Announcement

**Cotroneo** · October 24, 1999, 22:40

University Base was captivatingly beautiful, with its high rise buildings, and large parks, with thousands of people going about their daily business. The city, one of the largest on planet, stretched for kilometers in every direction with at least one large skyscraper every quarter of a kilometer. Zakharov had initiated this type of architecture for it’s inherent efficiency, because it kept all his scientists and engineers close by each other, with only several floors separating the various projects within these colossuses of buildings. But, for Paul Cotroneo, he was most concerned with the back alleys and broken down buildings that were left standing since the beginnings of the base.

“Cotroneo, I have the information you asked for, and it’ll cost you a lot.”

Cotroneo resisted the urge to turn around and acknowledge his contact standing behind him, because he new from training that someone who calls you by your real name, may be the enemy.

“Nice weather, were having, it seems to me that these mountains around University Base, really do a good job in keeping the wet and hot weather in this valley.” Cotroneo responded to his contact, still refusing to turn around and even acknowledge him.

“Although I prefer a dryer climate, I here Admiralty Base, on the fossil fuel ridge is quite nice this time of year, maybe I’ll spend my next vacation there.” Responded the man behind Cotroneo, with an almost evil smirk on his face.

Cotroneo finally turned around, after hearing the secondary code words, ‘Admiralty Base’.

“This is the third time, that you called me by my name… to you, I’m Raptor…is that clear!” clamored Cotroneo, to his inadequate contact.

“Sorry …Raptor… by the way, what kind of stupid name is Raptor… heck even my name is better than that, and you better be prepared to pay big time for this little disc.”

The sudden sound of a shredder powering up…. then….the sound of a dozen sirens roaring through the air… followed by the ere sound of silence griping the dark alley.

“Sinder Roze, herself gave me than name, and I kind of like it, you idiot. I guess three strikes and your out. Heck, he wouldn’t have survived the year with his own big mouth.”, Cotroneo walked over to the man’s body, which had a hole the size of a foot right threw it’s chest, and snatched the data disc from his hand. Cotroneo walked out of the alley, with the same smirk the guy had worn on his face a minute before.

“No, I kind of prefer the wet season more…”

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

Sinder Roze sat quietly, sipping a tall glass of fungal vodka, which he had bought several years ago. She would always sit next to the window in the morning, just staring at the sun, remembering the times long ago, and how she had come to this chaotic world.

She almost jumped off her seat, as her eye contacts started to display data being transferred to her. It was amazing watching her sift through data by manipulating thought waves which told her eye piece to move data up, down, left or right. Many of her friends though she might be a latent telepath, but she kept to herself about things such as this. She had always been more interested in the data clouds of the worldwide network and faster computer systems.

“Beetle, get in here, I need you.” Sinder had gotten into the habit of calling all of her closest friends and contacts by different names, usually dealing with animals and other earth related topics.

“Yes Roze, is there a problem?” Responded Beetle, as he came almost running into the room from his adjacent chamber.

“It depends on what you call a problem, Beetle, is having an operative trapped in an enemy base…a problem?”

“Perhaps, a better question Sinder, is if that operative is worth the trouble getting out.”

“Why is it, that you only answer me in questions, and Beetle…its Raptor.”

“Don’t worry Sinder, he can take care of himself, he is the best, and how is it that he is even trapped. What happened?”

“It seems his contact got killed, who was supposed to escort him out, on the mag train. Now he doesn’t have the needed clearance to get out of the base.” Sinder explained, as a sudden urge of vitality rushed through her.

“I’m sure he will find a way out… but… you have that smile on your face, like you have an idea or something.”

“An idea… I may have one. Can you get on the line with Rex? We may need his expertise. I also need to call a friend.”

**Cotroneo** · October 25, 1999, 19:24

“Come on Richmond, I’ve saved your butt a hell of a lot of times. Now I’m calling in one of those favors, you say I have earned.”

“Sorry Raptor, this is a life or death favor your asking me, if I give you my retinal contacts and they find out that I gave them to you, they will hunt me down.”

David Richmond and Paul ‘Raptor’ Cotroneo had been part of the original landing crew with Morgan and his followers. They had both become good friends in the free market and democratic Morgan society. Both even went into probe training together, and were set up as a team due to their superior teamwork. They had lost contact with each other since the probe purification in New Jerusalem. They had been forced to separate, onto different transports, when they were evacuating the area. Both transports went in separate directions, taking Raptor home safe to Morgan held territory, and Richmond to University base. Richmond had barely survived the trip, hiding from University security forces, until settling down in the back alleys of University Base, barely making a living selling advanced tech to the smugglers and such. Although, Raptor had learned later where Richmond had gone, he had not risked going into the base until now, since he was ordered there.

“Don’t give me that bull, don’t you remember Sparta, I took a shredder shot for you.”

“And I would have done the same for you…then….times change Raptor….and hell I thought you were dead. Why in Hades did you come here?”

“Well, I was ordered to get this little disc… and you can bet your money I would stay away from this place if I had gotten my way.” Cotroneo replied, showing the disc to Richmond, who became more interested in the disc than what Cotroneo actually was saying.

“So…why does that rich bum Morgan want you here this time… what’s on the disk?”

“Well… times have changed…I’m not actually working for Morgan these days…. I’m working for Sinder now and trust me, this disc will change everything.”

“So Sinder is running the outfit, where you guys based…Morgan Universal…Morgan Interstellar?” Cotroneo let out a bit of a laugh to his old friend’s question.

“Boy, I need to get you out of this hell whole… we have actually set up our own little base outside the territories of the old factions. We can carry out our own agenda without those stupid Neanderthals getting in our way.”

“Well, I only get the Morgan news hear, Zakharov really doesn’t have a good news station. And what’s this old factions stuff.”

“For an old probe guy, you really don’t have a clue about anything. I’ll explain all that has happened over dinner. Anyway, back to the subject, if we can find a retinal sensor expert, we may be able to buy another pare of your contacts. Heck, maybe we can both get out of here, but it’ll take a little planning and some money. I had to shoot my way into here, and I guarantee they have beefed up their guards since I blasted in.”

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

Data DeCentral was nothing of a work of art or beauty, yet Sinder Roze enjoyed its circular buildings, with their large satellite uplinks and network node connections sticking up from the tops, giving the appearance of poles sticking through wood barrels. She had gone outside to do some thinking, while her workers went around contacting separate contacts around the University territory, seeing if they could help with the crisis.
Since Morgan Industries and the Spartan Federation had started putting up several hydroponics satellites, she had learned to brake into their controls and communicate over vast differences with their communication sub-systems. She would need this over the horizon transmission if they hoped to contact Rex who still worked inside Morgan territory.

“Roze, we got Rex on the link, back at headquarters, I’ll link him to your optical contacts.” Beetle had come over the link, he had been hard at work tracking down, Rex, the renowned security system expert.

“Hello Rex, how goes the research, still trying to figure out what the Hive is using as its network firewalls.” Roze had already discovered the language the Hive was using a while back, yet she would many times let her underlings try to figure out the answer for themselves. It was her personal way of training her underlings.

“It’s surprisingly very hard… it’s a bit of an irony… I can brake into University codes… which are “supposed” to be “harder”…yet I can’t brake into these cheap police freaks.

“Well actually Rex, I need your help with the University.”

“What’s the problem Sinder, need to steal something juicy…perhaps a sabotage virus…I have just wrote this beautiful hunter/prey algorithm...” Rex was stopped short by Sinder.

“No…Rex, I need to send a message to someone inside University base, its important that nothing gets intercepted.”

“Must be important Roze, specially inside their capitol…. give me a day, and I’ll work out the problems with a new message code I’ve been working on in my spare time over lunch.”

“You have till 13:30…its important… sorry… its Raptor, he’s stuck there.”

“Well their goes my dinner brake, but I’ll do it…. anyway, it’s for Raptor.”

**Cotroneo** · October 25, 1999, 23:15

“Rex, I want her message to Cotroneo sent to my office… is that clear!” exclaimed a tall black man, who looked as if from royal descent. His face was slightly dimmed out of focus over the visual global portable phone, or global for short.

“Yes sir, but she may know what we are planning… she has that ere sense of knowing something is wrong by looking into your eyes.”

“Foolishness, just act normal, and this little ordeal will be over, and we will both have what we want. You will have a nice sum of energy credits stored at Morgan bank before you know it.” replied the royal figure.

“Anyway…why are after Cotroneo, if I recall right, you gave him a formal discharge from service, after he decided to leave.”

“Sometimes the smaller fish attracts a much larger fish, my dear friend, perhaps you can learn something from this ordeal.” The lavish man concluded before closing the comlink.

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

Raptor and Richmond decided to make one more stop, before going for dinner. The store in front of both of them, was surprisingly well kept and unpolluted by the dreary surroundings of its residence. You could tell from the vacancy of the back streets, that none of the tourists found themselves in these streets. It almost seemed to epitomize the University life, meaning that they never questioned science as if morally right. This uncontrolled science made most University bases uniquely cut between the good parts and bad parts of an urban city. Perhaps this was the reason Miriam had gone to war with the University, although she seemed to forgotten that you need to be well equipped for war and that moral and devotion can’t destroy people you can’t even see killing you.

“Good evening gentleman, you seem to me, that you might need my services. I make the best optical data contacts in all of University Base.” Asserted the elderly technician behind a counter, to the two men walking into the shop.

”We weren’t sure that you were going to be open, at 1300 hours. I guess we got lucky today.” Responded Richmond with his typical lazy smile over his face.

“I was wondering if you could replicate two contact lenses, that my friend owns. We need another pair, for myself.” Interjected Raptor to the two men.

“Sure, it’s been a slow week, every since Zakharov started trading with Morgan Industries, we little guys can’t keep up with the larger conglomerates.” Replied the elderly man who seemed to drift off into deep thought.

The elderly man motioned for Richmond to bring closer the pairs of lenses. Although old, the man seemed to critique the lenses as if a young engineer right out of training.

“I’m guessing from this handy work, you want this done simple off the books, if you know what I’m saying” Both, Richmond and Raptor were taken back from the old man’s quick observations from the lenses. As if he could read the data on it without a computer and explain where it came from and who built it. “Don’t worry, I don’t care what you do with this, I have no love for the current government anyway…they definitely don’t care about me.” Responded the old tech noticing the heightened awareness of both individuals.

“Would you be able to have the work done by tomorrow evening…I know its short, but we need it in a hurry and we will pay a good price for it.” asked Richmond, as he came closer to the technician.

“Well, it’ll be tricky, but if you got the cash, I can get you the extra copy by this time tomorrow.”

Both men nodded in consensus, and walked out the door, leaving the older man with in all cases, their only way out of this base.

“Raptor, by the way… how are you planning on paying for this? Did you really bring a lot of extra cash for buying that disk?” asked Richmond as they walking to the café on the corner.

“Nope, I think I’ll take a stroll to the local bank tonight. I need to make a transaction. Know anyone who can help?” responded Raptor, as they walked into the old café.

**Jasonian** · October 26, 1999, 15:28

Ten years before, at The Hive

Kaili held his breath as he entered Chairman Yang's command room, the sweat noticeably dripping from his brow. 'Greater men then I have been summoned here to meet their death... it can't be my time. I'm not ready! Let the Chairman have mercy on me!'

But the Chairman wanted information instead of murder, at least for the moment. "Sit down Kaili. We have some things to discuss." He eyes burned with that cold fury that Yang was well known for.

Kaili took a seat on the simple stool before Yang's great command desk and the chairman continued, "It seems that my old friend Domai is once again becoming a problem. It's a shame that you didn't inform me of this situation earlier, but I'll give you this chance to save your life by telling me exactly what is going on at Social Artery"

Kaili scanned his memory for everything he knew about Domai. '3rd class engineer on the Unity... Yang himself sought him out and took him to their landing bay... built The Hive to the underground spender it is today... promoted to chief engineer and given regular longevity treatments... popular among all Hive citizens... recently transferred to Social Artery... what does he want me to say?!'

Kaili squirmed under Yang's awful stare, feeling as if his mind was being pierced. Finally, he managed, "Well... err... it seems that... I mean... umm... I don't... you shouldn't trust... I mean... he was there... and the drone riots... ahh..." Kaili collapsed. He didn't know.

But Yang almost smiled, "Not trust my good friend Domai? But many of my bases went into riots, and his was the first to regain control. No, I think that Domai is far too valuable alive and in some power, but still, those riots should have never occurred, at least not where Domai was. With our war against the Lal at almost a standstill, we can't afford to lose any edge we might have to some stupid rioting drones."

"Kaili!" Yang suddenly boomed. The young man jumped in his seat. "Kaili," Yang continued, "I want Domai to be transferred to our newest base on the far side of Mount Planet. Send Domai to The Drone Mound. And I do hope the irony of this name is not lost on such a small-minded individual. No go." Yang leaned back with a cruel smile on his face.

Kaili saluted smartly and hurried out of Yang's chamber with his life.

***

Present day

The horrid mind worm boils flowed over The Drone Mound, overwhelming the garrison, consuming Hive citizens, and destroying everything. Not a single building was left standing, nor one resident spared. The Drone Mound had simply ceased to exist.

The holovid report was cut off as the worms finally knocked over the Capital tower, smashing it to the ground, leaving nothing but static on the screen.

Domai smiled, "That was well done. I know he will believe it, and we're way out of the range of Hive sensors to be noticed. Contact Sinder Roze's people. I want that cleaned up and sent to The Hive right away.

Malcolm nodded to Domai and hurried out of the room, and Domai wandered over to his Capital Tower balcony. Below he could see his followers cleaning up the rest of the dead Hive troopers; those who foolishly thought that fear of death could contain the masses. Domai noticed that both the Hive citizens of The Drone Mound and his followers were mingling around, laughing, and celebrating.

'Have a good time, my citizens,' Domai thought to himself, and smiled. 'We are free at last.'

**Cotroneo** · October 26, 1999, 20:59

“So Domai finally got his little rebellion underway…it seems like we always have to clean up after these little insurrections.” Sinder laughed comically as she reviewed the day’s business over her optical contacts.

“Roze, we received the vid feed from Domai this morning, he wants us to place it some place, where it can be found by our friends at Morgan News or the Hive officials.” Beetle said as his picture came onto her left eye optical contact.

“Thank you, Beetle, I’ll clean in up a bit, maybe I can get someone downstairs to re-due the background colors… it looks a bit fake. Perhaps a bit more yellow to contrast the redness of the picture.” Sinder had started pacing, waiting for Rex’s call about contacting Raptor inside University Base.

Sinder Roze took off her contacts and data feed and placed both in a jelly-like substance on her desk. She had worked all day, and even her eyes were starting to feel the ware and tear. She thought to herself about the good times and the bad times….the wars and agreements that had helped shape her life. For she lived in the shadows, never receiving the admiration of the people she helped or the scorn from the enemies she had created all over Chiron. In many cases, people believed that she was only a myth or a specter, which she found surprisingly comforting.

“Good evening Roze, like you requested, completed at 1330 hundred hours. I guess you owe me one.” Rex’s picture had come onto a vidscreen she had placed to the left of her desk.

Sinder walked quietly to her desk, and took the optical contacts out of their jelly and flipped them onto her eyes. The optical contact had been one of the great inventions Morgan Industries had produced since landfall, increasing the amount of data able to be fed to an individual at a given time.

“Thank you Rex, we will need to get together sometime, I have to show you this place, maybe you’ll finally leave that urban wasteland.”

“Always the joker…Sinder…tell Raptor I said hi, and also tell him I saved his butt.” An evil smile had took over Rex’s face. Almost as if the devil itself had just entered into his body. “Anyway, how you going to rescue that bum? I here from contacts that the security police inside the University base are hunting for him.”

“Well, Rex, I’m not actually sure….anyway, thanks for the algorithm…if you could send it to my room, I would be in your debt.”

“No problem, data transfer commencing, take it easy Sinder, stay out of trouble” Rex closed the line before Sinder could even say goodbye.

Sinder took a seat from around her desk and almost fell into it. She was tired, but she new she had to think of what to say to Raptor, and how to get him out of their.

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

Message Sent 13.7.235

Sender : Roze

Receiver address : 114.456.12 University net 4.67

Sent to : Raptor

I’ll meet you personally at the mag rail, I trust you got in touch with old Richmond. Use his special retinal redesigning contacts to get past the retinal and eye speck data feed checks. I’ll be waiting for you at mag rail 4, I’ll have my own rail train. Looking forward to seeing you 13.8.235 and Raptor …don’t trust anyone.

Message 123.456.23 complete

Terminate message

Data feed transfer : Location 183.123.11 Morgan net 5.78
Attach data feed : “My account is set up at Morgan Bank, I want the transfer done within the week.”

**Jasonian** · October 26, 1999, 21:57

The Drone Mound

Domai stood on the speaking platform of The Drone Mound's largest underground chamber. This was where the Hive's sinister agents would deliver the Word of Yang to the poor Hive citizens. But today the chamber was filled, and all over the Mound the base citizens were watching the upcoming speech by their new leader. The murmur in the cave died down as the crowd sensed that Domai was ready to begin.

"My fellow citizens, I am the one called Foreman Domai. Some of you may have heard of my work in The Hive. Indeed, I did a great service to Yang. My construction teams constructed the underground bunkers and horrific devices Yang used to torture his minions. A few of you may even know that I am the only 'drone' to ever get the new longevity treatment. But today, that will change, for we are free of the Hive forever."

The crowd roared up at that, and Domai smiled. After a pause, he continued, "Yang's nation has industrial might. He has great processing power, but at the expense of the workers. The other nations have nice living quarters but feeble industry. I will combine the two into a worker's paradise. My citizens, you are the most important part of the new Free Drone nation. We shall create a land of great industrial power and excellent working conditions. We will be the envy of Planet!"

Again the crowd broke into cheers. After it died down, Domai went on, "My citizens, the Free Drone nation will be have a planned democracy with emphasis on wealth. We highly encourage population growth, since we are far behind the other factions. Every new life brought into this world will help our cause and be a fulfilled individual. We will use our energy flow to help production and maintenance for your extensive living quarters. Also, the planned government and the wealth values will give us superb industry, unmatched anywhere on the planet!"

"I have instructed a few of the citizens that participated in the rebellion to get us organized. Some of you will start work on our aboveground factories. Others will modify your hab-cells to increase your living quarters until they too can be moved to the surface. A third group will destroy Yang's punishment sphere facilities and salvage anything possible from them. A final group will begin work on a large convoy of materials we will need to found our 2nd base."

"However, I want you to know that I will be joining on of the teams myself, so some of you will be working side-by-side with me. Also, once we get our facilities set up, every talent, citizen, and 'drone' will have access to the longevity treatments.

"In the name of freedom everywhere, I now rename this base 'Free Drone Central.' Thank you for listening. Please return to your quarters to get your assignments from my aids. And congratulations! You are finally free of Yang's tyranny. The Free Drones have been born!"

Domai nodded and walked off the stage. The crowd cheered for over 5 more minutes, then dispersed to get their assignments for their new life.

***

Free Drone Central, Domai's quarters.

"So Malcolm, did you make contact?"

"Of course Foreman. Sinder Roze now has the holovid. She'll clean it up for us, for a fee--"

Domai silenced him with a wave of his hand, "Of course. We have enough credits here to cover this expense for her, and soon our funds will start booming."

Malcolm nodded, "Yes... it seems we have our chance. Do you really think this scheme will work? What if Yang doesn't believe the tape, or wants to search the wreckage of the base?"

Domai smiled, "Have some faith in Sinder. She'll make the tape believable, and make sure that it appears it's in Yang's best interest to stay away. Besides, he's fighting Lal. He doesn't have time for recon missions in unimportant territory."

Malcolm only said, "This is our chance to make your dream come true, Foreman. Don't put too much faith in others to do your job."

**Cotroneo** · October 27, 1999, 16:07

“Their goes the last security guard Richmond, its time to show me your stuff. I wonder if you lost it over these past years.”

“Raptor, it’s like riding a bicycle, once you got it, you can never lose it.” Richmond replied as they advanced on the main doors of the University Base energy bank.

It was strange that any person would try to get inside, by going threw the front door of the facility. They had learned over their years of experience that sometimes the obvious answer is the best answer. Richmond’s friend Ortega Brown that they had met at the café had told them that the facility had a low energy frequency sensor net built into the laser grids that circumvented the whole of the building. They would need to be extremely quiet and only be able to use the slightest of electronically systems or the sensor net would pick up the energy buildup.

“What the hell is that…. A pocket knife? What are you planning on doing…scratching the synthmetal door down? Raptor asked as he busily disabled the two vidscreens watching the door.

“You high tech guys always forget the low tech solution.” Richmond comically responded.

Richmond gripped the knife in his mouth, and put two probe air suction gloves on, and started climbing up the door. Raptor couldn’t stop from noticing that he moved so swiftly and casually up the door. Richmond after reaching the apex of the large door, using his nose, hit a key on his right wrist pad, which was connected to his suction glove. The glove instantly released its attraction to door, freeing his right hand to grab the plasma steel knife from his mouth.

“Why don’t we just EMP the electronic lock or something, it worked in Sparta, and I think that’s the same type of lock and door.” Raptor replied from below after finishing his respective task.

“I see you haven’t worked much in University territory, even though their systems are very easy to brake into, they always have a secret waiting to get you from behind.” Richmond replied as he stuck his knife into a piece of metal over the door. Instantly causing a cloaking field to fall down, revealing a small compartment the university technicians had gone to great works trying to hide. He stuck his knife into a power line connecting to a data switchboard. He attached a small power source to the now frayed system, just below the power reading that would set off the alarm, and he started to probe the switchboard for the defenses off command.

Raptor was surprised to see in less than three minutes, the door automatically open, the whole sensor net down, and laser grid deactivated just from one switch board his friend had basically hot-wired and tapped into.

“See my old friend, if we would have used the EMP, all the electronics would have been offline, making our job a bit harder. In what rulebook did you ever read that says you can’t use their own safety protocols against them?

“You never stop amazing me Richmond, even for and old bum like yourself.” Raptor retorted as they strutted into the building and set up there own sensor net to alert them of incoming patrols at they tapped into the energy cores.

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

“Here’s your money, and I even threw in some extra money for your speedy job.” Said Raptor to the old technician who had just completed their contact lenses.

“Thank you, those contacts should autofit themselves to your individual eyes. They also should get you past the checkpoints at the magrail station, if that’s where you’re planning on going.” Both men were stunned once again by the man’s intuitiveness into their affairs.

All three men talked a bit more about nothing particular, said their good-byes, and then Raptor and Richmond exited the store, quietly planning about the next days affair.

Raptor couldn’t stop thinking about the last sentience of Sinder Roze’s message…. “…don’t trust anyone”. He thought about how he had trusted people the whole time since he had gotten here. He trusted his contact to get him the disc, he also trusted Richmond to help him, and even after that, had trusted an old technician to keep their secrets and build a device neither men could check if it actually worked, like Richmond’s contacts.

“Perhaps its time, I took matters into my own hands.”

**Jasonian** · October 27, 1999, 17:36

Free Drone Central, underground hab-cell sector

Hain, a former Hive security chief, worked happily knocking down hab-cell walls in order to expand them. The basic rule was that every four hab cells would be converted into one larger cell for several citizens to share. This meant that everyone had more room and families could live together in larger quarters. Just one of Domai's improvements that had began in the week following their rebellion.

Hain was working now to eliminate several hab-cells altogether in order to expand a nearby passage into a main tunnel for transport rovers. Already he could hear the modified Impact rovers buzzing by, carrying minerals and energy batteries harvested from the Impact weapons, Punishment spheres, and torture and execution chambers. They would deliver their cargo to the teams hastily working on the 1st aboveground factory and the convoy, which Domai referred to as simply the 'colony pod.'

Several security teams wandered by, the ones that decided to take combat training instead of becoming a construction laborer. Domai referred to them as his 'Labor Mediation Teams.' They each had a datapad with the current assignments on them, and were completely unarmed. Domai wanted to keep his citizens on task, but not to intimidate them, never to make them live in fear again.

Hain smiled. 'Well, here I am. I'm working, as I worked under the Hive. But now, I have can go home at a nice hour to see my family in our new hab-cell. I know I'll have enough to eat tomorrow, and with the spheres gone, I won't have to live in fear,' he thought as he started work on another wall.

'Yet, this is too lenient. It's a good thing we were Hive citizens and haven't fully learned how to think or this place would be a madhouse. The security is unarmed. Nothing could stop me from going home right now. I would still get my food tomorrow. They would never really know,'

Hain wrinkled his brow. 'Domai is too trusting. This whole thing could fall apart. I have seen Yang's methods. They're cruel, but efficient.' As he thought this, the wall came down and Hain could see across the tunnel. He nearly fell backwards as he saw Domai himself laying some electrical cords in the flooring of the tunnel.

Hain decided now was the time to express his opinions. He cleaned up the remains of the hab wall and went over to talk to Domai, who was working up a sweat digging trenches in the floor for the cords. But when Domai looked up and saw Hain, he breathed a sign and walked over to greet his friend.

"Hain! How are you feeling, my friend? I see that shredder wound has almost healed!" Domai's eyes had the same glow of self-satisfaction that they always did.

"Yes... it was just a glancing shot. I should have taken out that Hive soldier before he even fired. I was careless, but I've paid my price." Hain stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the tunnel floor. 'How odd! He remembers me, and I barely even fought in the rebellion!'

Domai laughed; "Ha. Nothing like a little pain to keep you modest, eh Hain. So what's up? Did you want to talk to me?"

Hain faltered; "Err... well yes. Foreman, I--"

"Please, call me Domai!" Domai interrupted.

"Yes... of course. Well Domai, don't you think that... things are too lenient around here. The security is unarmed, and the workers know that the Punishment Spheres are almost completely destroyed. There's nothing to keep the workers... working!"

Domai frowned; "Oh, I think there is, Hain. They'll keep working, because if they don't, then we will never be ready for the war with Yang. They know it's coming. We're not done living in fear yet. Even I am afraid. If Yang finds out too soon what happened here, he will swiftly crush this base."

"Yes... well I know that. But, don't you think that you should at least arm the guards with something? Even some non-lethal method weapons would do the trick, and increase their efficiency many times."

Domai shook his head; "I will do that. But not now. We don't have the time to worry about it. We have to get our main factory set up and our hab facilities complete. We need to get the colony convoy moving. And we don't have time to build anything else. All we can do is hope fortune will keep is alive until we get established. You must understand this."

Hain did; "Very well Forem-- err... Domai. But I still think we're being a bit too careless."

He nodded to his leader, and went back to work.

**Cotroneo** · October 28, 1999, 07:15

Morgan Embassy, University Base 13.8.235 - 0600 hours

“Operative, I have a job for you.”

“Anything sir, is their something we need to talk to Zakharov about?” the embassy executive officer replied to Morgan over the embassy’s global.

“No, I need you to intercept a particular person trying to leave University Base.”

“Excuse me sir, but shouldn’t I contact University security, if theirs a problem.”
The officer replied as he started to feel perspiration forming on the back of his neck.

“I already have informed Zakharov about the situation, and he has agreed to loan his security to us….for a fee. The man I am looking for is being fed to you now…”

“Where do you want us to capture him, the airfield? Somewhere secret?” asked the officer to his own personal idol.

“Neither, he is leaving by mag rail, probably hoping to blend into the thousands of commuters. You will have the best chance of catching him at one of the retinal checkpoints where all the commuters most go threw.”

“We will get right on it, we will have this individual…..Cotroneo….by this afternoon.” The young officer gleamed to Morgan over the global only to receive an evil stare back.

“Don’t get over-confident, you will not be able to tell who is he by the retinal scanners or eye speck checkers. He seems to have bought or found a pare of artificial contacts that evade detection by submitting false information to the scanners.”

“Then how do you propose for us to find him, Sir?”

“Although those University idiots have never ‘seen’ this man, we have an informant who has given us the face of this probe member and we don’t believe he has a face array or gone through any surgery.”

“We will do our best Sir, we will get back to you write away, after he is captured.”

“Your best is not good enough…. I want results…. If you don’t, I here the infantry needs warriors to fight against Deirdre’s mindworms.” Morgan shut his global screen and turned around almost collapsing into his chair. He had grown tired from all this planning.

“I will use this man called ‘Raptor’ for bait, and Sinder will have to come to me for him.”

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

The large black needlejet roared onto final for the runway at Mir Lab, the University’s southern most outpost. Its large flaps increased their angle, slowing the jet-black bird just enough to flare several feet off the runway. It touched smoothly and cleanly, as the pilot flipped the thrust reversers on, causing the plane to stop completely in a surprisingly short time.

Sinder Roze and Beetle, the only occupants except the two pilots and engineer, stepped down the ramp from the needlejet, both caring bags in both arms.

“I appreciate you coming Beetle, I could always use the extra set of eyes in University territory.” Sinder commented as they stopped at the bottom of the ramp.

“At least I get out of the office, even if this mission may kill me.” Beetle replied back to her.

Sinder had apparently become friends with the governor of this base, and had been aloud to land her personal aircraft without clearance or any checks of the kind. She was even aloud to use the governor’s personal mag train to reach University base several clicks north.

“Apparently, energy credits go a long way.” Sinder commented to Beetle as several ground crew men ran over to get both their bags.

As they were walking into the Aerospace Complex, Sinder stopped suddenly almost sending the row of personal behind her flying. Her optical data contacts were going crazy with un-deciphered data cycling through her lens. Sinder had the ere ability to read data un-deciphered, in its coded data.

“Rex confirmed that Raptor got the Message, it looks like all is going to plan.” Sinder Roze nodded to Beetle as they entered the facility.

**Jasonian** · October 28, 1999, 16:31

Free Drone Central

The huge cavern where Domai had made his historic speech would soon be trashed. Thousands of Free Drone citizens laughed, joked, and partied the night away. And they had good reason to be in such high spirits: the first aboveground factory complex and a temporary hab-center had been completed. Finally, the first of the citizens would leave the Hive caverns and live on the surface of Planet.

It was almost by chance that the two facilities had been completed on the very same day. Domai was so impressed by the progress that he declared a citywide holiday. Of course, anyone that wanted to go to work would be able to, but it was not required, nor would any excess pay be distributed for this labor.

Still, Domai was surprised that over 3500 citizens were hard at work on the 2nd colony convoy, hab facilities, and the new aboveground Capital Tower. Nearly 1/5th of the entire size of the base went to work that day. Granted, 20000 people isn't very large when compared to some of Lal or Santiago's bases, but the Children's Crèche had reported a major population surge. The government encouraging higher growth rates was drastically paying off, and hab-cells were being constructed at a feverish pace in order to make room for the expanding families.

***

Domai himself, along with some of his closest aides, were not enjoying the festivities, however. His Free Drone technicians had finally cracked the base's central core and initiated a program that Domai came up with the idea for. This program was taking the entire "Drone Mound" datalinks and compiling it into both a technology list and a history file. The results were starting to come up on the screen now.

Domai smiled at their find, "Wow... the Hive was nice enough to leave us all sorts of wonders in here... it appears we some very high technologies... some 'level 6's' as they call them in the biz... Photon/Wave Mechanics and Mind/Machine Interface will raise our odds of survival..."

Domai's expression quickly soured as the list ended, "Hmm... I don't see anything in here about Chaos weapons, except to hint of their possible development in the future. Gentlemen, we lack the Hive's Chaos gun. This will put us at a disadvantage in the upcoming war with Yang..."

He turned to Malcolm, "Malcolm, I need you to send another message to Sinder Roze. Tell her of our situation and our lack of the Chaos weapon. Tell her that we have nothing to give her except the Mind/Machine Interface and our highest gratitude."

Malcolm nodded and left the room. Domai went on, "Hain, as base governor of Free Drone Central, I want you to add a prototype of a missile needlejet to our base's production plan." Domai skimmed the report of the MMI technology, then added, "Ohh… now this is interesting. Cancel that Hain. Instead, I want you to begin work on a huge floating skybase, defended by the most skillful pilots available on Planet. This base will be a training station for our pilots. It will also reveal ourselves to the outside world... but we will be ready. Hain, I want you to being work on The Cloudbase Academy."

Hain looked worried, "Sir? Shouldn't we be improving our defenses instead of committing ourselves to a huge project that will take many decades?"

Domai laughed, "Again you question me, Hain? Don't worry. I got a little report from some citizens that had stumbled across a Hive storage warehouse deep within the base. Inside is something that will increase our production many times!"

Hain didn't look convinced, but said, "As you wish Foreman. I'll add the project to my production plan. Since the first colony left yesterday, we have just begun work on our second. By the time we finish it, our growing population will have more then covered for the loss of the citizens going with both colonies. Still, it will take quite a while to finish the second convoy."

Domai wrinkled his face, "That's no good... devote as much energy as needed to finish that within the month. Hey, we might as well keep our word to Sinder that we really don't have anything to give her!"

Hain laughed, and the two of them walked out of the stuffy room to join the festival.

[This message has been edited by Jasonian (edited October 28, 1999).]

**Cotroneo** · October 28, 1999, 17:04

“I guess it’s time to see if these contacts were worth paying for.” Raptor said, as both of them walked to the mag rail checkpoint.

“It’ll work, have I ever let you down before?” Richmond retorted back at Raptor.

“Good, about 15 meters past the checkpoint I can see the black mag-train Sinder had said would be there. Maybe we will actually get out of this hellhole alive.”

“Isn’t that Roze standing near that column, next to the train, boy, she’s still as beautiful as I remembered. “ Richmond commented as they approached two security guards and a man wearing a yellow military outfit.

“Hold up Richmond!” Raptor exclaimed, as he took a closer view with his new contacts. He focused in on a symbol, which was on the yellow military suit. “Darn, that’s what I was afraid of….”

“What Raptor, the contacts will work, you worry to much.”

“No Richmond, look closer at the beret, on the yellow suited man’s head. He’s a Morgan security guard.”

“Your point Raptor? They are both pact brothers. I’m sure it’s some kind of training exercise.”

“I have an ere feeling about this guy. It’s almost as if he’s looking for someone.”

“I think you might be loosing your nerve for this Raptor, perhaps you should retire when we get home. I here the daycare center at the children’s crèche, are hiring.”

“Hold Sir, please put your eye into the black cube to your right.” The young University officer asked to Richmond as they walked up to the checkpoint.

The much older Morgan security guard was not particularly interested in the two individuals and was busy typing something into a data pad connected to the wall.

“Thank you sir, you’re cleared to move on. If you could do the same Sir.” The guard said as he pointed to Raptor, for him to step up to the retinal scanner.

Raptor leaned his right eye into the black cube connected to the wall, and four large beams of red light circled his eyeball. He could feel the heat being generated by the retinal scanner on his eye, but it was perfectly normal for this type of scanner. At least he didn’t hear any alarms going off.

“Thank you Sir, enjoy your trip…..next?”

The two veteran probe members let loose a collective sigh of relief as they walked slowly to the now clearly visible Sinder Roze, next to her magtrain.

Then suddenly, both of them heard a large rustling behind them. There heads shot around to see all three of the security guards rushing to them, each with a shredder in their hands.

Both probe members knew instantly what was happening, as they turned again to look at each other, wondering what the other would do.

“Go Raptor….I’ll keep them busy!” Richmond exclaimed as he grabbed a homemade shredder from his inside coat pocket. Apparently he was also able to hide that weapon from the body scanner they had walked threw, or it was that weapon that had finally turned on the alarm.

“No Richmond….don’t….” Raptor cried to Richmond, as he started firing at the on-rushing security guards.

“Raptor, get to Sinder, the disc is more important…. Trust me!” Richmond responded as he pushed Raptor in Sinder’s incoming direction.

“Raptor, let’s get out of here, he knows what he is doing….Beetle start up the magtrain.” Sinder said as she almost carried Raptor into the sliding doors of the magtrain as shredder pellets peppered the whole room.

Raptor finally got his bearings, only to turn around, and see his old friend looking right at him. They said a hundred good-byes in that one-second, muttering a single word. Then Raptor cried out in agony as he saw his friend erupt into a hellfire of pellets and his friend’s blood splattering onto the very window Raptor had been looking from. Then, within a millisecond, he was away from University base, traveling at two times the speed of sound.

Trust........

**Raging Mouse** · October 28, 1999, 18:01

Lal stands in the heart of the former Hive's Communal Nexus, current UN Enforcement Base. The room is one of the biggest underground spaces he has seen, and there are literally thousands of monitors, all on, that bestow an aura of electric blue to every object in the room. He is resting his hands on the edges of the largest, indeed the main monitor: It is a flat rectangle roughly two metres across and one meter high, that is raised one meter above the floor. The labels flashing at edges of the screen say it all: "Main Strategic Display". I can only admire his ability to concentrate; the room is thronged with people, mainly officers and technicians, and the din is deafening, yet he is so deep in thought he could just as well be on pholus.

To my right stands Captain-General Steppleton, commander of the Peacecorps, who is called Lady Jane among friends and "Firemaiden" among enemies. I am lucky to belong to the former. It is her words that Lal is digesting currently, and I am not surprised. Few people have to hear so bad news.

I am still shocked. Here we are, at the heart of what recently was a hive base, at the heart of a really astounding feat of defensive design, the very showpiece of the Peacekeepers' recent conquests, and she claims we are about to take a hiding? But she ought to know what she is talking about. Silence is slowly spreading throughout the room, as the previous discussion was loud. Everybody is ceasing their work and gazing upon our little group.

Finally, in as near silence as you can get in this room, Lal speaks.
"How can we be losing? The Tunnel Fire -operation was a great success, as us being here proves. Our forces are fresh, and we have several infantry companies in new photon shielding guarding us, and the population is actually half-relieved to be free from the hive, even though two thousand inhabitants lost their lives in the corridor-to-corridor fighting."

"I'll say it again, Lal", Jane answers tiredly, "We cannot continue this assault without a drastically increased mortality rate. Yang has made his forces heavily entrenched along the entire front; any attempt by us to form a spearhed is met by air-raids and artillery bombardments, and you have forbidden me to sacrifice men to gain a tactical advantage. Therefore, I can no longer advance. Yang knows all this; he has psychoanalyzed your every move and knows exactly how you will act. Therefore, he is now conducting probing attacks designed to cause grievous losses -and preferably to your men. You know he doesn't give a microjoule for the lives of his own men -this was solidly proved by that needlejet that ran out of fuel seconds before it would have bombed one of our patrols. And now- and now Johan tells me it could get worse than that."

Lal turns his head to look at me. It is an annoyed look, from a man who clearly doesn't need more troubles. He is also clearly expecting me to give him a couple, so I clear my throat.
"Uh, Lad- uh, Captain-General Steppleton is referring to a preliminary report from the post-mortem of hive soldiers. Sir, we have found several individuals that have, uh, matching genetic makeups, as well as some with obvious induced mutations, meaning that -well, it means that the Hive is experimenting with human cloning and genemanipulation, sir."

Lal's eyes widen, as Lady Jane continues.
"And don't expect him to limit himself to nice ranks of equal height with brown hair and eyes, oh no. Knowing him, we are talking about something with fangs and claws. And that just might explode if it gets close enough to you. Not to mention all those lovely diseases he will be able to deliver. Would you like red, green or black boils before you die?"

Suddenly, Lal pushes himself up from the table, into a straight standing position, clearly ment to make him appear taller than he is. He looks furious.
"That was unnecessary sarcasm, general. It is understandable that he will use any means to reclaim our meager winnings which, I must admit, are entirely the result of you managing to convince me into an early assault. But I will absolutely not bend my principles just because Yang is trying to force me. A soldier is also a human, and therefore it is my duty to protect his right to live."
"But Lal, you have vetoed all designs not based on defense! Armored soldiers only get you this far, and unless we change tactics soon Yang's forces will trample us! You must let Johan commission some designs for new armed vehicles and strike craft!"

Lal hangs his head. "Very well. Doctor Kropotkin, draw up plans for new prototypes. Use our new photon shielding."
I gulp. "Sir, using photon shields on mechanized artillery will be very, very expensive."
"I don't care. I will not send anyone into war unprotected."
I take a deep breath. This is it. "Sir, there is one way to inflict heavy damage to the Hive army without risking your men. I am referring to some preliminary designs I have produced on, uh, missile systems. Especially using pre-sentient algorithms as a target recognition and guidance system, and a modified needlejet-engine, we can create a delivery system that could carry an enormous amount of conventional explosives. It could, of course, also carry nuclear payloads...." I shift nervously from one foot to another while Lal looks straight through me. Again that look of deep concentration, a mix of deep thought and a slight hint of wonder. Then he refocuses on the present.

"Allright. Research a delivery system. But let's make one thing clear. The next person to suggest loading the missiles with nuclear warheads will be dumped in the nearest fungal field in nothing but underwear. Understood?" He turns to General Steppleton. "General, what are your opinions on these missiles?"
Lady Jane thinks for a moment. "Well, if production on a prototype starts as soon as we have a basic design, I guess it might even help us relieve the pressure on our defensive units. They will be perfect for taking out Yang's artillery units. I guess we could hold on to this base for a while longer, giving us time to re-establish our defenses at the original border. Also, we could hope the first few missile strikes would bully Yang to open negotiations once more."

At this point I leave, as my presence was only required to lecture on how to crack the Hive's security systems. I will be heading back to U.N. Headquarters, to start planning this missile. The new vehicle designs have been ready for weeks, as Lady Jane knew this day would come and secretly requested them.

The discussion continues inside the command room, as Lal turns to his bodyguard as well as information officer.
"What does Recon tell us, Zhu?"
Lieutenant-Captain Nguyen Zhu is head of Lal's small corps of covert operatives, also known as probe operatives. He is always smiling slightly, and looks at the world through nearly-closed eyelids. He is always slow to answer.
"Now that the technicians on your garden in space have finally gotten over the 'look, mom, up here' stage, they have paid attention to my list of requests," he sneers. "Therefore, we now have the satellite view of our continent, as well as every major installation and landmark on it. As we have feared, Yang has built bases like there was no tomorrow -in fact, the next one is merely a hundred and fifty klicks from us, which is bad- but there are only minimal signs of human impact on the landscape. Consequently, almost none of his bases are very large." He snorts. "You know, historically, the situation reminds me of an infamous war. And it ended with horrible losses on both sides." Now zhu's face is very serious. "You know, the war ended when the victors had enough -and nuked. "

For a tense moment, Lal just looks at him. Then, he nods. "I can see the similarities. Well, as I said, i will not advance, and I will definitely not nuke. Let's see if we can negotiate instead." He sighs. "But I doubt it. Yang may be insane, but he knows we can't push on. And he might not have much luck in an extended offensive, but he will definitely smoke us out of these tunnels. Anything else from the eye in the sky?"
"It's probably nothing, but the IR shows that Yang's most remote base -don't know the name yet- is not receiving power from the Hive cables anymore. It's a good way off his main cluster of bases, so it could be that mindworms have gnawed through the isolating material, but that shouldn't take two days to repair. It could also be a punishment for rioting drones. We have no way of telling, I'm afraid."

Lal smiles. "Well, seems like there are dark clouds on the home front for Yang also, but it is far too distant to be of any importance to us. Thank you for the news, though. Allright, let's call it a meeting. Good day, people."
[This message has been edited by Raging Mouse (edited October 29, 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Raging Mouse (edited November 07, 1999).]

**Jasonian** · October 28, 1999, 20:39

Free Drone Central, Hive catacombs

"What the heck are they?" Domai was stunned. He, Hain, and their guide stood in the entrance of the hidden Hive warehouse, deep in the most forgotten parts of the underground base. Not one of them could move a muscle; for the shock what that great.

Before them, in the low warehouse cavern, were three large objects. They were mostly blue with gold patches near the base. They were roughly cylindrical, and stood on three legs. A gold ring sat beneath it, attached to the legs. Plugs, holes, cords, panels, and circuitry littered the surface of them, and most of the surrounding floor.

Hain was less effected by their appearance, "We… we don't know. There are a lot of things in the Hive datalinks we've captured that the program didn't know what to do with. Some described large blocks of unbreakable metal. Others hinted toward things found out in the fungus that were scanned as Unity pods but actually were computers… that's probably what those… things are."

Domai looked shocked, "Computers? Left out in the fungus? These don't look like any computers I have ever seen. And where did they come from? Did they fall of the Unity before it crashed into Planet?"

Hain shook his head; "No… there are no records of these in the computers we found in the pods. These things didn't come from Earth, and humans didn't create them…"

Domai's eyes widened in surprise. He looked back at the things, "Well, the Planet we all know and have grown to hate didn't make them. It doesn't make anything besides those wretched mindworms. There's no way it could have built a computer like this!" Domai turned back to Hain, "I want our best researchers and technicians to mess with this thing. Maybe we can find some practical purpose for it in research or construction."

Hain nodded and typed an order into his datapad. He skimmed over some reports, then said, "Oh yes. The construction crews are ready to begin that cloudbase… thing. The plans call for it to be suspended in the air upon completion, but that would give us away. On the other hand, we need it to be floating to make sure we've done all the schematics right… the crews don't know where to put it."

Domai just smiled, "Ah, yes. I've been thinking about that. Tell me, are there any records of Mount Planet erupting while humans have been on Planet?"

Hain gave Domai a quizzical look, then checked his datapad to see. "Ahh… well… no. There is nothing on Mount Planet being active. Why?"

Domai kept smiling, "Because that's where you will build the cloudbase until we launch it into the sky."

Hain nearly fell back with shock, "INSIDE the volcano?!"

"Yes, yes. Inside the volcano. That way, no one will be able to spot it from orbit! The magma will mess up their scopes."

Hain considered it, "Hmm… but what if it doesn't float?"

Domai simply answered, "If it doesn't float, what good is it?" Hain knotted his brow, "Oh calm down Hain. It will be fine. Now, let's go. I want to see that second colony convoy off."

They left the warehouse.

**Raging Mouse** · October 29, 1999, 18:01

Location: U.N. Headquarters

"...Causing the chemicals to interact, in nanoseconds raising the temperature beyond the ionization-point of iron, creating a charged cloud of plasma. This cloud is held in place by the ball of iron encapsulated in the ceramic heat-shield, allowing the surrounding atmosphere to come in contact with the plasma for a long period of time without disrupting the cloud. This ignites the air, and sends it soaring, creating a vacuum into which cool air rushes from the sides, repeating the process. As shown in this simulation." By the light of the holovid I scan my audience of officers, with Captain-General Steppleton fidgeting in the closest row and Lieutenant-General Zhu nodding off in the farthest row of chairs. A whole range of expressions, rapt to disinterested, excited to disgusted, are watching the display of high-energy chemistry in it's most violent form.
"This stage lasts for roughly one and a half second. Then the plasma will have eaten through the ceramics and vaporized the iron. This cancels the magnetic field which bound the plasma in place, letting the cloud disperse. As there is a considerably denser tower of hot air above the plasma, it will expand to the sides in a toroidal shape, rather than a globe, or a shape dictated by Planet's natural magnetic fields. Therefore, the plasma will have a raised effect on the surrounding. We expect a ninety-nine per cent lethality within twelve hundred meters from impact. However, the damage drops very quickly thereafter; anything outside two kilometers is only mildly scorched." The holovid is ending, and the lamplight is slowly increasing in intensity, until the room is sufficiently lit. I scan the crowd again. "Any questions?"

A Major raises his hand. "Son, isn't that a nuke?"
I was afraid of that question. "No, you see, there is no actual fission or fusion. The chemicals used are, granted, quite radioactive, but the process is quantum-chemical rather than nuclear, and there is minimal radiation from the actual detonation. And, on a side note, if we fitted the missile with an actual nuclear device, the ensuing explosion would be much, much bigger."
"So why use this fancy stuff instead of, say, a fuel-air?"
"Because we can deliver this with enough accuracy to hit the actual unit in question, and this is much more effective against modern armor than a mere explosion. Even units in bunkers aren't safe; the plasma is hot enough to melt the ground underneath it all the way to the bedrock. As you know, conventional, kinesis-based weapons have to be very inventive to have a measurable effect on modern shielding. Bullets, even when tank sized, don't do the trick anymore. The same applies to the shock wave from an explosion. This cloud of plasma, however, will vaporize silksteel on contact, and a photon shield has enormous trouble containing the released energies from the cloud. We are finally entering the age of the energy-weapon."

The audience is satisfied, and the meeting is adjourned. There is a festive yet restrained buffet waiting for the officers, appropriate to celebrate this breakthrough in mass-destruction. There, Captain-General Steppleton approaches me.

"You realize, of course, that Lal would faint from the shock if he saw that simulation? What joker simulated the destruction of the military entrenchement? I swear I saw a dog tied to a tree being tossed by the shockwave!"
Embarrassed, I smile and look down into my drink. "I think one of the data-operators is a great admirer of Lal, and has similar views of the world. I think it was his way of showing disapproval."
Jane smiles wickedly. "Well, we certainly don't want fanatics on our hands do we? Maybe you should point him or her out, and let Zhu and his goons sort it out?"
"Ha, ha." My throat is suddenly dry and my cheeks are hot. A quick swig of this synthetic lager doesn't seem to help.
Lady Jane tilts her head to the side. "And where do you stand, Johan Kropotkin, all-round researcher? With us bloodthirsty murderers, or the civilians who think we should surrender to the hive"
Red in the face from embarrassment, I lunge for the chance to change conversation. "They never!" It is generally known by now that I get queasy around guns. Lady Jane sees that her needling was effective, so she is content to let the subject change.
"Well it was obvious that the Hive probe teams were to blame, but Zhu couldn't catch them in the act so he claims there wasn't any infiltration, the proud schemer that he is. Still, it did not do good to the morale here, and I hear rumours the students are planning a demonstration in favour of peace."

I study my drink again. "This new missile won't be very popular, will it?"
"Depends on who you are talking about. Us military types can look casual in an earthquake, so don't you for a moment think it wasn't appreciated. It will save the lives of many of peacecorps' soldiers." She changes her stance, a sign that her train of thought switches to a new track. "Therefore I want you to submit your current design to the assembly plant. Lal has agreed to test it live. ASAP."
I look up at her. "I know of a couple of bugs that remain in the guidance algorithms, so it won't be totally accurate yet."
"But that is pure programming isn't it? There should be nothing stopping us from building the thing, right? Then, when it is complete you can upload the finished algorithms."
"Yes. That will work. Is my security rating high enough so I can ask what the target will be?"
"Yes; It is high enough even so that I can answer! Yang's prototype chaos cruiser has bombarded our farms close to the coast, and is threatening to cause a famine unless it is stopped. Lal doesn't want to risk a needlejet since the cruiser has anti-aircraft guns, so your missile is the solution. Plus, it should be a thorn in Yang's buttocks to lose his cruiser on it's maiden voyage."
"Makes me feel better, knowing I will prevent a possible food-shortage. Thank you."

A holo-orchestra starts to play, and a dancefloor is cleared. Having never studied the art, I leave early.
[This message has been edited by Raging Mouse (edited October 29, 1999).]

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