers around him raised swords and rifles.

"Traitor?" Basil asked in feigned indignation. "I do all this for
your king and the likes of you have the gall to call me a traitor?" The
man looked thoroughly confused, but kept his pistol pointed at Basil.
"You" he said, before pausing and seeming to recount Basil's actions,
but Basil spoke over him right before he went to speak again. "So
either you're a moron, or you're not trusted. Or both probably."
Basil tried to sound as insulting as he could. "But" the man began to
say, but Basil cut him off. "Let me make it clear, I was to trick the
'demon' into thinking I was there on her side, try to understand their
technology, then sabotage the Redcaps and get out. I'm waiting for the
Wizard, who should be here any second." Basil gambled everything on the
expectation that the incoming ship was the Wizard coming to check on his
commander, and with the surprised look on the man's face Basil assumed
he gambled correctly.

"But you attacked us when we captured the Bloody One's family?" the
man asked as he lowered his pistol to a low-ready position. "Because
your dumbass shot at me when I was driving over to help you. But I was
able to roll with the punches and get the information I needed, and now
they ran out of explosives so I was able to slip away. Get the Wizard, I
need to tend to the injuries your men gave me in safety." Basil's
demands seemed to satisfy the man's doubts, watching the man order a
soldier to go towards the now landing craft and another to go tell the
troops to resume the attack. Basil started to walk in the direction of
the Wizard's ship, thinking that Spiro would be proud of the exchange
that had just occurred. The walk turned into a jog, and the jog turned
to a full-blown sprint as the sound of explosions rang out in the
distance.

Basil made it to the back of an Elthrice ship and gave it a quick tap,
receiving a notification on his PDA that he had gained control of the
ship. There were now two more parts to his plan. First, get the
seemingly invulnerable Wizard to leave to avoid needing to fight him.
Secondly, and just as important, get out alive. "Here goes nothing"
Basil muttered to himself as he walked to the front of the ship.

The Wizard looked shocked to see Basil, causing him, the Wizard, and the
two soldiers flanking the Wizard to stare in silence for a moment. Basil
began to worry that instead of leaving the Wizard would just guard the
entrance of the craft until allies arrived, but finally, he began to
talk - directing his words towards his underlings. "We are leaving now,
do not let him enter. He can control the 'demon's' machines if he
touches their insides. Basil smiled and took several steps forward,
hoping to speed the confrontation along without goading the Wizard into
attacking. "Run away little man, I'm sure the so called 'demons'
told you about Orbitals? Well, today you just found out why you don't
fuck with them." The Wizard almost ran backward away from the man who
had seemingly cut through an entire army, and the soldiers stood at the
door, weapons drawn, until the door's ramp began to move upwards and
they ducked through the door at the last second. Basil took several
steps back and watched the seemingly propulsionless craft slowly gain
altitude before disappearing with a roar and a blur.

One more thing to do.

That one thing, however, looked as if it may be harder than expected as
soldiers began convening on the location they saw the ship land on from
all directions. A couple drew guns, but most drew swords. Basil looked
in all directions, only two were coming down the road that led directly
away from the capitol building. Basil opened fire, striking one of the
two and causing the other to flee, but as he ran he could see a large
group of much faster soldiers chasing after him. He made it around a
corner, managing to dodge the bullets flying his way and very glad
smoothbore muzzleloaders had poor accuracy. However, he had barely
rounded it before he was swept off his feet by an explosion near where
soldiers were now convening.

Basil regained awareness of his situation. His previously injured left
arm was throbbing, but was barely noticeable compared to his right leg
buried in rubble. He tried to move it, but a sharp pain even worse than
before hit him as something cut deeper into his leg. The pain diminished
the fog that clouded his mind and he picked up his head. He could see
his body caked in dust and dirt, as well as little flecks of blood;
likely both his own and that of the soldiers that were encompassed in
the explosion where the collapsed building now lay. He again tried to
move his leg, but the pain prevented him from moving it more than a few
centimeters. Sitting up he grasped at the wood and stone that sat on his
leg, but struggled to move it. He realized quickly he was lucky it was
only a leg that was buried, as the rubble was very near to burying his
torso as well, but he still couldn't bring himself to feel lucky -
especially with more soldiers shambling their way in his direction.

Adrenaline hit Basil hard and he managed to use the wood on his leg as a
lever to push the stone off, revealing a long nail attached to the wood
that had made its way through the flesh on the side of his leg. He
managed to scramble to his feet, picking up his handgun and limping in
the first direction that soldiers weren't coming from. Blood flowed
from the wound, an unclear amount under all the dust and dirt - which
hurt badly - but importantly the bone did not appear to be broken. It
would appear that ACE's last-ditch effort to save Basil had left him
more injured, but still running from soldiers. He fired several shots at
those he was trying to limp away from, which seemed to force them to
take cover, but he wasn't sure how many shots he had left.

He quickly glanced at the slide on his handgun, which was closed. Though
he did not know how many there were, there was at least one bullet left.

26: Last thing on the list

Basil made a left at another intersection. Was it a left? Shit, how was
he going to find his way back now? Well, perhaps that didn't matter
much; it wasn't like he could get past the army between him and safety.
He took another shot at his much faster pursuers, forcing them to take
cover for a second as he rounded another corner at another intersection.
Seeing a small alley alongside the road and his pursuers having not yet
rounded the corner, he ran down it. Glimpsing a window with a large
sheet of wood nailed to it and no other options to escape, he wedged his
pistol in between the board and the wall. Using it as a pry bar he
separated the sheet of wood just enough to squeeze through, climbing
through the window as the nails slashed at his back. Feeling blood run
down his back, leg, and arm he slumped against the wall, too weak to do
anything further.

"Identify yourself!" shouted somebody from within the room. The center
of the room was too dark to see, though a few rays of light showed
through the now-damaged board cast around Basil and only further impeded
his eyes from seeing what was deeper within. Basil realized this would
be a risky question to answer, not knowing the loyalties of whoever was
in the room. "I was just trying to escape the chaos" he began to say,
before seeing a rusty knife glimmer in one of the rays of light near
him. Knowing he didn't even have the strength to devise a convincing
lie - much less pick up the pistol on the floor faster than a knife
could move - and hoping that this man was a local, Basil gambled on the
truth. "I'm Basil, I was helping the Redcaps make a push back into the
city when I got separated and hurt when one of the explosions collapsed
a building." Though Basil did not possess the strength to come up with
a convincing lie, he at least held the mental capacity to leave out the
parts about jets, the Elthrice, and installing a backdoor in a Wizard's
spacecraft.

"You're hurt" the questioner said, adding "Badly" moments later.
The questioner seemed to lower the knife, or at least pull it back
outside the rays of light. As he did, however, he kicked Basil's pistol
to the side, seemingly not fully trusting him either. The questioner
pulled out a dirty piece of cloth and began to tie it around Basil's
leg where the bleeding was the worst, and Basil found himself too weak
to even flinch from the pain. "Do you have any water?" Basil asked,
realizing his throat was completely dry; his mind gaining the luxury of
considering survival on a more extended timeframe than dodging oncoming
bullets. He hadn't had anything to drink since, well, actually when was
that?

"Here," said the questioner, handing Basil a large glass bottle with
maybe an ounce of fluid sloshing around at the bottom. Basil drank it in
one gulp, tasting a potent and unpleasant flavor. "What was that?" He
asked in surprise, recovering from each cough which sent a sharp pain
across his body. "Liquor" the questioner answered, before continuing
"And the last bit of fluid in what used to be my tavern, unless you're
looking to drink piss." Basil tried saying "Thank you" but found the
words barely squeaked out. The questioner spoke again. "I am going to
return to my family upstairs. Don't follow me, but you may rest down
here." He stepped out of the light, and Basil could hear him start to
walk away, but he added one more thing as he left. "If what you're
saying is true, we will hopefully not be locked in here much longer."
Basil - sapped of all energy - fell asleep.

Basil began to wake up, aware his head hurt and vaguely aware of
footsteps nearby. He opened his eyes and saw the questioner moving a
bookcase that barricaded the door. Though Basil could now see the entire
room with properly adjusted eyes, the light passing through the damaged
sheet of wood was much dimmer, indicating that a considerable amount of
time had passed. "It's been quiet for a while. I'm going to step out
and take stock of things" the questioner said in a hushed tone. Basil
crawled to his feet, more thirsty than he thought possible, even enough
to forget his pain. He bent over and grabbed the handgun on the floor,
removing the magazine to check the remaining bullets. Two in the
magazine and one in the chamber, not worth much if they got into
trouble, but better than a rusty knife. The questioner seemed to take on
a slightly uneasy look seeing Basil hold the weapon, but said nothing.

As the questioner opened the door the two saw dust floating in, as well
as dust floating throughout the streets illuminated by a deep red
sunset. Though the skyline would have otherwise been obscured, with a
few missing buildings the sun shown a crimson red, contrasting with the
gray dust in the air. The street was empty, but as the two made their
way out of the alley and around a corner that would give them a view of
the castle's courtyard walls they ran into two soldiers. Basil started
to walk in their direction, questioner in tow, keeping an eye on both
Basil in front of him and the alley behind him. "I need water" Basil
said in a hoarse voice as soon as he was in earshot. "Stay back" one
of the soldiers returned in an authoritative voice as they raised their
weapons until a shocked looking soldier exclaimed "Basil?" only now
recognizing him under the layers of blood and grime.

"This way" said the soldier who recognized Basil before walking
towards the courtyard. Basil followed him, looking back and seeing the
questioner talk to another soldier. Finally entering the courtyard he
began to look around, but was surprised to see not a single soldier who
could stand. A few dozen soldiers lay on the ground, wounded and being
tended to, and many lay dead alongside their enemies' bodies. Only now
did Basil realize how few soldiers were involved in the defense of the
capitol building, which appeared to have been successful. "Do you know
where Cicero or Spiro are?" he asked the soldier, voice still weak.
"They are helping the injured from our attempts to retake the rest of
the city. I do not know when they will be back" the soldier responded
before turning around and returning to his compatriots. Basil saw the
jet beginning to descend and made a B line for the Elthrice ship which
contained his backpack and water bottle.

"Basil?" Grey called out from behind as he struggled to make it up the
ramp to the door on the Elthrice craft. "What happened to you?" Grey
asked as she got closer, and Basil could hear what sounded like genuine
worry in her voice. He continued to struggle up the steps, knowing that
the pain was only a minor setback to quenching his thirst. "I was a
little too close to one of those explosions, wound up getting buried in
rubble." Basil responded as he finally reached the door to the craft
and walked in to see his backpack. Grey followed Basil in, asking "Are
you okay?" as he picked up his water bottle. Basil quickly opened it up
and chugged the last little bit of water, only afterwards responding to
the question. "Just peachy" he said, trying to force a smile. The
alien didn't seem to like - or didn't seem to get - sarcasm, so he
added "I'll survive, but I got pretty banged up out there."

Basil heard ACE's voice over the speakers on the craft, the only way
for him to audibly reach Basil with his phone temporarily in the hands
of General Edwards. Basil watched the jet perform impossibly tight
maneuvers to land in the courtyard while Basil caught Grey and ACE up on
everything he'd experienced. ACE was very unhappy with Basil's
surprise outing, but in the end, seemed to reluctantly concede it worked
out for the best.

27: Fourth Variable Field Test

As soon as Basil had been caught up on their immediate situation he
began to inquire about the Redcaps's supply situation. Instead of ACE
answering, however, Grey answered. "I spoke to their" Grey paused
momentarily, as if searching for a word. "General. He said they have
none. Some drank from the craft's water reserve, but it is now empty."
Basil thought for a moment and prompted Grey with a question. "We're
on the same side; I can trust you, right?" Grey seemed surprised by the
question and hesitated a moment before answering. "Yes, I wouldn't
hurt you if that is what you are asking." Basil was a little afraid of
the Elthrice's hesitance but told himself it was because of the
unexpected question, not because he was in danger. As Basil replied he
tried to play it off with a joke, if nothing else to convince himself.
"What am I asking, I'm here barely standing and out of ammo, if you
were planning something you could probably snap me like a twig." Basil
smiled, and Grey seemed taken aback by the apparent joke, but returned a
delayed smile.

Basil lied about being unarmed, hoping that since now was likely the
ideal time for the being to attack, the Elthrice would do now if it
planned to. The Elthrice, luckily, did not make any moves. "In that
jet" Basil broke the silence, "Is a wormhole device that can take me
back to my planet and home. If you are willing to help, I have a supply
of food and water that I need to get to the Redcaps, but lack the
strength to carry much of anything." Grey nodded. "I can help you
bring it here" before pausing and adding "I would also be excited to
see a working wormhole device. You may be the last being to possess
one." Grey started leaving the craft and walking towards the jet and
Basil began to follow. As Grey left Basil's line of sight, however, his
PDA lit up with a message from ACE. "I have armed some of the
maintenance drones, just in case. Be cautious." ACE, it appeared, was
also cautious of the Elthrice.

As they walked Grey prompted Basil with a question. "If you also have a
craft, why are you so interested in Elthrice technology?" Basil shook
his head. "That's not a spacecraft. Do you know what a combustion
engine is?" Grey shook her head no. "Think about the combination of
words I just used in its name" Basil replied. Grey seemed to think for
a moment and then laughed. "It's powered by fire?" Basil felt
slightly insulted having the Elthrice laugh at one of humanity's most
outstanding achievements. For a moment, however, he no longer questioned
the being's motives or intentions and was just glad it seemed to find
some fleeting joy. "Yeah, there's no oxygen in space. A few of them
can go into space if they bring their own, but they're slow and
inefficient, so they can't go far." Grey seemed to notice Basil was
falling behind and slowed down. "You're really hurt." Basil nodded.
"Yeah, but I'm almost back to my home where I can get myself stitched
up and take some painkillers, won't be long now."

However, Grey looked around before they arrived at the jet, seemingly
verifying there were no others in earshot before speaking. "What is
your alliance with the ones here on Domum?" Basil thought for a moment.
"I don't entirely know, to be honest; I kind of just got thrown into
everything and have been trying to survive ever since." Grey seemed
confused. "Then how is it you were captured by the one who calls
himself a Lizard? Did you not fight him?" Basil paused again and
thought through the chaotic chain of events.

"He, the Redcaps, and I, after I found my way here accidentally, were
all here peacefully not too long ago. I actually thought I was making
friends with the Lizard King at the time. Then fighting broke out and he
left, but I didn't take a side until he returned with Elthrice
technology and attacked. I didn't even know it was him attacking, and I
only found out after I had started to defend everybody else. They tried
to kill me and failed, then he imprisoned me with you and the others."
Grey looked as if she either did not fully understand or trust the
explanation, but seemed satisfied enough with the answer to not ask
further questions.

As the door to the jet opened automatically they stepped in and Grey
began to look around, seeing the wormhole device haphazardly wired into
one of the walls of the jet. Grey seemed to have a momentary cautious
look on her face as the door closed and Basil began to wonder how
worried the Elthrice was about the whole situation as well. She had just
stepped onto a 'savage's' craft and was about to leave the planet.
Then again, he had no idea if she had any tricks up her sleeve either;
this was her people's technology powering everything after all. Both of
their attention, however, was shifted to the door-sized wormhole that
opened up in the corner of the jet. They both stepped through, Basil
smiling because he knew he was home, Grey smiling after seeing what she
was told was a centuries-lost technology.

"You don't have the Orbital's wormhole device, but you have an
Orbital's implant?" Grey asked in confusion as they stepped through.
"What?" Basil asked, thoroughly confused. "This" Grey said. "This
is not an Orbital's version of the wormhole device. It can only link to
another device, where the Orbital's version does not need a second
device." Basil suddenly realized that may explain the device's ability
to create a connection to Arkepello without another device present.

"It can go to one location without one on the other end, but only to
that specific location. Every other location seems to need a second
one." Grey chuckled. "Are you lying to make me believe you're an
Orbital?" Basil shook his head. "How else would I get to another
planet without a working spacecraft?" Grey seemed to think for a
moment. "Okay, I believe you. But that is weird, like it was only
allowed by an Orbital or somebody who could access an Orbital's system.
They are not supposed to work like that. Or so I was told by my
(admiral)."

"Could they be configured to go to any location?" Grey shook her head
no. "You would need a" Grey paused to ask Basil a question. "What did
you call yourself?" Basil was confused, then realized what Grey had
asked. "A scientist?" Grey nodded and resumed speaking. "Yes, you
would need a scientist to fix that." Basil smiled and began to say
"But-" but Grey clarified. "No, not a you scientist, an Elthrice
scientist. And they are all dead."

Basil heard the pressurized room's seals release and they both began to
step out. "This is your home?" Grey asked, gesturing to the walls.
"Yeah" Basil said as he saw the maintenance drones beginning to load
boxes into the now opened pressurized room. "And what are those?" Grey
asked, pointing to the maintenance drones. "Maintenance drones, small
devices controlled remotely by me to do various tasks" ACE answered.
Grey started to walk around and looked around the corner down the thin
hall. "Where are your people? You said there were billions."

"Not here. I'm afraid some of them tried to kill me, so I'm hiding
out underground for a while until I figure out who exactly wants me
dead." Basil tried to say it as if it were humorous, but his voice
betrayed him and showed his underlying worn-down feeling. "I'm sorry"
Grey said, adding "Perhaps you and I are not so different." Basil
asked for clarification. "How's that?" Grey replied "Well, you are
tiny and look weird" but smiled and Basil realized Grey was trying to
make a joke. Basil returned a smile and Grey continued. "But you and I
may be some of the last two interplanetary beings, lost and making our
way, afraid of our people."

That statement hit Basil hard, knowing that it probably carried a lot of
pain on Grey's part, and certainly carried a lot on his own part. They
both fell silent, the only audible noises being the electric whirr of
the maintenance drones loading supplies. Eventually Basil broke the
silence. "Well, I need to go get cleaned up and take some painkillers.
ACE can equalize the pressure in that room and the jet so the supplies
can be taken into it, then equalize it with the Domum air to bring the
supplies to them. I'll be back soon."

Basil paused momentarily, adding "Thank you" and Grey gave a quick nod
before Basil turned to walk away. ACE, however, prompted Grey with a
question as Basil went to leave. "Grey, if you would permit it, I want
to collect a DNA sample for analysis." Grey suddenly sounded worried.
"But that's forbidden." Hearing the sudden fear in Grey's voice,
Basil responded in a tone he hoped sounded calming. "It's okay, we
don't need to." ACE, however, seemed more persistent. "Why is it
forbidden?" Grey paused for a moment but spoke in an almost hushed
tone. "I carry the DNA of one who had an Orbital's DNA; allowing
others to receive that DNA is forbidden."

"There are no more Orbitals, at least none here to enforce that" ACE
replied. Basil felt that was the worst possible way to respond, but Grey
seemed to have a triumphant look on her face. "Very well, you are
right. If your people choose to make Orbitals, they may serve better
directives." Basil was surprised at both the sudden change in demeanor
and what Grey had thought their intentions were. "No, no" he said,
pausing for a second before collecting his thoughts. "It's just
curiosity and, more importantly, a way to check to see if it's likely
safe for you to eat our food or be exposed to our pathogens. We did the
same for those at the Arkepello and me to be sure it was safe." Basil
also felt that ACE was leaving out a reason that he was interested as
well: probing Elthrice DNA for weaknesses. Basil knew there was no way
of stopping ACE from theorizing, although he would certainly not allow
something like that to be used, even if it meant smashing the fabricator
to stop him. Perhaps he could shoot a man in the back if his life
depended on it, but a genocide would be way too far, even if they did
try to invade.

28: Regrouping

Basil stepped into the pressurized room; waiting for it to equalize to
the jet's pressure before finally stepping back into Domum. The
seemingly endless boxes of food and medical supplies were already almost
gone. Endless to him, perhaps, but nothing to an army -- even a
significantly thinned-out one. At least, if nothing else, they would
have some energy for tonight. Basil stepped out of the jet, passing Grey
going up the steps in the opposite direction, before making his way
towards Spiro at the bottom of the jet. "Holy shit, Basil, ACE told me
what happened." Basil nodded, finally reaching the bottom of the steps
and clicking on a flashlight, internally noting that Spiro's demeanor
had seemed to change. "Nothing's broken at least, and now that I'm
stitched up and numbed up the walk down the steps was a lot less
painful."

As they spoke Spiro led Basil towards the makeshift command center in
the field of tents that once held guests of the peace festival. "I got
to get me one of those" Spiro said, eyeing up the little flashlight that
lit up the entire camp otherwise only lit by a campfire. "When this is
all over I'll get you one" Basil said, sitting near General Edwards,
before adding "If we live long enough." Edwards seemed to be finishing a
cup of instant noodles, and as he finished chewing Basil asked him a
question. "Where's Cicero and Casio?"

"Still handing out food" one of the soldiers said before Edwards could
swallow. "Tell him he's needed here" Edwards said, giving an order to
the soldier. However, as the soldier turned to walk away Edwards added
"And make sure to tell him I was the one who requested it, and that it's
important." As the soldier left Edwards spoke more quietly to Basil and
Spiro. "That man tends to a dozen men when he should be tending to
decisions that will affect thousands." Cicero arrived shortly and joined
Edwards, Basil, and Spiro around the fire, leading Edwards to fill in
the group on the nation's state.

The various counties and their soldiers had not been arriving as they
were ordered to, seeming to abandon their capitol now that their king
had been taken. Some Redcap Capitol soldiers and police had deserted,
many had died, and the rest remained scattered throughout the city. Many
would likely regroup once they heard that a rag-tag group of soldiers,
an Amigoso official, Basil, and an Elthrice took back the city; however,
it would likely not be enough to mount a proper defense. Even as they
tried to arm civilians with the weapons recovered from both sides'
fallen, the Lizard King's now vastly larger army was marching through
various counties towards the capitol; facing minimal resistance.

The state of their supplies was just as poor. Even after, in Edward's
words, "Reclaiming" food from the city and accepting Basil's food
supplies, they would be out of food before the Lizard king's men reached
the city in a little over four days. They had almost no ammunition, and
the only water safe to drink was water the maintenance drones kept
bringing in from the facility on the other side of the wormhole. At this
rate they would die of thirst eventually, even if ACE continued to move
the water at the same speed he was moving it now. As soon as Edwards had
finished speaking Basil commented "But you've still got the upper hand."
Edwards scowled at Basil, seemingly thinking he was mocking him.

"The Lizard King thinks he's untouchable on the Elthrice planet, but
could only have moved about six dozen soldiers up there in this time. We
now have a craft and, more importantly, wormholes -- which he does not.
I already killed four dozen soldiers when they attacked us in the tank."
Edwards looked like he was about to fall out of his seat when Basil
mentioned he had killed four dozen soldiers. Basil just laughed. "Yeah,
don't fuck with a tank" before he continued to speak. "Well, before I
got blown up during my little adventure, I managed to seize control of
the Wizard's craft that he arrived in. I lost connection to it as it
left the atmosphere, but I know where it was going, so now we know where
to hit him and have the capacity to hit him hard."

"So what are you proposing?" Cicero asked once Basil finished speaking.
"I don't have enough weapons to fend off an army, but they'll cut
through a couple dozen men no problem. I'll give some guns and ammo to
your best men and rig up some explosive drones. We take the craft up
there and then send your entire army to confront him and his dozen or so
guards, forcing him to surrender. Force him to surrender, he calls off
his marching army, and I get to find out how the fuck some guy in a
leather dress fought off the Elthrice." Cicero shook his head. "I know
what you will propose when we capture him, and no, he dies for his
crimes."

Even with the numbing effects of the painkillers and his mental state
being in constant fight or flight, Basil felt dread wash over him. He
had killed people, several with his own hands and many more after arming
others. He had also just determined who would win a war in which he
should have no part. All the while, there were other Elthrice there,
more powerful than space pirates who could relish an opportunity to
attack a weakened civilization if they had malicious intentions.

Basil realized everyone at the campfire was staring at him as he
remained in thought for longer than he perceived. It was too late to
back down now. Doing nothing was a choice in itself, and that would
ensure those who tried to kill him would win. However, his help would
have to come with conditions, so he put his foot down.

"If you want my help here you must accept my conditions. The only way
I'm going to help you end this war is if you guarantee that if he
surrenders you'll bring him and everybody else alive back here to assess
the situation. Nobody else dies for his decisions, but what happens to
him after we get information from him and his army addressed is not my
decision to make."

Edwards nodded gleefully, though while Cicero nodded moments later, he
seemed more hesitant. Cicero, already being one of the highest ranking
statesmen, and Cicero and Edwards in agreement and the last two high
ranking officials present - if perhaps the last two alive - finalized
the decision to move forward with Basil's plan. "How soon can we
begin?" Edwards asked. "I need to sleep and get my wounds addressed as
well as they can be. I'll drop of the weapons I can spare before I
leave, and then I can head out tomorrow morning. The trip will feel
instant for me, but it will be almost 48 hours before I open the
wormhole and you begin the invasion, so it should give you time for your
men to heal up and train with the new weapons."

29: Dust and Ashes

"I still believe it is a bad idea" ACE told Basil, concluding his
thoughts on why Basil should not be present when they took their fight
to the Lizard King. "You knew you couldn't change my mind going in,
didn't you? I'm the only one who can control the technology, and it
will only be a few seconds before I open the wormhole." Basil replied,
pausing momentarily and adding the real reason for going. "Besides, how
long do I have left anyway? All the treatments failed, and I might as
well see another Elthrice planet before I die." ACE remained quiet and
Basil returned to taking inventory, both to assure himself everything
would go as planned and to distract himself from his last statement. A
handful of guns, check. Boatload of ammo, check. Several forms of
redundant power, check. Wormhole device, check.

Basil's internal monologue was interrupted by another internal
monologue as he saw Grey beginning to approach. While Basil had gotten
some sleep, ACE had analyzed Grey's genome, prompting as many questions
as it provided answers. According to ACE, Orbital DNA looked very
artificial, as if designed from the ground up to be some sort of super
soldier. Between the artificiality and Grey's supposed mixed parentage
they were no closer to finding concrete information on the Elthrice's
gene pool. Still, it certainly said something in itself about their
capabilities. It also certainly said something about Grey if she was a
genetically modified soldier who refused to fight.

"Are you really that concerned the craft's power will fail?" Grey
asked Basil, breaking the awkwardly long silence. "Better safe than
sorry" Basil said, tying everything down and setting an extensive first
aid kit next to the batteries. "I'm glad you're coming," he
continued, breaking the silence again and getting a silent nod from
Grey. The previous night she had asked about Basil's plan to head out
alone to open the wormhole, and asked to come along. She said she'd
sworn not to participate in violence, but Basil was happy to have
somebody who knew Elthrice technology coming along as well. While Basil
was busy thinking about the previous night's conversations, Spiro
startled him from behind.

"Basil, Cicero and I were talking; if it's okay we and Casio would
like to accompany you as well." Basil nodded. "Of course. Although you
won't miss much, from our perspective the wormhole will probably be
open within seconds of us arriving." Spiro shrugged. "Well, just in
case anything goes wrong or you need our help before you open it, we
would like to be there to have your back. Just the five of us on an
Elthrice ship, for old times sake." Basil smiled. "Thanks, well,
we're about ready to head out. Grab anything you guys need and meet me
back in five."

Five minutes passed and the group was already on the ship. Basil was
busy loading his now repaired rifle with a shotgun sitting next to him.
He had acquired similar rifles for Spiro and Cicero, which they now
sported, but Cicero had said that Casio would prefer to wield his own
ginormous blade. After saying their goodbyes, the door closed, and ACE
offered a play-by-play. "We're now taking off" followed by a "We've
now cleared the atmosphere" and last, followed by an "I hope to speak
to you very soon from your perspective." The craft made its journey,
though none of its passengers felt any passage of time or movement.
"You are now on an Elthrice planet, descending" ACE said, followed by
the craft's door opening and "I've now opened the wormhole."

The crew stared at the device, and after an uneasy moment Basil spoke up
in a concerned tone. "It's not open." The cabin fell quiet again.
"Hold on" ACE said, presumably trying to figure out what was
happening. Spiro and Cicero took up positions guarding the now open door
to the craft, though there was no movement outside, and Basil verified
that the device was receiving power and properly turned on. Grey
suddenly had a very concerned look on her face. "We're on an Elthrice
planet" she said, causing everybody to look at her. "Of course we are.
Does that matter?" Basil asked. Grey seemed to compose herself, as if
struggling to word the idea in the language they all knew; everybody
else waiting nervously for further information.

"Not me Elthrice, Elthrice leader Elthrice" Grey said, looking at
Basil to see if he understood what she was saying. "Like former
Elthrice government facility or military base?" Basil asked, still
unsure why that mattered. "And your wormhole device is not an
Orbital's, so it does not work here. This means that planetary defenses
are still online, and the only reason why we were not shot down was
because of your Orbital's device." A thought popped into Basil's
mind. "The Lizard King is dead, isn't he?" Grey almost looked
surprised, then agreed with the assessment. "Yes, he would have no
knowledge of the danger present at this location, so if he arrived, he
likely did not land in one piece."

The news presented mixed emotions to the group. It meant they had no
army to back them up, but there was also no army to fight them. It meant
their enemy was dead, but it also meant there would be nobody to
negotiate with to call off the army set to level the Redcap's capital.
They began to step out of the ship and realized they were standing on a
large metal platform. Nearby on the platform were huge circular doors
resembling camera shutters, but Basil began to understand what they
were. "So what are those? We have some ICBSs. Er, um ISBMs?" Everybody
looked at Basil like he said some sort of magic chant, so he clarified.
"Big flying unmanned explosive rockets?" Grey looked at Basil with
amusement. "No, they are weapons that can propel projectiles using the
same components that fly crafts, and what shot down the one who calls
himself a Lizard."

"There's ships over there" Basil said, pointing in their direction.
"Must have been from the collapse" Grey replied confidently, but Basil
was confused. "That sounds like a long time for very valuable ships to
sit; how could that be?" Grey answered, seeming to either take pride in
what she said or be quoting somebody who took pride in what they relayed
to her. "Those in places like this died the worst deaths. Anyone here
could not leave, as all Orbital ships were disabled; but nobody could
come in with supplies, as all non-Orbital ships would be destroyed if
they attempted to enter." Basil felt hesitant to ask his next question,
the weight of the previous revelations on his mind. "So you are certain
nobody else is alive here?"

"Yes, unless Orbitals arrived or the one who calls himself a Lizard
somehow got his hands on an Orbital's (object). Unless..." Grey's
voice began to trail off. "Unless what?" Basil asked, getting nervous.
"Unless he somehow got his hands on the (object) from the stabilizing
machine here. But no, he would have caused a sterilization if he took it
and left, and the defenses would have killed him before he arrived
unless he somehow survived the bombardment." Basil felt even more
worried now. "How does this machine's (poorly pronounced Elthrice word
for 'object') work?" Grey appeared somewhat impressed at Basil's
lackluster pronunciation and seemed to understand what he had meant.

"That one is stronger than a standard Orbital's (object). He would
likely be almost impossible to kill, but by possessing an Orbital's
device, it could be taken from him. Basil, if you were to touch him or
the (object) and will yourself to transfer it to you, it could render
him helpless if he has taken it." Basil just seemed confused. "How the
hell do I will the (object) to be under my control?" Grey shook her
head. "I do not know; I have never even met an Orbital with an
Orbital's (object) or device. You are perhaps the closest being to
holding an Orbital's title that I have met, missing an (object) but
still with an Orbital's device." Basil thought things over for a
second. "Well, I'll be right back, I'm going to run to the craft. If
I can't master inner peace I'll at least have a Mossberg with depleted
uranium slugs."

As Basil returned to the craft Grey ran to catch up. "If you believe
you will be involved in a fight I cannot come with you. I'm sorry."
Basil shook his head. "It's okay." He wanted to say more, but was
unsure what to say beyond that, so he left it at that. As he went to
leave the craft, however, Grey spoke cautiously. "Basil, if you do find
anybody who possesses an (object), be very careful. It is very powerful,
and very dangerous to one without an Orbital's device." Basil felt a
chill run down his spine. "Why is that?"

"I have been told an (object) is an atmosphereless vacuum of great
power, but a great danger to one's mind. An Orbital's device is a
craft which allows the holder to traverse it without touching it. The
one we came here for would not possess an Orbital's device, nor would
the descendants of those who lived here long ago. There are legends of
those imbued with such powers directly, and it has been said they cut
gashes across entire galaxies."

"So, four guys against an apocalyptic force, should be a cakewalk,
right?" Grey very clearly did not appreciate Basil's sarcasm, though
after a few moments her expression softened. "Be careful." Basil
nodded silently, racking the shotgun and setting off for the other three
and the abandoned crafts that lay ahead.

30: Last Confrontation

The four approached the nearest ship, a foreboding open door leading
into a dark, empty unknown. As they entered Spiro began methodically
moving from corner to corner as Basil and Cicero lagged slightly.
"Nobody's home" Spiro whispered, though Basil jumped when he heard
Spiro speak, momentarily pointing his rifle at him. "Whoah" Spiro said
in an oddly calm voice, face momentarily illuminated by Basil's weapon
light. Spiro quickly motioned for Cicero and Casio to guard the door,
and after a few moments of silence Spiro asked "Are you alright?" in
the same calm voice as before.

"No, I, um, no." Basil replied hesitantly. "For a moment, when you
walked around that corner, I swear I saw the guy I killed in the
courtyard when everything started. Last night, all I dreamt about was me
killing him or him killing me." Spiro nodded and placed his hand on
Basil's shoulder. "You had no choice in that situation, but the fact
that you feel guilt means that you're a good person. But right now, you
need to focus; doing this means that we might be able to prevent
thousands of yous and thousands of him if we stop all of this now. The
Lizard King started an unjust war and there's no telling what he'll do
if his surviving followers keep hold of Elthrice technology."

Basil tried to correct his posture and take a deep breath, but was
disrupted by Cicero. "Someone's outside" he whispered, prompting all
four to take positions next to the door while remaining out of sight.
Spiro, however, made a quick hand signal that Basil interpreted as
"stay" and moved around the corner in a fluid motion. Several bursts
of automatic fire sounded off, followed by a couple of single shots
moments later. Basil rushed out the door, closely followed by Cicero and
Casio.

"They're the Lizard King's men" Basil stated in a manner that was
half a question, seeing Spiro standing over a handful of bodies while
scanning the surroundings. Spiro silently nodded. "How sure are we that
the defenses are still active? Could they all have survived?" Cicero
asked, and Basil shrugged. "It sounds like they have to be, at least
the parts that disabled the wormhole device. But I don't know." Spiro
interjected with a confident statement, though spoken loudly as if his
ears were ringing.

"At this point, it doesn't matter. We're here without an army, and
going back to Domum would put us too late to stop the enemy's army, but
we can still pull this off if we're tactical about the situation. Those
structures over there, that's where I'd set up camp if I were
stranded. There's no guarantee nobody heard my shots, so we need to set
off now before they can respond to our presence."

Spiro immediately set off while seeming to scan the horizon, the other
three following close behind. They had only been walking for a short
distance; however, when they started walking past debris and small
structures buried under dust. However, the small structures quickly
became immense, and Basil began to be distracted observing them. Every
one had a simultaneously alien but familiar feeling; cylindrical
buildings with large holes instead of doors or windows which jutted out
of the ground in a grid pattern, separated by what appeared to be roads.

Basil's observation was interrupted, however, when they walked around a
corner and saw a stunned looking soldier; as well as several others at a
distance. The three raised their rifles, but in one graceful motion
Casio turned the one soldier into several parts of a soldier. Gunfire
erupted from the building the rest ran into, a large building that
seemed to loom above the rest. The four were outnumbered at least three
to one and lacked cover compared to the Lizard King's men. Basil dove
to the ground and readied himself for the feeling of bullets sailing
through his body, but it appeared the four still had the upper hand with
considerably better ranged weapons than the smooth bore guns that the
Lizard King's men possessed.

Basil looked down his sight, and a soldier appeared in a hole that
looked like a window. Basil squeezed the trigger, and no more soldiers
were visible through the window. Another took his place, and he, too,
fell back into the room. Cicero seemed to be struggling with the
automatic fire, but Spiro seemed to be taking well placed shots in quick
succession; handling both automatic and semi automatic fire with
incredible proficiency. Basil saw several others running out the door,
weapons in hand. He took in a deep breath, breathed out, pulled the
trigger, and watched nearly half a dozen men fall to the ground. Basil
looked over and Spiro nodded.

The world fell quiet.

The group stood and Spiro motioned for them to move in a tight formation
towards the entrance of the building. Another shot rang out, but Spiro
fired, everything falling quiet again. The group made it to the
building's entrance and formed a much tighter formation, Spiro
motioning that he would go first through the door and take the left,
followed by Basil who would go right. The room contained a long spiral
ramp that went up, containing plenty of bodies and trash from the Lizard
King's men, but noticeably, there was no dust. Despite looking like the
Lizard King's men had dug the dust away from the front of the building
to enter, the inside of the room was entirely free of dust and ash. The
walls carried the same gray-green color as the other Elthrice metal
objects did and appeared to consist of panels that looked as if they
each served a different purpose unknown to those who had just taken the
long-dead building. The four reloaded their weapons.

All that was heard was ringing in the ears of the four as they slowly
made their way up the spiral ramp that circled the walls of the
building. At the top of the ramp they saw what appeared to be another
empty door frame to a roof, Spiro motioning for Basil to follow him
through in the same formation as before. Basil only heard a thump as
Spiro bounced off what looked to be an empty doorframe, but before he
could even process it, he stepped through as if nothing was there.
"What the fuck" said Spiro in a fleeting moment of more frantic speech,
touching what appeared to be some invisible wall that Basil had stepped
through. Basil didn't respond, however, as his attention was turned to
the Lizard King standing on the large flat roof.

"So you are one of them?" the Lizard King asked Basil. "No, but I
take it your so called Wizard is Elthrice?" The Lizard King looked
confused. "What is that word? If it identifies the 'demons,' then no,
he is not." Basil looked confused. "Well, those who attacked you
didn't have Orbital's gear, and planetary defenses did not shoot you
down, so he somehow got his hands on an (object) now, didn't he? That
would explain his bullet-proof 'magic.'" The Lizard King looked
uncomfortable when Basil said the Elthrice word. "It does not matter,
this is over. Surrender now and I will permit you to live" the Lizard
King said sternly. Basil shook his head. "It's over, but not how you
would like. It ended when that force field your Wizard tried to activate
failed to stop me." The Lizard King shook his head.

"This place is under the Wizard's control. His magic sings to the
machines of the dead Elthrice. You will die by my hands if you do not
surrender. I have become immortal, and the dead peoples whisper to me. I
am to build something great, wipe out the old, and begin with the new. I
do not quarrel with you, but you will not be permitted to interfere with
me today."

The Lizard King's voice sent shivers down Basil's spine in a way he
couldn't understand. He did his best to focus and return to the
situation.

"That's called schizophrenia, my friend, but it appears we're at an
impasse" Basil shouted, taking several steps towards the Lizard King
and out of the view of the other three as he unslung his shotgun. Basil
spoke again. "One final chance to change your mind, remember though, I
just cut through all your soldiers and can control Elthrice technology.
As you once told me, a short war with overwhelming force is a mercy, and
don't think I won't kill you if it will put an end to all of this."
Basil now stood face to face with the Lizard King. The tall man took on
a melancholy face and began to speak as he raised an incredibly long
broadsword.

"Basil, if you are the one who walks out of here, promise me that no
harm will come to my son. He, the Wizard, and the Bloodthirsty King's
heirs are in the machine above us. If I am killed, I have ordered the
Wizard to remand them to your custody, but only your custody."

Basil nodded, knowing that there was likely no avoiding the
confrontation. The Lizard King seemed to force a short smile and began
to talk again. "Very well, now, unfortunately, I believe you will meet
your end here, my friend." Basil shook his head and spoke while
ignoring ACE's instructions to leave. "No, here's what's gonna
happen. I'm going to shoot you in the nuts with a bean bag round, then
when you're doubled over in pain I'm going to kick you in the nuts for
what you put me through. Then we're gonna go back and we can sing
Kumbaya once you-"

The Lizard King charged at Basil, causing Basil to hit him in the
stomach with the bean bag round. He laughed as he swung his sword at
Basil. "You think that to hurt me?" Basil tried to wrack another round
in, but the gun was knocked from his hand as the Lizard King hit it with
the sword and slashed Basil across the chest. Basil made an attempt to
unsling the rifle from his chest, but the sword swung back around and
plunged deep into him.

The world froze, and he stared at the metallic object in disbelief. He
felt his body go limp and could feel blood draining down both his chest
and back. Holding the still slung rifle in his hand he unloaded an
entire magazine of automatic fire into the sad man looking back at him,
but it seemed to have minimal effect.

He realized his only way to end this was to somehow make physical
contact with the sad man staring him in the face, but as he reached out
his weak hand he saw the man take several steps back. The cold steel
slid out of his body as he fell limply to the ground, world growing
black.

31: Abyss Slumbers

Basil stood? Sat? Lay? He wasn't sure. He was in what appeared to be a
sphere of light. Or perhaps it was not a sphere of light, but an absence
of the great abyss he had seen once before. The abyss surrounded him, a
crushing weight, but he remained unmoved. This time, however, there were
voices. A cacophony cried out, deafening but imperceivable. They were
speaking as Grey did.

The abyss moved.

The voices were Elthrice.

The abyss was the voices.

They were angry he was leaving.

32: Orbital

Basil felt blood rushing to his head; he wasn't dead apparently, at
least not yet. He opened his eyes to a spinning dark and dusky sky,
Lizard King stepping away. He coughed and felt warm blood draining away
from his mouth, the same warmth that emanated from his chest. He could
tell he didn't have long, doubly so as the Lizard King turned back
after hearing the cough. There was one thing he had to do, and he had to
do it quickly.

The Lizard King looked on in astonishment and Basil tried to stand up.
The moment he started to lift his head he began to feel even more dizzy
and wondered if the only thing keeping him conscious was his head being
level to the ground. However, the Lizard King raised his blade again and
adrenaline hit, allowing Basil to make it to his knees.

"Do not move any closer; you have already lost, but you may be able to
save your life." Basil tried to say something, but his words only came
out as a gargle. "Please" repeated the now unnerved looking Lizard
King, but Basil only glanced at the fallen shotgun. The Lizard King
seemed to realize what Basil was planning, taking a step forward, and
Basil dove headfirst for it. He landed face first, coming back into view
of those stuck behind the invisible door; hands on the weapon and a
vague sensation that he had hurt his nose. Taking all his strength he
rolled onto his back, now pointing the gun vaguely at the Lizard King.

"We have already tried that" the Lizard King shouted at Basil while he
racked the next round into the chamber. "The Elthrice seemed to think
they were immortal too" Basil said, or thought, he wasn't entirely
sure. The Lizard King started to charge, but Basil fired a single
depleted uranium slug. He hit the ground, knocked over by the recoil,
and a red mist erupted from the Lizard King's body. Basil crawled over,
now lacking the strength to rise to his knees, and saw a very decorative
pendant around the dying man's neck. He extended his left arm and put
his hand around the pendant, hoping that contained the (object), and
held the shotgun under his right arm still pointed at the man below him.

"What are you doing?" asked the Lizard King as Basil knelt there.
"Giving it a chance to heal you before I take it" Basil replied,
starting to feel dizzy again. "Kill him!" Cicero shouted at Basil from
behind the invisible wall, apparently able to hear or interpolate enough
of the conversation, but Basil paid him no attention.

An invisible tendril reached out from the dying man's chest, an abyss
of a different kind, and wrapped itself around Basil's arm and began to
work its way toward his chest. He wasn't sure what was real and what
was the madness of dying, but he was sure of two things: it felt real,
and his vision had just failed. With no vision and a rapidly clouding
mind he did the one last thing he could - reach out to the second abyss.

A warmth began to creep up his arm, then up his spine, and finally
throughout the injuries on his chest and face. Suddenly his vision began
to return and it became less difficult to stay upright. His energy
continued to build gradually until it suddenly grew extraordinarily.
Basil blinked, and he realized he was yelling some sort of war cry, then
blinked again, and the three were standing around him, having somehow
passed through the invisible wall.

You okay?" Spiro asked, seeming unsure of what to make of the
situation. "Well fucking RIP to the pain pills I was on, but yeah!"
Basil exclaimed, still trying to process what had just happened. Cicero
ran over and kicked the Lizard King several times, but before Basil
could yell at him ACE came over the radio. "Radiation levels just
spiked and are rising exponentially. I am bringing the craft over now."
Basil suddenly heard Grey's voice over the radio. "Basil, focus."
Basil was confused. "What?" but Grey responded as if she was trying to
calm or de-escalate somebody.

"You've taken control of a very powerful device; you need to focus and
not do anything rash." Basil responded jokingly. "Well, I was on a lot
of downers; that should even it out, right?" Grey seemed to carry a lot
of worry when she replied. "Just focus and be careful, please." ACE
came over the line again. "I have instructed the Wizard to land in the
Redcap's courtyard. Get in the craft now." Basil watched the craft
land on the roof and quickly spoke up with an objection. "But the other
ships, we could-." ACE cut Basil off, seeming to carry a lot of concern
in his otherwise monotone voice. "Leave them. You must leave now unless
you want to become a radioactive mush."

"You're coming with us" Basil said to the Lizard King as he went to
grab him, but the large man struggled to his feet and stepped onto the
craft of his own volition. They felt no motion, and only a few seconds
passed to them, but ACE relayed that they were entering Domum's
atmosphere and seconds away from being in the Redcap courtyard. The door
on the craft opened and Basil began to step out. "Do not do anything to
him" Basil said, words directed at Cicero. "We need to be very careful
about how we end all this" Basil continued, fighting the urge for a
violent resolution that suddenly lingered in the back of his mind.

Basil stepped out of the craft, beginning to admire the bright blue sky,
but suddenly fixated on the crashed and burning craft that had left
moments before theirs did. "Fuck fuck fuck!" Basil yelled as he
sprinted across the courtyard. He realized that he was sprinting fast,
much faster than he even thought possible when healed, and he had just
had a sword driven through his chest moments ago. Basil made it to the
burning craft well before anybody else and struggled to bend a partially
opened panel on the side of it. His hands oozed dark red blood as he
made an opening, his newfound strength pitted against his newfound
durability. That wasn't important, however, since he could now see the
inside of the craft through a hole big enough to crawl through.

Basil began to squeeze through, smoke bellowing out as he forced himself
in. The Wizard was frantically trying to pick up the barely conscious
son of the Lizard king and seemed to be panicking -- first from their
predicament and further after seeing Basil moving towards him quickly.
"Get him out of here!" Basil yelled, and the Wizard wasted no time
getting the kid out through the small hole Basil had made in the craft.
Basil ran deeper in and saw the two bodies of the Redcap King's heirs
lying in a pool of blood. A crate had crushed the young prince, who
seemed nearly decapitated, with the princess lying on top of him,
unconscious but seemingly less injured. Basil quickly picked up the girl
and pushed her roughly through the opening before climbing out himself
as more smoke streamed out of the craft.

The small group of redcap soldiers, General Edwards, Cicero, Casio,
Spiro, Grey, and the Lizard King finally made their way over, looking on
in horror. Basil turned to Gray. "Did we just create another super
weapon?" Gray looked puzzled, though not much more than everybody else
present. "What?" Basil re-phrased his question, struggling to find the
best way to word it with his cloudy mind. "That thing go boom?" Grey
seemed unsure. "What? No. I'm not sure, but I don't think so." Basil
turned his attention to the Redcap soldiers who had surrounded the
group. "Put that fire out, it's your top priority." The guards
appeared unsure whether to follow orders from Basil, but after glances
from General Edwards they ran off to presumably get water. Top priority
dealt with, Basil turned his attention to the next one: the girl.

33: Sport of Sovereign Chairs

With a look of panic Cicero rushed over and began to check the girl for
wounds. Basil, trying to remember the steps of triaging, checked her
pulse. Slow, but still beating. Next, he checked for breathing, which
she appeared to be doing. She was stable, at least she appeared stable,
but how badly was she hurt? He began to check her for wounds as well,
and though she was covered in blood, the only blood that appeared to be
hers was a small amount on her forehead from some sort of impact.

"Where's Locklan?" Cicero asked frantically. Basil remained silent
for a moment, trying to think of what to say, but after a long pause
"Sorry" was all he could come up with. A grievous expression washed
over Cicero's face, though it changed quickly when the injured girl
began to move. Basil held out his arms to shoo away everyone now
standing over her. "Give her some space" he said, aiming for a tone
that would both avoid startling her while also trying to be
authoritative enough to get the small crowd to give her enough space to
sit up.

"What happened?" The girl asked in a weak voice, mind hazy from the
crash. Basil, having an unusual appearance and being covered in blood,
was her first focal point. "Who are you?" she asked, a certain degree
of confusion and panic in her voice. Before Basil could answer the
burning craft became the next focus of her observation. "What
happened?" she asked next, voice growing more frantic. Several voices
began to answer at once, which only seemed to startle her more. As a
cacophony of voices confused her, Grey came into view, causing Basil and
the burning ship being put out by soldiers to cease being the center of
her attention. The girl screamed, and as she attempted to crawl backward
away from the alien being the Lizard King embracing his son came into
view. "Kill them!" she screamed.

The soldiers putting out the fire ceased following Basil's directives
and instead drew their weapons. Despite everything they had all been
through, it appeared they were willing to follow the orders of the last
of the royal family without question. Basil, having dropped the shotgun
when he sprinted off to save the same girl who had just ordered his
death - at least as interpreted by soldiers to mean that - drew his
handgun as an uncanny surge of energy rushed over him. "Well, I was
just officially ordained as an unofficial Orbital, so that'll be a
little difficult." The soldiers seemed unconvinced, but Basil stepped
in front of Grey to shield her from potential fire - from weapons Basil
himself had given the soldiers. Grey looked at Basil and seemed to
disapprove of his actions, though he did not know if it was his threat
of using the (object) or just the potential of violence. "Stop this!"
Cicero shouted at the soldiers before Basil followed up with "Put that
thing out before it kills us all; we have no idea what the fire is
releasing or could trigger." The soldiers seemed frozen like deer in
headlights, but resumed firefighting when General Edwards shouted
"Now!" in the most aggressive tone the General had ever given an order
in; at least in front of Basil.

The girl went to speak, but Cicero spoke to her softly. "These people
saved you, and me as well. I know seeing everything is scary, and it is
to me too, but they're good people." All authority from the girl's
voice vanished, and she asked Cicero a question in almost a whisper.
"Where's Locklan?" Cicero's expression turned to grief as he spoke.
"I'm sorry, he didn't make it. They will pay for it; we will make
them pay the most brutal price." At that moment, Basil got the feeling
Cicero was likely not just an advisor to the late Redcap King, but
likely a close friend and something of a secondary father figure to his
children. A knot built up in his stomach at the thought of what Cicero
had likely gone through in the recent days, and twisted to unfathomable
levels at what he knew he was about to say.

"Casio, please accompany Matilda" Cicero requested in a soft voice,
and Casio put his arm on the shoulder of the now crying girl and began
to lead her away. Once they were out of earshot Cicero barked out an
order. "Seize those three and prepare them for their executions." The
Wizard, who had wisely not displayed the weapon he had, drew it. Several
Redcap soldiers leveled guns towards the three, but Cicero rebuked them.
"Do not fire; a bullet is too painless of an execution for the tyrant
and his people." The Wizard stepped in front of the Lizard King, who
looked Basil directly in the eyes, telegraphing the final request he
made to Basil before their fight. The Lizard King's son began to cry.

Basil spoke. "I'm sorry Cicero, but I can't let you execute a kid who
hasn't committed any crimes." The soldiers looked as if they were
ready to train their weapons on Basil again, but kept them pointed at
the three prisoners for the moment. However, if they did switch targets,
he knew they would not be called off by the same people who had last
time. Basil had last seen Cicero's face in sadness moments ago, but as
he turned to Basil, it only held rage. Cicero went to speak, but Basil
continued, feeling the knot in his stomach somehow get worse. "And we
need the Lizard King and the Wizard. They know the Elthrice, and have an
army about to knock down your gate." Cicero did not seem open to
debate, "If you interfere I will have you executed as well." Basil
re-raised his handgun, prompting some of the soldiers to point their
weapons at Basil again, but the standoff was halted by a messenger who
warned of the Lizard King's army moving into the city.

The group seemed to grow more chaotic. The soldiers began to talk
between themselves, and Cicero and General Edwards appeared to be
debating something. While their attention was busy, Basil approached the
three prisoners and whispered "I'm sorry kid, but we need to go now."
The Lizard King's son looked at his father and the Wizard. The Wizard
glared angrily at Basil, but his father only looked at him with a
melancholy face and nodded. The kid began to follow Basil and Grey as
they walked towards the jet, and Basil passed Spiro in their first few
steps. "We're leaving, things are going to go badly here, you can come
if you want" Basil said, whispering quickly as he walked by. "Hey!"
Spiro shouted in reply, placing his hand on Basil's arm and speaking
loud enough to get the attention of the entire group turned to the three
slinking towards the jet.

Basil felt what he could only describe as a vision of himself tearing
off Spiro's arm and head, feeling the tear of tendons and the snap of
bones. It was so strong that he thought he had done so until he realized
his arms were extended. In a moment of hesitation, he lowered his empty
hand and re-pointed his handgun in the vague direction of the group
standing around him. Everybody's attention was first on Spiro, then
Basil leading the kid away. "Kill them!" Cicero shouted.

As the soldiers pointed their weapons at Basil in synchronicity, an army
of drones flew out of the jet. Everybody froze, and very noticeably,
several went into the castle. ACE spoke over the speakers of one. "They
are leaving. If any of you would like to try to stop them everyone
inside these walls dies, including the last of your 'Royal'
bloodline." Despite his monotone synthetic voice, ACE put a very human
emphasis on 'Royal' in a mocking tone; portraying his sudden disdain
for the group very well. Basil said what he believed to be his parting
words to Spiro, "Fuck. You." before beginning to walk backward towards
the jet, pistol still pointed vaguely at the group.

Spiro seemed like he was going to reply to Basil, but addressed the
entire group instead. "You are all going to engineer each other's
deaths! And after you will leave the corpse of your nations to be raped
by the Elthrice!" Spiro seemed to be shouting his words as loudly as he
could while still having an oxymoronic air of calm and authority. "They
must pay for their crimes!" yelled Cicero back, all energy gone,
leaving his words feeling as if they were from a man who had begun to
break down. Basil, catching a glimpse of Cicero's face again, saw his
eyes were misty. Edwards spoke up as well. "The backward Tyrant killed
the Elthrice except that one" he stated while gesturing to Gray, who
seemed troubled by that statement. "I don't see why they matter."
Spiro answered the question in a tone as if he was talking to a child.
"They killed some pirates and their harem; from the sounds of it, real
Elthrice could take out this whole continent. You know, the ones Gray
mentioned hearing were in the area."

Edwards spoke again, "Then we get information from them and then we
kill them." Spiro had an answer formulated for that as well. "And what
of the army that's about to come through that gate? What will they do
to you when they see their dead king?" Cicero began to speak again,
seeming to have regained some composure. "There is no justice in the
world if-" Spiro cut Cicero off with a laugh. "You speak of justice?
You were going to murder the Lizard King in his sleep after vowing for
peace!"

Basil felt a shiver run down his spine as the realization set in that
unless Spiro was lying now he had lied about everything that got Basil
involved in the war. A rage built up in him, more potent than he thought
possible, and being unable to express it in words he just abandoned his
slow backward walk to the jet and angrily glared at Spiro. Spiro
returned the gaze for just a moment, his calm expression being
transiently overruled with a look of terror as if he had somehow
telepathically read Basil's rage. Spiro turned away from Basil when
Cicero shouted, energy seemingly renewed. "He called it off! We came to
blows over it, we were not the ones who broke the peace and deserve
justice.

Spiro shook his head, a rebuke stronger than any combination of words.
"And the moment you left the room he recanted the cancellation, which
was why I advised the Lizard King to evacuate." Cicero fell to the
ground, head in his hands, seeming to have lost his last bit of
fortitude. The Lizard King smiled his melancholy smile and nodded, which
Basil interpreted as confirming the events. The entire group stood in
silence for what felt like an eternity, each unable to speak, until
gunshots were heard in the distance. "What do you propose we do?"
General Edwards asked Spiro, defeat in his voice. "Stop the war."
Spiro replied, and General Edwards spoke again, "But what-" but Spiro
cut him off with urgency. "No, just stop it now. I can proceed over
formal negotiations later, but agree to stop this now and allow the
Lizard King and the Wizard to go to their army and call off the attack.
Have Basil hold the Lizard King's son for safety and leverage, and
allow Basil and Grey to leave freely."

"Okay" was all that General Edwards could squeak out. "ACE, recall
the drones" Spiro demanded, although the drones remained in place.
"Please" Basil added with a certain degree of uncertainty in his
voice, and the drones began to recede into the jet. Everyone turned to
the Lizard King, who said "I will be back" in a rushed voice before
turning to his son and adding "I trust Basil will keep you safe;
everything will be alright." Before anybody could say anything more,
the Lizard King and the Wizard sprinted towards the gate, General
Edwards following closely behind to prevent Redcap soldiers from firing
on the enemy king.

34: Hello Jarvis

Basil's earpiece buzzed. "Where are you going to put the craft?" Grey
asked, still inside it. "I'm on an island, an independent nation that
split away from the Redcaps called Arkepello, formerly known as
Arkepello County." Grey asked for clarification. "And you're sure that
they will let you keep it there? If you're worried about the Redcaps
soldiers, then what will stop these people from trying to take it or
destroy it?" Basil hesitated momentarily, trying to think of the best
way to word his response, eventually settling on the truth but told in a
way that sounded like a joke. "Well, I'm not sure if they'll let me.
Last time I spoke to them one of them ordered I be hanged, so that's why
I'm asking first."

"If they ordered you hanged then why are you going back there?" Grey
asked with some concern in her voice. "Hold on, I'm there; I'll update
you on what they say in a minute." Basil stepped into the tower, seeing
a shocked Simon. "Basil?" he exclaimed, adding "I thought you were
dead." Basil smiled. "Hey Simon, well, I'm very much not so." Simon
looked happy to see Basil, although he seemed a little uneasy after a
moment. "You're not here to..." Simon began to say, but his voice
trailed off. Basil shook his head. "Just here to say hi, tell Tobias
what really happened, and see where I stand." Simon seemed relieved and
his smile returned. "Well, I'm happy you're alive."

Basil made his way up the steps, and walking through the door General
Tobias exclaimed a similar response to Simon. "Basil!" before a quick
pause and "The reports came in that you had died in the fighting."
Tobias also had concern in his voice, seeming unsure where Basil stood.
"Simon didn't radio you that I was coming?" Basil asked, but Tobias
almost laughed. "Well, it's a good thing we're not a nation at war I
guess." Tobias sighed. "That kid is a good kid, but still a lousy
guard." Tobias spoke as if he was talking to an old friend, but his
voice took on a more cautious tone as he continued. "But I believe you
must have some story to tell."

"I do indeed. And it covers everything from peace between the Redcaps
and Lizard king, aliens -- not like me aliens but like they came from
space aliens -- called Elthrice, and some pretty bummer war stories."
Basil paused and changed the topic. "However, I believe before I tell
you any of that, I need to set the record straight and correct the lies
Jarvis likely told you." Basil first went on to explain the situation
that led up to the time Jarvis had ordered Basil's execution and
afterward gave a brief summary of events that had transpired after the
chaos some hours later. Once he had finished speaking, he waited for
Tobias's response, which took a considerable time as Tobias remained
silent while mulling things over in his mind. "Well, that is a very
unexpected story, even knowing yours before today. You'll forgive me if
I need more than your word." Basil nodded. "Look out the window" Basil
stated matter-of-factly, pointing to the Elthrice craft hovering in the
sky. Tobias looked impressed, but not entirely convinced.

"I saw your aircraft fly off this island several days ago; how do I know
for sure that a captured craft cooperates your story?" Basil thought for
a moment. "Do you know Cicero or Spiro?" Tobias seemed slightly
confused. "I know of Cicero, the advisor to, as you say, the late Redcap
King." Basil nodded. "I should be able to have Cicero and the Lizard
King confirm my story of events, and with the siege over you will likely
have reports coming in soon." Tobias finally seemed convinced. "Okay, I
believe you, you have never lied to me before. I will not act against
Jarvis until I have more confirmation of your story, but if you can get
Cicero and the Lizard King to agree on something, I will believe
anything you say."

Tobias smiled as he said the last statement, and Basil grinned knowing
he was still welcomed at the Arkepello. The smile quickly turned to a
frown, however, as Tobias spoke. "I will have Jarvis stripped from his
position on the council for what he tried to do." Basil felt something
like a surge of energy wash over him. "Stripped from the council!? The
asshole tried to murder me!?" Tobias responded in a more controlled
voice than Basil had used. "You have to understand, this is a delicate-"
but Basil cut him off.

"The only thing that's going to be delicate will be Jarvis's forehead
when I put a bullet in it" Basil said, the surge of energy affirming his
new plan. Tobias frowned, speaking sternly but still trying to
de-escalate Basil. "I cannot let you do that, Basil." Basil just
laughed. "Or what? Will you strip my non-existent seat from the council?
If you're so weak of a leader that you can't punish murder then I think
I'll be just fine." Tobias went to speak, but Basil left the room and
slammed the door behind him. Simon, naive smile on his face, said
something to Basil; but he paid him no attention.

Jarvis heard a knock on the door and opened it to see Basil's fist
flying at his face. Jarvis lay on the ground, confused and wide-eyed at
Basil's presence. Basil closed the door behind him, pistol in hand, and
started to bring it up. Jarvis remained motionless as if he didn't
fully comprehend the situation.

Something clicked in Basil's mind like a tripwire going off. A
flashback of shooting a soldier in the back to take the tank flooded his
mind, suddenly warring with the energy that told him to shoot the man in
front of him. He went to fire, but the trigger wouldn't pull. He
quickly brushed his thumb across where the safety should have been, but
he was promptly reminded his pistol had no safety. Something was broken,
but it wasn't the gun. What did Grey say about this again? Right,
focus. But on what?

Basil realized what he was doing and lowered his gun, sitting on a chair
beside the door. The energy and adrenaline began to wear off, and Basil
realized how tired he really was. He needed to be asleep, then thinking
over everything that had just happened, not carrying out whatever he
nearly just did. Jarvis still looked on silently, although he seemed to
have finally caught on to what was going on.

"You know he's going to let you get away with what you tried to do to
me" Basil said, staring at Jarvis, expecting a response but not getting
one. "Ya' know I came here to kill you. Well, I guess you probably
figured that out with the gun and all. This (object), I'm worried it's
kinda pushing me to be more violent. Ya' know, like I just snorted a
line of cocaine. But I'm getting used to it, and I've seen enough
violence for a lifetime in the last few days. Besides, the Elthrice had
them and look how they wound up."

Jarvis crawled backward away from Basil, still not saying anything. He
was already terrified of this vengeful ghost, and now the vengeful ghost
seemed to be insane. "Nothing?" Basil asked before continuing when
Jarvis remained silent. "Well, I had some crazy adventures, and you'll
have plenty of time to hear about them since the General is in a
forgiving mood. Let's just say if I were him, I would do a lot more than
strip you of your council seat."

"He can't do that" Jarvis responded in a whisper. "He can't do that" he
repeated in a louder, more panicked tone. Basil just laughed. "See you
around asshole." He got up and left Jarvis's home, only to be confronted
by Tobias, Simon, and three other soldiers flanking the two -- weapons
drawn. "I've been thinking about what you said" Tobias stated loudly as
they approached from the edge of earshot. "Yeah, I believe I owe you an
apology. I haven't slept since we attacked the Lizard King's makeshift
outpost, and I'm still getting used to this (object), not that it's an
excuse for what I said-"

Tobias interrupted Basil. "No, I mean about letting a murderer go free.
Basil, surrender yourself." Basil stood confused for a moment before
responding. "Oh, I didn't kill him; that's what I was getting to. I mean
I bopped him on the nose and hurt his feelings, but he'll be back to his
normal assholery in no time." Tobias stood there, looking a combination
of relieved, annoyed, and confused. "Fine, lower your weapons. Somebody
verify Jarvis is still alive. I'll forgive the outburst, but do not
question my authority again." Tobias paused as the soldiers lowered
their weapons and Simon went to verify Jarvis was still alive, but
Tobias spoke again. "And Basil, if you have not slept since the fight,
go get some sleep. Please."

"Yes sir" Basil said, before remembering why he came there. "Oh right,
is it okay if I park the Elthrice ship somewhere here?" Tobias looked
very confused. "Why are you even asking me that, now, in the middle of
verifying that you didn't murder someone? Fine. As long as it's not
going to hurt somebody." Basil pulled out his phone. "We're all good."
Grey sounded suspicious. "That long for all good?" Basil replied "Yup,
actually hold on, maybe not" and put his phone away; watching as Simon
exited Jarvis's house while Jarvis held him at gunpoint. "You're going
to take the outsider's word over mine?" Jarvis yelled. Tobias had a
sudden look of worry.

"Put the gun down Jarvis!" Tobias yelled, but Jarvis only sounded more
angry after hearing that. "Put it down, put it down?" The soldiers
flanking Tobias seemingly forgot what soldiers were supposed to do,
until they remembered and began raising their weapons. They stopped and
lowered them again, however, when Jarvis yelled out "Put your weapons
down! Let's see, who deserves to die more. Basil or Tobias? Basil or
Tobias?" Basil stepped in between Jarvis and Tobias, yelling "Hey
asshole, you-," but Jarvis fired, striking Basil in the chest.

Basil began to speak in a sarcastic tone. "Well, I needed to field test
this thing anyway; I really should be thanking you. And hey, problem
solv-," but was cut off by gunfire as one of the soldiers fired on
Jarvis. "A little late, he only had one shot" Basil said as Tobias ran
over to him. "Are you..." he began to ask, but Basil showed him the hole
in his shirt and his uninjured chest. "Hey, I didn't just say I was an
unofficial Orbital because it sounds cool, although it does." Everybody
stared at Basil, unsure what to make of everything, and then at Jarvis,
who was rolling around on the ground due to his now injured elbow.
"Well, I'm going to get some sleep before I get even more loopier than I
already am" Basil finally said, breaking the silence.

35: Negotiations

Basil stepped out of the jet and towards the Redcap's keep, keeping a
close eye on the soldiers surrounding the building. They were certainly
watching him, but they all looked apathetic and tired, at least
externally. His radio conversation with Cicero a few minutes prior also
carried the same tone. Cicero hadn't expressed any anger or said
anything would be unsafe, but he had also acted as if they weren't
moments away from shooting each other 24 hours ago.

However, as he continued his approach, he saw Spiro standing outside the
building as if waiting for his arrival. As much as Basil kept telling
himself he was looking forward to this conversation, he only found
himself feeling dread. He slowed, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket
to calm his nerves.

He felt the nicotine begin to take effect. Ever since taking hold of the
(object), he'd been finding stimulants felt even more potent. Downers
like the painkillers he was on felt slightly less effective, but even
mild stimulants like nicotine or caffeine felt more potent and seemed to
compound with whatever the (object)'s effect was. He also didn't feel
his lungs burning, so that was nice. However, Spiro was now within
earshot, so he was out of time to distract himself from the
conversation.

"I am truly sorry for what I got you involved with" Spiro said as soon
as Basil made eye contact. Spiro's words sounded genuine, although
somewhat rehearsed, but of course with the recent events Basil
questioned their sincerity. The two stood in silence, Basil still
looking towards the castle entrance, considering walking through it and
leaving the conversation on hold until he better understood what was
running through his head.

"Something?" Spiro said, before hesitating and continuing "Anything?
Before you tear my limbs off." Basil burst out laughing, remnants of
that strange surge of energy fading away. For a moment, he felt like he
was joking with the guy who had saved his life and had gone to hell and
back with him. Then he realized that Spiro looked terrified. Right,
Spiro wasn't joking because he cast them all into their metaphorical
hell to begin with. "I don't know" Basil said, finally realizing he
wasn't going to come up with anything better to say.

"After everything that happened, I don't even know what to think. I
killed people, a lot of people, and got involved in a fight that I
don't know I should have." Basil paused for a moment. "Or, well,
maybe I was nieve to think I could stick around and not get involved.
And now I've got this thing, this (object). I'm worried about what
I've almost done after getting it and I don't even know if I can trust
my own judgment. Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed, but I don't have any
answers beyond that."

Spiro looked as if he was unsure whether to smile or remain with his
fairly somber face. Eventually, he seemed to settle on a smile. "Well,
I'm glad you decided to leave my limbs still attached to the rest of
me. I spoke to Grey as you were leaving; she refused to speak to me
outside of telling me that with that thing you have, my last moments
were probably going to be you beating me with one of my limbs."

"So, why?" Basil asked, ignoring Spiro's response. Spiro looked like
he was thinking things over. After a long pause, Spiro glanced around to
seemingly ensure nobody else was around and began speaking. "Well,
Amigoso is a lot smaller than the two big players here, so when there
were talks of peace I was told to keep those two from killing each
other. Peace is fine, war is fine, but one kills the other and they
inevitably start looking in our direction." Spiro hesitated for a
moment. "Well, I would prefer peace. Although I may not have
demonstrated it, I do hate to see senseless killing. But that's less
relevant when I was working in service to Amigoso."

Basil nodded, mainly as a signal for Spiro to continue with his
motivations. "All was well until my listening device picked up the
Redcap's assassination plan, so I tipped off the Lizard King. He
leaves, but you escort him. However, nobody's shot anybody yet,
everything's in limbo; all is good. I tell you the Lizard King is
paranoid, you don't take a side, and negotiations probably pick up
later through intermediaries. But then" Spiro gestured to Basil's
chest.

"Then what?" Basil asked, somewhat confused. "Then you turn on that
computer thing on and I know for sure you're not a Loqualian trying to
con us. A few hours later I hear that the Lizard King has some sort of
secret weapon and he's planning a retaliation, same issue but reversed,
one leader on Domum proper means Amigoso is in danger. I figure hey, the
alien can maybe stop that." Basil began to feel as if he understood how
everything fell together. "Then you found out that that secret was
captured Elthrice technology." Spiro nodded. "Yes. And upon seeing the
Elthrice crafts I realized I was now in service to all of Domum instead
of just Amigoso; and that those things had to be stopped."

Basil stood there in silence, thinking this over, still with no
conclusions. Spiro probably wasn't lying now, although perhaps he
couldn't be entirely sure. He had risked his life by confessing to
double crossing everybody when guns were out, which had stopped a war,
although that did seem to work out well for him. Perhaps Cicero had the
right idea: just act like nothing ever happened.

Spiro gestured for Basil to follow him, and the two started walking
deeper into the castle. "Well, the Lizard King was willing to return to
the heart of enemy territory, so negotiations had a pretty good start.
The Redcaps wanted heavy concessions for the attack, but news arrived
that several counties declared themselves independent from the Redcap
crown. Dealing with the uprisings and rebuilding means they're not in a
good bargaining position. The Lizard King's capitol suffered some
damage at the hands of the Elthrice, though not as much as the Redcaps;
but with the generations long decline they've been on they need peace
badly."

Basil was slightly surprised at the sudden change in topic. "I'm not
really a politics guy, much less a Domum politics guy, but you keep
saying these things like they're good news, and they don't sound like
it." Spiro continued to walk but turned to face Basil. "It means that
nobody can afford to fight anymore, and like it or not, they need to put
an end to this." Basil suddenly felt a little suspicious. "And what of
Amigoso? Now that you finished being man of the people, did they order
you to do some sort of power play during the negotiations?" Spiro
turned to Basil and smirked.

"Oh, they're pissed I'm doing this. They're upset when their
machines make their way to the mainland, and once they hear I'm
presiding over negotiations, the Minister of Information will probably
want my head. And not attached to my body. But," Spiro chuckled "being
the Chairman's great nephew they'll be hamstrung." Basil's suspicion
was canceled by surprise. "You're his nephew?" Spiro sounded amused.
"Well, we don't really see eye to eye on a lot; I wasn't entirely
bullshitting you when I said an out in my back pocket would be good, but
familial bonds are enough to keep him from ordering my execution."

They rounded a corner and the newly appointed Redcap Queen shot daggers
with her eyes at Basil. The Lizard King, however, seemed more happy to
see Basil despite the Wizard's apparent discomfort. "My son, he is
safe?" Basil nodded. "Safe and sound, from the sounds of it you'll be
headed out soon?" The Lizard king confirmed such and gave Basil a brief
overview of the negotiations. Largely, fighting had been agreed to stop,
and most of the front lines being fought over would likely wind up
abandoned under each nation's inability to project military power into
those regions. As they spoke they took an opposite route to the one
Basil had just taken with Spiro, winding up back in the courtyard by
Basil's jet. The Lizard King spoke to his son, and after a reunion the
Wizard and the Lizard King's son left their company at the Lizard
King's request.

"Basil," the Lizard king said "Beyond your interest in this conflict,
I believe you are here because you have a question or request?" Basil
nodded, not realizing he was that easily read. "Look, I really don't
know where we stand, given everything that went on between us." Basil
paused momentarily, and when the Lizard king remained silent he
continued. "But you know the Elthrice given your firsthand experience.
Gray said there were more Elthrice supposedly in the area, real ones
that could pose a significant threat. I want to propose a mutual defense
collaboration with you, me, and the Redcaps in case they arrive." The
Lizard King remained in silence long after Basil had finished speaking.
"Basil, you are many things. A traitor and protector, a dangerous
outsider and one who may protect us from dangerous outsiders. However, I
have seen the destruction the Elthrice can bring firsthand, and you
likely prevented my death and my son's death even if they would not
have been risked had it not been in part by your hands."

The Lizard King paused for moment after speaking before continuing.
"Perhaps, but I would need to know more of your plans to say for
certain." Basil went on to explain the situation. The Elthrice crafts,
even the surviving obsolete ones, were very durable and would require
very serious weaponry to destroy, bordering on nuclear - which delved
into a long explanation of what a nuclear weapon was. The Elthrice,
though, even Orbitals, were still beings that could be more easily
killed. Despite the Elthrice's technical advantage, as Basil explained,
weapon destructiveness progressed exponentially while defense against
such weapons progressed linearly. With Basil's ability to manufacture
weapons such as drones bearing explosives, they could likely take out a
large number of Elthrice - especially given they had no crafts with
weaponry, at least according to Gray.

Basil suggested bringing wormhole devices to key points on the
continent. While Basil was unsure if that particular continent would
even be the target - as perhaps the group Grey was a part of only
invaded that continent for linguistic reasons given Grey's abilities -
they could likely defend the entire continent if needed by
transportation between key points. Those key points, ideally, were the
Lizard king's and Redcap's capitals, the Arkepello, and Amigoso -
though getting one in Amigoso was unlikely. After assurances of Basil's
benign intentions and an explanation that emphasized the device's need
for power - that could be disabled by turning off the generator attached
to the wormhole device - the Lizard King agreed to the plan. "Yes, that
does sound to be in the interest of me and my people, and I will agree
to allow you to setup one of those devices for travel and defense."

After thanking the Lizard King, Basil went to leave; however, the Lizard
King gave Basil a request of his own. "Basil, will you accompany me? If
you so agree, you would join me as a guest of honor, and it would be a
sign to my subjects that you are an ally once again and not an enemy."
Basil smiled. "Of course, I'd be honored. Besides, I could bring the
components to set up the device. Do we take my jet, your blimp, or the
Elthrice craft?"

36: The Lizard People

"Why is the demon here?" The Wizard asked, seeing Grey upon entering
the salvaged Elthrice ship. Basil realized that using the Elthrice craft
for transport was a bad idea. Not only did he just reintroduce Grey to
her former captors and the killers of her group, but he'd also
introduced her former captors to the last surviving member of the
raiding aliens that wrought destruction on their capital. Even though
Grey did not participate in the attack, she was certainly not popular
among the Lizard King's people.

"She lives on the ship; we're trying to research-" Basil began to say
before being cut off by the Wizard. "This creature should-" but the
Lizard King shot him a glare and he stopped. Although the Lizard King
did not appear happy to see Grey, at least he seemed willing to keep his
dislike of Elthrice internal as everyone processed the tumultuous events
of the prior week.

"I presume you wish to radio ahead and alert your people that this is
not an Elthrice attack?" ACE asked. "We do not have a working radio at
our capitol building" the Lizard King said, shifting slightly. "My
people know of the captured demon machines; they should not attack us.
There is a field slightly north of our capitol, you may land there."
Though no movement was felt, moments later the door opened to a muddy
brown field with no crops. A very light and misty rain dusted the
landscape.

"I will go ahead and instruct my keep's people to prepare a feast. You
may join us and wait there if you would like" The Lizard King said as
they stepped out of the craft. Basil looked around curiously. "If it's
alright, I thought I might walk around a bit and meet you there
shortly." The Lizard King seemed pleased. "Of course, you may see all
our fine city has to offer. I'll instruct an escort of soldiers to join
you."

"I should be safe without an escort, I've become pretty capable
recently." The Wizard shot Basil a death glare; referencing their
previous fight was perhaps not the best answer to the offer. The Lizard
King seemed more forgiving, clearing the air with a forced laugh, though
his eyes portrayed mixed emotions. "Well, perhaps I know all too well.
We will be ready by sundown, finding the keep will not be a hard thing
to do."

Basil began to follow the Lizard King and his people into the city, but
turned off at what appeared to be a street market. He wandered around
for some time while taking in his surroundings, of which the first thing
he noticed was the temperature. As soon as he stepped off the craft, he
noticed it was probably thirty degrees colder. While the rain likely had
some blame, much of it likely lay on being considerably south of the
Domum equator. Despite a familiarity with cold and the (object)
increasing his tolerance to such things, he still found himself growing
cold.

Another thing Basil noticed was the state of the city. The generations
of decline that Spiro mentioned seemed evident once he began to look for
signs of them, seeing walls that were likely once immaculate stone works
being reduced to worn and poorly maintained structures. The clothes
people wore around him seemed much more basic, mostly made from wool or
leather, rather than the more processed fabrics in the other nations he
had visited. Finally resolving to remedy his chill, he purchased a coat
from a nearby vendor. Though it took a little haggling to get one to
take Arkepello silver, he got the merchant to accept and received a coat
that was little more than a large sheet of wool with sleeves. It did at
least feel quite durable and warm in the rain, "Even if he had gotten
fleeced, pardon the pun."

He checked his watch, the small silver object stating it had been nearly
an hour since they landed. Though the sun was still in the sky, it had
already begun to fall behind the looming castle, casting an almost
ominous shadow across that part of the city. The Lizard King didn't lie
when he said it would be easy to find, as Basil could see it in the city
center at a higher elevation than the rest of the city, towering over
everything else. Though still very light, the rain began to increase;
partially obscuring the beginning of a sunset that rested above the tall
structure through and small opening in the clouds. Basil almost froze in
his tracks at a simultaneous sense of wonder and dread that the sight
contained within it.

"Already beginning to look like a local I see?" The Wizard asked as if
a statement of fact as Basil began approaching the castle's gate, the
torch in the Wizard's hand going out in the rain. Though nobody
recognized Basil in the city, as he entered the castle's comparatively
smaller courtyard, he began to receive odd looks and stares from
soldiers and officials who appeared to hold mixed opinions of him. "I
should warn you that the hall is not yet prepared" the Wizard said,
breaking the two's silence as they continued their walk into the
building. "No worries, just wanted to get out of the cold and could use
to set up the generator anyway."

The Wizard changed directions, leading Basil towards the room where they
intended to set up the generator instead of leading him to the hall.
Basil began to pull out his flashlight as the halls became darker, but
with a quick wave of his hand, the Wizard's torch burst back into
flames. Basil's surprised look asked more questions of the Wizard than
any words could, but the Wizard continued walking wordlessly. As they
remained silent, however, Basil asked the other question that had been
on his mind. "So, how exactly did you wind up with an Elthrice
Orbital's (object)?" Basil expected some sort of glare, but the Wizard
seemed ambivalent about the question.

After a long silence the Wizard answered the question in a neutral tone.
"This has been in my family's line for generations, though it is not
the source of my or my forbearer's magic. I do not even know for
certain it is 'Elthrice,' although it appears it may be. The captured
one said they had attacked our civilization before, and their existence
and collapse predate even our oldest records, so such events may be lost
to time. But I myself am certainly not Elthrice."

Basil nodded, still unsure what to make of the situation. The Wizard,
however, continued to speak.

"They were a profoundly stupid people. Not in their technology or their
knowledge, which were immense, but in their hubris. A people who think
too highly of themselves and rely too heavily on their machines become
easily understood by others, and they themselves become blind to threats
which they dismiss. That alone engineered their downfall. They believed
themselves to be all powerful, and that their machines were too complex
for others to use against them, and therefore they controlled them with
absolute authority. Their hubris failed them once when their own people
seized control of them, and then again when those who had seized control
did not expect those such as myself to be able to seize it and turn it
against themselves."

37: Diplomatic Promises

Cicero took a swig of beer. "With everything that has gone on the Redcap
Queen does not currently hold you in high regard, but I believe she will
agree. Although our best means of convincing her would be to bring Grey
before her to explain the Elthrice, and why setting up such a defense
against them would be imperative. May I bring her before the court?"
Cicero spoke in the same business-like demeanor as he had all night,
retaining his diplomatic but almost cold tone regardless of whether he
was discussing rebuilding or personal topics. His last question,
however, gave Basil pause.

"Well that's something you would have to ask her about, but I'm sure
she'd be willing to speak with you guys." Cicero shrugged. "Very well,
I assumed you were keeping her prisoner and did not want to cause an
unnessicary conflict." Basil just laughed. "Prisoner? Under what
authority could I keep somebody prisoner, and for what crimes could I
even hold her? I certainly doubt you would consider helping us fight the
Lizard King as a crime."

Cicero looked annoyed. "Under the same authority as any other. Power. I
am somewhat astounded you had not figured that out yet." When Basil
looked confused Cicero continued, still speaking matter of factly. "You
and ACE hold advanced weaponry and an Elthrice craft, which means you
hold a lot of it." Cicero finished his drink and wordlessly motioned for
Basil to follow, making their way back to the Redcap's capital building
-- where Cicero had his quarters and Basil had left a wormhole device.
As they walked in silence, however, Basil asked the question that he had
wanted to ask all night but had failed to figure out how.

"What do you think about Spiro?" Cicero looked slightly confused.
"What about him?" Basil felt almost annoyed. "He lied to all of us,
but he also saved my life, and probably kept a lot of people alive. I'm
just not sure what to think of everything. Cicero just shrugged. "He's
Amigosian Ministry, what did you expect?" Basil felt more annoyed that
he still hadn't gotten the answer he was looking for. "I mean can we
trust him? Will he be sent to do something against us in the future?"

Cicero stopped walking and turned to Basil, voice suddenly seeming a
combination of annoyance and pity. "That I do not know, as I cannot
know if you will be a danger to my government, or if Nerva will become a
threat again and need to be addressed. Do not forget that you have, on
multiple occasions, made threats and disobeyed royal directives. You are
reckless and a dangerous individual. But, as with Spiro, you helped end
bloodshed and your crusade against the potential Elthrice is in our
interest, so I have agreed to meet with you and discuss plans. That is
how you should consider Spiro."

Basil felt unsure if he should feel angry or embarrassed and was unsure
which of the two his face showed. Cicero's expression softened a bit.
"Perhaps I was a tad harsh. I may owe you a personal debt, and perhaps
your intentions are commendable. But my loyalties are with my nation and
family." Cicero looked as if he was about to say more, but stopped as
the two were distracted by a commotion near the courtyard gate. The
soldiers appeared to be removing a woman in some sort of soldier's
uniform, who made a b-line to Cicero when she saw him.

"You backstabber" she shouted at Cicero, who seemed a combination of
ready to fight and avoidant. As Cicero's hand surreptitiously made his
way towards his waistband Basil took a step forward---ready for a fight.
"Who are you?" the unknown woman asked, surprised at the unknown-to-her
individual who seemed ready for violence. Basil began to wonder if he
had misjudged the situation. "Basil, and you?" Basil asked, taking a
step back in an attempt to appear less threatening. "Gina Sekoia, head
of the coastal federation." Gina paused for a moment, then added "Are
you the Elthrice?" Basil was now even more unsure of the situation. "No,
I only have some of their technology. I can assure you there's no
mistaking an Elthrice if you saw one."

"Please make the Redcaps hold up their end of the bargain" Gina asked
Basil. "A word?" Basil asked, turning to Cicero, and the two stepped out
of earshot for a moment. "What's going on?"

"There are a number of independent cities on the northwestern coast, and
during the recent tumultuous period they organized under her leadership.
Several Redcap county governors requested her assistance in dealing with
uprisings and promised official recognition and aid once they had
retaken their lands. She lost many of her loyalists during the fighting,
and with the newfound peace, consolidated strength is not as valuable.
The governors do not have the powers to make such promises, and the
crown has decided against honoring the unauthorized agreements."

When Basil heard Cicero finish speaking he thought for a moment. "But I
take it that's only half the story? If they just dissolved their
government, then wouldn't she return to whatever city-state she was
from?" Cicero nodded and looked a little ashamed.

"The coastal cities are large producers of grain and fruit, which are in
short supply. We would only expend resources we could not afford to
lose, and in doing so it would have only wounded us further as the only
fields not war-torn would become so. Her adversaries have come to
retaliate for the violence against those who resisted consolidation. She
and her supporters haven't been told outright that they cannot leave,
but are probably beginning to get that suspicion."

"And there's nothing you can do?" Basil asked. Cicero shook his head.
"Basil, politics is only a game of choosing the least bad apparent
solution to a never ending stream of problems. If we let her go, her
adversaries would only become angry, and knowing we are weak could harm
us by raising the price of grain or covertly supporting our adversaries.
If you wish to get involved you may, but I do not know what you could
do, and I would certainly not permit anything that would jeopardize our
access to grain or make it appear you are doing anything on our behalf."
The two stood in silence for a while, until Cicero broke it by saying an
abrupt goodbye and heading through the gate.

When Cicero left, walking behind the guards to avoid another
confrontation, Gina walked over to approach Basil. "Did he tell you how
he used my soldiers to fight their war and then abandoned us to die?"
Gina appeared to have some hate in her words, which Basil assumed was
directed at the Redcaps. "Yes" Basil replied, still unsure of what he
could do about the situation. "So can you speak to the Redcap Queen on
our behalf?" Gina replied. Basil shook his head. "Not long ago I was in
those walls and their soldiers were pointing my own weapons at me, the
only reason why they didn't fire was because I had better ones. I don't
think it would even be possible for me to get an audience with her, much
less convince her of anything."

They both stood in silence for a long time, neither seeming to know
exactly what to say next. Eventually, however, Basil had an idea. "I do
have an Elthrice craft, I could get you and any of your supporters out
of here and into some no man's land on the other side of the continent.
And I doubt your detractors would try to track you down if they heard
you left in an Elthrice craft, although then again assuming I know
politics here has gotten every major power pointing a weapon at me at
some point or another." Gina looked saddened, then momentarily angered
at Basil's joking tone, but nodded in melancholy agreement.

38: The Stars be not My Destination

Basil and Grey worked on reassembling the pieces of the salvaged
Elthrice craft they had just examined. Although many parts like the
propulsion mechanisms were well outside of the two's capability to
disassemble, those that had been accessible had been the obsession of
the two for weeks as each part was disassembled, observed by ACE, and
then reassembled. "Where would I even go?" Grey asked Basil, a little
bit of annoyance present in her voice. "I don't know, you're the
Elthrice" Basil responded, somewhat unsure of himself.

"Do you want me to leave?" Grey asked, now definitely annoyed and
seeming a little upset. "No" Basil replied, pausing for a moment while
trying to formulate a response. "No, I like that you're around. You're
the only one who I can relate to in being 'not from around here,' your
knowledge of Elthrice technology saved my life at least once, and of the
people who have set foot on Domum you and ACE are probably the only two
who haven't lied to me or had a weapon pointed at me at some point."

Grey seemed to both look relieved and confused. "Then why did you offer
me the craft? I've already been living in it, so the only reason for you
to offer it to me after we finish research is to get me to leave." Basil
thought for a moment again. "I just don't want you to be a prisoner
here. I have the only Elthrice craft, if I can even lay claim to it, and
hopefully this will be the only one on this planet. Even if I don't want
you to leave, I also don't want you trapped here if that's not what you
want."

"Basil, there's nothing out there for me" Grey said in a suddenly somber
voice. "Nothing but ruins; and if I did somehow find other Elthrice they
would likely kill me. Maybe for my resources, maybe because of my
genetics, and certainly because of my previous affiliations with my
<words in Elthrice>." She paused momentarily, adding "Basil,
you are the closest thing to my
<words in Elthrice>." Basil didn't know the meaning of the
words she had used, but her voice seemed to carry both reverence and
sadness when she used the latter one.

Sorry, I don't know what the word <words in Elthrice> means." Basil could tell his
pronunciation of the word was incorrect, but Grey clarified. "I don't
know of a direct translation, but it was used often by the ones I used
to be with. It means something like fleet-family, but the kind that is
chosen rather than by blood." Basil smiled. "Well, I would be honored to
have a space sister." Grey smiled, but Basil could tell the
conversation had drifted to areas of Grey's past she was uncomfortable
talking about as she changed the subject.

"So then, little brother, what is this craft you believe you can
construct?" Basil pulled up a diagram that somewhat resembled the
stingray shaped craft. It was much smaller than the behemoth that the
Elthrice made, but still somewhat large for an aircraft. A cabin sat in
the center of the craft, flanked by two large cylindrically shaped
protrusions from the salvaged propulsion system of the larger crashed
craft. It also contained two long and flat wings that gave the craft a
somewhat triangular shape when viewed from above. "Well the thruster and
power generation of the crashed craft seem to still be working, and we
still have enough materials to construct the rest of it, even after
using some for more wormhole devices."

"It looks like a weird design" Grey said, prompting a shrug from Basil.
"ACE and I did have to make some improvisations, and it would not
actually be suitable for space travel, but the simulations are
successful, so it should work if we can manage to put it together." Grey
looked very confused. "Why build a craft if it cannot be interplanetary?
We still have this one, and you could build many of your non space
faring crafts?" Basil rotated the holographic model. "Because of these"
he said, pointing towards weapons mounted on the bottom. "It would have
the speed and durability of an Elthrice ship, but be a legitimate
gunship and a serious upper hand if any groups of Elthrice decided to
come here. Using the propulsion system to accelerate projectiles it
could fire just about anything, and with the right projectiles it'd be a
threat to any surviving crafts."

Grey looked astonished, although Basil thought he saw a tiny bit of
hesitation on her face when he showed her the weapons. Nevertheless, she
spoke as if she had concluded it was a positive development. "Basil,
armed Elthrice ships have not existed for a very long time; I do not
know that you fully grasp the significance of this. Even the old
Elthrice would be terrified of a craft like that."

39: Westward Investigation

"Alright, you think you can give Cicero a manual of arms here?" Basil
asked, putting a random Redcap soldier on the spot. General Edwards
nodded, and the soldier gave Cicero a detailed overview of the rifle
before clearing, shouldering, and dry firing it. "Not fully
automatic?" Cicero asked. "No" Basil replied. "Ammunition is our
bottleneck so far, if the Elthrice do invade we need to make every shot
count. I've already burnt a fake identity by purchasing bulk depleted
Uranium rounds, and your soldiers haven't been trained on full auto."
Cicero looked confused. "I've seen our storeroom, how is that not
enough?" Edwards replied to Cicero's question directed at Basil.

"Well, with my background in logistics, I can assure you we can always
use more. Ten thousand rounds, which is our goal, may seem as if it is a
lot, but you start to distribute that among our forces and we could find
ourselves lacking quickly."

Edwards seemed to have an air of pompousness when he spoke, or so Basil
thought, but Cicero seemed unbothered. Perhaps Basil had misjudged the
speech, or perhaps Cicero was just used to it. "Basil, before I forget,
I would like to talk to you when you are done here" Cicero said,
changing the topic. Basil wrapped up his work on the anti-Elthrice
weapons and caught up to Cicero who was standing outside the barracks.
"What's up?"

"Captian Brayden had a request he wished for me to pass along. We had
reports in the northwest, and he was hoping to request your help with
transportation and potentially with an investigation." Basil was
surprised by such a request. "What's going on?" Cicero seemed almost
hesitant in his answer. "Do you believe in shape shifters?" Basil
laughed. "Seriously?" But when Cicero didn't respond Basil asked a
follow up question. "Do you believe in shape shifters?"

Cicero shrugged. "I once thought I saw something during the battle of
Blood Rock, but it was dark, and the state of my mind was not sound."
Cicero's monotone voice momentarily took on an air of something Basil
couldn't place, although it felt at odds with his casual body language.
When Cicero did not explain further Basil figured it was best not to
prod him for more details of the events he was recollecting. "Alright,
what's going on out there?" Cicero shrugged again. "I do not know,
that's why we're investigating. We received a letter from the local
county governor requesting the Queen send forces to investigate repeated
attacks on a local town. Its inhabitants swear that the attacks are the
result of a shape shifter."

Basil processed what he had heard. "Hm, well, regardless of what's
going on, it sounds like you guys need to put a stop to it. I'm sure
Grey wouldn't mind if we used the Elthrice craft to save poor Brayden a
very long trek." Cicero seemed glad. "I'm pleased to hear you're
willing to lend him a hand. I know you may be sore about what happened
between you two, but he's an honorable man who has expressed regrets
for how he has interacted with you." Basil looked confused for a moment
before realizing what Cicero was referring to.

"Hey, if you're talking about the stuff at the festival, that's all
water under the bridge. Tons of shit went down those days, and I gotta
say that Brayden was one of the most respectful guys I've ever pissed
off." Cicero seemed amused at Basil's wording. "Good, well, I will
pass that along." Cicero went to turn away, but suddenly spun on his
heels as if he had just recognized something from the previous
conversation.

"You said Grey would probably be okay with us using the craft. Did you
give the craft to her?" Cicero's usual monotone voice changed again,
though it almost sounded nervous this time. Basil shrugged. "Well, I
offered it to her thinking she would want to leave, but she turned me
down and plans to stay here. She's still living in its quarters,
though, so I'm not sure if I should treat it as mine or hers." Cicero
didn't say anything for a moment, but had an almost horrified look on
his face. Eventually he seemed to settle on a set of words.

"You were going to give away our one leg up against the Elthrice!?"
Basil wasn't quite sure how to respond, but in his hesitancy Cicero
spoke again in a less harsh tone. "Basil, I can respect your intentions
to not keep the Elthrice trapped, but please remember that an entire
realm is at stake here if Elthrice were to attack." When the two fell
silent again Cicero finally said a short goodbye and Basil left to
prepare for the trip.

Almost immediately, Basil reached out to Spiro to ask what he thought
about the idea of shape shifters. If anybody were to have the truth of
the matter it would have to be him. "How exactly are you connected to
this again?" Spiro asked after somebody had finally agreed to find him
and put him on the radio Basil had reached. "Same as I told the lady
who answered it originally, it's just a radio. I'm broadcasting a
signal to it and thanks to magic wobbly electrons in an antenna you're
hearing me." Spiro sighed and paused for a moment. "Yeah, but you're
not supposed to be able to connect to this one. Walk me through exactly
how we're talking right now."

"Well, I sent up a drone high enough to get a good signal to Amigoso
and scanned for frequencies. I found the lower bands that seemed to be
for your Ministry, and I already have access to the one at Arkepello so
I know how your messages are encoded. ACE found this one, the one where
everybody off the island is reaching out to the Ministry, so that's
where I figured I should try to reach you." Spiro sounded amused,
annoyed, and a little defeated. "So you're in all of them?" Basil
nodded before remembering he was talking into a cell phone. "Yeah,
they're just radio signals."

"Well, you just turned today into a very bad day for our communication
guys." Spiro chuckled as if he had finally decided to find this
situation amusing. "So, what was your question that accidentally
embarrassed our entire intelligence network?" Basil went on to explain
his conversation with Cicero, and when he asked Spiro about shape
shifters his answer was only a laugh. Spiro seemed certain it was only
paranoia, and after Basil cracked a joke about the Salem witch trials
their conversation became an impromptu history lesson. Basil next
brought the topic up with Grey, thinking if anybody knew anything about
genetic engineering or biological anomalies, it would be her. She was
unfamiliar with the subject, even on a mythological basis, but was very
interested in attending the investigation. If nothing else, to learn
more about the less technologically adept side of her ancestry.

Soon enough Basil, Grey, Brayden, and a handful of Redcap Capital Police
were loaded onto the Elthrice craft. "We're here" ACE said over the
intercom only a dozen seconds after closing the door, prompting some
surprise and amusement from the first time passengers. Brayden looked
particularly amazed. "I know Cicero said it was like this, but damn, I
expected he was exaggerating at least a little."

The investigation itself began, which was well outside Basil's
wheelhouse, but from what he could tell somebody had very much been
attacking animals and occasionally people. Brayden went on to explain to
the group that he believed the attacks were due to either a disturbed or
insane person, possibly wearing some form of animal skin. Based on the
location of the attacks, he had determined the likely area the
perpetrator was hiding in, and the crew set off to determine if
Brayden's efforts had paid off.

Basil started noticing the change in scenery as the group left the town.
Where the Redcap's eastern portion mainly consisted of forested hills
and plains, their western portion seemed much more wet and dense with
foliage, to the point where it almost started to resemble a temperate
rainforest. Regardless of foliage, however, the group trekked on and
made their way in the direction of the location where their killer was
most likely to be.

"We got something here" one of the Royal Policeman shouted, adding
"Shit, looks like some of it's human" as the group approached.
Everyone gathered around, seeing a pile of bones and rotting meat in a
clearing by several boulders. Just as Brayden began to tell everyone to
keep an eye out for something returning, they heard rustling in the
bushes. A crazed looking man with unkept hair stepped out, walking
erratically.

Several of the police force backed away slightly and raised their
weapons. Basil followed suit and raised his Mossberg as Brayden gave a
command from behind his pistol. "In the name of the Queen, I am placing
you-"

Basil blinked.

He was suddenly lost in thought. The person, or the thing, was different
now. It wasn't some giant hairy beast like in European mythology, or at
least modern media's take on it, but it was different. It was mangy,
and oddly uncanny. Had it not been for the effect of the (object), he
expected he would have been in some state of fear or dread, although he
wasn't quite sure what he felt outside of curiosity. He heard the
distinctive "pop" of small arms fire, although it sounded distant and
distorted. He turned to see the Redcaps firing on the person or
creature, although it remained upright and moving.

He turned back to see something flying towards him. Right, there was a
thing there, whatever it was. It struck Basil with an unexpected
strength, knocking him off his feet and into the large rock that was
previously several feet behind him. Right, durability didn't mean the
end of Newtonian physics. He hit the ground, again unsure what he was
feeling. There was no pain, and he was fairly confident he wasn't hurt;
the lack of pain seemingly the result of the (object) rather than
adrenalin. No, he was annoyed. Perhaps even insulted. This thing,
whatever it was, had the nerve to attack him. He, who held an (object).
He looked over again, Brayden was firing an Amigosian revolver, but
seemed to be moving very slowly. Hmm, no, Brayden wasn't moving slow,
he was thinking fast. That was weird, though like a lot of strange
occurrences he'd experienced, he figured the (object) was to blame.
Huh, perhaps if he could find a way to trigger this state of mind it'd
be a really efficient means of performing anything that required high
mental bandwidth.

Grey started moving, only now reacting to Basil getting hit. Woah, he
was thinking fast. She was stepping in between himself and the person or
creature, shouting something in Elthrice that sounded too distant to
make out, regardless of whether he understood the language. The thing
started moving back, getting its first lesson in dealing with the
Elthrice: "Don't fuck with Orbitals." Basil stood up, surprised that
his movement only felt somewhat slow, while the rest of the world felt
considerably slow. The creature seemed to have begun regaining its
confidence and Basil picked up his pace. He'd give it props; staring
down an angry Orbital and retaining confidence was not an easy feat. He
placed his left arm on Grey's as he walked by to signal her to stay
back a few paces.

Her face, however, looked as if he had electrocuted her upon contact.
Maybe it had something to do with the (object) or his newfound speed. He
internally shrugged and gave her a quick smile as if a casual greeting,
but she didn't react, and he realized it was probably too fast of an
expression for somebody to register. Odd, his newfound speed was wearing
off. Time to act.

The shotgun's recoil was almost nonexistent and it sounded muffled. He
partially missed his target, hitting upper right shoulder as much as the
chest he was aiming at, but the thing fell to the ground all the same.
It reached out its left arm as if to claw at him, but he shouldered the
weapon again and fired at its head - which became a mist of gore almost
instantaneously. The residual slowness stopped, and Basil suddenly felt
tired.

"What. The. Fuck. Was. That?" he said; part question, part
exclamation.

40: Aggressive Diplomacy

"Basil, are you sure this is a good idea?" Grey asked and Basil
responded with a smile. "Yes, Cicero told me that all the Redcaps are
fond of you for helping us, and the Lizard King told me it's okay for
you to come too. His people might be a little cranky, but you'll be
fine." Grey's hesitance seemed to fade and she returned the smile. "I am
excited to see the festival. I just can't help but worry they'll be
angry with me because of what happened at the last one." Basil just
chuckled. "Trust me, it's meant specifically for people who are pissed
at each other to speak and hopefully get less pissed. Now, let's go
before you change your mind and I'm back to being the weirdest one
there."

The two stepped from the pressurized room and found themselves directly
in the Redcap's keep. Basil was pleased to skip the hassle of traveling
for a day then spending several nights in the inn, instead just coming
and going as he pleased. He was also happy to be on the equivalent of
the VIP list, allowed in the Redcap keep itself and invited to some
important meetings and discussions. It also never hurt to be there
early, getting a chance to make rounds while most of the crowds were
still traveling or checking in.

The Redcap's Queen was not too keen on chatting with Basil, although
Cicero would later say she was at least tolerating his presence. He also
saw Police Captain Brayden, with who he had a much more positive
conversation compared to the last peace festival, and they caught each
other up on what had happened since their previous adventure. Brayden
also introduced Basil to his twin sister Mollie, who had been appointed
head of the royal guards by the new Queen.

He also met with the Lizard King and his entourage. Many of the Lizard
King's people were still skeptical of Basil, but the Lizard King and his
son were happy to see him. Even the Wizard seemed to have warmed up to
him after Basil and ACE had occasionally provided reading materials or
philosophical questions to the Lizard King's son at his request. He even
ran into General Tobias, who was present thanks to instant
transportation. Outside of one or two existing council members seeming
hesitant, and of course Jarvis still in lock-up, they were always happy
to see each other and did so regularly.

Eventually, however, day turned to night, and things got more crowded;
causing Basil, Grey, and Spiro to find themselves at a campfire in a
distant portion of the Redcap courtyard. "So this is where you all went
off to" Cicero said, Casio in tow, as he arrived at the makeshift escape
from the crowds. "Just like old times" Spiro said, before Basil
interjected "Well, let's hope it's not exactly like old times." Cicero
seemed amused and lacked his usual air of monotone diplomacy. "So then,
what are we up to instead?" Grey replied "Well, I was going to try some
of the stuff Basil always drinks, Vodka, but now these two are staring
at me like they're in on some sort of joke that I'm not."

"Well, it's certainly a bit of an acquired taste, especially this cheap
stuff, but it's not a joke" Basil said, but just as he finished he gave
a quick smile adding "At least not unless you have a really funny
reaction." Grey looked down at her cup, and as Basil finished speaking
she began to gulp it down, before instantly spitting it out. "Uh, that's
horrible. How do you people drink that?" Basil just shrugged. "Eh, it's
not bad once you get used to it. Besides, never a dull moment if you've
drank enough." As Basil finished speaking, as if his own words prompted
him, he pulled out his flask and downed another large gulp.

Night quickly became morning, and morning turned to late morning for
Basil as he slept off too much wine and vodka. The (object) seemed to
make recovering from a night of heavy drinking easier, though he doubted
that was its intended purpose. He hurried to get dressed as he was
invited to attend a private portion of the festival. He, Spiro, a few of
the Lizard King's men, and a few Redcaps were going to have a small
meeting at the exact time the Elthrice invaded the Lizard King's
capital.

Basil and Spiro were present, but largely uninvolved in most of the
conversations while eating snacks and watching the two parties do some
forced socializing. "I do not envy poor Cicero right now" whispered
Spiro to Basil as they were partially through the meeting. Basil
wondered how hard it was for Cicero to be forced to interact with many
people he probably wished dead, but he at least seemed to be keeping an
excellent diplomatic mask on. Or, Basil wondered, perhaps it was just
Cicero being Cicero - monotone and utilitarian - only taking fleeting
moments away from trying to keep a state well-oiled on the rarest of
occasions. Eventually, however, the Lizard King banged on his glass to
make a short speech. "In just a few moments it will mark the exact time
my nation was invaded by the Elthrice, and fought off by my brave
soldiers. With our peace and cooperation, we can assure that will-"

The group all turned to the window at the sound of a deafening roar, the
unmistakable sound of an Elthrice ship entering the atmosphere. Basil
could see chaos in the courtyard through the window as several ships
landed and several hovered above, although nobody appeared to be firing,
at least not yet. He began a full sprint to the courtyard while barking
out orders. "ACE, get the drones ready! Edwards, get the anti-Elthrice
weapons to the soldiers! ACE, get Grey on the line!" As Basil made it to
the bottom of the large spiral staircase he prepared himself mentally
for what he knew he was about to throw himself into. Damn, if only he
had something more powerful than a .380.

Basil made his way into the courtyard, feeling the effect of the
(object) coursing through his veins. If nothing else, he had that. These
Elthrice seemed to be spreading out and looked menacing, but seemed
oddly hesitant. Basil approached the first one he saw and started to
yell at it. "You, surrender now!" It did not seem to understand Basil's
words, but seeing Basil's pistol, it appeared to understand the threat
and seemed to be holding something resembling a rifle. It orientated
itself towards him, gripping the weapon harder, but neither individual
raised their weapons towards the other. It appeared to be wearing some
form of uniformly colored clothing, forming an eight-foot monolith of
the same dark gray-green color, the whites of its eyes the only
deviation.

Basil quickly glanced around, nobody was firing, but now everybody
seemed to be in the same standoff as they were. Weapons were raised, and
outside of the few near him, most seemed to be grouped around the crafts
in a defensive posture. However, several other Elthrice gathered near
the one in front of Basil, and the staring match between the two
continued. With the (object) still in effect, he knew he had a very
confident and angry expression, but the Elthrice in front of him
continued to stare with a mix of curiosity and hesitance. When the
others had all approached, Basil shouted out one of the few Elthrice
words he knew. "(Orbital)!" That seemed to get the Elthrices'
attention, the one in front of him getting a surprised and momentarily
fearful look on its face as they all took a few steps back.

The Elthrice began to speak in Elthrice, and with Grey now on the line
she started summarizing in real time. "He wants to know who you are, but
doesn't believe you are an Orbital." Several other Elthrice gathered
around Basil, curious but somewhat cautious, despite dwarfing him in
size and numbers. One, however, approached closely holding out a knife.
The knife seemed made of the same dark gray-green metal the ships
contained and looked slightly small with a bit of a belly. It seemed
minimalist in its design, but had a very intricate star pattern on the
handle. The one with the blade took another aggressive step towards
Basil, and Basil took one in kind, effects of the (object) surging
further.

The one holding the knife wound up to swing it at Basil and Basil's
whole world narrowed to just himself and his sudden opponent. The world
slowed, and Basil instinctively reached out his hand, his opponent
suddenly taking on a confident smile as he slashed the blade. The world
slowed further as Basil's hand gripped the blade, hoping the lack of
pain was due to the (object)'s protection and not the adrenaline. He
repositioned his left hand, from gripping the blade to gripping his
opponent's hand. That was peculiar; his opponent's hand felt as if it
was covered in a layer of metal or glass, smooth and cold. Perhaps that
was what it felt like to fight somebody who possessed an (object)?
"Perhaps the glass comparison was correct" Basil thought as he felt
that layer shatter and dissipate like broken glass, before feeling the
bones in his opponent's hand shatter.

His opponent's face had finally responded to the changing situation,
switching from confident to abject terror. Basil yanked his left arm
down, pulling his opponent's entire body downward, and struck him in
the head with his right arm. He felt bone shatter yet again, and his
opponent fell to the ground twitching. The (object)'s effect wore off
slightly, but he could still feel its pronounced effects. The other
Elthrice jumped back and started speaking frantically, grabbing their
comrade and the knife by his body before retreating towards the crafts.
"They believe you now" Grey said with worry in her voice, and moments
later the Redcaps opened fire. The Elthrice began spreading out and
returning fire, world erupting into chaos.

Very few Elthrice fell, but the Redcap soldiers were cut down where they
stood. Basil began to do the one thing he felt he could do: chase the
fleeing Elthrice to the large craft in the courtyard's center. Oddly,
as he approached the group, the Elthrice didn't fire upon him. He was
particularly glad about that, not knowing how hard the Elthrice weapons
hit, but reached the center of the courtyard quickly.

He, however, froze in place when he saw one Elthrice in particular. This
one was wearing some sort of hood, but his face was blocked by an
otherworldly blackness that Basil had only seen once in a dream. Even as
the hooded Elthrice turned to Basil at an angle where the sun should be
shining directly on his face, it remained as black as before. But not
black as in darkness, and not even as a color. It was the void. It was
the abyss. This was the first time he had truly felt fear since touching
the (object), and yet here he was, paralyzed with it and unable to move.

"Stop now, you're about to be fucked up when our weapons get here" Basil
yelled at the hooded one, trying to regain composure after staring in
silence for an unknown amount of time. This one seemed to understand
what he was saying. "You. Far from home?" it asked, and its voice
carried a horrifying echo of a thousand whispers as it spoke. "No, I am
home, and my home is under my protection" Basil shouted, trying to keep
his voice from quivering as he spoke; at least the (object)'s presence
could do that. "No" it replied to Basil.

After what felt like an eternity the anti-Elthrice weapons entered the
fray. What had been a wholesale slaughter against the Redcaps moments
ago turned into an Elthrice bloodbath. It began with a swarm of drones
making their way out of the castle, and deafening explosions quickly
turned a large group of Elthrice into gray-green-red piles of mush.
Minutes or seconds later, Basil did not know, depleted uranium rounds
started to punch holes in Elthrice Orbitals that otherwise seemed immune
to the Redcap's standard munitions. The hooded figure shouted something
in Elthrice, causing the Elthrice to stop firing and retreat to their
ships. ACE's drones and the Redcaps held their fire once it became
apparent the fight was over, and many Elthrice ran past Basil and into
the craft nearby him as if he wasn't even there.

The crafts left, and Basil realized he was standing in a field of dead
bodies, friend and foe alike. Remembering Grey was still on the line he
asked "What did he say?" in a voice that was now shaking. Grey spoke as
if she was shaking as well. "Postpone."

41: Aftershock

Basil stood silently while looking over the table filled with captured
Elthrice weapons. He felt he should be doing something, but was
mindlessly observing them yet again.

The Elthrice's guns, if that term was proper, were weird and oddly
ineffective. Most were made from a variety of metals, only a few made of
the standard dark gray-green metal that Elthrice used a lot. Some of
them on the table had large protrusions on their sides that resembled
rattlesnake egg-sized ship propulsion systems, although they appeared to
either be inert or cosmetic. More were very simplistic, having the vague
shape of a rifle, but barely composed of more than a long tube with a
grip and some components near the grip. A few even had an oddly earth
like design, although all three had the same mechanisms.

Their internals were all the same regardless of their appearance. A
small cylinder of compressed gas would propel an inert projectile with
approximately the same force as a handgun, though the larger ones that
were almost unwieldy - even by Elthrice standards - seemed to pack more
of a punch. Basil, ACE, and Grey had all guessed that the few using the
gray green metal and sporting considerable wear were once utilizing the
same means of propelling projectiles as the Elthrice's ships; but were
modified to use a pneumatic system instead after most systems like that
were disabled. The other ones, they presumed, were manufactured
specifically with the pneumatic system in mind, slowly changing their
design to fit their new internals.

"ACE said their weapons were surprisingly shit?" Spiro asked while
entering the room; Grey, Redcap officials, and Lizard King trailing
behind him as if following his lead. "Depends on where you set the bar,
they're still better than most of the guns within these walls" Basil
replied, only realizing it sounded somewhat insulting after hearing
himself say it; though nobody flinched or offered up glares. "But we
have a manufacturing base and the numbers. They sent like a hundred
people thinking it would be an unapproachable show of force and got
slaughtered; I think we're in the clear for now."

Grey spoke quietly, as if afraid that vocalizing something would cause
it to be more true. "They have about a million in their military, if
not an actual military, something they would at least consider to be
one." Basil was taken aback. "What? How would you know that?" Grey
motioned with her hands. "The, um, the old Elthrice followed a very
specific set of rules when they did certain actions." She paused
momentarily before adding "What would you call a group of soldiers?"
Cicero replied "Perhaps a unit?" inquisitively, and Grey nodded.
"They would use specific units as a representation of their strength
when they performed apprehentions or were to begin negotiations with
another party."

When the group remained silent Grey continued. "The one in the center
with his voice, the best word for him would be commander." Basil
realized his hands had started shaking, but he tried to steady them as
Grey continued to speak. "Those around him were unarmed; they appeared
to have arrived to make demands or to apprehend somebody. As that
failed, they will likely return with more strength in the future." When
the room fell silent again Spiro interjected.

"Basil, Grey told me you were working on a gunship. Do you think that
would hold them off?" Basil nodded hesitantly. "The propulsion system
failed to start; ACE thinks there's a separate computer system, or at
least its equivalent, within those parts. He's taking apart the
captured craft as we speak; if all goes according to plan, we should
have the captured craft back online in a few weeks and the gunship
development back on track." Basil paused, however, as if hesitant to
finish his statement. "But we're still looking at months before we get
the gunship to a point where it can lift off the ground, and even if we
get the propulsion system working, that's still not taking into account
getting it aerodynamic, the hull sealed, and the weapons working."

"So, what do you advise us to do in the meantime?" The Redcap Queen
asked in a somber but resolute tone, speaking to Basil for the first
time since he had pulled her out of the crashed craft nearly a year ago.
Basil remained silent, unsure how to answer, but Spiro spoke instead.
"Basil, many if not most of them didn't have the, um, the thing you
have right?" Basil nodded. "You mean an (object)?" Spiro returned a
nod. "The Amigosian Ministry has been moving some crates of weapons off
the island, and while I am a little unnerved by what may be going on, I
should be able to route a number of them to the Redcap docks."

Spiro paused and let out a quiet sigh as if he felt conflicted, or at
least intended to portray internal conflict. "I will get their
locations to your agent who goes by Argyris Zacharias, and instruct him
how to get the ship names off Amigoso without alerting the surveillance
on him. Seize the weapons in the dock and distribute them among
yourselves." Spiro gestured to the Redcap Queen and Lizard King. "They
will hopefully be an edge against the Elthrice. Basil, I assume you will
also be working to better arm everyone to the best of your abilities as
well."

Basil looked around the room, seeing a fleeting expression of either
annoyance or embarrassment on General Edward's face when Spiro
mentioned Argyris. Moments later, however, he remembered he was asked a
question, first nodding and then adding "Yeah, of course." Spiro
returned the nod and the room felt noticeably calmer. "Good" Spiro
replied, adding "And to be clear, what I said does not leave this room.
Basil, I told you once that with the Elthrice invasion I ceased serving
Amigoso and began serving all of Domum. I intend to keep that promise,
but if what I said leaves this room I'm of no use to any of you dead."

42: Mr Smith

"Come on, ya' just know you're gonna' miss interviewing rednecks who
got too wordy in their Facebook rants" Odell teased. He paused
momentarily, and when Ned Smith only responded with a short smile he
continued. "Well, I don't know what someone like you did to get dead
ended down here in Nashville, but if anybody's gonna' get out of here
it's gonna' be you." An ambivalent look washed over Smith's face.
"Well, I can't say it's been great. But you've certainly made better
company than angry rednecks and flopped musican-"

Odell interrupted. "Hey, I think intern Frankie just left a package on
your desk. I take it that's your ticket outta here?" Smith shrugged.
"HR's not going to give a promotion like that. Not sure what that is."
Odell returned the shrug. "Well, I'm going to hit the road, see you
around Ned, at least for a few more days." Smith gave a cursory nod
before going over to see what the mysterious package was about.

Smith kicked open the warehouse door. Infrared said it was empty aside
from the rats and the one man standing in the corner, but this was
shitty civilian gear, so there was no being sure. "Price of being off
the books" he thought as he rounded the corner with his sidearm at low
ready. He heard somebody clear their throat, and milliseconds later
blinded them with his weapon mounted light. An older man wearing a suit
that failed to conceal the wearer's weight shielded his eyes. Although
the old man seemed about average height, Smith's 6'3 frame dwarfed
most.

"No cameras and no backup; you picked a shitty spot to blackmail a
federal agent. Especially one with my background" Ned stated in a calm
tone, words full of suppressed anger and bile. The old man smiled a cold
smile. "Already resorting to threats I see?" Smith could feel his
forced calmness beginning to fade. "Alright, I'll bite; what's this
offer that's supposed to convince me it's in my best interest to let
you leave here alive?" The old man cocked his head as if to feign
confusion. "Aside from the contents of the package I sent you? And that
they were hand delivered to you in an FBI field office? Or perhaps it's
because I created your promotion, and you now answer directly to me."

Smith's external posture resumed his artificial calmness, though his
internal turmoil grew exponentially. However, before he could dwell on
things for too long, the old man handed him a stack of papers. "Here's
your promotion, all wrapped up in a neat little bow. You'll forgive an
old man for being old fashioned and not using those new fangled
electronic records." Smith quickly started looking through the papers,
now outwardly projecting confusion as he skeptically holstered his
weapon.

"Your team and the location of your own field office in Detroit are all
there. You will report only to me or my subordinates, whom I will
introduce personally at a later date. You will perform investigations
into specific occurrences under my instruction." Smith felt suspicious,
repeating the old man's words to prompt further elaboration. "Special
investigations?" The old man seemed annoyed at the question. "Code word
classified investigations into specific happenings. And before you ask,
Smith, you will not get clarification beyond that. Your job is to
collect and verify information I direct you to."

Smith continued to look the documents over. "This appears legit, why the
fuck did you threaten me?" Smith paused momentarily before adding "Sir,"
still perplexed at the circumstances, but now feeling as if he may have
just disrespected a superior. "Temper, temper" the old man - now
revealed to be Baron Polarski according to the papers - stated before
pausing as if to let the chastising kick in. Finally, Polarski broke the
silence of his creation. "Because people I have leverage over are
predictable, which is a prerequisite under stakes such as these."

43: Hippie Orbital

"You look tense dude" Elliot said, surprising Basil and causing him to
almost drop his cigarette off the roof of the condo building. Basil
began to focus his thoughts, but realized he had probably taken longer
to do so than intended when Elliot spoke a second time. "Seriously,
what's up with you?" Basil took a deep breath. "Some real assholes
harassed some friends of mine, I'm still trying to figure out the best
response to it all and I've been working on things pretty much nonstop
since."

"So you're working for the mob" Elliot stated in a mix of confidence
and question. "Working for the mob?" Basil asked, surprised at the
unexpected assertion. "Come on man, flip phone, doesn't work, bought a
condo with cash, mysterious 'friends' being harrased?' You're either
working for the mob or a spook. Basil laughed. "Well I can assure you
I'm neither." Elliot smiled as if he had figured something out.
"Well, you obviously aren't an accountant working for a medical
supplier company."

Basil went to respond, but Elliot put a dime bag on the raised edge of
the roof. "You need to chill out, this will help with that." Basil
nodded and said "Thanks" to the unexpected gesture, thinking that
perhaps he could use something more potent than vodka and cigarettes.
However, as he reached for the bag Elliot snatched it away with
surprising dexterity. "Hold up, I already told you the first offer is
free, but you turned it down and now you gotta pay like everyone else."
Basil felt both a little annoyed and a little amused. "Fine, how
much?" he asked. "Fifty dollars" Elliot replied with a straight face.
"Fifty dollars for a dime bag?" Basil asked, now outwardly expressing
both his amusement and annoyance. Elliot smiled. "Hey, you're loaded
with the 'totally not mob money' and I'm taking a risk you're a
spook."

"Fine" Basil said, still a mix of annoyed and amused. Pulling out a
fifty from his wallet Elliot handed him the bag. "You got any rolling
papers?" Basil asked, and before Elliot went to speak he added "And if
you're going to charge me for rolling papers after a fifty dollar dime
bag you're going to get whacked by my non-existent mob buddies." After
saying it, Basil hoped it was clear to Elliot he was joking.

Elliot seemed to pause momentarily before acquiescing and handing over
some rolling papers. As Basil began to roll a joint Elliot picked up the
dime bag and began to roll himself one. Basil considered it for a
moment, but amusement seemed to win out over annoyance. Time passed, and
before long there was nothing but an empty bag and some ash blowing
lightly across the roof.

"Tell me a story" Elliot asked between handfuls of chips. "A story?"
Basil asked, confused at the random prompt. "Yeah" Elliot replied,
"Something from your not mob friends or something." Basil hesitated
for a while, before recalling the best story his weed addled mind could
locate. "So there's this ancient group of warriors called Orbitals"
Basil began before being interrupted by Elliot with a surprised
outburst. "You work for the cartels?" Basil was thoroughly confused.
"What? I don't work for the cartels, why would you think that?"
Elliot shrugged. "Sounds like an ancient South American story." Basil
just felt more confused now. "Even if it was, that somehow means I work
for the cartels?" Elliot shrugged again, "Whatever man, continue."

"Well most of these warriors are long since dead, but rumors had it
they were pretty much indestructible." Elliot interrupted. "Always the
'ancient' warriors that were indestructible." Elliot laughed before
continuing his tangent. "No more legends like that when any dipshit
with a hot piece can cap someone." Basil continued. "Well, if the
rumors are to be believed, you take a room full of dipshits with guns
firing on an Orbital and they'll walk out of that room the last one
standing. And their fighting is nasty with the strength they have. Torn
off limbs, smashing in heads, grabbing knives by the blade or guns that
were firing on them but never doing any harm."

"Wow, you are high" Elliot interrupted. "So where do these so called
Orbitals get their magic?" Basil shrugged. "Dunno exactly how it
works, but apparently it's from some sort of magic crystal left behind
by a long dead alien civilization." Elliot laughed like it was the most
hilarious thing he had ever heard. "So what, like Star Wars?" Before
Basil could respond, however, Elliot compressed his now empty bag of
chips into a ball and tossed it on the roof near his chair. "You wanna
order us a pizza?"

44: Wounds to Lick

A chill crept up Basil's spine in a way that hadn't since before he
touched the (object). "It's not open" he said to ACE, voice a higher
pitch than he expected. He turned around; Spiro was wide eyed but said
nothing. The Wizard froze in place as he descended the last flight of
stairs, likely uneasy seeing the sudden change in the demeanor from what
the two had moments ago while concluding their meeting in the upper
chambers of the Redcap's keep.

"The old Elthrice appear to be disabling the wormhole network" ACE
said over the radio, voice carrying a slightly human inflection of
worry. "How soon can you get the salvaged craft in the air?" Basil
asked in a tone that carried almost disassociated notes. Before ACE
replied, however, Basil added a sudden, almost panicked demand. "Get
Grey on the line, see what she thinks is their next move." ACE replied,
monotone voice having almost entirely returned. "We have not detected
the Elthrice in orbit; I am sending the jet over now and will have the
craft airborne within seven hours. Grey is on the line and has been
briefed on the situation."

"I believe they are sending a warning, I think we'll have about a day
or a half day before they arrive." Basil shook his head, a pointless
response to Grey's over-the-radio assessment. "Well which is it?"
Grey's response sounded shakey. "I don't know, okay. I'm just
guessing." Basil muttered "Fuck" before gesturing to the Wizard.
"Contact the Lizard King, tell him the Elthrice may attack and that the
wormhole system is down." The Wizard nodded and ran back up the stairs,
Basil turning his attention to Spiro.

"Okay, I'm evacuating in the jet, go tell the Redcap leadership to
send anyone they want to evacuate into the courtyard." Basil glanced
down at his PDA. "ACE is rigging a mobile drone platform, we should be
able to get drones to the mainland regardless of access to wormholes
within 30 hours, but in the meantime we can group up on Arkepello, they
can't disable that wormhole. Tell everyone staying back to get the
Redcap military ready with the anti-Elthrice and Amigosian weapons."

The Redcap Queen, Mollie with several Redcap royal guards, Spiro,
Cicero, Casio, and the Wizard all rushed into their seats alongside
Basil as the jet began to ascend. The cabin remained dead quiet, but
after only a short time they were already staring at two different
shades of blue - sky and ocean. Basil's PDA indicated that they were
getting close to Arkepello, but the intercoms in the jet broke the
silence with ACE's rushed voice. "Basil, manual controls now!" Basil
got up and sprinted towards the cockpit. "I hardly know how to fly this
thing, why do-" but the world went blank.

Basil woke up. At least he thought that he had woken up. He was aware he
was thinking, but the world was dark and his head hurt. His thoughts
became more collected, but so did the pain, and throughout it all
something was in the back of his mind screaming that things were gravely
wrong. His hearing returned, and so did a cacophony of blaring alarms
filling the cockpit. He realized his eyes were closed, opened them, and
was greeted by the hooded Elthrice holding an object, his (object).

"My patience has expired, and you are still present" the being said in
its horrifying voice. Being both badly injured and no longer under the
influence of the (object) - which the hooded one was now placing around
its neck - he was unable to move or speak. The hooded being's blank
face stared directly into Basil's eyes, as if doing so was draining his
very life essence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the being
spoke again.

"Collect all (Elthrice) property for its surrender, and those taken
today will be returned to you. You will then be banished to your home
alongside any who choose to accompany you."

Basil believed himself to have only blinked, but soon realized he had
blacked out again. He felt he should close his eyes to rest, but was
forced to act as water began to touch his feet. He quickly realized the
jet was likely in the ocean, and was certainly becoming more submerged.
Trying to stand he realized the nose of the jet was angled up at nearly
45 degrees, and looking through the cockpit door it appeared most of the
jet had already filled with water. Making his way into the passenger
area where everybody was, he found it entirely devoid of people, except
for the largely submerged body of the Wizard still strapped into his
chair, producing an ominous red cloud in the water surrounding him.

Illuminated by the light cast through the cockpit door was a large hole
in the side of the jet. His hazy mind concluded the Elthrice had bored a
hole into the side of the jet, docked their own craft to it, and
confronted them mid air before setting or dropping the jet in the ocean.
Seeing no other option, Basil plunged into the cold water and swam
through the large gash in the side of the jet.

Climbing on the top of the now mostly submerged jet Basil felt even more
pain. The cold water made his mind clearer, but he could feel it begin
to fade again. The saltwater gnawed at his wounds, including many new
ones made by rubbing against the sharp edges of the metal torn apart by
whatever Elthrice had used to bore such a hole. Arm hurting as he typed
on his PDA, he sent out a message to ACE. "Elthrice attacked. Plane
crashed. Help." As he began to take stock of his situation he felt a
sudden wave of nausea, vomited, then proceeded to lie on his back in a
daze; doing nothing but stare at the bright blue sky and feel the waves
below the slowly sinking jet.

The merciless beams of the sun were broken by the shadow of an Elthrice
ship. Basil continued to lie in place, water nearly about to engulf him
on the now near entirely submerged jet, his sunburnt skin adding to the
myriad sources of pain. The door of the craft opened and Grey carried
Basil aboard. "You've been exposed to radiation!" Grey exclaimed in a
worried voice, but ACE said something that seemed to reduce the fear on
her face. "What happened?" ACE asked as soon as Basil was safely on
board.

Basil explained everything he had witnessed, and while he spoke he
noticed the pain and defeat deep in his voice. Once he had completed his
explanation ACE began to relay everything he knew. With the hooded
Elthrice's craft's proximity to Basil, ACE was able to initiate a
connection to it and get the location of where they had gone. A
counterattack was possible, although fighting the old Elthrice on their
turf was likely a death sentence.

The Elthrice had also appeared to disable the wormhole devices while
they were in proximity to them because they were the 'civilian'
equivalent version of the equipment. Using an Orbital's radio module for
relaying controls and blocking conventional signals, they could likely
create a second layer immune from being disabled by the old Elthrice;
granting them their own isolated system. However, Basil began to tune
out ACE's explanation; network layers being the last thing he would want
to process in his throbbing head.

"Just leave me on the beach somewhere" Basil said, interrupting whatever
ACE was saying. ACE responded, suddenly seeming to carry more concern
than the robotic voice he had been using. "Basil, it's important-" but
Basil cut him off again. "No, I can't think right now. I need to be
alone to collect my thoughts and figure out what I need to do." Grey
said "Figure out what you need to do?" with anger very evident in her
voice and on her face, but when she looked into Basil's eyes and saw his
condition her face turned to sadness.

Basil watched the sun move through the sky before dropping below the
ocean. "Has it really been this long?" Basil thought to himself,
lighting another cigarette while staring at the moon and stars now
reflected off the ocean. Eventually Basil heard footsteps behind him,
and Grey sat beside him silently for a while. "Here" Grey said while
handing Basil a bottle of Gray Goose. "ACE said there's a chance this
might upset your symptoms from your head injury, but he also said to say
that he knows all too well how important an escape can be when stuck in
one's own mind." Basil took a large swig but remained silent for several
minutes. Grey put her hand on Basil's shoulder and they listened to the
waves in silence, neither knowing what to say. Eventually, however,
Basil broke the silence.

"Come with me. We could get a cabin in Alaska or something, convince our
neighbors you are into body mods or something, and leave the rest of the
Elthrice to their own devices." They both sat in silence again, but it
was Grey's turn to break the silence this time. "You know I cannot do
that Basil, I would not wish the old Elthrice on anybody. That's not to
mention that I would likely be on the list of things they would demand
surrender of." Basil replied, voice lacking all energy. "How could we
fight them? They took my Orbital's (object), and even if they didn't,
how would we fight an army of Elthrice?"

"I don't know that it would even be possible for us to win, but we must
fight them anyway" Grey said, pausing for a moment before continuing.
"The Lizard King and General Edwards have already pledged their support,
and ACE has devised a wormhole device that should work even if they try
to disable it." Though she spoke resolutely, Grey's voice carried a
solemn tone, knowing precisely the implications of what she was saying
they must do.

When Basil remained quiet ACE chimed in. "Basil, we must do this. We can
take the craft there, open a wormhole, and hit them with everything we
have. Every explosive drone, every soldier the Lizard King, Redcaps, and
Arkepello can spare, and every round of ammunition we have in the
armory." Basil spoke once ACE finished. "And if we fail?" ACE took on a
somber and triumphant tone in a way which could have easily been
mistaken as human. "Then I take the Elthrice ship and any other I can
relay to and drive them into the planet's stabilization machine, making
the old Elthrice extinct in an act of revenge and sacrifice to save any
and every civilization in their crosshairs."

When ACE had finished speaking Grey resumed. "It's unlikely that all of
these Elthrice have Orbital's gear, even if some do." After one more
pause she added the final capstone to her and ACE's speech.

"The old Elthrice, they are a scourage, parasites that seek to kill
their host and rebuild from its corpse. Basil, this is a fight worth
fighting, and if it's truly our last move, then it's a death worth
dying." Basil sat in silence for a long time, thinking everything over.
Eventually, he replied with only one word in a voice that also carried
both triumph and melancholy. "Okay."

45: A fight worth fighting

"So, are we ready?" Basil asked, suddenly feeling as if a burden had
been lifted from his shoulders. ACE spoke over the salvaged craft's
intercom. "Momentarily, the Lizard King is still taking contingencies
in the event he does not return." Basil looked surprised, asking
"He's coming himself?" although upon asking he realized that of
course the Lizard King would be coming - in fact he would most likely be
leading the charge. "He's requested to join you on the craft if that
is okay," ACE relayed. "Of course."

Basil paced in circles until the Lizard King made his way on board. "We
truly know nothing of the place we intend to attack?" ACE responded to
the Lizard King's question. "Unfortunately, no. Only the coordinates
and that whatever group of old Elthrice attacked us are using it for
some purpose -- likely their base of operation." Basil stopped pacing
and stood by the modified wormhole device. "Well?" Basil asked, an
open-ended question seeking the state of readiness. "Everybody is ready
for you to leave, and will continue preparations during your travel"
ACE answered, Basil replying "Well then, ACE, Grey, Nerva, if this is
it it's been an honor."

Everyone remained silent as the craft's doors closed. ACE gave them a
play-by-play as they left the atmosphere, but they felt movement this
trip as they were all thrown to the ground. "What happened!?" Basil
shouted, ACE asking the same question over the intercom. "Planetary
defenses" Grey replied in a near whisper. Basil scrambled to his feet,
but looked on at the generator that had been thrown into the spare
batteries. The scattered generator pieces were covered in battery acid,
making it evident that they could not draw power from their backup
sources.

"Backup power is down, what's the craft looking like?" Basil asked,
suddenly worried he'd die before anybody could even join the fight.
"Auxilary power is offline, although the console is currently powered.
I'm routing all power to it now; the console's power port will be
fried alongside the console, you need to wire it directly to the
internals." The Lizard King began to step out the door, but quickly
ducked his head back in. "There's already a few outside, and looks
like there's more on the way!" Basil ran over to the console in a
panic, setting down his rifle and pulling out his knife, shouting "Hold
them off!"

The deafening crack of automatic fire echoed through the cabin, and it
soon became apparent that they were also being fired upon as projectiles
ricocheted throughout inside. Basil tried to bend a panel on the
dashboard with his knife. The panel wouldn't budge at first, but Basil
mustered all his strength and weight into the leverage and it began to
bend. Just as it was partially open, however, Basil felt himself flying
face first into the console as the blade of his knife snapped. tang

He realized he had hit the ground a second or two after he had done so.
It felt as if he had broken his nose, and he could feel warm blood
running down from both his nose and forehead. He looked behind just in
time to see a red mist erupt from the Lizard King's shoulder, the
Lizard King falling to the ground before scrambling back to his feet and
returning fire. Grey immediately ran towards the pile of things nearby,
grabbing the modified wormhole device and setting it beside Basil so
quickly that at first he thought she threw it.

Though he expected her to help him open the panel, she instead said
something in Elthrice and took on a somber looking face, before saying
"Hurry" and picking up Basil's rifle. Basil returned to trying to
open the panel, an intense fear suddenly washing over him that she would
turn the rifle on herself, but with the second set of automatic bursts
that filled the cabin, he knew that was not the case.

He reached his arm past the bent panel, scraping it on the sharp metal
as he shoved past it. Feeling around he found the broken blade, and
resisting pain of grabbing the blade he held it tightly. Next, feeling
around for the wires while the cutting implement dug deeper into his
hands, he cut and grabbed the wires before pulling them and the knife
blade from inside the console.

Basil froze for just a second, staring at the dark red blood oozing out
of his hand and arm, but quickly resumed his work. Attatching the cut
wires to the wormhole device, he hoped against all odds that ACE could
route enough power to get the device started. Nothing happened for
several seconds, but just as Basil began to think all hope was lost, an
incalculable number of drones began to materialize in front of him. Grey
and the Lizard King jumped out of the way, and the drones flew out of
the door of their now wrecked Elthrice craft.

The Lizard King immediately grabbed his shoulder in pain now that they
were momentarily out of the fight. Taking the moment afforded as ACE
dumped their entire inventory of drones on their foes, Basil picked up
the wormhole device now running off power from the facility. He bolted
outside and set it on the ground, claiming a small foothold on the alien
planet before any of the old Elthrice could return to retake it. A gush
of wind blew as the wormhole changed from the pressurized room to one
nearby the Lizard King's army; Domum sucking Elthrice air as thousands
of the Lizard King's soldiers rushed out to enter the fight.

Many Elthrice were already making their way back to the battlegrounds,
both afoot and in landing crafts, and Basil stood unmoving in place as a
brutal and one sided battle began to take shape. The Lizard King's
soldiers were cut down where they stood, taking out some Elthrice but
losing scores of troops per kill. They continued to pour out of the
wormhole, however, even as they had to climb over the piles of bodies of
their fellow soldiers to reach the front. Basil's immobility was
broken, however, as one ran through and thrust a wormhole device into
Basil's hands before running off to join the others.

Basil ran forward in the direction of a ruined city where the Elthrice
seemed to be emerging from. The Lizard King's soldiers appeared to be
gaining a small amount of ground, and Basil approached the front line.
The already red dirt was stained with blood, and only the combination of
painkillers and amphetamines coursing through his blood gave him the
strength to climb over the bodies that lay in front of him. Making it as
close as he could to the front lines without getting gunned down, he
laid the wormhole device down next to a dead Elthrice clutching one of
the eerily human like weapons. Before he could process anything, though,
many soldiers began to pour out from the wormhole device - one handing
Basil another.

Basil made his way towards the next portion of the front lines that ACE
directed him to, and yet another wormhole was opened. Many Redcap and
some Arkepello soldiers began to pour out alongside each other. The
battle raged on, and Basil began to return to the crashed craft to
receive treatment for his wounds. More Elthrice ships continued to land;
a majority of the soldiers on Domum and many civilian volunteers making
their way to meet them on the battlefield.

46: A death worth dying

Basil kept walking towards where ACE had said the Lizard King was. His
joints ached, and the gunshot wound on his stomach kept reopening.
Still, he knew it could be worse - he would probably have collapsed from
pain or exhaustion had it not been for the additional doses of
painkillers and amphetamines. He finally found the tall man, now
sporting several more bullet wounds than he had last seen him with,
although luckily nothing life threatening yet. He sported the same rifle
slung across his shoulder, and his sword's sheath had blood on it now,
although Basil couldn't tell whether that was from the use of it or
another form of violence.

"Nerva" Basil said, getting his attention. He turned and began
speaking, telling Basil the bad news he already knew. "The tide is
beginning to turn, and not in our favor. All of my soldiers I can bring
have come, and our numbers are beginning to thin. What do you propose we
do?" Basil pulled up ACE's drone surveillance on his PDA. The Lizard
King's mouth opened as if he were about to speak but could not do so,
seeing the destruction only visible with the impersonal observation of a
UAV. "The hooded one appears to be in that building, and a majority of
them seem to be spread out along our front lines. If we can get through
them and make a mad dash we might be able to cut the head off the
snake." The Lizard King nodded, but spoke as if Basil didn't understand
his own proposal. "That may work, but I must tell you that it would be
suicide. We may be able to make it to the building, but there would be
no way we could hold it for any length of time, and our front lines here
would likely be pushed back if I put my best men towards this."

Basil nodded. "I know, but we're already losing ground and ammo. You,
me, and the best men willing to volunteer for it. We can make a push,
then get the rest of them here to evacuate unless the Elthrice's front
lines collapse entirely. It's our only shot." The Lizard King nodded and
spoke with a triumphant voice despite the circumstances. "Very well, I
will gather my best willing soldiers. Speak to Edwards; he is
coordinating most of our troops and will need to be informed." The
Lizard King ran off to collect a group, and Basil ran over to restock
his supplies, grabbing some of the last magazines from the wrecked
craft.

"Nerva and me are going to try and punch through the front lines and
get to their base of operations. I want you to go to the facility, if
this all goes south it's yours" Basil said while approaching Grey at
the makeshift field hospital. She gave a sorrowful looking expression
and shook her head. "I can't do that Basil, not while I'm needed
here." Basil nodded. "Just please promise me you'll go there rather
than let yourself be captured if the camp is about to be overrun." This
time, it was Grey's turn to nod silently, a grievous expression coming
over her face yet again.

As the silence stretched on, Grey finished treating the soldier she was
helping and looked directly at Basil for the first time in their
conversation. "Basil, you're a great brother." Unsure of what else to
do, Basil quickly embraced her, shortly after stepping back and seeing
his blood added to the other blood on her environment suit. "Please
come back" she said as Basil went to leave. "I'll try" he lied.

"Edwards" Basil said, finally finding him on the other side of the
makeshift field hospital - also tending to the wounded. "Me and Nerva
are going to try and cut through the front lines, I need as much support
as you can give." Edwards shook his head. "We're already beginning to
lose ground, I cannot spare men so you two can play martyr." Basil took
on a grim but authoritative tone. "Edwards, we're losing ground and
there's no one else coming. We're 34 hours into our estimated 38 hour
supply of ammunition, and once a hole forms in our front lines they'll
be in this camp within the hour." A look of helplessness washed over
Edward's face as if he had been deluding himself about their condition
until now. "Okay" he replied, voice suddenly weak. "I'll do what I
can."

"You know Basil" the Lizard King said after getting his troops into a
wedge formation. "There were times around when we met that I believed
we had done what we would be remembered for. The war that ended wars and
the decisions made that affected millions. Now, perhaps in the face of
this, they will be forgotten." Basil shook his head. "There are no
ends of wars. We've seen three civilizations, all of which have thought
they were done with war at some point, and here we are." The Lizard
King looked taken aback for a second before nodding and smiling a very
brief smile. "Well, regardless, we have both come a long way since the
first night we met."

Basil nodded, and the Lizard King seemed to change to the demeanor of a
commander in an instant. "Stay close to me, I don't want you to be the
first thing they shoot at, but if our ranks get thinned be ready to join
the fight. Though we have seen almost nobody with Orbital's objects
that may change as we push through; only a few of my soldiers have
depleted uranium rounds, so they may need us for that as well." Basil
nodded and the formation began to move, temporarily flanked by soldiers
on each side organized by Edwards.

The next few minutes offered death and destruction that even the past
hours did not hold, at least not in Basil's presence. They began to
make headway, cutting an opening into the Elthrice's defensive line, but
only at the cost of wave after wave of the Lizard King's men sacrificing
themselves for the last push. As soon as the line began to break the
Lizard King shouted "NOW!" and he, Basil, and a large group of his
soldiers began nearly running in an attempt to keep the Elthrice from
catching up and stopping their advance. As Basil looked back the
Elthrice seemed to be short on troops as well, suddenly causing him to
second guess their plan momentarily. However, they were still losing
ground to them, so he ultimately told himself this was the only way to
turn the tide.

Basil opened fire alongside the Lizard King and his soldiers. Cutting
through the line of defenses made the trip to the building begin to
speed up, but they were now a small group surrounded by any Elthrice
that could catch up or move in from the nearby buildings. The
Elthrice's line was quickly reinforced, and Basil could see their fate
was sealed with nowhere but forward to go. The firing became one
singular noise as their best weapons fired upon seemingly endless poorly
armed Elthrice. If nothing else, Basil figured that was the only reason
why they were still in the fight; though they were losing people at a
hugely faster rate than the Elthrice, a long stretch of gaining ground
meant all the best weapons were still in play on his side - even if ammo
and people were quickly becoming scarce now.

Basil saw the dome in sight as they rounded a bend, although their ranks
were quickly thinning with the endless Elthrice coming their way. Losing
all cover, a fast walk turned into a full sprint towards the dome, with
some of the few remaining soldiers staying a distance behind to cover
the ones in the front. Basil and the Lizard King imminently opened fire
on a group of Elthrice outside of the dome, most dropping without
(object)s, but some clearly having some. Making it to what appeared to
be a door into a large dome, Basil ran through an arch that revealed
walls nearly six feet thick.

Basil ran into the enormous dome, shocking the many Elthrice in it. The
Lizard King ran through the arch, but was stopped in the center of it
with invisible walls trapping him within the arch itself, preventing him
from doing anything as he watched the Orbitals clear out what remained
of the soldiers outside. Basil opened fire as the armed Elthice in the
building raised their weapons, although a majority of the Elthrice
seemed unarmed and ran for cover. In one split second every Elthrice
froze, lowering their weapons to the ground, and Basil stopped firing a
few seconds later. The hooded one stepped out from behind what appeared
to be a metal crate and Basil aimed his rifle at him but did not fire.
The other Elthrice seemed to be a mix of worried and terrified, but the
hooded one's body language and horrifying voice seemed to indicate that
it was calm.

"The other will soon be dead, there is no need to pretend, one who calls
himself Basil" the hooded one said, causing Basil to pause in confusion.
He went to speak but the hooded one continued. "An impressive feat has
been performed, better than the ingrates I have been made to tolerate in
our rebuilding. Join us, your crimes will be forgiven, and you will be
given great standing and technology; you can perform an even greater
service than the true Elthrice who initially accompanied me."

Basil let out a laugh that almost sounded insane before emptying the
remainder of his magazine into the hooded one. Unlike Orbitals, however,
the hooded one appeared unaffected by the onslaught of angry uranium. In
a blur the hooded one raised something, and Basil fell to the ground,
feeling numb aside from a warmth feeling around his chest and back.
Basil tried to move, but found himself unable to do so. The hooded one
approached Basil and raised an Elthrice weapon, saying something that
Basil could not process. He went to raise his handgun, but the hooded
one pointed his weapon at Basil's head and the world went blank.

The Lizard King screamed at the hooded figure, punching the invisible
walls until blood appeared floating before him. "You will never get away
with this! I will kill you and wear your cloak as a trophy!" The hooded
one approached the Lizard King, although it looked on blankly without
saying a word.

47: Abyss Awakens

The dreamer stared into the vast abyss once again, as he had before in
another dream. The abyss grew and contracted, leaving the dreamer to
watch in peace. Soon, however, the voices began to speak. They spoke, a
thousand voices speaking at once, all different and all
incomprehendable.

The dreamer was disturbed from his slumber by the sound of these voices.
"Quite!" he shouted. Or perhaps thought? One needed a mouth to scream,
yet the dreamer did not have one. The voices seemed to hear him,
however, and stopped speaking. The dreamer was once again at peace,
although it was not long before the voices began to speak again.

The dreamer began to make out individual words, apparently spoken in the
dreamer's native tongue. No, perhaps they were not. Odd, the voices were
the Elthrice's language, yet the dreamer could hear them nonetheless.
The voices continued to grow louder until the dreamer had enough again.
"(Quiet)!" he shouted.

The voices went quiet again, seeming to accept a command in that
language more willingly than the other. Instead, however, the voices
became one. "Rise!" they commanded in yet another language, different
from that of the Elthrice's or the dreamer's native tongue.

Nerva, king of the Lizard people, leaned against the wall of his
invisible cage. He hoped it portrayed a sense of confidence as he got
physically closer to the hooded one; as opposed to the real reason of
being tired, thirsty, and slightly low on blood. Odd, though, he didn't
feel afraid staring the hooded one down. He had seen the lack of fear in
Basil, the hallmark of one at peace with the expectation of death -
especially after ACE had provided him with the injections. In truth,
however, he had always considered himself dead and gone ever since he
had narrowly survived the failed uprising that went after the ruling
family when his father was king. A cruel joke, perhaps, to live a life
expecting to die suddenly and without warning, only to die the slowest
and most easily seen of deaths over hours or days in a cage.

The hooded one turned away as if to leave for lack of interest. There
had to be something he could do or say, a battle of wits and ego that
could provoke the enemy into a rash move. What did the Wizard, his
friend and closest advisor for his entire reign until the attack, say
when the other Elthrice invaded and were repelled? "You are a stupid
people" the Lizard King thundered, causing the hooded one to turn
suddenly. Intrigue, amusement, or anger he couldn't tell - but
attention all the same. Think Nerva, why did the Wizard say that? The
hooded one remained silent while facing him, no expression or body
language that could be read.

"You are weak; your reliance on your tools weakens you. You are blinded
by pride and ignorance, then when another people come along they are
both strong and yet can also use your tools. Your own people destroyed
you once before, I have fought your kind before, and my people will
continue the fight without me. With our strength alone we could repel a
thousand of your empires, and yet you are nothing but scavengers picking
off your own corpses while we have already mastered your tools as your
forbearers once did."

The hooded one remained silent and unexpressive before being whisked
away by another Elthrice. Some time lapsed, minutes or hours he could
not tell, but the distant sound of gunfire erupted nearer to the dome
and far from their front lines. They were definitely on his side; he
could hear the distinctive sound of automatic fire from Earth weapons
and the more muted pop of Domum and Amigosian weapons.

How could they be so near? They could have tried to cut through the
front lines and attacked from two sides, but no, they didn't have the
numbers to do that without being crushed. A frightened strategist may
have tried something like that, but he'd been on the opposite side of
Edwards enough to know that he would never over extend himself that way.
But then, what was happening?

"How many do you have?" the voices of the hooded one boomed,
surprising the Lizard King who didn't notice he was present again.
Alright, so this was good news, but how? "What do you mean?" the
Lizard King asked, trying to glean more information. "How many!" the
hooded one's voices boomed again, anger and rage so potent it left the
Lizard King feeling as if he was physically attacked. He took a breath,
tried to focus, and shrugged. "How would I know from within this cage?
I am under no illusion that I will leave this cage alive, tell me what
has happened and I may know more."

"Your people captured a transport vessel. There are more exiting it,
and the vessel cannot be caught by our vessel operators." The Lizard
King suddenly realized what had happened; he should have been angry, his
second in command had disobeyed his orders, but all he felt was pride
welling up in his chest. No, that was wrong, his son was no longer
second in command, he was king by right and his father was already dead
to everybody else. He was the king who ran into battle, never to be seen
again alive by his subjects. This would be a good move by his son, the
new king, a hard and decisive decision that could potentially turn the
tide of a war.

Perhaps they would sing songs of him for generations, the noble king who
ran off into battle to save his kind. Or maybe they would remember him
less fondly. His son at least would remember him for the man he tried to
be, and perhaps that mattered more than songs. A smile washed across his
face and he felt his eyes grow misty.

"My son is just as bullheaded as his father. I ordered him to stay
behind with a small contingent of troops, but it appears that, like his
father, he is willing to sacrifice it all to see you stopped." The
hooded one stepped close, only inches and an invisible barrier
separating face from missing face. The Lizard King spoke quickly and in
a higher tone, as if a man about to be executed.

"Kill me, it does not matter, you have lost. You cannot stop my people,
and you cannot stop that craft because it is being controlled by a
synthetic mind." One nearby Elthrice looked shocked, but the hooded one
remained still. "You cannot disable the wormhole devices, you are weak
salvagers while we have mastered your tools. You will fail, you will
lose, and there is nothing you can do!" The Lizard King realized he had
started yelling, nearly collapsing due to exhaustion. The hooded one
remained unmoving, but the Lizard King suddenly stepped back in fear -
the remaining color leaving his face.

48: Rejected-Death

Something was very wrong. He was lying there with two weapons beside
him, though he couldn't remember why. A being was standing near him,
pretender standing by the arch; both so easy to see, even as he lacked
sight. Something stirred in him, a strength and rage flowing through his
veins that he could not comprehend, urging him to rise to his feet. He
wasn't aware of moving, his body feeling numb and rubbery, but in an
instant he was upright to confront the other being. The other being,
wide eyed and terrified, took a step back and drew a knife with a worn
star patterned handle - a testament to the Elthice's ruined insult of
what they wished to be, what they once were. He felt no resistance,
first pulling the Elthrice's body down by the arm that thrust the
knife, then as a hand, his hand, permeated the Elthrice's body.

The Lizard King stepped backward until he reached the back of his cage;
watching in horror as the body of his former friend, still missing a
significant portion of its head, struck down an Elthrice. The hooded one
also stepped back, shouting something in Elthrice that he couldn't
understand. "(Impossible)" the pretender shouted, the hollow echos of
its voice filling the dome. Another Elthrice approached the dead one
standing, yelling "Stop!" while outstretching its hands. Everyone in
the dome froze, and after a moment of silence, the one that had
approached whispered "Rejected-Death" before several other Elthrice
began to talk among themselves in hushed tones.

"(He is a Rejected-Death, he has greater authority and will lead us to
greatness)."

The hooded pretender ordered the fight to continue, but the
Rejected-Death interrupted with an order of its own. "(Your arrogance
is only matched by your insolence, attempting to seize that which does
not belong to you. You are an insult to what you believe yourselves to
be; release your captives, sabotage the world mendor, then slit your
throats)." Every Elthrice froze in place, all looking on as the
intruder spoke in their language. One gave an order, and many cut their
throats in unison. "Go!" yelled a shorter Elthrice in a panic as it
left, another approaching to plead with the Rejected-Death. "(Stop, you
are us; you are Elthrice, our protector and commander)."

The Rejected-Death ran toward the hooded pretender, but several others
stepped in to try and stop him. He gripped the blade he had taken off
the first one, slashing it towards the closest one. At first he thought
he missed, but as deep red blood poured out it became apparent he had
sliced through the Orbital's side; cutting ribs and shoulder, breaking
bone and slicing clean through despite feeling no resistance. The other
Orbital attempted to grab him, but he pushed it off and slashed quickly,
the Orbital dropping to the ground and clutching its neck.

The Lizard King stepped forward, realizing the invisible walls of his
cage were no more. He stared fearfully at his former friend, head mostly
healed. "Go, retrieve the captives!" the Rejected-Death shouted at him
before running towards the exit the hooded one had taken; voice still
carrying the thousand whispers as it had while he spoke Elthrice.

He ran after the hooded pretender only to see him escaping in a vehicle;
although he lacked the state of mind to question it in the present, a
vehicle that looked disturbingly human, made of paper thin Elthrice
metal. The Elthrice driving it watched the Rejected-Death, now with a
nearly healed face, shrink in the growing distance. Turning to contact
others, however, he lost control of the vehicle as a knife sliced
through him from behind, the Rejected-Death now behind him. All
inhabitants were crushed or ejected from the vehicle as it began rolling
and crumpled under its weight, coming to rest at small obelisks worn by
years of sand and debris.

The hooded pretender lay on his back, suddenly trying to crawl backward
as the Rejected-Death standing over him came into focus. "(Do you even
know who you are!?)" he shouted. "(I am the Rejected-Death, of your
creation)" it replied angrily. "(Then)-" the hooded pretender began to
say, stunned by a blow to the head, before the Rejected-Death brought
its foot down on the hooded pretender's arm reaching for the knife in
its cloak. The arm of the Elthrice was crushed and nearly disembodied
from the force, shattering bone and tearing tendons alike. Though he
knew such a wound could prove fatal, by blood loss or damaged muscle
tissue entering the bloodstream, it remained still in disbelief at the
being that towered over it.

"(A hundred thousand generations call out to me. You are unworthy of
your mantle, petty warlord, and a sad whimper preceding your kind's
deaths)." The hooded pretender resumed its attempt to crawl backward,
but failed with only one working arm. As the Rejected-Death stepped over
him he shouted "(What have I brought upon us!)" before it put a foot
through his chest, facing no resistance as the torn boot met the dusty
ground below; repeating such a blow to the head of the no longer hooded
pretender.

"Basil?" Spiro asked with a shaking voice.

49: Picking up the pieces

"Basil, is that still you?" Spiro asked, fear and uncertainty in his
voice. Basil turned around quickly, face fully healed, and Spiro jumped
back. Basil froze in place, mind returning to himself as he stared into
the blood soaked dirt, some time later stepping backward and responding
in a shaky voice that no longer carried the whispers it once did. "I'm
not sure." Spiro looked as if he was about to vomit, but his words
carried a more collected tone. "ACE told us that radiation levels have
started to increase, we need to leave now."

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up" Basil said with pain in his voice.
Spiro turned to leave, but froze in place and turned back in the middle
of his first stride. "Basil, come on" he replied, a new worry in his
voice. Basil stood silently, so Spiro spoke again. "I'm not leaving
without you, so let's go." Basil felt a pang of anger rush through
him, Spiro using his own death as a means of forcing Basil to avoid his.
However, a sense of guilt quickly washed over him, and they began to
walk silently toward their camp. The two walked past wounded being
brought through wormholes, the Elthrice all evacuated or dead - many
with cut throats, and the Domum dead left to share a tomb with their
fallen enemies. Walking by the crashed Elthrice ship Basil stepped
through a wormhole to the Arkepello. The area was crowded for some time,
but quickly cleared as the wounded were brought away for treatment and
the healthy returned to their respective nations.

"I was worried I wouldn't see any of you again" Grey said, walking
over to Basil, Spiro, and the Lizard King, the latter speaking to his
son. Grey seemed to notice the three didn't share the victorious
expressions as the other captives, those who stayed behind, and the
soldiers who hadn't seen the worst of it. "Are you okay?" she asked,
before realizing the nature of the question was realized. Nobody was
okay; she certainly wasn't, and Basil was covered in blood - his own
and of others - so she re-worded the question. "What happened?" Basil
replied with a quivering voice. "I ordered the death of an entire
civilization, and" Basil paused for long enough that Grey thought he
was done speaking, but resumed finally "and I got really hurt." Grey
replied, first trying to reassure Basil, although unknowingly
misunderstanding what he had meant when he referred to his order. "That
was an army, not a civilization, and most probably escaped on crafts.
Those that didn't were there to kill us or worse, what was done had to
be done."

Her words, she found, were not just for Basil. She had taken several
lives in the fighting, and having lived her life among scavengers and
killers while promising she would never take a life, was something
weighing on her as well. She took note of Basil's later addition to his
statement, and seeing the blood on Basil who seemed unharmed, responded
with a positive sounding question. "You got the (greater relic of the
ancient ones)" back?

Basil felt suddenly uneasy, hearing such meaning behind a word that had
been translated to him in the past as simply "Object." It meant
something different, ominous even, and suddenly understanding the
Elthrice's language left him feeling as if more questions were added
than answers given. When Basil remained silent Grey repeated her
question in a suddenly concerned voice. "Yeah" Basil answered, fatigue
deep in his voice.

Cicero, clearly glad to be free but oblivious to the mood of the small
group, approached. "I never expected to be saved by your and my
soldiers fighting alongside each other" Cicero said to the Lizard King
before turning his attention to the whole group, speaking in a rare
jovial exception to his usual muted and business like demeanor. "Come
on, let's get something to drink and eat before everyone drinks every
drop of wine on this island." When the group remained quiet, however,
Cicero took on a somewhat concerned face. Basil shook his head, fatigue
cutting deeper still into his voice. "I just need to be alone for a
while. I'm, um, I'm glad you made it out."

Basil returned to the secluded spot by the ocean where he'd spent what
felt like the previous day, even if several had passed. Many hours
passed, daylight turning to sunset as he contemplated what had happened.
As time passed many visitors came to check on him, but each time he had
a short conversation that amounted to asking them to leave him be. As
all traces of the sun were vanishing, however, Grey returned for a
second time seeming more worried than the first. "Are you going to stay
out here forever?" Basil responded "I just might," words sounding
more antagonistic than he had intended, though Grey sounded unfazed.

"You can't continue to dwell on this, things like this took me years
to process, and you will never get better by being alone and reliving
the events." Basil continued to stare out over the ocean, not turning
back to Grey standing behind him when he spoke. "I ordered the
destruction of the world mender. How many people died? Thousands,
hundreds of thousands, millions? And when I killed the hooded one, he
was horrified of what I had become and what that meant." Gray seemed to
process Basil's words momentarily, finding the right way to respond.
"Basil, when an evil being is horrified of you that's not a thing that
should eat you up inside. That's something that should bring you
pride." Basil felt an increasing level of weariness in his voice when
he responded. "It's not just him; a lot of things happened, and I just
need to take some time to understand them. I just need to think right
now, please leave me be."

Gray began to respond "Basil, I already told you-" but paused mid
sentence. "Basil, how did you know to call that device a world mender?
Who told you?" Grey asked in a concerned tone of voice. Basil began to
respond with "Nobody did, I-" but Grey interrupted him. "(Who told
you what a world mender is?)" Basil responded "Nobody" in a suddenly
annoyed voice, before realizing he had just responded to a question
asked in Elthrice. Basil turned and could see tears welling up in
Grey's eyes as she shouted at him, this time not in Elthrice "Who told
you what a world mender is?" before running in front of Basil and
seeing he wasn't wearing the pendant that the Lizard King's men had
made to house the (object) when they acquired it.

Basil looked on with an expressionless face before responding with an
"I told you I need to be left alone," fatigue turning to anger. Grey
spoke again in Elthrice, shouting in a panicked tone. "(Tell me
brother, if you are still you, who told you what a world mender is?)"
Basil shook his head. "(You already know what I am halfling)," and
upon speaking Elthrice, he heard his voice carry the thousand whispers
as it had before.

Grey jumped and started walking backward as if Basil had transformed
into a snake poised to strike, face overcome with dread as she began to
run away. Basil, never moving, resumed watching the waves move under the
moonlight.

50: The Mountain

The last thing Lewis could remember was falling. The blizzard set in
earlier than expected, and one wrong step had sent him plunging into the
depths of a crevice hidden beneath the snow. His head throbbed and he
could feel a great pain emanating from somewhere, but he couldn't make
out where the pain was coming from. He tried to feel around for his
radio, but between the dark and his confusion he only managed to nudge a
piece of gear. That piece of gear, whatever it was, plunged to some
unseen greater depths. Was that good news or bad news? Being caught on a
shelf was undoubtedly better than falling to greater depths, but was it
really good to find out that bad could quickly become worse? He'd
figured this out, he was of sure that, he just needed to rest his eyes
for a moment.

Lewis awoke again, this time he was moving. He was falling? No, wait, he
was flying? He felt too weak to do anything, even open his eyes, but
someone held him. Yes, he was being held by someone moving him out of
the crevice. Somebody, whose voice could barely be heard over the
ringing in his ears, said something about him being unconscious. Oh
crap, Christi and Earl were never going to let him live this one down.
Oh well, a lifetime of mockery was a worthy trade for a lifetime that
ended in the gorge.

He began to see some light at the top of the gorge. Wait, that wasn't
the sun; what was it? As his eyes adjusted he could see the seemingly
infinite abyss of the crevice he was leaving, but the sky above was yet
another infinite black abyss filled with a blinding amount of snow. A
searchlight seemed haphazardly attached to something flying in the air.
It wasn't a helicopter, that would be too small, and he would have
heard it by now. Besides, who would have a helicopter out here anyway?
No, it was something big - breathtaking and ominous - with a gray green
color pulling him and his rescuer up. Moments before Lewis lost
consciousness he was given a vision of an indescribable aircraft,
blinding lights under a backdrop of a blizzard and pitch black sky.

Lewis came to, warmth coming over him. He expected to open his eyes to
Chrisi's worried face, but only saw the night sky under the same
blinding blizzard. He went to move and realized he crinkled, somebody
having stuffed chemical hand warmers under his clothes before wrapping a
mylar blanket around him underneath his coat. Not what they taught in
school, but hey, he wasn't a Lewisicle so no complaints there. "We
need to get you out of this cold" said an unknown American in a parka.
"Who are you? What happened?" Lewis asked, unsure of what was going
on. "You fell down a hole and dented your noggin" the man in the parka
replied coldly. Why the hell were they not already going someplace warm?
Had this man just warmed him and left him in the cold instead of taking
him back to wherever the parka man came from? Why the hell would he do
that?

"Where are you from?" the parka man asked again, and even under that
nasally accent, Lewis could tell the parka man was not good with bedside
manners. He wasn't angry, but he didn't sound sympathetic either, just
matter of fact. Maybe he used to be his soldier or cop or something?
American cops were rude, right? Oh shit, maybe he was here about the
mountain. Lewis looked into the parka man's eyes, the only part of his
body not covered. The eye seemed annoyed now, or maybe that was just his
imagination. "Australia" Lewis replied, surprising himself at his
voice's weakness, his mind finally clear enough to recognize it. The
eyes seemed concerned now. Lewis managed to eke out how he got there: a
snowmobile ride and a short walk from an the Australian Arctic research
outpost before 'bopping his noggin.'

"Where is he?" Cristi asked as she paced. "The blizzard probably
slowed him down, I'm sure he'll be fine" Earl responded. After a
brief pause Earl tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Remember that time
when he sat on his radio, then got distracted sketching the landscape?
You know Lewis, he'll be back here when he gets around to it, and I can
think of some creative way to get back at him for making me do his
readings." Christi didn't seem to share his optimism. "He went to see
the mountain, somebody could have hurt him." Earl just rolled his eyes.
"Really, you two are getting into that tin foil hat nonsense now?
Mountains don't just appear." Christi shook her head. "Exactly, so
when one does just appear that's spooky to say the least."

Earl glanced at the monitors, hoping to change the topic of conversation
to whatever the readings would be. The sensors were all weird, though,
as if some object was displacing air currents near the outpost. "Never
mind, it must be some sort of malfunction" Earl said, Christi also
seeing the readings and only looking more alarmed. "The mountain" she
said under her breath before Earl pointed out the window. "Here we go,
that's Lewis's snowmobile right there. The chore skipper lives to
fight another day." Christi went to the window ecstatic, but suddenly
backed away aghast at something she saw. "That's not Lewis on his
snowmobile."

"Grab something to use as a weapon" Christi shouted, picking up a
chair and wielding it above her head. Earl stepped back, unsure of what
to do; looking further uneasy as the makeshift weapon was displayed.
There was a frantic knock at the door; handle moving on its own when
there was no reply from inside. A parka wearing man stepped through
alone, and for a fleeting moment the eyes beneath the mask were
seemingly illuminated with an inhuman energy.

The abyss reached out, tentacles clawing at his mind, demanding a
violent resolution to such a threat. Basil froze in the door frame,
forcing out the abyss until his breath was visible in the frigid arctic
air seeping into the building. "There's a man named Lewis, says he's
from here. He's hurt and I need somebody to help me move him without
aggravating his injuries." Basil could see the look on the small
statured woman's face change from that of terror of him to terror at
Lewis's potential state. The woman ran past Basil, not even dressing
for the extreme cold, Basil following suit. "Hey" Lewis said, some
strength recovered in his voice. "What happened?" The woman asked in
concern. "I think I fell down a hidden crevice, but things are a little
blurry."

"He's broken an arm and at least one of his legs, as well as suffered
a head injury. We need to get both of you inside now." Basil said,
barely audible over the roar of the wind. Though he mainly remained
monotone and apathetic, he surprised himself as he heard hints of
concern in his voice. The two picked up Lewis and carefully carried him
into the little outpost, right past the man putting on winter gear, who
quickly pivoted his priorities; throwing off his coat and clearing the
table before issuing a command. "Christi, Parka, keep Lewis from
falling off the table." The two put Lewis on the table, who groaned
before speaking to the man who was returning.

"Hey Doc, you got anything to dull the pain?" Lewis asked the
returning man, but Basil spoke in response. "If he had any major
internal bleeding he would be dead by now, so you're probably safe, but
I would defer to your judgment." The woman did not appear to appreciate
Basil's bedside manner, but the man playing medic seemed to appreciate
the information. "This is Christi and Earl" Lewis said as if trying to
distract himself from the approaching needle.

Lewis winced as the needle poked him, quickly becoming visibly relaxed,
and before long Earl was taking inventory of Lewis's injuries.
"You're the best Doc" Lewis said before switching his attention to
Basil and asking a question. "So what, you a doctor? And I never did
get your name or why you're out here." The parka man responded.
"Basil, and not a doctor, at least not the stitch-you-up kind." Lewis
looked as if he would have been annoyed at the dodgy answer had he not
been on pain meds. "So, what kind of doc then? And why are you out
here?" Basil, still wearing his parka and mask, replied. "Particle
physics, and that's about as much info as I can divulge." Basil paused
momentarily, adding "I really should get going. Stay away from that
area in the future, Lewis; it's bad luck."

Christi sprinted in between Basil and the door he was walking to. "Hey,
how are you going to get back? It's a blizzard out there, and unless
you plan to steal our snowmobile, it's a long walk back to wherever you
came from." Basil shook his head. "I've got a friend who will pick me
up on the way back." Christi looked worried. "The blizzard will be
over in less than a day; stay here. I don't care what macho secretive
bullshit you're up to; you'll freeze to death like anybody else out
there." Basil could see the whole group still looked somewhat
suspicious of him, but saving Lewis was apparently enough to get Christi
genuinely worried about him. "Come on, man, at least let me have a
chance to properly thank you for saving my ass out there" Lewis said,
sitting up against Earl's protest. Basil stood silently for an
awkwardly long time before lifting his hands in mock surrender. "I
guess the cold can wait, you all got anything to drink?"

Christi opened the cabinet full of bottles and Basil began to take off
his face mask and parka. Lewis raised his hand as if also requesting a
drink, but Earl nearly smacked it down in disapproval. However, as Basil
unzipped his coat, Earl's eyes locked on his side as he stepped back.
Basil looked down and saw his handgun hanging off his shoulder. "He's
not staying in here with his American death machine" shouted Earl
angrily. "It's Austrian" Basil replied, monotone voice returning, and
Christi looked at the two - suspicious of Basil but seemingly annoyed
with Earl as well. The two's attention returned to Basil seconds later,
pistol and magazine in one hand, racking the slide with his other;
chambered round flung into the air. As the action slid back Earl jerked
back in surprise, but Basil dropped the now unloaded handgun onto the
parka lying on the floor. "Better?" Basil asked and Christi nodded,
Earl remaining silent momentarily before giving Basil a suspicious
glance and returning to treating Lewis.

Christi laid out some liquor bottles that implied they were brewed at
the station and poured three shots. "Well, you'll be fine" Earl said
to Lewis before turning to the table. "Come on, gimme" Lewis requested
as drinks were poured, sounding loopy from the pain meds. "Sorry, I'm
taking yours. It's the I repel down a ravine to save your ass tax"
Basil quipped, smiling for the first time since his death.

51: Recollections

Basil's memories were disturbed by a vibration in his pocket.

Basil with his scruffy beard entered his Arkepello hotel room, sitting
across a table from Grey. Time had passed since their fight against the
Elthrice, although this was the first time he'd stepped foot on Domum
since that day. Since then, aside from a short radio conversation with
Tobias, he hadn't interacted with Domum again. Throughout the weeks,
except for one impromptu outing, he mostly kept to himself; drinking and
trying to forget what had happened - until Grey reached out, saying they
needed to talk.

"Sorry" Basil said sheepishly, seeing Grey's hands shake. "No Basil"
Grey replied, seeming more calm. "This is not your fault, and you have
nothing to apologize for. I am sorry. I cannot imagine what you went
through, and I've treated you like you are a monster." Silence enveloped
the two again, but eventually Basil broke it. "What's your name?" Grey
looked at Basil in confusion for a second, but seemed to remember that
the two now shared both languages and replied in Elthrice. "Half
Comet's Aurora, that's as close of a translation I know of" Basil
replied. Grey smiled.

"('Half' would usually be for someone with mixed ancestry, such as half
Orbital for example, but for me it is because I am half Elthrice.
'Comet' is because I was born in a vessel instead of under Elthrice
territory, and 'Aurora' is the name others know me by. Like) Basil (is
for you)."

Basil returned a smile. "So, what would you like me to call you?" Grey
seemed ambivalent. "Aurora or (Aurora) is fine. But do not say my name
in Elthrice unless you learn to speak it without the whispers." Basil
nodded, and the two fell silent until Aurora broke the silence with
something Basil figured she had rehearsed. "You are still Basil, and you
must always remember that" Aurora said in a reassuring voice. "But you
are also the Rejected-Death, a very dangerous Elthrice being." Basil
smiled, trying to be as jovial as the situation would allow. "Well, I
guess the legend got the whole Elthrice thing wrong."

Aurora seemed almost amused, but quickly returned to a serious
expression. "Basil, you are now more Elthrice than I am. I am half
Elthrice by birth; you are now Elthrice by right and, as was said to me,
are to be a commander and protector." Basil was unsure of what he was
being told. "But every Elthrice, including you, was terrified of me. Or
at least terrified of the idea of a Rejected-Death existing." Aurora
nodded.

"Well, it is said that a Rejected-Death is extremely rare. In your
years, perhaps one in a millennium. It's also said that a Rejected-Death
comes in times of great turmoil, and will leave a great gash across the
universe in its wake as it fights the (unworthy) or the (usurpers) at
the command of those who built the relics. It looks as if those you have
fought, and are to fight, is the (remnants of the old Elthrice order),
and you may be on a path of their unavoidable destruction."

Basil still felt hesitant. "I'm still me, I'm landlocked, and they know
what I am now. Can't we just hope for them to screw off and leave us
alone?" Aurora had a look that Basil interpreted as either finding the
question funny or naive, but when she spoke she seemed much more
saddened.

"(Fate can sometimes not be avoided, even with the freedom of being
one's self. Brother, it saddens me to see you so hurt by the
sterilization of the old Elthrice base, but it also brings me joy to see
that you retain your autonomy. You already knew this holding an
Orbital's object, but the great one's relic changes you. Violence, a
pull to fight fated foes, and apathy towards the world and those whom
you affect in your campaigns. You will be drawn to these things as will
your enemies be drawn to you, just as oxygen cannot resist ferrous
metals. You are still) Basil, (but you are also a Rejected-Death, that
cannot be changed no more than entropy can be undone. You have been
imbued by those that came before, and chosen as a tool for their unknown
purposes. It has become you, and you have become it)."

The vibrations continued and Basil returned to the present, nearly
knocking over an empty liquor bottle and swiping his finger across the
screen several times before accepting the call on his new device. In
lieu of a faked number, ACE had instead made the display indicate Spiro
was trying to contact him.

"Hey, what's going on?" Basil asked, a little nervous something bad was
going on. Spiro seemed to pick up on Basil's hesitance. "Everything's
fine, I just hadn't seen you since things went down, and if it'd work
out I hoped you could swing by. I'm on the Arkepello, General Tobias
said you're frequently in the Arkepello hotel; if you want to swing by
at some point I'll get us something to eat or drink." Basil paused for
a second, mind returning to his memories, but he quickly forced them
down. "I'm doing okay, I'm, um, I'm just taking some time to figure
some thing out" he replied, unsure of whether he really felt that way.

"Yeah, I can be down there at any point really" Basil continued,
before pausing and adding "Or, if you'd like, you're welcome to visit
me on Earth. There's a wormhole device in my Arkepello room that'll
take you right there." Spiro remained quiet for some time. "Well,
that'd certainly be interesting. I'm at the Arkepello docks now, I
should be a very short walk away." Basil began relaying directions on
how to get to his room in the Arkepello hotel, and as Spiro said he was
near the door Basil could hear the electronic locks ACE installed
disengaging through Spiro's radio. "One final question before you
arrive" Basil asked, "You want to take the scenic route or the warm
route?"

Spiro sounded hesitant. "Is one dangerous?" Basil laughed. "We've got
practically identical genetics, so if it were dangerous for you it'd be
dangerous for me too." Spiro replied "Scenic I guess," still sounding
slightly hesitant as he stepped through and into the hangar. Spiro
looked somewhat surprised as he looked around, smiling and making a
quick gesture to his chin. Basil gave a quick chuckle, realizing that
last time Spiro saw him he was clean shaven and had short hair; instead
now sporting a full beard and rather long hair. "Yeah, I got this hippy
friend who's been a bad influence. He's even having second hand
hippyfluence now that Aurora's growing her hair in the same way."

Spiro seemed to grow more confused as Basil spoke, but replied with
"Aurora?" and a smile. "Grey's name in Elthrice. At least the best
translation of it anyway." Spiro nodded before gesturing and asking
"And I take it you've made some gunship progress?" while gesturing to
the Elthrice craft in the hangar. "That, my friend, is the first known
Elthrice ship built in over a thousand years. If I am really stuck being
the Rejected-Death I might as well make use of those scavenged parts.
Only flew it once so far; it needs further calibration of the thrusting
devices, to be sealed off, then needs the guns integrated afterward."
Spiro turned towards it and looked on silently for some time, Basil
hoping it was admiration of the machine as opposed to discomfort at the
reminder of what he witnessed during the fight against the Elthrice.

"Well, I'm guessing you didn't just come here to see my hobby project,
let's go take that scenic route." Basil turned to the rack by the door,
put on a parka, and handed one to Spiro. "Here, you're going to want to
wear this." Throwing it on the same way he watched Basil do so, they
both stepped out of the hangar and into the polar climate. Basil figured
the weather was the most beautiful it could get. The sun illuminated a
bright blue sky, reflecting off the snow and ice and illuminated the
mountain range nearby. Small gusts of wind occasionally blew the snow
around, but nothing flew above knee height. Spiro looked on while
shielding his eyes from the sun as they walked to the compound near the
hangar, both seemingly in amazement at the scenery and dislike of the
extreme cold.

"It's awe inspiring here Basil, but it's" Spiro began to say as he broke
the silence, and Basil finished the sentence with "Fucking cold?" Spiro
smiled and returned a nod as they neared the facility. "Is the whole
planet like this?" Basil laughed. "Naw, we're on a polar ice cap. I'm
sure you've got them too. Not a lot of people here, gives me a chance
for some solitude, them trying to kill me and all.

Making their way inside Spiro asked another question. "I haven't seen
you at the meetings in the Redcap capitol; you want me to fill you in on
what's been happening?" Basil shrugged, although it felt forced as he
did so. "Haven't been invited." Spiro looked somewhat surprised, but
Basil continued. "That's alright though, I'm glad to be done with
Domum politics, and would rather be working on my gunship and drinking
at the Arkepello. As for Elthrice defense, two invasions of Elthrice
planets have got to be enough for one lifetime." Basil opened a fridge
and poured himself a shot of Gray Goose. "You want anything?" Spiro
nodded, before bending over to grab a bottle. When he turned back,
however, he had a look that hinted at either worry or sadness.

"Have you heard from anybody outside the Arkepello since everything
went down?" Basil forced a melancholy smile. "Met with Cicero twice
since it all went down; he looked real worn down and has put on some
weight. He seemed a little nervous around me, but I got the impression
the Redcaps are struggling and he feels like he's the only reason his
government is still hanging on, even if by a thread. Sent him back with
all the antibiotics I could scrounge up. The Lizard King refuses to talk
to me or ACE, but his son works with ACE a lot to get some efficient
farm tooling set up. From the sounds of it they're so low on manpower
that if they can't harvest more efficiently they'll have a food
crisis. But ACE has been handling that; I've mostly kept to myself."

"Sorry to hear that" Spiro replied. "It's alright, like I said, semi
retired. I'll hopefully not be needed for help with Elthrice defense and
I wouldn't make a good diplomat or politician anyways. Aurora was
originally apprehensive about what happened to me, hearing old stories
and things, but now she's probably handling everything better then I
have. Everyone on the Arkepello is used to my crazy stories so they're
not bothered by a new one to add to the list. All in all it's quiet, but
I never signed up for the chaos, so you won't hear complaints from me."

Spiro responded with a delayed smile and Basil continued. "Besides, I
get to share a drink with an old buddy and ramble on about stuff every
now and then. So, what have you been up to?"

52: A wolf in a Lamb's Clothes

"Is everything okay?" Basil asked, running into the Arkepello bar and
drawing everyone's attention. General Tobias looked at Basil, seemingly
amused, and answered the question directed at Aurora. "Yes, I was just
showing Aurora some maps, and she was hoping you could join us." Basil
breathed a sigh of relief, the adrenaline from Aurora's text that read
"At Arkepello Hotel. Please help." leaving his system. Tobias
continued "Come to think of it, Basil, you still know that Amigoso spy?
They keep an eye on every inch of coast west of Amigoso, so if anybody
can get more information it would be him. That is, if that's okay with
you Aurora?." Aurora nodded, but Basil still felt left in the dark.
"Sorry, you've lost me, what's going on?"

"Well, I overheard Aurora talking to Simon about geography, and"
Tobias spoke in a hushed tone "Well, honestly, I'm surprised the kid
can find his way from his post to here some nights." Tobias returned to
his normal voice as he continued. "So anyway, I got out my old Imperial
survey books and started to subject her to an old man's rambling on
history and borders. And, as the story goes, there's this iron mining
settlement on an island between here and Loquail that went crazy.
Started eating each other, speaking bits of an incomprehensible
language, and worshiping some sun god." Basil's face had an expression
of surprise come over it and Aurora began to speak.

"And then I reminded him I am only half Elthrice by birth. Basil, we
may have found where they took my mother from." Basil interjected when
Aurora had finished. "Wait, you said old imperial reports, how old?"
Tobias replied as if they were a point of pride. "One hundred and
twenty-nine years." Basil began to say "So-" but Aurora seemed to
know the question he was going to ask and nodded. "Some of that is the
result of travel in the crafts, but Orbitals live much longer than most
others." Aurora took on an expression that Basil could only read as
sadness, and the table fell quiet.

Basil, Aurora, Spiro, and Tobias poured over the maps on the table.
"And you're all sure of this?" Spiro asked, sounding hesitant.
"We're not sure, but it appears likely, and I just need to know"
Aurora replied, before turning to Basil. "Basil, I know you understand
the longing and feelings of not belonging. I need to go there, but I
want you to come with me." Basil nodded. "Of course." The table fell
silent for a moment, but Tobias spoke shortly after. "This is a week's
journey by boat. I can likely requisition some naval supplies and
rations, but we cannot currently spare a vessel to get you there; our
entire navy has been tied up with the decreasing Redcap patrols."

Aurora, however, looked like she had something in mind. "Basil, the
gunship, could that get us there?" Basil shook his head. "It's
currently in a few pieces. Me and ACE are trying to get things properly
sealed, and ocean air is unfortunately not something that would be good
to expose it to until we've worked that out." Spiro interjected "I
got this guy in nautical surveillance," before his voice trailed off,
and Basil began to wonder if Spiro had just started to worry he was
giving information that should not be provided in the presence of
foreigners - much less a foreign head of state. After a few seconds,
however, his face took on a laissez-faire expression and he continued.
"Well, this guy owes me near a dozen favors. A light Amigoso boat will
likely get you two out there and back in four days max."

Spiro paused for a moment before continuing again. "If you want, I'll
cash in those favors and get you there. My schedule is pretty empty,
most of the Ministry has been giving me the cold shoulder, and it'd be
easier to get it through if I was there so it looks more official. If
it's okay I could accompany you both, but I completely understand if
this is an Elthrice thing and you two would want to go it alone."

Before they knew it Spiro could be heard shouting "We've got land up
ahead" in the distance as he exited the boat's cabin. Basil took
another draw from a cigarette and looked to Aurora. She had a somber
look, and he could see this trip was taking a toll on her. Spiro,
finally making his way towards the two, shouted "Hey, they're going to
park the boat by the abandoned dock." Basil watched Aurora change her
face to a more positive one as Spiro came over, but he knew enough of
Aurora and what this trip meant enough that he didn't need the abyss's
intuition to sense the change in demeanor was forced.

"Abandoned?" Basil asked, and Spiro replied, seeming to change to a
more cautious tone. "Yeah, I don't think it would be safe to walk on.
Sorry Aurora, I don't think anybody has been here for a very long
time." Aurora smiled a melancholy smile, which seemed to be genuine as
far as Basil could tell. Perhaps not at the news, but instead as an
acknowledgment of Spiro's concern, he figured; unless maybe she was
relieved at the idea there'd be nothing but ghosts to greet them. They
approached the dock and Basil could see that it had been very obviously
abandoned, half collapsed and half rotting in place. "You two go on
ahead, I'll stay back with the mini boys and help them collect
observations" Spiro said as they made landfall, but Aurora shook her
head. "Please, come. You're not an invader on this trip; you're a
true friend for helping us get here." Basil nodded in agreement, and
Spiro smiled quickly before jogging back to the cabin. The three began
to make their way up an almost nonexistent path, Basil bushwhacking and
Spiro carrying a rifle.

"Man, I wish I had your energy" Spiro said, watching Basil swing his
machete for an extended period. "A bullet to the head seemed to work;
we can give it a go if you'd like." The two exchanged smirks and Spiro
gave a quick laugh that sounded like a snort at the quip, Aurora
returning a quick smile to the two. Basil felt relieved that Aurora
seemed to find the comment somewhat amusing, realizing after the comment
that she might not consider now a good time to joke. Eventually, the
group found a clearing containing many collapsed buildings, a sole
building still standing and heavily overgrown with vegetation. Stepping
inside, the three found a skeleton surrounded by rusted metal and
foliage.

"Please, I need a minute alone" Aurora said through misty eyes. Basil
and Spiro quickly left the building. "I can't imagine what she's
going through. Losing her Elthrice family and then finding the remains
of someone who could have been her, um, non Elthrice family" Spiro
stated in a whisper as soon as they were outside. "Yeah, it's fucked
up" was all Basil could think to add. They both stood in silence for a
moment before Spiro spoke again. "Shit, how are you holding up? Maybe
it's not my place to ask, but you're not in a boat that's too
different. If you ever want to talk about anything I'm here for you."

"Thanks. I dunno, it's weird. She lost everything; I've got no
memories of anything. Kinda ate away at me for a while, ya' know?
Honestly, though, after everything's settled, I don't really see
myself as stranded anymore. I've really-" Basil was interrupted by
movement in the dense brush as Spiro raised his rifle. A woman with
light skin and dark red hair snuck out, as if she was trying to avoid
being detected by someone or something. As soon as she saw Basil she ran
towards him, holding a knife and saying something in an unknown
language. Spiro replied in what sounded like the same language.

"She thinks you're Loquailian and wants to know who we are" Spiro
clarified to Basil. "Does she know about the history of this place?"
Spiro smirked. "I doubt it, she's Loquailian. I'm half tempted to
tell her I'm collecting Loqailian sex slaves and that I ordered you not
to speak." A short laugh escaped Basil as he tried to hide it, but the
woman took on a very annoyed look and replied in a whisper "Fucking
Amigosian." Basil laughed again, no longer trying to hide his laugh,
finding the exchange growing even more amusing; though Spiro seemed
surprised and somewhat embarrassed. "You're Loqualian, and you don't
speak Loqualian?" the woman asked, seeming annoyed but confused. "I'm
not Loqualian" Basil responded, but before he could speak further the
woman replied "You're a fucking disgrace to your kind," not seeming
to understand what he had intended.

"He's Elthrice, or American, depending on who's describing him"
Spiro replied when Basil remained silently confused; however, before
more could be said there was rustling in the brush again; followed by
the woman saying "Run, they're here." Spiro asked "Who's here?"
and Basil simultaneously said "Shit, what if there's Elthrice here?"
and took several steps forward to put himself between the brush and
Spiro. An entirely wooden spear sailed through the air before bouncing
harmlessly off Basil's chest as Spiro raised the rifle.

Basil just laughed again. "A fucking spear?" Several people ran out of
the brush, and Spiro shot one, causing two others to freeze and a third
to charge Basil with a knife made of a nonmetallic substance. Basil
stuck his hand out, the attacker running into it as Basil grabbed him by
the neck. The attacker frantically stabbed at Basil, but the crude knife
only began to chip away at itself. The abyss started to claw at his
mind, but he remembered their theory on how these people became this,
and he loosened his grip and began to laugh for a third time. "Would
you knock that off?" he asked mockingly, turning back to see a very
serious looking Spiro and a concerned looking woman.

The attacker spoke through a slightly constrained throat. "(Surrender
worm!)." The abyss clawed its way back into his mind, overtaking the
humor as he threw the attacker violently to the ground. Basil replied in
Elthrice, a deep rage in his voice and the thousand whispers
accompanying it. "(Worm! You confront me with such a word? Those words
shall be your-)." Aurora grabbed Basil's arm with a speed that implied
she had barely come to a stop from running. Basil realized his head
turned instantaneously to face her, further than he thought his head
could rotate, and her face showed a delayed but sudden fear.

A knot grew in his stomach, strong enough to drive away the abyss, and
he stepped back. "Sorry" he said, voice suddenly weak, before taking
more steps back and repeating "Sorry" again. Aurora seemed to take on
a more sad expression, Spiro had taken several steps back and looked
concerned, his attacker on the ground and the woman looking terrified.
"Don't hurt him; he's a victim of what happened" Aurora replied,
breaking the long silence before continuing "I'll go talk to them; at
least some of them probably understand us."

Basil felt as if he was returning to himself, and suddenly felt worried
at the idea of Aurora speaking to the unknown group of assailants. "You
sure that's safe?" Aurora looked annoyed at the question. "Basil,
they're trying to worship us, and in case you forgot, I'm a descendant
of Orbitals. I'll be okay. Now talk to that terrified woman and see if
she'll tell you what happened." Basil turned away and walked towards
Spiro, who was talking to the woman. After quickly glancing over his
shoulder toward Aurora, he gave a non-threatening hand gesture to appear
less menacing.

"What the fuck are they?" the woman asked, looking both nervous and
unsure of what to make of Basil and Aurora. "They're Elthrice.
They're friends who just got scared when they were attacked. They
won't hurt you" Spiro explained, but the woman didn't seem too
reassured. "He didn't look scared" she said while gesturing to Basil,
who repeated his attempt at a non-threatening hand gesture now that he
had finished walking over. "Sorry, I got carried away. He insulted me
and I let my ego get the better of me, but I wasn't going to kill him"
Basil said, a worry in the back of his mind that he only felt guilt for
scaring Aurora; not feeling guilty for being seconds from killing the
man or lying about it now. The woman seemed more confused but less
afraid.

"You speak their language?" Basil nodded. "I speak Elthrice, though I
don't think they speak Elthrice. Some bad Elthrice attacked here
several generations ago." Spiro seemed to change demeanor seeing
everybody nearby had calmed down. "Now, where are my manners? I'm
Spiro, this is Basil, what's your name?" The woman responded tersely.
"Lamb." Spiro spoke again in a reassuring voice. "Okay Lamb, how did
you end up here?" Lamb suddenly looked distressed, but something looked
off to Basil about the expression that Spiro didn't seem to see - or at
least express. "I was captain of a merchant vessel that shipwrecked
here. They tried to eat me, and I don't think any of my crew
survived." The abyss called out to investigate, saying every word was a
lie - albeit one that didn't pose a present danger, but only the
Rejected-Death means of doing so in his skill set was violence or the
threat of it, so he did his best to keep a neutral expression and ignore
the prompt.

"Spiro, get all the rations we can spare" Aurora shouted, interrupting
their conversation. Spiro ran off to the boat and Aurora motioned for
Basil to come along. Basil followed her in silence for some distance
before eventually coming to a camp of sorts. One of the islanders led
the two into the camp and towards an old woman too weak to stand. Aurora
looked at Basil with tears in her eyes. "Her mother knew my mother."

53: California Sands

"Here we go" Basil said, stepping away while trying to untangle himself
from wires. "And you're sure it will work?" Spiro asked, questioning
Basil's confidence. "Well, one way to find out. Flip that switch and
either it'll work, or the whole city will go up in flames." Basil
replied in a joking manner. Spiro flipped the switch on the new UPS the
two had just installed. Some RGB lights turned on and the city did not
go up in flames. Basil gave a confident smile, although Spiro had an
amused look.

Something in the back of Basil's mind told him that Spiro found it
amusing the man who built a makeshift Elthrice gunship struggled with
basic electrical equipment. He couldn't tell if it was the abyss
reaching out; if it was, it wasn't nearly as overt as it had been on
the few occasions it seemed to scream information or intentions at him.
Perhaps it was his intuition coupled with Spiro's not wearing the mask
of an intelligence official around him. Or maybe he was going insane,
and it merely looked amusing as he nearly strangled himself in a mess of
wire.

"There we go, you can now officially run Amigoso power through this and
safely convert it to be compatible with any of my stuff. No more balcony
generators for you my good sir."

Spiro looked like he was going to reply, but ACE came over the speakers
on the telecom device wired to the wormhole device they had just
installed. "Basil, one of the federal agents we were monitoring
cryptically implied one of their so-called 'spectral guests' showed
up, left, and likely will return. Some social media users are already
reporting a bunch of military looking activity in the area, and they are
saying the swath of BLM land they blocked off is growing. It has reached
the threshold for us to investigate in person."

A sense of dread hit Basil. They had been monitoring this anomalous
activity in the California desert for some time, but throughout it all,
he kept telling himself that he and ACE were simply bored. The Elthrice,
at least the ones he knew, were too weak to assault Earth. Besides, it
sounded like they were hunting spies, and the Elthrice were always loud
and aggressive. Nevertheless, he and ACE had put off installing the guns
on the soon-to-be gunship that way it'd be ready to fly on a moment's
notice, and they were about to do so to investigate further.

"Alright, let's go. You able to glean any new information on who's
actually there staking out the place?" Basil asked, sounding more
confident towards the end of his statement. "Nothing other than that
they are using outdated hardware, that being the reason I was able to
intercept and decrypt some of their communication. Whether that is
because they are there in a less than official capacity, or because they
want to keep this under the radar, I am unable to determine."

Spiro joined the conversation. "Basil, is there anything I can do to
help?" Basil hesitated for a moment before replying. "Yeah, a second
pair of hands who knows the Elthrice would be good. But if it actually
looks like it could be the Elthrice I'll probably go down and say hi,
and do so as Elthrice given my history with what could be the same
people who attacked me before. If I do so, you'll probably need to stay
behind on the craft, unless you can pull off a really good American
impression." The two stepped into the unarmed gunship, door closing
behind them, before Basil suddenly interjected. "Oh, and I should tell
you about my mantel ahead of time; it might be a little surprising if I
use it and you're not expecting it.

"Mantel?" Spiro asked. "Something that keeps the Elthrice and
non-Elthrice parts of me into their own little cozy corners of my
brain" Basil began, before ACE started relaying information about their
departure. While flying inconspicuously prevented them from leaving and
re-entering the atmosphere, and thus required them to fly at a much
slower speed than they would have using Elthrice crafts on Domum, they
were quickly in international waters off the coast. Minutes turned to
hours as ACE surveyed the situation and collected as much data as
possible.

Eventually, ACE took them overhead; though as they remained out of range
of the drones, and restricted data collection to sensors that would not
give away their presence, ACE expressed frustration at the little data
he was able to collect. Suddenly, however, ACE displayed information on
the panels of the gunship as his voice came over the speakers. "We just
got hit with radar. With our altitude and the craft's material they
shouldn't know what we are yet; but we have a very short window until
they point every sensor on the ground, in the air, and in orbit they
have access to towards us. We either need to go now or announce
ourselves."

Basil took a deep breath. "Drop our altitude fast and turn on every
sensor you can, make it look like we're just arriving. Try to patch me
into the radios you broke into. We don't have an army, so if the
Elthrice are actually coming we need to be there when it happens to
wallop them immediately and get them to reconsider. We also need to look
powerful enough that it'll demand some respect from those on the
ground, but we need to avoid spooking them. If they turn their sights on
us we'll give the Elthrice an advantage."

"Alright, you're tapped into their radios" ACE said, and Basil readied
himself to make 'first contact'. "Hello, I believe you made contact
with, or are about to make contact with, a dangerous faction of beings I
have experience with. I have come to assist you in preventing their
spread." Basil said through his mantle, the echo of a thousand whispers
echoing out of the other's radio and back through his as he spoke.
"Identify yourself" a voice on the other side of the radio said, before
adding "And tell me how you're on this network." Basil paused for a
moment to think of how to respond. "You would not comprehend my name, so
you may refer to me as X." Basil lied, remembering the impact he felt
when Aurora had said the same to him. Something in the back of his mind
told him 'X' was a poor choice of name to randomly take on, but he
continued regardless.

"As for your network, your key pairs are too simplistic." The man on the
other end seemed distracted, likely alerting others to the breach, but
Basil continued. "I have come to assist you in expulsing those that I
believe you have gathered to confront." The man on the other side of the
radio seemed confused and angry. "Do not interfere with us, tell us
where you are and we will send-," but Basil cut him off. "I will be
arriving momentarily." Several people began to speak simultaneously, but
everybody went silent as their radios relayed the distinctive roar of an
Elthrice craft cutting through atmosphere. Several surprised outbursts,
followed by frantic speech, broke the radio silence.

The panels of the unarmed gunship lit up again, ACE relaying information
collected from the newly running sensors. Two F-15s, both outdated
models that should have been retired several years back, were closing in
on their location quickly. "Who are you, and why are you here?" asked a
rougher, older voice, which seemed to remain calm despite the others'
sounding somewhat frantic or unsure. Before Basil could respond, ACE
relayed additional information: the F-15s had both target locked on
them. "I already told you what you ask. You may refer to me as 'X'; I
am charged with the containment or destruction of those I believe you
are aware of and expect to make contact with." The calm man seemed to
pause momentarily before replying with a quiet but authoritative voice.
"Are you one of them, the ones you say we are here for?" Basil answered,
a thousand whispers echoing in his reply. "Their kind, yes, but we do
not share the same allegiances."

The calm man seemed to hesitate for a moment, but the man spoke right as
Basil began to wonder if he would not get a response. "This area is
restricted; leave now and do not interfere. You may return when we give
permission and speak with us further." Basil took a similar silence,
worried about starting a fight, but ultimately more concerned about
letting the Elthrice gain a foothold. "That I cannot do. I believe the
threat you face greatly exceeds your capabilities, and the containment
of this faction is my utmost priority." ACE spoke quickly. "Heat
management or durability?" However, time constraints forced ACE to
decide before Basil could respond.

54: The Third Elthrice Campaign Pt. 1

The first indication their introduction was about to go bad was a burst
of transmissions between the ground and jets above; the second
indication being that it stopped. "Heat management or durability?" ACE
asked, using intentionally fast words. Before a response could be given,
however, the jets fired upon them. He dropped the craft in altitude
quickly, hoping the thrusting mechanisms could counteract the
otherworldly G forces that were in effect as they had during the
simulations. Credit to the long dead Elthrice engineers, everything
seemed to work as it should, despite the rather novel application of
such hardware.

Enough time had passed and he began to understand the behavior of the
missiles. They certainly had no trouble seeing the craft, its surface an
astronomical heat, but they were slow in their responses and speed. With
less capacity devoted to predicting their trajectory, the second
priority rose to prominence: a great display. He began to roll the craft
on its axis before beginning a Fibonacci sequence, forcing the missiles
to effectively continue straight as they constantly corrected to where
the craft was moments ago. Passing the missiles, mere centimeters from
detonation proximity, he turned the craft instantly at 90 degrees and
began flying away horizontally; missiles and jets becoming stationary
objects.

He felt something. It wasn't the first time, but it was still a rarity,
and certainly the first time he had felt something like this. Pride
maybe? No, it felt too muted, at least when compared to the descriptions
of the emotion. Satisfied. He was satisfied with what he had done.
"What just happened?" Spiro asked, responding to ACE's question
directed at Basil. "What are they saying?" Basil asked moments later,
before Spiro's question could be answered. "They are confused, and are
speculating the craft is unmanned. An order has been given, however, to
stop firing and disarm the munitions in the missiles they launched."
ACE replied, trying to answer both questions.

"Alright, let's go back and try to talk again. Any signs of the
Elthrice showing up during that little sidequest?" Basil asked. "No
signs of the Elthrice. I am bringing the craft back now and patching you
back into their radio, although I have an idea for continuing our
demonstration." ACE brought the craft back into the area at high
speeds, slowing down as it matched course to the side of the closest
jet. The jet, now likely blaring with alarms at the heat quickly
dissipating from the craft, tried to pull away; ACE matching its
movement exactly.

"You have used your weapons; shall I test mine, or shall we speak of
our combined defenses against a very dangerous adversary?" Basil
bluffed over the radio. The calm man returned to the radio, voice as
still as before. "Very well, what do you propose?" Basil spoke, his
mantle aiding him in avoiding emotion or fear in his voice, but
internally glad at the change of events. "I wish to speak with you in
person and aid in the defense against the problematic ones in order to
verify their containment or eradication. Then I will leave." The calm
man replied without any pause. "Then you may land as soon as your ship
has cooled to safe levels." Basil checked the console, satisfied that
the gunship was dissipating heat as fast as predicted, and shortly after
ACE was narrating their landing.

Spiro stepped out of the craft behind Basil, or, well, the being that he
was mostly confident was still Basil - despite its appearance. He
rationed it away, besides, he was in disguise too. ACE had given him
some sort of uniform that he said was Earth military; different from
Amigosian uniforms, but not as alien as he expected. Over it he wore
thick metal plates designed to stop bullets and - something he knew was
not standard Earth military garb - a cloth mask that hid his entire head
aside from his eyes. Basil's clothes looked like a costume at first; a
dark charcoal colored jacket and pants over a white shirt - odd, but not
overtly alien to Amigosian garb. The bright red cloth around his neck,
and the little gold piece of metal affixing it to his shirt, however,
were certainly more alien than the rest of his outfit.

Stepping out, however, and Basil's garb looked much less out of place.
Basil's people, or at least the ones that were once Basil's people,
all wore similar clothes as Basil did. They would have looked imposing
had they all not jumped back as Basil exited. His mantel was unnerving
to Spiro himself, and he was told to expect it, so he couldn't help but
pity those unprepared for it - even if they had just tried to kill them.
Like the hooded one, Basil's face was unseeable. No eyes or mouth, ears
or hair, just a blank nothingness. Only, unlike the hooded one, Basil
did not wear a hood. After a few moments of shock, followed by a few
hair raising moments of weapons pointed at them, they were wordlessly
led to a tent where an older heavy man looked on expressionlessly.

"You are the one I spoke to?" the Calm Man asked, and Spiro felt
uneasy at the lack of fear on the man. Basil had assured them that those
on Earth weren't capable of doing anything he hadn't seen before, but
the calm man's confidence seemed to disagree with that assertion.
"Yes" the Faceless Man replied, speaking for the first time since
exiting the craft, the thousand whispers sending another wave of terror
out through all but the calm man. "And what exactly are you?" The
Faceless Man remained quiet for some time, but seemed to decide on a
diluted version of the truth. "I am assigned a protector; my sole
purpose here is to contain the spread of a dangerous faction." The calm
man sounded suspicious. "Yet you carry human weapons?" gesturing to
the rifles held by the two "And seem to have a human companion?" The
Faceless Man replied cryptically. "I was given a limited allotment of
supplies, these have been scavenged. Useful in certain cases, but not
against those I fear you will see today."

Even in his terrifying presence and oddly different manner of speaking
as the Faceless Man, Basil still lacked his skill with words. Spiro
watched as all around him, except the Calm Man, took on a mix of worried
and horrified looks. While Spiro knew Basil didn't consider him a
scavenged weapon and was only trying to explain away the rifles, those
around him didn't seem to take it that way, and knowing Basil he
didn't even realize the misunderstanding had happened. Unless, of
course, it was one of those (object) moments and it somehow thought that
was the most terrifying response. The Calm Man turned directly to Spiro.
"You, are you being held against your will?"

This was the exact sort of situation he wanted to avoid. If the Faceless
Man responded instead of Spiro they'd probably turn on him for
seemingly kidnapping one of their own. Yet these people were probably
Amigosian Ministry of Information equivalents, meaning he had to tread
in his response carefully. "No sir, I took an oath to defend my nation
and I believe it is best fulfilled this way" Spiro replied confidently.
The others took on a much calmer expression and Spiro felt pleased;
Amigosian wits remained unmatched.

"What do you know of these beings we are here to confront?" the
Faceless Man asked, directing words towards the Calm Man. "I cannot
provide that information. Forgive my bluntness, but we don't exactly
know your origins or motivations, and you aren't exactly fourth coming,
so we do not trust you enough to share intel." The Faceless Man seemed
unfazed. "These beings belong to the civilization (Elthrice), though it
is best translated to 'Elthrice' -- the same as I do. These particular
beings we are likely to confront are desperate, and likely seek an
invasion or infiltration." Spiro felt a little worried; if these were
ministry analogs then they wouldn't participate in a good natured
exchange of information.

"So, what exactly do you believe yourself to be? Our protector,
controlling access to our planet?" The Faceless Man responded. "Yes,
in a way. I am here to uproot the weeds sprouted from seeds spread of my
own tree, but have no animosity to the other plants of your garden." An
unease washed over Spiro; Basil never spoke like this. The Calm Man
asked two more questions in rapid fire. "What sort of authority
structure do you have, and are we likely to see more of you?" The
Faceless Man responded, a contradictory mix of sorry and apathy hidden
beneath the whispers. "I am the last of ones with my capabilities, and
the only one of my allegiances you will meet, if that is what you ask."
The Faceless Man paused momentarily before continuing with "I am what
you may call an endangered species."

This was a problem. Spiro himself had been trained to interrogate
without the other feeling like he was being interrogated, and this same
manner of questioning was occurring now. Basil had fallen for it once
before, and here the Faceless man was falling for it yet again. A pang
of guilt hit him as he remembered turning on Basil, although he would
hopefully use his skills to aid him this time. He broke his calm,
unexpressive expression, and glared straight at the lack of a face. The
Faceless man suddenly straightened and took a more rigid posture,
seeming to get the message. An odd dread washed over Spiro; while the
Faceless man had only just changed his posture, his brain felt like the
Faceless man had just grown by ten feet and took on a menacing
expression, even if his eyes reported that nothing had changed. The
dread turned to satisfaction as everyone in the room except the calm man
stepped back, a reminder that Basil was on his side - even in this form.

"Be warned, Earth does not require a guardian or overlord, and you are
not the one to decide who may or may not enter. You will be permitted to
aid in its defense, but that is the only permission I have granted, and
it is tenuous." The Faceless Man replied, a sudden darkness deep in his
voice.

"You say these things, but you have not born witness to what I have. I
have witnessed the sterilization of many planets, and have initiated
such destruction upon two. You play a game in the dark and yet you know
not even what the opponents' pieces can do." Though remaining
outwardly unexpressive, the Calm Man appeared to take a moment to
process the unknown being's words. Before he could respond, however,
the conversation was interrupted by words arriving over the Calm Man's
radio.

"Sir, we've just captured somebody who claims to be a hiker driving
out here, he somehow slipped past our guys on the perimeter." The
Faceless Man replied directly to the transmission before anybody else
could respond. "If you have captured somebody they are very likely not
the ones I am here for." The Faceless Man received disapproving glances
from those around the Calm Man, all seeming unhappy with Faceless Man's
flaunting of his access to their network. The one on the other end of
the radio seemed hesitant to respond, but eventually the Calm Man
replied. "How would we know for sure?" The Faceless Man took an oddly
fluid step towards the Calm Man. "The being would almost certainly be
nearly seven feet or taller, and they would have no means of obscuring
that." The radio cracked in response. "Yeah, this guy has to be at
least seven feet tall. But so what, is every Norwegian one of them?"

The Faceless Man replied, ignoring the last comment. "A more obvious
indicator would be a gray green complexion, which could be hidden with
pigments or a technological augmentation. To defeat the latter you would
need to render your subject unconscious." The voice on the other end of
the radio fell silent for a moment, but suddenly turned frantic. "Shit,
he's wearing makeup. Er, um, not a he. I think it's one of them." The
calm man seemed to remain stoic, and the Faceless Man only uttered
"Interesting" in his otherworldly voice.

The Calm Man went to leave the tent, but the Faceless Man spoke with a
surprising air of urgency. "I must accompany you during
interrogation." Despite no change in voice, the Calm Man had an air of
suspicion. "And why would that be?" The Faceless Man replied coldly.
"Because he now knows you are on to him. You will never be able to get
any information from his kind, but regardless of his objections, he will
give it to me."

55: The Third Elthrice Campaign Pt. 2

Spiro followed the Faceless Man as they were wordlessly ushered into a
tent by those standing outside. Their prisoner, an oddly thin Orbital,
looked bruised and bloody; pigments meant to hide his skin seemingly
washed off his face and upper body - despite the rest of him seemingly
still in disguise. Wet rags and bloody rags covered one table, although
the room seemed cluttered with gadgets. They were undoubtedly Earth
technology, though, many alien devices dedicated to specific purposes as
opposed to the Elthrice technology that seemed to do everything at once
while being integrated into a larger device or person.

The Orbital's face contorted to an expression Spiro couldn't recognize
as it shouted something in Elthrice that Spiro didn't understand.

The Faceless Man's voice boomed with anger.

The Orbital flew into a panic, trying and failing to break its
restraints. "What did you say?" demanded the Calm Man. "He believed I
would be on his side, but was sorely mistaken" the Faceless Man replied
in a somewhat mocking tone, before contemplating aloud. "Interesting
that an Orbital be sent without an Orbital's (object)..." the Faceless
Man said, taking several steps towards the prisoner, who returned to
resisting his restraints again and called out to his captors in English.
"Please don't let him...," but the prisoner's voice trailed off as
the Faceless Man gently put his hand on the prisoner's left arm.

Spiro looked on, feeling a little confused. It looked like the Faceless
Man was about to try to activate the Orbital's implant, but that
wouldn't work, would it? Could anybody just activate an Orbital's
implant? The Faceless Man moved his arm in an almost otherworldly fluid
swipe, but everything suddenly felt wrong. Something hit him in the
chest, and those around him aimed weapons and started shouting. Instead
of seeing a PDA he heard a bone chilling crack, the Orbital now
screaming. A disembodied arm was held in the air like a trophy.

Spiro suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Not at the violence; he'd seen
far worse, but this was not something that would have been done by
Basil, who had barely been able to stomach killing somebody who stabbed
him. While he hadn't known anybody who'd have the strength to do
something like this, he'd known people who'd had this sort of
brutality in interrogations before; he despised those people. He could
hardly believe what had happened, but only two possibilities existed.
Either the violence had broken Basil, or this wasn't Basil making these
decisions. He wasn't sure which was worse.

Ignoring the screams, the Faceless Man opened the limb, pulling out a
bloody black dot the size of a grain kernel. An interface opened, all in
unreadable Elthrice, and a few swipes and taps later the Faceless Man
crushed the device between his fingers. The Calm Man, seeming to process
the situation that passed by near instantly, ran over to grab the
Faceless Man's arm - seemingly in anger. His sudden anger seemed to be
replaced by an unexpected expression of fear as he pulled his hand away
the second it made contact, though moments later his expression had
returned to the blank expression he had otherwise been wearing. "What
did you do?" he demanded, voice still carrying some anger, and the
Faceless Man turned towards him as if he had forgotten about the Calm
Man's existence.

"I told them to come. Get the van you seized into position, this is
either a very desperate infiltration or a trap, but they do not know I
am here so we will have the advantage either way." The Calm Man stood
silently for some time, but eventually ordered his men to get the van
located near an outcropping of rocks in the valley that they were
encamped around. "You will wait here" the Calm Man began, but the
Faceless Man spoke firmly in disagreement. "No, I will wait by the van,
that is not in question. You and or your subordinates may present if you
wish, but I will be present when we confront the beings. Unlike this
scout, you will likely be incapable of harming them and will be entirely
unmatched."

The Calm Man began to order his soldiers into defensive positions on the
edges of the surrounding valley, seemingly not debating the Faceless
Man's presence further. Several, however, would accompany him while
they joined the Faceless Man and Spiro by the van where the Elthrice
would emerge at if it were not a trap. As they made their way there, and
out of earshot of the others, Spiro whispered a question. "Do you
really think it's a trap?" The Faceless Man's response was whispered
back, the other whispers seemingly nonexistent or too quiet to be heard.
"This is a trap, or the Elthrice are exceedingly desperate. Regardless,
exercise caution." Spiro replied with a cautious glance, before turning
his head to look at the gunship silently moving behind the ridge.

Spiro stood waiting and looking around. The snipers were impressively
hidden, their full-body suits matching the surroundings, making a deadly
trap for anyone wandering in. At least, of course, anybody without an
Orbital's (object). He'd have to relay their designs to somebody at
the ministry, they'd be a marginal improvement to their standard gear.
They certainly weren't a fan of him helping the outsider and his Earth
buddies, but some good gear to bring back would hopefully plaster over
the annoyance they seemed to have towards him. Maybe they'd even let
Basil enter the island, and he wouldn't have to worry about what would
happen if they found out he had already done so using a wormhole device.

He forced his mind to stop wandering, even if it was the only thing
keeping him from focusing on the dread he felt. Sure, he could hold a
confident expression - he was a master of controlling appearances, but
being on an alien planet to confront other aliens sure didn't inspire
confidence. The others could be faking their confidence too, but
something told him that, at the very least, the Faceless Man and the
Calm Man were as confident as they seemed. That sort of confidence was
always dangerous.

There was a gust of wind and a flash of a wormhole as several Elthrice
stepped through. They seemed to go so quickly that they didn't even
know others were around until it closed, suddenly stiffening and
stepping back as they realized their predicament.

"You! How did you?" asked a seemingly flabbergasted one in the center
of the group, wearing a hood that concealed its face in a similar manner
to their presumably former leader. Its voice did not carry whispers, but
its voice sounded closer to the others on Earth; unlike the prior
Elthrice that understood the language and sounded more like those from
Domum. The hooded one was shorter than the rest, though still tall, and
surrounded by Orbitals on both sides. The Faceless Man bellowed out
something that sounded chastising.

The Orbitals surrounding the hooded Elthrice took on a sudden look of
fear, and the one with the hood took on a posture that looked like fake
bravado. It spoke, however, with what sounded like real confidence.
"Perhaps I do not wish to conceal my speech from those present." The
group fell silent briefly, but the hooded figure continued. "You chose
a fitting appearance, given my predecessor took your face last time we
met." The Faceless Man responded with a tone that seemed to contain
rage. "And his remains remain scattered on the desolate ruins you once
called home." Suddenly, he switched to an eerily calm tone as he
continued. "And so will be your fate if you do not leave now. This
civilization is under my protection; return to yours or perish as your
predecessor."

The group fell silent again and Spiro suddenly felt calm; from the looks
of things, this would end with the Elthrice leaving peacefully. An
entire army ran from them once, and here stood less than a dozen. The
hooded one, however, turned to the Calm Man and spoke. "Do not pay
attention to that one; it is a ghost of a lost age, weaker than he once
was, bearing no army or weapons. I bear you no ill will and can provide
you with items beyond your comprehension in exchange for our
friendship." Spiro began to feel nervous again. This was a problem;
Basil's diplomatic skills, or lack thereof, had turned every major
power against him at one point. However, when he looked back, The
Faceless Man remained quiet and instead turned to the Calm Man, who had
an unexpected grin.

"Of course. As a show of good faith, please surrender your weapons and
allow my people through to your home to verify your intentions." The
Orbitals gripped their weapons harder and shifted in place, Spiro
feeling more relieved again. If nothing else, at least those here were
smart enough not to be blinded by such an offer, the request sounding
more mocking than genuine. The moment the group fell quiet the Faceless
Man turned away from the Calm One and raised his hands, gunship silently
rising over the horizon to become visible from within the valley.

"One of the Orbitals slit his throat. The Calm Man's men initially
started raising their weapons as the knife came out, but seconds later
they joined the Elthrice in their shocked expressions; joined in
expressions despite differing causes.
"<words in Elthrice>" the hooded one shouted to seemingly
rally his faltering allies. The Faceless Man took several steps closer.
"Return to your dust and ashes, scavenger, before I turn you to dust on
these lands." After speaking, however, he turned his back to the hooded
one and faced the gunship hovering in the distance. Spiro couldn't
believe it, but it almost looked like he was trying to goad a fight.

Spiro watched as a blur of motion erupted from the hooded one. The
hooded one slashed a knife at the Faceless Man's back, but the Faceless
Man turned and extended his arm towards the knife. In one quick motion
he wrenched the knife out of the attacker's hand and plunged it into
his chest. The Orbitals around him began to raise their weapons, but the
Calm Man gave a discrete hand signal only visible to somebody trained to
notice such things. The Orbitals fell to the ground, riddled with
wounds, and bullets spalled off the hooded one who seemed unharmed
except for the knife in his chest. The Faceless Man took the knife out
of the hooded one's chest and struck him twice more with it, hard
enough to knock him back and onto the ground.

Unlike the first moments, which almost looked like a dance, these
strikes looked more brutal and rageful; as if he was beating him with
his fists, which only held a knife by happenstance. Spiro suddenly
noticed a slash across the Faceless Man's right hand and back, which
seemed to be bleeding. Though not enough to be a life-threatening
injury, a knot grew in Spiro's stomach. Could the hooded one be right
in that he was getting weaker? Regardless, however, the fight was over;
that was all that mattered for now.

The Calm Man gave another discrete hand signal.

As unexpected as it was, Spiro knew what it would mean as soon as the
Calm Man's fingers began to move. He dove for cover behind a large
rock; even if there were gunmen posted from every angle pointing into
the valley, he had to minimize how many had a line of sight on him.
Several struck him in the chest as a hail of gunfire kicked up dust,
Basil falling to the ground beside him. He opened fire onto the
hillside.

Time nearly froze for Basil. Moments before, the strange surge of energy
from the (object) was fading, fight that he expected since the moment he
stepped off the gunship now over. Then, out of nowhere, he was on the
ground. He had trouble focusing, his head and chest hurt, but he knew he
was in trouble. He quickly scrambled behind the rock that Spiro had ran
behind, enabled magnification on his rifle's optics, and watched
through them as the gunship landed in the area the snipers were;
crushing rocks, trees, and people alike.

"The valley is too deep, you need to get out of there to get into the
gunship" ACE bellowed through the radio, semi-monotone in nature, but
volume unbearably loud to be audible in the chaos. The gunship flew in
on its side, pressed to the ground, and began rolling as if it were a
large shield as Basil and Spiro began to run out of the valley. Basil
felt a chill run down his spine as he saw where he confronted the hooded
one. The bodies of the Orbitals lay there dead; the Calm Man and his men
had left, but the body of the hooded one was gone. There was no time to
carry a body away in this short window, and Basil was sure that he had
gone through a wormhole - either alive or dead.

"You idiot!" Basil yelled over the radio as they ran, firing blindly
at the hilltops. "I was about to land the killing blow, but he has
escaped and will certainly return. You have doomed yourselves!" The
Calm Man replied over the radio; though he sounded as if he was out of
breath from running, his voice's tone sounded like a calm gloat. "One
thing about humanity you must learn is, for better or for worse, we take
no shit and accept no masters. You bled and took cover; that means
you're not as durable as you've portrayed yourself to be."

The two jets with their missiles roared, the gunship suddenly flying up
and using its bottom as a shield. An explosion rang out, but the gunship
remained in the air and seemed unharmed as it turned over and opened the
door on its back. Soldiers began to swarm them from all locations and
Basil and Spiro raised their hands before jumping; the gunship's
artificial gravity pulling them into the craft through the now closing
door. Basil spoke over the radio. "You and I are not so different, and
I fear that is to your people's detriment." Taking fire from those on
the ground and in the air, it tore through the atmosphere with an
eardrum rupturing roar.

56: Coastal Federation

Basil stepped out of the gunship, tired and bloody, but as soon as he
turned to leave ACE spoke. "Basil, while we were busy, Gina from the
coastal federation attempted to contact us. She is attempting to reform
their organization and requested your presence." Basil sighed, feeling
even more exhausted at the suggestion. "Alright, ask them if tomorrow
works or something."

"She is having a meeting in a couple hours, she specifically requested
you be present because she wanted to thank you for saving their
organization and wanted your official recognition of their new
government." Basil laughed. "My recognition? The fuck is that gonna
do?" Spiro also laughed, but seemed to be directing his laughter
towards Basil's response instead of the request. "What do you mean
'The fuck that gonna do?' You helped take down an Elthrice invasion,
became one in the process, and have the ear of three of the four major
governments. Not to mention you've got a gunship now. Your presence
there would mean almost as much as if the Redcaps themselves arrived
during the negotiations and said 'This new government is under our
protection.'"

"What's the gunship looking like?" Basil asked ACE. "It sustained
minimal damage; we can hold off installing the weapon systems and fly it
straight to Domum's coast." Basil nodded. "Alright, what do you think
we should do?" Spiro looked as if he was about to speak, but ACE
responded to the question Basil had directed towards ACE. "We should
go. The Coastal Federation is in a strenuous position and there are no
risks to us by dropping in, we can either have an ally or, most likely,
a dead stranger if we do not visit." Basil nodded. "Alright. Just let
me go get cleaned up first."

Basil stepped out of the gunship, walked down the opened ramp, and
stopped right before the ramp changed to ground. The foliage was dense,
even denser than the western regions of the Redcap's territory, but the
area seemed freshly cleared, and in it, a mostly constructed wooden
building lay ahead. A soldier, at least what he assumed to be a soldier,
began approaching; holding a spear to his side. "Greetings, Basil.
Please surrender your weapons to me, and I will escort you to the great
hall." Basil shook his head. "Sorry, nobody's getting my weapons.
I'll wait here, why don't you go check in with Gina."

"That was a federation order, and not up for debate" the soldier
replied, switching from cheerful to menacing instantly. Well, Basil
figured, the soldier at least probably thought he looked menacing. He
stepped forward and off the ramp and wrapped his fingers around the
spear's tip. As the spear's edge locked within his hand, millimeters
away from touching his skin, the soldier tried pulling it away from
Basil's grasp but failed. A familiar surge of energy hit him, though
muted from the day's earlier injuries, and as the soldier began to pull
back, Basil wrenched it out of his hands and struck the soldier in the
chest with the end of the handle. He dropped to the ground, clutching
his chest and gasping for breath. Basil scowled.

Gina ran towards them with another soldier by her side. "What
happened?" the other soldier asked, nebulously directing his question
towards both Basil and the soldier on the ground before quickly bending
over to inspect the one on the ground. "He tried to disarm me, then
found out it takes a lot more than a spear to do that" Basil replied in
a monotone voice that, even to him, felt oddly relaxed for somebody who
had been in an altercation. "You told me to disarm them" the soldier
on the ground wheezed, seemingly catching his breath as the other
soldier helped him to his feet. "I told you to disarm the negotiators,
Basil is not a negotiator. You'll be fine, he just hit you in the
sternum, I've seen worse wounds from training."

"Get him inside" Gina commanded the soldier who had originally
accompanied her. The soldier looked hesitant, but Gina continued with a
relaxed expression. "If Basil were dangerous I wouldn't have called
him here." As the soldiers left, however, Gina's relaxed facial
expression changed to one that looked as if she didn't know what to
think of the altercation, seeming to imply she had faked the earlier
expression to get the others to leave. "Sorry, I think I was a little
too hard on him" Basil said as he and Gina began walking towards the
entrance of the building. They continued in silence for a short distance
until they stepped through a large wooden door.

"We're just finishing up, you can wait around here until we're done"
Gina said, gesturing to what looked like a makeshift waiting area in the
corner of the large open room. All eyes turned to him, and from the tone
of the following negotiations, it seemed apparent that his presence was
being used as a bargaining chip, even if it wasn't said out loud.

"Sorry about the wait" Gina said as Basil noticed the room was
clearing out. "Turner, go fetch us some wine from the storage room."
Basil watched as the soldier that originally had followed Gina grumbled
about being the head of their armed forces and doing a cook's work,
leaving Gina and Basil the only two in the room. As they waited for the
wine to arrive, Gina filled Basil in on the state of things. With the
ongoing turmoil in the Redcap and Lizard kingdoms, the various coastal
city leaders had begrudgingly agreed to re-attempt a unification under a
loose centralized power. While choosing a leader, Gina convinced them
that she had the outsider's support and the debt of the Redcaps.
Basil's presence in the meeting sealed that belief and helped force
some more favorable terms.

Basil found himself feeling oddly refreshed as Gina explained everything
bluntly. The Redcaps, the Lizard King, and Amigoso officials always had
an air of bullshit to their speech; even as he began to know them
personally there was always double speak and reading between the lines.
Right now, he was bluntly being told he was present as a political
bargaining chip, and it felt oddly pleasant to be told that, as sad as
he figured it was. He was also, however, alarmed to hear that the
Redcaps had fought a few skirmishes with what sounded like guerilla
forces of an unknown allegiance within their capital city. He was aware
of vague 'troubles,' but apparently news was slow on the Akepello and
he wasn't kept in the loop by the Redcaps themselves anymore. Basil put
down his glass, yet another glass of wine consumed.

"Well, perhaps you could come out of retirement to become my most
trusted advisor and the second most powerful person of this nation"
Gina said, suddenly shifting the conversation. Basil laughed at the
absurd proposition. Under the (Old Elthrice) he would have had near
limitless power and freedom to raise armies, everybody afraid to disturb
the power behind the (object)s that revived somebody for a particular
purpose. Here, he was offered a bureaucratic position in a barely iron
age nation whose subjects mostly did not even know that specific
government existed yet. What little aptitude for adept and respectful
conversations Basil had, however, had alerted him to play off the
laughter as if it was related to what he was about to say.

"Funny you should mention retirement. The Elthrice attacked again
today." Gina returned a laugh, seeming to think Basil was joking.
"There's still blood on my boots from an Orbital" Basil replied while
gesturing to his shoe. Gina's face changed from intoxicated amusement
to a suddenly sober look of concern and fear. "What? Where?" Basil
sighed. "Today, against my people. I beat them back, but conflict with
my people prevented me from killing their leadership." Gina responded
confused. "You tried to kill your people's leadership?"

"No, I tried to kill the Elthrice leadership, but my people tried to
kill me and it turned into a huge mess." Gina kept alternating between
worry and confusion. "Why were you fighting your own people during an
Elthrice invasion, and do they have the same weapons as you do?" Basil
replied, suddenly sounding worn out. "They saw me as an Elthrice, which
is pretty much correct at this point, but we were fighting before that
too. It's a long story." Basil paused, before remembering there was a
second question. "But no, while some of my technology is from my
people, the stuff you've seen today is only held by the Elthrice,
though some of it is even lost to them."

Gina seemed to pick up on Basil's fatigue and began to pivot the
subject. "Well, if I can't offer you a position, what can I offer you,
Basil? You saved the lives of me and my most loyal allies, and I would
like to repay you somehow." Basil pondered momentarily, not aided by
his intoxication, before finally settling on a response. "Right now, I
just need an ally or two I can trust to have my back with an army if
needed. Things are starting to heat up and my relations with every
nation minus the Arkepello have been strained. Although with what you
said earlier I'm sure the Redcaps will be requesting help from me soon
if things continue the way they're going. But if things get bad there
and I need a few guys with guns they're not going to be able to help me
on that."

Gina laughed as if she had just uncovered a truth, intoxicated amusement
returning. "So, I take it the reputation of Arkepello soldiers being
shit is correct then?" Basil responded with a laugh, confirming the
stereotype. "Yeah, they're good people, but most of them couldn't hit
an unarmed asshole standing ten feet away." Gina responded again, this
time answering Basil's original request. "Well, I can grant you that
wish, you'll have an ally in the Coastal Federation." Before the
conversation could continue, however, Gina pivoted it yet again. "Well,
I'm glad to have had this meeting, but I must get going now. I have
some diplomatic meetings to attend that will involve some long boat
rides, so I don't have much time to waste."

57: Unlikeliest of Allies

He walked through the door silently, checking corners as he passed.
Everything was quiet, just as he planned, and he was now standing behind
her while she sat at a table oblivious. "Impressive place you got here.
Durable walls, your own crops, a defensible property line, and you're
far enough from the Redcaps that they won't bother you while not being
far enough they won't keep the overt criminals in check." Spiro said,
surprising Lamb, who spun and turned to face him. He watched as her face
turned from surprise to anger, but no fear. No fear was a bad sign;
there should have been at least a second or so when she realized
somebody was present but didn't realize who it was or why they were
there.

"How did you get in here?" Spiro just laughed. "You're seriously
asking someone from the Ministry how they got in?" Lamb rephrased her
reply, growing angrier. "The gall of you Amigosians. What do you
want?"

"I know a couple of things. I know that you were run out of Loquail,
and know why you want to be in the middle of nowhere." Lamb's face
turned to rage, but her hand never went near the knife on her belt,
which meant no violence today. "But there are things I don't know, and
I believe you may be able to find them out." Lamb laughed, but it was a
bitter, mocking laugh. "You and your people are irredeemably arrogant;
in what world would you think breaking into somebody's house and
blackmailing them would get you what you want? Congrats on your
investigation, it just cost you your life."

Spiro laughed mockingly. "Did you just threaten an Amigosian Ministry
of Information agent with that little knife on your belt?" His mind
started racing, however. Her face had gone from angry to calm and she
began to get out of her seat. She had to know that he could gun her down
in a second, but people suddenly getting calm after stating they
intended to do violence was a very, very bad sign. He had already scoped
the place out; there was nobody else and no better weapons within reach,
and he had his revolver and larger stature. But she seemed to think she
had the upper hand here, and the reasons were unknown. Unknowns get mini
boys killed, as his trainer had always said.

Spiro kept his composure and lied. "Alright, let's pretend you've got
a magic wand up your ass. The Elthrice knows I'm here. What do you
think his kind does to people who hurt their friends?" Lamb seemed to
mull something over, which was not a good sign. "What do you want?"
Lamb finally asked, spitting bile with her words. Internal relief washed
over him and he attempted to regain his air of authority. "I need your
help."

"You have a shitty way of asking for help." Spiro shrugged, internally
glad to be re-directing the conversation in the direction he rehearsed.
"Well, you are uniquely positioned to give me a hand. I happen to
suspect some shady stuff is going on in the Amigoso docks, and-" Lamb
cut Spiro off. "You suspect!?" Lamb asked in mocking sarcasm. Spiro
continued, ignoring the comment.

"I need you to pose as a smuggler and reach out to this contact" Spiro
said while handing her a piece of paper. "I've already got a ship
loaned to me from the Redcaps for this, I just need a believable
informant to get this rolling. That guy will pay you real money for your
fake smuggling, and I'll throw in a bonus beyond that, enough to keep
you afloat for a long time." Lamb seemed curious, but hesitant and
still angry. "If you already know who to go after then why not send
your own people after them? The assholes at the ministry can break
anyone, it'd be some karmic justice to see them break one of their
own." Spiro shook his head and, for just a moment, accidentally
telegraphed he was unsure of how to navigate the issue he was facing.

"Somebody is moving weapons, a lot of them, and from the looks of it
they're ministry. I'm already on the ministry's shit list, and if I
go through official channels I'll tip my hand." Lamb smirked. "You
know what, helping a high ranking Amigosian commit treason has piqued my
interest. But don't expect me to lose sleep when you roast in a
ministry crematory." Spiro shook his head, successfully hiding his
internal strife. "No, I'm recruiting you to help me route out
traitors; I'm not betraying Amigoso." Lamb smirked, looking like she
didn't believe a word of what he said. "Alright, and what else is in
it for me?"

"You mean aside from keeping your secret quiet, the money, and me
pulling you off that island?" Lamb responded with incredulity in her
voice. "No, the two Elthrice pulled me off that island, and any
goodwill I had with you was gone the second you broke into my home and
tried to blackmail me. So, again, what else is in it for me?" Spiro
thought momentarily, but with nothing coming to mind, Lamb spoke again.

"Alright, how about an audience with the smaller Elthrice? I would be
stupid to accept any promises from the ministry, but from what I heard,
even your mini boys are terrified of the Elthrice. And, if he really
does know you're here, I want his protection. He might be stupid and
unstable, but he doesn't strike me as somebody who'll stab me in the
back; unlike you."

Spiro was surprised at the request. She could have just traveled to
Arkepello, unless maybe they knew who she was? Or perhaps she just
thought that saying hi to an Elthrice on your own was a bad idea? Oh
well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. "Deal."

58: The Miami Fallout

Basil went from the pressurized room to the condo, condo to elevator,
and elevator to lobby. Walking through, however, he was stopped by
Elliot. "Hey man, now a good time to talk?" Basil shook his head.
"Sorry, not really. Some people made very poor decisions, and now I
need to run to the liquor store before my head explodes." Elliot
responded, curious but oddly enthusiastic. "Whoa, is that some sort of
mob speak?" Basil stopped walking and turned to him. "Not in the
mood." Elliot looked visibly upset with Basil's sudden change in
demeanor.

"Vibe much?" Basil's expression softened a bit. "Sorry, look, things
just keep getting worse and I need something to take the edge off. I
mean very literally what I said." Eliot looked confused. "Bad like
how? Is that why the feds are sniffing around for you?" Basil's
attention quickly shifted to the new topic at hand. "I'm sorry,
what?" Elliot spoke like it was obvious. "Yeah man, they've been
sniffing around, they tried to dangle a pass on a weed charge by getting
me to tell them about you."

"What exactly did they say?" Elliot seemed to think for a moment.
"Not much, they just wanted to know if anybody odd was around, ya'
know? They didn't ask for you by name or anything." Basil immediately
asked another follow up question. "And what did you tell them?" Elliot
smiled. "Relax, man, I didn't tell them anything. And I was straight
to their faces about it, too. No way I'm snitching on Flint."

Basil took a deep breath. Okay, so they somehow found him, right? It
could have been some money laundering investigation; maybe ACE messed
something up? It didn't have to be related to the Elthrice; besides,
there'd be no way they could connect him to here. Unless, shit, could
the phone have pinged a tower in California? The PDA intercepted the
signals, but had ACE not modified it to avoid pinging regular towers?
That wouldn't be an issue in Domum or Antarctica, and a random phone in
Florida wouldn't draw suspicion, but if the same phone pinged a tower
when they were fighting the Elthrice, that was a problem. Shit, well, no
more Vodka today, time to close up shop here.

Elliot looked over Flint's shoulder at a blur by the door as two cops
ran through it. "Flint Isaiah, show us your hands!" As soon as the
commotion started, however, Flint's face changed. He could still see it
clear as day, but it was as if his face had suddenly changed to
something unrecognizable. Elliot instinctively took several steps back
and Flint began to shout. "Elliot, Tasha, and you two, you're gonna
want to get out of here" while gesturing to Tasha and the couple by the
front desk. Even Flint's voice had changed, as if it was being masked,
and Elliot couldn't move. "Flint, don't throw your life away" Elliot
began to say as he felt dread deep in his belly, but Flint seemed to pay
him no attention and stood there with his hands at his sides.

"What BS did they tell you?" Flint asked in what sounded like a
mocking tone. "I said, show me your hands! You're under arrest for the
murder of four federal agents, unless you want to save the taxpayer some
money and move your hands in any direction other than up." One of the
cops screamed. Murder of federal agents? That didn't seem right. Sure,
Flint seemed sketchy sometimes, but he didn't seem like a murderer. Did
he? Flint just laughed, a deep belly laugh that caused Elliot to feel
even more unsettled. "Oh please, the asshole who told you that must
have been glowing brighter than the sun. And let me guess, no warrants
or nothing, just a scary guy who told you to find me and then tell them
where I am WITHOUT engaging?" One of the cops looked like he grew
angrier, but the other one suddenly had a look of concern on his face.
The angry one began to say "I told you," but Flint spoke over him with
"Here's what's going to happen"

Neither finished their sentences.

Elliot watched as a blur of motion came through the front and back
entrances of the lobby. At first he thought they were SWAT as they were
all dressed in black, but something was off. Before he could tell what,
however, they opened fire. Why were they opening fire? Flint didn't
have a weapon. What was going on?

Elliot dove under the table. He tried to move more but was unable to,
fear and adrenaline rushing through him as the bodies of the two cops
fell, dark red blood contrasting the clean white carpets. His ears
screamed out in agony as the pop of a handgun contrasted with a barrage
of methodic automatic gunfire. Despite the unending fire, however, the
paratrooper boots stood firm in the center of the room. Some of the
people dressed in all black fell to the ground, and a shout rang out
that chilled his bones, as if a thousand people yelled angrily at once.
He covered his ears, but the otherworldly sounds still rang out.

Feet approached the pair of paratrooper boots, but all fell. Even
through his balaclava, the first looked like his head was severely
deformed. The second was still alive and landed directly in front of
Elliot. They made frantic eye contact, and he could see the closer one
was missing most of his arm. All that remained was a hemorrhaging stub
and torn flesh draining blood onto the carpet and under the table, as if
the arm and weapon had been ripped off in one quick motion. A stream of
shell casings was now dropping near the paratrooper boots, but as
quickly as the life drained from the man's eyes, the battle died out,
and the room fell empty of all but two souls. Only the paratrooper boots
remained, standing eerily on the now stained carpets. Elliot realized
his mouth was open but couldn't tell if he was screaming due to the
ringing in his ears.

Basil ran up the stairs and into his condo, pushing past the gawkers who
had left theirs to foolishly investigate the gunfight. He quickly
entered his door and locked it behind him, filling his hands with
anything he thought would be worth grabbing. Stepping through the now
open wormhole he tossed everything on the ground before stepping back
through and grabbing the wormhole device. The maintenance drones, busy
cleaning the and planting false DNA, rushed through behind him.

The wormhole closed, and Miami was gone forever.

59: The Beginning of the End

"Basil" Spiro said, surprising Basil who bumped into the mess of
gunship parts. As Basil finally exited the maze that enveloped the
hanger, he noticed Spiro looked slightly surprised or uneasy. Odd.
Perhaps Spiro was just surprised by his change of appearance, his beard
shaved off and his hair tied behind his head. "What's going on?"

"I just got back from speaking with Cicero and the Redcap Queen, they
captured a criminal who claimed there was going to be a major attack on
their capitol soon. They wanted us to join them to ensure everything
went smooth while they rounded up the would-be attackers."

Something felt off, although Basil couldn't tell if it was the abyss
reaching out or just intuition. "Why us? Don't they, you know, have an
army?" Spiro shook his head. "Apparently Brayden found a traitor in
their mix. They've gathered their most trustworthy people to staff the
capital, but there's a very short list of people who they're entirely
certain aren't a part of the conspiracy. Apparently, we're on that
list."

It was definitely the abyss, muted as it was. There was something more
to this, apparently enough to make the abyss think he was in danger, and
it seemed to be directed at Spiro. Spiro wouldn't actually betray him
again, right? He'd risked his own execution by confessing to his
meddling, the Amigosian weapons were crucial in the fight against the
Elthrice, and Spiro was probably the only reason they both walked out of
California alive. Could the abyss be wrong? Unless...

"What are you not telling me?" Basil asked, and Spiro looked
surprised. "What are you talking about?" Basil barked an order, a
short and unexpectedly cold "Don't lie to me." Spiro suddenly looked
concerned, hesitating a moment before replying. "Look, the Redcap Queen
threatened me while I was there. They're all under a lot of stress, and
I think it bruised her ego to ask us for help. Cicero had me promise not
to tell you." Basil's face un-contorted.

Spiro looked less concerned, instead taking on a look of annoyance.
"What the fuck was that?" Basil shrugged and Spiro repeated his
question. "No, seriously, what the fuck was that. It felt like you were
staring into my soul." Basil began to feel guilty. "Whatever (thing
that controls the relics) did to me when it rebuilt my brain, I don't
think it ever truly left. It seemed to pick up on the fact that you left
that part out, considering you a danger 'till you told me, but I don't
know how or why." Basil paused a minute, before adding "Sorry." Spiro
responded with a concerned look.

Basil made his way into the Redcap's throne room, a vast and ornately
decorated place seemingly designed to give a petitioner a feeling of awe
and insignificance. Of course, however, its designers didn't have the
foresight to consider an owner of an Elthrice gunship. Basil began
feeling some irony in that he was called to protect those who used such
intimidation, their sluggish recovery weakening them to their enemies,
which certainly wasn't helped by putting resources into such
showmanship. "Morning" Basil yelled as he got within earshot,
receiving unwelcoming glares in response to the seemingly improper
greeting.

As Basil approached he noticed the Redcap Queen looked like the head of
a state, authoritative and powerful, nothing like the scared girl he
pulled out of a burning craft nearly two years ago. Perhaps the
designers of this place did a good job after all, not to mention his
gunship was still in multiple pieces on another planet as the weapon
systems were being installed. She still held a mild look of displeasure
on her face - although whether that was from the informal greeting, the
indignity of requesting help from an outsider, or the one time he
threatened her with explosive drones - he couldn't tell.

Molly, the captain of the royal guard, broke the silence permeating the
hall. "As you are likely aware, we have requested your assistance in
protecting the keep and her majesty. This is an abnormal request, but
highly important, and our demonstration of trust in you should be
considered a great honor." Basil bit his tongue, fighting the urge to
comment on the absurdity wording a request for help as if they were
doing him a favor. Instead, he nodded. "Your help against the (old
order) Elthrice is the only reason we're all alive today. I've fought
and blood alongside you all, and would consider many in this room to be
close friends. I'll gladly help out any way I can."

In a moment, the tension of before left the room. Basil, however, took a
deep breath and continued. "Though, before we do anything else, beware,
I take threats very seriously. You threatened Spiro this morning; I'll
let it slide, one egotistical asshole to another, given we've all had
some hard days lately. But do not threaten me or Spiro again." Tension
returned to the room, and silence fell upon the hall yet again. Molly
eventually broke the silence, anger deep in her voice. "Excuse me, what
did you say? Guards-" The Redcap Queen cut Molly off. "It's okay. We
have all had rough days, and I did not mean to be so harsh to Spiro."

Molly still looked angry, but remained silent; the Redcap Queen looking
ambivalent and Cicero looking a mix of relieved and pleased. Basil
nodded again. "Alright then, I'll go raid my armory and be back in an
hour or so." When the room remained silent Basil began leaving, Cicero
and Casio following him out. "For the record, I had to beat it out of
Spiro, he didn't originally tell me that threats were made when he
passed along your request" Basil told Cicero as soon as they were out
of earshot of everyone else. A few steps later he followed it with "To
clarify, it's just an expression, no beating took place," unsure if
they were familiar with the expression. Cicero, however, remained near
expressionless - mind seeming elsewhere.