Vorcium:Silence

### RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT OFF

A lone, cloaked figure wearing repainted Knight’s armor approached a throne, two men wearing black Knight’s armor stood by either side of the throne, both holding spears. They kneeled as the Cloaked figure sat down into the throne. The lack of light covered his face. He sat for a few seconds, before Eric appeared from the end of the hall, and approached him. “Eric. Have you claimed the bounty of that Cleanser?” The cloaked man asked. Eric pulled out Matt’s eye, and handed it to a nearby guard, who put it through a handheld retina scanner. “It checks out, Sir.” The guard said to the cloaked man. The cloaked man nodded. “Give him his cash.” A nearby guard handed Eric several bills, specifically 200 dollars in a mix between Demon currency and Vorcium’s currency. “We agreed on 300.” Eric said. “You were late.” The cloaked man said. “I’m done working for you.” Eric said. “No more murders, no more abusiveness of this, bad luck aura of mine. I wasn’t born an assassin. I was born a bounty hunter.” The guards drew their weapons. “Relax. I won’t rat you out. But I’m not doing your jobs anymore. Just let me leave.” Eric said. “No. You will do one more job for me. And this time, you will be allowed to bring him alive. As a matter of fact, you MUST bring him alive.” The cloaked man said, as he removed his hood, revealing himself to be wearing a mask made out of a deer’s skull, without the antlers. “Fine. What are the details?” Eric asked. The cloaked figure got up from his throne. “I cannot stress the importance of this person’s survival. I simply need them captured. If you fail this mission, I will have you hunted down by my men even if you change your name and travel to Venus. Do not screw up years of planning!” The cloaked man said. “I said, what are the details?” Eric said. The same guard handed Eric a sheet of paper. “Jesus, you can’t expect me to do this.” Eric said. “Remember: Reputation is imaginary. No job too small, no bounty too big.” The cloaked figure said. “Fine, Angel. But only under one agreement: I get as much time as I need. Because I’m gonna take a vacation after we’re done here.” Eric said. “Fine. Try not to make it any longer than two months until you begin your mission. You are free to take from the armory, and you are free to bring with you any of my Black Knights. Just try not to get any of it destroyed or killed, depending on what you’re taking.” The figure identified as Angel said. “Alright. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Eric said as he turned around. Two Black Knights saluted Eric. “Hail the Black Angel!” They both said. “Right.” Eric replied, as he walked past them, and out the exit. The Black Angel put his hood back on, and sat back in his throne.

### HEALING PROCESS

Maximus entered a hospital room, where he saw Mac lying in a bed, Mac didn’t wear his armor, but that didn’t stop him from concealing his face with a hockey mask. “Jesus Christ. I didn’t know Jason Vorhees served in the Order of Knights.” Maximus said. “I’ll be damned if I’m ever gonna let the public see my face, alright?” Mac said. “Why’s that?” Maximus asked. “Because. I think it makes me more intimidating.” Mac said. “It makes you look like a serial killer.” Maximus said as he walked further into the room, and sat down in a chair next to him. “How long’s it gonna be until you’re back in shape?” Maximus asked. “A week. It’s only an extra two days because you stabbed me.” Mac said. “It was to stop the bleeding. It’s was a tense moment, OK?” Maximus said. “Whatever. As long as that Pyrus asshole is six feet under I don’t give a damn.” Mac said. “So how is it you’re still alive?” Mac asked. “Me? Well, after Radio City, they sewed everything back up and helped me as much as they could. But I died I guess, or it felt like it, at least. Had memory after memory of my life, before it turned into one hell of a lurid dream at the end. Turns out that although the docs thought I was dead, I wasn’t. My heartbeat was too faint to be detected until one of the doctors cut me open and reached in, and massaged my heart. He’s a goddamn maniac, but it worked. By the time they brought me back, I was in a minor coma, and you and Scar were out looking for god knows what.” Maximus said. “Hm. I guess it takes a lot to kill a High General, huh?” Mac asked. “You’re damn right.” Maximus said. “Ugh, I hope I didn’t just walk into you two sucking each other off about your ranks.” Scar said as she entered. “No.” Maximus said. At the same time, Mac said “Yeah.”, Maximus looked at him confused. “How you doin’, Mac?” Scar asked. “I’m fine. The doc said it’ll take a week for me to be ready for action.” Mac said. “So, do you want me to comment on the Jason Voorhees mask or should I spare you?” Scar asked. Mac sighed. “Hey I already told a Jason Voorhees joke regarding the mask.” Maximus said. “Oh, I didn’t realize *you* were the king of giving Mac a hard time. Please, from now on, I’ll just let you speak for me.” Scar said. “While you’re at it, why don’t you go rule a robot army, and develop the Order of Knights’ weapons, and I’ll go take a beach vacation at the shore of VCT.” Scar said further. “Woah woah, what about a ‘robot army’?” Mac asked. “Oh yeah, you weren’t here for that. While you were being fixed up, Maximus and I went and helped defend that Museum from the Demons. And all the robots swore fealty to me. To a degree.” Scar said. “Huh. Cool.” Mac said. “Oh, and, uh, about that. We used a few of your Ghosts, because we couldn’t afford to arm any other soldiers with camo, so they just kinda followed my orders. Here’s a sheet detailing the damages to equipment, ammo spent, soldiers lost and soldiers wounded.” Maximus said. “Oh good, just what I wanted the first hospital visit from my friends to be like. Doing fucking paperwork.” Mac said. “Can’t be a High General without good handwriting.” Maximus said. Mac groaned. He looked over to a calendar that read “Augent”, Vorcium’s August.

### ANARCHY LIVES

In an outpost within a wooded area, several men armed with makeshift equipment and basic weapons patrolled around. Within the outpost was a man wearing a jacket that was unzipped, exposing a bulletproof vest underneath, wearing a motorcycle helmet, with the visor lifted up, exposing his ever alert eyes. A woman approached him, wearing a set of Knight’s armor. “The men keep patrolling, but there’s no visual of approaching enemies. I believe we’re clear.” The woman said. “We are never clear, my love. For as long as we thrive, the Knights will pursue us, and the Demons will attempt to jail us.” The man said. “Of course. I will inform the men to continue their patrols. And stop referring to me as Love. I told you, it was Beautiful.” The woman said, chuckling as she walked away. “How about ‘Gorgeous’? Beautiful's a tad bland for me.” The man said as she walked away. He walked another direction, pulling out a grip with a button on it. He pressed the button, and both ends of the hilts extended in a metal material, clearly designed as a double-barrel staff, though is was notably very light as he swung it around with ease. He got a bit of a feel for it before he entered a garage, with several motorippers powered off, their lack of a front wheel looked awkward, but as soon as he powered on one of the vehicles, they bursted upwards, with the front end being powered with a jet. Two men approached him, both of them wearing somewhat similar attire. “Sir, the Motorippers are ready to go. On your word, we’ll tear the place up.” One of them said. “Good. See to it that you show no mercy, your adversaries won’t do anything of the sort to you.” Their leader said. “Of course, sir. Anarchy prevails!” The other driver said. “Anarchy prevails.” The man said. As he walked away, the back of his jacket had an insignia that designated him as “The Anarchist”. Anarchist walked outside, before he heard gunfire in the distance. He pulled out his staff, and looked around. He heard more gunfire, which caused him to run towards the garage door nearby and open it. “There’s gunfire, get to it!” Anarchist said. Both of the bikers got on their Motorippers, which were modified to have spears on their fronts, and SMGs attached to the handles, which had triggers. The Motorippers took off without hesitation, though Anarchist was surprised when a Knight began firing on one of the Motoripper’s flanks, which got through to the Motoripper’s jet and caused it to malfunction, crashing the bike. The biker recovered, pulling one of the SMGs off the handles and firing upon the Knight, though was gunned down immediately. The other Motorriper retaliated, though Anarchist made his own defense. He pulled a makeshift landmine from his pocket and planted it down into the ground. The knight that gunned down the first biker turned his attention to Anarchist, who began to make his escape into the outpost. The knight pressed a button on the side of the helmet, saying “I’m in pursuit!” and took off towards the Anarchist, who turned to watch as the knight stepped on the mine, and exploded. Anarchist continued back into the facility, where several bikers rallied around Anarchist, fully armed. From above the building, Knights breached and tossed two grenades in, flashing them all. The Knights swarmed into the room from all angles, cuffing all of the bikers while they were off guard, though Anarchist recovered quickly from the flash, and turned his attention to the designated squad leader. He swung his staff at the squad leader, who was caught off-guard, and his in the chest. By the next swing, the squad leader grabbed the staff, holding onto it with his best grasp, he kicked the Anarchist in the chest, which broke the two of them off. With them in a standoff, the leader pulled out a thermic sword, and rushed towards the Anarchist, slicing off one of the ends to the staff, and hitting him back by shoulder rushing him. Anarchist laid on the ground, groaning. The leader put his sword away, and kicked the staff away from Anarchist. The leader pulled off his helmet. “Listen up, and listen good. You killed one of my men today. And that’s an unforgivable crime.” The leader said, who knelt down next to Anarchist. “Remember my name, it’s Maximus. And the one you killed, Chris. And maybe one day you’ll be able to realize what atrocities you’ve committed today.” A young Maximus said. Anarchist was cuffed, and loaded into a KTTS with the rest of the captured bikers, including the Anarchist’s love, Llorona. Maximus and his soldiers stood in the middle of them all as the KTTS took off.
The KTTS landed outside of Rikers, where Maximus and his Knights jumped out with the prisoners. Two Demon guards were next to the gate. “More for us, huh? Alright.” One of the Demons said, as they let Maximus pass with the prisoners. They walked through the courtyard, where they were greeted by a welcome party of heavily armed Demon soldiers, and in the front was Adamska, who said nothing. “We’ve got some more for you. Take them off our hands?” Maximus asked. “Of course.” Adamska said. The facial expression he showed looked as though he was defeated, as though he had given up on life. The prisoners were sent to be escorted by Demon soldiers into Rikers. “Something wrong?” Maximus asked Adamska. “Yeah. I’ve got a message for Magnus. Tell him we’re through housing your prisoners.” Adamska said. “What? Why?” Maximus asked. “Let’s say the final nail in the coffin has been applied.” Adamska said, before walking away. Maximus rounded up his troops back into the KTTS.

### PLANS OF WORTH

Adamska was hit across the face by Maximus’ fist. Their appearances clearly showed that this was back in a modern setting. Mac and Yuri stood behind Maximus, watching him use Adamska as a punching bag. Even though he was enduring potentially life-threatening pain, he showed none of it. Maximus wiped some of the blood off of his knuckles, before the High Generals left his prison cell, and a knight holding a camera aimed it at Maximus. “Make another move, and your former leader dies. We are through playing games with you.” Maximus said into the camera, before the knight deactivated the device. “Broadcast that to the Knights Emergency Channel. I want the whole world to know that we plan on finishing this war as soon as possible.” Maximus said. The three High Generals returned to the command tower, as they entered the control room, Mac looked at a calendar, he flipped it to the next page, with the month reading “Octes”, October. “Let’s face it, the Demon’s don’t care if Adamska lives or not. They all like Nikola even more. He’s just their kind of crazy.” Yuri said. “It’s better than doing nothing. The Demons are capturing more and more territory. We didn’t even know they were growing during the Icelation.” Mac said. “Stop using that word. It’s far from unique.” Maximus said. “You got a better name for it?” Mac asked. “Eternal Winter.” Maximus said. “Boring, and kind of wrong, it only lasted almost a year.” Mac said. “Whatever, we need to do, something, anything, to strike back against the Demons.” Yuri said. “Maybe we should take Radio City back.” Mac said. “No use. The Demons already killed or subjugated most of the civilians there, and the place is more fortified than Rikers. I’m not sure what they’re hiding in there, but they certainly do NOT want to give up Radio City. It wouldn't give us much of a territorial advantage anyway.” Maximus said. “What’s the situation on the Order of Water?” Mac asked. “You really think they survived the winter? The ocean was frozen solid down to the floor. The people were forced out of their homes, and there’s no word on the survivors, if there were any.” Yuri said. “Maybe we should investigate it. There’s gotta be something left.” Mac said. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. You can go with a team of whatever and see what’s left. Do you have any ideas, Yuri?” Maximus asked. “I was thinking I would speak with one Silas Ordicon, see if we can get an army of bounty hunters on our side. After all, he’s the most respected of them all.” Yuri said. “Sounds fine to me. I’ll stay within our territory. At least one of us should always be ready to lead a defense.” Maximus said. “Right.” Yuri said. “See you on the flipside.” Mac said. Maximus faintly saluted the two, and they went their separate ways. Maximus left out of the front doors to see Vorcium finally no longer covered in snow. He was beckoned by one of his Paladins, Camila. He walked up to her. “What’s up?” Maximus asked. Camila kept her voice down when talking to him. “Look, I’ve been digging around. One of our Knights is a spy. And I’m not talking about some frontline soldier. It’s a higher rank, like one of the generals.” Camila said. “Really? How’d you figure that out?” Maximus asked. “I was reading the Passage Logs for people entering and leaving New Aberdeen. For the last year, one of our generals, Lemaire to be specific, has left New Aberdeen every day at 9am, and returned at 12pm, sharp on both hours, even during AHOD situations where he should be reporting for duty. I approached him, not about his absence, but simply to speak with him a little and see if I can peek through a crack. The first thing I noticed is that Lemaire has a German accent, and which of the five orders is mostly occupied by Germans?” Camila asked. “The Demons.” Maximus said. “Exactly. I’m gonna dig into this, but don’t intervene just yet. I think I can handle this on my own.” Camila said. “Alright, but stay safe. And if you need help, just ask.” Maximus said. “Alright.” Camila said, before she began walking away, though she stopped herself at a couple steps to turn and look back at Maximus. “One more thing.” Camila said, as she walked back up to Maximus. She pulled his helmet off and kissed him. “I love you.” Camila said. “Yeah, I love you, too.” Maximus said. Camilla handed him back his helmet and she walked away. Maximus watched her walk away, then turned to look at his helmet in his hands, and sighed, before he heard the sound of something being knocked over around a corner. He turned to look at it. “Hello?” Maximus asked. He drew his sword, and slowly rounded a corner. He only got a split second to see two men wearing Knight’s armor painted black, and directly in front of him, Eric, who hit Maximus’ exposed head with a hammer, knocking him unconscious.

### USELESS

Nikola’s boots echoed through corridors as he walked side-by-side with an engineer. “He barely survived, but he’s lucky. Of course the cybernetics we had to use were very costly. I don’t think anyone has had that much of their body replaced. And because of serious blood loss, we had to remove one of his hands as well as replace some arteries and veins with pumping tubes. It will still be a long while until he’s ready to be placed back on the field.” The engineer said. “You are worthless. What do I hire you for, to make me angry?” Nikola asked. “W-what? Um, no, sir. I actually do have some good news for you, of course. Forgive me.” The engineer said. “Then say it already.” Nikola said. “We’ve finished upgrades to The Dragon’s suit. He is now 200% more efficient than before. Neural suppressors keep his mind in insanity, further enhancing his capabilities on the field, just don’t deploy him with any of our own, he may kill them as well. Flame jets located within the suit’s expandable jaw can be utilized now, and we’ve replaced his hydraulics to make him more flexible in combat.” The engineer said. “I want to see it.” Nikola said. “Yes, sir. Here.” The engineer said. The two of them stopped at the end of the hall, and the engineer pressed a button, which caused a platform to raise in front of them, revealing an incredibly bulky suit of power armor shaped similar to that of a dragon being clearly inhabited by someone. The man in the suit simply shouted and squirmed with all his might, though was locked into place by a frame around the suit. Nikola had a smile on his face. The engineer pressed the button again, and the platform descended down until The Dragon was no longer visible. “Now, there is one last thing to get out of the way.” Nikola said. “There is?” The engineer asked. “Yes. Do not spend our money to revive failures of soldiers! I’d rather watch them be fed to my hounds!” Nikola shouted at the engineer, before he shot the engineer, splattering brains onto the floor. “Security!” Nikola shouted, and two demon soldiers rushed into the hall. “Get this cleaned up at once.” Nikola said. The two soldiers saluted him, and picked up the corpse, working to get it removed as fast as they could. Nikola left the vicinity, before another guard approached him. “Sir! The Order of Knights have released a new broadcast, a message of sorts. Would you like the summary, or would you like to see it?” The soldier asked. “Show it to me.” Nikola said. “At once, sir!” The demon said, as Nikola was escorted into a viewing room. Nikola sat down, and the demon turned on a recording of it. Once it was over, Nikola simply said “Hm.”. He was silent for a moment. “Combat operations will proceed as normal. As a matter of fact, I am starting to enjoy watching these fools slobber out meaningless words. Keep this recording, I will enjoy watching it when we rule this forsaken planet.” Nikola said. The guard fell over, laying face-down, and bled out of his head. Nikola got up out of the chair and turned around to see two men wearing Demon armor painted black, and between them, Eric, who held a shock baton. “Do you think you’re really that threatening?” Nikola asked, his face showing no expression of fear, but rather, boredom. Eric swung the baton across Nikola’s face, knocking him out.

### ANARCHY HURTS

The Anarchist and his bikers walked through Rikers’ lobby. It wasn’t fancily decorated, or spectacular. It was all it needed to be: the main floor to a prison tower. Adamska stood with his arms behind his back, as Nikola approached him, and saluted. “Adamska. What shall we do with the prisoners?” Nikola asked. Adamska looked at them. “They are murderers. So we shall treat them like the Demons treat murderers.” Adamksa said. “Very well. You know what to do, men.” Nikola said. The Demon soldiers approached the Anarchists’ group from behind, and relieved them of their cuffs. “Since you’re all new here, we will inform you of the rundown. The Order of Knights is a plague to us all. We are going to conquer them. This is an opportunity for change. Join us, or die.” Adamska said. The Bikers were handed the undersuits to Demon armor sets, likely for training. “These are your new uniforms. Wear them with pride. Nikola shall be taking your group and training you all. Follow his word. Or he shall punish you as he sees fit.” Adamska said, before walking away. Nikola took center stage. “Training begins now. Suit up and go to the courtyard, I want to see you each do a hundred pushups. If one falls behind, each of you will have a single finger broken, and you restart the pushups. Fail again, and you will receive more finger breakings.” Nikola said. Most of the bikers began to put on their training suits, though the Anarchist simply dropped the uniform. Nikola looked at him dead in the eyes. “It seems we have our first lackey.” Nikola said. He approached the Anarchist until the two were inches away from one another, and Nikola stared him down. “I suggest you pick up your uniform and put it on.” Nikola said. “I suggest you just let us leave.” The Anarchist replied. “Very well. Go on. Walk out the front door.” Nikola said. “Well. I’m glad you have a policy for this.” The Anarchist said. “Oh, of course I do. I’m not an unreasonable man.” Nikola said, he turned to face a nearby Demon soldier. “Get me tea.” Nikola said. The Demon soldier nodded, and left the room, and quickly returned, holding an almost uncontrollable dog, with a tag hanging off its collar that said “T”. “The catch is, friend, you’ll have to run faster than this dog. And he’s mighty hungry.” Nikola said. The Anarchist grumbled, and reapproached Nikola. “That’s a good boy.” Nikola said to the Anarchist.

### UNITED WE STAND

Mac, alongside Scar and a few of her security robots, approached the elevator to Heracleion. Mac pressed a button to raise the elevator up, and it managed to work, although there was no welcome party, or any signs of the Order of Water’s Marines. Mac, Scar and the robots stepped into the elevator, and it began to descend into the depths of Heracleion. “So, you think we’ll find anything?” Mac asked. “Probably not. But I like the motivation, maybe we’ll at least find clues to something. And if not, we can always salvage their tech.” Scar said. “Scrap an entire underwater city? No thanks.” Mac said. “We need the parts.” Scar said. “For what?” Mac asked. “Don’t you check up on anything the Crylo Republic does? We’re rebuilding Theseus.” Scar said. “Catch me up to speed, what is-” Mac was interrupted by Scar groaning. “You’re going to give me a CPU spike. Theseus was the codename for a device the Order of Technology was building before they were annihilated by the Demons. It was supposed to destroy enough of the shield to create a permanent hole in it, so we could fly out of it, not to mention we need to build a cruiser to evacuate civilians, and emergency space fighters to defend it, it’s a huge operation. It probably won’t be finished in years. And we’re using everything salvageable that we don’t need from the Museum of Technology and other OOT structures, with engineers building at all times. We’re doing this non-stop as fast as we can. Taking all we can get from Heracleion would be a massive step, especially with their Pathos project never having been completed, they’ve probably got lots of unused parts everywhere.” Scar said. “I can’t let you take stuff from the Order of Water if we manage to find enough survivors to rebuild the Order of Water.” Mac said. “Why not? I’m not a part of the Knights anymore, not officially.” Scar said. “Look, it’s Vorcium law. To steal from or attack another Order or major faction would invoke a civil war, the Order of Demons learned that, or, will learn, the hard way.” Mac said. “Whatever. But if they cease to exist, it’s fair game, right?” Scar asked. “Unless they left a will, then yeah.” Mac said. Scar crossed her robotic fingers as the group moved on through empty corridors. There were no signs of life, but no signs of death either. It was simple abandonment. They walked through corridor after corridor, until they entered a room, the last one where the light was still on afterwards. Upon entering, the room was full of isles containing cryogenic capsules, a person inside each of them. Mac walked directly down one of the isles into the back, and wiped off some fog on the screen, to reveal Jarret. “He looks important.” Mac said. “Should we take him o-” Mac was interrupted as he saw Scar pressing buttons on a nearby screen. The capsule opened, and Jarret shakingly looked around, almost dizzy. When he saw Mac and Scar’s faces, he was shocked. “What year is it?” Jarret asked. “2179.” Scar said. “What? Who are you people?!” Jarret asked. “Eh, just a couple of guys, y’know, hanging around, fighting wars with the Order of Demons, conducting official investigations towards the disappearance of the population to whole cities. Normal stuff.” Mac said. Scar made a sound similar to clearing one’s throat. “What my friend here means, is we’re Knights, you guys disappeared as of late and we’re looking into it. Seems we found out why.” Scar said. “Why aren’t you wearing winter apparel?”Jarret asked, he got out of his capsule, and regained his balance. “There’s no winter anymore. We… got rid of it.” Mac said. “Really? You’ll have to tell my top scientist about that, he’ll be interested in how you got rid of a global winter wasteland.” Jarret said. “Long story short, the Order of Technology made a device that plugs into Vorcium’s core to make it expand and increase in heat, so we kind of made a sun of our own inside the planet with it.” Scar said. “Right. Anyway, I sealed everyone into new cryo chambers. A result of Pathos’ power. We expected to simply skip the winter and the civil war, but it seems you forced us out of it. I suppose we should come out of cryo sleep, then. There’s no winter, so we should be fine. Besides, if we slept through the war, you’d just conquer the rest of the planet and tax us unreasonably for not helping you.” Jarret said. “Wow, do you have a probability device or are you simply good at guessing?” Scar asked. “Wait, what? No, we wouldn’t tax you!” Mac said. “59% probability of the taxation towards the Order of Water, Order of Demons, Order of Sand and the Crylo Republic when the war is over. Which is why the Cryo Republic is going inter-galactic when the shield is removed. *Thanks to us.*” Scar said. “She’s smart.” Jarret said. Mac sighed. “Whatever. Look, we just wanted to see if you’re fine. And ask again if you could assist us in this war against the Demons. We’ve got our backs against the wall again.” Mac said. “Hm...” Jarret said. “I know, it’s a tough call, taxation or subjugation.” Scar said. “Stop with the taxation thing.” Mac said. “Yeah yeah, we’ll help. I can’t guarantee we’ll be useful. But we won’t be useless. But under one agreement: you assist us with Pathos when this war is over.” Jarret said. “Wait, Mac, no, you can’t accept that. We already had an agreement that if Theseus isn’t completed by the war’s end you’d help us.” Scar said. “It seems like it’s me or her.” Jarret said. “Fuck! Now is not a time for making demands! Now is a time for taking action! Don’t forget that there is an **if** in ‘if we win the war’. If we don’t unite now there will be no Pathos OR Theseus.” Mac said. The three of them were silent for a moment. “Fine. We will assist you. But we expect compensation in the end.” Jarret said. “Same here.” Scar said. Mac took a deep breath. “We’ll… create a trade triangle. We’ll work out the specifics later. For now, we unite.” Mac said. “Amen.” Jarret said. “I can stand by that.” Scar replied.

### SHERIFF OF DIRT

Yuri got out of a lone car outside Cliffburn. He walked through the gates to the city, to see squads of Knights patrolling the streets. The Order of Sand had no military, it was a pure democracy where no individual had power over the other, and they accepted the Order of Knights for protection. Though there were kind of some workarounds to this democracy. Silas Ordicon was a prime example. Yuri walked through a door into a bar, where a lone man sat in the corner, playing an acoustic guitar with his hat laid top-down for tips. The bar was full of Bounty Hunters of all kinds. Some close to borderline assassins, others honest working men of the law. Alone in a corner booth, Silas sat in his seat, taking a shot. Yuri took a seat at the booth. “One.” Silas said. “Uh… Silas, right? My name is Yuri Ka-” “Two”. Yuri was silent for a second, before he got out of the booth. “Smart.” Silas said. Yuri walked a short distance away, before he noticed a group of three people, barely old enough to walk into a bar, making an awful lot of noise as they bursted through the doors, laughing. They spotted Silas at the corner of the bar, and approached him. “Hey! This is that one dude I heard about, Ordicon! Yo my man, what’s up?” One of them asked. “One.” Silas said. “Excuse me?” Another one asked. “Two.” Silas said. “I-... He’s counting, I think.” The first one said. Silas gave them a little longer, before he said “Three.”. Silas threw his shot glass into one of their faces, before jumping out of the booth, and uppercutting another one. Silas turned to the third one, kicking them in the genitals and pushing them back. The one who received the shot glass in the face recovered by that time, and readied a punch before Silas grabbed his arm, and twisted it back, before headbutting his foe. The three men were either unconscious or groaning in pain on the floor. The bar patrons all cheered for Silas, though he didn’t relish in the attention. He simply walked back to his booth. After it was all over, Yuri left the bar, and sat down on a bench outside, before being approached by a man wearing rags. “Hey! You! You can’t use my bench, you have to pay first!” The man said. “Is that so?” Yuri asked. “You bet your ass, do you have any idea who I am? Ever hear of the Undertaker? That’s me, so-” The man was interrupted by two Knights. “Sir, is there a problem? You’re causing a ruckus.” The Knight said. “Yeah, this man sat on my bench without paying, and-” The man was cut off as the Knights stopped him. “Sir, you’re in rags. We’ll have to see proper identification and papers designating the rights to this bench if you’re going to take this any further.” The Knight said, as he looked at Yuri. “By the Shield! You’re… you’re-” The Knight began. “Finally, you recognize me, yes, I am the great bounty hunter, the Undertaker. Now show me respect, peasant, and leave me alone!” The man said. A man approached the Undertaker from behind, though Yuri couldn’t see him. “Officers, I can handle the situation here. Go on back to your posts.” The man said. “Uh, yeah, sure thing, sheriff.” The Knight said, before the two left. “Now, Rakuul, what did I say about posing as the Undertaker?” The man asked. “I… OK, I’ll stop.” Rakuul said. “Impersonation’ll get you some time in the slammer. You’re getting off easy. Now go on, get out of here.” The man said, and Rakuul ran away. “And as for you...” The man said. Yuri looked up at him, and saw it was Silas. “Yuri, right? You wanted to speak with me?” Silas asked. “Yes. I did. Why’d you come back, you clearly showed no remorse for those kids.” Yuri said. “Because you’re the first to have left me be when I started counting. All these people find me off duty, and they want autographs, they want to meet the great Silas Ordicon. But you, came for business, and left when I clearly didn’t want to be bothered.” Silas said. “I am a reasonable man. But I want to be straightforward with something, Silas.” Yuri said. “Don’t keep me in suspense.” Silas said. “The Order of Knights has their hands full with this war. We need outside assistance, I came looking to hire an army of bounty hunters. Cliffburn’s brightest.” Yuri said. “Hot damn, you keep my city safe, how could I say no to you asking for some assistance?” Silas said. “I guess you can’t. Here, this is a thousand dollars of Vorcium currency. This should cover the price for all those bounty hunters.” Yuri said as he pulled out a collection of bills. “Keep your cash. All these bounty hunters look up to me. All I have to do is ask them, they’ll oblige.” Silas said. “You think so?” Yuri asked. “I know so. And even if some of them don’t say no, I make tons of money, I keep my family fed, and I do nothing with the rest. Hiring every bounty hunter Cliffburn available or otherwise won’t even put a dent in what I’ve got saved up. I’ll get some boys ready, and send them over to New Aberdeen for you. That sound good?” Silas asked. “Excellent. You’ve already helped a lot, Silas.” Yuri said. “It’s the least I could do.” Silas said. Yuri got up from the bench and returned to his car.

### ANARCHY THRIVES

Screams echoed through a dark room as a man was quartered and killed instantly, his blood was splattered about, but most notably on a biker’s helmet. The Anarchist sat tied down to a chair, while Nikola laughed at the man’s demise. He stood alongside two Demon soldiers, protecting him. “Bring in the next one.” Nikola said. “There’s only one left, sire, the girl.” One of the soldiers said. “No! Don’t you touch her!” The Anarchist said. Nikola looked at the Anarchist in curiousity. “Have you learned anything about me? Of course not,” Nikola said. “Go on! Bring her in, for the love of Adamska.” “Sir, we have reports… The girl escaped.” The soldier said. Nikola sighed. “Do you wish to join the, what was his name again? Anatomist? Whatever, do you wish to join his failure of a team?” Nikola asked. “No! Of course not, sir!” The demon soldier said obediently. “I suggest you start running, then.” Nikola said. The soldier dropped his weapons, running and screaming without concern of anything else. Nikola chuckled, and turned to the other soldier. “Don’t send troopers after him. I want him to run around Rikers like a madman, screaming and thinking he’s going to die.” Nikola said. He turned to face the Anarchist, who was struggling to get out of his chair. “As for you, well, I’m afraid I’m going to have to keep you alive until we get that girl again so we can gut her in front of your face. After all, this is *your* wrongdoing. Your men died for your incompetence. You are such a failure of a leader.” Nikola said. “Kill me.” The Anarchist said. “Have you not heard a word I said? You’re not dying yet. Soon, you will. But not now.” Nikola said. “Kill me.” The Anarchist repeated. “I don’t have time for this. He’s delusional. What a ruiner of fun. Untie him, take him to his cell. Let him be crazy for all I care.” Nikola said. The soldier saluted, and Nikola left the room. The soldier began untying the Anarchist, before he was fully untied, and the soldier pulled out a pair of cuffs. The Anarchist tackled the Demon soldier, choking him until he passed out. The Anarchist pulled off the soldier’s armor quickly, and equipped it, walking to the exit door. Upon opening it, he saw Nikola directly behind the door. “I forgot my keys. Do… where is the prisoner?” Nikola asked. “I’m sorry sir, I walked in here to see one of our own choked out and stripped of their armor. He has disguised himself.” The Anarchist said, pretending to be a Demon soldier. “You fools, what did we release you for? I would begin-” Nikola was cut off by the Anarchist, who pointed behind Nikola towards a Demon soldier running at top speed. “Sir, look!” The Anarchist said. Nikola turned to see the Demon soldier. Nikola talked into a radio, “All units to Section 9, Hallway C. Target is disguised as one of our own moving quickly.” Nikola said. The Demon soldier was stopped by other Demon soldiers, and Nikola appeared to deal with him. “I’m sorry for my incompetence, sir! Please, spare me, I beg of you, I give you my undivided oath to serve until death!” The soldier said, as they fell to their knees. “Who are you?” Nikola asked, confused, before he realized it was the same Demon soldier that he told to run from earlier. By then, the Anarchist was already on his way out of Rikers.

### RAGS

Maximus slowly regained consciousness, though as he opened his eyes, he still saw only black. He tried to look around, before realizing he was being dragged. “What… Hello? What’s happening?” Maximus asked. “That voice… Maximus? Hmph. You finally managed to capture me. Shame you had to rely on other for your dirty work. How unlike you.” Maximus heard a voice say, he clearly was able to tell it was Nikola. “Capture you? I think you’ve got something wrong. I, fuck. The only thing worse than being captured by Demons is to be captured *with* Demons.” Maximus said. “Such an expression would fool most people. Not me. It seems we are both kings in rags then?” Nikola asked. “Yeah. I guess.” Maximus said. The two were finished being dragged. “Well. We’re here. Wherever we are. I would assume we’re either in cells, or in an audience to someone.” Nikola said. The two of them had black bags removed from their heads, and they were able to see, slightly. The room was incredibly dark, and they sat before a throne guarded by two men, one wearing Knights armor painted black, the other Demon armor painted black. Maximus looked at Nikola angrily, Nikola looked back at him, but rather with a calmed face, almost as if he was about to escape and there was nothing nobody could do about it. A cloaked figure walked down the hallway behind Maximus and Nikola, approaching the throne between the two of them, and the cloaked figure sat down. One of the guards to the side began speaking. “You are now in the presence of the Black Angel. Harbinger of death, harvester of sorrow. What you say during this conversation will be recorded and documented. Choose your words carefully, else it will cost you your tongue.” Maximus was confused. “So are we gonna get this over with? I had plans to assault Cliffburn again today. You seem to be cutting into my time to do that.” Nikola said. “Silence. You two… Ahh. I have long awaited this day, to speak to you two. Fools. What you are witnessing is karma. Each of you think you are the good guys, and the other the bad guys. But you are both half right. You are both the bad guys. Torture, unrighteous capture, murder, mass slaughter, destruction. Both of you have crimes that extend far beyond others on this planet. I will be the interval that eliminates your chaos once and for all.” The Black Angel said. “Yes yes, I’m a horrible person that does horrible things. I tire of this. Kill me or let me go already, I didn’t sign up for therapy. Especially not with… *him.*” Nikola said, gesturing towards Maximus, who remained silent. “You two are fools to not remember me. Does the Anarchist ring a bell?” The Black Angel said. The two were silent. “Hmph. Another sin you’ve committed, each of you. You wrong so many that you forget the names of those you wrong.” The Black Angel said. “It was the battle a ‘Chris’ died in. I was the one that refused orders and it costed me honorable men.” The Black Angel said. “I’m still not sure about that. I’ve killed lots of my own that didn’t follow orders.” Nikola said. “Shut up, I tire of your pointless comments. Know your place!” The Black Angel said. “Places are imaginary. I will not be chewed out by anyone who isn’t my superior.” Nikola said. “Although, I no longer have superiors. I suppose I should’ve just said no one.” Nikola added. “Take him away! I will have an audience with the one.” The Black Angel said. One of the guards put a sack back on Nikola’s head and dragged him away. “I wish to see you again Maximus. *Privately.*” Nikola said. “He doesn’t have an off switch, that one. He is such a burden. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have him as a much more personal enemy. I’ve grown used to his existence in my life, however. I have him beaten at every angle, it doesn’t matter what he does now.” The Black Angel said. Maximus remained silent, and there was a long silence between the two. “And it seems you have no on switch. Fine, if you’re going to act like this, I shall force you out of it.” The Black Angel said. He tapped the other guard’s shoulder, and nodded. The guard saluted, and put a bag on Maximus once again.

### SPIES OF SPIES

“What the hell? Gone? How does the face of Knight propaganda just leave without using the front gate, and no one had eyes on him?” Mac shouted, alongside Yuri, both standing directly in front of the exit gate to the city as the two had just returned. “We’re not sure, sir. Last he was spotted, he was talking to one of his Paladins, Camila Velez.” A Knight said. “Camila… that bitch.” Mac said. “Sir, Camila is a registered member of the Knights, a veteran to be exact. I doubt she had anything to do with it, especially since she had separated with Maximus before he left view of our cameras.” A Knight said. “Did we have any drone cameras with a vertical view?” Mac asked. “It’s no use, a road suspended over the blind spot.” A Knight said. “We did this to ourselves, if anything. An angle in New Aberdeen that can’t be seen by anything.” Yuri said. “Get cameras in *every* blind spot in New Aberdeen, the whole city. Me and Yuri will deal with Camila.” Mac said. “Sir, such an operation could take months. We’re talking about putting eyes everywhere in a whole city, and the security center would require more monitors, and more storage space for recordings.” The Knight said. “I don’t care. No draw back is going to make me forget about the value of our people, especially Maximus.” Mac said. Mac and Yuri walked away, while Mac pulled out a radio. “Does anyone know where a Paladin, Camila Velez is?” Mac asked into a radio. “Last seen at the Copthorne, over.” A voice responded back into the radio. “Roger, thanks.” Mac said. “Copthorne? Isn’t that a hotel?” Yuri asked. “It is.” Mac said. “What do you think she’s doing there?” Yuri asked. “I don’t have a damn clue, Yuri! You think I’m psychic?!” Mac yelled, causing the two to stop in their tracks, many Knights looked over at the scene. Mac sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. Just, things are tense, y’know?” Mac asked. “Sure. Let’s just keep going.” Yuri said. The two continued on, until they reached the Copthorne. Yuri approached the desk, where a woman sat, typing away at a computer. “We’re looking for a Paladin. Camila Velez.” Yuri said. “I saw a Paladin, female, enter an elevator over there. Not sure what floor she went to. Give me a second...” The woman said as the typed on her computer some more. “Floor thirteen, room nine.” The woman said. “Thanks.” Yuri replied, as he gestured for Mac to follow. The two got into an elevator, and it ascended, the elevator ride was full of an awkward silence, and at the end, they got out, and approached a door labeled with a nine. “So should we knock, or-” Mac started, though was cut off as they heard gunshots inside. Mac tried to open the door, though it was locked. He took a step back and kicked the door in, the two High Generals rushed in with their weapons ready. They spotted Camila holding a pistol, with the corpse of a General before her. “Oh my god.” Yuri said. Mac aimed his weapon at her. “Wait! I can explain! He was a spy!” Camila said. “You better say your words quick, clear and smart.” Mac said. “I told this to Maximus before he disappeared. This General has been leaving New Aberdeen for three hours every day to a group of assassins.” Camila said. “But why did you have to kill him? You should’ve arrested him!” Yuri said. “Plus, where’s your proof?” Mac asked. “He came at me with his sword, I had to take him out. Otherwise, you can check with the gate guards, there’s records of him leaving and entering, every day at the same times. And here, look at this.” Camila said as she reached down into the general’s pocket, and pulled out a black stone carved into the shape of a deer skull without the antlers. “This is like… their sigil. They’re like a cult. I’ve been doing an investigation on them.” Camila said. “We’ll take the stone, and the investigation from here. I’m sure if he was outnumbered he would’ve come peacefully, and we could’ve interrogated him. But now...” Mac said. “With all due respect, sir, I do better on my own, and I’ve been doing this investigation well so far.” Camila said. “Give us the stone. That’s an order.” Mac said. Camila sighed, and handed it to Mac. “You’re free to investigate if you have no other orders from us. But if you find anything, you come back here and tell us.” Mac said. “Of course, sir.” Camila said in a somewhat defeated voice.

### FIGHT THE POWER

Maximus’ bag was taken off before being thrown into a dark cell, in what was a poor jailhouse made of damp stone. The cell bars shut downwards behind him. It was clearly an outdated design for a prison, but it worked. Maximus stood up, sighing. He looked around, before spotting Nikola in the corner of the cell. “Well look at this. Just me, you, and an environment of metal bars and concrete.” Nikola said. Maximus rushed at him, swinging his robotic arm at Nikola, who dodged the initial attack. Under normal circumstances, Maximus’ arm would’ve gone straight through the wall, but it appears that his arm was stripped of most of its parts. Nikola punched Maximus in the stomach, and flanked around him, grabbing him by his shoulders, though he got out of Nikola’s grip, and kicked Nikola in the shin, causing him to drop to his knee. Maximus grabbed Nikola’s throat, and threw him across the cell, charging at him for another attack, though Nikola managed to dodge the attack, and hit Maximus across the face twice, and kicked him in the chest to knock him back. At this moment, their cell’s bars were opened, and a guard with a security baton entered. “Get up against the wall with your hands up!” The guard said. Nikola and Maximus looked at one another, before they both rushed the Guard, who hit Maximus across the face with the baton, though wasn’t fast enough to stop Nikola from hitting the guard in the throat, which caused the guard to drop the baton. Nikola picked up the baton, and hit the guard with it, over and over, before taking the guard’s helmet off, and continuing until the guard’s face was a bloody pulp. By this time, Maximus had gotten up, and he grabbed Nikola’s baton, though Nikola hit Maximus in the face causing Maximus to break off, and Nikola ran to press a button outside their cell. Maximus attempted to pursue, though Nikola hit the button while Maximus was under the bars. Maximus reacted quickly, putting up his robotic arm to one of the bars, causing them all to stop before the could fully close. He struggled with keeping it open, and eventually slipped out of it, turning his attention to Nikola, who stood in hopes Maximus would have been impaled. Nikola grunted, and took off at top speed while Maximus followed closely. Eventually, Nikola stopped as four guards stood at the end of the hall, weapons ready. Nikola halted, but Maximus continued, tackling Nikola, and raising his robotic hand to hit him, though was stopped as the guards pulled him off Nikola. As he was dragged away, he struggled and yelled, trying to get free to finish Nikola off. Nikola simply got up, and smiled as he watched Maximus. Nikola turned to face the other guards, who raised their batons, threatening for Nikola to get back to his cell. “I trust you do not expect me to comply with this.” Nikola said. One of the guards simply swung their baton across Nikola’s face, knocking him out again.

### KILLING DEAD MEN

Mac had fully equipped an active camouflage generator on his armor, before grouping up with a squad of Ghosts equally equipped, and alongside the ghosts, Order of Water marines wearing Demon armor. “Alright, we’re going over the plan again. The Marines will kill I1-Squad 15 as they reach the border of the Order of Demons’ satellite cameras, where the Marines will kill the squad and take their tags to infiltrate Rikers. We’ll come in with active camo to back you up by killing and hiding the bodies of anyone getting suspicious. From there, we rescue Maximus.” Mac said. A Ghost raised their hand, and Mac gestured for them to speak. “Didn’t Camila say that it wasn’t the Order of Demons that captured Maximus, but some sort of other faction?” A Ghost said. “I don’t trust Camila, regardless of her rank. If this faction even does exist, then they have some sort of vendetta against the Knights, so we’ll take ‘em down then. But for now, we need to do this, and ace it. If Maximus still isn’t there, then we take as many Knight POWs as we can and escape, we’re still getting something out of this mission, Maximus may be our primary goal, but that determinant. Regardless, we’re doing this mission.” Mac said. “Alright, sir.” The Ghost said. “Let’s do this.” Mac said. The two teams got into a KTTS, with Mac piloting, and lifted up into the sky, flying out towards Rikers. After a while of flying, the KTTS set down, and everyone disembarked. “Alright, Marines, you know where to go, Ghosts, with me to the front gate to Rikers. It’s about a few mile-long hike, but we’ll get there. Don’t activate AC until we get into visible range of Rikers, we want to conserve the batteries.” Mac said.
The Ghosts, now invisible, approached the gate to Rikers, though it was surprisingly silent. No Demon soldiers were anywhere to be found. “Marine squad, you get rid of I1-15 yet?” Mac asked over the radio. “No, they didn’t come to Rikers it seems. They’re over an hour late.” One of the Marines said. “Hm. It doesn’t matter, just come to Rikers, there’s not even anyone managing the gate… Something weird's going on.” Mac said. “Roger. We’ll get there as soon as we can.” The Marine responded.
The Marines arrived after a while. “So, I guess we should go right on in, then?” A Ghost asked. “Sure.” Mac said. He walked up to a lever, almost tripping on a Demon helmet covered in mud and dirt, lying in the ground. He inspected the helmet shortly, before throwing it aside. He pulled the lever down, and exposed the courtyard to Rikers’ tower, which, like the rest of Rikers, seemed barren. They continued on until walking through the front door, where they saw the lobby’s floor covered in blood and corpses of only Demon soldiers. Only two Demon soldiers remained, though they were both combating each other with swords. One of the two managed to stab their sword through their opponent's neck, and turned their attention to the Marine squad disguised as Demons, not noticing the invisible Ghost squad. “You! Loyalists or Alterators?” The Demon asked. “Uh… Loyalists?” One of the Marines responded. The Demon growled as he threw his sword aside, and pulled out a pistol, gunning down the Marines until one managed to pull out their rifle and shoot the Demon dead. The last surviving Marine ripped their helmet off and threw it to the ground. “Oh shit, oh no! They need medical attention!” The Marine said. Mac looked at the scene in shock. “Ghosts, help him haul the bodies back to the KTTS. I’ll handle the mission from here.” Mac said. He cracked his neck and pulled out Pinaka, and pushed into Rikers. He got onto one of the Elevators, and lifted himself up to floor four, where the jail cells began. He looked around to see more dead Demon corpses, though there were a couple Demons on the floor that spotted Mac, who easily shot them both with instant headshots. He looked around through the cells, though all of them were opened, with some of them having an occasional prisoner’s corpse in it. He scaled up to the next floor, and the next. More of the same. He went up to the top floor, floor 15, where he was face-to-face with a man wearing Demon Power Armor. “Hey, another one of you.” Mac said, attracting the Demon’s attention. Mac threw a couple flashbangs down before retreating to one of the cells for cover. The flashbangs erupted in front of the Demon, and Mac aimed out, hitting the demon over and over with headshots, though they didn’t penetrate. The Demon turned to face Mac as the flashbangs wore off. As the Demon approached, Mac realized he had cornered himself. The Demon walked into the cell, and fired a plasma rifle all around the room. Though the demon was shocked when he didn’t see Mac at all. Mac hid under an opened grate slot in the cell’s floor, he whistled for the Demon to approach, and the demon did. As the demon leaned in, Mac swung the grate cover into the Demon’s head, denting his helmet a little. Mac jumped out, and through the grate into the demon’s head again, further denting it. Mac drew energy from his active camo into his suit, specifically his fist, and rushed towards the Demon, who was just recovering, though Mac swung his powered-up fist into the demon’s face, causing brains and blood to splatter everywhere, further painting the room red. Mac took the Demon’s plasma rifle, and climbed a ladder up onto the roof. The roof has a couple corpses, but it wasn’t as much of a bloodbath as the rest of Rikers. Mac saw “SOS” spelt in white paint on the roof, though it clearly didn’t help much. Mac looked over the roof’s railing and saw the KTTS far, far in the distance. “Mac to Ghosts, have you finished your job?” Mac asked into a radio. “Yes sir, we’re able and ready.” A Ghost said. “Alright. Abort mission, climb aboard the KTTS and I’m bringing it to the roof of Rikers.” Mac said. “We’re all accounted for, sir, she’s all yours.” The Ghost responded. “Good.” Mac said, as he pressed a button on the side of his helmet, and the KTTS lifted up and flew to his location, setting down over the SOS sign. Mac climbed into the cockpit and turned off the autopilot, flying back home.

### UNFORGIVEN

Maximus and Nikola sat in parallel cells, with Maximus lying against his cell bars, faced away from the hallway, and Nikola leaning against the wall, looking at Maximus with his back turned. “Not the accommodations I had planned for tonight.” Nikola said. “There something wrong with sleeping in a jail cell? I have one all set up for you back at New Aberdeen.” Maximus said. “Funny, I have a similar plan for you as well. But it involved more torture tools.” Nikola replied. “Something sharp or something electric?” Maximus asked. “Sharp, I prefer the more original methods. More primitive, yet it spills more blood.” Nikola said. “Why is it you do this?” Maximus asked. “What, torture?” Nikola asked. “I guess. I was talking about something on a wider spectrum, like just everything so, evil you do.” Maximus said. “Ugh. Common Knight misconception. I admit I do such things for personal satisfaction, but, evil is such a stupid term. I have nothing but the highest expectations from my men. Lackeys draw me back. It’s part of the reason we’re not on the losing side.” Nikola said. “What’s wrong with just firing them?” Maximus asked. “That’s what Adamska did. I just outright kill them. Chances are, you fire them, they then have a vendetta against you, or at least go to the Order of Sand and become bounty hunters, and the Demons often have bounties put on them. Like this situation I’m in right now. The only reason I’m here is because… I think, I must’ve ruined this man’s life. Not sure how he lived afterwards. I haven’t had many escapees.” Nikola said. “But what’s the deal with your need to conquer Vorcium?” Maximus asked. “That’s Adamska’s thing. Apparently your Knights killed his first wife, and he was never fond of the other Orders. None of them did any to help the Demons much, sure there was peace, but it was bland. And with the Knights, well, I mentioned his wife, plus he would get prisoners by the truckloads, without payment to keep the lights running, or to keep the prisoners and guards fed. If anything he had to strike out against you for resources.” Nikola said. “What do you yourself have to gain from this, though?” Maximus asked. “Everyone wants power, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. Who wouldn’t want control of Vorcium. Besides, for my release from my cell, I swore fealty to Adamska and to uphold his plans to take over Vorcium as his right hand man. I believe greatly in karma, I would not wish to betray or fail the one I swore to help, and in return I expect that of my men. Sure not all of them can be flawless, but they do a fine job. Especially with them thinking that they may be butchered at any moment.” Nikola said. “Why do you feel the need to act so noble all the time? Wars don’t have good guys and bad guys, wars have winners and losers.” Nikola asked to Maximus. “It’s all in the propaganda. Not to mention, you’re the attackers who want to slaughter and subjugate, and we defend others from that. So it seems kind of fitting.” Maximus said. “Hmph. I don’t see the logic in it.” Nikola said. “So, you mentioned you were in a jail cell? With a man in your position, I wouldn’t have expected you to have been ex-prisoner.” Maximus said. “Did you not guess by the fact that I enjoy torturing others that it would’ve made me have an… illegal history?” Nikola asked. “Guess I never thought much about it.” Maximus said. Nikola sighed. “I was born, somewhere, not sure. My earliest memory was in an orphanage, a terrible place situated outside VCT. According to Adamska, I arrived to Rikers when I was four, I had massacred everyone in the orphanage with a pair of safety scissors. This made Adamska impressed that I had the intellect, strength and general skill to do such a thing at only the age of four, but I remained a prisoner most of my life. It was pretty bland, but by the time I was fourteen, these prison halls chanted my name. I was these prisoners’ king, which is why I’m so respected as the leader of the Demons now. By my twenties, I was specially selected by Adamska to join the Demon military as a squad leader, skipping training as I had planned out around ninety escape routes, making him understand my tactical expertise. It was around this time Adamska had lost his wife, and began to shape into effect his plan to kill off the Knights and any of their allies, and take Vorcium for himself, which is why he took someone who had a life sentence out of prison. Anyway, I rose up the ranks quickly. By the time we destroyed the Order of Technology, I was Adamska’s favorite Hellwalker Veteran, had a seat next to him in the council and everything. Then you went and captured him, and I assumed control through his demand before he was captured. You happy now that you know my life story?” Nikola asked. “I guess. You want to know mine?” Maximus asked. “No, don’t much care for it. What I care is what a person is like now, and not what they were like before.” Nikola said. “Suit yourself.” Maximus said. “I will.” Nikola said. There was a silence between the two right about now. “Y’know, being jailed here isn’t half bad.” Nikola said. “What makes you think that, your own prison cells?” Maximus asked. “No, what makes me think that is being a test subject for the Order of Technology.” Nikola said. The two chuckled a little.

### I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER

Mac walked into the command tower, where Yuri was waiting for him. “Mac, I’ve got news.” Yuri said. “Me too, we went to Rikers, it was a total bloodbath. The Demons were killing each other.” Mac said. “Really? That’s insane.” Yuri said. “I’m not sure why they were, but regardless, what is it you’ve got?” Mac asked. “We’ve got someone waiting for us outside the city. He wants to speak with both of us out on the docks. Privately.” Yuri said. “We can’t be pulling risks like this. We can’t afford to lose another High General. I’ll get some snipers to watch the scene from a distance.” Mac said. “Good idea. Let’s move.” Yuri said. The two began walking out of the command tower, and Mac pulled out a radio. “I need eyes on the docks outside the city, at least two snipers watching from the walls, don’t shoot unless things get heated, but just make sure you stay out of sight.” Mac said. “Roger.” A couple voices said into the radio. Mac and Yuri left through the city’s gates, before walking up to the docks nearby. A lone figure sat at the edge, and the two high generals approached him. The figure turned around, it was Eric. “You’re the one who wanted to speak with us?” Mac asked. “Yeah. I’ve got some intel. I know where they took Maximus.” Eric said. “What?! Where?” Mac asked desperately. “I’m the one who captured him. But he’s not in my custody anymore. He was never supposed to be in my custody.” Eric said. Mac silently pulled out his pistol, though Yuri spoke. “So, you’re just the tool of someone or something?” Yuri asked. “That’s one way of putting it. Their go-to assassin and bounty hunter. But not anymore. I never wanted anything to do with them. I just took one contract while I was at Cliffburn, and when I returned, they had their guns against my head and demanded more. And more. And more. I’ve killed too many people.” Eric said. “Who is the man that’s pulling the strings?” Yuri asked. “They call him the Black Angel. But… I… Oh god...” Eric hung his head, placing his face into the palm of his hand. “Take it easy. We need this information.” Yuri said. “It’s all my fault.” Eric said. “What did you do?” Mac asked. “Easy, Mac.” Yuri said. “No, he has a right to know. You all do. The Black Angel knew that there were tensions between the Demons and the Knights a long time ago. Apparently he was wronged in the past by both groups, but one of his contracts he gave me was to kill Adamska’s wife, while wearing Knight’s armor, and get caught. To finally put the civil war in motion.” Eric said. “You son of a bitch!” Mac said, as he aimed his pistol at Eric, who didn’t react much. “Mac, wait!” Yuri said. “It’s fine. I don’t care anymore. I just started realizing the atrocities I’ve committed a couple months ago. I didn’t want to capture Maximus or Nikola, but I had to, to finally be done with them.” Eric said. “You captured Nikola, too?” Yuri asked. “Yes, I did. He anticipated them and more to have been dead by the war now, but it seems not. So he finally sent me to do the job. They’re probably alive though, being kept around to be toyed with and tortured.” Eric said. “That probably explains the Demons. They’re in civil war, because Nikola had no decided successor.” Yuri said. “Eric, where can we find these guys, the Black Angel included?” Mac asked. “Not far from here. It’s located on a hill in a prairie, but a cave opens up near the hill, inside you’ll find a rock on the ground that’s secretly a button. The entire building expands downwards underground. But they are a force to be reckoned with.” Eric said. “Don’t worry, Eric. We’re going to go there, rescue Maximus, kill the Black Angel, and finally set everything right.” Yuri said. “Do it, and don’t die.“ Eric said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some business to tend to.” Eric said. The two High Generals nodded, and walked away. Eric turned to face the ocean before him. He pulled out the sigil of the Black Angel’s mask, and threw it into the ocean. He sat down with his feet hanging over the dock, looking out over the ocean. He sighed as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pistol. He put it up against his head, and fired a bullet through his head, his body fell over into the ocean. The two High Generals watched it from afar. “This is a cruel world we live in.” Mac said. “Let’s not dwell on that, we watch people die every day. We should focus on-” Yuri was cut off. “Fighting the Demons while they’re weak. We can finally put an end to this war.” Mac said. “No, it is a great opportunity, I understand. But Maximus’ time is running out and we don’t know how long it’ll be until then. If there’s anything we need to focus on, it’s getting Maximus. Then we can deal with the Demons. They can be finished off later.” Yuri said. “Hmph. Fine. Let’s assemble the fleet” Mac said.

### LAST DANCE

After being hosed down by Black Knights, Maximus had put his torn, ragged pants back on, and was taken back to his cell, with Nikola meeting Maximus halfway, alongside another pair of guards. The two hardly looked at each other, but they had grown used to the treatment. They were both put in the cells across from one another. Maximus simply sat in his cell, but Nikola spoke up. “Excuse me, guards.” The guards turned to look at Nikola. “There is a loose piece of this cell in the floor, and I feel like if you push it enough, it could fall through to whatever is under.” Nikola said. The guards inspected the piece in the floor, and as it turned out, he was right. “Why are you telling us this?” One of the guards asked. “I don’t want *him* pulling a similar stunt and escaping before I ever get a chance to kill him.” Nikola said, gesturing to Maximus. The guards shrugged. One of them knelt over the loose piece in the floor, holding a device, and pressed it around the area it was breaking off at. He stepped on it a little, before nodding to the other guards. “Alright, let’s inspect the other cell.” The guard said, before they heard screams coming from the outside of the hallway. They looked down to see two Black Knights restraining a girl, with the Black Angel himself staying behind her. They stopped in front of Maximus’ cell, and the girl was kicked to her knees. “I found myself a Paladin, one of yours, perhaps?” The Black Angel asked, looking into Maximus’ cell. Maximus turned to look at her, revealing it to be Camilla. “No! Wait, don’t hurt her!” Maximus said. “I knew I could break you. Now… Maybe I should break her...” The Black Angel said. “Hm, I like the strategy.” Nikola said. The Black Angel turned to look at him, and back at Maximus. “Well. Look what situation you two have gotten me in. Kill her, one of you is angry, the other is happy. Don’t kill her, and I get the same result.” The Black Angel said. “I’ve already killed one of his lovers. Or whoever she was. I wonder why he attaches himself to these people.” Nikola says. “If I were to leave one of you angry, it would easily be you.” The Black Angel said, pointing at Nikola. “Spare the girl. Throw her into Maximus’ cell. I don’t want Nikola killing her.” The Black Angel said. They opened Maximus’ cell, and threw Camilla in, closing the cell behind her. They all walked away, leaving the two alone, while Nikola retreated into the darkness of his cell. “This isn’t good...” Maximus said. “What makes you say that?” Camilla asked jokingly. “Well… Ugh… I don’t think I can stand to see another one of my loved ones dying. Especially you. So if it comes down to a me or you situation… I’m fine with dying.” Maximus said. “No, don’t say that.” Camilla said. “It’d be for the good of me, at least.” Maximus said. “And how do you think I’d feel? Look, let’s not talk about this.” Camilla said. “But if this is our last hour-” Maximus started. “I’ll tell you exactly what’s going to happen if this is our last hour.” Camilla said, as she kissed Maximus. The two engaged physically, though in the background, a lighter flicked on in Nikola’s cell to light a cigar, revealing his smiling face as he spun a set of keys around in his hand.

### BUT ANARCHY DIES

The Anarchist walked around in a forrest, weak. He finally tripped over, before seeing a dead and decaying deer corpse. He walked over to it, sighing. “Maybe this is the end...” He thought to himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmIXwYkDs9k
He looked back, hearing the howling of dogs, with flashlights bouncing about. The night was too dark to see anything any farther than about a foot ahead, and the thunderstorm overhead didn’t help with the Anarchist’s navigation. He kept going, sword in hand, before he was stopped by two figures. “Stay back!” The Anarchist said. “Relax. I’m tired of running, too.” Said a familiar voice. Although he couldn’t see her face, the Anarchist knew it was his love. “Llorona...” The Anarchist said with a loss of words. “It’s not just her either.” Another familiar voice said, and the Anarchist immediately recognized it as Eric. “Why are you here?” The Anarchist asked. “We were looking for you. The Anarchists don’t need to die out. We can start again. The greatest raider gang of Vorcium isn’t going anywhere.” Llorona said. “You know I’m the best damned bounty hunter there is, too, there’s no way I can’t track you down. Especially with the Demon patrols following you. Speaking of which, I hope you’re armed. Because we’re fighting these bastards.” Eric said. “I like the way you think.” The Anarchist said. Llorona pulled out a ball-shaped object, and pressed a button on it, throwing it to the ground, causing a glowing red bubble to appear around the three, illuminating the area inside and around the bubble. The Demon soldiers were closer than the three originally though, and they all shockingly backed away slightly when the red bubble appeared. “Open fire!” Their commander yelled, as all the soldiers fired upon the bubble, all of the bullets being stopped and melted upon hitting the shield. Eventually, all the soldiers stopped firing their weapons, and switched to melee, as they all rushed forwards, along with their mongrels. They phased through the bubble unscathed, though swiftly met their doom as the Anarchist, Llorona and Eric all cut down one Demon after the other. After a dozen Demon soldiers and their hounds laid dead inside the bubble, only the commander and a trio of normal soldiers remained. The shield expired, and the three rushed forwards with Llorona leading the front. They cut through the remaining three Demon soldiers instantly, and the Commander began running at top speed, showing off his maneuverability by outrunning the three almost instantly. “I’ve got him!” Llorona said as she picked up speed and Llorona and the commander disappeared into the darkness. After another few minutes of running forwards, Eric and the Anarchist stopped. “Llorona?!” The Anarchist yelled out. Eric and the Anarchist looked around with no sign of Llorona. They heard footsteps approaching them from behind, which was soon revealed to be the commander. “What did you do with Llorona?!” The Anarchist asked. The commander rushed Eric with a dagger in hand, but Eric easily fired a single bullet into the commander’s head with his pistol. Lightning illuminated the area for a split second, and the only thing the Anarchist saw was the deer corpse from earlier. He fell to his knees, taking off his helmet. He threw up, and tossed the helmet aside. “We need to keep going.” Eric said. “Not without Llorona.” The Anarchist said. “We’ll look around, but… I think we both know...” Eric said. “Not without Llorona.” The Anarchist said. Eric sighed, and looked around. “Put your helmet back on, you need something to keep the rain from your face.” Eric said, though the Anarchist remained on his knees, which made Eric walk away, shaking his head. The Anarchist got up a couple minutes afterwards. He slowly walked forwards until he saw the deer corpse. He knelt over with his sword, and cut the deer’s head off. He sawed through its skin, the rain helping clear the blood as he cut it down to the bone. He continued cutting even when he reached the bone, cutting off the jaw, and afterwards, the antlers. He inspected the skull, before he wiped the rain from his face, and let the deer’s skull rest on his face, before it slid back off. He walked back over to the Demon helmet, opening up the face plate, and dislodging it from the rest of the helmet, before sliding the deer’s skull into it. He put the helmet back on, covering his face with the deer’s skull successfully. Eric walked back to the Anarchist. “Hey? An? Is that you?” Eric asked. The Anarchist nodded. “What’s with the deer skull?” Eric asked. “Call it a revelation. You know how the Anarchists were all about defying the Orders? I think order is just what we need, actually. Imagine… The Order of Silence. To finally stop the tyranny of the Knights and the Demons.” The Anarchist said. “Fine, whatever, but let’s just go, An.” Eric said. “No, don’t call me that anymore. It would go against the new gang’s name… Call me… The Black Angel.” The Anarchist said.

### SCRATCH YOUR BACK SO YOU DON'T STAB MINE

Maximus and Camilla laid next to each other asleep, as they heard their cell doors open, and Camilla woke up, careful trying not to awake Maximus who woke up anyway. The opener of the cell was shown the be the Black Angel himself, who looked at the scene. “Well...” The Black Angel started. Camilla looked the Black Angel straight in the eyes. “It’s done.” Camilla said. “What?” Maximus asked out of confusion. “Ah, allow me, Maximus, to introduce you to my lover, Llorona.” The Black Angel said. “*Your* lover? We slept together last night!” Maximus said. “Out of desperation. See, you haven’t wronged me that greatly. The only reason I kept you captive is for your seed. I can’t have children of my own, and I’ve grown in age. I must pass on the throne.” The Black Angel said. “What?!” Maximus yelled. Camilla, or Llorona, walked around behind the Black Angel. “It’s true.” She said. “You bitch!” Maximus yelled as he rushed at the Black Angel, who instinctively closed the cell. “Now that you have fulfilled your purpose, you may finally die.” The Black Angel said. Maximus gripped the bars of his cell in a rage he had never felt before. The Black Angel walked away with Llorona, asking her "Did you take care of that failure of a double agent Lemaire?". Two guards walked up to the cell bars, one holding handcuffs. “Up against the wall!” One of the guards said. Maximus compiled, only for them to open the cell so he could rush them. He immediately hit one of the guards across the face with his robotic arm, splattering blood about the cell. The other guard hit Maximus rapidly with a stun baton, causing him to fall to the ground in pain, before the guard was pulled away by Nikola, who smashed his foot into the guard’s head, crushing his skull. “Well, are we going to get revenge or are you going to whine and spit foam from your face like a rabies-infected child?” Nikola asked, as he pulled a set of keys from one of the guard’s corpses and handed them to Maximus, who looked at Nikola in curiosity. “Ugh, do I have to spell it out for you? We’re clearly in this together.” Nikola said. Maximus pushed past Nikola, and the two walked down the hall holding batons. Two guards rushed down the hall at them, and the two immediately knocked the guards out, each with only a couple swings of their batons. Eventually, two Black Knights with shields and swords both began walking down the hall, prepared for both of their onslaughts. Maximus rushed the one knight, smashing the entire force of his body into the guard’s shield, causing them to fall over, while Nikola dropped his baton and held his hands up. “I surrender, you’d best deal with my friend over there, though.” Nikola said, gesturing to Maximus, who was smashing his fists one after the other into the knight’s head, though all that was there had a flattened helmet that had brain matter and blood leaking out of his holes. As the knight turned to go after Maximus, Nikola grabbed the guard from behind, and snapped his neck with almost no resistance. As Nikola walked up to Maximus, he was still hammering into the guard’s corpse, all that remained was shrapnel and a chunky red soup. “Alright, I get it, you’re angry! But can you at least angrily put on this one’s armor?” Nikola asked. Maximus stopped and looked up at Nikola, the blood vessels in his eyes overpowered his pupils. “Yikes. Fine, do what you want.” Nikola said, as he walked over to the guard he killed and put on his armor and took his sword, pushing the body into a nearby cell. As Nikola returned, he saw Maximus wearing the guard’s armor, without the helmet of course. “Our cover may be blown, but even if you had the helmet I doubt you’d be able to control yourself.” Nikola said. “Let’s just go.” Maximus said, as the two began to walk onwards. They reached the end of the hallway where they entered a room with an intersection of hallways, including the one they came from, in the middle of the room was an elevator. Four patrolling guards were in the room, and saw the two enter. They were confused by Maximus not wearing a helmet, but they didn’t outright attack. One of the guards approached Maximus. “Excuse me, sir, can I see your… Ugh-” The Guard was interrupted as Maximus stabbed his sword into his target’s chest. The other three guards rushed with batons, though Nikola completely bisected the one that came after him, and Maximus jabbed his sword into one’s head, getting it stuck, and let the corpse fall with his sword as he swung the bladed knuckles in his armor plating into the other guard’s exposed face, slicing four lines through his face, minorly exposing the innards of his face as he fell backwards, dead. Maximus pulled the sword out of the one guard’s corpse, as Nikola inspected a series of buttons on the walls, specifically the two rows of buttons on either side of the hallway they left from. “I wonder...” Nikola said, as he pressed a specific button.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUSFhjwz4\_M
Behind the brick wall he heard machinery moving, until the wall opened up and revealed his suit, alongside his sword, Hellstorm, neatly packed together. “Jackpot.” Nikola said as he took off his disguise and put on his normal clothing. Maximus mimicked Nikola in the strategy, and from behind the wall revealed Maximus’ armor and his sword. “Fire and ice, a classic.” Nikola said. The two got into the elevator. “You think this building is underground or overground?” Maximus asked. “Isn’t it obvious? This entire place seems like a dungeon.” Nikola said. “Maybe they like dungeon-themed skyscrapers.” Maximus said, shrugging. Nikola pushed a button to take them to the highest floor, and the elevator went up. The two waited patiently, before an intercom on the elevator turned on. “This is Tektite Squad reporting, Nikola and Maximus are no longer in their cells, with many guard corpses lying around. Kill on sight.” They heard over the intercom. “Should’ve hidden those bodies.” Maximus said. “You mean to say you *didn’t* want to stab your way out?” Nikola asked. “Look, I’m calming down now.” Maximus said. The Elevator reached the top floor, and the two sliced their way through a couple guards before them while they entered. The two looked to their sides as two Black Knights rushed their flanks, Nikola pressed the trigger on his sword and sliced his blade upwards, completely melting through the shield and slicing the Black Knight’s arm into two, still connected pieces, before Nikola jabbed his sword into their throat. Maximus jabbed his sword into his Black Knight’s shield where it stayed implanted into the frozen metal. Maximus kicked the underside of the shield, releasing Icestorm, where it fell into the ground, hilt up, though the knight was slightly hurt by shards of metallic ice flying about the place. The knight, after recovering, reached for Icestorm, though just before he could touch the hilt, Maximus smashed his foot down into his arm, which erupted in a snapping noise. The knight roared in pain, and Maximus let go of his broken arm to recover Icestorm, only to take the blade and stab it upwards into the bottom of the knight’s jaw, lifting him from the air before the pressure shattered his frozen head. Nikola and Maximus pushed onwards, before they heard over the intercom, “We have visual, ground floor, just outside the elevator, everyone get there, now!”. Nikola looked up into a dark corner, where he noticed a security camera. He sliced it from the wall in a swift motion, before the two attempted to move, but were blocked by the arrival of eight Black Knights. Nikola and Maximus looked at each other. “I’m all for wiping every single person out of this base, not sure about you.” Nikola said. The two rushed forwards at the knights, Nikola initially hit the first knight in the knee, completely breaking his leg backwards, before moving just behind him to smash his sword’s pommel into another knight’s face, causing him to fall down onto his knees. As the one behind him attempted to recover, Nikola pushed his blade backwards into the knight’s back, before ripping it out, and in the same motion, decapitating the other knight on their knees. The next Knight rushed him, and Nikola ducked under the knight’s attempt to shield bash, and while the knight was open, Nikola stabbed him in the chest, and rushed forwards with the impaled knight to ram into the next one, crushing the last knight between the wall and the force of two other people, before Nikola recovered his blade from the third corpse. Maximus rushed forwards at his knight, bashing into one of their shields and knocking them down, Maximus walked over their body, in the process, caving in their skull. Maximus ripped the shield off of the next Knight, and jabbed its sharp end into the abdomen of the knight, and threw him aside. Maximus moved onto the next knight, and with all his strength, swung his blade vertically downwards, cutting through the shield and bisecting his opponent. The last knight threw aside his sword and shield and pulled out a pistol, aiming it at Maximus, before Nikola ripped the pistol out of the knight’s hand, and threw it to Maximus. “He’s all yours.” Nikola said. Maximus smashed the hilt of the pistol into the knight’s head, knocking them down. He continuously hit the knight in the head, until there was almost nothing left. Maximus pocketed the pistol, and the two moved on until they saw Llorona and the Black Angel, and the two prepared to attack. “Knights, on me!” The Black Angel yelled out, and four Black Knights all gathered around the Black Angel to protect him, though Maximus simply equipped his pistol, and shot down three of them before Llorona threw down her shield, defending the three of them from ranged. “Interesting. I suppose we’ll have to do this the fun way.” Nikola said. Maximus threw his pistol at the shield to see if it would phase through, though it didn’t. “It seems to affect anything that goes through it at an accelerated rate.” Maximus said. “Really? What made you realize that?” Nikola asked. Maximus shook his head, and the two rushed forwards, as Nikola entered his immediately decapitated the knight, and went for the Black Angel, who pulled out his ruined staff and pressed its button, pulling out the one end left, but also revealing a scythe-like blade at the end. He blocked Nikola’s attack, and the two remained in a lock while Maximus rushed towards Llorona, and the two met blades. “How you doing, honey?” Llorona asked, though Maximus responded by head-butting her, knocking off her helmet and revealing her face. Maximus stepped on her chest and drew his blade upwards, and shakingly held it there for a moment. “Do I have to do everything for you?!” Nikola exclaimed, as he pushed back against the Black Angel and went to finish off Llorona while she was pinned. The Black Angel frantically grabbed Nikola, though as he brought Nikola back to face him, it revealed Llorona grabbing at Icestorm as it was jabbed into her throat. Maximus turned to face the Black Angel as well, who, in a fit of rage, uppercutted Nikola, knocking him out, and rushed towards Maximus with his scythe, Maximus grabbed the weapon before it could impale him, and with this leverage, he took the scythe and stabbed the hilt into the Black Angel’s stomach, giving Maximus the Scythe. The Black Angel’s breathing was heavy, though he eventually made his retreat. Maximus looked between Nikola’s unconscious body or the Black Angel’s retreat. Maximus yelled, grabbing Icestorm and sheathing the scythe, and he ran after the Black Angel, who made it to the throne room, down its main hallway, and out of the exit door to freedom, with Maximus close behind. The Black Angel ran outside for a short moment, before he saw in the distance a colossal tank-like vehicle the size of a battleship, and beside it, and entire fleet of KTTSs, and an army of bounty hunters riding upon Motorippers. He fell to his knees in defeat, as Maximus walked up behind the Black Angel. “To secure peace is to prepare for war. The Order of Knights embodies this. We may work for the defensive, but don’t think we won’t at least show our fangs. You should’ve just left it alone.” Maximus said. “Damn you, and your army of fools.” The Black Angel said. “Many have. Some just do a better job.” Maximus said, before pulling out the Black Angel’s scythe, and slicing upwards, impaling the Black Angel on the blade. The Black Angel didn’t even cry in pain as he breathed his final breath, and fell to the ground, blood leaking out of his chest. Maximus walked forwards towards the army, before the two stopped, one man facing towards an unstoppable force, with no resistance beyond this point. On the side of this colossal tank was *Battle Clutcher*, the name for this specific vehicle. From out of the *Battle Clutcher* walked Mac and Yuri. “You son of a bitch.” Mac said. “Good to see you alive. Not good to see we didn’t have to arrive to help you escape in the first place.” Yuri said. “Don’t worry. You helped a little. And this army’s going to help us capture Nikola.” Maximus said. “Yeah, we heard he was captured, too. I trust you left him imprisoned, though.” Yuri said. “No, as a matter of fact, he was the one who helped me escape.” Maximus said. “What?!” Mac exclaimed. “It’s a long story. We tried to escape one time at the same time, fighting each other along the way, but it didn’t work. So I guess he saw it as, united we stand, divided we fall. Though I’m sure he’s changed his mind already.” Maximus said. “Well let’s get in there!” Mac yelled. “Of course, let’s go!” Yuri said, as the three High Generals ran forwards, with their army behind them.

### EXTRA EXTRA

In a security room, Nikola stood above a lone guard sitting in a chair with his throat sliced, struggling to hold on to what little life he had left. Nikola was tuning a ham radio, before he reached the right frequency. “This is Nikola Astrid reporting from a previously unknown location to Radio City. Broadcast to all of our troops that I need them at these coordinates.” Nikola said as he pressed a few buttons to reveal a map of Vorcium, and read aloud the coordinates to a red dot drawn on the map. “And bring subject 4662.” Nikola said, before placing the radio down. As he turned around, he saw two Black Guards enter the room. “Halt! The Order of Demons is coming soon with an army to take this place over. The Black Angel lies dead, and I demand you either work with me or die.” Nikola said. “After all, I’m not the one who killed the Black Angel anyway.” Nikola said, as he showed an outside security camera on a monitor, showing the Black Angel lying dead in the grass while Maximus walked away. The two guards thought for a moment, before kneeling to Nikola. “Excellent choice. Spread the word to your accomplices and be ready to defend the base from Knights.” Nikola said.

**DIVIDED WE FALL**

The three High Generals cut their way through one Black Knight after the other, leaving each hall to be a massacre, before they stumbled upon Nikola being defended by three Black Knights. Nikola sighed, and pulled out a pistol, shooting all three of the Black Knights. “Idiots. So. Look at this. Just us four. You going to arrest me or what?” Nikola asked. “How perceptive of you.” Mac said as he circled around Nikola, while Maximus and Yuri remained at his front. Mac put on a pair of handcuffs on Nikola, and began escorting him out. “Where are you guys thinking of jailing this bastard?” Mac asked. “Our prison, obviously.” Maximus said. “I was thinking something closer to Rikers.” Yuri said. “That’d be rich.” Mac said. The three High Generals left the Order of Silence base, and began walking Nikola back towards their armada, before Nikola’s handcuffs dropped to the ground, and the three High Generals all readied their weapons. “Gentlemen, if I’m going to be jailed, the deciding factor is how I’m tried. And I choose trial by combat.” Nikola said. “That’ll be decided later.” Maximus said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xR-3jyHGfc
“I’m afraid it will be decided now.” Nikola responded, as loud mechanical footsteps erupted behind Nikola, revealing The Dragon, who roared out with a semi-mechanical voice. Nikola stepped aside as the Dragon rushed forwards, hitting Yuri initially and sending him back. Mac fired Pinaka into the Dragon’s head, though the effect did nothing, and the dragon’s mechanical helmet opened its simulated jaw, revealing two flamethrowers that bursted out, covering Mac in flames. Maximus jumped over the Dragon’s melee attack, and grabbed onto the Dragon’s chest, he dug Icestorm into it, freezing some of the armor, though as he attempted to finally break the ice, he was ripped off and thrown aside. Mac successfully put out the flames, and Yuri had recovered from the blow. Mac noticed Icestorm dug into the Dragon’s armor, revealing a bit of it to be weakened, though the Dragon went in to attack Mac with the same flames again. As the flames rushed forwards, Yuri jumped in front of Mac and fired his flamethrower, causing the flames to fly in every direction aside from the two sources. Eventually the Dragon exhausted all of his fuel. “Yuri, hit his chest!” Mac yelled. Yuri looked at the Dragon’s chest, and saw the ice damage. Yuri pulled out a pistol, and fired it into the Dragon’s chest, causing the ice break and shatter onto the ground alongside Icestorm, revealing the hydraulics and wires beneath, and in a very small hole, some of the person using the armor. Mac pulled out a stun grenade with a blade attached to one end, and threw it, attempting to hit his mark. The grenade hit the side of the Dragon’s armor and dropped to the ground, confusing the Dragon, and the device began to beep faster and faster. “Fuck, that blast isn’t going to hit him unless it’s *inside* his armor.” Mac said to Yuri, though Maximus slid under the Dragon’s legs, grabbing the grenade and Icestorm, and climbing back up the Dragon the same way he did before, though this time he took the bladed end of the grenade and jabbed it into the Dragon’s exposed chest just as the grenade exploded, electrocuting the Dragon, and Maximus who was still holding onto the Dragon. The Dragon’s armor surged with energy, until his armor exploded in an electrical surge, sending Maximus backwards. The Dragon fell over, and Maximus landed several feet away from the other High Generals, who both ran up to Maximus, who was wounded, but still alive. “Ugh… Need to see a doc...” Maximus managed to say. Yuri carried Maximus. “Let’s go!” Yuri said, as the two ran back to the *Battle Clutcher*, with Nikola watching them run away as disgust filled his eyes. He walked away from the scene, and lifted his arms up, revealing the war cry of an army of Demons. “Attack!” Nikola yelled at the top of his lungs, as he ran the opposite way of his army to safety, with an army of Demon running over the hillside to the Knights armada. The *Battle Clutcher* saw this, and fired a round from its massive canopy, this round going through the Order of Silence base into the throne room, where it detonated, causing the hill the Demons were running on to explode from under them, then sink downwards. Knights, Marines and Bounty Hunters all rushed forwards at the incoming Demon armor, the two forces clashing in ruthless combat. Dragonfighters rushed forwards over the sky, attacking the KTTSs and downing most of them with ease, before a massive object filled the sky, almost unseeable due to the lack of light, though eventually lights on the side of the object activated, revealing a space cruiser named the *LANTIS IV*.

### LOOK UP

Mac and Yuri exited out of the *Battle Clutcher* to meet up with Jarret, Scar and Silas as they all waited to meet the High Generals. “Where’s Maximus?” Silas asked. “He’s a little wounded. But he’ll be fine.” Mac said. “Good. Because I’ve got some good news.” Scar said. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that come out of her mouth.” Yuri said. Scar sighed. “As you can tell, production has been a little… enhanced. While we were investigating the Order of Silence we stumbled upon a massive crash beneath the ocean not far beyond VCT. This crash was identified as the crash of the LANTIS II, the Order of Technologies second field-tested cruiser that was supposed to successfully leave Vorcium after Theseus did its job. But during its first test, it crashed into the ocean and the logs of it were lost to time. We scrapped it for parts and started digging around at VCT to find the LANTIS I sitting in storage inside a remote docking facility hidden beneath Vorcium’s desert. With all these parts, we assembled the LANTIS IV to continue the LANTIS legacy.” Scar said. “That’s awesome. I’ve never seen a cruiser before. Not one that worked, at least.” Mac said. “Of course it’s awesome!” Silas said. “Regardless, with all those parts, we’ve already finished an escape cruiser and its fighters, all that’s left is to finish Theseus, and put an end to the Shield once and for all.” Scar said. “Not to mention the Demons are on the brink of defeat, if we stay united we can finish them as well.” Jarret said. “Things are finally looking up for us, eh?” Mac asked. “You bet.” Scar said.

### LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT

Nikola finished his trek back to Rikers, where he banged on the front door. Two Demon guards opened the door for him and knelt, many Demons were still cleaning up after the civil war they had. He looked at one of the guards. “Gather the Hellwalker Councilmen. I will speak with them. I have news.” Nikola said. The guard saluted and ran off to do his job. Nikola rode an elevator to the top floor, where he disembarked from the elevator to see a round table of Demon Hellwalkers sitting, waiting for Nikola. “It’s obvious we’re now on the loosing side of the war, because you are all bickering fools who can’t decide reasonably who should come next. Let it be known that the successor after me will be Astaroth. There will be no workaround for this, it is now set in stone. But there is one final piece of Business. When the Knights begin an attack on Rikers, no one will be here. Allow them to take our capitol. We have no need for it anymore.” Nikola said.