S3, 13 What Lies Beneath (FB) (September 5, 2016)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**22nd August 2096**

The news was reporting on the on-going battle on Etrion – how the combined Imperium, Pax Aurelian and Collective forces were only now just beginning to push through the rogue Ambassador’s defences and enter the fortress that he’d crashed onto the planet. Apparently the mercenaries known as the Claws of Etrion had also been spotted at the battle.

I frowned, wondering how the battle was going to go, but then my ponderings were interrupted by the bleeping of my comlink.

Picking it up, I turned it on and the small optic disc ‘pinged’ on, thrusting the little blue hologram up from my palm.

Judas: “Hey Tank.” He greeted, sounding as if something was bothering him.

Tank: “Hey.” I replied, concerned. “What’s up?”

Judas: “Could you come into the office please? I need to talk to you about something.”

Tank: “Sure. No worries. I’ll be there in a bit.”

Judas: “Thanks.”

About an hour later, I had gotten changed, Tracks had prepped the Viper for me and now I was walking the corridors of the senate building, heading towards the Governor’s office. I’d spent the entire journey wondering what the problem could be – why Judas had called me into his office with no indication of why he wanted to see me. Must be important.

I smiled at the receptionist as we passed and then knocked on the Governor’s door.

Judas: “Come on in, Tank.” He greeted from where he stood, looking out the window, his hands clasped behind his back.

Tank: “Is everything okay?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

Judas: “I’m not sure.” He replied honestly, turning to face me. I frowned in response and he continued. “How are you, Tank?”

Tank: “I’m fine, thanks.” I answered, confused.

Judas: “And I can trust you, can’t I?”

Tank: “Of course! When have I ever given you reason not to?”

Judas: “You haven’t and that’s the problem.” He explained and began to pace.

Tank: “I’m sorry, I don’t understand…”

Judas: “I had a little chat with a Colonel by the name of Ramson yesterday…” He began and my stomach lurched. Oh no!

Judas: “And he told me a lot of interesting ‘facts’ about you, *Tank*.”

Tank: “Listen, Judas…”

Judas: “Are they true? Is any of it true, *Tank*? Or is it *Frank*?” he asked, stopping his pacing and looking at me.
I sighed, wishing that he hadn’t found out.

Tank: “What did he say?” I asked quietly.

Judas: “He told me that your real name is Frank Foster and that you were in prison on Earth for murdering your parents when you were ten years old. Apparently you broke out during the Shift and hid out on Iapra with another known criminal and you were then re-arrested but broke out some time after. You’ve been on the run since.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was so gutted that my friend had found all of this out. Found out that I’d kept it from him. I looked at the floor, thinking of what to say.

Tank: “Look…” I sighed, not knowing how to begin, to apologise. “It… it is. It’s true. All of it.” I finally confirmed, meeting his gaze, even though it pained me. “Well, not *all* of it. I didn’t kill my parents. *That* I’m innocent of. But the rest… my real name, my history… yeah. He’s right. Judas, I’m so sorry…”

Judas held up a hand for silence and I stopped talking and resumed examining the floor.

The Governor sighed audibly.

Judas: “I don’t know why… but, I believe you. You’ve lied to me about so much, but I believe that you didn’t kill your parents.” My hopes picked up slightly as he spoke. “In the months that I’ve known you – all you’ve ever done is help and been kind to me. You’re a good friend – if not my best. Heck, I don’t have many!” he smirked slightly, his old self starting to shine through again and I smiled warmly back. “You’re my best friend and so I believe that you didn’t kill your parents - **BUT**…”

I knew there would be a ‘but’.

Judas: “I don’t like being lied to, Tank.”

Tank: “I know…” I looked back to the floor again. “I’m so sorry. I really am. But put yourself in my shoes.” I tried to reason. “I’m a convicted criminal and you’re the Governor of Qoter! I couldn’t just announce my real identity to you!”

Judas: “I know.” He admitted and sat beside me on the leather sofa.

Judas: “I’ve always known that you were hiding something. You’re always so… vague, so shady about what you do… I knew there must be more to it. I just… hoped that there wasn’t.”

Tank: “I’m still me though.” I assured.

Judas: “Does Riley know?” He queried.

Tank: “No!” I replied quickly, fearing that he’d tell her my real identity. “No, and she can’t know! Please…”

Judas: “Don’t worry.” He interjected. “I won’t say anything. It’s not my place to tell her. But she will feel betrayed, I can tell you that much. I’ve known her a long time.” He announced, his eyes focussed in the middle distance, presumably thinking of her. “She’s… an incredible woman. She’s beautiful, intelligent, talented… she’s amazing.” He listed with a small smile and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy as he spoke of my girlfriend.

Suddenly another thought occurred to me – Judas had said he didn’t like being lied to and was now talking about Riley – well Riley and I were hiding the fact that we are dating from him! If he found out, he wouldn’t like it. Not at all. Not now he knew I’d been lying to his face all this time. If Riley, in his mind, ‘betrayed’ him now as well, it would destroy him. No, I couldn’t tell him. Despite everything we’d just spoken about, I *had* to keep this from him.

Judas: “So I will keep your secret, Tank, but only so that you can be the one to tell her. And you must. I know that she thinks highly of you – you’re a good friend to her as well as to me, if she finds out some other way, as I did, she would never forgive you.” He warned and I nodded my understanding, whilst secretly thinking that I was a bit more than a ‘good friend’ to her!

At that point, Riley herself entered the room.

Riley: “Judas, the files for the… Oh!” she exclaimed, seeing me. “Hey Tank.” She grinned.

Tank: “Hey.” I smiled back warmly. It was always good to see her.

Riley: “What are you doing here? What are you two plotting now?” she smirked at us and Judas stood up, smiling again, as though our conversation hadn’t happened.

Judas: “Tank was just updating me on the robot attacks situation.” He lied.

Riley: “Ah okay! How’s it going? Found anything out yet?”

Tank: “Uhh….” I started, trying to quickly think of something. “Well, we have one possible lead, but I’ve not followed up on it yet because I’m waiting for Jay, Arathon,” I added, to ensure they knew who I meant. “to have some free time to investigate with me. It turns out that he was looking into the same thing earlier this year so we think it might all be connected.” I explained, informing them about the lead that Jay had mentioned when I’d spoken to him earlier in the month.

Judas: “I see.” He acknowledged.

Tank: “But as soon as we’ve investigated it, I’ll give you an update.” I assured.

**2nd September 2096: Present Day**

As it happened, it was another week and a half before Jay was free to meet up with me. I’d been informed once they had rescued Eris, and at the same time I’d asked Jay when he’d be ready to follow up on the lead. But they were so busy catching up on political goings-on now that Eris had returned, that it had taken some time for him to get some free time!

But, now that he was finally free for a bit, the two of us, along with Tracks, were just arriving at the co-ordinates that I had found for him earlier in the year. Back in February, Jay and Eris had come under attack from some junk ‘bots and I had searched the datafiles in the remains of one and found that it had originated from these co-ordinates, here in Knightborn, on Qoter.

Tank: “What is this? A construction site?” I queried as we arrived.

Jay: “No, look.” He pointed to where a wrecking ball hung motionless from a crane. “Things are going the other way – it’s a demolition site.”

We arrived at a “No Entry” barrier but Jay casually waved his hand, and they floated aside, out of the way. Making our way further into the demolition site, we couldn’t find any signs of junk droids at all.

Tracks whirred questioningly.

Tank: “I don’t know, buddy. I don’t see anybody either.”

Jay: “Something’s not right here…” he confirmed as we stopped in a flattened area of rubble to look around us.

Tank: “Where is everybody?”

Jay: “I don’t know…”

It was the middle of the day, in the middle of the week – the site should have been teeming with crewmen, all working the machinery to knock down what still remained of whatever had stood here before. And yet despite this, there was not a single person in sight.

Looking around, it appeared to have been a hotel of some kind, but now all that remained were multiple, large piles of rubble, demolition vehicles such as wrecking balls, dumper trucks and diggers and a small section of the building that was yet to be knocked down, off in one corner of the site.

Tank: “Well, there might not be any workers, but at least there aren’t any junk droids either.” I commented, half-jokingly and Jay smirked.

Jay: “Let’s go check out the demo’ office.” He suggested and indicated to where a port-a-cabin stood off to one side. “See if the manager, or anyone actually, is in there.”

Tank: “Good idea.” I confirmed and the three of us headed towards it. When we reached the door, Jay knocked, opened it and put his head inside.

Jay: “Hello?” he called, but there was no answer. “Empty.” He announced, turning back to face me, but then he frowned, looking over my shoulder.

Curious, I turned to see what he was looking at and found my view blocked by a mini digger, it’s scoop raised high in the air, looming over me.

Tank: “Uh… was that there before?” I questioned. I glanced at the driver’s cab, but it was empty.

Jay replied with an ‘Um…’ but then my question was answered as the huge yellow scoop that had been poised high in the air, came crashing down towards me.

I cried out but Jay shouted something in the Collective language and I flew out of harm’s way. I landed flat on my back, but that was better than being crushed! I looked down and saw the digger career forwards in an attempt to run Jay over.

Jay leapt back into the port-a-cabin and slammed the door shut, but that didn’t stop the digger. It brought it’s scoop back up and then slammed it down, ripping through the flimsy walls of the cabin. It reversed away a few meters and then charged full-throttle at the building.

Tank: “JAY!” I shouted in warning, but I needn’t have. The digger crashed through the office wall but as it did so, Jay leapt high into the air, much higher than any human could jump and somersaulted over the haywire machine, landing gracefully on the ground behind it.

He brushed his hands off and headed towards me as I climbed to my feet, but then the crazed digger, which had been continuing to smash its way through what remained of the port-a-cabin, seemed to realise that its prey was no longer inside. It wheeled around and charged us again. Tracks tried firing at it, but his bullets did nothing other than cause dents in the metal work. I turned to run, but then found a dumper truck barrelling towards me.

Tank: “What the frack is going on here?!” I cursed aloud and Jay turned, also seeing the truck.

Jay: “Oh scrim…” he muttered and together the three of us pegged it across the rubble, trying to escape from the oncoming vehicles.
Tracks kept firing behind us as we ran and one of his bullets actually managed to pop one of the tires on the truck and it began to hobble.

Tank: “Quick! Over there!” I shouted, pointing to a large pile of rubble that we could potentially hide behind. We ran over to it and skidded to a stop on the far side to the crazed vehicles.

Tank: “What the heck is going on?” I questioned again but Jay just shook his head, panting.

Jay: “I have, no idea.” He said between breaths.

Tank: “Do you think that whatever is causing the robots to attack is also controlling the machinery?”

Jay: “Quite likely.” He agreed. “We’re going to need back up to get out of here.”

Tank: “Call Eris.”

Jay: “She’s away in Sector five on a diplomatic mission. And the others are all off doing one thing or another.” He explained and then looked over at me. “You got any other friends?” he asked, semi-seriously.

Tank: “Ha-ha.” I replied sarcastically and pulled out my comlink.

It was the middle of the day, so Judas would probably be in a meeting, so instead I called the number for his receptionist.

Receptionist: “Hello?”

Tank: “Hi, it’s Tank! Where’s Riley?” I demanded.

Receptionist: “She’s not here at the moment. She’s taken some time off.”

Tank: “What?!” I asked incredulously. “What about Judas? It’s an emergency!”

Receptionist: “One moment…” the image vanished as I was put on hold.

Jay: “I’m beginning to worry that I was right!” he muttered jokingly.

The little blue image in my hand returned, except this time, it was of Judas.

Judas: “What’s up?” he asked, sounding concerned.

Tank: “I need help!” I urged. “I’m with Jay and we’re under attack! We were following up on the robot lead we had and we’re now being attacked by crazed demolition machines!”

Jay tapped my arm to get my attention and then pointed to where a babble of robots, all made from miss-matching parts, was emerging from the still-standing section of building.

Tank: “And junk robots!” I added to Judas.

Judas: “Okay, I’ll send some troops to assist. I’ll send them straight to your com’s co-ordinates. They’ll be there ASAP.”

Tank: “Please be quick!” I whimpered, semi-serious, and ended the transmission.

Tracks suddenly squealed in alarm and Jay and I both looked up to find a wrecking ball swinging through the air in our direction.

Jay raised his hand and chanted something I assumed would aid our situation. Instead, the ball appeared to speed up and we all cried out in alarm as we dove aside, out of harm’s way.

The ball smashed into the pile of rubble where we’d stood only moments before and dust and debris flew everywhere.

Tank: “What was that?!” I demanded of Jay as we coughed through the dust.

Jay: “I’m still relatively new to this!” he argued. “I’m sorry I’m not an expert at the language yet!”

Just then a laser hit the rubble just next to Tracks who whirred in surprise. We glanced around the side of the pile and found the horde of robots advancing on us. One lunged towards us and I quickly drew one of my pistols and shot it in the head. It collapsed to the floor as Jay called out words I didn’t understand, that caused both a second and third droids to smash into one another. Tracks let loose a volley from his shoulder cannon and mowed down another and caused a further one to lose its arm.

We continued to exchange fire with the advancing droids for another minute or so, before Jay shouted a warning.
The wrecking ball was back for a second attempt at crushing us and so together, we ran out from our hiding place, heading away from the robots.

Unfortunately, as we ran from the droids, we ran straight into the beast of a machine that was the mobile crane that held up the wrecking ball.

We froze in place, staring up at the crane as it swung its enormous arm. The chain attaching the ball to the crane arm was stretched tight as it swung the enormous destroyer around. It smashed into the rubble pile, obliterating the hiding place that we had just left and showering us in chunks of rock and stone.

Before we’d had a chance to react, the crane began trundling towards us – it’s huge caterpillar tracks making light work of the uneven ground. Every link in its tracks was as wide as I was tall.

We started running again, only to find the hobbling dumper truck heading towards us once more and so we changed direction and ran around the side of the crane.

Jay: “Hold on!” he shouted and I suddenly found myself flying! Both Tracks and I cried out in alarm but no sooner had we realised we’d left the ground, we’d landed again; this time on the back of the mobile demolition crane.

I crouched down to maintain my balance on the moving vehicle. A short distance away the dumper truck was still charging full speed in our direction. I began firing at it in an attempt to stop it, however, it didn’t work, even when Tracks joined in.

Tank: “Look out!” I shouted and ran to the far side of the crane as the dumper crashed headlong into its side.

The entire crane shook and wobbled and I toppled over as I lost my balance. When I looked up, I saw that the dumper was well and truly out of the game – its front end completely caved in, with smoke pouring from it.

But this small victory was short lived as lasers began flying through the air again. I turned around and spotted the junk robots heading towards us.

Jay: “This is stupid!” he shouted over the din as the mini digger also appeared up ahead.

I completely agreed. Something had to be done.

Suddenly an idea struck me.

I scrabbled over the surface of the crane and tried the handle of the cockpit door. It was locked so I smashed out the window and clambered through.

Once I was in, I quickly opened up the control panel and began ripping out the wires. I didn’t know how these vehicles were being controlled and nothing in here indicated any tampering, I just had to hope that a manual override would work.

I bypassed several of the control systems and as I connected a final two wires, the crane ground to a halt. Hopefully, I tested the control lever and grinned as it responded.

Tank: “Hold on!” I shouted out of the broken window, copying Jay’s words from earlier.

I shoved the control lever forwards and the crane lurched into life, trundling in the direction I’d told it to go at a fair rate!

I could still hear shooting going on outside, over the top of the rumbling of the crane’s engines and huge tracks. We passed a load of junk robots and, thinking quickly, I tugged on another lever control that brought the wrecking ball swinging around to one side. The ball smashed straight through the group of droids and sent chunks of metal and electronics flying in all directions. I grinned at the sight, but once again, our victory was short lived.

Jay: “LOOK OUT!” I heard him yell and as I looked up, I realised why.

In my excitement at destroying the robots, I’d failed to pay attention to where the crane was going and now realised it was far too late to do anything about it – we were about to crash headlong into what remained of the hotel.

Just a second later, we were all violently thrown forwards as the front of the crane slammed straight into the building. My head hit the dashboard and I cried out as everything shook. Holding my head, I looked up in time to see chunks of new rubble and debris falling from the remains onto the crane.

Rubble rained down for a good minute, which was made even more terrifying by the fact my head was swimming from where I’d hit it. Even after the bricks and steel had stopped falling, the dust didn’t settle for another good, few minutes.

Jay: “Everyone okay?” I heard him call from outside. Tracks whirred affirmatively.

Tank: “Yeah, I’m good.” I replied, holding onto my head. “Hang on, I’ll back us out of here.” I called and pulled the crane into reverse. Thankfully, it was still operational and as we backed out, the rubble that had collected on top of and piled up around us, all fell away, leaving a massive hole in the side of the building.

We ground to a halt and I clambered back out of the now dented cabin. I climbed down to where Jay and Tracks already stood on the ground beside the ruined vehicle.

Tank: “Did we get them all?” I joked through the pain radiating from my forehead.

Jay: “Most. I think there are still a few droids around and so is that digger.”

Tank: “Shame.” I muttered.

Jay began to frown and turned around to face the dark, gaping hole that had been created in the side of the building.

Tank: “What is it?”

Jay: “I don’t know…” He replied. “Something… There’s something down here.” He revealed and I joined in frowning.

Tank: “What do you mean, ‘something’?”

Jay: “I don’t know…” he admitted but began walking towards the rubble.

I was unsure but I trusted Jay and so began to follow him. It was dark inside, so Tracks turned his eyes up so that we could at least see where we were going.

There was rubble all around, mixed with the foundations of the building and the bottoms of walls. Pipes and cables ran the length of every wall and suddenly we found ourselves at the top of a small slope leading further down, into the ground.

The floor seemed to have been ripped up in order for this hole to have been dug. The ramp wasn’t very steep and extended only a few meters down into the dirt, but at the end of it sat a big, round, metal door. Just from looking at it, I could tell that it was heavy and also very, *VERY* old.

Tank: “What on earth is that?” I asked quietly. I wasn’t sure why I was being hushed, but I felt that I should be.

Jay: “I don’t know.” He replied honestly in an equally hushed tone. He headed down the mud slope and Tracks and I followed.

Jay: “Tracks.” He asked, indicating to the door and my droid shone his eye lights to where the Archmage’s husband had pointed. Jay placed his palm flat on the lock and closed his eyes. I assumed he was using some sort of Collective technique to try and open it but after about a minute, he opened his eyes and stepped back, frowning.

Tank: “Let me try.” I suggested and we swapped positions. I opened up the panel besides the lock and carefully removed a bundle of wiring. I spent a good couple of minutes figuring out what did what, before I even attempted to change anything. Then, once I was sure I knew what each wire was for, I began to cut and adjust the systems. A further minute later, there was a huge *HISS* as the door slid open a crack and stale air from inside rushed out.

Tracks stepped in and used his robotic strength to push the door fully open, leaving a big, dark hole in the ground. We could see that the tunnel extended deeper underground and I spotted hundreds of wires and little cables all traveling the length of the passage, but beyond that, we could see nothing.

Jay: “Be careful.” He whispered and together, uncertainly, the three of us entered the ancient, dirt corridor.

We walked for what felt like an age, going ever deeper and deeper underground, with no change in our surroundings, but eventually, the tunnel began to level out. After another minute of walking in the, now flat, tunnel, we slowed to a halt as the tunnel walls appeared to end. Tracks’ eyes could pick out ground in front of us though, so we cautiously took another step forwards – and activated what turned out to be a motion sensor.

Above us, lights built into the rocky ceiling began to flutter into life – lights that clearly hadn’t been used in a *VERY* long time. Some didn’t work at all and the ones that did were dirty and covered in grime. The lights illuminated a small, roughly level area that was roughly twenty meters by twenty meters in size. The dirt walls continued out from the tunnel we’d just exited and ran around the sides of the area, but didn’t continue across the far edge.

The lights continued to flicker into life, lights that stretched further and further away from us. In fact, the lights continued into the distance, right onto the horizon, further than we could see. But what we *could* see, was what they had now illuminated.

Jay: “Oh… my…”

Tank: “…God…” I finished as my mouth fell open.

At the edge of the clearing we were stood in was a railing, and beyond that…

Was a city.

It was getting late, but Judas was still sat at his office desk, ploughing his way through the paperwork.

He took a moment to appreciate just how much work Riley did for him and a soft smile played across his lips.

A smile that vanished as the lights began to flicker.

Judas: “Bloody outages…” he muttered, tiredly, as the lights vanished completely for a couple of seconds.

But when they returned, he was not alone. Stood on the opposite side of the desk was a masked figure dressed in black combat armour. Judas cried out in alarm.

Darkblade: “Touch the panic button located under your desk and you’re dead.” He put simply and Judas froze in place, having been about to do just that.

Judas: “Who are you? What do you want?” he demanded, regaining some composure and sitting up straight in his chair. “How did you get in here?”

Darkblade: “Questions… questions…” he muttered. “From now on, *I* ask the questions, okay?” he threatened and levelled his blaster at the Governor.

Judas faltered slightly.

Judas: “I’m in charge here.” He stated, but his tone disagreed with his own statement.

Darkblade: “Do you feel in charge?” he queried and Judas fell silent. “I am here, to offer you a deal.”

Judas: “The Government of Qoter and the Galactic Imperium do not make deals with terrorists.”

Darkblade: “You may re-think that rhetoric when you hear what I have to say.”

Judas didn’t respond.

With his free hand Darkblade tossed a small chip, a bank chip to be precise, onto Judas’s desk.

Judas: “What’s this?”

Darkblade: “Plug it in.”

Judas: “No.” he replied stubbornly, trying to hold on to as much control as he could.

Darkblade: “Plug it in.” he repeated, more firmly this time and after a couple of second’s hesitation, Judas did so. He slid the chip into the reader port on his datapad and watched as the accounts loaded. When they did so, his eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly.

Judas: “What is this?” he asked, still staring at the bank account showing on the screen.

Darkblade: “*That*, is a bank account with 2 Billion, tax-free, credits in it.” He explained.

Judas swallowed slowly.

Darkblade: “It’s yours. All you have to do is hit ‘Enter’. Hit ‘Enter’ and they will be immediately transferred into your account, there to use as you so desire.”

Judas continued ogling the screen, his eyes boring into the displayed number. He could do so much with them! 2 *BILLION*! And yet…

Judas: “What’s the catch?” he asked, finally tearing his eyes off of the screen and looking back up at Darkblade.

Darkblade: “There is no catch. Just a simple deal. I give you those credits and you can do what you like with them. In return, you give me access to all of the Governmental information and equipment that I require.”

Judas knew there had to be a catch.

Darkblade: “There is a task I am trying to accomplish and I cannot do it without more resources – resources that the wonderful Government here on Qoter just happens to have.”

Judas swallowed again and slowly looked back down at his datapad, where the screen still showed the 2 Billion credits symbol. He ground his teeth.

It was so tempting!

With 2 billion credits, he could rebuild the entire city! Regentis would recover from the Collective war overnight! All of the damage that still remained would be fixed in no time and at no extra cost to the people living here! He hated having to tax the residents more and more, but the repairs had to be funded by somebody! With these 2 Billion, he could lower taxes again AND get all of the repairs done! It would take *years* for the government to raise that amount of money.

He'd probably be able to do even more than that! And all of it would be to benefit the people of Qoter. Not a single greedy thought passed through his mind. He would spend every last credit on improving the lives of his subjects.

But at what cost? Exactly what equipment and resources did this madman want? And where had these credits come from? They were undoubtedly stolen – either from physical robberies or through electronic hacking.

Judas could never warrant taking that amount of stolen money – even if he could use it for the betterment of the planet.

Judas: “No.” he said finally, looking back up at Darkblade. He removed the credit chip from his datapad and tossed it at the masked man. “I would rather die than be bribed. There are far too many corrupt politicians in the galaxy – men who would be happy to take you up on your deal. But if I am to lead, I am to lead by example. I will not bow down to a simple terrorist or marauding pirate or whoever the hell you are. So kill me if you like – but you will not gain access to whatever it is that you are after.”

There was a tense pause in which both men simply stared at one another in silence. Not a single sound was uttered.

Finally, Darkblade spoke.

Darkblade: “I will not kill you.” He announced, lowering his weapon. “You have a pure and good heart. Something that is sorely lacking in the world these days.”

Judas: “Yeah. I’m sure your heart is made of gold.” He replied sarcastically and to his surprise, Darkblade chuckled slightly.

Darkblade: “I do not claim to be among the few who are of good nature. But still, I will let you live – as you may still be of use in the future.”

Judas: “Oh, I’m thrilled.” He commented dryly.

Darkblade: “Don’t worry. You won’t be seeing me again – at least, not unless circumstances change. But I must warn you – if you try to find me, if you send your men, your soldiers, after me, if you even *attempt* to hunt me down – then I will let the entire system know about your dirty little secret.”

At that, Judas’ eyes widened and his stomach dropped. What did he mean? He couldn’t surely know about…

Darkblade: “Yes, yes.” He continued, seeing the Governor’s expression. “I know all about your younger sibling.”

Judas’ breathing started to judder in shock. He did know! But how?!

Darkblade: “I’m sure that the system would love to know how the beloved Governor of Qoter has a heavily disabled younger brother, who killed their mother during childbirth and whom Governor Boan has kept hidden away from the public eye ever since!”

Judas didn’t know what to say. At a total loss for words, his mind was blank. He never thought anybody would find out about his brother, Manerre!

Judas: “How do you know about him?” he finally managed to whisper in a mixture of anger and fear.

Darkblade: “I have my ways. Just as I had the ways to acquire those credits.”

Judas: “Get out.” He snarled. His temper rising. “GET OUT!” he bellowed.

Darblade: “As you wish. But remember – if you tell anybody about this meeting or send anybody to find me, your dirty secret will be exposed to every single person in this system.” He said.

Judas: “**OUT!**”

Darkblade activated a small device on his wrist and suddenly all of the lights in the room exploded in a shower of sparks.

Judas covered his eyes and when he looked back, he was alone.

**BONUS PICTURES**

One of the construction site sets.

The set with the mini digger running wild.

Tank and Jay hiding behind the rubble pile.

The wrecking ball crane.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE