"There's the shop right there. Come on."
He had led them through multiple alleyways and corridors, the smog filled industrial district being a maze of buildings and machinery. The air was hard to breathe at times and the crowds they moved through seemed nearly lifeless. The industrial district had changed quite a bit since either Sebastian or Brooklyn were here last, but it was still an excellent place for one to disappear, whether for better or for worse. They passed through the military district, getting a peek at the gigantic Mobilized Infantry Vehicles and their pilots. What Sebastian would do just to have one of those at his command...

They made their way out of the military district and found their way into the financial district, sticking to the shadows. They split up multiple times to make sure that they weren't followed, and they made their way into a back alleyway and to a shop, out of the way of the normal crowd. Sebastian knocked on the door softly at first, then gave two loud knocks and a last soft one. A sliding door on the top of the door opened to reveal a set of dark yellow eyes. The door closed again and the door opened to reveal a Turian He brought them inside and locked the door behind them. His home was modest, comfy red chairs around a fire for guests. Oak walls, aquariams here and there. It was well lit by the fire, casting a dark orange glow over all of them. "Brooklyn, Anna, and Gabe. This is my friend Killian Arkai'ick." Killian threw out his arms and embraced Sebastian, lifting him up off the ground for a moment. "He...is a very loving Turian." Killian's voice was typical for a Turian, low and with a flange in his voice, distorting it slightly. "Buona sera, signore nero. Come sei stato?" He let go of Sebastian so the man could breathe and respond. "I've been better to be honest, Killian. This is Brooklyn, the girl I emailed you about, Anna, and Gabe." He approached Anna first, shaking her hand gently, nearly breaking Gabe's when he shook his, and pressed the back of Brooklyn's hand to his hardy lips. "Hahaha ... Quindi questo è il Brooklyn che ho sentito parlare. Veramente la sua bellezza è ben oltre l'immagine in allegato alla tua email."He placed his other hand on top of hers and formed what seemed to be a smile, his mandables moving slightly. Brooklyn put a hand over her smile and blushed. This was the second time in as many days that she had been greeted in such a manner and she could definitely get used to it. She knew there had to be gentlemen still left in the world. "It's good to meet you." she giggled, "You're too kind." Anna spoke then, curious about the Turian in front of her. "Are you from off planet, Killian? I do not believe I have seen your kind before." "Sì, in effetti sono, da Palaven. Ho migrato qui dopo aver visto Aurora sul HoloNet."

"Did you take the name Killian to fit in with the humans?" "No. Il nome di mio padre e il nome del padre di mio padre era Killian." "hmm." He walked over to a nearby door and opened a concealed wall panel with a keypad. He punched in several numbers and after a few moments, a metal door revealed via the wood sliding into the ceiling. The metal door opened quickly after and he lead the group downstairs. Once they were downstairs, lights flicked up to reveal a workshop with terminals all over the place. They flicked on as they walked through the substantial room, tables laden with various projects of all types. They came up to a small table with two terminals on it and several wristbands not unlike the one Sebastian had on his wrist. "Quindi, consente di ottenere la bella Brooklyn qui impostato con un Digi-volta, va bene?"

He took Mrs. Duchene's hand and lookced over her wrist, being as gentle as he could. He grabbed one of the wristbands, having her hold her wrist in just the place that he left it, and he looked to her. "La signora Duchene. Mi scuso, ma questo sta andando male." She looked towards Sebastian, whom just nodded in agreement. She sighed and nodded as well. The Turian was quick, placing the wristband on her wrist. It clamped down and a small spike jut into the top of her wrist. She screamed in pain as it entered her bone and extracted bone marrow. She would have fallen to the ground provided Killian didn't catch her and keep her upright. The pain subsided after several minutes and Killian took off the wristband, using a washcloth to soak up the blood and bandaged it afterward. "Il Vault configurerà per il tuo DNA nei prossimi paio d'ore. Mi scuso che ci vuole tanto tempo, ma è il più veloce e più sicuro modo per ottenere uno."

They went back out of the hideout and back to the living room. Killian clasped his hands together, what seemed like a smile forming again. "Ti prego, ti preghiamo di fare a casa, mentre il Digi-vault configura al DNA della signora Duchene e si prepara per lei. Inoltre, non ti preoccupare, Sir nero. Recentemente ho brevettato gli algoritmi di crittografia che mi hai dato il mese scorso e aggiornato, così non c'è bisogno di sprecare più del vostro tipo sulla connessione. C'è qualcos'altro che avete bisogno, vecchio amico?" "There is one thing, Killian. I am looking for this..." He handed him the map and pointed out the Red Star on it. "It's a very important gem that we're looking for. Rumor is that it's in the undercity." "Non sono sicuro. Ho sicuramente visto che la Stella Rossa prima. Credo che sia uno di un membro di mafia, ma non sono sicuro. Io scoprire e raccontare delle mie scoperte, quando finisce il Digi-deposito."

He bowed to them, kissing Brooklyn's hand once more and retreated to a higher room. Sebastian leaned over to Brooklyn, smiling. "Told you he was a good man."

It was then that they split up for a while, Anna and Gabe leaving for a bit to explore the financial district while Sebastian and Brooklyn stayed in Killian's home. Nearly two hours later, Brooklyn hadn't seen Sebastian in a while. She went looking for him. Turning a corner, she gasped and placed a hand over her mouth as she saw Sebastian. He was standing in the middle of the room, what seemed to be his face held above his. He looked towards her and dropped his face. He sprinted towards her, gun at the ready. He impacted against her, slaming his forearm against her neck. He pushed her back to the wall and against it, lifting her up and placing his pistol against her temple. She got a good look at her face and was horrified. Scars and wounds marred it, his entire left cheek and lower lip was gone was gone, revealing the teeth inside of his kouth. His left eye was dark gray, as if it's blinded and there was a deep sword scar running over it. Most jarring of all was the brand that was on his face, that of a cross. The burn was old and never healed. She started to cough as the life was slowly squeezed out of her. He let her down and replaced his forearm with his hand and still held her against the wall. He locked eyes with her, glaring, but his grip loosed slightly. He stared at her silent face for a good few moments before his hold finally released and his gun was taken off of her head....

______________________________

Thirty-five years ago...
He had been on the run for years, ousted by his own people, the Illuminavit. Chased into the Tenau lands only to be hunted by the relentless Templars. Most of his friends were long dead, killed by either the IVT or the Templars. He was the last of his kind, the last of the Prosthetic people.

This was it, this was where he would die...in the small sea-faring town of Trenarch. He stumbled down the dock, arrows flying by. He had dozens in his back and he was bleeding badly. He slipped into an alleyway and fell to the ground. He was starting to feel himself slip from reality. The world started to become hazy...he felt a hand on his shoulder as his face lay in the dirt. ",,,me on you lit'le bas...you don't deser..." He could barely hear the woman, but through his quickly numbing body, he could feel himself being dragged somewhere. He lost consciousness then.

Two days later, he awoke in a home, lit by a small fire. The furniture was poor and could barely hold a turkey. He sat up in the bed, half naked. A bandage ran around his hip and covered his wounds. He jerked and tried to reach for his pistol, but found nothing, as a woman entered. "Oh! You're finally awake! Took ya long enough." She had curly light orange hair and freckles all over her face. She was skinny, wearing a dark green outfit. Her face was rounded with dark blue eyes. Clean of imperfecitons. Her lips were thin, and her hair reached down to the middle of her back. She stepped toward her him, a smile on her face, and lowered a bowl. "I was going to wash the grime off your face, but I guess you can get it now." Her accent was definitely old, highland maybe. Either way, it was soothing. A friendly face for the first time in two years. "Why did you...who are you?" "My name is Mary Bigsly. A pleasure, Sebastian." "How did you..." "We all know who you are, the news channel keeps ev'body informed. Unlike the masses though, I did my research. I know perf'ly well what you do, which is why I'm 'elping you." She smiled and handed him a washcloth. He tried to sit up, but the pain was intense. He fought through it and sat against the couch. Soon after, a little girl came into the room, the same curly orange hair as her mother. Wearing a light yellow dress. She approached slowly, fear on her face. " He's awake, mama...is...is he dangerous?" "Course not child, don't be rude. Sebastian, this is my daughter, Alice."

This woman, Mary, was a kind woman, providing a place for Sebastian to recover. She did not approve of the injustices against the Prosthetic people and tried to help them where she could, but she knew the same truth as Sebastian, he was the last. Over the next few months, she shared house, home, food, and bed with him as he worked to repay her, remaining hidden from the constant Templar checks. It was just them in the house, Mary, Sebastian, and Alice. Mary's husband had abandoned them before Alice was born and she raised her on her own, an amazing thing to do in Sebastian's eyes. They shared many happy months together, but as it happens with Sebastian hundreds of times before, his luck would run out. He slipped up somewhere along the line.

______

"Morning, Mary. Alice still asleep?" "Yeah." He approached her, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her into a hug. "Oooh...forward today, aren't we? What's the occasion?" "Just happy to see you." He kissed her neck and she put an elbow into his rib. "Back away you, I can't have you taking me on the stove while the food is cooking. I'll give you dessert in a little bit, you little devil." "Feisty." He sat down at the table and pulled up a plate, smiling. He relaxed for a moment then stopped, his body becoming tense. He looked around for a moment, furrowing his eyebrow. His toe had gone numb. It was the one part of his body that was fully electronic, simulating a normal toe at all times. He had it there to detect EMP...and it he couldn't feel it. "Mary...get Alice...now." She turned, worry on her face. "What do ya mean?" "I said now. Get out of-" A scream from Alice's room would make him stand with haste, but just as he did the door was kicked in and armored Templar Knights rushed into the room. They split up, two gunning straight for Sebastian and one going for Mary. He went to defend her, but the rapier of a female templar ran up his face, blinding him in a fury of blood and rage. Before he knew it, he was on the floor, gigantic Templars holding him down. Alice was brought into the room and were held down next to the table in full sight of Sebastian. The female templar that had torn his face asunder stood above him. Her face was wrinkled and scarred, her hair Argent and Ivory. She knelt down and looked over Sebastian, a sickening smile ripping across her face. She reached to her back and found her knife. "I am going to make sure you become a testament to the power of the Tenau, Sinner."

She dug the knife into Sebastian's cheek. He screamed with pain as she dug out the c" heek and ripped it off with her hand, laughing. "Fetch me the mark!" A templar approached her, a large brand with the cross of the templars on it. "Hold his face steady. I want the citizens to know what has been terrorizing them." She held the brand over his face until the templars held it just perfect. She pushed it down onto his face. He screamed and tried to struggle, but he wasn't able to move at all. After several minutes of continuous branding, she released the iron from his face, satisfied that the cross of the templars had been branded into his face well enough. She looked over to Mary and Alice, tears running down their faces. She nodded and the templars that were holding them there used their swords to rip out their intestines, making them die slowly.

"Now to put you out of your misery." She drew her rapier and rose it high, about to impale Sebastian and end his life. But just before she executed him, a little robot crashed through the window, bullets and fire following. She sprayed bullets all over, killing the templars holding Sebastian hostage and injuring the Ivory Haired woman. A steady stream of Napalm quickly followed the bullets as Sebastian stood and ran to Mary and Alice's aid, but it was too late for them. They were gone. His body was rooted in place for a moment, a hand on Mary's face. She had a necklace in hand, a ring made of silver. He took it, kissing her on the forehead, before running out of the house as it was set aflame, jumping into the river that had made it's way through the town and sneaking out.

__________________________

The two were now sitting in the living room, Killian behind them and listening. Sebastian still had his face off and in his hand. "The ivory haired woman was Annabelle's mother. Thanks to DT's EMP shielding, I survived that day but...as you can guess, I don't have much love for any Tenau. Killian spoke up, worry in his voice. "Perché hai mai riparare il vostro viso?" "The replacement is the same as my old face, same skin, same nerve endings...there is no differentiating it as it melds to my own...I could have repaired the original but...I guess we have something we fight for." He reached into his shirt and found the ring necklace. He cradled it in his fingers. There were words on the inside saying "To my beloved Mary." He placed the face back onto his hand and it melded with the original, returning the color to his eye and hiding the wounds. "If either of you tell anybody about my face, I'll make sure you die slowly."

Translations in order of how they appear in the post
Good evening, Sir Black. How have you been?
Hahaha...So this is the Brooklyn that I have heard of. Truly her beauty is far beyond the image you attached to your email.
Yes indeed I am, from Palaven. I migrated here after seeing Aurora on the holonet.
No. My father's name and my father's father's name was Killian.
So, lets get the lovely Brooklyn here set up with a Digi-vault, shall we?
Mrs. Duchene. I apologize, but this is going to hurt.
The Vault will configure to your DNA over the next couple hours. I apologize that it takes so long, but it's the fastest, and safest, way to get one.
I implore you, please make yourself at home while the Digi-vault configures to Mrs. Duchene's DNA and prepares for her. Also, do not worry, Sir Black. I recently patented the encryption algorithms that you gave me last month and upgraded them, so no need to waste any more of your type on the connection. Is there anything else that you need, old friend?
I am not sure. I have definitely seen that Red Star before. I believe it is one of a mafia member, but I am unsure. I shall find out and tell you of my findings when the Digi-vault finishes.

Why did you never repair your face?

She curled up tightly in a chair in the corner to listen carefully to his story. If the words left any impact at all it didn't show much on her face. Sebastian's threats of a terrible death were only met with her cold emotionless stare. She had said anything nor made any noise whatsoever since walking in on him. Brooklyn turned her gaze away from him slowly and examined the shiny new band freshly clamped around her wrist. There was no excitement around the device. Though she had thought there should be, at the moment it was reduced to a tool. While Killian and Sebastian spoke among themselves about what the alien had discovered about their mission she fiddled with the device and figured out it's intricacies rather quickly. Before long she had registered her ammunition and pistol. The other available slots she would save for when things more useful or devastating came along. Tools, medical items, explosives maybe. She would figure it out when it came to her.

Disturbing images of death and torture made their rounds through her mind over and over and over and over. She thought of the templars and of the screaming child, the gore, the sadness. For a moment she wondered if she would ever get to know what burning flesh smelled like as the sight of his face made it's way through again. She wondered how people found it so easy to bring such horror down on each other. Brooklyn frowned. She had picked out a gun and bullets based on the fact that they could turn a human body into chunks with a few well placed shots. She helped develop things that could bake a man's insides. Again the vivid mental illustrations she had given the story came back around from beginning to finish. Each time the disturbance she felt faded away.

People like her helped people like that. All her conviction that this journey was a streak of terrible luck, that she did not deserve it and that she was innocent crumbled away. Her innocence had been wiped away the moment she cast her lot in with the warmongers. If she died slowly it would be deserved. She belonged here with the monsters and murderers... Templars, soldiers, mercenaries... They all belonged here. Her throat clenched and she swallowed hard trying to shove the feeling away. She tried to breathe and stay calm. She didn't want anybody to see her anymore. Pathetic, disgusting, vile... were the only kinds of words she could think of. A tear escaped her eyes and she immediately wiped it away in anger then stood up.

"Killian," she tried to speak clearly and confidently though her voice was hoarse and cracked, "Thank you for everything, really. It's more than I could have possibly asked for. Sebastian, we should get going. We have work to do." With that she bowed slightly toward their host and walked out the door.

Several blocks away from the shop Brooklyn looked up at Sebastian's face for the first time since before leaving. She glared at the facade as it may have well been invisible now. There was no seeing it anymore.

"I like your real face better," she said quietly, "The mask doesn't suit you."

Just before the two left, Killian had assured them that the Diginet vault was set up for Brooklyn and gave them what he could find on the star. They had walked a few blocks, planning to head back up to the upper level to that bar for the night. Going down to the undercity, which is what Sebastian fully planned to do, while tired would do nothing for them except get them into an early grave. As they were approaching the elevator, Brooklyn stopped him and mentioned his face. "Eh, to be honest, I agree. It's more natural...so to speak, but while I would love to take this mask off, I can't...Put yourself into the place of a Negotiator. Provided you didn't know who they were or their intentions, if somebody came up to you, half of his face gone and the half that remained looking like it got put into the turbines of a class 4 destroyer, and said that you had to help him to save the world, what would you do?" "I never said you shouldn't wear it. Keeping up appearances is important. I only said it doesn't suit you," she sighed and didn't look at him. "To be fair, skin tight clothing doesn't suit you either." "And yet here we are. You with that face and me with this shirt," the corner of her mouth tipped up ever so slightly. "If there were fashion police, we'd be arrested." "If there were fashion police I'd probably care more." "Who says that Gabe isn't fashion police? Have you seen that ponytail? One word. "Fabulous." " As they stood and discussed, Gabe and Anna joined them, having finally tracked them down after being told where to go by Killian. Brooklyn snorted and then blushed when they ran into the others hoping to all the forces in the universe they hadn't heard that. Gabe simply raised an eyebrow and folded his arms as he strode toward the pair of them with Annabelle. "Hey Gabe. Brooklyn says your Ponytail is "Fabulous." And she did so with a lot of flambuoyancy" "Jealousy," he said in a gruff tone, "Did you find out anything about the gem?" "We have some locations to look, unfortunately, all in the undercity. We'll head down in the morning." "Why are we waiting?" he grumbled, "The sooner we leave this damned place the better." "Do you want to face the worst that the world has to offer while tired? One bite and I'll put a bullet in your head to save you the excruciating pain." "Hmph, don't worry I'll extend the same courtesy to you. Fine. We'll rest. Will the lizard be coming with us in the morning?"

"Yep. What the hell crawled up your ass today? Did Anna try to assault you?" "Sebastian," Brooklyn chided him and smacked his arm lightly. Gabe looked at his employer with a gaze that seemed to ask if she would stand for this. She didn't say anything, just stared ahead. Something was eating at her and Sebastian's comment didn't phase her. The mercenary breathed deeply and squared his shoulders. Questions pulled at him but he had learned in these situations questions could be more than unwelcome and dangerous to boot. "I don't trust easily, prosthetic," he said clearly and then focused on the road ahead once more. "I have a name, Human. I'd prefer you used it instead of using designations." "Fine, Sebastian," he shrugged.

Heading into the elevator, they went back up to the surface and made their way to the docking bay again. Sebastian split up from the group for a moment to check on the dragons, only to find them sleeping off a long day of flying. He went back to join the others in the Darkwater Lounge. The lounge was a peaceful place, popular in the city for it's unique styling and decor, aquariams decorated the oak walls, illuminating the entire lounge in a dark blue glow, just bright enough to walk without tripping every three seconds. Lounge chairs and tables decorated the room, several of which were modern corner couches. Across the room from the entrance was the WELL stocked bar with a wall full of exotic drinks of all types. Shalizar sat at the bar, talking to the black haired, green eyed, skinny girl with a thin, but beautiful face. There weren't that many customers that evening so she could relax and speak to an old friend. The group approached the bar, Sebastian coming by Shalizar to let him know what was happening while Brooklyn spoke to the bartender about getting some rooms. Unfortunately only two were available and they had to share. Due to the discussion earlier, it was obvious who would be sharing a room with who.

A real bed. No sleeping in chains or on the ground like she had done the past several days. A mattress, sheets, covers and in a heated room no less. She didn't even care about having to share it. Almost immediately Brooklyn's fatigue from the tumultuous day hit her like a ton of bricks and she sank into the bed. She kicked off her boots, set her gun on the bedside table and tossed a terse, "Don't look," at Sebastian. Then she quickly stripped to her underwear, slipped between the blankets and pulled them up to her chin. This must be what heaven feels like, she thought. Her eyelids grew heavy and she was soon drifting into a deep sleep.

---

The rooms at the lodge were small yet comfortable. He didn't relish the thought of being in such a closed in space (and being in the crush of such a massive city didn't help much) but in this case it meant less space to keep an eye on. Gabe entered the room after Annabelle and shut the door gently.

"Something you need to talk about?" he asked.

"No." She didn't make eye contact with him and kept her eyes turned downward.

He ground his teeth together and folded his arms before leaning against the wall, "Sure acting like it."

"I hired you to protect me and kill enemies. Not to ask questions about my past or my mother. Leave now before I cancel our contract."

She went to the dresser, pulling it open and placing a few things inside, including weapons and extra clothing.

"Didn't say nothin' about your past or your mother, Lady," he paused for a moment and watched her closely, "I only ask questions because I'm not fond of the client surprizing me. Personal stuff stays personal if that's how you want it."

"And that is how I want it."

"Alright. You best be putting that behind you though. Livin' too much in the past never solved nothin' and it'll keep you from thinkin' straight. Not much I can do for clients who don't think straight. Focus on what we need to do now."

"I have been focusing on what we must do now." She turned to him, her eyes defiant. "I am allowed to remember the past when it comes up, Gabriel. I do not need you to worry about me."

He didn't flinch at her retaliation, "Ain't that why you hired me? And it seems to me the past comes up an awful lot while a certain IVT is around. How much longer you gonna let it get to you?"

"It's not getting to me, and you need to stop asking questions. Now leave."

"Of course it's not," he sighed, "Whatever you want. If you've got somethin' to say you know where to find me." He opened the door, stepped outside and closed it behind him. Instead of heading back to the bar he opted to stand sentinel outside the room albeit leaned against the door frame with his eyes closed.

Rousing Mrs. Duchene from her sleep was a task in itself. The woman did enjoy her comfort, but they had work to do. "Come along, Brooklyn. Can't sleep the day away now can we?" He checked the diginet with his wrist band and found that Killian had sent him a message about the star. He had narrowed the search for it down to two people. One of which was in the safe zone in the undercity while the other was a more than deadly mob boss. He suggested the woman in the safe zone first. He warned to be careful of her as she was more than a little manic. As for the mob boss, he was first and only mob boss that had a full and active compound in the undercity, Galen Hek. "He ought to be fun." Sebastian thought as he read through the message. Brooklyn finally stirred herself and stood up, the only thing covering her naked form was her underwear. "Hey there. Seems that somebody is...alert this morning." She didn't catch the joke as she grabbed her clothing and put them on. Sebastian didn't bother looking. "Killian narrowed down the places we'll get to traverse in the undercity. Our trip will be a LOT shorter now." She grunted an affirmation and continued getting her clothing on.

They left the Lounge not soon after, venturing back down into the industrial level and navigating their way through the corridors, into the heart of the military district. they avoided the eye of the police and military as they found their way to a military elevator. They approached it as a group but were stopped by armed guards in armor not unlike the armor of the border guards on the top level. They recognized Sebastian and wanted to arrest him on the spot, but another guard recognized Brooklyn and stopped the arrest. He mentioned that she was Weapon Master Duchene and came into his district often. When questioned about why she had a known criminal with him she said it was private matter, top secret. Accepted that wholeheartedly, they let them pass. They stepped beyond the large gates of the elevator and sat down in the seats that lined the wall for a long ride.

"So...why exactly didn't they arrest us?" Sebastian asked. "You were arrested, all of your assets should have been seized and any claim to authority should have been rescinded..." His chin was starting to grow raw from the rubbing as he pondered why this would happen. "Perhaps, Sebastian, it was a higher power looking out for us." "Oh don't give me that maker mumbo-jumbo-gobeldegook...."
Chapter 2: With sword, blackened and evil.

"Alright, few things about the undercity." He stood up, nearly losing his balance at first due to the moving elevator. He accessed his Digivault and an icon representing armor. "In case you've forgotten, there are ghouls down there. One bite and you'll start to become one. If you get bit, I'll put a bullet in your brain, no ifs ands or buts. If you want to do me the favor and off yourself first, be my guest." "Isn't there an antidote to the ghoul's malady?" "No. Nobody cares to make one. If they did, they'd give the Mobsters down here an edge. The hundred or so people down here that have been bankrupt so many times that they can't own a cardboard box on the higher levels are so insignificant on the radar of the upper levels that creating a cure would end up costing them more money than they could ever possibly make or extort from mobsters. In the end, they hope that the ghouls will wipe out everything in the undercity and they'll be able to send in a team to piss hot led and napalm all over the place and rebuild it from the ground up. Some of the soldiers that are sent down here carry a detox agent that can eradicate the virus before it takes effect, but it's built into their armors, and mine, and is useless if used after the virus starts taking effect."

He clicked the armor that was highlighted in his Vault and let his arms fall, waiting for a moment before the same dark blue light as usual overcame his feet, rapidly moving up his body, leaving behind the hardened technological shell that was his armor. Once it finished his helmet was in his left arm and an assault rifle was in his right. He moved the rifle to his back and it secured itself magnetically. He turned to the others and summoned small ear radios. "Here, in case we get separated." "I thought you used the bow?" "No room for finesse here, Anna. Kill first, ask questions later." "Fair enough...what about us?" "In the locker over there." He gestured towards a metal locker on the far side. "Some supplementary armor for arms and legs, I think some chest armor as well. No detox-agents and it's more for authority and looks than anything, but it's better than nothing. Oh, and everybody grab a gas mask. Air is poisonous in plenty of areas." As he finished, he put on his helmet and lights on his suit came online.

Anna got up and grabbed the armor, equipping herself as best as she could with thigh, shoulder, and chest armor, and grabbing gas masks for everybody. Shalizar refused it, saying that his armor has one built in. There was a shaking and a loud banging as they finished and the door opened to the undercity.

They stepped out and into the main camp where the down trodden and poor that Sebastian had mentioned earlier stayed. Guarded by simple walls with auto-turrets, they were barely scraping by. Most wore old clothing, passed down from grandmothers and grandfathers. The colors long faded. Many were starving from the poor conditions, they reached out their hands and begged as the group walked by. Anna stopped to give food where she could, but when she looked back, the one she gave it to was turned into a heap of bruises and blood on the ground as others took the food for themselves. She almost felt like crying right there. "Don't feel sorry for these people." Sebastian's voice played in her ear. "Many are Tenau racists. They blame them for their misfortune, they'll blame anything that is challenging the IVT. The second they knew what you were, they'd cannibalize you and Gabe in a heartbeat." Her heart sank as he spoke, nodding quietly to herself. The group made their way across the camp and to a small tent on the far side of the camp, near a corner of the wall, hidden underneath an old abandoned overpass. "This was the place that Killian mentioned." They approached the tent, slowly. Sebastian had his hand on his pistol, a gut feeling making him wary of this place.

It turns out it was for good reason since as soon as they drew close, the skinny, malnourished body of an old woman ran out of the darkened tent and sprinted at them. Sebastian tried to pull his pistol, but he couldn't budge it. He looked over and saw that the others couldn't draw their weapons either. He went to defend himself, but he couldn't move his legs. He was forced to stand there as this crazy old woman sprinted at him, but stopped in front of him. She was twitchy, looking him over and muttering something. She had long, dirty, dark gray hair that reached down to her chest, wearing blackish-brown clothing and nothing on her feet, malnourished and obviously magical. He couldn't pick out what she was muttering until she spoke outright, going nearly to fast to comprehend. "YOU! Youaretheones! Theonesihavebeenwaitingfor! Heroes! Lookingfortheredstaroftheredknightyouare! Iknowit! Isawit! Isawyou! Yourfaces! Exceptforyou!" She pointed towards Shalizar with her boney finger. "Iveneverseenyoulizardman! Youhavecometogetmystarback...yourstarbackfromGalenandstoptheetherealkn-kn-kn-kn-kn-kn..." She started to spasm out and twitch then before falling backwards and hitting the ground hard. The magic that held them captive was dispelled and Sebastian went to help the crazy woman, but she sprung up and laughed. "haha! Thoughtidieddidn'tyou?! Nopenopenope! GogetthestarfromGalennow! OnlythreemoreweeksthentheEtherealKnightshallcometoplayandallshallbekilledthatday!" Before they could react, She had snatched the pistol from it's holster and placed it in her mouth, pulling the trigger and ending her life.

Sebastian threw his arms out, gesturing towards her. "OKAY. WHAT. WAS THAT?!" He looked back towards whom just put up her hands a bit. "Do not look at me! I know about as much as you do!"

Weapons Master? The title ran through her head several times after their encounter with the guards. She had played along as she had seen Sebastian do with the dragons upon entering the city. It proved to be a wise choice, but she was disturbed. He was right. There was no doubt about it all her assets were probably taken from her home and her colleagues were bound to notice she was gone by now. Perhaps word of her arrest had simply not reached Aurora yet? It wasn't as if every arrest in IVT territory was broadcast for all to see and even if that were so it wasn't as if anybody would sit down and memorize them all. She didn't even know the reason for her own arrest. Though that part made sense the title did not. Before she was arrested she was indeed up for promotion. However, it was some time off from being official and it wasn't exactly common knowledge. How the hell did the authorities in a different city know about it before it had even happened?

"This isn't right..." she had mumbled while Sebastian and Anna argued over the situation.

---

Brooklyn nearly jumped out of her skin when the woman suddenly shot herself but she did not scream and she did not panic. Sebastian was yelling but she was quickly processing through what the woman had said before dying, the way she spoke, the way she acted. She said she had seen them? Brooklyn didn't know much about magic except for how to counter it offensively but from what she could gather it was almost as if...

"It's almost as if she was..." her brow furrowed.

"Touched," Gabe finished her sentence quietly, "By demons, I'd say," He looked at the girl briefly, "Or the filth in this place."

Brooklyn shifted uncomfortably, "We should keep moving and figure out how to deal with this Galen person. I don't want to be down here any longer than we have to be." Down here she felt like a target had been painted on her and the armor she wore may as well have been made of paper-mache for all the security it provided her.

"Agreed" Anna said, the bewilderment in her voice. "It seems that the fade was acting through her. Combined with the fact that the guards knew who Brooklyn was and this woman obviously saw us somehow, maybe in a dream, I would say that the Fade has a strong presence with us for some reason."

Sebastian sighed and groaned at the same time, the thought of the fade annoying him. Astral planes and shit. Demons, crazy people. He didn't need to deal with this crap.

Gabe stayed behind Anna as they pressed on, "We just gonna walk through his front door then? Ain't no way the four of us could take on a whole compound."

"I'm not sure what Sebastian has planned. To be honest, I think he's more worried about the ghouls than Galen."

He scratched his scalp, "Not sure those priorities are straight. Monsters are one thing. People are a whole other can o' worms."

"To us, I can agree. But to him...somebody who has dealt with people for a hundred years or so...people may just be a nuisense."

"Hm... suppose when you put it that way..."

Brooklyn listened to the Tenau talking among themselves for a moment before another noise caught her attention. A light scraping of sorts. She looked around. From what she could tell it was coming from a scrap heap that had piled up at the base of an abandoned building that was all but falling apart. Her hand slipped around the grip of her gun. Her heart nearly stopped when a rusted coolant tank came toppling down from its perch. Immediately her gun was out, in shaking hands but aimed at the area.

Sebastian put his hand over her gun and lowered it. A small dog came out of the pile, scruffy and old. Seeing the group, it bolted away. "Try to steady yourself. I'll know what's coming before any of you. HUD enabled tracking device helmets are amazing like that."

"Not that I don't have faith in you," she took a deep breath as she holstered the pistol again, "But I'm not sure ignoring surprises in place like this is a good idea. If something jumps out at me I won't be waiting for your permission to pull the trigger."

"And I'm not going to stop you, but at the second, causing unneeded noises will attract a horde."

"Right," she mumbled, "These ghouls, what's the best way to kill them? ... Or avoid them?"

"If they attack, blow their heads off or take out the legs. Avoiding lies in staying quiet and out of sight. They have the hearing of a moose, one wrong step and they'll know exactly where you are. Most are loners, but there are definitely plenty of packs around."

"I didn't know moose had remarkable hearing," she said looking at the ground. Her mind was obviously somewhere else, "And how do we go about dealing with Galen?"

"We'll deal with that when we get there. He and I are on...neutral terms."

"Well then. That's probably the most unsettling thing I've heard all day," she whimpered, "And I am including the crazy lady just so you know."

"He's not affected by fade mumbo jumbo. He's just reclusive and doesn't like people. He and I were friends a few years ago, but we lost touch. I sent him an email and haven't heard back, so something probably happened."

"Sebastian, the man is a mob boss and you're making him sound like my cranky grandpa," she frowned.

"He's also neurologically connected to the net and is able to control every bit of his operation without leaving his bed and without seeing another person. He also taught me most of what I know about hacking, he's a brilliant hacker and has taken control of Mechs mid-operation before."

Even for all Sebastian's reassuring, with every word Brooklyn was starting to trust Galen less and less, which she didn't think possible. A person with that kind of power standing between them and their goal was daunting. She didn't care if he and Sebastian had been friends at one point. His position and and lack of communication left her unsettled. She couldn't help but feeling like she was walking to her death. However, it sounded like the man was running a vulnerable operation none the less. If shit hit the fan she hoped there would be more than a few ways out down here.

Stepping carefully along one of the old building, the area they were in was expansive, encompassing a good mile of abandoned structures and homes. All was quiet at the time, any sounds came from the deep distance and were mere echoes. Nothing moved. Fully knowing that one wrong kick or move could shatter the silence and make those who sleep below awaken and devour them, there was a heavy tension. Their destination was the other side of the city, a place called Rook-ridge. They could see it in the distance, a tower that stood above the buildings, silent and still, a vigil on the horizon. If there wasn't a mad man inside that controlled half the city, it would be something to calm their nerves a little, knowing that they were closer, but unfortunately for them; it was not.

They stepped into an old factory building, hoping to cut through it and avoid a dense set of buildings by going around. The factory was covered with dust, proving that it was beyond old. Scrap was strewn about, tossed into large piles. Light poured into the room via dusty windows, illuminating them in a twilight glow. The object that stood out the most in here was the furnace, ancient and cold. Sebastian stopped the ground, bending down to the floor and inspecting the dust. Just like snow, anything that came through here would leave tracks. "We're not alone..." His voice whispered over the comms. "There are fresh tracks here, no more than an hour or more old." He stood, his armor making slight creaking sounds. He motioned for them to follow closely and he started to lead them through the factory. They ventured up a small staircase and through to the next room, darkened from a lack of windows. He flicked on a flashlight in his helmet and looked over the room. There was old furniture all about and what seemed to be a fireplace. Most of the furniture was overturned or destroyed, shredded open by something, anything. This was possibly an employee lounge or something, but there was an emergency door to the outside on the other side of the room, and that was their destination. Stepping into the room they went as quickly as they could, careful to step over everything that could possibly make a noise. But the one that was tailing behind...Shalizar, he was not as careful. His tail was active, reflecting his tense body. As they were nearing the exit, his tail flicked and hit an old floor lamp. It hit the wall at first then cascaded backwards and impacted on the floor, the light bulb that was inside shattering. The group froze, turning towards Shalizar, whom had his weapon at the ready.

They all waited several moments, unmoving, ready for anything, but slowly sighed in relief as nothing came of it...at least they thought. They turned to leave, but as they did a soul piercingly loud scream made their ears start to bleed. Sebastian turned, his rifle up, his helmet automatically adjusting, but he wasn't fast enough. Fucker was already in midair, jetting right at Shalizar. He couldn't get a shot off, the Ghoul slammed into Shalizar, it's frail form bringing down the lizard beast. It's claws were razor sharp, tearing through Shalizar's chest, sinking it's teeth into his scaly flesh. His screamed came as a dull noise in their comms, still recovering from the debilitating screech of the ghoul. Sebastian's rifle bullet pierced the ghoul's head, finally, flinging it off of Shalizar's chest and into one of the pieces of furniture, destroying it. He summoned a new weapon from his apparently growing arsenal, a straight-edged Black and Orange Sword and approached the furniture. The monster was just recovering, returning to it's feet partially, but Sebastian stopped it from fully recovering, slamming his sword into it's neck and driving it through to the floor, then ripping it across, severing the neck from the head. It squirmed for a few moments before it stopped.

Anna knelt down to Shalizar, reaching into her back to try and find something to heal him at least a little. "Sebastian, there has to be a way to help him, come on..." She pulled out a small flask of red fluid and went to uncork it and pour it onto the wound, but she stopped and let out a silent scream as a gun was fired Shalizar's blood splashed onto her face, his own being eviscerated by Sebastian's pistol. "Say a prayer for him and move on." Sebastian's voice had a chilling feeling to it, the truth of the situation lining it. "There was nothing you could do for him. We're lucky that there was only one." She sat, frozen, her hands shaking. She had been part of death many times before, caused it as well, but none of that mattered when she watched somebody she was trying to help die right in her hands. She clenched her teeth and stood, anger being reflected in her eyes, still holding the elixir in her hand. "No! How dare you end his life?! He did not deserve death!" He approached her, his visor clearing up to show his own glaring eyes. "Stow it. I told you all before we came in here that if you get bitten, you're getting a bullet in the head. The process after being bitten is horrific. To let him live through it to become one of those things is bordering on a war-crime. I did him a favor, he's dead, get over it." He bent over and picked up Shalizar's spear and handed it to her. "Use it in his name and don't let his death be for nothing." She glared daggers at him, snatching the spear from him. Her knuckles were white with anger as he stepped past, replacing his pistol in it's holster, desummoning his sword, and grabbing the AR from his back. "Lets go. Galen's place is another couple miles away and we can't afford to waste time crying over the dead."

They filed out of the emergency exit of the factory after Sebastian gave the all clear. Brooklyn had kept a nervous silence through the ordeal. Though to be fair the only member of the group who didn't seem to be at all effected by Shalizar's death was Gabe. She didn't know what Annabelle had planned to do but she knew what had to happen. She had seen Sebastian take aim long before the Templar saw the lizardling's death coming. Now she couldn't bear to look at the angry woman. Part of her felt pity for her noble but vain efforts and part of her felt shame for not bothering to do anything about the situation. In the end she was relieved that Sebastian had been the one to step up and pull the trigger first. Shalizar was dead as soon as he had been bitten, she knew that, and to her discomfort she realized that she would have taken up the role of executioner had it come down to that, but it would not have been easy.

Brooklyn kept both eyes on their surroundings, still jumpy from the incident, and found herself looking over her shoulder more than she should. She stopped only inches from Sebastian's back, nearly slamming into him.

"What?" she asked quickly, "Why are we stopped?" Her head swiveled around surveying for the hundredth time but then she followed his eyes. Up on the roof of the factory they had only just left another hulking creature, larger than the last, crept over the edge. Another came behind it. Their forms shuddered and twitched before a pair of the same aching screams they had heard earlier shattered over the landscape. A hand darted for her ear as she winced in pain. She could barely hear Sebastian over the comm.

"Run!" he ordered them. She obeyed immediately, as did the others and bolted after him.

As they ran another ghoul leaped up over a row of scrap that lined the path. With that bone chilling war cry it made a b-line for Gabe. A mistake. The man stopped in his tracks, twisted away from the ghoul, drew the laser sword from his hip, fired it up, leaned into a side step and slashed the monster in half with one fluid motion. He severed its head from its shoulders on the back swing. The ghoul hit the ground in no less than three pieces. Gabe turned and continued sprinting.

Up ahead loomed what looked to be some kind of apartment building. On a small plaque above the double doors read, "Employee Housing." Most likely for the factory but the group could care less about that right now. Sebastian wasted no time kicking the door open and the other three slid in after him. As soon as they were clear three well placed rifle bursts rendered a tailing ghoul into a dismembered mess. Brooklyn aimed her gun out the door as well. There was nothing out there now.

"Where's the other one?" she gasped. The others were silent as they looked.

"What other o--" Gabe started but was interrupted by a glass pane bursting behind him.

Already looking down the scope, Brooklyn wheeled toward the window and followed the ghoul's form as it hit the ground. There was no thought. She didn't have time to think. The very instant the scope lined up with the ghoul she pulled the trigger. A deep POP split the air as a bullet screamed past Gabe's head and blew bits of flesh all over the front desk.

Stillness rang in her ears, her body pumping more and more adrenaline into her blood, as the body of the ghoul convulsed in death illuminated by one of the shafts of dusty light coming from the entryway windows. It's head barely stayed attached to it's neck thanks to what little was left of it's jaw. It quickly stilled. She took a step back. She killed it...

Gabe slapped a hand on her shoulder as he passed, "Nice shot. Warn me next time." He was rolling his jaw and trying to stop the ringing in one ear as he headed for the back of the building.

Brooklyn still backed away from the corpse into the center of the dark lobby, the ancient beams of the floor groaning under her weight with each step.

"Come on!" Sebastian hissed at her, "Or do you want to wait for more to show up?" The three of them were making their way down the wide hallway to the other side of the complex.

"Right," Brooklyn snapped out of it and shook her head before taking a wide stride toward them. She wanted nothing more than to keep moving. Another deep groan followed her boot hitting the floor and a shrill, hollow whine called from the floor as her weight shifted forward. She looked at the floor and slowed trying to spread her weight more evenly in order to make less noise. Damn noise! She mentally berated herself. Kree-CRACK! A scream caught silently in her throat as her foot dropped and her stomach lurched upward. Another splintering crack as the opposite knee collided with the wood and went through it. Her elbows and hands hit the floor but did nothing to stop her. The rotting timbers could barely support themselves. Then she found herself weightless as a spot of light above sped away. Her back slammed into something solid, knocking the wind from her lungs, but that too gave way almost immediately. She hit the next floor like a sandbag.

Electrifying pain reverberated back and forth in waves through her entire body. Darkness consumed her. Her head felt like it would rupture. Air finally entered her lungs with a quiet, high pitched whistle. It could only be described as if she was drowning and being forced to breathe through a straw, but at least she was breathing. Brooklyn's squeaky breaths finally turned into shallow gasps and finally a groan as she struggled to get up off her back. Little bits of panic began to slip into her mind. She worried she may have broken something, but as she moved around she could feel no serious pain. In her ringing ears she was beginning to hear voices over her comm. Mostly Sebastian's. She tried to speak as she felt over herself for any wounds but her words came out only as strained inaudible noises and lead to a coughing fit as her lungs took on more oxygen. Mostly she was feeling minor scrapes and bumps but upon inspecting a long burning sensation up the backside of her hip and ribs her fingers came up wet. She could barely see in what little light reached down here and could only hope the injury wasn't serious. Brooklyn groaned again. Her head was spinning violently. The voices still rang in her ears.

"I think I'm okay," she was able to rasp quietly. With some difficulty she pushed herself up on her feet. A sharp pain in her ankle left her staggering around on the debris covered concrete but she remained standing. She looked up from where she had fallen and could see the holes through the two floors she had fallen through along with movement around the first. How was she going to get out of here? "Damn," the girl swore softly. The others couldn't risk sticking around here much longer. This place would quickly become a deathtrap. After finding her gun, doing some fiddling, and some thinking she located a light on her wristband. It wasn't much but it would do. She would at least be able to see the ground in front of her. Her heart was beating fast. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do, or what might be down here with her, but staying wasn't an option. Shining the light around revealed an old sign that had long since fallen to the floor. The word "EXIT" along with a diagram of stairs and an arrow pointing to her right could only just be made out.

"You guys keep going," Brooklyn said with a shaking voice. She swallowed hard, "I-- I'm going to try and find my way out and if-- if I do then... I'll catch up with you at the compound." Brooklyn held her pistol upward along with the soft blue light and started looking for the exit.

"Hold up!" A noise from above her sounded, illuminating the darkness she was in for a moment. A silver string holding something floated down. Once it hit the floor with a soft clank, a light flicked on, casting Brooklyn in a bright white light before it dimmed slightly and her eyes got used to it. "It's dangerous to go alone. Take DT. She'll help out and map the area as well. Good luck." The little robot looked at her, a couple small beeps played in her ear, the AI within it recognizing the danger of making too much sound. She sounded off that she was ready and nodded her "head", the Gatling barrels jerking up and down with excitement. "Also, she's speaking in morse code. Hope you remember that from boot camp."

The other three upstairs made their way outside of the building after checking themselves for wounds and making sure that they were ready. They split up, checking all around the building for some type of entrance into the lower area where Brooklyn was, but could find nothing. Not even a hint to where an exit could be. "It seems that the area you fell in might be an older building or tunnel system. We can't find anything up here, no manhole covers, no doors leading downwards, nothing. We'll keep looking, but we're very close to Galen's tower now. If anybody has a map of the underground systems and entrances and exits, it'll be him."

Just then, Sebastian turned to the others only duck as a red projectile sped in front of his skull. "GET DOWN." The group split for a second, going for cover. They were about half a mile from the tower and they were taking fire?! "Sniper, definitely. Probably posted in the tower. That explains what happened to Galen. Come on." Anna and Gabe were hesitant at first, but both nodded and they stood, running with Sebastian as he dashed forward, diving from run down building to rubble to piece of metal. More sniper shots impacted the ground, aimed mostly for Sebastian. Anna and Gabe had very little trouble, but Sebastian was constantly under fire. They got closer to the tower and took cover behind a large destroyed wall together. In front of them was a considerable gate, large laser turrets posted on each collumn that ran along the gate, hundreds of old decaying bodies were around, many were almost ancient, bones and dust littering the field. They were just outside their range, but there was no way they'd be able to get past the perimeter. Sebastian sat down against the wall, placing his hand against the forehead of his helmet, thinking. "Alright, I have no clue how to get in there. Those Turrets are impregnable and I doubt Galen can hear me from in there." Anna turned towards him, kneeling, her hand on the wall. Gabe stood at the edge and peeked out for a moment, but nearly got his head blown off as a sniper round destroyed the spot on the wall where his head was. "How do you know the Turrets are impassible? Perhaps they are like the old versions, have to strafe to get past." "No...um...Brooklyn designed these ones, if you get the chance to poke out without getting killed, you'll see her mark. They're top of the line. I should know, I installed them." "Just how long ago were you last here?" "I was here last year for the old man's birthday. I ended up leaving because his Assassin-protocol-droid had a nasty glitch and threw me out. Galen wanted to let me back in, but I said, and I quote "To hell with your droid, this is the last time he throws me out." By that point he had thrown me out fifty seven...wait, fifty nine times. He tried to plead but...I sorta went off the handle and said "Fuck you!" And stormed off." "So...you had a temper tantrum?" "You try getting thrown out of your not-dad's house fifty nine times and keep from being royally pissed off." "Good point."

"That is a crock of lies, Sebastian! I threw you out because you tried to kill me in my sleep!"

"What..." Apparently the man inside could hear him quite well. He played his voice through a speakerphone from somewhere around the mansion. "Is your memory whack old man?!" "It's better than most things on this rock!" "Perhaps you got a little too close to that droid you love so much! He must have fried you with radiation!" "I Shower every day!" "You shower?! You're hooked up to a bed! You have to be sponged!" "And Forty-Seven does a damn good job!" Something wasn't right, his responses were...off. At least to Sebastian. "ANYWAYS...BullSHIT, Galen! Your Sev got pissed that I bought you a good gift and he threw me out!" "That is a crock of lies, Sebastian! I threw you out because you tried to kill me in my sleep!" "Waiiit a second...." "You noticed that too, Anna?" "Yeah, that was the same message. All his messages are pre-recorded. That sniper definitely isn't him and I'd place money on Galen having been killed." "Enough of your lies! Die now!" The turrets switched on then and the frontal ones all faced towards where Sebastian and Anna were sitting and opened fire. They hit the concrete wall but were doing little more than scorching it. "Yyyeah, that's the fatal flaw of Brook's design of that model. They were great anti-personnel and light armor piercers, but against anything more than heavy-gauge chain mail and they would be useless." "She really needs to up the anti on her weapons." "Oh man, you should have seen her mark sixes, WORK OF ART." He made sure that she heard that bit in the comms.

"We need to move though, Sebastian. The turrets are making a lot of noise." "There is a building inside the killzone we can run to." Gabe spoke up, standing by his post on the corner. Sebastian stood and came close, peering over the pony-man's shoulder and seeing the cover. "Excellent, and at this range the turrets can't hit for shit." He turned and grabbed Anna, slinging her over his shoulder. "Put me down! I can ru-" Before she could finish, Sebastian was out into the battlezone, running faster than normal and through the hail of bullets and lasers and taking refuge in a small building within the laser turret killzone. Gabe took a more careful approach, using the distraction to move from cover to cover. The sniper was still trying to shoot at him, but he didn't do much. He made it in after Anna finished chastising Sebastian and having checked the place for any ghouls that might have taken refuge here as well.

The turrets continued to wail on the building in a vain attempt to kill them, but they did little more than stir a ruckus and begin drawing in curious ghouls. Before long they were diverted to dealing with the ghouls and keeping them out of the killzone. They did a wonderful job. Sebastian picked his way through the building, it was an old home before the undercity stopped being habitable. He found an old chair and plopped down. Dust and dirt flew everywheres. Anna stood while Gabe sat on the ground and watched the light show outside.

"So...how do you know Galen Hek anyway?" "Now that's a long story...hold on...Brook, how are you doing? While you're down there exploring, you might find an active power substation or something, see if you can shut it off and we can get inside."

"Alright...so, Galen Hek. He used to be my squad commander back when I was in the army. Just before I became a prosthetic." "So...wait...he's older than you? How is that possible?" She sat down with Gabe now, watching Sebastian intently as he told his story. "The power of electronics are crazy, Anna. There are a few people that are well over two hundred years old. He's mostly digital now, being the sole person who managed to convert his consciousness over to the Digi-net but literally deleting the knowledge on how to do so from his memory after successfully doing it so people wouldn't pester him about it. He's the man that originally convinced me to go Pro...pro being the term back then to go prosthetic. It was back in the days of Esmerelda the 2nd. A.K.A. The Scarlet Queen...hah...I remember on a couple missions into the Tenau territory where Galen would just start chanting "Down. Down. Down with the Bloody Red Queen." and we'd all join in on the chant and end up making the Pilot threaten to turn the bird around if we didn't shut the fuck up...he's also the reason why I always drink a pint of Scarlet Rose Whiskey on June 15th. Hah...he really hated that bitch...good times." Anna and Gabe both glared at him at the disrespect to Queen Esmerelda. Obviously taking offense. "She was one of our greatest queens." "And was also a murderer that would torture IVTs live on camera. The day that my squad killed her-"

"YOUR SQUAD WAS THE ONE THAT KILLED HER?!" She stood, enraged. She reached for Shalizar's spear, anger writhing in her, but Sebastian put up his hand. "Calm yourself, woman. Galen put the knife in her stomach and was the one to throw her off the clock tower. I wasn't there. The recovery process for going Pro is a minimum 5 months with an extra nine of training." She was reluctant, but she sat back down on the floor with Gabe. "A few years after that, Galen went pro as well, but did so only so he could leave the military quickly after as they "Bored him." And went into the underground. He traveled from place to place, getting in touch with super hackers and learning the trade, but then he started diving into the net using Virtual Reality headsets and spending weeks immersed in them. Every time he came out he went up a hundred or so IQ points and knew more about hacking and exploiting systems than anybody dreamed of knowing. About three years before Prosthetics became outlawed, he found me and approached me. He wanted me to be his assistant and bodyguard. Considering the rumors that surrounded him, I didn't object."

"He took me here, to the undercity. He used an old-now inaccessible-route to get into his mansion to get me there without going near the ghouls and he started to teach me the tools of the trade. It's why I'm so good at hacking. He explained that he wanted an apprentice because he had foreseen the downfall of the prosthetics. I was naturally naive and stupid and told him that Prosthetics were the future, but he just laughed. He showed me how to break Digi-codes and get into any security system, design security walls, and I eventually turned around and told him about a brilliant idea I dreamed up. Security Mazes. Multiple routes and connections that must be virtually accessed-diving into the net-into that would have defenses not unlike a fort. These defenses being viruses and redirects. He thought it was a brilliant idea and we collaborated on it, producing the Security maze that protects mine and Brooklyn's Digi-vaults."

"Wow...seems like he means a lot to you." Anna stretched, her bones starting to become stiff from the sitting and listening to Sebastian's story. She stood and crept to the window, there weren't anymore lasers or ghouls and they didn't turn to fire on her. She came back over and leaned against a post. "How long as the Digi-net been active?" "Too long. Nobody even remembers the original creator or the original hardware that was used to launch it. It's...amazing though." "How so?" "Will tell you later, for now, a little rest. My jaw hurts from not shutting up." He found a small lever on the chair and pulled it, the footstool on the inside still working and kicking his feet up so he could lean back a little and relax. "Can't do anything until we get confirmation from Brooklyn and DT." "Hope they're doing okay."

"Now wait just a minute!" Brooklyn began to defend her guns against Anna's remarks, "Are those the Mark II's? Those were designed strictly for--!!"

When Sebastian interrupted with the compliments regrading the Mark VI's her breath caught in her throat and she could feel a blush spreading over her cheeks, "Well those were... The point is they're two completely different guns! You can't really compare them like that." she managed to collect herself... Even though she preferred the Mark VI model as well.

The sounds of battle and conflict constantly going off in her headset made her worried and distracted. She wished she could be up there helping. Of course she knew that those three were probably the last people on the planet that needed her help, but still. Brooklyn bit her lip, knowing there was nothing she could do for them and forced herself to remain focused on her own problems. She needed to get out of here. DT was of some comfort. At least she had a little more light and an extra gun along for the ride. An extra gatling gun no less. The girl carefully maneuvered over the centuries of rubbish that had piled up in the subsystems below the city, her little robot companion leading the way and showing her where it was safe to step. DT kept a nice constant pace and made sure to slow down whenever Brooklyn needed it. Every now and again she would make a soft little bleeping noise just to make sure they were staying together. After some time and a good amount of progress, or so it seemed being so difficult to tell down here, she stopped. Her "head" jittered back and forth like she was looking for something. Just then Sebastian contacted them again.

"We're fine," Brooklyn whispered into the comms and listened closely, "Power substation. Got it. I'll see what I can do."

Before she could finish her response DT had come closer to her and was chirping and beeping away quietly.

"Wait, sorry, I didn't catch that can you start over?" Brook asked her.

The bot was silent for a moment then started her chatter over again.

Brooklyn's head was spinning a little bit and she pursed her lips in concentration as she tried to keep up, "Hang on. Wait. A little slower maybe? Uhg, I'm so sorry." Her Morse was rusty to put it in the most forgiving of terms.

After another short moment of silence DT started chirping again, this time at a slower tempo. Brooklyn listened.

"A fort?" the bot beeped a few more times, "Fork," Brooklyn put her face in her hand. DT "nodded" in response, "And you think it goes to an exit? ... Know it goes. Sorry. But why do we have to hurry?... Oh," Brooklyn's voice trailed off into a fearful whimper. She had to think a moment, "Well, thing is we need to look for a power station first. If the turrets upstairs don't get shut off we don't get to Galen," the girl frowned.

DT's "head" swiveled slowly as she seemed to be looking around again. Then she started off down the tunnel, leading the way. When they came to the fork up ahead she turned left.

"So the exit is right, right?" Brook asked. DT chirped. "You'll remember how to get back here right?" The chirp that followed somehow sounded a little more offended than the previous ones.

As they pressed on Brooklyn found herself more and more jumpy. The information that something down here was moving around had her scared at the smallest disturbances and cursing herself for every tiny noise. The hand gripping her pistol was starting to shake. A few turns, a few gates and a few drops had them going deeper and deeper into the system until their lights illuminated a door. It had been broken off it's hinges sometime in the past and leaned back at an angle but still blocked the doorway. DT skipped around the entrance and finally climbed up and through a small opening near the top of the door frame.

"Wait!" Brooklyn hissed. She got no response. Mentally cursing, she assessed how easy it might be to push the door aside. The bottom hinge was nothing but rust and barely hung onto the door. Taking the risk of holstering her pistol she grabbed the door on both sides and made sure she had control of its weight before applying pressure to the bottom hinge. She didn't want to twist it and risk the loud screech it would inevitably make. She wanted to snap it off quietly, prop the door up on the wall and pretend she was never here. Little by little she applied more pressure ready for the corroded metal to break at any second and ready to compensate for the sudden release. Just a little more should-- POP! Brooklyn nearly lost her grip on the door and had to scramble to keep it from tumbling into the room with her on top of it. By some miracle she regained her balance and her silence. The sound had been a little louder than she had hoped for but it was done and she couldn't hear anything else now. She set the door against the wall next to the frame, pulled her pistol back out and headed into the room.

This area must have been huge. All her light illuminated were bits of worked metal, wiring and a few tools spread over the floor and covered in a layer of dust. It couldn't reach any walls. There was a low hum coming from somewhere in here and the quiet scuffing of her feet and the tapping of DT's legs left near inaudible echoes bouncing of obstacles somewhere far in the distance. Something about a massive space in total darkness was somehow worse than a tight space in total darkness she decided. There was an ever so soft chirp somewhere to her right and when she moved the light away it looked like there might be a few very dim patches of glow over there. She made her way towards it cautiously. After what seemed an eternity she finally reached the edge of the cavern and found herself standing before a huge power relay station with DT perched on top, already going to work.

"Good girl," Brooklyn breathed.

She too snapped into action brushing the dust away from the controls and trying to figure out what the purpose of each was. After sometime she found a grid overlaying a map on the wall next to the relay with numbers corresponding to various sets of minor and master switches on the relay. Working quickly Brooklyn found the location of Galen's tower and recited the numbers to DT. She beeped and scuttled about before starting to chatter again. Brooklyn could just make out her silhouette over a dim green glow on the board.

"No, shut everything off. We don't have time for that. Besides, the less power they have the better for us," she ordered. There was a hollow sounding KA-CHUNK and an audible decrease in the humming being produced by the generators.

"Hey Sebastian," she whispered, "I think we got it. How do things look on--" she could hear ragged breathing. Before she even had time to react she heard frenzied metallic scrambling followed by the unmistakable eruption of a gatling gun. No. She couldn't see to fight! With out thinking she turned and ran from the skirmish. Almost immediately she was caught up on a small piece of machinery laying on the ground and had her feet ripped out from under her. In desperation her hands flew out to catch something, anything to break her fall. One hand snagged what felt like a handle and as her weight yanked on it, it shifted down with another KA-CHUNK. There was a sudden hum up above them and then light. Blinding light. Still on her knees Brooklyn shut her eyes to keep from being blinded further. A series of deep, hollow clicks ran above and past her, getting further away and with each one she could see more light shining behind her eyelids. She could still hear the fight too. She needed to move. Quickly she pulled herself to her feet and squinted at the ground. She blinked away the blindness and started running again. Looking over her shoulder she could see a haze of bullets ripping through what she hoped were the last of the ghouls all stupidly trying to attack the little robot. The large overhead lights were still turning on one by one on what she could now see used to be a sprawling manufacturing floor. At the other end she was starting to see a massive curved shape. More and more lights clicked on and it came into focus. Brooklyn couldn't think for a second. The last light snapped on and illuminated it. The sounds of the battle had died. Her jaw went slack and her heart was racing, but not from fear.

"Sweet merciful gods above," she gasped.

DT scrambled up beside her and politely reminded Brooklyn that she had just committed treason and that there were more ghouls coming. Brooklyn turned on her heel and sprinted back for the power relay. This mother fucker was getting turned on if it was the last thing she did.

"That's okay!" she grinned.

"Brooklyn...hello? Can you hear me? The turrets deactivated. Hellooo?" He didn't get a response from her at all. He began to grow worried, but he didn't dwell on it, DT would keep her safe. "Alright, lets go." He pushed down the recliner's stool only for it to snap off and break down. He got up from the wreck and grabbed his rifle from his back, moving outside of the house with the others. The turrets were all pointing downwards, disabled and without power. The group came up to the gate. There was no way they could get inside normally, but that wasn't much of a problem for Sebastian as he grabbed a bar and started to rip it open. They were tough bars, made of durasteel. He was about half way through before a laser round impacted against his head and he found himself thrown to the ground, part of his helmet melted off. "FUCK." He scrambled to summon a breathing mask from his vault while moving to a wall at the same time. He ripped off his helmet, holding his breath as he switched to a respirator. "I thought the air down here would take time to hurt you or change you into a ghoul?" He pointed towards the ancient corpses, fitting the respirator onto his face and taking a deep breath. "Their bodies, alive or dead, release the noxious fume that can change somebody into a ghoul. It poisons the air. The air around this compound is so thick with the poison that one deep breath will kill you." Her eyes widened, the fight or flight instinct in her making her want to run for the hills, knowing that if her respirator was damaged, she would be dead in seconds. She sighed and nodded. Sebastian got up off of the ground and backed up from the wall a bit, aiming himself for the gate.

"This is a stupid idea and it's going to hurt like shit. But, Fuck it." He dug his foot into the ground and ran as fast as he could at the gate, slamming into, and through, the hole he made. He made it all the way through and fell to the ground, but rolled and got to his feet, sprinting. Sniper rounds hit the ground just behind him as he ran for the tower entrance. Anna and Gabe were close behind.

They had made it inside finally, the inside was much like an old world Tussian household, Galen's homeland. Large dark wooden stairs on each side of the entrance chamber, there used to be a hallway in front of them but it had long ago caved in. They couldn't marvel at the area for long as they had to dive to old furniture to keep from being shot from the sniper up on the balcony above them. Sebastian poked his head out for a mere second, seeing the attacker and seeing who it was. "SEV, what are you doing, man?!" The robot above them had a Rifle in it's hands A second one on his back Still smoking from shooting at them when they were outside. "BE QUIET, MEATBAG. SCUM. FLESH SACKS. WHY DO YOU TREAD IN MY MASTER'S HOME." "I "tread" here because I have to talk to Galen! He hasn't responded to any of my messages! Just making sure he's alright!" Another bullet shot through the table Sebastian was using as cover, he twitched and moved away from the hole. "HE...HE IS UNAVAILABLE. LEAVE NOW." "Sev. What's happened to him?" "MY MASTER IS UN-" "He died, didn't he?"

Anna stood up then, Sev not anticipating her getting up, he missed his shot by a few hairs as she put her hands up and exploded in a blinding white. "What in the fu-" Before he could finish, she was on top of the stairs, putting Sev onto the ground by taking out his joints. Sebastian ran up the stairs in time to see Sev twist his body to be on his back and throw Anna off of him and to the bottom floor. She hit the wooden floor hard, cutting off the scream and knocking the wind out of her. The floor beneath groaned and threatened to give way. Sebastian approached Sev as he quickly got up and froze as he pointed his rifle at him. "STAND BACK, MEATBAG. YOUR PETTY ATTACKS WON'T AFFECT ME. I AM AN ASSASSIN DROID, A MODEL OF PERFECTION." "A model that hasn't had his memory purged in a long while." "DO NOT PATRONIZE ME, MEATBAG." "Sev. Where is Galen?" "HE IS OUT, YOU SHOULD BE OUT AS WELL." "Sev, he was hooked up to a bed with a dozen tubes in him while he dived the Extranet. He came out once a day to tell the med-bot to piss off. He's not out." "MY MASTER...HE PASSED ON." Sev held his position, the rifle aimed at Sebastian's chest. Sebastian inched a little closer. "And he didn't prepare you for this?" "HE DID. BUT I AM IN CONFLICT. MY...SELF...HAS PROGRESSED TO A POINT WHERE I DO NOT WISH TO FOLLOW PROGRAMMING, YET I AM STILL COMPELLED TO DO SO. " "What programming is this?"

Down on the ground floor, Gabe helped Anna to her feet and tended to her back, getting her off of the wooden floor and to the wall. She was having trouble breathing, a rib may have been cracked. "I WAS TO FIND HIS CLOSEST FRIEND AND SERVE HIM AS I DID GALEN. THIS FRIEND WAS YOU. BUT I AM IN CONFLICT." Sebastian was surprised and relieved to hear that Galen thought so highly of him, but he didn't dwell on it. "Why are you in conflict?" "HE WAS SADDENED THAT YOU LEFT, AND HIS HEALTH TOOK A DOWNWARD SPIRAL. I BLAME YOU FOR HIS DEATH." "You should blame yourself, Sev. You constantly antagonized me." The robot was silent for a time, processing the information.

"I AGREE...." He placed the rifle onto his back and stood, his robot body sitting completely still, staring at Sebastian. "FORTY SEVEN, MODEL FOUR-SEVEN, REVISION BD, REPORTING, MASTER. SHALL I KILL THE MEATBAGS DOWN THERE?" He turned towards the other two and started to reach for his rifle. "No no no no, they're fine. However, I do need one thing from you. We're looking for a red star gem. Do you think you could find that?" "YES, I DO BELIEVE I KNOW WHERE SUCH A THING EXISTS, BUT MY INTERNAL SENSORS ARE PICKING UP AN INCREASED NUMBER OF GHOULS APPROACHING. IT SEEMS THAT IN MY ANGER, I HAD ATTRACTED THE HORDE. WITH THE TURRETS DOWN, I SHALL NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD THEM OFF. THE BACKUP GENERATOR WAS SHUT DOWN SEVERAL MINUTES AGO, THE PRIMARY GENERATOR HAD A CATASTROPHIC MELTDOWN." Sebastian looked towards the other two, Gabe looking up and shaking his head. Anna was badly hurt, the fall having hurt her body. He went down and helped Gabe carry her up stairs. There was a passage in the back halls of the 2nd floor that lead up the tower. "Where is the Auto-doc, Sev?" "DESTROYED, IT OVERLOADED WHEN THE PRIMARY GENERATOR EXPLODED." They stopped and found a small bedchamber, taking her in. She tried to resist, but moving just made her scream in pain. "Alright, alright, I will be fine here for now." The group left her, shutting the door and following Sev to where the Gem was.

He stopped and looked at a blank wall, made of stone. They had left the wooden structure below and were now in the heart of Galen's tower. He stepped forward and...into the wall? Sebastian put his hand on the wall and it went right through. "Cloaking technology. You sneaky dog." He tried to step through, but Sev stepped back through first and handed him the red star. It was cold to the touch, about as big as a basket ball with a spherical middle, points like that of a star decorating the body. It was a crimson color and smelled of blood, it glistened in the darkness. Sebastian held it close, having no bag for it, and went down stairs with the others. They may have had the star, but they were still in immense danger.

Ghouls smashed at the gates, several breaking through and already trying to get into the front door. They were shot down quickly by Sev and Sebastian, but they were replaced quickly. They barricaded the doors with what they could find. There were hundreds out there. "I didn't even know there were that many Ghouls down here. Won't lie, not really optimistic about survival right now, how about you, Sev?" "NOPE. SCREWED."

A wave of ghouls hit the front door and rattled the makeshift barricade they had erected. Gabe stepped away as more hit the window he had just blocked off. Finding the star had filled him with some sort of purpose or faith that they were on the right track and success was near despite the setbacks of losing two members of the group. Realistically he was growing unsure they would last long against an onslaught of this magnitude. The enemy seemed to generate mass numbers from thin air and only three now stood to face them. The sounds of the inhuman screams and countless dead fingers and feet scrabbling up the outer wall of the tower could be heard from inside.

"Isn't there another way outa here!?" he shouted at the robot.

The sound of splintering wood and shattering glass from upstairs made him forget everything he had been thinking and stop caring about whatever the answer to that question might be. Annabelle. He wheeled around and sprinted up the stairs two and three steps at a time sword at his side. When he burst through the door of the chamber Anna also had her weapon drawn, intense pain on her face, doing her best to get ready to fight off the rotting monster that was climbing in. It lunged at her, but only met with a laser sword splitting it open from belly to the crown of its skull as Gabe jumped over the bed and sliced upward. Another was clawing at the window. He delivered a swift kick to it's ugly face and sent it howling and flailing to the ground below.

"Sorry," he huffed and nodded at Anna.

From the second floor the view was even more discouraging than it had been downstairs. He wanted to warn Sebastian and SEV about the absolute flood of bodies coming their way, but doubted it would help at all if they didn't already see it. They were swarming everything. He slid a huge wardrobe across the room and shoved it up against the window before heading for the door. The building was starting to shake. The quake swelled with such strength he staggered as the floor shifted underfoot. There could not be that many... His hand clenched around the hilt of his sword. They had to get out of here. Before he could ask his question of SEV again there was an absolute uproar from beyond the tower. At first it sounded like an explosion, then a landslide, then the quake stopped. The sound of roaring quantum collision engines and anti-tank plasma accelerator guns drowned out everything else.

---

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Brooklyn screamed unsure if DT could even hear her over the noise of this beast. She could barely hear herself even with the sound proofing of the cockpit and she definitely couldn't hear the beeping of the robot anymore. However she could certainly feel the annoying Morse tapping on the side of her helmet. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. The thick electrodes that had been jammed into the base of her skull, six locations along her upper spine, into every fingertip and the palms of her hands said otherwise. Now she knew why she had never seen anything quite like this in production. Somehow the sync of her nervous system to such an inhuman thing seemed wrong... but oh so right. The maniacal grin had not left her face even though there had been no effort to put systems in place that reduced the pain suffered by the pilot upon hook up and the occasional impulse misfire in the electrodes.

"I've got--" she winced as the durasteel body twisted upward, "I've got this!" she said for the millionth time, "I'm figuring it out aren't I!?"

DT was tapping on her helmet again.

"I've never piloted anything before. Will you shut up? My ex used to build these! We'll be fine!!" She forced the goliath machine forward with all her strength and they finally burst out of the tunnel system and into the world above. There was a shock at the base of her skull that nearly blinded her with pain. Sweat ran down the side of her face. Stone, dust, concrete and bodies rained down after the eruption. The machine writhed away from the hole it had made. Ghouls scattered away if they had been lucky. Their bloodthirsty animal instinct drew blanks on what to do in this situation. The massive but agile mech twisted on it's back, looking like an amorphous mess of parts in its current state, snaked around, re-articulated its legs, spine, tail and guns, and came upright before the legion of monsters. It stood between the bulk of the wave and the tower, weapons raised, coated in black iron ball paint with a dark blue sheen running over its panels. A sixty foot sentinel fresh from the depths of hell.

"Ah," Brooklyn chimed happily whipping through the holographic menus and readings over the display, "So that's how the guns work."

The entire mech rumbled when she charged the guns and rocked back on its legs when the devastating blasts were released into the crowd. Again and again she fired into them. They threw themselves all over the body but she quickly swatted them away if they could even hold on against the thing's lightning speed. As she gained more control the Ghouls stood less and less of a chance. However they were starting to avoid her as she ran them over, struck them down with well placed tail whips, incinerated them and blew them to chunks of flesh. The were focusing on the the tower where the others had been headed.

"Oh no you don't!" she hissed. Quickly she went to access the guns again, but the electrodes misfired for the thousandth time right into the palm of her hand and she twitched. Instead of plasma blasts a deep red glow came from above her. The tail was lighting up. Out of it screamed a red laser.

"Shit!" she turned the machine around and managed to burn through a line of ghouls at the doors of the tower and a thirty foot long, six foot deep, smoldering trench in the ground before she managed to shut it off again.

DT tapped furiously on her helmet. She could feel the blood running down her lips from both nostrils.

"I don't care," she giggled feeling all too giddy, "I want one."

"Oh sweet sweet Arcadia..." He looked out the window and saw the mech attacking, hearing Brooklyn on the comms. Sebastian spoke, excitement in his voice. "Ya know, if I wasn't holding up this gentleman shtick, I'd fuck the crazy right out of your body." Another explosion came from the mech, destroying yet more ghouls, creating a scene of blood, gore, and fire. "well with less explodey-lasers and more my-penis-in-your-vagina." "AGREED." "No, Only I get to comment on this, you don't have a dick." "ROBOTS ARE EQUAL IN THIS DEPARTMENT" A few whirring sounds made Sebastian jump. "DON'T YOU EVEN DARE, SEV."

The commotion had drawn the ones that were attacking the house away from it and to the mech directly, trying to attack it as a group. Their efforts wasted as Brooklyn tore them apart, giving Sebastian, Sev, Gabe, and Anna time to escape with the star in hand, moving to circle the mech and head towards the front, finding a safe zone. Sev and Sebastian scouting ahead while Brooklyn absolutely raped everything. They found a few stragglers and quickly put them out of their misery. They returned moments later to see Gabe putting a couple ghouls down himself. THey cleared the room and moved carefully, heading back the way they came. Anna was really doing some damage as she was destroying houses and causing the already feral ghouls to go even more insane. "Seriously Brook. You, me, bed. Soon as we're topside." "Sebastian...shut up..." Said Anna as they were carrying her. He just shrugged and kept biting his lip as they hurried along, Brooklyn keeping somewhat close.

"Seb, I-- Wait. What? I can't... WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

The grin was quickly wiped from Brooklyn's face and replaced with a sneer of mortified fury. She stepped up the hurt she had been giving the ghouls. It was hard enough to keep track of them all and keep them off the group as they made a break for it. Now she was faced with a salacious series of vivid mental images involving the two of them that simply would not stop. She tried to push them down but they stayed right there on the edge of her mind. She felt the heat in her cheeks and had to ignore that now too.

"Sebastian, please... Please, please just shut your mouth," she growled at him while clipping through the corner of the old police station.

Though she could have made it to the lift by now, she stayed close to the group. Her radar kept an eye on their movements and six while she stayed just ahead to clear the way and scare up any hiding ghouls. If she acted fast she usually had success in mowing most of them over before they reached her friends. The small handful that broke through were never more than Sebastian, Gabe and the robot she saw running around with them, could handle. Violent explosions and blasts seemed to only draw more out, but there had to be some end to them she thought. Again she fired up the laser in the tail and took down another wave of them, wiping out the supports on a three story building and collapsing it on even more while she was at it. Underneath and around her the machine groaned and shuddered.

"I can keep this up all day," she chuckled.

Then a red warning light came on and beeped low. Coolant levels low.

"Oh. Maybe not," she mumbled. She had no idea the age of this thing and hadn't even thought about things like that. The coolant probably wasn't the only fluid that needed to be filled up. As soon as she realized this several more warning lights came on about that exact problem. Oil, differentials, transfer cases, flywheels... they were all bone dry. But they were making good progress and the lift wasn't far. Maybe a few more miles at most. She could make it a few more miles before any sort of breakdown. More of the monsters rushed from a hole that had been punched in a subsystem when the building fell. Again she charged up the guns and blasted them. The low beeping became a full on alarm. She checked through all the readings as the legs of the mech started to grind and screech with every movement. She could feel the jarring and slips and disconnections not just in the cockpit but in her body as well as the malfunctions tortured her nervous system. The pain was coming to a level that made it difficult to concentrate even with the adrenaline flowing in her veins. The temperatures of the weapons systems and the engines were reaching dangerous levels.

"That's not good," Brooklyn whimpered, "I may have a problem. We're gonna need to ditch this thing soon," she couldn't believe she was saying that about her baby. More ghouls piled on the scorpion and began tearing and clawing at anything they could reach, but aside from a few minor parts the armor kept them from doing any real damage. Another charge was getting close. Several more times she fired into them and then completely rolled the mech over to crush any that were on it. A dust cloud kicked up around her and the machine screamed almost as if in pain, but it did the trick. The alarms continued to go off and she kept a close eye on the temperatures. DT started advising her to stop.

"I think I've got a little more in her," Brooklyn nodded and winced, "Just a little more then we'll stop."

Once back up on its legs she wheeled around to fire at a few ghouls who were racing toward the group and charged the main guns again. BOOM! One ball of charged plasma ripped them apart. The mech shook as a shock wave tore through it, listed over and swayed back into standing position. A plume of fire and black smoke billowed from the arm where one of the cannons used to be. Now a smoldering mess of charred steel. The alarms doubled and the entire cockpit flashed red. Catastrophic failure. Brooklyn screamed in agony as the mech further informed her of this by shooting a blinding pain up her right arm which convulsed for several seconds before the signals let up.

"Th-that's the end of that," she gasped starting to disengage the combat protocols entirely in an effort to cool down the systems before they went into full melt down, "Cover me. I'm getting the hell out of this thing."

One of the engines on the left side started to rattle the entire scorpion so badly she could barely read the displays. Then a second explosion rocked her as it jammed and erupted. This time the machine collapsed on its side. Then the message she didn't want to see came up. Meltdown. Frantically she tried to get the piloting systems to disengage her and open up the loading ramp. Error. Again she ran the commands through. The electrodes and their little needles that dug into her skin ripped out of the finger tips and palm of her right hand. But only her right hand. Error. Immediately she used it to start trying to by-pass the system manually.

"Come on, come on. Please," she breathed. A loud hiss and chunk sounded behind her as the loading ramp started to drop. "Yes!" She started trying to yank the other electrodes out by hand. The first one to come out of her index finger hurt all the way up her arm and into her chest with an intensity that made her eyes water. The second engine melted down and blasted itself into oblivion. Smoke started to pour in from the floor and instruments. But there was a bigger problem. A horrible grinding noise replaced the hum of the ramp dropping. It stopped completely. Jammed in place.

"Oh shit."

Hearing her over the comms, Sebastian dropped the act with the hornyness and let go of Anna, letting Sev take her. He clicked his armor again and it repaired itself, his helmet coming back. His shoulders and arms increased in size as the armor prepared itself for what he was about to do. He sprinted at the scorpion and jumped up into the air, slamming down onto the top of the scorpion. The heat of it actually started to melt his armor as the reactor core melted down. He heard Sev over his radio. "THAT HULL IS MADE OF TUNGSTEN STEEL. YOU WILL NOT BREAK THROUGH. ABANDON HER." He ignored him and he puleld back his hand, slamming it into the steel plating, breaking a finger already, but making a massive dent into the hull. He did it again and broke through. He saw her inside as the smoke started to pour out of the hole. She was quickly dying. He grabbed the edges and started to pull as hard as he could. He strained his arms to the point of breaking, peeling back the super strong steel, his armor starting to break away from the sheer force being applied to them. It tried to repair itself, but the heat was destroying it. He started to scream as the pain became intense and the hull peeled back. He continued to yell as the pain became too much and he almost fell back as the armor gave way and there was a large hole. He screamed as an unbelievable pain ripped through his arm. Wait, no, his right arm was gone, flying over the edge of the scorpion and to the ground. He ignored the pain and was able to drop into the cockpit that barely had enough room for the both of them. He recognized the neural implants and started to disable them one by one, manually. Several wouldn't disable, and she was still trapped by a combat restraint. He broke the restraint with a knife in his boot and found the control console. He used his remaining arm to smash the console several times, ripping out the wires and forcibly disabling the systems on her back.

He wrapped an arm around her as she was choking to death, pulling her out and putting her on top of the scorpion for but a moment as he jumped out and grabbed her, holding her as he jumped off of the exploding Scorpion and sprinted away. He felt his left leg start to give weigh and snap, he had pulled it and put too much pressure on it and now it too was snapping off. He made it behind a small rock wall before the scorpion erupted into a nuclear explosion, sending a massive amount of force their way. He got her close and wrapped arm and legs around her protectively. The massive heat washed over them both, scorching Sebastian's armor and burning his skin. The exposed bits of her skin were burned, but he kept the heat from hurting her too badly. His armor constantly stripped way and tried to repair itself, but his skin was still burned.

When the heat finally died down and the scraps of the mech was draped everywhere, things finally calmed down into an eerie silence, the others just beginning to look for them. Sebastian didn't move, holding her tightly, his armor in pieces and his skin blackened, his missing arm wound cauterized. He finally released her and slumped back against the rock, his eyes closed, his body fading into unconsciousness from the unreal pain.

It was too hot. But she was shivering. Brooklyn lay on her back and her eyes opened to a dim light. The meltdown! She sat bolt up right with a startled gasp hands out in front of her... But the cockpit was gone. Everything was gone. It took a moment for her to realize she was in a hotel room, in a bed, back above in the city. Confusion overcame her. She had no idea how much time had passed as it felt like she had only closed her eyes for mere seconds. What had happened down there? Who brought her back? And who took her out of her clothes? She shivered again and pulled the covers over her bare chest. There she found gauze taped to her shoulders and shoulder blades and let her fingers run over the tender, aching flesh there. On her hands she found dark bruising where the electrodes had been. They were deep purple with red tendrils running away from them and up the underside of her forearm almost like veins. What the hell happened?

She scooted forward and started to look around for her clothes but they were nowhere to be found. Instead she saw Sebastian in the bed next to hers. He wasn't moving, but she could see his chest rising and falling. Still alive, but not in good shape. Someone had tended to him as well judging from the bits of gauze and the bandages that poked out of the covers on his right arm. Brooklyn turned, touching her toes to the floor, and wrapped the sheets around her back before rising. Joints popped, her back realigned and she swayed as a dizziness swept over her, but for the most part she was okay. I'm okay she repeated to herself. Glancing down at Sebastian again she could noticed a thin line running along the underside of his jaw and around to his hair. Tentatively she brushed a lock of it aside and saw exactly what was happening. A soft sigh escaped her lips. Pinning the sheets under her arms she leaned over him and pushed lightly on his face. The flesh was firmer than she expected... but she guessed she should have expected it. With a little pressure the line sealed. She pushed herself upright again but left her hand on the bed just thinking. Her fingers sank into the mattress. Where his arm should have been.

Pulling back she inhaled quickly and stared at the depression. Then pulled the covers down. She didn't have to go far before the bandages ended, wrapped around the stub that formed at his elbow. The girl's mouth twisted into an anguished frown and she ran a hand through her hair and down the side of her neck. Footsteps, a clicking and a creaking announced someone at the door. Frozen, she found it hard to take her eyes away, but slowly turned toward the entry. Gabe strode across to the dresser and put two sets of clothes, neatly folded, down on top of it.

"Sorry 'bout the nudity," he began immediately, "You... They needed to be washed." He turned to her with a sullen expression. As his eyes flicked over her body, then her face and then locked on her eyes the corner of his mouth pulled to the side somewhat, "How do you feel?"

"I'm... I feel... Alright I guess," her throat was dry and her voice hoarse, "... What--"

"He saved your crazy ass when that damned monster ya dug up went up in flames and nearly got us all killed," Gabe pointed behind her, "Me, DT 'n SEV... er, the bigger robot, got everyone out after that," he shrugged, "Glad yer up though." He certainly didn't sound glad.

"But you're alright then?" she asked, "And Anna?"

The mercenary frowned and looked at the floor before walking out of the room, "She's tryin' to rest."

Brooklyn's hands tightened around her sheets, watching him until he shut the door. After looking over her shoulder at Sebastian once more she went to the dresser.

Gabe walked down the hall to another room where he entered quietly. He took a seat by Annabelle's bed without saying a word.

"If humans dream of sheep, and robots dream of Electric sheep...what do near comatose 90% prosthetic humanoids dream of?"
The question reverberated off of the walls within Sebastian's brain as he slept. "I would say that they dream of how Ravens are Writing-desks." "I agree, me, I have dreamed of that before." "Dream of it again, then." "Can't, lost me writin' arm." "How in the hell did I lose my writing arm?" "Giant robots." "Makes sense...did I punch it?" "Yes I did. Saved a girl too." "Nice! Wait...is that why I'm comatose-well, near comatose?" "Yep." "I need to wake up, and soon." "Why not now?" "Because I don't know. Giant robots?" "Or you want to keep pretending that you have a writing arm." "I can just use my armor. Brain signals, yo." "Then wake up, me!"

"YYyyyyahhhh, Noooo." Sebastian sat up in bed unexpectedly and collided with Brooklyn's head with his own. They both flew backwards, Sebastian going right back into the pillow, yelling, while Brooklyn stumbled back to her own bed, dazed. "Owwww...the fuck happened last night to give me this pounding headache?!" Her hand rubbed her forehead where he had struck it, "I'm sorry! I-- ... You don't remember?" Her eyes, one completely dark red and bloodshot, flicked over him still. "Uuuhhg.." He sat up and shook his head. "Wait...yyeah, yeah, I remember now. WAIT." He looked over to her and got up, nothing but underwear on, and tried to walk on his left leg, only to fall forward into her lap. He got up and looked at her. "YOur eye is bloodshot and you look horrible...but you're alive." Stabilizing him with her hands on his shoulders she pushed him back onto his own bed again, "Thanks," she grumbled, "Your mouth still seems to be working." She leaned forward to get a closer look at his leg.

He tried to use his left arm to sit next to her so she could get a better look. It was difficult as hell for him to move due to the immense soreness in his body, but he did it anyway. It was then he noticed his arm and how bad it actually was for him. "Oh...my arm is gone. Well, that's going to be fun. At least my armor can hook up to my brain." Brows knitted together she shifted and put a hand under his left knee, which was wrapped tightly, and tried to move the wraps and move the joint a litte to see what was going on. A warmth flooded over her supporting hand and she yanked it away. It came up smeared with red. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"What... What did you do?"

"Oh, right, you were choking to death from smoke and large things being yanked out of you. If I remember correctly, I...I became scared." He broke eye contact and leaned on his good arm, on his thigh. Things were coming back to him quickly. "Jumped onto the scorpion mech, shattered my hand in breaking open the tungsten steel, lost my arm and exploded my knee from peeling back the armor, jumped in and punched everything until I broke you free and got you to safety only for the mech to explode and...I'm blank from then on, but judging from your lack of serious burns except for your shoulders and from the scorch marks on my skin, I'd say I shielded you..." "In a nutshell, I became scared. I could have just had DT cut it open using her precision laser, but...yeah, this is what happens when I become legitimately scared and angry at the same time. I uh...resort to my base tools." He flexed his hand, looking at it. Scars and marks adorning it. "Which reminds me. I'm going to punch Sev as hard as I can with my stub. Bastard told me to abandon you."

Slowly, she turned away from him and slouched. Her shoulders rose, taking a deep shaking breath, "May--" she cleared her throat, "Maybe you should have... Lay down," her voice cracked and she stood up, "I'll go see if I can find something better than the bandages for your knee." He stopped her, holding her arm. "Not going to do that." He spoke plainly. "I don't abandon friends. Not for any reason. I'll sacrifice myself first. " "I don't want you to sacrifice yourself," carefull not to look at him she sniffled and tried to wrench her arm away. He let go and let her walk away, feeling weak. "Don't care if you don't want me to sacrifice myself. I'm not going to abandon my friends. Especially ones like you that have proven that they aren't just a waste of space." She stopped a few feet from the door and wiped her face with the heel of her hand taking another deep breath and clearing her throat again, "... Thank you." "Anytime." He smiled, removing his mask and feeling his face. It was still scarred, but it wasn't more damaged than normal.

MEANWHILE...
Downstairs...
"CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG...WAHAAAAYYY!" Sev was living it up, downing shots of rusty-oil in front of another robot. He was winning by a longshot. Rusty-oil was the robotic equivalent of heavy alcohol that will make a robot perform very slowly if too much is consumed.

MEANWHILE...
"Thank you for being so helpful Gabriel...I think in a couple days I'll be fine...hand me my satchel, please." He looked at where she pointed and grabbed her leather satchel for her. She opened it up as she lay on the bed and pulled out the heavy star, it had barely fit in there. "I think we'll all be out for a couple days...but I think taking the star back to the island will be the best choice. Give you a chance to train your dragon a bit...wow, I never thought I'd hear those words come out of my own mouth. Fascinating...."

Aurora had been put far behind them by the time the sun set. Both were more than happy about that. Gabe had left immediately, taking the satchel and the large red gem with him. The journey to the Dead Zone and back would give him several days to think and the others to rest. He noted that the wind whipping past him was slowing. Boulder started grumbling, pulling his wings in and losing altitude as he became tired. Unfortunately they were over a thick forest with no clearings in sight. Gabe sighed, feeling bad for putting him through this flight again.

"Need to keep goin' a little more, bud. No place to land here," Gabe patted the dragon's side and nervously clenched with his knees.

But still Boulder continued to drop. The tops of the pines were coming within a dozen feet of his belly.

"Hey, what're you doin'? Pull up!"

The first tree snapped against his stony hide. He tucked his wings in tightly and spread his talons ready for a rough landing.

"Ah, dammit!"

---

Sitting next to the fire and tending to his bumps and scrapes, Gabe looked up at the jagged dragon-sized gash that had been torn through the forest canopy. It lead downward into a long stretch of torn up earth and ended in a deep pit and a tall mound of dirt and branches. Boulder had padded it down and nestled into it like a bed, rather proud of his accidental creation. However, making it resulted in his irritated rider being thrown several yards into the trees. He was considering the training Anna had suggested but, how does one train a dragon anyway? Did he even really need such a thing? With a sigh he stood up and moved to slump down against Boulder's belly and rubbed it for a second. The dragon didn't move but made a deep thumping in his chest like purring.

It took all of the next day and part of the one after that to reach the dead zone. Finally they were flying over the island where this whole mess had started. They swept in low far from where he remembered the camp of prisoners being. However, he couldn't for the life of him remember where the river was nor did he know how to get to this mysterious cave from there, but Boulder seemed to know exactly where they were going.

He landed in the shallows of the river as smoothly as his huge body would allow, placing them directly in front of the opening in the damp rock face. Gabe felt chills running down his spine as he stepped into this place. It almost felt as if the atmosphere itself was trying to repulse him. The deeper he went the worse it got. By the time he reached the pedestal and the door at the end he was well ready to be far far away. A cursory glance at the doorway and he knew exactly what to do. He reached into the satchel and pulled out the large star gem. Actually touching the thing made him uncomfortable. Quickly he reached up and put it into place in it's slot above. It slid in easily and had a seem-less fit with the stone around it. After getting it set Gabe tried to wriggle it around to make sure it was secure. It didn't budge what-so-ever. With that it was time to leave again. He stepped back slowly, still looking at the door and was startled by a viscous roar that echoed up the tunnel behind him.

Gabe sprinted blindly out of the caves and into the sunlight. Boulder was gone. A patch of trees by the river was on fire. A large swatch of trunks stood where their tops had been melted off in an upward slice. Covered in a foul, caustic slime they steadily continued to dissolve. Gabe looked around frantically before more screeching and roaring up above got his attention. Three dragons tore through the sky above. Boulder trying to outrun two smaller, sleeker creatures who mercilessly blasted him with flames and raked at him with their talons whenever they were close. They dropped below the tree-line with a loud crash and more roaring and screaming. Gabe bolted through the trees.

Just before he reached them he pulled his sword only to hit the switch and remember that it wouldn't work here. He leaped off a large rock and into mess of shredded ground and splintered wood where they were fighting. Boulder was back in his element on the ground, spitting acid, bearing his teeth and keeping his neck, wings and stomach tucked. The other two came down on top of him regardless of their own well-being. For a second he froze, not sure how to stop this horror. Then one of the beasts, a large red snapped his gaze over to him and snarled. Its eyes were unfocused and crazed with pupils dilated to no more than thin lines. It bounded up over Boulder and its partner and charged at him. Gabe couldn't move out of the way. It caught him around the torso with a massive claw and slammed him into the ground, pinning him in place, broken and breathless. He put both hands on the dragon's scaly flesh. It opened its mouth, sucking air and beginning to drool flammable liquids. Then it froze perfectly in place like a statue save for quivering and shuddering that ran through its body.

"Don't... fight us," Gabe managed to spit through his teeth.

The red's snout darted down a few inches before being stopped dead in place once more.

"S-stop..." he gasped for breath and begged, "I don't want this."

Again its head snapped down and froze, chemicals now pouring out of its mouth as it continued to try and spit flame. The air was no longer flowing either, its lungs had stopped. Suddenly the dragon's head flipped violently to the side and the shuddering and twitching grew erratic and more wild. Sickening, fluid, gurgling came from its throat first. Then its eyes glazed over, fogged and became dull gray orbs. The drooling from its mouth became tinged pink, then red, then was replaced with a heavy flow of blood. Dark red, nearly black, streams sputtered out of its nostrils, ears and eyes next as the seizures continued. Next spots of flesh opened, festered and oozed as wide sores. The once magnificent creature was helpless as its blood boiled out of its veins and pooled in the dirt. In moments it was dead. Gabe released it and it crumpled heavily to the ground.

Boulder thrashed and tried to claw his foe across the face with a desperate blow. The copper dragon snapped out at him in time to catch a wing in its mouth and started ruthlessly throwing its head back and forth, shredding the tender membranes in its teeth. A long, red, crystalline spike pierced through its neck before liquefying out of existence. Enraged it wheeled off Boulder and writhed, swiping and biting at an enemy it had yet to locate. Another spike went through its clavicle and melted away like the first. Then it spotted Gabe, standing in the bloody mess from the first dragon, the liquid somehow running up his legs, torso and shoulders and down his arms to his hands where it collected into amorphous, shifting, lashing tendrils waiting to be shaped. The copper wasted no time in spitting its flames. With a smooth twist of the wrist one of the red tendrils under his control snapped out and crystallized, withstanding the flames and piercing through the dragon's mouth and through the back of its skull. The flames stopped and so did the chaos.

The mercenary dropped smothering the flames that clung to him. Fresh burns patched his skin. On his knees he struggled to breathe and wrapped an arm tightly around his torso. The blood under his control laced his body and began to sink into his flesh. More misted out from the two corpses and gathered in droplets on him. It was wrong. He felt sick. But it was necessary. Slowly the burns began to clear and stitch themselves together. There was a crackle and he winced and gasped as his ribs were forced back into place. The disgusting act continued until he was able to rise to his feet and was completely cleared of wounds. Like it had never happened. After, the remaining fluid was allowed to drip away.

He backed away from the corpses. Beautiful, legendary forms twisted and crushed and broken into a hideous mockery of their race. He wanted to vomit. Boulder thrashed and groaned behind him. No longer able to face what he had done he turned away and walked toward his friend. The rocky beast recoiled away when he reached his hands out. Boulder was covered in lacerations and burns and one wing hung limp at his side. Gabe stepped in again and tried to touch him but again he snapped back and this time hissed.

He sighed and hung his head, "Not gonna hurt you... A'right? I can fix ya' and if you want, when I'm done, you can take of an' leave me here. Gods know I deserve it."

Boulder was still and silent, eyeing the man cautiously and fearfully. Gabe sat down on the ground and scratched his head. It took several minutes but slowly Boulder limped over to him and nudged his shoulder with his under-bite and rumbled a sympathetic whine. Gabe smiled weakly, pulled out a pocket knife and pressed the blade into the palm of his other hand.

"This is gonna feel weird, bud, but you'll be good as new," he said while slicing through his flesh. Gabe placed the wounded palm on Boulder's neck and closed his eyes. The wounds and broken bones began to knit as he threaded his own life into the dragon.

---

Brooklyn strolled back to the inn with a few groceries, supplies and some spare parts she had scrounged up from the market in hand. Her eyes and the veiny red marks on her skin had cleared up, but the dark splotches on her hands and spine still remained. Any spare time she had the past several days were spent at Sebastian's side or trying to find errands to run or tasks for herself to do. Really anything to get away from SEV. She shuddered. Once she thought Sebastian was foul and rude and forward, but compared to that robot he was an absolute prince charming.

She entered the street that lead back to home base and looked down the other way toward the hanger and parking garage where they had left the dragons. A frown crossed her face and she wondered if she should go check on Aurora. Gabe might show up today too. He should have been quite some time ago if all he was doing was taking the star gem to the cave. She had grown worried, but the others seemed to think everything was fine. A tap on her shoulder startled her and she nearly dropped her bags and parcels.

"Ah!! What!? Hi! I'm sorry--" she stammered, "... Oh! You're back! I was starting to get... You don't look..."

The corner of the blond mercenary's mouth turned up slightly. He looked disheveled, pale, slightly thinner and had dark circles under his eyes. Brooklyn fooled around with her words trying to regain some tact, but there was no nice way to say it.

"You look really... bad," she finally said.

"Jus' tired," he shrugged, "Long flight an' everythin'... Ya' need help with any o' that?"

She smirked rolled her eyes, "So tough. Here take these. I was just on my way back. Anna has gotten a lot better since you were gone and Sebastian is well... He's being Sebastian. They'll be glad you're back. We're all kinda starting to go crazy just sitting around like this."