(Yes, Mana- I may do something suspiciously similar to your suggestion. If so, I'll give you credit, unless I forget.)

The sound of clanging hammers and ratchet wrenches filled Emberlight. It was a noisy place, and Nonna always commanded- yes, COMMANDED- that somebody cover the ears of every tender, exhausted little monster they brought in. A few Knights were passing through, talking to Brinks about a Spine Cone, but otherwise it was your typical day in Emberlight. Lots of building, lots of upgrading, and lots of bidding on Shadow damage weapons and Normal/Elemental defense armor in the Emberlight Auction Quarter- just in case.

The agency sector was far quieter. Vinno relaxed his hold on what he thought were the Chroma Whelp's ears. They had to have been; the Emberlighters were upgrading a bomb turret, which was always noisy. Very noisy. Carefully handing the Whelp into another Gremlin's arms, Vinno's own felt relieved. I don't care what Nonna says, Vinno thought, Chroma Whelps are way too heavy to be carrying around like this!

Then two hours of bliss, relaxing, and flavored Ice Cube pops. And then it was back to work.

Nonna was waiting with a stopwatch at the elevator. "Two minutes and ten seconds late. That wouldn't fly in the Shadow Lairs!"

Vinno barely suppressed a groan. Shadow Lairs this, and Shadow Lairs that. Would Nonna ever stop mentioning the Shadow Lairs?

"But listen up. We've received reports of a Mewkat wandering around a Candlestick Keep on Depth 15. We're taking the elevator straight up three floors- the quick way, using forty units of energy to bypass 17 and 16- and we get to bring Petrode along. Isn't that great?" Petrode, of course, was standing right there on the elevator, looking the same way he always did. The Electrolisk on his head was fast asleep.

"Now, come prepared. I heard some knight vandalized the Arsenal Boxes there... said 'it's too easy to run Clockworks with specialized damage now'. Hmph! The nerve of some people! I'll wait for you here." Nonna had a Magma Driver and a Fearless Rigadoon at her side- no doubt this was her "perfect Candlestick Keep setup". Vinno rushed to the Emberlight Arsenal Box (which fortunately wasn't vandalized) and did the full extent of his "preparation". Striker. Stagger Storm. Master Blaster. Tempered Ember Mail. Tempered Ember Medium Helmet. And a Brute Jelly Shield. And this pretty much amounted to all the equipment he owned.

Then he was back on the elevator, and Nonna shouted, "Take us up to 15, operator!"

-----

Candlestick Keep always gave Vinno the creeps. The ironically cute meows of Spookats that came just before they turned and mauled their foes, the Howlitzers roaring away, the threat of Trojans looming at all times- and the Grimalkins! Always having to run, and run, and run from the Grimalkins, while hearing their hungry growls. Vinno really wished- what was Petrode doing?!

Petrode was pulling at a candle, attempting to uproot it. The ground cracked, and then a hole appeared where the candle was. Petrode stood, triumphantly holding the piece of floor with the candle still alight on top of it, and said, "CANDLE SUCCESSFULLY UPROOTED. COMMAND?"

Nonna laughed. "That's why I like to bring Petrode along. He's got all the brute force we need!" And Nonna traipsed off through the Keep, Petrode and Vinno behind her, as if it weren't filled with undead horrors.

Immediately, four Dust Zombies crawled out of the ground. Nonna glanced at them, and without blinking, popped a Magma Driver shot at them. The shot ricocheted off one into a second and third, and all three were set on fire. Vinno pulled out his Master Blaster and started firing full clips on the fourth one. It looked at him, no doubt hungering for his brains, and leapt. Straight into a quickly unsheathed Striker. The Zombie fell to the ground in perfect sync with the other three, all of them still burning from Nonna's Magma Driver.

Nonna giggled. "Poor predictable Dust Zombies. Will they ever learn?"

That having been said, Petrode continued forward, and immediately lured out another group of enemies. Three Spookats yowled and hissed as they flew out from behind a wall, and they all looked at Petrode, prepared to maul him. Nonna quickly started unloading her Magma Driver on them, and Vinno began running forward with his Striker.

Immediately, Petrode looked down at one of the Kats, and fried it with a laser beam. Its forlorn, haunting meow filled the room as it went on to... wherever Kats went. Vinno immediately reached the other two Kats, who already were burning, and quickly tore one apart with a charged Striker attack. The last one rushed Nonna, and almost bit her before being fileted on her Rigadoon. Petrode said, "HOSTILES NEUTRALIZED. MOVING ON..."

--TO BE CONTINUED--

(I think I'll add some titles soon. Make it more organized. Also, a Table of Contents if this hits 2 or more pages would be needed.)

PART 1: The schemes of To'Pakar

Kora flipped through yet another requisition. This one was from Depth 4, and it was asking for... an Acheron, two Sentenzas and a Glacius. Kora shook her head. What was with the rookies these days?! There was no possible way they'd need an Acheron on Depth 4- a toddler could fight those Lichens with so much as a Nightblade, and the average knight could take them with just a Proto Bomb-

"Kora! Come in, Kora!"

A long sigh escaped her lips. Wedge again. Either he blew up a Trojan and was going to brag on his Shivermist, or he found another "artifact" that would end up being your average pot. "What is it this time, Wedge?"

"We got a request for backup from the Emberlight Adoption Agency. We came to depth 15 to help them, wiped out some Devilites, but they took Petrode-"

"...Petrode?"

"He's that big Retrode, with the lizard on his-"

Kora said, "I know who Petrode is. But who took him?"

"I don't know. Nonna isn't saying much. Her apprentice says they were surrounded by Gun Puppies and they pulled away Petrode with a magnet, then blew up the path. He mentioned a Pit Boss was commanding them-"

"What?! But you're calling me from the Ruby Rook. I just realized there aren't Fiends in that stratum... not even any Danger Rooms."

Silence for five seconds. Then, "You're kidding."

"Not kidding. It's all Candlestick Keep and Concrete Jungle. A Pit Boss wouldn't be there... unless he went a long way. And they don't do that without..." Then recognition dawned on Kora's face. "To'Pakar."

"What?"

"Get Nonna and her apprentice up to Haven, along with a trusted knight or two. I'll prepare a briefing for them. And be quick about it!"

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Haven was awfully bright.

Vinno rarely went up to Haven, having to work in the Clockworks almost daily. Naturally, he wasn't used to so much sunlight. Kora's quarters were through the east gate in the Town Square, but Vinno forgot which way east was in the sprawl. Knights were everywhere around the Auction House, and some looked at him with interest. One ran up to Nonna with a bag of crowns, saying, "Nonna! I'd like a Love Puppy Pock-"

"Not now. I'm on business." Vinno nodded, hoping people wouldn't wonder aloud where Petrode was. That might get Nonna in a dangerous mood. Fortunately, this topic didn't come up, and as Vinno walked past a particularly large Stranger, he could see Kora's quarters, nestled in a small, out-of-the-way spot. The briefing room was connected to the side of it, and that was where he was bound.

The room was already set up. Kora was at a desk, looking over a sheaf of notes. The whole desk was covered in information sheets. Vinno had no idea why Kora wouldn't just use a computer. Hanging on the left wall was a Valiance pistol in a glass case; Nonna looked at it a little closer. "Unique Variant, Attack Speed Medium?"

"Yes. I looked it up- it's a decent sidearm. I keep it for emergencies."

Vinno was still trying to comprehend HOW Nonna could tell the pistol had a Unique Variant when another Knight walked in, sporting an Elemental Hood and Solid Cobalt Armor. "Knight Vilkus reporting, ma'am."

"Vilkus, good to see you! Wedge sent you, right?"

"He did. Told me all about Petrode. I'm sorry to hear he's missing."

Kora motioned for him to sit down. "Is anyone else coming?"

"No. Wedge said he had to go after he found me."

"Okay... I think the three of you will do for now." Kora put down her notes. "All right. Nonna, as I understand... Petrode's been stolen by a Pit Boss, in Depth 15 of the Ruby Rook gate. There should have been no Devilites anywhere nearby. Plenty of Trojans, but no Devilites."

Nonna slowly and silently nodded. Then she said, "He used a magnet. He was working with Gremlins."

Kora looked at another sheaf of notes. "As I recall, you brought up a Scorcher that you took prisoner just yesterday..."

Vinno nodded. "They set a trap, in a Wolver Den. Put a Chroma Whelp smack in the middle of it."

Kora laid her notes down. "I am positive this theft was planned, and I think I know who did it. The Pit Boss was employing Devilites, as reports show. Did he commend them with the words 'Evil work'?"

"Yes," Vinno said, "but what does that matter?'

Kora's eyes showed a hint of fear. "I know who was responsible for sure... To'Pakar."

"To'Pakar?"

"A Pit Boss... one of the worst. He works with the Gremlins... in fact, all reports suggest it was him that suggested they work together in the first place. He didn't even ask for permission to set up projects that were designed for only one purpose: to kill Knights. He's the greediest, most power-hungry Pit Boss we have ever found in the Clockworks."

Vilkus reached for his sword. "To'Pakar... I know his name. He's been nothing but a thorn in my side, and if he's got your Petrode, you'll need more help. The two of you are tough enough, but you're weak to Shadow damage and To'Pakar keeps himself well defended. I'd be glad to help in any way I can."

"Thanks for your help, Vilkus." Nonna asked, "Kora, what'll it take to bring down To'Pakar?"

"A lot. He's constantly protected by his own private legion of Devilites, and he moves around more often than a Chromalisk with its tail set on fire."

Nonna shook her head. "Then how do we get at him?"

Vinno wasn't sure, but he thought, behind that Tailed Helm, Kora was smiling as she said, "I've got a few ideas."

(Whew, that's all I can write for now. Be back later!)

(Thanks for the compliment! I will do as you asked, by keeping up the good work.)

Vinno sat on the elevator, waiting for power to re-route to it. The elevator he was about to take had been shut off due to maintenance. Nearby, Nonna was checking her weapons for any problems. Kozma had provided them with free Weapon Upgrades, and Nonna had more checking to do than usual. Vilkus sat aloof, occasionally looking at his Arc Razor.

"Vilkus, you say To'Pakar's bothered you before?"

"Yes... I've been searching most of the surface of Cradle for a few fellow knights that I still haven't re-established contact with. We were close friends before the Skylark crashed."

Vinno shook his head. "That's been a long time. Lord Vanaduke has already been defeated by many Vanguards- and that doesn't happen overnight."

"I know. But there's always hope. Algrim is a bit of a coward, and Milyn was always a bit shy, but I don't think a crash like that would have killed them. Wegner was right in the center of the blast. He's a bit of a wimp, or at least he was, but he came out with only a sprained ankle. Algrim probably ran to the edge of the ship with his tail between his legs, so he's definitely fine. And Milyn, she knew the Pod Release codes, so she was probably in the crisis control room. That sector was very well armored."

Nonna said, "You keep searching for them once you finish this. But what does To'Pakar have to do with that?"

"To'Pakar..." Vilkus's fist clenched around his Arc Razor. "That beast has been commanding his Devilites to pester me personally. He heard about it somehow, and now his Devilites occasionally open escape pods or go so far as to blow up sections of the Skylark they see lying around. To'Pakar is a greedy villian, and has been asking for a chance to be the unlucky victim of a group of Lockdown jocks for a great amount of time."

Vinno shuddered at the thought of it. To'Pakar personally intervening to make things harder for a single knight... that, no doubt, would demoralize the entire Order at least a little. And if this was any example, what would become of Petrode?

"All right, you three. I've got the gate up and running. Get ready- we're taking you straight down to Depth 12, where To'Pakar apparently left a document. Be ready- there's a bunch of Slimes in the area. You'll have to fight your way through them."

The elevator instantly began functioning, rumbling in preparation for a long downward trip, and Vinno stood up. It was more comfortable to stand on long elevator rides.

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"YOWZA!" Algrim leapt into the stash of treasure, practically swimming in it. "Whee hee hee! Look at this, green metal! YEAHAH! Ooh, more of the coins. Look at me! I'm talking to myself!"

Algrim had crash-landed on an alien planet, gotten lost in a cave, separated from someone who had a gun and was far more willing to check out scary corners, and ended up in a huge machine, fighting for a few months just to get jelly to eat. But for a few blissful minutes, Algrim forgot all of that in the euphoria of a huge pile of shiny treasure. He had no idea what it was all called, but it was shiny and looked like treasure, felt like treasure, smelled like treasure. If he finally found some fellow Knights now, he'd be RICH!

Poof. There went the euphoria. He had nowhere to spend the treasure. All those unpleasant furry guys with hammers had their full army in the place- shoot, even the recruits were out hitting him with explosive wrenches. And the skeletons! Dead bodies weren't supposed to move, that was for live bodies and live bodies only.

Shlop. Algrim wheeled at the noise. It was the same one that came from the green blob that tasted bad and gave him a nasty stomachache. Also, it had very nearly cornered him. Algrim pulled out his Proto Sword, looking among a pile of glass vials for one of the funny-looking red ones. "Come on... not now! Not one of the green ones!"

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The elevator stopped on Depth 12. Vilkus led the way, Nonna behind him with her Sentenza at the ready. The floor was surprisingly barren for a Slimeway, and Vinno saw various puddles of dead slime on the ground. "Someone's been here."

With little effort, they followed the contours of the floor, until they came to a junction. "Wait. There's something ahead..." Vilkus pointed. There! Four Oilers and two Jelly Cubes.

Nonna silently raised her Sentenza, then unloaded its clip on an Oiler, killing it off. Vinno and Vilkus rushed the slimes head-on, with Nonna providing cover fire. Vilkus and Vinno quickly dispatched the Jelly Cubes, and Nonna killed another Oiler before they could react. The two Oilers slid toward Vinno, who rolled backward to avoid their attacks. Vilkus ripped at another with his Arc Razor, and Vinno finished it off. Then Nonna let loose a charged attack. Even though the gun had alchemical overrides that allowed the dark owl to pass harmlessly by allies, Vinno still felt the urge to duck under its wings as they tore up the last Oiler.

"Okay, that was easy. But which way did our friend go?" Nonna pointed at another mass of dead slime piles; these were orange, Lichens. "Someone wiped out these Lichens... and I think he went that way!"

A set of footprints, and a small trail of green slime, led down a long, twisting Clockwork path. Vinno carefully led the way, his eyes open for threats. But nothing attacked them as they walked down the path- up until the room. Then Vinno spotted four Caustic Polyps surrounding a walled room full of treasure.

A voice from inside shouted, "BACK! Back, I say! Nobody's eating anybody today! Take that! And tha- OOF! What was that?! Cheap shot! Cheap shot!" The sound of a Calibur swinging against a Toxigel perpetuated the area.

"I know that voice. Algrim!" Vilkus ran into the treasure room. Vinno drew his Master Blaster as the Caustic Polyps jiggled in reaction to Vilkus's approach, and fired at one- or where he thought one was. Nonna had already shredded it with her Sentenza. Vinno turned and fired at another while Nonna came around the side at a third Polyp. The Polyp Vinno shot at shot back, even with the Master Blaster bullets peppering its side.

"Vilk! Lend me a hand, will- OW! That wasn't fair!" Algrim stepped back at having been hit again by the Toxigel. Vilkus wasted no time. He lifted his Arc Razor and slashed the slime in a vicious downward stroke, killing it. Algrim shouted, "Ha ha! Take that, greenie!"

"Algrim, are you all right?"

"All right? Am I ever! Those hits were nothing. But now you're here, I got somebody to watch my back."

"Wait. Where's Milyn? Have you seen her?"

Algrim shook his head. "I did. Two months ago. Then we got split up, running from these demon-lookin' things that were throwing suitcases at us. I got smacked by a STAPLER! A stapler, would you believe it?! And it hurt like you wouldn't believe. I'm pretty sure Milyn got away, but we got separated."

Then a thought crossed Vilkus's head. "Wait. All this time, you haven't seen any of our Knights?"

"No. No living ones, other than Milyn. There were some dead ones. Some of the dead ones were sort of in denial, though- they were walkin' around like normal people. Well, except for the trying to kill me part."

"Interesting. Nonna, how long has this level been in circulation?"

Nonna peered inside, her Sentenza smelling faintly of gunpowder. "Not long, actually. This variety Slimeway just now-"

"AAAAH! It's one of the furry guys!" Algrim aimed his Zapper at Nonna, but it was shaking in his grip. "Don't hurt me. I swear I won't shoot you, just don't hurt me-"

"Relax. Nonna's an Emberlighter, a Gremlin exile. She won't hurt you. Nonna! Let's get to finding those Devilite documents."

Algrim shook his head. "Emberlighter? Gremlin? Devilite? What are you talking about?"

"Relax. Spiral HQ will explain everything, but first we've got a mission to accomplish."

Nonna led the squad through the remainder of the Slimeway. The enemies had mostly been killed during Algrim's extended visit; all that remained was one group of Lumbers in front of a very disorganized walled room. Vilkus pointed into the room. "There! I think I see a folder with some papers, right on top of that alarm clock."

Vinno examined the group of Lumbers. There were ten of them- far too many for an average group of... anyone. But they were all taking the same patrol route around the office, and they hadn't seen Nonna's party yet.

"All right. I'll pop in there and get the documents while the Lumbers aren't looking."

"Hey, uh, Gremlin with the Striker? You're crazy. Those tree bots- Lumbers or whatever you called 'em- they hit hard."

"I'm aware of that." And with that, Vinno ran straight for the room. He looked to the left, seeing the Lumbers walk around the wall, as he entered. Vinno quickly grabbed up the documents, and began to make a break for the exit.

"WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED ACTION. SECURITY BOTS FULLY MOBILIZED."

Alarms began to blare and the Lumbers began to move at a faster pace, and the whole place was suddenly making a lot more noise. Algrim made a sound like a scared dog, shaking in his Cobalt Armor's boots. "Nobody told me they were gonna make some kinda trap!"

The Lumbers were hot on Vinno's trail, and one lifted its arm. Vinno rolled forward while Nonna and Vilkus immediately prepared their weapons. Nonna's Magma Driver and Vilkus's Kilowatt Pulsar were effectively holding the Lumbers back, and Algrim's Zapper was doing its (meager) part. Vinno caught up with them all and began peppering the Lumbers with his Master Blaster, and they easily dispatched three of the Lumbers before the mob reached them.

"Watch and learn." Nonna pointed her Magma Driver into the center of the mob, and began to charge it up while the rest of the group desperately backpedaled and shot. Algrim switched to his Brandish and walked forward only a single step, still shaking..

Then Nonna fired. The effect was instantaneous on the mob. After two of the Lumbers fell, the other five seemed less insurmountable. Algrim quickly jabbed with his Brandish, then jumped backward as the Lumber turned to face him. Vilkus switched to his Arc Razor and tore into the same Lumber, quickly finishing it off with help from Nonna's Magma Driver. Vinno, meanwhile, was sprinting straight past the other four Lumbers, and just like clockwork, they all slammed their fists down far too late for Vinno to have even worried about them. Vinno pressed his attack, striking quickly with his... Striker. Fitting.

The other three Lumbers were easily dispatched. Nonna blasted another charge at them, placing it just so one Lumber would be hit a lot, and that Lumber fell quickly. Vilkus and Algrim finished one off, and Vinno had the last one nearly down by the time Nonna turned and shot it a few times. As it fell, Vinno sighed with relief. That was over. But the alarms were still blaring... what could be ahead?

"WARNING. SECURITY BOTS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED. SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE IN THREE MINUTES."

Nonna gasped. "To'Pakar set this up! Run! To the elevator!"

Vinno needed no further prompting. He was immediately running, almost as fast as Algrim was. "Hurry!" Algrim shouted. "I didn't come all this way just to get blown to bits!"

They knew where the elevator was, and they were almost there when a security door closed. Four Scuttlebots appeared in their path, and they immediately drew their weapons. Vilkus shouted, "Scuttlebots are nothing-"

ZAP. One of the Scuttlebots unleashed an enormous laser cannon. It slammed against a wall, singing the hairs on Nonna's head as it went. Nonna reached for her Magma driver. "These aren't your typical Scuttlebots!"

"ONE MINUTE TO SELF-DESTRUCT."

Vinno rushed the first one, hitting it twice with his Striker. It turned, reared back, and fired; fortunately, Vinno knew what was coming, and leapt around it before swinging four more times. A laser very nearly hit him; Vinno crouched over his adversary just in time to duck underneath it. He made out the words "Mk II" on the side of its leg.

"DIE, ROBOTS! DIE!" Algrim was a lot less cowardly when he knew there was a Self-Destruct sequence going on. His brandish swung to and fro, hitting two of the Mk II Scuttlebots at once. Vilkus backed him up by striking one from behind with an Arc Razor combo.

"They're tougher than usual!" Nonna herself was preoccupied with one of the bots, firing clip after clip of her Magma Driver. They were taking a lot of shots, much more than- there! The first Mk II Scuttlebot crumpled and exploded, nearly knocking Nonna backward. A second and third collapsed and exploded, and finally Algrim hurled one against a block. It collapsed, exploded, and the gate went down, revealing the elevator.

"TEN. NINE. EIGHT."

Nonna rushed to the elevator, slamming the "Haven" button as the rest of the group got on.

"SEVEN. SIX."

The control bars attached to the elevator, and began to fire up.

"FIVE. FOUR. THREE. TWO."

Slowly but surely, the elevator began to rise. Nonna checked. Vinno, Vilkus, and Algrim were safely on board as it picked up speed.

"ONE. ZERO. HAVE A NICE DEATH."

A massive explosion appeared from below, and Vinno watched as the fiery blast destroyed the entire floor. The smoke cleared a little as the elevator rose, and he could see a skeletal framework of a floor, smoldering from the heat. Vinno sighed, relieved, and thankful that an elevator was still under his feet. To'Pakar's tricks hadn't gotten him this time.

(Will be continued...)

"I still can't believe To'Pakar actually managed to rig the Depth 12 Slimeway to blow up." Kora shook her head. "It's a good thing they found you, Algrim."

Algrim nodded. "I'm glad they did! So where's the food? And how much food can you get with the amount of treasure I brought up?"

Kora laughed. "If you're not starving, I'll be asking for a little more of your time. Now, Nonna, Vinno, Vilkus." Kora gestured to the documents, which lay in their folder on the top of Kora's desk. "It'll take us some time to translate these. To'Pakar ciphered them, and we'll have to break the cipher. In the meantime, I'll organize them."

Vinno remarked, "You might want to organize the rest of your desk."

"Oh, it is organized."

Vinno raised an eyebrow. "How is it..."

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that. It's complicated. In the meantime, Vilkus, you get Algrim situated."

Vilkus nodded, a little more light-heartedly than he had before. Vinno supposed this was because he'd found a friend that he had probably thought dead.

"And Nonna, Vinno... just keep doing what you do. I heard the Agency has another mission for you."

Nonna nodded, and left. Vinno said, "Thanks, Kora. Nonna hasn't been the same since they took Petrode."

"I guessed. But we'll find him. And whatever happens, To'Pakar will pay."

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"Now, this one's a bit dangerous. Can you handle it without Petrode?"

Nonna let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Most likely."

"Okay." The Emberlighter looked over the sheet. "As you may know, Gremlins will usually enlist as soon as they reach adulthood; usually they're still short enough to be placed into Knocker duties, which are required heavily in the Clockwork Tunnels. However, until now, Tinkinzar's clans have not drafted actual children."

"Until now?" Vinno's hand was on his Brute Jelly Shield. He had a vague feeling he wouldn't like what the guy was about to say.

"Rumor has it, a child prodigy of the Darkfang Clan has been taken from his parents- we don't know what happened to them- and is being forced to build and command robots against his will. Recon Knights saw this, but their cloaks' Recon Mark gave them away when a Mortafire entered the room. They refused to attack him because of his age, and they were nearly mowed down by bullets. But they survived and came back to tell us about it. No Knight has gone down that way since." The Emberlighter looked from Nonna to Vinno. "This is what the Agency was made to stop! This kind of crime cannot stand."

"No, it can't. We'll go in there and get the poor kid out." Vinno was already making to leave.

"Wait! If you just go right now, you'll walk right in and get killed in two minutes. You and Nonna will have to use some kind of tactics..."

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"How do I look?"

"Just like a Darkfang Mender. It's a good thing I'm nearby, or Knights might accidentally reach for their Venom Veilers."

Nonna nodded, waving the Wrench Wand in the air a few times. Then she said, "All right, now you go and change."

Vinno did this quickly, and came out looking like a Darkfang Scorcher. "Close enough?"

"Mask is on a little low. Raise it up a notch..." Vinno did so. "Now tighten that pack strap... there! I'm half tempted to grab my Sentenza."

"Don't!" Vinno laughed. "Save your ammo!"

The two gremlins walked on toward the elevator. Knights and Emberlighters alike, having been notified that Vinno and Nonna weren't enemy soldiers, cheered as they came by. Nonna fired up the elevator and shouted, "Depth 26! Take us down!"

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"Do I really have to?"

The Gremlin that asked this was tiny, smaller even than a Knocker. And yet he was sitting at the console that controlled hundreds of war machines. All Talvi wanted to do was build robots for good, peaceful things. The Knights were doing nothing to him. They didn't shoot him like the commander said they would- they ran away instead. And the commander himself was annoying and a complete jerk! All he did was insult, insult, insult! Talvi wanted to help his fellow Gremlins, but was attacking and killing Knights really helping Gremlin-kind?

"Kid, it's not Knights, if that makes you feel any better. Only a few Lichens."

Lichens. They were nasty, vicious monsters. Nothing bad about defeating them. "Okay. I'll turn on the radar network..." Talvi hit the switch on, and immediately, the whole room laid itself out before him, with each blip representing a friendly or hostile entity. Talvi's eyes widened. "You said a FEW Lichens?"

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Vinno quickly realized the fortified Deconstruction Zone was under attack. But not by Knights; Lichens were overrunning the place, attacking in a strangely organized formation. Besides the fact that many Slimes worked with the Gremlins, this very fact was strange among them; Slimes, and Lichens especially, weren't one for strategy. But they were using it.

Quicksilvers supercharged themselves to attack robots with Elemental damage, instead of trying to hit them with their Piercing tackle- and they supercharged in tandem to avoid hurting each other. Oilers were gravitating around Red Rovers and what Scorchers hadn't spotted them coming, efficiently expanding their fire field across the area. Groups of Toxigels did hit-and-runs where they all spun at once, peppering the Gremlin forces with poisonous spikes. And at the front lines were Giant Lichen Colonies, with reserves of small Lichens that fused with their bigger brethren when they took enough damage. It was like a siege, and the Lichens were performing surprisingly adequately.

Nonna whispered, "We have to act fast! If those wild Lichens reach that little Gremlin, they won't show him any mercy! Let's sneak around to where he should be."

With some effort, they circumvented the line to find a large group of Retrodes. The machines looked at Nonna and Vinno as they passed, but did not attack. Nonna was reminded again of Petrode. He'd probably be blasting a path through the Lichens for us...

Nonna and Vinno reached the heavy bunker that the little gremlin operated his robots from. The loud, angry voice of a Gremlin Thwacker rose above the din, barking orders. And a smaller voice was barking back at the orders.

Vinno entered the room, and found the little gremlin. A Thwacker with a commander's uniform shouted at him, "You worthless sack of waste! What was THAT?!"

"I don't understand!" The kid was in tears. "Quicksilvers never do that."

"Quiet! You're going to get us all killed-"

Vinno clamped his hand over the commander's mouth. "You obviously meant to get him killed. Putting a child of his age out here in a battlefield is despicable, and downright stupid! If Emberlighters weren't scared of you, we'd be ripping you to shreds for this!"

Nonna ran to the little gremlin, and stood next to him. "What's your name?"

"What's it to you? You won't even heal me if I get hurt."

"Of course I won't. I don't know how because I'm not a Mender." And Nonna took her hood off. "I'm with the Emberlight Adoption Agency." The Darkfang commander's eyes widened. "So is my friend here. We're here to get you out of this place."

Recognition dawned quickly on the little gremlin's face. "Well, let's go! I'm sick of all these robots. I'm sick of the Darkfangs! I've been sick of them for weeks! My name's Talvi, by the way- you did ask."

At that moment, Vinno turned around, and drew his striker. "Nonna. There's a big one heading straight for us!"

Nonna set the child down and drew a Sentenza. "Giant Lichen Colonies are my bread and butter. Have loudmouth goo first, will you?"

Vinno let go of the commander's mouth, and he shouted, "EMBE-"

"-RBREAK HELMET!" Vinno quickly covered his mouth again, and finished the sentence. Hopefully that did it. Then he hit the commander on the side of the head with the flat of his blade. The commander slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"All right, Talvi. Stay back." Nonna watched as the large red shape reached the door of the control room, then tried to ooze through. Nonna shot it once, and it drew back, frightened.

Then a female voice said, "Don't worry. I'll handle this." And a much larger entrance was blown open by five Supernova shots!

Vinno gasped. On the Giant Lichen Colony's back was a female Spiral Knight, riding it using what seemed to be a saddle made from recycled parts. Ropes were tied to the Colony's horns as reins of a sort. Her slightly grimy Volcanic Demo Helm had a single red ponytail in the back, and her Radiant Silvermail was worn from use, but otherwise it was all intact.

"Stand aside, Darkfang soldiers. This poor boy is going straight up to Emberlight, whether you die for it or not."

Nonna lifted her hood. "We're not Darkfang soldiers! We're on your side! We're with the Adoption Agency!"

"Why should I trust you, when you're wearing everything an enemy soldier is wearing? Your king is a traitor and a murderer. At least Spiral HQ has the dignity to keep children far from the battlefield- ah HA!"

The Giant Lichen Colony, at the Knight's prompting, impaled the commander on a spine. He had attempted to attack the Colony while Nonna and the Knight were talking. The Knight's eyes, filled with righteous fury, turned on Nonna. "You would try for such a ploy. It's just like a puppet of Tinkinzar to do that! Have at you!"

Nonna rolled out of the way of the Colony's dash, and saw it tensing. "Roots! Get back!" Vinno jumped back, barely avoiding a thorn root protruding from the ground. The Colony wheeled, turning to face Vinno, and attempted a flying tackle. Vinno raised his Brute Jelly Shield, and the rubbery jelly absorbed most of the blow. Most of it. Vinno was still hurled against the wall, his Striker falling to his feet.

"Wait, stop! Those two are honest! The commander was the bad one."

The Knight turned about to look at Talvi. "They are? Why didn't you speak up?" She moved her Colony back. "Is the boy correct?"

"He is." Vinno got up. "We came... to get him out of here. Can you not hit... my shield so hard? Ooh, my gut..."

The Knight nodded. "Little gremlin, I will watch them, in case they lie. But it's your best bet, to go along with these two- they are in disguise. And you two... I am sorry. I acted very rashly."

Nonna put her hood back on. "I understand. It was for Talvi's sake that you were worried. At least your heart's in the right place."

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Nonna and Vinno quickly reached the elevator, and they were surprised to find the knight didn't follow them. Nonna asked, "Don't you want to return with him? The other Knights will be happy to see you've managed to take control of an army of Lichens."

"I appreciate your offer, but Spiral HQ is not worth talking to. I am much better when it's not putting ridiculous limits on me." The Knight saluted the two Emberlighters. "Fight on, my friends... and give old Feron my regards."

(To be continued... later, when it's not 1:22 in the morning!)

EDIT: I forgot, thanks to Incoherrant for the ideas! Good luck creating your own army of slimes in the future.

"Greetings, Intel Agent Kora." The Spiral HQ emissary greeted her with the kind of warmth she'd expect from an Ice Cube; his eyes felt like they were boring holes in her Round Shades.

Kora simply saluted, and said, "Greetings. What is it you're looking for?"

"I'm Thorlo, from HQ. We're aware you've advanced quite far in the Intel field, and I've been sent to evaluate your skill. Depending on my observations, you may be a candidate at the HQ Committee for Chief of Int-"

"Sir, let me stop you right there." Kora said. "You don't simply take observations on an Intel Agent. We operate secretly. You could blow my cover by so much as looking at me strange- especially in official HQ armor."

"HQ demands we get some sort of evaluation. We need to make sure you're fit for the job. Chief of Intel is a hard task, and requires one fiercely loyal to the Order and all it stands for."

"And you're saying that after aiding in stopping a coup by an order of twisted assassins aboard the Skylark, gaining intel on the Strangers and confirming their beneficent intent only two days after the Skylark crash, locating Alpha Squad recon modules in places as dangerous as the Gloaming Wildwoods and the Ironclaw Munitions Factory- which, by the way, was built to blow all of us into smithereens- and then practically overseeing the assault on the Firestorm Citadel, followed by multiple rounds of trying to hunt down a truly wicked Pit Boss, you still are not sure if I'm fiercely loyal to the Order?"

Thorlo looked slightly taken aback. "I only came to-"

"Spy on me, Thorlo? I know full well that Gillon is Chief of Intel, and won't be retiring any time soon. I had lunch with him just the other day. We discussed various matters of importance. In fact, he's the one that gave me..." Kora gestured to the wall. "That emergency Valiance. It was a Master Blaster, but my Mist Tank was full and I figured I could afford it."

Thorlo was silent for a full five seconds. Then he said, "I'm sorry. This was a test... to make sure you're communicating with your fellow Intel members. We weren't aware you would be so offended by it."

Kora decided to play along with that one, even though she knew full well it was a lie. Milyn was probably coming up the elevator to the rendezvous point as they spoke, and Kora didn't want to put her, Vilkus, Algrim, or the Emberlighters at any risk. "Glad to see you care. I look forward to hearing from you when Gillon does retire."

Thorlo left the room. Kora held her breath, waiting a full twenty seconds, then let out a long sigh of relief. She stood up, opened the case, pulled out her Valiance, and walked off to the Arcade.

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"What's takin' Kora, huh?" Algrim slammed the side of the elevator. "It's been two hours! I'd like a nice home-cooked meal right about now."

Vinno groaned. Algrim had been going on about food for at least one of those hours. Vinno reached for a Gel Core... then thought better of it when Vilkus said, "Algrim, if you can't take two hours without food now, what happens when you're forced into days without food in the lowest depths of the Clockworks?" Algrim nodded, but was still looking up toward Haven with a forlorn, food-craving look on his face.

The elevator suddenly activated, lowering to make room for another elevator platform. Intel Agent Kora stepped off, looking very flustered. "I don't know why, but HQ is spying on me."

Milyn, standing aloof against the side of the wall with the one-eared Ash Tail curled at her feet, shrugged, and said, "No surprise. They always spy on their strongest knights. Those are the ones that would pose a threat to their power."

Kora sighed. "I recognize the growing power of HQ. I can see them trying to make themselves tyrants that are as bad as Tinkinzar in the future. The rights of the average knight are slowly going from reasonable to negligible... but right now, we have to focus on To'Pakar. He's a Devilite Pit Boss that can keep big ol' Petrode restrained and corrupt hundreds of Lichens... and he's enough of a jerk to do it. I'm, quite frankly, fed up with his continued existence. Once To'Pakar is out of the way, we'll address the problem of Spiral HQ's growing power in the most peaceful way possible. Only then will I reveal your Beasts and Slimes, Milyn. In the meantime, I've provided accommodations for them in an out-of-circuit Clockwork Terminal that's locked by a password. You, and the Ash Tail that seems to be close to you, can wander Haven freely."

Milyn nodded slowly. "Good. Very good. I'd rather this go with minimal bloodshed on our own side."

"Right. You all performed excellently, but your own strength won't be enough for my next request."

Vinno reached for his Striker. "Are we going for To'Pakar?"

"No. We can't force our hand too early. If To'Pakar knows we're following him, he may hide in the deepest reaches of the Clockworks, where we'll never find him. We need to catch him off guard. But he won't be worried if we, say... catch a bunch of Corrupt Lichens, and bring them to Haven for study. In fact, he may well have prepared a trap there. Getting out of it alive appears to be your habit, so you shouldn't have much trouble."

Nonna smiled, knowing exactly what she was getting at. "Just my area of expertise. And with Cloud Nine, the job should be easy."

"Then it's settled." Vinno reached for his own Cloud Nine. "We're going somewhere, and we'll bring up some Corrupt Lichens for you. When do we leave?"

Kora laughed. "Not for about three hours! Go up to Haven, and enjoy the sun. You all have earned it. And Milyn... you may want to clean your armor."

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Vinno was enjoying his free time in Haven. Already having spent some quality time in the Auction House Plaza, he'd noticed the Sleeping Vaporizer bombs were already circulating among Spiral grenadiers. One of them already had a Cloud Nine with a Very High Charge Time Reduction, and was displaying it to the other demo-men around. Then something caught his eye. It looked to be... Vilkus, with his Arc Razor out?

Vinno ran to the scene. Vilkus, with Milyn and her Ash Tail beside him, was glaring at another knight in a full set of Vog Cub, who had an Acheron out. Vinno shouted, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the matter here?"

"That barbecue-hide wearing rat was giving Milyn trouble. Something about her Ash Tail."

"Huh!" The Vog Cub knight scoffed at Vilkus's Arc Razor. "All I said was that Ash Tail ought to be a suit of four-star-"

"Don't you dare say that again!" Milyn's hands were reaching for what looked to be a Cold Iron Vanquisher. "That Ash Tail has been my closest companion in the Clockworks. He's one of the few Ash Tails I've found that hasn't tried to tear me apart with fangs."

Vinno gave the Ash Tail Knight an "what are you, stupid" look. Really? What tactless moron would say that about someone's pet, unless it was a threat? He added, "I understand using every part of the beasts you are forced to kill. Wolver Dens are dangerous places for a reason. But that Ash Tail is no threat. In fact, he's an ally and master ambusher that has done nothing but serve the Spiral Order."

The Vog Cub knight was speechless for only a few seconds. Then he said, "Right. Well, you don't threaten me with a weak little Arc Razor. What, that's a crappy sword with a gun inside it? And it deals Normal damage. Only a moron would-"

"-stand up for his friend even though he's got lesser gear? I believe that's called courage. I'm fairly certain the Spiral Order values courage highly." Vilkus stared the Vog Cub in the eye. "I guess you're different. You just want to pick a fight, that much is obvious. There's Lockdown and the rest of the entire planet for that."

The Vog Cub knight glared at Vinno. "I oughta run you through for that kind of cheek."

"I believe you stole my line?"

Vinno looked behind him. Lieutenant Feron was right behind him, looking very angry. "Gorgos, you've done nothing but pick fights with other Knights for the last eight days. You called someone weak for using the new Cloud Nine bomb just yesterday- a Five-Star, Class A explosive meant only for the most elite grenadiers! I believe it's time we had a chat about solidarity among the Order."

"What? I'm not taking that from- OOF!"

Feron, upon the first hint of back-sass from Gorgos, had socked him in the stomach. He then proceeded to pull the Acheron right out of his hand, and slung Gorgos over his shoulder. "Back-sassing a superior, eh? We'll have that chat in the Barracks, Gorgos, and we'll start in the approximate time I can walk there. By the way, Kora came by and delivered a report. Milyn, Vilkus, Vinno! Keep up the good work." Vilkus gave a salute as the Lieutenant hauled the angry, kicking Gorgos off toward the Barracks without so much as acknowledging the obnoxious Vog Cub knight's resistance.

"Milyn, I'm sorry you had to go through that kind of idiocy." Vilkus was slowly stowing his Arc Razor. "I honestly don't understand how an immature knight like that could possibly get a full suit of Vog Cub."

Milyn laughed. "It's nothing! I considered the source and moved on. Besides, it was hilarious to see Feron carting him off like that! You should've seen him, kicking and screaming and throwing a hissy fit."

The three of them laughed, and checked the time. Vinno stopped laughing. "CRUD! We're two minutes late for the mission! Hurry!"

(More later... you know it. Thank you so much for the compliments!)

Algrim shouted, "Whew, I could go for a coffee break!"

The elevator had a long way to go. They were headed all the way up to Depth 1, so Milyn could check on her Beasts and Lichens. Nonna sighed. "Oh, I hope Petrode hasn't been destroyed."

"If what I've heard about Petrode is true," Milyn said, "he should be fine. Vilkus told me quite a few stories... does Petrode really have a mind of his own?"

Vinno nodded and said, "Petrode is almost sentient, the way his AI is so comprehensive... and the thing is, we still can't find his original creator. Petrode just won't tell us, either. Hopefully we'll all live to find out, eh?"

Kora looked up. The monitor showed "Depth 1", and the floor was coming up. She said, "I don't know about you... but I've got a bad feeling about this."

Vilkus looked around. "I don't see what... no, wait. I feel it too... like something's not right."

The elevator reached Depth 1... and Kora gasped in horror. The large gate that she had placed to keep unwanted intruders out of the area had been breached; it was wide open. "But... I specifically locked it with a code nobody knows! And I specified on the door that nothing in there was to be destroyed, by HQ orders! Why..."

"They've breached the gate. I'm going in." Milyn rushed into the room, Supernovas out. Vinno wondered what could be inside that would open the gate... then he heard Milyn shout. "Stop! What are you doing?! NO!" And Vinno heard the sound of an Acheron swinging, and a Lichen splattering on the floor.

Immediately, Vinno ran in, Cloud Nine at the ready. Vilkus was ahead of him, Great Defender and Arc Razor out. They immediately saw the ground littered with dead slime and various dead Chromalisks and Wolvers. One of them, a massive Alpha Voltail with wounds in its side, had Milyn crouching over its lifeless body, teary-eyed. And many shapes were visible on the edges of the room. Vinno tried to locate them... but they were so fast!

A shrill whistle from Milyn, and what remained of her Wolvers, Chromalisks, and Lichens surrounded her. And standing to oppose her were Knights! Four of them were in full suits of Fallen Armor, wielding Barbarous Thorn Blades and various Shadow weapons. The fifth was in a full set of HQ class Armor, overseeing the fighting. They were staring each other down, Milyn and her army of beasts against the HQ Knight and his troops.

"Stop this foolishness, Milyn. These monsters will just get you killed. HQ has determined that they are to be destroyed- all of them!"

Milyn, at first, didn't answer, anger building inside of her. Then she snapped, "I knew it. I couldn't trust the Order. I couldn't trust any of you! I couldn't even trust you... Vilkus. My... friend." Milyn drew her Supernovas. "Get out of my way!"

Vilkus tried to run to her side; with a signal from Milyn, one of the Giant Lichen Colonies rammed him and pushed him back. Kora shouted, "Wait! This wasn't my-"

Milyn leapt onto her Giant Lichen Colony, which still had its saddle on top of it, and bowled Kora over with it. "I can't trust anyone anymore! Kora... you said they would be safe... you swine. That's what I get, for listening to an HQ slave."

"Milyn, wait! I was planning on taking a coffee break with the three of us-"

"Shut up, Algrim."

The Fallen Knights suddenly rushed the Lichens in the back, and were quickly knocked backward by a flurry of Supernova bullets. Vinno could only watch in horror as all the remaining beasts followed Milyn out of the room.

Vilkus stowed his weapons. "Wait! Milyn, please don't-"

"I'm leaving. Down there, I was being betrayed. Dusty, come!" The Ash Tail whimpered, and looked once at Vilkus, then slowly walked to Milyn's group. Milyn shouted, "Hear this! I'm done with you. You slaughter everything you see... even if they don't attack you. Even if they don't deserve to be hurt! And you steal the very rights of life every Spiralian is born with... all for a little more power. I couldn't be more sickened by a Concrete Jungle! Farewell... or perhaps, fare poorly. I don't care!"

"Milyn, no! I had no idea! Wait! Milyn!"

"Sorry, Vilk... she's gone." And she was; already, Milyn and her entire troupe had fled deep into the Depth, probably towards a free elevator. Vilkus sat, watching the path she'd fled down with sadness.

"After her!" The HQ Knight shouted. "Don't let her get away- OOF!"

Nonna had slapped the HQ knight right across the face. And her hand was armored. "Haven't you done enough damage? You've alienated one of your most powerful knights... good work, HQ. Good work." Nonna's voice was dripping sarcasm, and she was anything but cheery.

One of the Fallen Knights, who seemed to be the leader, pointed to the elevator. "We'll be going now. We'll find her, and teach her a lesso-"

He didn't finish the sentence. Vilkus slammed his shield into his face, tripped him with his Arc Razor, dropped the blade, and began beating the ever-living daylights out of him. The others stepped back, afraid.

"Vilkus! Stop."

It was Lieutenant Feron. Vilkus turned and glared. "Why?"

"So I can get a turn!" And, yanking the knight out of his hands, he picked him up and slammed him against the wall. The knight fell over, knocked out. "That should do for punishment. Kora, confiscate his weapons-"

"Now hold on, Feron!" The HQ knight was looking very annoyed. "This knight may be wearing a suit of armor you find distasteful, originating from an evil being and all. But nonetheless, he volunteered to destroy those dangerous beasts that Kora was keeping in Depth 1. He has done nothing-"

"Except insult our fellow knights for the last eight days and disobey a direct military order." Feron glared at the knocked-out knight. "That was Gorgos. You know that was Gorgos. And I told Gorgos specifically to stop wielding an Acheron for two weeks, for his own good and the good of his squadmates. Instead, he murdered- yes, murdered- perfectly tame beasts and slimes that were going to help our order immensely. He even made to attack a fellow knight. Kora, go ahead and confiscate the Acheron! What are you waiting for?"

Kora shuddered. "No, Feron... for all of your sakes, nobody touch the blade! The safety overrides are completely stripped off! You could be driven to madness just by looking at it for too long!" She shook her head. "Mad. Warmaster Seerus was a truly wicked Gremlin, and even he had overrides on his Dark Retribution bombs. Everyone knows Shadow-based weapons will drive you to insanity and evil if you don't keep the safety overrides active- we knew it before the Skylark crash, blast it! The Alchemy Machines even provide these overrides at no charge. And his Barbarous Thorn Blade doesn't have them either... I'll bet he barely slept every night, with Snarbolax eyes looking at him and his Acheron whispering in his ears."

The HQ knight shouted, "Blast it! I will not have you spreading slander about good knights while supporting rabble like-"

"Shut up, Vernin." Kora was glaring at the HQ knight. "You've done nothing but systematically wreck things ever since the crash. Do you even have any idea who To'Pakar is? He's a very bad Pit Boss, you know. And we had the perfect soldier to bring against him; Milyn had trained those creatures to wield against To'Pakar. But I guess we'll just have to redo our entire strategy... congratulations. You may have just signed the death sentence of a hundred Knights. Their blood's on your hands, Vernin. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Vernin was taken aback. Vinno knew he would probably have apologized profusely, and probably beaten the crap out of himself at some point. But Vernin? No, he just shouted, "You don't know anything! For an Intel Agent, you're awfully stupid!" With a single gesture, the HQ knight turned and led the Fallen Knights up the elevator. "We WILL be evaluating this scenario, Kora. You will be punished for this! Slandering fellow knights... unthinkable."

The elevator left their sight. Kora sighed, and shook her head. "No... this was a disaster. I should have let Milyn be..."

"Kora, you are not to blame. Spiral HQ is involved in dark things... I know this. It takes one hundred and fifty units of energy to remove the overrides from a Shadow-based weapon! And this kind of action is instantly spotted on scanners; a member of the HQ Arms and Armors department is informed quickly and efficiently." Feron went to the elevator. "First we must destroy To'Pakar... that will be good. The less power the forces of evil have in the Clockworks, the better! Bosco and I will cover for you. Find Milyn if you can... bring her back to us. With our combined forces, we will squash To'Pakar between us... and then I think it's time we evaluated the HQ situation more thoroughly. I'll have a squad destroy this sword... it's already done enough damage."

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Vilkus lifted himself off the floor. "We must stop To'Pakar, of course. But I'm finding Milyn first. No matter what it takes! I found her before and I will find her again, and I don't care how many Devilites I have to rip apart, how many shadow-crazed knights I have to put down, or how many miles I have to hike to find her!"

Nonna nodded. "I'm going with you. We specialize in finding lost, confused creatures in the Clockworks, and Milyn is no different... only much, much more powerful."

"See, the Emberlight Adoption Agency does a lot more than adoption. We do exploration, bounty hunting, and now search and rescue." Vinno smiled. "I'm all for it."

"Well, get a load of this." Algrim brandished his Drone Launcher. "Milyn's Giant Lichen Colony is being tracked as we speak! I had this feeling Milyn was going to run off- it's what I'd do when there's a bunch of guys in creepy shadow armor standin' there with Acherons- and I figure she was going so crazy she wouldn't listen to you. So I stayed quiet and pulled the sleight-of-hand trick. Perfect shot, of course, I was awfully close."

Hope dawned on Vilkus's face (at least, as far as Vinno could tell). "Algrim! Are you serious?"

"Seerus as a Gremlin Warmaster! All we need is for Kora to find the drone and tell us where to go."

Kora said, "Absolutely. What's more, HQ hasn't cut off my connection yet, and they haven't bothered Bosco at all. But, Vilkus... do you think you will be able to earn her trust?"

Vilkus sighed. "I won't lie, the hurt I suffered from Milyn's anger at me was more than physical. But it is a friend's lot to overlook an offense, and in her defense, she had just lost a great many friends."

"Then it's settled." Nonna stood up. "Look alive, Vinno! We're going right now!"

"Got it, Nonna! Just give me a bit to alchemize a Rock Jelly Shield and I'll be good."

"Wait, what?" Algrim asked. "No... coffee break?"

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Milyn continued her sad march through the Clockworks. It was a Cooling Chamber. Depth... oh, who cared? Half of her friends were gone... and she had nobody to trust. Nobody to talk to...

"No. I have Dusty." But Dusty shook his head and made a small whine. Milyn snapped, "What's it to you?! It was my trust they all betrayed... mine!" Dusty shrank back, hiding behind a Quicksilver. Milyn looked at him, shaking her head. Why was he acting so oddly?

A trio of Frozen Shamblers emerged from the ground. Milyn roared, "CRUSH THEM!" Instantly, her Toxigels went into action, rushing forward and spinning... only four of them remained. They had been hit hardest by the attack... the betrayal. Milyn watched the Toxigels dance around the Frozen Shamblers, picking them apart with their spines. Not a one was hit, and soon all the Frozen Shamblers were dead. Milyn sighed. Ordinarily, she would have cheered on her Toxigels. But she didn't much feel like cheering.

It looked like she was approaching a museum of some sort. An old, broken Almirian spike-wheel lay in a glass case, broken beyond repair. Milyn, try as she might, couldn't suppress the memory of Vilkus standing in the way with his shield, fully aware of the risks involved. Then others came. Vilkus taking the aggression of the horde of Dust Zombies, Algrim standing over a dead Greaver carcass with Dusty alongside him, Nonna shooting To'Pakar in the face with a Callahan, Vinno laughing off his scarred arm as "nothing", Vilkus knocking a Corrupt Lichen far away from her with a shield-slam, Vinno and Nonna running in to save little Talvi.

And more memories came, in reverse chronological order. Vilkus offering to lend her his escape pod, just before the crash. Algrim pulling pranks on prominent knights to lighten her spirits after she'd failed an important Recon test. Vilkus helping her learn to focus long enough to aim a handgun. Algrim taking the Skylark on a (forbidden) joyride so she could stop by Hyperion to find a forgotten locket. Vilkus standing guard over her childhood closet with a Proto Gun to keep her safe from the killer robot they imagined was inside. She tried to put them out of her mind, but they just wouldn't go away... why?!

"Get down!"

Milyn ducked just in time- a stapler flew over her head. What?! She wheeled and saw eight Devilites with a Security Devilite, standing right there. She had been separated from her beasts; they were stuck behind the gate, and only Dusty was at her side. The Security Devilite shouted, "You! You're gonna pay for opposing To'Paka-"

A bullet flew into the Devilite's head at blinding speed, killing it in one shot. The others panicked, looking around. One shouted, "The gunslinger!" Another threw a suitcase at a random wall. And then, from above the room... another bullet. It looked like a Callahan's bullet, but smaller... yet they dealt their share of damage.

"Don't waste your lives! Kill the kni-" He never finished the sentence. An electrical laser beam tore into him, then moved to another.

Milyn saw her chance, and spread her Supernovas at the Devilites, knocking them around everywhere. A bullet clanged into the floor, followed by a loud "Dagnabbit!" from the walls. Milyn glanced up, but only saw a blur. Another laser beam came from the high wall, but the Devilite dodged... right into Dusty's furious fiery fangs.

Then the battle was ended quickly by a bullet through one Devilite and a laser sweep through the remainder of the force. A figure in a robe and a wide-brimmed hat with a feather in it leapt from the wall and holstered his gun. Milyn could tell what it was... a Justifier Hat, and a Divine Mantle. In one holster was a powerful-looking gun that Milyn had never seen before; in the other was an Argent Peacemaker. His face was covered by a white scarf, as opposed to the usual red one that came with a Justifier Hat, and the hat lacked the star badge. He seemed to be a Spiralian, but something... was different. "Looks like you're okay, Knight."

"Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?" As she looked around her, Milyn realized the place was no ordinary Cooling Chamber; the area was lined with cryogenic pods, some of which were broken open or even shot open. Things could have been inside them, kept frozen in perfect stasis...

"Tucker the Deadeye is what they always called me." The Spiralian looked at the wall. "And that machine... he should be here soon. Hasn't told me his name yet, but he's a nice enough... metal feller."

"Tucker the Deadeye! Interesting name." Milyn stowed her Supernovas. "It fits a Gunslinger like yourself."

"Yeah... most gunslinger priests have those kinda names."

A gunslinger priest? But... "I've never..."

"Seen a gunslinger priest before? No kiddin'. The Strangers only mention us sidelong in their provided descriptions of the Silversix. We used to walk the Clockworks, hunting down the forces of darkness wherever they lurked. But, well, we all died out long ago. Except for me... I happened upon this place, and ended up frozen for a while. It was that machine done got me out of that... cryogenic chamber, or however you pronounce it. I can normally pronounce words, it's kinda embarassin' to not know that one... Hey, here he comes!"

And Milyn saw the Construct ascending what appeared to be a slope behind the wall. Its head came into view first, then its body. It was a giant Retrode, with an Electrolisk perched atop its head, and what looked to be a broken chain soldered to its arm.

"You're... Petrode?"

(Ooooops. Better change it to "sentient".)

The elevator slowly went down to the Cooling Chamber. Over his comlink, Vinno heard Kora say, "I've uploaded a tracking arrow to your area maps. It'll point you in the direction of the Drone that's attached to Milyn's Giant Lichen Colony. Be careful, there's some unidentified knights in the area... and it's crawling with all sorts of creatures. It looks like an old, abandoned museum built by Gremlins... it demonstrates- or demonstrated- Cryotech Stasis Chambers."

"Cryotech Stasis Chambers?"

"They harmlessly freeze a single occupant, effectively pausing their life at that point. They can easily be disabled, and the emergency systems will unfreeze the occupant harmlessly even if the Chamber's glass is broken. The museum also had all sorts of other things- monsters, Clockwork traps, loads of things, but their big thing was the Stasis Chambers. They require an extremely cold mist to be pumped in via pipes to keep the freeze going- so be careful around the pipes! Don't even look at them too harshly!"

Vinno replied, "I will. But suppose the pipes leaked and we had to stop them up?"

"They've got repair kits and safety gloves in there somewhere. The place seems derelict, but the monsters are probably hunting for any food they can get, and we've received reports of Devilite activity in the area. The place is pretty cold from leaking mist- bring a Torchstone to warm your hands. And there's still the unidentified Knights... they could be HQ agents, trying to covertly kill you, or worse. I have to get off now- I think someone's trying to crack our firewall. But the Drone is registered to your maps. Good luck!" And the comlink shut off.

Vinno drew his Striker. "Sounds like it'll be no picnic. But let's go."

Immediately at the entrance, Algrim pointed out a leaky pipe. Icy mist was spilling out, practically blocking off a side path. "Okay, we'll need to repair that one. What's in the box?"

Vinno noticed "the box"- a large, locked chest. The only key in sight... was across the blocked path! Then Vinno remembered. "Beam Torch." He tore at the lock with the torch, to no effect. Then he shrugged and tore off the side of the chest, and its contents spilled out. "Impossible conundrum? What impossible conundrum?"

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"Varrax... observe. Our... ally... is down there watching them get through the junction. Past your puzzle, I might add."

The Spiralian in a dark red cloak and hood, Varrax, gazed at the monitor, the slightest irritation visible in his eyes. "Hmph! That was a small problem they solved. I expected them to yank the key across with a Graviton Vortex and burn off any ice with the Gremlin's Magma Driver, but that works."

"Master Varrax... do you think they will make it very far?"

"Of course not." Varrax let out a small cackle that dripped with malice. "We have the rest of our traps set. The rats will die, all of them."

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"Got it!"

Vinno pulled away from the mended pipe. The retractable Gremlin claw-arm had worked in tandem with the adhesive Silverweave compound, blocking the leak. The icy mist was no longer a threat. Vinno walked through with the greatest of ease, and Nonna, Vilkus and Algrim quickly followed him down the winding path. Nonna said, "Ha! I think those pipes aren't so nasty after all!"

As a junction came into view, a Wolver jumped out from behind a block... then whimpered, scared of the party and their sharp-looking weapons. Behind him, a Virulisk shuddered, near-frozen from the cold air. Vilkus sheathed his sword. "These beasts aren't hostile. They may be ex-exhibits, or stragglers from Milyn's troupe. Either way, they're ragged and nonhostile... let's give them something. Blaze Pepper should do."

Vinno reached into his pack and got two Blaze Peppers. The Wolver sniffed at it, and slowly approached. Vinno lowered his hand, and extended the peppers; the Wolver snatched them, and gave one to the Virulisk while tearing into the other. "Huh. It seems like, in these conditions, all the strangest alliances form." Vinno knew Wolvers and Virulisks ordinarily avoided each other.

Then something came behind him. Vinno wheeled, Striker out, to face the enemy- a vicious, growling Alpha Frostifur and a pair of Frozen Shamblers. They would have to be killed. Algrim instantly began tearing into the Frostifur with his Flourish; Vinno turned his Master Blaster on one Frozen Shambler. Nonna shot that one with one Magma Driver shot, then turned it and shot the other Shambler; the ricochet ignited the Frostifur as well. The Frostifur turned to bite Nonna, but Vilkus finished it off with his Arc Razor; meanwhile, Vinno ripped apart the first Frozen Shambler with the Striker, and Algrim unsheathed his Fireburst Brandish and finished the Shambler in one swift motion. "Ha! The walking dead are no match for Algrim Greavers-Bane!"

Nonna raised an eyebrow. "Greavers-Bane?"

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"This should suffice for a few days." Tucker lit the pile of Silversap remains with a Gremlin Scorcher's wand. "Nice and warm, Lumber fires. Ahh... that takes me back." Already, many of Milyn's beasts and slimes were sitting around the fire (or in it, in the Oilers' case). Petrode had a blanket wrapped around him- odd for a machine, but Milyn didn't question it, and didn't need a blanket.

"So, Milyn! Tell me how you got so many beasties with you."

"I found them on the surface of Cradle, and befriended them... the ones in the Clockworks are usually too corrupted to think of anything much besides killing. These, though... they slowly got tougher as I trained them, and developed the abilities they have in the lower tier."

"Hmmmm." Tucker looked at a few of the beasts- first a Virulisk, then Dusty. "That one seems to like you."

"I found him as a pup. A Frozen Shambler was chewing its ear off. I hit it with a weak sword, and four Frozen Shamblers showed up and disregarded the puppy to attack me... then the Alpha came by and didn't like what it saw. Tore those Shamblers to shreds... ever since, Dusty has been my closest friend."

"THAT IS USEFUL INFORMATION, MILYN." Petrode nodded slowly. "IT WILL BE HELPFUL TO GIVE TO INTEL AGENT KORA."

Milyn scowled. "No. Kora betrayed my creatures... betrayed me. I hope she falls on a bed of spikes!"

Tucker raised an eyebrow. "My, you sure are an angry little lass, aren't ya?"

"You don't understand. I trusted Kora to hide my creatures from Spiral HQ, because I knew they would destroy them. Kora claimed to have hidden them... then she turned around and let HQ pawns in. They killed half my beasts! And it's all Kora's doing."

"DID YOU SEE HER IN THE ACT?"

"No, but-"

"THEN DO NOT ASSUME." Petrode stood up, casting off his blanket. "A SIMPLE SCAN OF THE SCENE, OR A RECORDING OF THE DEPTH DATA, WILL REVEAL EVERYTHING. HQ IS THE MOST POWERFUL SECTOR OF THE SPIRAL ORDER, AND I DO NOT FIND IT UNFEASIBLE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A THIRD-PARTY AGENT TO SPY ON INTEL."

"Shut up!" Milyn drew her Supernovas, and immediately Tucker jumped to his feet.

"Milyn! Cool down, dagnabbit. Petrode is right. You just assumed this Kora lady was responsible without even checking."

For ten seconds, there was silence. Then Milyn lowered her Supernovas. "I... I'm sorry. I was ridiculous. Kora did nothing in the least bit suspicious. I let my anger get out of hand... I've been a complete idiot."

"IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE. YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED A GREAT LOSS." Petrode sat down. "DO NOT BE HARSH ON YOURSELF. THIS WILL ALL BE EXPLAINED IN GOOD TIME."

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Vilkus watched his area map. The Wolver and Virulisk were following close behind; that hot Blaze Pepper seemed to revitalize the colorful lizard. Soon, they reached a junction...

"HELP! HEEEEELP!"

She was a little Spiralian- Vinno could tell it was a she. "Is that the unidentified knight?" The Spiralian was stuck in a cage, surrounded by four Layoafers, who seemed to be arguing about...

"No... those Layoafers are going to try one of To'Pakar's experiments on him!" A fire ignited in Nonna's eyes. The Adoption Agency can never allow this! Nonna ran forward, Fearless Rigadoon out, roaring like a warrior. Algrim hesitated for a few seconds, then shouted and followed her with a Swift Flourish, and Vilkus was right behind him. The Layoafers jumped away at the sight of the squad, and Vinno took his chance. He unloaded a charged Master Blaster shot on one, and the shot hurled it off the edge of the Clockworks.

Nonna, meanwhile, wheeled about and faced two of the Layoafers. They picked up snowballs and hurled them straight at Nonna; however, she leapt over them and then landed, sword down, on one of the Layoafers.

"Algrim, I've got the cage. Cover me!" Vilkus looked once at the lock... then shrugged and starting slamming the door with his shield. He warned the little Spiralian, "Stand back!" after his second slam.

Algrim and the Layoafer slowly approached each other... then Algrim struck with his Swift Flourish! Of course, the Layoafer saw it coming, jumped to the side, and hurled a-

Nonna's Rigadoon skewered the Layoafer mid-throw. The sword looked like a shishkabob, and Nonna, infuriated, emptied the blade off the side of the level, by Vinno. One of the Layoafers, trying to flap back onto the platform, was hit by the falling bodies and disoriented. Vinno took his chance and finished him off with another charged Master Blaster bullet.

CLUNK! The door hit the cage's floor. Inside, the little girl was still shuddering. Nonna extended her hand. "There, there. You're safe now."

Vinno's ears pricked up as the little Spiralian whispered, "Sorry." He heard footsteps behind him, and wheeled around, his new Rock Jelly Shield up. That was good- a Dark Thorn Blade was flying toward him, and the shield absorbed the blow.

The assassin shouted, "Blast it, you brat! You may as well have warned them!" Vinno snarled at the assassin, a Spiralian in a full suit of red Wolver armor- not Dusker, but something more... vicious.

No matter! Vinno rushed the assassin, Striker at the ready. Five others leapt down, surrounding him, and the first one laughed. "You, Vinno, are a tenacious foe. Too tenacious to live."

Vinno stood completely still, sizing up his foes. They were wearing a variety of armors. Two in dark red hooded cloaks, two in sickly purple Demo Suits, and one more in the blood-red Wolver armor. "I'd hardly say this is a fair fight, eh? Six against one, I remember-"

At that moment, Vinno rolled between the cloak-wearing knights, swinging his Striker as he jumped back up. The first assassin laughed. "So, you fight dirty, Vinn- URK!" Nonna had stuck her Fearless Rigadoon in the assassin's leg, and the assassin crumpled to the ground.

"You're so tough, aren't you? Using a poor little girl like that as bait. Disgusting!"

Vilkus and Algrim double-teamed one of the Demo-Suit assassins. The assassin turned, but had no time to react with either his Spike Shower or his Graviton Vortex, and Vilkus dealt a death-blow with his Arc Razor. Then Vilkus felt strange... and Algrim shouted, "Biohazard charge! Watch out!"

Vilkus stepped back, avoiding another two charges. One was fired by one of the cloaked assassins, but... where was the other? Only one Biohazard was in the assassins' hands... then he turned and saw the little girl. With a Biohazard in her hand.

"Algrim! Look!" Vilkus quickly gestured, blocking the second Wolver assassin while Algrim looked.

"Okay, that's bad, but we can't just attack her!"

"Cloud Nine! Vinno, use Cloud Nine on her- and keep her away from the center!"

Vinno looked, and snarled at the assassins before leaping over them. He pulled out Cloud Nine, then began preparing it. Vinno stopped for a second to avoid a Nightblade swing, and felt the hair on him stand on end as he was pulled slowly into a Graviton Bomb. Vinno rolled again, towards the girl, and lifted Cloud Nine. "Ha! No stoppin' me!"

The girl shrieked and ran away, toward the carnage. Not good. Vinno laid the Cloud Nine, then jumped in front of the little Spiralian, Striker drawn. She whirled and ran... straight into the mist. In a split-second, she was sleeping on the ground.

"Six o'clock, Vinno!" Vinno wheeled around at Nonna's warning and hit the Wolver assassin in the face. Then he saw one of the cloaked knights- the other being killed by Nonna's Rigadoon- aim his Biohazard at Vilkus, who was surrounded by charges and fighting back to back with Algrim next to the girl.

"No!" Vinno leapt in front of him, taking the poisonous bullet to the chest. He landed on the ground, immediately feeling the effects. The cloaked knight lifted an Acheron, laughed, and swung down-

-right into Vilkus's shield. The Biohazard charges were beginning to fade, and before the cloaked assassin could react, Vilkus stuck his Arc Razor right into his chest. "I owed him one. Thanks for helping me pay it back."

"Hey, don't forget me! I woulda been toast too! Save one for me next time." And with that, Algrim turned toward the last fighting-capable assassin, a Demo-Suiter. He turned and ran, but not fast enough; Algrim unloaded a Fireburst Brandish charge and set him ablaze. He fell over, and Nonna quickly finished him.

The battlefield was eerily silent. Vilkus realized they had been fighting knights- knights with intent to kill them. Even a child had been used by them as a weapon. She was waking up now, to find her Biohazard safely in Nonna's hands and her fellow assassins dead. Except for one. The first one, who Nonna hit in the leg.

"Tell me, assassin." Vinno lifted his Striker. "How did HQ convince you to chase us?"

"You'll find out anyway, by divine revelation... in the next life!" And the assassin pressed a button on his armor. And then Vinno noticed the strange packs on the backs of the assassins. All seven of them began blinking, and the gates nearby closed!

"Drop the packs off!" Nonna yanked a pack off the little Spiralian, and rushed her to the farthest-away area she could find- right next to the gate. She dropped the blinking pack of the edge, but they were blinking faster. Vinno, Vilkus and Algrim had also thrown some packs off the edge, and only three remained, right in the center. They all were near the same gate. They were blinking at fever pitch... Vinno noticed one was closer than he thought, and unloaded his Master Blaster's clip to knock the pack's dead carrier backward-

KABOOM! Enormous explosions filled the center of the room, heating Vinno's face just a little. Then the smoke cleared... and they still stood. Vinno looked around. Most of the assassins were completely destroyed by the explosion, barring the little Spiralian, who was shuddering in Nonna's arms. Only one besides her, the cloaked knight that had the Biohazard, remained in one solid (albeit dead) piece. In fact, a crater remained in the floor of the battlefield.

Silence reigned for ten seconds.

"Shoot!" Algrim stomped the ground. "Now that's TWO I owe you." Then Algrim's face brightened (well, seemed to) as he laughed, and shouted, "We're alive! HA HA! VICTORY! Man, Vilk, if Milyn could see you now!"

Nonna looked at the little Spiralian. She wasn't saying a word, but she was shaking. Nonna patted her on the head. "Are you okay?"

She wouldn't talk. Nonna slowly rocked her in her arms. "It's all right. They can't make you do anything anymore."

She looked up at Nonna, then started bawling. "They said you were going to eat me alive unless I shot at you!"

"We wouldn't do that. Never. There, there..."

Vinno smiled. Nonna really was very gentle. Well, when she wasn't holding a firearm. Vinno holstered his Master Blaster, then looked at the gate. It was still up, but Vilkus nearly had torn it down with a Beam Torch- it was tedious work, but it was their only way out.

"Vinno! Come in, Vinno!"

It wasn't Kora. "Who are you?"

"Gillon, Chief of Intel. Kora gave me the reports, and I just checked out the combat data. No true Spiral Knight would fight the way those assassins just did. Is the little one okay?"

"She's fine- been scared half to death for sure, but scanners show her vitals are perfect. Nonna's calming her down. In the meantime, we've still not found Milyn yet..."

Gillon laughed. "Well, that tracking drone is still active. Any bodies left behind?"

"They had explosive packs that were triggered by one as a last resort. We managed to throw enough down to where we were able to survive, but all but one of the bodies was obliterated. He's wearing odd gear..."

"Right. We'll send some Recon Knights later to clean up the mess. In the meantime, find Milyn, and then get back to the Arsenal Box. We'll have another mission for you."

Vilkus asked over the comlink, "Wait. Why isn't Kora talking?"

"Kora is busy keeping herself from being fired by HQ. Unbelievable- she was so influential in tracking Alpha Squad's trail and they still won't cut her a break. Ridiculous! Just make sure you reach Milyn, and quickly- all data confirms that place is cold!"

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Varrax was no longer in good spirits. They had picked apart the entire team, and even converted one of them- the little one- to their side. Away from their order!

"My lord Varrax-"

"SILENCE!" Varrax pointed an Umbra Driver at his face, and after a few seconds of silence, lowered it. "That one has broken the Law of the Hidden Blade. We will have her killed in due time, with the rest of the rats. But first we must retreat. Yes... they were on their guard, even with the little girl there. But what about when they think they are safe? What happens when their home crumbles on top of them?" Varrax cackled, madness emanating from his mouth.

"So... we will destroy Emberlight..."

"In due time. First... I'll send an anonymous message to a certain third party."

Then he looked through the monitor- the little one's helm had a spy bug in it. "Odd. They opened the gate already." Then Varrax, very suddenly, glared. "No. It can't be. That infernal gunner!"

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"Well, I'll be! If that isn't your friend Vilkus, I don't know who is!"

The gunslinger was talking to someone around the corner. Vinno noticed the accent in his voice- strange, one he'd never heard in Haven. Then he heard the familiar sound of clanking iron feet.

"SALUTATIONS. NONNA, ARE YOU WELL?"

Petrode came clanking around the corner, Milyn on her Giant Lichen Colony right behind him. Nonna cheered. "Petrode! You're okay!"

"Sure he is." The strange-looking gunslinger pointed to Petrode. "I found him in a Devilite hold. They had him held down with chains, and were trying to hook up a draining device... he kept zapping 'em, though. Naturally, I blew the brains outta the Devilites near him and pulled out his chains. Then we hightailed it outta there!"

Nonna shook the gunslinger's hand. "Nonna of Emberlight. My entire town is in your debt."

"Tucker the Dead-Eye, gunslinger priest. Don't feel obliged to repay it."

Vilkus, meanwhile, was slowly and carefully approaching Milyn, shield arm tensed and ready. "Milyn... I'm so-"

"Don't you dare apologize, Vilkus." Vilkus's heart sank... then leapt when she added, "It was not your fault. I don't know if it was Kora's or not, and I know HQ takes most of the blame, but it was certainly not your fault."

"Thank you, Milyn."

Tucker chuckled. "Ha ha! Good to see you ain't gonna go berserk on him with your danged Supernovas. Let me guess. You're Vinno."

"Yes."

"And you... heh heh! You're Algrim, the Greaver-slayin' prank-pullin' spacecraft rustlin' treasure hunter. Pleased to meetcha!"

Algrim looked taken aback. "I did not RUSTLE the Skylark! I just... took it for a detour."

Vilkus shook his head. "The word is joyride, Algrim."

"Pah!"

Tucker turned. "And who's this little girl? Awful young to be walkin' around in the Clockworks, isn't she?"

Vinno explained, "She was a lure in an attempt on our lives. A group of assassins attacked us, and even ordered her to fire on us with a Biohazard. But we managed to get her out of danger without harming her."

Anger flared in both Tucker's eyes and Milyn's. Vinno was glad to see that- the assassins would think twice about attacking either of them. The girl, meanwhile, was walking up to Dusty, shyly reaching out and patting the Ash Tail's head.

"WE CAN CATCH UP AROUND THE FIRE. THERE IS AN ARSENAL BOX THERE AS WELL." Petrode pointed toward their campsite, where Vinno saw a roaring fire and heard the telltale sound of Wolvers. He was more interested in the fire. It was starting to get awfully cold.

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"So, Intel Chief Gillon said he had a new mission once you found me. I'd like to hear it." Milyn eagerly waited next to Vilkus's comlink. Around them were her remaining creatures; Petrode was walking the little Spiralian around the site.

"Hold on. I'm patching the connection..." Vilkus tapped a few buttons... then slammed one of them with his fist. Gillon's face promptly appeared on the comlink.

"So! I see you found Milyn. And Petrode. And a gunslinger priest! What, was he frozen in a Cryotech Chamber?"

"YES. TUCKER HIMSELF HAS CONFIRMED THIS." Tucker was looking at the comlink, curious as to how it worked.

"Well, the Recon Knights went faster than I thought. They found the dead assassin. And guess what? Every one of his Shadow-based weapons had the overrides completely wiped- even the Biohazard. Seems odd, since the Biohazard's Shadow component comes from the poison... why would he want to make himself sick? Nonna, check that Biohazard you confiscated. He also had a Barbarous Thorn Blade, and the overrides were also wiped. And let's not forget that red cloak- we've confirmed that it is Shadow-based and has no overrides, and we've dubbed it the 'Murderous Hood' and 'Murderous Garb'."

"Overrides?" Tucker raised an eyebrow, or seemed to, anyway. "You mean you've found a way to use Shadow weapons without gettin' corrupted? Just like normal weapons?"

"Yes, we have. They keep the harmful component out of the weapon without affecting the damage output. In fact, it's more effort to make a weapon with the overrides off than it is to keep them on... same goes for the higher-up Snarbolax-related gear."

"Dang, you're advanced. Still don't trust 'em, but hey, I'll be fine."

Gillon nodded. "Right... wait. That helmet... there's a connection going through to that little girl's helmet. Just spotted it! Get the comlink closer."

"A connection?!" Vinno growled. "You mean someone's..."

"Shush. Just move it in closer. And be quiet about it."

Vilkus moved the comlink closer, and the girl gazed at it curiously. "What's that?"

"It's a comlink. We're talking to our friend with it." Vilkus saw Gillon give him a thumbs-up.

"Can I have one?"

Nonna was about to say it more gently, but Algrim just said, "No. You have to be an adult."

"Got it!" Gillon pumped his fist in the air. "Nobody's watching us now. Whoever it was, they are now receiving a file that will insult them in various humiliating ways. Also, I've cut off the connection so they can't spy on us. Anyway, here's your mission..."

The comlink changed to show a picture of To'Pakar. "You all know this guy. And now you get the chance to meet him. On the field of battle, that is! We've got him cornered- while you were moving around down there, we had Beta Squad- the detail that sacked the Grand Arsenal and braved the Firestorm Citadel first- head in and herd To'Pakar into the stratum above you guys. He can't flee in any direction- we've got elite squads waiting with Blitz Needles at critical ambush points. He certainly won't get past Beta Squad- Ink, Tsu, and the Mad Doc would destroy him. And the Mad Doc would probably make a bomb out of his coffee mug. However, if anyone moves, he could easily slip out. Your job is to get in from below and storm his fortress."

Algrim suddenly was a lot more afraid. "Uh... are you sure? Because, you know, you have a lot of squads-"

"Algrim, don't chicken out on us."

"It's not like I'm scared! It's just, I have this thing about certain death. I don't like rushing into it."

Vilkus laughed. "I'm wounded, Grim! What, you think I can't take a few Devilites down?"

"Oh, fine!"

Gillon looked toward Vinno. "Vinno, you and Nonna don't-"

"Stow it. To'Pakar is a threat to Emberlight and to every innocent creature in the Clockworks. I would dearly like to put a bullet in his face."

"Then so be it. Petrode?"

Petrode looked at the little girl. "I WOULD PREFER TO KNOW THE LITTLE SPIRALIAN IS KEPT UNDER A STRONG GUARD-"

"Good thinking. Petrode, you escort her to the Recon Knights. Then we'll send you to catch up with the rest. Milyn?"

"You have my sword. And Dusty's fangs."

"And my gun." Tucker even had the worn pistol drawn and ready.

"Tucker, if you don't want to-"

"No, don't worry. This is my duty as a gunslinger priest. I have taken an oath to fight the darkness in the Clockworks, wherever it surfaces. I've been sleeping on the job in a cryo-chamber, and I need to make up for lost time."

Gillon looked at each of them in turn from through the comlink. "The Spiral Order can count itself blessed, that so many fearless warriors will stand and defend it. Good luck... and try to come back alive."

PART 2: Swords in the dark

"You really saved my bacon there." Kora pointed to the headline: Team of Emberlighters and Knights led by Kora kills scheming Pit Boss! "Bosco has the ear of the Stranger Post- he's always been a friend of theirs. And he made sure to mention that HQ interfered with the whole thing. Look what the guy wrote- 'Spiral HQ operatives sent assassins to kill a group of beasts and lichens being used for the task, and is currently trying to charge Kora with obstructing the Order's justice. However, Beta Squad member Inko publicly stated, 'I'll believe HQ's opinion of this when the Mad Doc stops talking to himself. Which is never.' The killed beasts and lichens were confirmed by Spiral Order Lieutenant Feron and Recon Ranger Desna as being fully on the side of Haven in all conflicts.' If they arrest me now, they'll cause an uproar among the people. A lot of these people are armed to the teeth. And you destroyed a Swarm Crystal- a source of corruption in the Clockworks! To top it all off, you found Tucker, who is even now instructing Daxen in the ways of the Gunslinger Priests."

Nonna nodded. "I was happy to oblige... how's that little girl?"

"Oh, she'll be perfectly fine. Isabel has been given a home, introduced to a loving family, is being given a remedial education course to make up for lost time, and is being protected by Recon Rangers around the clock, who have already thwarted eight assassination attempts."

Vinno growled. "Eight?! On a little girl?!"

"Eight. They've tried everything from arson to sleight-of-hand, and they keep wearing those exploding packs, but the Recon Rangers are deadly accurate, and equipped with a plethora of weapons and armor that matches these assassins. Plus, they can defuse those explosive packs. Very nice."

Vilkus drew his Arc Razor. "Then I shall join the Rangers in this fight."

"Not with three-star gear, you're not. We'll discuss the prototype 'Winfinity' and an Aegis later, Vilkus."

"I shall also help." Milyn tapped one of her Supernovas, and patted Dusty on the head. "With your permission, of course!"

"You have it. And Algrim?"

"I... uh... oh, all right. Bah, I better get some upgrades, too. And Vinno! Remember, I owe you my life twice over."

Vinno smiled. "Hopefully you get the chance to repay it. But I don't collect on that debt. Nonna... where now?"

"Well..." Nonna shrugged. "Kora, do you have anything else for us to do?"

"When we find out more about these assassins, or otherwise need a huge robot to fry stuff with a laser, we'll call you up. Until then, you are officially dismissed. Head down to Emberlight to see about the equipment requisition I've called in for you."

"Thank you, Kora." Nonna turned to address Vinno. "Guess we're back to business as usual. Off to Emberlight!"

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"Talvi, we can't thank you enough." Trilla, the caretaker of the Adoption Agency's many benefactors, could handle most hostiles with her Wild Hunting Blade. But what she had more trouble with was baby-sitting over a hundred little monsters at once! Talvi, however, was as much of a prodigy as she had heard, and his expertise in robot systems was helping with that; his Monitor Bots were keeping a close eye on each of the young creatures, recording all required data (such as lunch times and rule infractions) and organizing it, allowing Trilla to easily act accordingly.

"It's what I do best. I'd hope to get a job down here some time... one that would make people less afraid of the Darkfang and Ironclaw clans."

"Well, as soon as Nonna gets back, we'll run it by her. She gets so much money from the Clockworks, and she's generous with it! Why, I got this Wild Hunting Blade-"

"ALERT. INTRUDER DETECTED IN HALL 16, DISTANCE 34 FROM NURSERY ENTRANCE."

Talvi shrugged. "Probably another Mewkat thinking it's funny. Hold on..."

"DISTANCE 24. WARNING! WEAPONS DETECTED: SHADOW, PIERCING."

Trilla gasped. "What?! Oh, I'll handle this!"

"Trilla! Wait!" Talvi was looking at the monitor. Details showed the negative energy output was similar to that of a Dark Retribution and Dark Briar Barrage- both powerful bombs capable of heavy damage to an area. Trilla would be in danger of getting injured in the crossfire! But Trilla was already rushing in, Wild Hunting Blade out and ready.

"BARRIER, activate icewal16.bat. And get me a visual on the intruder."

Talvi's experience in the Darkfang military was paying off. The intruder was at distance 9 when the monitor said, "SLUSH PUPPY DEFENSIVE WALL AROUND HALLWAY 16 NURSERY SUCCESSFULLY ACTIVATED."

The visual showed a knight... wait, what? The Knights were good! But this one... he was wearing a sickly purple Demo Suit with green ooze dripping out of it. And he was carrying both a Dark Retribution and a Dark Briar Barrage. Trilla was heading straight for him, brandishing her Wild Hunting Blade with more fury than confidence...

"Talvi! What's going on?"

It was Vinno. Nonna, behind him, had her Fearless Rigadoon out, and Vinno was reaching for his Striker. Talvi said, "A knight just came in. He's got bombs. He's also got this purple demo suit with poison ooze leaking out-"

"That's all we needed to know. We'll take it from here." Vinno started to run when Nonna shouted at him to stop.

"What hallway?"

"Hallway 16. Hurry! He's hitting the Slush Puppies hard and Trilla's just been hit once!"

Nonna needed no further prompting. She bolted down the hall, Vinno right on her heels. Soon they came into view, and saw the assassin. The Slush Puppies were aiming at a temporary barrier put up behind the assassin, who had Trilla pinned down under his foot. Vinno noticed an exploding pack on his back. The Wild Hunting Blade was lying to the side, as if it had been kicked. More worrisome, the assassin had a Dark Briar Barrage in his hands!

"You've gotten in the way, rat. Now prepare to face the inevitabl-"

He didn't finish the sentence. Vinno crashed into him, bowled him over, and immediately went to work attacking the cords that attached the exploding pack he'd seen on his back. The assassin countered by shoving a Dark Briar Barrage in Vinno's face. Vinno jumped back, face full of thorns, and was swiftly kicked by the demoman.

Nonna intervened, feinting a high blow with the Rigadoon before quickly pulling back and tripping him. Trilla jumped to her feet, grabbed the Wild Hunting Blade, and leapt on top of the assassin, holding the blade to his neck. "HA! Now what are you going to do?"

The assassin let out an awful chuckle, and Vinno reacted quickly, restraining the assassin's right hand while Nonna grabbed the left. Nonna shouted, "Trilla! Take this monster's left hand and hold it down. I've got to get rid of some unwanted baggage."

Without any comment, Trilla promptly put her foot on the knight's hand. Nonna cut the explosive pack off, then carried it out of the nursery, past Talvi, into Emberlight proper, where she hurled it off the side of the Clockworks. By the time she heard it start beeping, it was already well on its way to Depth 19. That was full of killer Greavers. No great loss, much to her relief.

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"Bad times indeed, when a nursery has to be guarded by armored guards." The Emberlighter guards were as cheery as they could be in full suits of Emberlight Powered Plate Armor, but their large weapons were still scary enough to make babies cry. "A bomber targeting the Adoption Agency, Greavers flying up and attacking workers... what next? Will a Royal Jelly decide to move in?"

"Greavers?"

"YES, ACTUALLY." Petrode was there with them; he had waited at Emberlight during Nonna's brief trip to Haven, and had ended up in combat with the Greavers. "I WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH THEM WHEN THE ATTACK HAPPENED. I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE."

"No, don't! You probably saved lives, Petrode." Trilla sighed. "Greavers have been coming up randomly, likely from Depth 19. They fly into the city and run rampant, attacking workers, soldiers, passing knights... it's dangerous near the elevator. Gracken is looking into taming a Polyp just because of them! Well, and shoplifters."

Nonna shook her head. "These assassins are just too cruel. They clearly don't show any mercy... We need to find out who they are. Vinno, I take it you sent the captured assassin to Haven?"

"Yes. Vilkus called back and mentioned the Mad Doc volunteered to question him, while equipping a Voltaic Tempest and a Nitronome. He also said Feron ended up intervening and getting the questioning job for himself. I can't tell you which would be worse."

"Good. We need answers... we need to find them and stop them! But in the meantime, Emberlight itself is going through hard times." Nonna stood up after this. "Trilla, you will stay here. Defend the Agency and the Nursery as well as you can."

"I will!" Trilla made an awkward salute.

"Okay. Vinno, Petrode, we're going to do something about those Greavers. Now, let's head on over to the elevator..."

(Actually, it's Emberlight... was I not specific?

EDIT: Emberlight is the city being attacked by the Greavers, not Haven. This chapter shows who's responsible.)

Petrode scanned the area around the Elevator that led to Depth 19. "MULTIPLE FLAWED VENTS HAVE BEEN DETECTED. THERE IS THE SOURCE!"

"The source of the Greavers, yes... but shouldn't the workers have fixed them by now?"

Over at his shop, Gracken scoffed. "Ha! Fix them! Yeah, we fixed them five days in a row. Every time we stop looking for an hour, BOOM! There's Greavers flyin' around and the vents are all broken open again. Twelve workers and a few Knights have been hospitalized already. We're gonna need more than vents."

Vinno raised an eyebrow. "Have you tried any heavier vents? Anything that's got fortitude against Shadow damage and the elements?"

"Everything's been tried! We even coated the vents with pointed Luminite spikes the last time. They were all gone time."

Nonna said, "This smells of foul play. Luminite You heard about the assassins?"

"Yeah. You think... huh, it makes sense. We might want to set up an ambush there."

"Do we have any Recon Cloaks or Stalker Cloaks to spare?"

"That won't last very long! No, whatcha need is a good disguise... or a good snipin' perch."

"How about both?" Vinno reached for his Striker. "I'll use those upgrade tickets Kora gave us to get this thing to be a Vile Striker and keep my Cloud Nine on hand, then use whatever disguise we can come up with. Nonna, you're an efficient gunslinger... so you hide on some sort of perch. Petrode, we'll have you... uh..."

Petrode said, "I HAVE NO WAY OF BEING HIDDEN WELL. HOWEVER..." Petrode did a quick scan of the broken vents. "ONE DUCT HAS A VERY LARGE OPENING. I WILL CROUCH THERE AND WAIT. MY ELECTROLISK WILL COVER MY BACK."

Gracken grinned. "Ha ha ha! Just like the Skelly wars! A good ambush always does the trick. I'll behave the same as usual... though I AM getting this really good deal from a tamer in Haven on a trained Polar Polyp. Ha ha ha! I'd like to see them take my Vials now!"

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Locke crept into the small classroom. "Stocke? Barrell? I have something to talk about."

Stocke rolled his eyes. "Huh. Last I remember, we had code words-"

"SHUSH! Honestly, you Recon Rangers... now, class, can anyone tell me the answer to five times twenty?"

"Listen. The code word is 'Virulisk.' And the scenario is 'Tortomega'."

Barrell reached for his Cloud Nine, visibly afraid. "Excuse us, we've gotta go. Tucker, keep watch."

"Ain't nothin' gonna make it past my eyes- not even YOU, kid! Quit that note-passin' tomfoolery!" Tucker gave the three Recon Rangers a salute as they walked outside, to the sound of the teacher's reprimanding.

"All right..." Locke closed the door. "There's two of them, adjacent building... the business complex. I saw one had a Blitz Needle and Shadowsun, and another had a Mortafire Cannon and the Murderous Cloak and Garb."

Stocke drew his Hail Driver. "Dang! We've gotta move fast... they're going for a snipe from the business complex to Isabel's classroom, right?"

"Right. But I tagged 'em with a Drone Launcher. Now, Barrell, the room with an adjacent window is a break room- nothing will be adversely affected by Nitronome that can't be paid for. So once the room is cleared, you blow their brains out."

Barrell saluted, the hand of his Mercurial Demo Suit clinking against the matching helm. "Aye aye!"

"Stocke, once Barrell lays a Nitro, you pop the gunner with a Hail Driver shot."

Stocke nodded slowly, the Mercurial Mail and Mercurial Helm emitting a few sparks as they rubbed against each other.

"While that's going on..." Locke pointed to his Landslide Driver, an experimental gun-stifling weapon. "I'll take the Rocket. Now go! Go! Go!" And they sped down the halls of the school, making for the door...

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Vinno had been sitting under the crate for an hour now. It was, to put it bluntly, boring. Vinno had gloves on to keep the tapping of his fingers against the crate from making much noise. The Dread Venom Striker was well-sheathed, and Vinno's Reinforced Ember Helm had its seals on tight. He'd have to keep them much more well-maintained now that the weapon was upgraded.

A small device at his side began to blink red. That was Nonna, giving him an alert. Vinno cracked open the box, and looked outside. There was someone tinkering with the vents! It was a Spiralian in Fallen Armor. He was using some kind of solution that was in a vial... it made smoke as it came up. Two others, both in Fallen Armor, were covering his back, and all three of them had explosive packs. Vinno recognized them; the three assassins who, with Gorgos, had attacked Milyn's monsters!

"This is Nonna. Elevator is turned off. Sic 'em."

Vinno threw the lid off the crate and rushed the knights, Dread Venom Striker out. An Ultra Freeze Vial preceded him; Gracken was apparently helping! The Vial froze one of the Fallen knights, and the others turned to see Vinno shouting and leaping in the air, Dread Venom Striker swinging in a large arc downward at one's face.

The telltale BANG of a Callahan shot preceded a large charged bullet flying directly at the frozen assassin, and the impact knocked him flat on his back. The one with the acid was hit by Vinno's leaping attack, and drew his Acheron in time to deflect another two blows. The third drew a Barbarous Thorn Blade, and with it, knocked away a Shock Vial thrown by Gracken.

CLANG. The facade vent over the large duct fell to the ground, and two of the Fallen assassins turned to find themselves gazing directly into Petrode's glowing eyes. Then the laser began ripping into one. A glob of electrical spit covered another assassin, and the third found himself slowly being pushed back toward the elevator by Vinno.

"What wasteful failures I've been assigned!" The last Fallen knight threw his acid at Vinno; however, Vinno ducked, and the acid splashed against a wall. Then he hurled his explosive pack off the area, and before Vinno could restrain him, he himself jumped off, activating a parachute. Vinno heard the explosive packs on the other Fallen Knights beeping behind him.

"Nonna! He activated the packs remotely!"

"Vinno, watch out! They'll explode in seconds!"

Vinno stepped back, unsure where to run, when Petrode's arm grabbed him. "YOUR ESCAPE IS COVERED." Petrode slid down the duct, Electrolisk on his head and Vinno clinging to his arm. Two rumbling BOOMS emanated down the duct, and Petrode extended his legs so he held to the duct. "NOW WE WILL CLIMB BACK UP." The Electrolisk gave an irritated hiss.

"Vinno! Do you copy?!"

"The leader got away. Petrode took me down the duct. He's taking us up." Petrode's legs were clanking up the shaft, the Electrolisk making various noises of disapproval at the area.

"I'm just glad you survived! There's a big hole in the floor where the bombs exploded. I can't believe he'd just up and kill off his friends..."

"They're assassins. It seems assassins have no friends."

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Locke, Stocke, and Barrell cloaked into the break room, just ahead of the two assassins. The one with the Mortafire gear was wearing Murderous Garb and scanners showed they had the exploding packs under their equipment; that's how Locke was able to tell in the first place that they were assassins. The gear had been cleverly disguised as a cyborganic shoulder, not uncommon after the Skylark crash, but Locke had spotted the hatch where the Rocket Puppy was fitted. Barrell positioned himselve behind a water machine and began charging his Nitronome, while Stocke quietly moved a worker out of the room, telling him to hush up.

The two assassins entered, and Locke and Stocke were cloaked. This moment was crucial. Once the assassin with the Mortafire gear showed a rocket, they could legally attack him with full force; weapons were strictly forbidden in town, except by authorized military personnel, and especially within any respectable distance of a school. But if they waited too long... Locke didn't want to think about it. The gunner was surveying the area, but Barrell was well-enough hidden to avoid his notice. The Blitz Needle at his side was loaded, and easily was a threat.

The other assassin reached for a rocket. Then Barrell roared and laid the Nitronome down. The friendly-fire mechanisms wouldn't work in the city, so Barrell backed off from the explosive. The gunner turned around and unloaded his Blitz Needle, only to be struck by a Hail Driver shot. The shot didn't freeze him, but only one needle grazed Barrell. Locke fired the Landslide Driver, and a brown bolt of alchemical mud soared through the air into the Mortafire cannon. The mud immediately melded with the cannon and formed hard as rock; a good thing, because the assassin had ignored the Recon Rangers and kept loading the cannon.

The Mortafire assassin let out a wicked laugh, and fired the cannon. But the Landslide Driver was effective; the blockage it created triggered the Mortafire rocket while it was still chambered, leading to a devastating backfire that was enough to incapacitate the assassin while keeping the rocket from harming anyone (else). The Nitronome blast caught the gunner, knocking him into a wall. Locke put a Leviathan Blade up to his throat, while Stocke grabbed his arms and held them against the wall.

"You..."

"Shut up. Barrell, this joker has the pack under his hat."

Barrell nodded and reached inside, grabbing the pack. In ten seconds, he had it defused. "It's a harmless little Silkwing now, Locke!"

"Right. Now the other one's got it in..." Locke looked over his shoulder. The other assassin's shoulder was badly burned, and nothing remained of the Mortafire gear. Explosives scanners turned up completely negative. "I should say, HAD it in the Mortafire gear. Come on, Barrell, let's get these jokers cleaned up."

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Petrode crawled out of the duct, and Vinno saw the hole in the floor. Only a wing from a Fallen Crown remained. Workers were already assembled around it, some of them bearing iron tools.

"Wow." Nonna was shaking her head. "I expected better of even him... his two frie- uh, allies- could have lived through that."

"Hmph! Not a kind move, but at least we know what was behind the Greavers coming up. Look at what the acid did to the vents! And there's Dark Matter Dust sprinkled inside some of them... probably put that in every time to attract Greavers."

The Guard Chief came along at that point, in a full suit of Powered Plate Armor. "What's all this? A hole in the floor?"

"A group of Spiralian assassins was responsible. They're the ones Nonna helped the Knights fight. They used acid and Dark Matter Dust to make a clear path for the Greavers to come up."

"Is that so!" The Guard Chief growled. "Well, that won't happen again. We'll have guards here, too, and some Sparkies to boot. I was only going to assign the latter until you told me this... good to know."

Nonna watched the armored Gremlin walk away, barking orders over a walkie-talkie. "Well! Now that's over..."

Trilla came running out, her Wild Hunting Blade at her side. She stopped near Nonna and Vinno, panted a little, then said, "Caught one... ha! I caught one... with an Ash of Agni. The guards got his explosive pack... they threw it off before it could do anything."

"Are you serious? In the Agency headquarters?"

"No. I was on my way home... they were going for a fuel station."

Vinno growled. "Argh! It's like we're under siege! Where next-"

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" A figure was running off with many Vitapods in his arms. Gracken shouted, "I SAID GET BACK! GAAAH! There goes my stock. That punk in the red cloak just took half the profits for the week!"

Nonna said, "A red cloak? That sounds like an... assassin."

Vinno shook his head. "Something tells me Emberlight will need more guards. In more places. And more weapons, too. In fact... I could say they need more of everything."

"Evening, Kora."

"Evening, Bosco..." Kora raised an eyebrow. "Bosco, can you do me a favor?"

"I'd be happy to if you'd tell me what it is first."

"You know the little girl? Isabel?"

"The one that's being chased by bloodthirsty assassins?"

"Yes... see, no tutor will agree to teach her anymore, and after today, no school will let her in... as far as an education goes, we're stuck. Intel is stretched too thin to provide home-schooling and I can trust Spiral HQ with less safety than I can have during a peaceful stroll in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory."

"Well, I'll be happy to give her some home schooling. I'll hire someone to run the shop during class hours. And we have impressive security." Bosco patted the Mecha Knight Champion he'd taken months to perfect. The Champion started as a broken Mecha Knight and was made into something far more mighty with the advanced alchemy that Bosco had researched. It was rumored to be as powerful as a full squad of knights. "Combined with the guards she already has assigned, it should be enough."

"Thank you, Bosco." Kora sat down, resting her head against her hand, in a chair. "Ugh. What a day..."

"HQ give you more trouble, Kora?"

"Yes, they have. First they started requesting we pull the Recon Ranger escort from Isabel, and this is still going on. They're even threatening to cut Desna's funding if they don't comply. We're down to Locke, Stocke, and Barrell. Tucker has been a lot of help, but even he can't keep things okay."

"Oh, dear. I'm glad I just added shoulder cannons to the Champion here, if that's all I get."

"One of the Intel Agents... Nill was his name. He was investigating HQ, and he showed up dead. From heavy Shadow damage, which is evidence enough..."

"Oh, my." Bosco shook his head. "It's dangerous to speak your mind anymore, isn't it...

"Then they refused to investigate a missing supply train to Emberlight! I've sent a squad to check on them, but they haven't returned yet."

"That doesn't sound good."

"And after that... you won't believe this. They're still angry at Milyn, and they tried to accuse her of ten different serious charges. Intel was strained as it is, and I had to investigate- and refute- all those cases alone, because SOMEONE told all the experienced attorneys Milyn was bad news."

"Bah, that should be illegal."

"To top it all off, this whole time, they're trying to strip me of my job and ruin my career. Have you heard the radio ads?"

Bosco shook his head. "I was never one for radio. Much prefer to just find the music on the internet."

"Every station is spreading rumors that just aren't true! Gillon and Roxi tried to stop them, and now they're spreading rumors about them, too."

"Well... then I guess it's time I revealed my secret."

"Your secret?"

Bosco nodded. "It might help distract HQ or make the average Spiralian back you, depending on how we spin it." depending ran to his computer. "The fact remains that the Spiral Order has powerful enemies from other worlds. Some of them would be all too keen on getting revenge if they discovered we were stranded here, and wouldn't have any qualms about burning Haven to the ground to get that revenge. Ever since I finished the prototype Champion, I've been working on a powerful alchemical weapon that could counter an assault from space. Look at the screen here..."

The monitor showed a photograph of a large, dark red Gun Puppy with alchemical tanks stuck in its sides. Bosco was next to it to provide a comparison of size; the Gun Puppy was almost as big as a Roarmulus Twin. Its mouth, however, was a wide O like a Rocket Puppy, instead of the typical gun. Kora's eyes widened. "That... what do you call it?"

"Spatial-Target Uber Range Meteor, or STURM for short. It's hidden in a secure bunker outside Haven. When activated, it rises out, takes aim, and shoots a large exploding meteor into space that strikes an enemy ship. The meteor is made using technology found in Firotech and Dirtech weapons- mostly Firotech- and has both a heavy physical aspect and a heavy elemental aspect to its damage. I did a test to see how powerful it is, and it obliterated an orbiting asteroid. The Meteor cleared the atmosphere when launched at a 45 degree angle to the ground and barely lost a . Not a little bit of debris was left."

Kora shook her head. "That's incredible... Does HQ..."

"HQ has no idea STURM exists. And it's a good thing. They could impose all sorts of limits."

"Can it be used... on ground targets?"

"In theory, it could. But it's classified as a weapon of mass destruction. If we fired on a Gremlin city, not only would Tinkinzar retaliate full-force... it would kill everyone in the city, and those caught on the edge of the blast radius would die even more slowly. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone. Ideally it would only be used as a deterrent, or failing that, to shoot down a few ships. However, it's easily capable of decimating an entire Morai Destroyer in one shot, and it can fire a lot of shots."

Kora nodded slowly. "Mentioning this would shake things up. But would HQ seize it?"

"Ah ha, there's the kicker. HQ only needs to know what STURM is... not where."

"Bosco, you'd make a fine politician. You certainly are shrewd enough."

"Ah, yes, I suppose. But alchemy and robotics are less pressure combined. And they're so much more interesting!" Bosco laughed. "Tomorrow, I'll check on STURM. Then the day after... we'll make a political gambit that should keep you in Intel and HQ on their toes."

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"Are you serious?!"

Vinno couldn't believe it. A Grim Totem?! In the middle of the Emberlight cemetery?! That was on purpose. And he had no doubt as to who was behind it. Now Dust Zombies were all over the place.

"SCAN COMPLETE. NUMBER OF DUST ZOMBIES IS... NINE. ELIMINATE TOTEM?"

"Go ahead." The guards pulled out their hammers, Powered Plate Armor humming with energy. "We'll tear them apart."

Petrode nodded, and aimed his laser at the Grim Totem. The ominous artifact began to crack, then shattered into bits. The Dust Zombies turned suddenly to find shouting Gremlins whacking them with particularly large hammers. There were four guards, and they were faster than the Dust Zombies. Within seconds, the last of the dead stopped moving.

"Whew! Not a bad fight!" The guards stowed their hammers. "If that's all these assassins can do, I'd actually like them to try once a week. It'd keep me sharp!"

"I wish that was the extent of their ability." Vinno called Nonna on the Walkie-Talkie. "Zombies are down."

"Good work. Now, we've got access to the guards' map. So let's see... this missile silo looks pretty vulnerable."

"The one south of the main drag?"

"Yeah. It's got five separate sewer access points nearby, and multiple large buildings nearby. An assassin could easily sneak in, kill an operator, take the key to the control room, and launch the four missiles inside at any point in town."

That sounded bad. "I'll be there in a jiffy."

"Okay, you've got authorization to guard the control room. Anyone comes in without permission, you are free to tear them apart."

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"Thank you, all of you. It's... been difficult, to say the least."

Milyn's shyness had given her a lot of trouble during the trials, but with Vilkus standing there reassuring her, Algrim making a sarcastic comment at the HQ prosecutors' expense every other minute, and Kora assembling data to methodically deal death-blows to the accusations, Milyn had gotten the support she needed to stand up in the HQ's court.

"It's no trouble. But you may want to lay low... after what happened to Nill." Kora shook her head. "Poor, poor Nill." Intel Agent Nill had been investigating HQ before his untimely death. The autopsy revealed his death was caused by pure Shadow damage, all at once, and Kora had no doubt about who was responsible.

"How about the Works?" Algrim said. "We can leave animatronic versions of ourselves, and when the assassins strike, we can set it so Rocket Puppies come out and shoot 'em dead!"

"That's actually a great idea, Algrim." Kora pointed to a map of the Clockworks. "I was assembling a squad for something, anyway... the supply caravan to Emberlight. It went missing near Moorcroft Manor. I only had one other Knight willing to do the task. Can you three handle it?"

"Whatever is responsible, we can handle it." Vilkus drew his brand-new sword: the Cyclone Edge, a prototype from Project Winfinity that was more powerful than the Winmillion. "The Cyclone Edge is a powerful weapon."

"We can handle this mission..." Milyn shrugged. "But who are we working wi-"

Something slammed against the door to Kora's office. This was followed by a very loud swear word, and then the door opened to reveal a Knight in full Heavy Plate, a Khorovod and Jalovec on his back.

"CORPORAL ARKADY CLANKENOV REPORTING, SIR!" Arkady then corrected himself, "Err, ma'am... MA'AM!"

"Ah, Arkady. You've finally arrived."

"Yes, ma'am! I have come to assist the investigation of the supply train!"

Algrim groaned. "You gotta be kiddin' me! We just signed up to work with General Loudmouth over there?!"

"You have a problem?" Arkady glared at Algrim, who noticed the dual heavy swords on his back.

Algrim gulped, then said, "Uh, um, no sir!" But when Arkady turned away, Vilkus heard Algrim mutter, "What a psycho."

Vilkus had a feeling the mission's biggest difficulty would be getting the very military-seeming Arkady and the relaxed, sometimes cowardly Algrim to get along. But Vilkus also had a feeling it would be worth it to have a big angry guy with two giant swords knocking enemies into next week. He introduced himself. "Good to meet you, Arkady. My name is Vilkus."

"Ah! Yes, you are the one whose sword killed To'Pakar. It is an honor!" Arkady bowed deeply, a move that made Vilkus cringe at how uncomfortable it looked in Heavy Plate Mail. "And this is..."

"Milyn." That was all she said. Milyn was still shy in front of strangers.

"And you are?"

"Algrim. Greaver-slayer and Treasure-hunter extraordinaire. Your name is... Arkady Crapalot, right?"

"Clankenov! It is not Crapalot. It is CLANKENOV!"

"Yeah, I bet you're Clanken all ov-er the place making more noise than a-"

"Algrim!" Vilkus gave him the signal they both knew meant 'Shut up'. For a few seconds, Algrim and Arkady glared at each other. Then, to Vilkus and Milyn's great relief, Kora began talking.

"You know the drill. Find the supplies meant for Emberlight, and the knights accompanying them if it's possible. Zebulon and Jorin will be waiting in the wings to back you up."

"AFFIRMATIVE, MA'AM! WE MOVE OUT TODAY!"

Algrim groaned. "Huh, he doesn't need the swords, he could kill someone by shouting 'cause he's such a loudmou-"

"Algrim!" Both Vilkus and Milyn stopped him that time.

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Vinno sat there, tapping his foot, in front of the control panel. An hour had already passed with no consequence. The people were going about their duties, keeping the missiles maintained and locked for an emergency...

"Vinno! There's been a breach in a sewer access to the south!"

"What?" Vinno jumped up. "Should I warn them?"

"Yes! Get everyone with a key out of-" The sound of a Sentenza firing filled the walkie-talkie. Then Nonna shouted, "Hey! What the heck was that for?! Oh, you're DEAD, you little..." The walkie-talkie was filled with the sound of Nonna's own Sentenza. Then she said, "I've gotta go, they're stalking me. Keep the panel protected as well as you can. And protect everyone- especially the guys with the keys!"

Vinno nodded, and stowed the walkie-talkie. The whole scene had attracted a lot of undue attention. Vinno said, "All right. Everyone, evacuate immediately! Use only the routes with automatic defense turre-"

"AAGH!" One of the operators fell to the ground, a Barbarous Thorn Blade slipping out of his chest as his body fell. This was enough to cause panic. Vinno growled and drew his Dread Venom Striker.

The operator's body revealed an assassin in what looked like a strong form of the blood-red Wolver gear. Fire burned from within the eyes and red thorns seemed to grow on the assassin's arms. Vinno stepped back. Close combat would be dangerous. He'd have to utilize his Valiance.

The assassin rushed forward and lunged with the Thorn Blade. Vinno raised his Royal Jelly Shield in time to absorb the blow, then jumped up to avoid a sweep with an Acheron that was in the assassin's other hand. Vinno counter-attacked with his Striker, but the assassin warded off the blow with his arm. The thorns jabbed Vinno's skin, and he jumped back.

The assassin turned to face the crowd. "That's right. Know fear!" The assassin drew a large axe, whose head was wrought from Shadow Steel. "Watch as I tear your protector to pieces!"

"Not on my watch," Vinno muttered, laying the charged Cloud Nine behind him. "You can stab an unsuspecting operator in the back. But can you fight someone who hits back? Or are you too weak?"

The assassin growled and charged at him when the Cloud Nine's mist canister burst open. The assassin lifted his axe, and it crashed into... the ground right next to Vinno. The assassin was on the ground, sleeping like a baby from the haze!

"Not so tough, are you?" Vinno growled, threw the axe aside, and said, "Emberlight is done tolerating this. Die!" Vinno's Dread Venom Striker came down on the assassin's head. Then it came out. Vinno stood and shouted, "This is what happens to evil!"

"Watch out!"

Vinno wheeled about just in time to see something hit his head. Then he blacked out.

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"Vinno?"

Vinno groaned and opened his eyes, holding his head in pain. "Is that you... mom?"

"Vinno! You're all right..."

It was Trilla. Vinno could tell he was in a hospital- the beeping of medical machinery was easy to discern.

"What..."

"You were hit in the head by a hammer with a Dark-Matter-wrought head. It was heavy and contained large amounts of negative energy. I don't envy you one bit." Talvi was sitting there, a small Gun Puppy on his shoulder that Vinno recognized as a pet.

"Ugh..." Vinno sat up, seeing Nonna and Petrode there as well as Gracken and the Guard Chief. "What else happened?"

The Guard Chief shook his head. "They won that round. They came in behind you and took the key from the dead operator, then fired the four missiles. They're estimated to have killed thirty Emberlighters and injured ninety-four... in case you're worried, Talvi's Air Defense Puppy shot down one of the missiles before it could hit the Adoption Agency, and nobody there was killed, but the building was damaged a little by the side burst. After this, they killed eight more Emberlighters at the missile silo and then were killed by guards. Their explosive packs destroyed an entire bridge." The Guard Chief sighed. "Counting the first operator, that's thirty-nine dead."

Vinno laid back on the bed. "No... that's madness."

"Madness it may be. But it's happening. I pray you recover quickly, Vinno, because we'll need your help. Kora has told me supplies are coming, but they've been delayed. And I don't know if we can handle the delay."

Vinno's head was pounding. The action had taken quite a bit out of him. All that fire... "How did he... do it? How did the fire burn so fast?"

"We've been picking up trace amounts of pure alchemical fire." Talvi looked at the sample he'd gotten from the scene. "Trust me, this stuff gets really hot. Really fast."

"Alchemical fire... like in a Firotech Alchemer?"

"It's the same type, yes. But even a Magma Driver couldn't handle this stuff. It burns really hot. Look at me- I'm wearing safety gloves just to hold tongs that are near a small vial of it. The vial itself is made out of a heavy-duty insulator. If I touched it, it'd probably set my finger on fire."

"And you found this..."

"Right at the scene. The road where the fire was is closed because the ground was so hot."

Vinno shook his head. "And that... that Infernire... was making this fire."

"He was. I'm more than a little scared of what would happen if Infernire made an attack on Emberlight alongside that Fallen Knight."

"Urgh... Will they need me?"

"Are you kidding?" Trilla spoke up. "You fainted on the scene from fatigue after Petrode got there. Was it your head?"

"Yeah, it was my head."

"Then you're staying right here. That injury you got at the missile silo clearly needs more time to heal, and Nonna can hold down the fort. A few Knights arrived yesterday, anyway... they're packing Shivermist Busters. You should stay right here..."

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"Knight? Ha! You call yourself a Knight." Nonna shook her head. "HQ Official Armor? HQ Official Helm? You guys are from the clown house up top. I know you guys have thrown in your lot with the assassins."

"Be reasonable. We would never condone the burning of your fair town." The HQ man looked at Petrode. "Why would we go against that kind of machine, in the first place?"

"Save it. I know you're with them. And I heard a supply caravan bound for Emberlight was delayed. Of your own loyal soldiers, I might add."

"What... what are you implying? We would never do anything like that!"

"Oh, but you would. You hired a group of four Spiralians to kill a few... unruly Beasts and Slimes?"

The HQ man snapped, "How do you know about that?"

"Milyn happens to be a friend of mine. Anyway, those same Spiralians that killed those creatures were then spotted luring Greavers into the town. Two were killed in a skirmish. The other escaped, then appeared again during a direct attack on the city. All of them wore full suits of Fallen Armor... sound familiar?"

"Of course... not! I don't understand where you-"

Nonna held a Sentenza to the HQ man's gut. "Leave. Our. City."

"But-"

"Would you like a time-out at our nearest hospital?"

The HQ man stepped back, slowly at first, then turned and ran. Petrode said, "I DO NOT KNOW IF THAT WAS A WISE MOVE. WILL THE SPIRALIANS TAKE IT PERSONALLY?"

"Oh, believe me, Feron will probably chuckle and say 'That Nonna, always pullin' through for us' when he hears about it. HQ is full of hot air, that's all."

Another Knight came up. "Uh... are you..."

"Of course not. You're welcome here. If you want, we're offering large packets of Crystal Energy for help with a recent outbreak of assassins..."

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"WROAAAAAAR!" Arkady leapt out from behind the corner, clanging the Khorovod and Jalovec against each other. "Come and face your death!"

The wild Alpha Wolver growled back at Arkady, then howled and charged toward him. But when the Wolver reached the corner, Algrim lunged out from behind the wall, Final Flourish slicing the air and then the Wolver's fur. At the same time, Milyn's Toxigels charged, tackling the Wolver with aid from Milyn's Blitz Needle. The hostile Alpha had no chance.

"Ha ha! That worked well. Very well! Your strategy does work better!"

"Thanks, Arkady. Now, let's go on ahead. I don't see any more enemies down this straightaway."

Arkady rushed forward, armor clanking against the ground, and spotted the elevator. "There it is! But where is the supply caravan?"

A Spiral Order supply caravan consisted of four large armored vehicles that could move down Elevator shafts as well as across floors. They carried supplies useful to both Spiral Knights and the citizens of the subtown it was bound for. They were guarded by two squads and driven by another Spiralian for each vehicle. No trace of these had been spotted.

Suddenly, Dusty growled and started barking. Milyn looked ahead. "Dusty? What is it?"

Dusty rushed ahead, passing the Elevator, rounding a bend around the wall. Milyn ran behind him, and gasped when she saw what he saw. "No..."

Pieces of the armored vehicles were scattered everywhere. The charred remains of knights lay nearby. Milyn stepped forward... then abruptly drew back. "It's so hot! What happened?"

Nearby, a strange green Oiler was gliding along the floor. Milyn scanned it, then reached for some Nightshade and Blaze Pepper. But Arkady shouted, "THAT IS THE CULPRIT! OILERS!" Arkady began to rush forward, but Milyn pulled him back.

"No, it couldn't be one... of whatever kind of Oiler that is. I..." Milyn stopped for a second, looking down at the ground.

"Go on, Milyn. What is it you were saying?"

"I don't see any others, and one Oiler wouldn't be able to kill so many knights. Even Oil fires can't burn a suit of Volcanic Salamander that badly. Look, see... he was wearing Volcanic Salamander. And that poor soul... he was reaching for a F-furious Flamberge. That wouldn't have been his reaction against a Lichen, especially not an Oiler. Whatever did this... it was capable of producing much hotter temperatures. The Oiler probably just likes the heat." Milyn handed the Oiler the Blaze Pepper; it began to engulf it, not looking to attack any of the knights. "Besides, the Oiler would have attacked us, too."

Vilkus gripped his shield firmly. "Do you think the culprit's still here?"

"No. Look over there- those capsules held alchemical tanks! Now they're gone, but they show no signs of being broken open."

Algrim and Arkady both drew their weapons. Algrim said, "Dirty thief! Whoever did this is gonna get it right back at 'em! I got a Combuster and I ain't afraid to use it!"

"You will have to beat me to the fiend. I will crush his skull if I see him! THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF HIS REMAINS BUT DUST!"

"The race is on, then! But... where is he?"

"The supply caravan was bound for Emberlight. So let's head there. I tell you, when Nonna hears about this guy on the loose, she'll be concerned enough to request tanks to guard the Adoption Agency. You'll both have a run for your money."

"Urgh... so many rats around here."

The Fallen Knight looked out from behind his vantage point. "Now, where do you suppose the best place is to strike?"

Infernire thought for a second, then said, "That window! Right there! The hot air from this Terror Torch will go right up and burn the floor. The rat won't know what hit him until the floor falls in!" Then he grumbled, "It'd be so much easier if you would HURRY UP AND GET RID OF THE OVERRIDE ON THAT DIRTECH TANK!"

"Shut up! You'll give us away if you keep complaining aloud like that. We've already lost enough of the Hidden Blade in this blasted city to kill a thousand Knights... now hurry up and torch that hospital! As long as they have it... they're healing burn wounds much too quickly for our tastes."

Infernire reached for the fire-blasting hose, and began to aim the nozzle just right- and then needles came flying down, showering the two assassins and hitting them a few times.

"GRRR!" Infernire turned around and blasted at the source of the needles, setting the wall on fire.

"You idiot! Now look what you've done!" The Fallen Knight pulled out a Biohazard. "That's a noncombatant building- that gets burned LAST!"

"Ah, shut up! You saw the needles! You got one stickin' out your head!"

The Fallen Knight saw something yellow glowing overhead; he fired a Biohazard shot upward and then dived for cover, taking Infernire with him. "Yes, but you should have kept your focus. You should have burned the wall!"

"Hmph! Shows how much YOU know!"

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Nonna reloaded the new Blitz Needle. She'd scored a few hits, but they were behind cover. In the meantime, though, she had to do something about the problem directly beneath her: the building she was standing on was on fire.

"Petrode, do you copy?"

"LOUD AND CLEAR."

"Municipal building, on fire at my coordinates. Get some water on it!"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

With that, Nonna gave a thumbs-up. At the signal, an Emberlight guard and a Knight leapt from the nearby buildings, standing in the way of the two exits the assassins could use with a Supermassive Graviton Hammer and a Triglav, respectively. Nonna herself began to cross the buildings to where the assassins were hiding; they were between two dumpsters.

The one with the Firo tank- that had to be Infernire- poked his head out and unleashed a stream of fire at the Emberlight guard. But he was prepared; a Grey Owlite Shield came up in time to take the brunt of the flamethrower.

Meanwhile, the Fallen Knight was setting shadowy explosives in the ground. Nonna reached for her Callahan and began taking pot-shots at the Knight, but he lifted his shield- wrought from what looked like pure Dark Matter- and then, suddenly, they both stepped back.

BOOM! The explosives had blown a hole in the floor wide enough for the assassins to fit through. They both crept inside, with Infernire blasting out a final burst of flame. Nonna rushed to the hole and peered down in time to see the assassins deploying parachutes a long way down.

"I got an idea!" The Knight sheathed his Triglav and pulled out a Spine Cone. "Just got this sucker. Watch!" He dropped one Spine Cone down, and it fell straight toward the parachute.

"Good thinking. That should get 'em-"

Then she saw the Spine Cone coming straight back up the hole. Nonna shouted, "SHIELDS UP!" just in time; a storm of spines covered the team's shields.

"Now how did they do that?! That's quite an arm they've got, isn't it?"

Nonna shook her head. "That was insane. What are we fighting here?"

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"Vinno? Are you awake?"

It was the Guard Chief. "Urgh... now I am."

"Sorry to disturb you, but you might want to know this. Recently, our floor-sweeper robots have discovered a makeshift trap-door in the bottom of Emberlight. We think these assassins have been running around under the floor to bypass the guards at the main entrance."

"How..."

"We figure they may plan to launch an attack from underfoot. I stumbled upon another trap-door on my way here."

Vinno looked at his Stagger Storm, which laid on a desk by his bed. "What about... bombs? They could put 'em... right under the floor."

"One step ahead of you. We've got the minesweepers out. Every part of the city is checked at least once every two minutes."

Vinno groaned. "I'm sorry. I wish I was more use..."

"No, I understand. I've taken a head injury before. You should be ready for action by tomorrow at the most if you don't exert yourself too much- and that'll be enough."

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The facility was heavily damaged. Machinery was burned, blown up, or otherwise disabled all over the place. There were burn marks in the walls, piles of what looked like robot parts littered the floor, and Kora couldn't take a step without stepping in oil.

"I know a battle when I see one." Feron clenched his fists. "Watch your step."

Kora drew her Valiance. Best not to take risks. Nearby, Bosco had a Shivermist Buster, and his Mecha Knight Champion had its Leviathan Blade drawn and ready.

Bosco led the way through the facility, past what remained of security doors. Eventually, after walking over a mound of destroyed Mecha Knights, they came to the large room STURM was in. The giant cannon had been systematically torn apart, and the alchemical tanks were nowhere to be found. And the ground was heavily burned; the oil had, fortunately, been stopped from entering that area, because the ground near the exit was so frightfully hot that Kora had to draw her foot back when she stepped on it.

"See... that's where the thief left. Right over there." A hole was burned in the wall, and the ground was similarly scorched at sporadic intervals.

"It looks like the thief was enjoying his new firepower. He had no reason to burn the walls, but he did." Kora shook her head. "Whoever did this was likely a complete pyromaniac."

"Acute observation, Intel Agent Kora. Shame it will be your last."

Ten knights stepped out from behind obstructions, all of them in HQ-class armor. One more came out, holding a tied-up Isabel in one hand and a Hot Edge in the other. Bosco gasped, horrified. "No! You haven't... What happened to Locke, Stocke, Barrell, and Tucker?!"

"We haven't harmed anyone yet, not the way you would have. Your large Gun Puppy tells quite a story. We could say you've been working with the Gremlins this whole time."

Bosco shook his head. "That's nonsense! I listed the specifications for this turret; it is only capable of Ground-to-Space capabilities! The reason I built it was written on the blasted wall!"

"Oh, we know you've never worked with the Gremlins. But this will be our explanation for your deaths." The HQ knights drew what looked to be electrical whips. "You have given us enough trouble by harming our friends in the Hidden Blade. Now we have you in your place. Resist and the girl dies."

Feron pulled his shield off his back. "Fine. We will not resist captu-"

"Capture? Oh, no. We have no need for that. We'll just rip you to shreds on the spot."

The HQ men began striking Feron with the whips. Feron braced himself and didn't even blink as the electricity coursed through his body. Bosco ducked and covered his head as one of the whips struck his hat, and the Mecha Knight Champion lifted his shield to deflect another whip.

"Bah! Put the shields away, or she gets torched!" Feron sighed, shook his head, and placed the shield on his back. Kora braced herself. This was the end...

Then Kora saw something. A shimmer in the air. Recons! Whose side were...

"YOINK!" Moving at light-speed, Locke snatched Isabel out of the HQ man's hands. The telltale bang of a bullet splitting the air heralded that HQ knight's swift death.

Then Feron roared a battle cry, and rushed toward another HQ man. Ducking under the whip, he tackled his foe, then knocked him out with a single punch. Kora opened fire with her Valiance, and immediately found more knights alongside her.

"Stocke! Barrell! And... Beta Squad?" Inko, Tsu, and the Mad Doc were all at their side, armed and ready with an Acheron, a Sudaruska, and a Big Angry Bomb, respectively. The HQ knights, meanwhile, turned tail and ran, gunfire chasing them out of the complex.

"Well done, Recon Rangers." Desna uncloaked herself, Locke and Tucker coming in with Isabel shyly following behind them.

"I-Impeccable t-timing, m-ma'am." Bosco had dropped his Shivermist Buster after the first whip had hit him.

"Oh, yes, I try. We've been working for some honest members of HQ, tracking down what appears to be a coup d' etat in the making."

Feron shook his head. "Honest members of HQ? Does such a thing exist?"

"Oh, come on, we need some leadership." Desna laughed. "Those guys came in and dropped smoke grenades. Locke, Stocke, and Barrell couldn't do a thing about it- they took Isabel. Lucky us, Kent from HQ knew about this ambush attempt, and even called Beta Squad about it. Suffice to say, they got more than they bargained for."

"There were eight Hidden Blade members waiting just outside the complex." Inko held up a Gran Faust hilt; the blade was mostly broken off from some kind of heavy impact. "This sucker has no overrides. It tried to drive me to insanity after I picked it up. Good thing Tsu was handy with that Sudaruska!"

Desna continued, "Some members of HQ have been working with the Hidden Blade, a group of assassins that have been around before the Skylark crashed. Remember all those dark artifacts we had to destroy, the ones that caused so much damage? The Hidden Blade was responsible for bringing them aboard. They've been working as HQ's personal army for some time now."

"That explains a lot, Desna." Kora's mind began to piece things together. "They didn't want to investigate the supply caravan to Emberlight because they're working with the Hidden Blade. They gave Feron ridiculously low amounts of time for interrogating the captured assassins because they're working with the Hidden Blade. It all adds up!"

"Correct." Desna pointed out the door. "This started as one man's plot- we found out from a database of old files that, ever since HQ member Grimm started sending and receiving messages from a certain 'Varrax', HQ members have been disappearing, being replaced quickly. No investigations were launched concerning their whereabouts... and this has been going on since Project Roarmulus was thwarted. Half of the HQ members are now working with Grimm..."

"The traitors!" Feron shouted. "They will be made to pay for this treachery."

Kora nodded. "Yes, they will. But we'll need a little help from some friends..."

Maldex leapt from the building, Acheron pointed straight at Nonna's head. He had done this before to the rat-men. The physical impact and the negative energy going through her skull would end her life, but not before a few seconds of sheer pain. As Maldex plummeted, he relished the thought of the rat's final scream-

ZAP!

Maldex himself suddenly felt pain. Part of his brain acknowledged it was elemental electricity, which ripped through the defenses his Fallen Armor provided, but the other part was screaming in agony, mixed with fury. What was this?! What was it?!

"NO HARM SHALL COME TO DEFENDERS OF THE LIGHT!"

Maldex leapt to his feet, shaking the excess charge from his body. It was him. It was Fearsome Lightning. They called him "Petrode", but Maldex knew his true name. And now, it seemed, a fire had awakened in the ancient machine; though the rat was not harmed, Fearsome Lightning's anger had been aroused. Maldex grinned. Just as he planned.

"Come on, machine. Take me on. I dare you."

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Nonna had her gun pointed upward. "Good one, Petrode! You light up that conniving little jerk and I'll get fire bug up there!"

"IT WILL BE DONE." Petrode rushed forward. Memories came back to him as he pursued the knight in Fallen Armor. The wars, clashes with Zombies and Deadnaughts. The counterattack on the Magikat citadel. The rebellion... the false king... TINKINZAR! Tinkinzar would perish for his crimes against creation... working with Devilites! But first, these fiendish monsters that called themselves Knights, who betrayed their Order and killed the Isorans and Gremlins alike... who menaced children and entire nations, and placed evil artifacts in graveyards... they would taste Gens's retribution!

Petrode's eye turned toward the enemy. Instantly, the omniscanner began working again. "MALDEX," Petrode roared, "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE?!"

"How do you know my name? Ah, so you're coming to your full power again... good. Then you realize what happens when I take your heart!"

"I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. BUT I DO NOT FEAR YOU, FOR YOUR ARMS ARE WEAKER AND YOUR ARMAMENTS ARE LESSER. HERE, I WILL OFFER YOU A CHANCE TO TURN FROM DARKNESS!"

"Ha!" Maldex drew his Acheron. "Fearsome Lighting, what gall! You offer me hope! Hope is a lie. Hope is always a lie! I thought you would know that... having lost it yourself."

"I NEVER LOST HOPE, MALDEX. THE OTHERS MAY HAVE BEEN TURNED, BUT ONE OF THE GUARDIANS WILL ALWAYS STAND, IN DEFIANCE OF DARKNESS, TILL ITS LEGS BE SHATTERED AND ITS FACE BE MELTED. ALL PROPHECY SAYS SO. TELL THAT TO VARRAX, WHEN YOU RETURN TO HIM IN DEFEAT!" With that, Petrode unleashed his fierce electrical laser.

Maldex sidestepped the blast and rushed Petrode, his Acheron high in the air. Maldex thought he had him; Petrode was one of the original Retrodes, and thus, Maldex reasoned he was klutzy as they were.

WRONG. Petrode agilely kicked Maldex in the stomach, sending him toward the railing that kept him from falling into Depth 19. Maldex caught himself. It was only Normal damage.

"Hmph! So you aren't as stupid as your words make you seem."

"HOPE IS NOT STUPID. IT IS THE WISE MAN'S SECRET TO SURVIVAL. ARE YOU A FOOL?"

"Hrrrgh! I WILL take that heart, and I WILL gain its power!" Maldex tried a different tactic. He leapt onto the awning of a nearby building, then onto the next building, hoping to throw off Petrode. He reasoned that Petrode could not see him.

WRONG. Petrode's sensors were tuned perfectly. He could hear Maldex walking on top of the building, even in the din of combat. And combat was everywhere; Dust Zombies were pouring out of a nearby cemetery. Petrode feigned distraction, turning toward the Zombies and charging energy. Maldex chose to leap at him, sword raised-

BOOM. Petrode wheeled about, unloading a fierce thunderbolt that sounded like a storm. Maldex was hurled backward, electricity coursing through his body, off the side of the platform.

As he fell into the depths, Maldex righted himself mid-air and deployed a parachute. He shouted, "You will fall, Fearsome Lightning! Darkness shall rule!"

"I WARN YOU, MALDEX. YOU ARE TAKING THE WRONG PATH!"

Petrode watched Maldex descend into Depth 19. It was no use chasing him; there was more to worry about. "NONNA. STATUS OF THE BLOCKADE?"

"A-OK. Talvi's got a watch-bot on the stealth-catching."

"AND INFERNIRE?"

"Still running around. But I'll get him..."

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

Nonna's Callahan was loaded and charged. Infernire was hiding somewhere, likely waiting to ambush her with that flamethrower. Nonna examined her surroundings again. There was a dumpster, a covered manhole that led into the sewers, and a back alley that was more narrow than the back alley she was already in. Infernire could be on the ground, behind one of the objects, in a building, or on top of a building...

A slight clink drew Nonna's attention. There! Infernire thought he was clever, hiding in that... Nonna crept up to the manhole, and, in one fluid motion, pointed the Callahan downward and released the charge. The bullet broke through the manhole and a loud "AARGH" could be heard from within, followed by a loud stream of swear words.

"Should I wash your mouth out with soap? Or should I use ammunition?!" Nonna kicked the cover aside, leapt down, and fired the Callahan. Infernire was blown back by the force of the shot, only able to get a little ember out of his flamethrower.

"Hrrgh! How? HOW?! You're cheating!"

"You're the one cheating. You've got the stolen superweapon, after all!"

Infernire's eyes widened. "How do you kno- AACK!"

Nonna's Fearless Rigadoon was at Infernire's throat. "How I know is none of your business. What is your business is dropping that flamethrower, right now, or you're grounded. Permanently."

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Arkady roared, "WHERE IS THE DIRTECH TANK?! I KNOW YOU HAVE THE DIRTECH TANK!"

The Hidden Blade assassin looked terrified. Algrim's Combuster was at his throat and Arkady was screaming in his face. He sputtered, "I c-can't tell you-"

"IT IS NOT 'CAN', IT IS 'WILL'! YOU WILL TELL US!"

"I really don't know! Somewhere in the Depth 17 base, that's all I know. I just joined these guys 'cause they pay better than HQ! I've seen things that shouldn't exist! They have a BOMB strapped to my back! Spare my life, please!"

Algrim shrugged. "Go ahead, but take his gear first."

Milyn gave the signal, and her Chromalisks went to work, using their tongues to snatch every weapon he had. They also detached the explosive pack. Milyn took the pack and hurled it over the edge of the Works, into Depth 19. "Hmm. We'll have to take that base."

"Right." Vinno pointed toward the elevator. "We'll lead Trilla back to the Agency-"

"Are you sure? It's dangerous. You'll want help."

"I don't plan on going alone, Trilla. We're bringing Vilk's squad. You need to rendezvous with Petrode and keep the Agency defended... and ask him about that Silkwing. I got a feeling he knows something."

"Okay... Vinn? Be careful anyway."

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There was a perimeter set around the HQ members. Beta Squad was deployed to help with this. Tsu's imposing stature and equally imposing Sudaruska kept the average Spiralian away, and Inko's own Shade Lichens- invisible genetically-engineered gifts from Biotech Hahn that Inko had as pets- kept an eye on each passage. The Mad Doc, being a demolitions expert, was also experienced at bomb disposal, and he, the stranger Ricasso, and Barrell were working meticulously at getting Venton's bomb disarmed. Vernin looked with marked disapproval. "Hmph! This is hopeless."

"Vernin, shut up. I'm afraid, if I hear one more peep out of you, I might pull a Feron and break you in half."

"What happens when the Hidden Blade men in the Lower Council chamber find out what's going on? And besides, do you really think you stand a chance? The Hidden Blade is too powerful. They have as many men as the Order, and then some."

"Ain't gotta worry 'bout that." Tucker patted his pistol. "Do you know what this is? It's called Frontier Justice. It only has one bullet per clip, but that one bullet hits for enough piercing damage to kill a Devilite in one shot, or a Trojan Knight in three shots. We used it in the old days to shoot Deadnaughts' heads off. The sheer force of the bullet also blows back targets not hit. And when it's charged, the bullet pierces targets, and ricochets once off the wall, before becoming useless."

"But-"

"Aside from that, we got a mighty fine perimeter guarding us, with land mines and robots and lichens and Sudaruskas. And it don't matter how many pawns the Hidden Blade sends down, 'cause, some of our present penny-pinchin' company excluded, we're the good guys, and an ol' sayin' goes, 'right makes might'. Now I heard about what you done to Milyn's menagerie. I still don't trust you. So if you think I'm gonna put up with any more hullabaloo from you, dagnabbit, you got another thing comin'."

Venton nodded. "It's not like you volunteered to be the bomb disposal squad's guinea pig... though Vernin has a point. What happens with the Lower Council when they hear this is going on?"

The Mecha Knight Champion climbed out of the hole; it had been damaged by the explosion, but not enough to stop it from moving. Feron was slung over its shoulder, out cold with heavy burn wounds. Through it, Bosco was talking. "All right, someone get Feron to the biotechs. He needs medicine. Meanwhile, we've got to assault the Lower Council room. Venton, how many of them are Hidden Blade?"

"Every single one of them. The only decent men among them were all murdered by the time Project R was destroyed."

Tucker shrugged. "Can we trust Venton?"

Kora said, "Intel Chief Gillon says Venton's a good man. Gil and Venton go way back, and I'd trust Gillon with my life."

"Okay, then. Desna, your Rangers an' me, we'll give them a fight to remember!"

"Happy to oblige. Locke! Stocke!" The two Rangers nodded, and began to follow Desna and Tucker with their cloaks on.

"Kora? Nonna's on the line."

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Nonna led Infernire into the Emberlight Fireproof Cell, with the Fearless Rigadoon at his throat and the Emberlight Guard Chief's Graviton Hammer ready and waiting. Her comlink had been beeping for three full minutes, but Nonna was busy keeping Infernire detained.

"Chief?"

"Yes?"

"Please supervise the moron for me. Someone apparently can't wait."

"Got it." The Guard Chief took the Fearless Rigadoon and kept it ready to filet Infernire. Meanwhile, Nonna turned her comlink on.

"Nonna speaking. Can this wait?"

Kora appeared on the comlink. "Oh! Whew, you're alive."

"Yes, yes, I'm alive. How's life on the surface where Greavers aren't running wild?"

"We've started a coup of sorts. HQ High Councilman Grimm is dead, and Lieutenant Feron is injured... and this just in, Captain Ozlo barely escaped his house alive."

Nonna nodded. "Right. So what's the deal?"

"Look, you have less than three hours to find the Dirtech and Firotech tanks. They're set to start automatically firing once the Dirtech tank's safety mechanism is disabled. You heard about these tanks, right?"

"Yeah, we found the Firotech. Is there a way to stop it with just the Firotech tank?"

"No, the Dirtech tank has the console attached to it. Destroying it, or flipping the emergency deactivation switch attached to it, will turn off the firing mechanisms attached to both alchemical tanks."

"Understood. And should I relay this to anyone?"

"Tell the Guard Chief, he'll need to know... and tell Vinno. We've received word that he's met up with Vilkus's squad. Keep the Agency defended, and keep Petrode down there. If you took the Firotech tank, you'll easily be able to overpower the invaders with Petrode's help."

"Got it."

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Petrode marched back to the agency. Once this was over, he would have to leave Emberlight for some time... he would have to seek out his lost companions... or their hearts. No... perhaps Emberlight was an ideal base of operations, and one that needed his power, at that. But first, he'd have to find his own heart... wherever it was, it was still somewhere on Cradle. Perhaps the Cottonwing would help... it was good to see they were not all corrupted.

"Fearsome Lightning? The gremlin Vinno is healed of his wounds."

"THAT IS GOOD. NOW WE WILL TURN THIS BATTLE AROUND... DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE SOUTHWEST ANTI-AIR TOWER IS?"

"Yes, I do."

"A SPIRALIAN BATTALION, FROM ISORA, IS UNDER VILE HOWLITZER FIRE. MANY OF THEM ARE WOUNDED... IN AGONY. I WOULD ASK THAT YOU CURE THEM, AND SAVE THEIR LIVES."

"I will." As Petrode turned to blast a rogue Battlepod, the Cottonwing turned and flew to the southwest. So Fearsome Lightning is still upright... perhaps there is hope for the Gremlins after all.