Spring RTS Engine

I've finished E.L.F.

Now it's time for A NEW STORY! I hope you think it's as strange as I do.
-------------------------



Ghed lazed behind the counter, resting his head on his hand. Daylight filtered through the windows, a silvery light that occasionally blinked red, orange, purple and any number of other unusual colors.

Ghed yawned.

├óÔé¼┼ôStill sleepy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath asked, slipping her arm around Ghed's waist. Ghed nodded, smiling at his wife.

├óÔé¼┼ôYeah,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, slurring his words slightly. ├óÔé¼┼ôMostly your fault, I'd have to say.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath smiled, a bit sheepishly, a blush rising to her cheeks, clashing oddly with her blue skin, golden green eyes and short cropped green hair. Almath had been born in O, but her parents had immigrated from one of the Upper Left Planets. She had literally run into Ghed a few months ago...and Ghed couldn't have been happier.

At the time, though, he had been a bit miffed about being in the hospital for a week.

├óÔé¼┼ôHey,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, snapping her fingers under Ghed's nose. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou were melting there.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôSorry,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, turning back to the counter. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou have a way of making me go wandering.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOh good, I'll get a leash,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath leaned on the counter. They watched the multi-colored sunlight. ├óÔé¼┼ôAny customers?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôNot yet,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed sighed.

├óÔé¼┼ôThen you won't mind if I go grab something to eat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath asked, walking around Ghed's back and out from behind the counter.

├óÔé¼┼ôNot at all,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said. ├óÔé¼┼ôJust...pick something up for Q, would you?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll spoil her,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, opening the door. Ghed caught a glimpse of the shop across the way, a floating sphere with four windows in the top, two doors on the bottom and a sail in the middle, catching the occasional gusts of wind that blew through O. Ghed never got around to asking why Mrs. Glick needed a sail on her house, as she could just will gravity into existence. Why bother with centripetal gravity when you could just...will it?

Almath stepped out the door, dropped a few feet, then shot away, phasing through the clusters of Chaos Matter that filled the empty space between buildings in O.

Ghed smiled, willing the door shut. How had he ended up with her, again? He was still a little shocked. A wife and two kids, and they had met when she had broken his arms and legs by accident.

Ghed started laughing when his floor started to melt.

├óÔé¼┼ôDaddy!├óÔé¼┬Ø Q moaned, falling through the center of the ceiling, liquid Chaos Matter dribbling around her.

├óÔé¼┼ôOh Q!├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed snapped, walking around the counter and to his daughter. She was standing in a slowly expanding pool of Chaos matter, looking at her hands and crying. The Chaos Matter glowed softly, filling the room with more silvery light, making Ghed's eyes sting slightly. He frowned at the Chaos Matter and willed it back into being the ceiling. It floated up and plastered itself into the hole it had created. A moment later, no one could tell that it was any different.

Q kept crying.

├óÔé¼┼ôAww, come on Q,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, taking his daughter in his arms. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't cry, just tell daddy what happened.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôI wanted a cup of watter,├óÔé¼┬Ø Q sobbed. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd then the floor just kept melting and melting and I didn't know what to do!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOh...that's all?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed smiled. ├óÔé¼┼ôI've melted a few walls when I was your age. I almost destroyed my dad's Spelljammer, that's how bad I was when I first started.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Q sniffled. ├óÔé¼┼ôReally?├óÔé¼┬Ø She brightened. ├óÔé¼┼ôThen...can I melt your Spelljammer?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôNo,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, carrying Q with him. He willed the door to the house part of his shop open, walking towards the stairs. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't you get to practice this at school?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYeah, but I was thirsty,├óÔé¼┬Ø Q said, sulky. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd they've only let me do things like boxes.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWell, if you want to go faster, go slower.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThat's stupid,├óÔé¼┬Ø Q muttered.

├óÔé¼┼ôDon't just rush ahead, take your time and study slow. But study while your not at school and you'll be way in front of them.├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed smiled. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat's what I do.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOh!├óÔé¼┬Ø Q said as Ghed got to her room. He set her down and she ran into the room, her door slamming behind him. A moment later, the door opened and Q stuck her head out of the window. ├óÔé¼┼ôThanks daddy.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYour welcome,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, walking down the hall.

Ding. A bell rang through the house and Ghed broke into a run. He ran down the stairs and paused outside the door leading into the store. He brushed his shirt straight, smiled, then opened the door.

WHAM!

Ghed physically staggered backwards, his throat going dry. The man standing in his shop...Ghed blinked a few times, trying to clear his head. He managed it after a few moments, then almost ran from the room in sheer terror.

The man in the room...was a Force.

The room had changed around the Force. The walls were adorned with weapons. The light changed, becoming more ruddy red, like blood. The sound of marching, rolling war machines and distant gun fire, artillery and the roar of dragons, whine of airplanes and scream of missiles. The smell of fire, blood, death, war, war, war!

It took a moment for Ghed to avoid becoming part of the Force's idea of how the world should be. Most Forces had that effect in O, and that's why one of the first pieces of advice Ghed had given Q was ├óÔé¼┼ôNever, ever, ever talk to a Force alone. You might lose yourself.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed's mind groped around till he found Q, rooting himself in the knowledge of her. As long as Q was his daughter, Ghed would not become what this Force wanted him to be.

├óÔé¼┼ôHello, and welcome to my shop,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, forcing a smile to his lips. The Force stepped closer, frowning mightily. Ghed couldn't quite see his form, as it was shrouded by the sheer force of his personality, of his will. And in O that was often enough.

├óÔé¼┼ôHail!├óÔé¼┬Ø The man said, his voice cracking like a whip. A vaguely defined arm rose in salute. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you Ghed?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYes,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, bowing. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou seem to have me at a disadvantage, sir.├óÔé¼┬Ø

The Force seemed pleased. The feeling and sounds of warfare faded, being slowly replaced by the subtle, but far more rewarding, sensation of comradely. The friendship of men who fight and die together. It felt brittle, though. Ready to snap and unleash death on whatever broke it.

Ghed tried not to sweat.

├óÔé¼┼ôSir is correct,├óÔé¼┬Ø The Force said, walking closer to the counter. ├óÔé¼┼ôMy name is General Averiy. I have come to O to find create a weapon. The last four Willworkers could not create the weapon I desire, so I come to you. Can you create such a weapon?├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed gulped. ├óÔé¼┼ôSir, you haven't told me what the weapon is.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Averiy frowned, the air becoming blacker. The whine of air planes and the distant thud of bombs started filling the room.

├óÔé¼┼ôI wish to have a weapon that can finally purge my homeland and her colonies of the inferior races.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôInferior races?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThose of non-Deneg blood. All of them.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll need a very big sword,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, trying desperately to cover up the fact that he was close to being sick. The smell of smoke, burning bodies. He concentrated on Q, trying to find himself. She didn't notice anything was wrong, protected by a child's surety of self and the simple pleasures of playing with her dolls.

├óÔé¼┼ôNo, I will need a very small sword,├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy said, smiling slightly. The smell of death only got worse. ├óÔé¼┼ôMy top scientiscians have said that plagues come from very small, invisible swords that attack the body at the basest level. I wish to create one of these, one that will selectively target those of non-Deneg blood. It shall cause bleeding of the mouth, the nose, the eyes and every other orifice on the body, killing those afflicted with it most rapidly.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Now Ghed couldn't hide how sick he felt. His hand went to his mouth and he stepped backwards. The bacteria that Averiy had described was already half formed, floating in the room, waiting for Averiy to concentrate hard enough and make it real. And, as a Force, that would have been almost laughably easy. Ghed hoped, prayed, that Averiy would never realize what he was. If he had, then the plague would be real and countless ├óÔé¼┼ônon-Deneg├óÔé¼┬Ø people would be dying.

Or, even worse, O would have been thrown into chaos and Averiy would be busy conquering it.

├óÔé¼┼ôWill you create what i want?├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy was saying.

Ghed thought. Averiy was a Force. Even if he didn't know the full extent of his powers, he was still a Force.

├óÔé¼┼ôN...No,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, gritting his teeth.

├óÔé¼┼ôYou...can't?├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy asked, his voice becoming deadly.

├óÔé¼┼ôNo,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, gaining courage, an insane, impossible courage. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo, I won't.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Averiy was silent. The room became still, the air freezing. Ghed found it hard to breath.

├óÔé¼┼ôYou...won't.├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy looked Ghed up and down. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you abandoning your Deneg blood?├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed frowned. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not from your world, no matter how much I might look it. I think you can take your Deneg blood and shove it. I will not create a biological weapon for you, or for anyone. Now get the hell out of my shop.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Averiy drew to his full hight, his form becoming almost entirely black. Then he spun around and strode out of the store. He pushed the door open, slamming it into Almath's face. She yelped, but Averiy walked towards a mousy looking man wearing the green sash of a Guider. The Guilder created a street out of Chaos Matter. The street crumbled as Averiy walked along it, but it worked to keep Averiy from falling into the Chaos Matter and drowning.

Ghed felt his knees go weak know that he had escaped from a Force. Then he realized who Averiy had bashed into on his way out. Ghed dashed out of the shop and saw Almath laying on a small platform she had created to cushion her fall. She rubbed her nose, groaning.

├óÔé¼┼ôOw,├óÔé¼┬Ø She said. Ghed took her hand and dragged Almath into the house. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho the hell was that?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôJust an asshole,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, trying to make light of the situation.

├óÔé¼┼ôI can see that,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, still rubbing her nose. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo you threw him out?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOf course.├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed smiled. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo, what's that you got there?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôFood!├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath held up a bag. Inside were two sticks of meat matter and a single vile of Chaos Matter, kept neutral by some binding spells on the cap.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat's this?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed asked, brow furrowing.

├óÔé¼┼ôOh, just something special...for tonight,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath smiled, walking around Ghed, then around the back of the shop. She paused at the door, smiling. ├óÔé¼┼ôComing?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôRight,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, blinking. Averiy faded from his mind as he followed Almath into the main part of the house.

--------

Almath rolled over, the silvery light of morning filling the room. She smiled, vague memories of last night floating to her mind. She rolled over, wondering if Ghed was willing for another try...

Ghed was gone.

Almath sat up, the blanket clinging to her skin slightly. She peeled it off and stood on the bed, looking around. Ghed wasn't in the room.

She knelt by the bed, bending over.

Ghed wasn't under the bed.

Almath scratched her head, frowning. He must have gone to work early...or she had slept late again. Almath walked to the window of her bedroom and stuck her head out. The City of O extended around, curving madly in that paradoxical, insanity inducing shape that O always had. After a few moments, Almath saw the nearest clock sphere.

It was only eight in the morning. Ghed never left until nine.

Almath willed her clothes into existence. She must have been distracted as he clothes came on backwards. After a few moments she got it right. Almath looked herself in the mirror, making sure that none of her more embarrassing parts were showing. None were and she walked out of her room and into the main hallway.

Q saw Almath walk past her room, starting to chant. ├óÔé¼┼ôMommy and Daddy, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I-├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôQ, shush!├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath hissed. ├óÔé¼┼ôHave you seen Daddy?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôNope,├óÔé¼┬Ø Q said. She paused. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou saw Daddy last night.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath sighed. ├óÔé¼┼ôQ, we've told you, when two people love each other-├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôBut you were extra loud this time!├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath glowered at her daughter. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm going to lock up. If you need me, just think the emergency thought.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOkay,├óÔé¼┬Ø Q said.

├óÔé¼┼ôThink the emergency thought,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said.

├óÔé¼┼ôI know it!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThen prove it.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôFine!├óÔé¼┬Ø Q screwed her face up. Almath heard a shout of ├óÔé¼┼ôHELP! HELP! HELP!├óÔé¼┬Ø from her own mind.

├óÔé¼┼ôGood,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, hugging Q. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, you have fun while I go find Daddy.├óÔé¼┬Ø

------

Almath stepped out of the shop and started phasing towards Ghed's favored bar. Phasing was simple really. Just imagine how you wanted to get where you were going, and you got there. Almath swam, swinging her arms in long motions. Before she had immigrated to O, she had loved swimming, so now she swam through Chaos Matter as easily as the liquid hydrogen of her homeworld.

Ghed's favored bar, a small joint called Godheaven, was not too far from the Artisan District, settled into the edge of the Glut, the main part of the O. It was a squarish building, with a single door and no windows. Though it looked miserable on the outside, Godheaven was actually quite nice inside.

Or at least that's what Ghed kept saying. Almath walked to the door and opened it. And Ghed had been right. The bar's interior was made of a small grassy plain, with blue skies, a nice, yellowy sun and a small bar near the middle. In the center was a man, about six feet tall, with a face obscured by a glowing golden halo. He wore a white robe and had long, gentle fingers and sandles on his feet.

├óÔé¼┼ôHi?├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, looking at the man's face. The halo made it impossible to tell what he looked like, really, and it also hurt Almath's eyes.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy hello there!├óÔé¼┬Ø The man said, waving. ├óÔé¼┼ôAren't you Almath Vorhee? Ghed's wife?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYes I am,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, looking around the bar. It was mostly abandoned, the only occupants being...her and the owner. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo what's your name?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôI'm God,├óÔé¼┬Ø The man said, holding out his hand.

├óÔé¼┼ôThe God?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOne of them,├óÔé¼┬Ø God said, shrugging. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...what are you here for? A drink?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôI'm here to see if you've seen Ghed,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said.

God shrugged, picking up a cup and starting to polish it. ├óÔé¼┼ôHaven't seen him all day.├óÔé¼┬Ø

------


Falling.


Falling.


SNAP!

Ghed's eyes opened and he stood in a grassy field, surrounded by forests. It had up. It had down. It had blue skies, yellow sun, white, puffy clouds and some birds in the trees.

Ghed blinked. The field was actually...quite nice. It was also very study. He wasn't drifting, he wasn't losing himself in the surrounding matter. Ghed tapped the ground with his foot and found that bare feet might work on Chaos Matter, but were freezing cold on some dew covered grass. His clothes, light, thin and perfect for O, were no good against the chilly wind that was blowing through the field. Ghed shivered...and a solitary figure emerged from a forest.

The figure was shortish, red haired, and was dressed in a leather jacket, short pants and boots. The figured clutched a long barreled rifle. As the figure got closer, it resolved into a young woman, somewhat minx like in build, with a pale face, green eyes, freckles and a very panicked expression on her face. Behind her, more figures were running out of the woods, all clutching rifles. One or two spun around and fired into the forest, their guns flashing, cracking and booming.

Ghed gulped, rooted to the spot, jaw open.

├óÔé¼┼ôThis is a dream, right?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked, eyes wide.

The woman ran up to him and shouted. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat are you doing! Get the hell down!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhere is-├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed started. The woman shook her head and moved to start running again.

CRACK! A bullet exploded through her throat. She fell. Ghed felt her blood on his face. More figures were falling, some screaming, other's not. People were vanishing into the opposite forest, getting away from the murders fire coming out of the front forest.

Ghed felt one of those bullets whiz past his ear. He looked down and saw that the woman was still alive. Barely, but alive. She was dying.

Dying. Ghed stooped, grabbing her arms and dragging her to the forest. Men in gray uniforms were coming out of the forest, firing their rifles at the fleeing people. A tree collapsed and a massive, floating rectangle of gray stone came out. Men stood on top of it, crouched behind barriers, their rifles perched on the sides. They started firing. More of the fleeing figures died. Ghed got to the forest.

The woman almost died. Ghed focused on her, willing her to live. Her body didn't respond to his will. Then...no wait! Ghed focused again, harder. The woman's body started to recover, for a moment. The wound looked...better, for a moment at least. Then Ghed's willpower gave out. The woman was dying...

A shout sounded. Ghed looked up and saw one of the fleeing men, wearing the same leather style shirt that the woman was, run towards him.

├óÔé¼┼ôTriana!├óÔé¼┬Ø He shouted, dropping his rifle to the ground. He fixed an eye on Ghed. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôG...Ghed,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed stammered.

├óÔé¼┼ôThank you,├óÔé¼┬Ø The man said, his eyes locking with Ghed. ├óÔé¼┼ôMost of your kind would have shot her twice.├óÔé¼┬Ø

He picked up his rifle and aimed it at Ghed's chest.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhoa, wait!├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, holding his hands up.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy? You didn't wait to shoot my sister through the neck,├óÔé¼┬Ø The man pulled the trigger.

Ghed smashed into the tree behind him, shouting in pain. It felt as if a good portion of his shoulder had exploded. Ghed fell forward, gritting his teeth.

├óÔé¼┼ôDamned Deneg,├óÔé¼┬Ø The man muttered. He pulled a bandage out of his pack and pressed it into the wound on his sister's neck. The wound, thought the man didn't know it, had shifted a few inches to the left, becoming a graze instead of a death shot. That's why Triana didn't die then and there.

Ghed used his still working arm to push himself onto his back, pain smashing through his body. It hurt so much that he wished the bullet had blown his brains out. He concentrated on his wound. Unlike the girl, his body was part Chaos Matter, more flexible then the rest of this world. So the wound closed, pushing the bullet out.

├óÔé¼┼ôYou shot me,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed gasped, shaking his head.

The man snapped his rifle back to cover Ghed.

├óÔé¼┼ôI'm...not...with the Deneg. I'm not Deneg!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYeah, yeah, of course you're not, dark hair,├óÔé¼┬Ø The man muttered, aiming his rifle at Ghed's head.

├óÔé¼┼ôI saved her life!├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed shouted. ├óÔé¼┼ôI fixed her wound.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôDidn't do a very good job,├óÔé¼┬Ø The man muttered. Ghed knew he was going to die. Knowing one was going to die often concentrated the mind wonderfully.

Ghed thrust his hand forward over the barrel of the rifle. The rifle bent out of shape, forced that way by Ghed's mind.

├óÔé¼┼ôLike that,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed gasped. Then he fell unconscious.

The man looked at his rifle, then at his sister Tiena was gaining some color in her cheeks, her eyes glancing around. She locked eyes on her brother and gave him a thumbs up.

The Deneg hover cube forced it's ways into the trees, surrounded by a thin wave of gray suited Deneg infantry. They beat the bushes for more of the resistance.

They found Ghed, alone, unconscious and tied up.

The Deneg sergeant recognized Ghed's picture from the latest orders from Central Command.

├óÔé¼┼ôHuh,├óÔé¼┬Ø He said, looking at his squad. ├óÔé¼┼ôI think we're in luck.├óÔé¼┬Ø

When Ghed woke up, he was sitting behind a table. The table was set with a wide array of food, plenty of drinks and a single other chair at the other end of the table. Ghed tried to turn his head to see the rest of the room...but his head was held in place by a clamp. His hands too, they were tied to the armrests of his chair.

Ghed started to panic. He looked at the table again, eyes narrowing. Thirst started to prickle on his mind, along with hunger.

A door opened behind him.

Footsteps.

General Averiy walked into the room and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

├óÔé¼┼ôNow,├óÔé¼┬Ø He said. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow do you feel like working for me now?├óÔé¼┬Ø

its like some kind of messed up dream world...

Uh...

What?

OH NO MR. BILL! OH NOO~!!

I think he means the city of O. And DOUBLE POOOOST!

Maybe I would read to the end if I understood more of 50% of it... :)

Somewhat confusing, but I think I understand the basics of what's going on

It'll get clearer when you find out what the hell is going on.

There's a war between ordinary humans and the 'Deneb', which are both made of and can control this 'chaos matter' stuff that can be used to form nearly everything. Averiy is a Deneb general who doesn't know his own power (and probably will at some point) who wants to use biological warfare to exterminate the humans.

Judging from what little infomation is available, ordinary humans are a lot like we are now, and live in isolation in the countryside, probably to avoid detection. The Deneb military forces are actively trying to exterminate them. (WARNING: This next bit is guesswork) This could be for religious reasons - because the ordinary humans cannot control the 'Chaos Matter' they are 'impure', ie because they aren't as 'enlightened' or somesuch as the Deneb (because they can't control the CM), they should be exterminated. Or it could be because a human did something, or some other thing. Hell, I don't know.

He needs this Ghed bloke (how the heck do you pronounce 'Ghed'?) to make this virus for him. Because Ghed refused on moral grounds, Averiy dumps him in the middle of the war. If the above religious theory is true, Averiy could be doing this to show how 'barbaric' the humans are, in the hope that this will encourage him to do his bidding. Alternatively, it could be a show of force to intimidate Ghed.

Wow...close. But not quite. Some of the details are off, and you're missing something. But your supposed to be missing something. Which is good...

and it's Deneg, not Deneb.

Oh and Ghed is prounounced "G-hed"

Deneg, sorry.

Also, Almath will go looking for Ghed, probably gathering a group of companions along the way. Also: the 'Force' thing will be important in some way - looks like some sort of advanced Deneg in terms of control over CM

More information! Ghed is in trouble! And Guessmyname gets to see how close/far he was from the target!

=============


Almath found the Constable Dome easily enough. It was embedded in the side of the Sphere, near the center of O. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by a brilliant rainbow of phasing pedestrians. Humans of every shape and make, from every world that connected to O. Some were going into the Constable Dome, others coming out, and even more just going past it.

Almath sighed and started phasing her way into the traffic. She wasn't good at joining traffic streams as fast as this, but she still managed to get in without breaking anyone's limbs. She settled between a old man, seven foot long and stick thin, and a portly woman who was laying on her back, painting her foot long nails as she phased.

├óÔé¼┼ôI hate this,├óÔé¼┬Ø she drawled, looking at Almath. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy are you here.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath sniffled, trying to keep tears down. ├óÔé¼┼ôMy...husband is missing.├óÔé¼┬Ø

The woman laughed. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe's long gone then. Probably found a foozy and did a runner. Mine did.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath beat down a sudden flash of anger at the woman.

├óÔé¼┼ôMy name is Kathy,├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman drawled. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis is a weird place.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYou new here?├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath asked.

├óÔé¼┼ôI'm from Georgia,├óÔé¼┬Ø Kathy said, holding out a freshly painted hand. Almath took it and they shook. Kathy glanced over Almath's shoulder and brightened. ├óÔé¼┼ôAn opening!├óÔé¼┬Ø She cried, slipping past Almath and into a deeper holding ring.

Almath felt strangely betrayed.

A half hour later, she managed to set down inside the dome. Green dressed constables ran to and fro, carrying sheaves of papers, shouting, waving and creating police equipment from a massed glob of Chaos Matter in the middle of the room. A man stood next to the Chaos Matter, shouting at the top of his lungs.

├óÔé¼┼ôSixty three percent, only Class Fourteen Constables with F assignments and above permitted!├óÔé¼┬Ø he bawled

Almath looked around until she caught a hole in the pushing crowd, where she saw a desk with a constable but without a person shouting at the constable for who knows what. Almath worked her way there, pushing and shoving till she got there.

The constable on the other side of the desk was a man with a thick scar running up the side of his face, twisting it into a perpetual, horrible, grimace. He was sorting papers one handed, writing with the other hand and creating new papers out of a small dish of Chaos Matter with his mind.

├óÔé¼┼ôHow can I help?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked, sliding a finished paper away with a flick of his wrist and snapping a newly created paper under his pen. It started scratching again.

├óÔé¼┼ôMy husband is missing. I'm afraid he might be kidnapped.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôI see,├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable said. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow long have you been married.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôTwo months,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said.

├óÔé¼┼ôAnd what is his name?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôGhed...Ghed Vorhee.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThat would make you Almath Vorhee?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYes...how did you know?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThere are only so many blue skinned women who have married Ghed Vorhee in the city. I make it a point to know as many things as possible.├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable flicked a finished paper away. It slid onto the top of a stack and the man paused, using both hands to straighten the stack. Then he took the stack and dropped it into a small chute next to his desk. There was a loud sluuuuck sound and the papers vanished.

├óÔé¼┼ôSo,├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable said, clasping his hands over the desk. ├óÔé¼┼ôPlease tell me everything.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWell...I woke up and Ghed was gone. He wasn't outside of the shop, he wasn't at his bar, he wasn't at his parent's house and he wasn't in the Refactory. So...where else could he be?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôI don't know the man in person,├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable said. He paused, then breathed in deep and rattled off: ├óÔé¼┼ôBut he has never been found in any house of ill repute. All his old girlfriends have moved out of O, and he's never been found out after hours. He still might be sleeping behind your back, but I'm going to decide that he's generally a nice person and isn't going to start right away. So...any ideas on who might want him captured?├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath blinked, blindsided. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhoa...you really do know a lot of things.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThanks,├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable said, flashing a single smile. It bent and twisted his face into something even worse than normal. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow...any ideas?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôNone,├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath said, shaking her head. ├óÔé¼┼ôGhed's a nice guy. Everyone likes him!├óÔé¼┬Ø

------


The pause before connection was the worst part, Ghed thought. It's the worst part...until the actual connection which forcefully reminded Ghed that actually...the connection was the worst part.

His head snapped to the side, spit and blood flying from his mouth. The interrogator, or Puncher as Ghed thought of him, felt his knuckles, grinning at Ghed.

├óÔé¼┼ôNow,├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy said, still sitting behind the very well decorated table. His feet were up, and he had the air of someone watching a very fine show. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you ready to make the weapon?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôNice...nice planet you have here,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed gasped. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'd love to visi-├óÔé¼┬Ø

Another connection snapped Ghed's head to the other side. He gasped, trying desperately to renew his concentration. It was hard...but...the binds on his hands were getting weaker. They...were...getting...weaker.

├óÔé¼┼ôGetting weaker,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed gasped. ├óÔé¼┼ôGetting weaker!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôI know you are,├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy said, smiling benignly. Ghed looked at him over a black eye.

Averiy was a short man. He had thick, red hair and a bristling red mustache, with piercing green eyes and a spread of freckles. He saw Ghed staring at him and his face darkened, making his freckles dissapear momentarily. Averiy stood and bent his head close to Ghed's face.

├óÔé¼┼ôNow,├óÔé¼┬Ø He breathed. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy do you resist? We found a bullet wound on your body...healed, but still a wound. Did the Tregent slime shoot you because you had correct features?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Ghed didn't nod. He didn't shake his head. He just stared.

├óÔé¼┼ôThey did, didn't they?├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy smiled.

Ghed spat. Averiy frowned, and slowly, deliberately, pulling a handkerchief, It was embroidered with an insignia, shaped like a oblong hook, and colored a bright red. Averiy carefully wiped the blood spittle off of his face. He stood straight, walking behind Ghed. Ghed heard a door open. Puncher followed Averiy. They both paused behind Ghed, looking at him.

Then they both left.

Ghed sighed, closing his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts. The first and foremost thought it his mind was ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere the hell am I?├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed eliminated the first thing that came to mind. He wasn't in O. He wasn't ever near O. Maybe not even in the same part of the multiverse as O, as the world's responsiveness to his will was negligible. So he was far from O, in the hold of a insane general in a world that was being torn apart by a war he barely understood.

├óÔé¼┼ôGreat,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed muttered. He started trying to weaken his bonds, but his beating had made him weaker than he thought. After a moment, he passed out.
--------

Averiy strode into Magus Felix's room. Felix turned around, trying to conceal the letter he was writing behind himself.

├óÔé¼┼ôGenera-├óÔé¼┬Ø he started. Averiy pulled his wheellock out of his holster and pressed it against Felix's head.

├óÔé¼┼ôYou were off,├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy said, his voice deadly calm. ├óÔé¼┼ôI suspect that you were trying to put the Willworker in the middle of the Tregent, weren't you.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Felix blinked. So...the letter would never get to Kias.

Averiy spun the pistol around and smashed the but into Felix's temple. The Magus crumpled, unconscious. ├óÔé¼┼ôGet him to the cells,├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy said to his body guard, Puncher. Puncher nodded, dragging the head Magus out of the chambers. Averiy picked up the half finished letter that Felix had been writing.

Averiy frowned, crushing the paper in his hands.

├óÔé¼┼ôTraitors,├óÔé¼┬Ø He muttered. ├óÔé¼┼ôTraitors everywhere.├óÔé¼┬Ø
----------

Ghed woke up next morning...and his bonds were broken. Ghed looked at his freed hands and smiled.

├óÔé¼┼ôStep one done,├óÔé¼┬Ø he mumbled, his bruised face complaining. Ghed stood and walked around the cell. Sunlight streamed through a window, just slightly beyond Ghed's reach. But as he moved back to the door, he saw that the window had bars. Ghed heard that there was something going on outside. Something loud. Cheering? Ghed shoved his chair against the wall and stood, standing on his tip toes. He saw a huge crowd outside his window...he must have been high up.

Averiy! He was standing on a podium, at the end of a huge crowd of people, all waving red and gray flags. The cheering was incredible, getting louder after every moment. Averiy was standing at the podium, a hovering crystal in front of his face. The crowd got louder...then slowly faded, becoming softer.

├óÔé¼┼ôPeople of Deneg!├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy shouted, his voice being picked up and amplified through the crystal, bouncing into Ghed's cell. ├óÔé¼┼ôToday I have amazing news! I have traveled...to another world!├óÔé¼┬Ø

Gasps, a murmur of gasps. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt is a barbaric and degenerate place called O. The people are baseless, moral less...not even of proper Deneg stock!├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed glowered. Of course the people of O weren't proper Deneg stock. But the people that he could see clearly looked offended, some even furious. Ghed was struck by how similar most of them looked. Black hair, gray suits. The woman wore dapper dressed that seemed to smother their forms. The men wore dull costumes with non-descript jackets and non-descript undershirts and non-descript pants. Ghed frowned as Averiy continued talking.

├óÔé¼┼ôBut it is also a city of opportunity...or would be if the people of it did not conspire with the Tregents!├óÔé¼┬Ø

A huge booing came from the crowd. The booing became cheering and shouts of. ├óÔé¼┼ôHail Averiy! Hail! Hail!├óÔé¼┬Ø

Averiy spoke over the cheers, his voice getting louder. ├óÔé¼┼ôThere was one person, however, who saw the truth of our cause and agreed to immigrated to our glorious world. His name is Ghed and he is right now working, despite the villainous efforts of a traitor, on a weapon that will end this war and all wars once and for all!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôShow the traitor! Show the traitor!├óÔé¼┬Ø The crowd started chanting. Averiy gestured and two gray uniformed body guards dragged a bedraggled looking man. He had black hair, just like most of the people in the crowd.

├óÔé¼┼ôThis man has betrayed his heritage!├óÔé¼┬Ø Averiy shouted. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe tried to give the valiant Ghed over to the vile Tregent! Now...he receives the only penalty for traitors!├óÔé¼┬Ø

The crowd became silent. Averiy slid an ornamental pistol out of a hip holster. He pressed it into the bedraggled man's head.

A loud crack sounded. Ghed turned away, feeling his stomach boil. The cheering from the crowd made the execution even worse.

The door rattled. Ghed turned to face the door, his heart hammering against his chest. The door opened and a serving girl walked in, holding a tray with a cup and some bread on it. Behind her was a guard. The guard followed the girl inside, frowning.

Ghed noticed the girl had red hair that had been pulled back under a gray hat, which did nothing to hide her freckles. She glanced at Ghed...and winked. Then she set the tray on the ground of the cell, turned around and walked out. The guard slapped her buttocks as she left, squeezing. The girl did her best to not notice. The door closed and locked again.

Ghed gulped and walked to the tray. What had the wink meant...that thought fell to the wayside as he realized how hungry and thirsty he was. He downed the water in a moment, then took a huge bite out of the break.

CLANK! His teeth chomped down on something very hard and metal. Ghed reached into his mouth and pulled out the metallic item he had bit on. It was a key.

A key! Ghed stood, finishing off the rest of the bread. He wiped the key off on his shirt, then slid it into the lock. It worked. Ghed pulled the key out, his mind spinning with excitement. He moved to his chair and started concentrating on one of the legs.

├óÔé¼┼ôBe...a...sword,├óÔé¼┬Ø He thought as hard as possible. ├óÔé¼┼ôBe...a...sword.├óÔé¼┬Ø

----------

├óÔé¼┼ôWe've done all the checking we could,├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable said, looking at Almath. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd we're afraid that your husband is not in O.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThen...where is he?├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath asked, wiping her eyes free of the tears that had started building up.

├óÔé¼┼ôWe...don't know. Hundreds of people come and leave O every day. And they go to thousands of different places. So I think you're lost.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôBut...there has to be something you can do!├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath shouted.

├óÔé¼┼ôI'm afraid that inter-plane traffic is not the place of a constable to speak off,├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable said, not meeting Almath's eyes.

├óÔé¼┼ôPlease!├óÔé¼┬Ø Almath hissed. ├óÔé¼┼ôI need to find him.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWell I can't infringe on the domain of the Chaosimtarian, as they get really touching if anyone starts giving free advice on their knowledge. So I can't tell you anything, now can i?├óÔé¼┬Ø

Almath's eyes widened. ├óÔé¼┼ôChaosimtarian...├óÔé¼┬Ø She breathed. She had never heard of them. ├óÔé¼┼ôThank you.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôFor what?├óÔé¼┬Ø The constable asked, his face the picture of innocence.

Almath nodded, standing and running out of the Constable offices. She almost slammed into a pedestrian in her hurry. The pedestrian shouted at her, but Almath was to busy willing herself to the Chaosimtarian.

Not that she knew where that was.

Stupid internet error. There's a post above this post that you should read.

this is an interesting story

Well I got mucked up a bit. I thought the people on 'O' and the people Averiy appears to lead (The Deneg) were the same.

Excitment! Rebbellion! National Socializem!


Ghed rested his head against the three legged chair, sweat dribbling down his shirt.

├óÔé¼┼ôThis...place...sucks,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed gasped, picking the sword he'd made out of the chair leg in one hand. He felt as if he could barely stand, let alone swing a sword.

Ghed stood, wiping his brow off, and pulling the key out of his pocket. Some people in O thought pockets were a waste of time. Ghed was eminently glad that he wasn't one of them. Ghed slipped the key into the lock and turned it.

The lock opened. Ghed grinned, feeling a burst of energy. He cracked the door open and saw the guard on his cell snoring softly, sitting on a chair he'd placed against the wall next to the door. Ghed slipped out of the cell and started padding down the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible.

The hall was cold and dark, the only light provided by fluttering torches that cast eeriy shadows on the stone walls. Ghed reached the corner and pushed himself into one of the cell doorways as two gray uniformed guards walked past, holding rifles. They continued down the passage. Ghed moved out once they had past.

And he almost walked into the redheaded serving girl. She reacted with remarkable poise, skipping backwards while keeping a hold on the platter she held.

├óÔé¼┼ôGood, your out,├óÔé¼┬Ø She whispered. She glanced down at the sword. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere did you get that.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed wiped his brow off, panting. ├óÔé¼┼ôLong...story,├óÔé¼┬Ø He gasped.

├óÔé¼┼ôWell, follow me,├óÔé¼┬Ø The serving girl said, taking Ghed by the arm and pulling him down the hall. They moved past several cell doors and turned a corner into a small, cramped room. The room had an incredibly small cot tucked in the corner. A few bundles of cleaning supplies were jammed against every wall, and a single picture with a young, redheaded girl sitting on an elderly man's lap, hung on the wall.

├óÔé¼┼ôWelcome to my palace,├óÔé¼┬Ø The serving girl said. She turned to Ghed and frowned. ├óÔé¼┼ôTake your clothes off.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed was too tired to question. He just slid his shirt off, even as the serving girl handed him a gray uniform.

├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll blend in with the Deneg pretty good.├óÔé¼┬Ø She muttered, glancing away as Ghed changed pants. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd we'll get you into the forests.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is going on?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed asked.

├óÔé¼┼ôAveriy wants you. So we want you more,├óÔé¼┬Ø The serving girl shrugged. ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't know more than that. If I get fingered like...├óÔé¼┬Ø Her voice caught and she looked away. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike Felix, then I won't be able to tell no one anything.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Before Ghed could ask anything more, the girl pushed a bundle of cleaning supplies to the side and pulled out a small bundle of scrolls.

├óÔé¼┼ôHere,├óÔé¼┬Ø The girl said. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't ask me how to use them. I don't know. All I know is if anyone asks, you are off for the night. Say you are going to the Kit Kat Club and you're going to see Kat. Then no one in their right mind is going to get in your way.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed asked, pocketing the scrolls.

├óÔé¼┼ôBecause people have been known to kill each other over Kat,├óÔé¼┬Ø The girl said. She looked Ghed over one last time. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd...hold your head up, high. Be proud in your 'fine Deneg ancestry'.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat if someone asks about the bruises?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed asked. The girl looked at him oddly.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat bruises?├óÔé¼┬Ø

Before Ghed could respond, someone started knocking on the door. The girl looked stricken...then the knocks repeated, this time in a pattern. One knock. Two knocks. One knock.

├óÔé¼┼ôOh, it's just Dan. Don't worry, he'll take over for me. I've got to give some food to the guards,├óÔé¼┬Ø The serving girl rolled her eyes, walking past Ghed and opening the door.

├óÔé¼┼ôWait,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said as the girl pushed him out of the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat's your name?├óÔé¼┬Ø

The girl paused. ├óÔé¼┼ôI..can't tell you.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôPlease,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said.

The girl's eyes softened. ├óÔé¼┼ôKais. Now go!├óÔé¼┬Ø

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

Ghed found a stairwell that lead down. He had passed two guards and they hadn't paid him much mind, so Ghed was feeling rather pleased with himself. He got down the stairs and found himself in a new part of the fortress. This place was amazingly large, with sweeping, grandiose hallways and lots of framed pictures of General Averiy. More of the oblong hook symbols decorated banner that hung from wherever part of the hallway was free of pictures.

Ghed came to a corner and was almost scared to death when a hovering crystal in the ceiling started playing music. Loud music. Militant music. Music that gave Ghed's headache a even worse headache.

├óÔé¼┼ôThat sword was a mistake,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed murmured, resuming his walk. He kept going through the hallways, passing a few soldiers and a few civilians, and finally coming to the main gate. There was a checkpoint there, two soldiers standing at a very intimidating station. A sign hung on the side of the station declared: ├óÔé¼┼ôIntruders without proper authorization will be shot.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed gulped and started rummaging around in his pockets. He found the scrolls and started flipping through them. One was a map, another was a letter of some sort...and the last was a passport. It said his name was Joni Scree, a soldier at the...Western Flagrent Border post. It said he was on leave for a week and gave some dates that Ghed hoped included today.

He walked to the checkpoint. The guard fixed him with a pleasant glance.

├óÔé¼┼ôChecking out, eh?├óÔé¼┬Ø He said, shouldering his rifle and taking the passport. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou check out. Have a nice night.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed smiled. ├óÔé¼┼ôThanks.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôSo...where are you going to spend your leave?├óÔé¼┬Ø The man asked.

├óÔé¼┼ôUh...Kat Kit Club. I mean Kit Kat Club,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said.

├óÔé¼┼ôOh really? Got someone waiting for you?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôKat,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said.

├óÔé¼┼ôNice!├óÔé¼┬Ø The guard grinned. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell, I won't keep you. Have a nice night.├óÔé¼┬Ø

He saluted, bringing his arm up at an angle, hand flat forward. ├óÔé¼┼ôHail!├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed imitated him after a moment. ├óÔé¼┼ôHail,├óÔé¼┬Ø He said, a bit weakly.

---------

This city, wherever it was, didn't hold a candle to O. Each building, every single one, was the same. Squat, squarish, with a slanted roof and a chimney. The streets were mostly deserted. In the distance Ghed saw a wall looping around the city, a large, formidable wall. Only one corner of the city seemed to be alive at all, and it was walled off by a extrusion from the main wall. From that area, Ghed could see light and a bubble of talking.

He started walking down the street, nodding at some of the other pedestrians out at night. Most of them seemed tough and all of them looked mean, even the women. A few were missing limbs, even. All the amputees were soldiers and all of them looked even meaner than the rest of the population.

Ghed kept walking, but as he walked, he pulled out the letter scroll and started to read.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhoever you are, know this. You are not the first we have broken out of Averiy's cells. You are not the last. However, many of those that we've tried to break out have died. So follow this letter to the letter.├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed smiled despite himself.

├óÔé¼┼ôGo to the western gate. Flash your passport. Then head into the woods, following the path. Once you hit the second mile stone, turn right until you arrive at the burnt out farm house. Wait till dawn. Say the words 'Remember the 'caust'. If you haven't been sniffed out, you'll be a part of us.├óÔé¼┬Ø

There was no signature. Not that Ghed really expected one. He sighed, trying to think of what west was. Then he remembered, from his basic ├óÔé¼┼ôMatter Planets├óÔé¼┬Ø lessons in school. West was a direction.

├óÔé¼┼ôExcuse me,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said to a passing amputee. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhich way is west?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThat way,├óÔé¼┬Ø The amputee said, pointing.

├óÔé¼┼ôThank you,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, turning and walking. After following the streets for some long time, passing more and more depressing buildings, Ghed found the western gate. It had a checkpoint, just like the entrance to Averiy's fortress had.

He flashed his passport, getting the hang of this. The soldiers waved him through and Ghed started to walk, feeling better about life. Maybe this would work out after all.

Ghed walked through the forest, following the well paved, very large, street. It was pleasantly firm and easy to walk on. Ghed would have still enjoyed phasing. After an hour or so, he passed the second milestone.

Ghed turned into the forest, walking past trees and over moss encrusted boulders. He was finding this walk quite pleasant. Suddenly the trees ended and a small farm plot appeared in front of Ghed. The fields were fallow, the farmhouse burnt and whatever livestock had long since fled or died long ago.

Ghed walked, slower now, heading towards the farm house. Inside, he found that it was completely bare of furniture. Ghed sighed, sitting down with his back against the wall.

├óÔé¼┼ôWell,├óÔé¼┬Ø he muttered. ├óÔé¼┼ôHere I am.├óÔé¼┬Ø

---------

Kais scrubbed the counter top with a ferocity normally seen in slaughtering someone for ritual sacrifice. Not that anyone sacrificed anyone any more. Or maybe they did, if the stories coming out of western Gaol were true.

Kais did her best to not listen to the stories out of Gaol. She just looked down and did her job. And if part of her job happened to be helping the occasional rebel escape from the jails, then so be it. As long as Averiy's Seepol didn't seek her out, she'd be fine.

Or she thought she'd be fine. Kais closed her eyes, still scrubbing. Her jaw felt like a mass of bunched muscles, her hands curled into fists.

├óÔé¼┼ôOkay?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dan asked as he passed by her, carrying some dishes to be cleaned.

├óÔé¼┼ôFine,├óÔé¼┬Ø Kais mumbled, trying not to burst into tears.

Dan dumped the dishes in the sink and sighed. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you handle theses?├óÔé¼┬Ø He asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôI've been put on emergency cleaning detail.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôRight,├óÔé¼┬Ø Kais said, moving from scrubbing the counter to scrubbing the dishes. Focus on the work. Just focus on the work.

├óÔé¼┼ôWe're going to be cleaning out Felix's room,├óÔé¼┬Ø Dan whispered. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'll make sure none of the loyalists find anything incriminating.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôToo late for that, isn't it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Kais hissed, shocked at how much venom she had in her voice. She saw Dan's expression and tried to say 'I'm sorry' but didn't quite mange it.

├óÔé¼┼ôGet a grip,├óÔé¼┬Ø Dan hissed, his hand grabbing the back of Kais' neck. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm Deneg. You're not. You slip up and you're gone, like that. No trial, no show. Just gone. So pull yourself together.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy don't you-├óÔé¼┬Ø Kais started. Another serving man walked in, holding another bundle of plates. He was a loyalist. Even wore the armband of the Junior Seepol.

He dumped the dishes in the sink, rough enough to splash water on Kais face. He leered at her, then walked off.

├óÔé¼┼ôHave a nice day,├óÔé¼┬Ø Dan said, walking out of the room with the loyalist.

Kais kept scrubbing. After a moment she wiped her eyes, feeling bone achingly tired. She glanced up and saw that it was getting even late. Darkest before dawn, that's what they said. Kais went back to scrubbing, looking forward to bed.

--------


Ghed wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep. He just knew when he woke up.

A man wearing gray stood over him, wheellock pistol in hand. His uniform was more ornate and had a green armband around the right arm. The armband had a oblong hook, the symbol of Averiy's regime. Ghed guessed that he was an officer. The Officer sneered at Ghed.

├óÔé¼┼ôAnother deserter, eh?├óÔé¼┬Ø He muttered. Ghed raised his hands, as best one could leaning against a wall.

├óÔé¼┼ôWe have a place for people like you,├óÔé¼┬Ø The office grimaced as he hauled Ghed to his feet, yanking on his shirt. ├óÔé¼┼ôGoal!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhoa, wait!├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed stammered, raising his hands. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm on leave!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôOn leave, huh?├óÔé¼┬Ø The office said, smiling. He let go of Ghed's shirt and paused. Ghed stared at him. The officer inclined his head.

├óÔé¼┼ôOh,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, rummaging around in his pockets. He pulled out the letter by accident. Ghed noticed the line ├óÔé¼┼ôSay 'remember the 'caust'├óÔé¼┬Ø before he pushed the letter back into his pocket.

├óÔé¼┼ôWrong pocket,├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, smiling. A moment later he pulled out the right paper.

├óÔé¼┼ôHurm,├óÔé¼┬Ø The office muttered, looking over the passport. ├óÔé¼┼ôSeem in order, Private!├óÔé¼┬Ø A pause. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy are you out here?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed asked. The office, though, was no longer in a killing mood, so instead of shooting Ghed, he laughed.

├óÔé¼┼ôI was heading back to the city, on leave as well, and I decided to stretch my legs a bit.├óÔé¼┬Ø The officer sighed, looking around. ├óÔé¼┼ôI remember when this was a real farm house. Loyalist family. Rebels-├óÔé¼┬Ø

Ghed never learned what the rebels had done. The Officer was cut off, mid sentence, by knife through his throat. The lithe, black clad figure had slipped up behind the Officer without even Ghed noticing. The Officer made a wet, gurgling sound and dropped.

The black figure wiped his knife off on his shirt. He fixed a green eyed gaze on Ghed.

├óÔé¼┼ôRemember the 'caust?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, closing his eye.

├óÔé¼┼ôHeh,├óÔé¼┬Ø The black clad figure holstered his knife and pulled the black mask off. Underneath, he looked like a pale, skinny redhead with freckles. It was the look that Ghed was starting to associate with the Tregent. And General Averiy, oddly enough. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou're the guy? Ghed, right? Welcome to the Resistance.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôThanks,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said, gulping. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat's your name?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôTrais. Did you meet my sister, Kais, in the fortress?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYes...yes I did,├óÔé¼┬Ø Ghed said. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe seemed well.├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôGood,├óÔé¼┬Ø Trais smiled. He took Ghed's hand and shook it. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, let us go.├óÔé¼┬Ø

He lead Ghed out of the house and into the forest.

*ka-bump!*

Sorry, it's been a nutty week.

badabump!





Almath floated between the Glut and the Artisan District, frowning. She had given her slight spin, so every few minutes she saw her house in the distance. Almath peered at her house...was that Q? Q was waving madly from the room, laughing. Sound and light carried oddly in O, something that Almath was still getting used to.

Almath waved back to Q, but Q was already going back inside.

"How to find you, Chaosimtarian,ￛ Almath murmured to herself. ￛHow to find you...ￛ

She trailed off as a memory resurfaced. She had gotten used to the weird warping of the space around her. She had gotten used to the idea that remembering something would replay the event in front of her. But Almath would never, ever, get used to seeing herself in third person.

She had been laying in bed, Ghed hugging her around the stomach. Her hair had fallen over his face...he had been laughing, she had been laughing...when was this?

ￛNot bad for the first time, eh?ￛ Ghed had joked. Looking back, Almath was surprised she hadn't noticed the brittleness in Ghed's voice. He'd been as nervous as she had.

ￛNot bad at all,ￛ Almath had rolled over, looking at Ghed. She had tweaked his nose playfully. Almath, the present Almath, leaned close to her memory and wondered if she still looked that young.

Almath had gotten a worried face then. ￛI'll have to go back to the hotel eventually. How will I find your house?ￛ

ￛIf,ￛ Ghed had said. ￛIf you ever want to find anything in O, all you need is a name. Think my name, and you'll find me.ￛ

Almath had laughed...and the memory dissipated, turning into Chaos Matter around Almath.

ￛName, name, name,ￛ Almath murmured. She thought of the name Chaosimtarian and started phasing upwards, heading towards the edges of the city. Almath grinned to herself.

The edges of O were ill defined at best. A fuzzy, smoky cloud of Chaos Matter that stood between O and the vast Empty that was the rest of the universe had always been an area that Almath barely understood. Almath watched her surroundings as she floated upwards...and saw something odd.

A collection of complete blackness, formed into the shapes of cubes. About four cubes, stuck together in an eye watering, impossible shape that contorted in on itself, creating a mish mash of reflections and darkness. Almath wasn't heading for it, so it wasn't the Chaosimtarian. So what was it?

She was distracted by a tremor that flowed through the Chaos Matter she floated through. It happened again a few moments later, then again. Almath guessed it was a signal of some kind...or a warning. She looked up...and suddenly there was the Chaosimtarian.

To Almath it looked like a formless cloud of grayish blue. As she got closer, the cloud slowly solidified into a shockingly normal looking sphere. The sphere was embedded in the barrier between O and the Empty. Almath reached the sphere...and a small door opened on the side.

An elderly man with wrinkled, yellow skin and long white hair that was braided into a pony tail stood in the doorway. He had on the strangest pair of spectacles that Almath had ever seen. They had four lenses over each eye with a complex system of supports that allowed different lenses to be flicked over the eye. The man reached up and flicked a lens up, then a lens down.

ￛAh...Almath, we weren't expecting you for at least another year,ￛ The elderly man murmured. ￛCome inside.ￛ

The inside of the Chaosimtarian was even stranger than the outside. The sphere hadn't looked large enough to hold more than a few rooms. But inside, the hallways stretched on and on, curving before Almath could see the end of them. Countless doors stared at her, each with a number.

ￛYou were supposed to arrive about your daughter Q,ￛ The elderly man murmured, walking in behind Almath. He walked to the wall and gestured. A small slot in the wall opened up and he pulled a paper out. ￛYes, right here. Almath, concerning Q.ￛ

He showed it to Almath. Below her name, she saw: ￛAlice Averiy, concerning Ghed.ￛ

ￛWhy are you so early?ￛ The Elderly man murmured.

ￛI'm here about Ghed,ￛ Almath said, slowly and carefully. This guy sounded insane.

ￛAh...Ghed...hm...what happened to him? Has he met-ￛ

ￛHe's dissapeared,ￛ Almath said.

ￛEh?ￛ

ￛHe's gone! Vanished!ￛ

ￛOh dear,ￛ The Elderly man said, blinking furiously. ￛLarry, Harry, Jerry, Terry! Get out here!ￛ

The nearest door down the hall opened and a young, brown haired man stuck his head out. His eyes were bright blue, his nose hooked and his ears...very long and very furry. A moment later, three more heads stuck out, two young men who looked very much like the first and one round cheeked girl who also bore a striking resemblance to the first. They all had furred ears.

ￛYeah, what is it?ￛ One of them said.

ￛGhed is gone!ￛ The elderly man cried.

ￛGone?ￛ The girl squawked. ￛThat's.ￛ

ￛOut of schedule,ￛ One of the boy's said, looking at his companions.

ￛCan someone people tell me what is going on here,ￛ Almath murmured, eyes wide. \

ￛThis is Harry, Larry, Jerry and Terry,ￛ The Elderly man said, pointing to each furry eared person in turn. The only reason Almath could tell which one was Terry was because Terry was the girl. ￛ-arrys, this is Almath Vorhee. Ghed's wife.ￛ

ￛWe know,ￛ The -arrys said in unison. ￛWell, wife of Ghed, come in! We have to find him.ￛ

A very bemused Almath let herself be lead into the office.

-------

Trais, as it turned out, was a very talkative young man. He talked about the whether, about Yelsa's cooking (whoever Yelsa was), about the latast erotica novels they had managed to sneak out of the Capitol, about...well about everything but what Ghed actually wanted to know.

ￛSay,ￛ Ghed said, managing to finally work a work in edgewise. ￛCan you tell me what this war is all about?ￛ

Trais stopped walking, looking at Ghed as if he were insane. ￛOh yeah, you're from that weird other world. Q!ￛ

Ghed tried to beat back tears at the mention of his daughter's name. ￛO...it's called O.ￛ

ￛSorry...but this must all seem a bit strange to you,ￛ Trais started walking again. ￛAll this Deneg and Tregent stuff?ￛ

ￛYeah, pretty strange.ￛ

ￛWell..it all started...ￛ

----

ￛThere was this big empire, right. The Tregent empire. And we had these slaves, these...Deneg, right. Right. So the Deneg they sorta...rebelled. They broke the Empire into four real states. Denegi, Frial, Porsaw and Spazk. Frial and Spazk were almost pure Tregent. Porsaw drifted away in the centuries that followed, mixing with the Deneg, the Prussiz...even some Islanders.ￛ

ￛSoooooo anyway...where was I? Right! Denegi had this habit of attacking it's neighbors. They don't like...never did like the Tregent, actually. But each time, they'd attack and we beat them into the ground. Then this thing was invented. Wheellocks. Don't like 'em myself. Prefer knives. But they changed warfare. Suddenly, you could sit a guy in a field and he could kill any number of knights coming at him. Warfare changed...for the worse. Movement stopped and it turned into one protracted killing field of a stalemate.ￛ

ￛSlowly we beat the Deneg, like we always used to do. We smashed them flat. That was...thirty years ago.ￛ

ￛSo we've got three very triumphant Porsaw, Frial and Spazk and one very defeated Denegi. They're economy smashed, their armies was in ruins. Seriously, it was a great time to be a Tregent. Then...then there was Averiy.ￛ

-----

Ghed skidded to a halt when a man holding a wheellock pistol shoved it in his face, stepping out from behind a tree. Another person, a woman this time, stepped out from another tree and pressed her gun against Trais.

ￛWhoa! Whoa!ￛ Trais said, raising his hands. ￛIt's me. Trais!ￛ

ￛYou always talk your mouth off, Trais,ￛ A woman drawled, walking out from her hiding place behind a rock. The two guards lowered their weapons, smiling.

Ghed fixed eyes with the woman. She had a bandage on her throat and had the fiery red hair and green eyes of most Tregent...and she was also the woman he had saved.

ￛWell if it isn't our own Willworker,ￛ The woman said, putting her hands on her hips. ￛCome with us. We can't be seen jawing out here, now can we?ￛ

ￛTriana,ￛ Trais said, bowing his head. ￛThis is-ￛ

ￛGhed, I know,ￛ Triana said, holding her hand out. Ghed took it and she jerked him with her, walking away from the trees. She lead them to the boulder she'd been hiding behind...and cut into the boulder was a doorway, leading down into a cave system that extended father than Ghed could see.

As Triana lead Ghed through the complex cave system, she talked. Trais left them at the first junction, peeling off to ￛsee the missusￛ

ￛSo you have arrived at a fun time. We've got an...opportunity.ￛ Triana grinned.

ￛWhat kind of an opportunity? Does it involve me, because I hate to say it, but I just want to go home.ￛ

ￛDon't worry. If we pull this off...you can go home.ￛ

ￛThat's just great,ￛ Ghed muttered. Triana lead him into a small room with a large table in the middle, a flickering crystal lamp and two many scarred men. Both men had brown or blond hair, were very dirty and had tattoos on their right arms. Other than that, they were as different from one another as it were possible to be. One was portly, large and had a walrus mustache. The other was stick thin, frail looking but with flinty hard eyes.

ￛIs this the alien?ￛ The flinty eyed man asked.

ￛYes, just barge right in Yossle,ￛ The portly man said, frowning.

ￛI suppose I'm an alien,ￛ Ghed said, holding out a hand. It wasn't accepted, by either man.

ￛListen, I want to get one thing out of the way,ￛ The flinty eyed man said. ￛI escaped from Goal. I've fought the Denegi for five years. I've killed more men then you've met and I've seen horrors beyond anything you could imagine. So don't...screw with me.ￛ

Ghed stared at the flinty eyed man and slowly nodded, taking a half step back.

ￛGood job, Yossle,ￛ The portly man laughed. ￛYou've managed to scare our poor alien a few years out of his life.ￛ

ￛShut up Renge,ￛ Yossle snapped.

ￛWell,ￛ Triana said, looking at Ghed and smiling. ￛHave fun.ￛ She beat a hasty retreat.


Yossle started walking around the table, running his fingers along the edge as he did so. As he walked, Renge sat and smoked a large, thick cigar. Ghed coughed as some smoke wafted into his face. A few moments of silence passed. Yossle stopped his stalking, looking at Ghed.

ￛWe're going to kill someone,ￛ he said. ￛWe can't say who.ￛ

ￛWhy not?ￛ Ghed asked. ￛWe're in the middle of the rebel camp?ￛ


ￛThis is the edge of the rebel camp...and the center. We're everywhere...and no where, that's why we're still alive.ￛ Renege laughed, puffing on his cigar. ￛWe're not going to tell you who. If no one knows who, then Averiy won't know who. Till it's too late.ￛ

ￛIs it Averiy?ￛ Ghed asked, eyes going wide.

Yossle stared at him with such indignation that Ghed almost laughed. ￛNo! Kill Averiy...that's impossible...so far.ￛ

ￛYes, so far,ￛ Renege muttered.

ￛBut you are perfect for our forces. Our rebels out here are almost all Tregent. They can't do much. The Deneg rebels are all too busy trying not to be fingered like Felix...ￛ Both men closed their eyes, pain flashing across their face. ￛToo busy to actually do the shooting. So...you look Deneg. And you're...special traits will make you an even better choice.ￛ

Renge smiled evilly. ￛAnd...I think it would be appropriate for you to do this.ￛ

ￛI'm...I'm not a killer!ￛ

ￛYou have one choice. Kill our target. Or be stuck here in the middle of the bloodiest war our world has ever seen.ￛ Yossle said.

ￛWell...when you put it like that...ￛ

The next half an hour was a dizzying bur to Ghed. First he was thrust into a room filled with musty, blood stained uniforms. An old woman was busy scrubbing them frantically, trying to get the blood stains out. Most of the uniforms were gray, and all of them had bullet holes.

"We need one officer's uniform!" Triana said, appearing behind Ghed with disturbing swiftness. ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£Preferably a head shot.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼