The New Age

by The Winged Pyro That Drowned

Vex, brilliant Cybran, inventor, troublemaker, annoyer. ACU pilot? Almost. Join him and his friends as they go on a pretty big adventure through their last years of schooling before it's officially called training, and watch as their daily life and general time-wasting activities go haywire! Mostly OCs with some unit-designing, only slight changes to history. All is EPIC!

1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Disclaimer: Man, if I owned SupCom, that sequel would have never made it past development. Focusing on individual characters is for fiction, NOT REAL TIME STRATEGY GAMES!

As you can guess, I do not own SupCom.

Enjoy!

~Pyro

And on another note (like, Feb-12th update note), I've reformatted a little bit of the fic to be, y'know, up-to-date with my writing style and skills. I know now not to end a talk "Like this," at the end of a line with a comma (however I have left a couple because they fit like that.). If it turns out that isn't how its meant to be done, please PM me so I can be a bit more educated on the matter XD

~Pyro (Feb-12th 2014)

-.-.-.-

Initiating First Memory File V-1

-.-.-.-

Initiating Heads up Display…

…

…

Start daily scan check?

Y/N

Scan cancelled

Reminder: review factions for History Class

Reminder: review and proofread History Class Homework

Reminder: annoy Sarah to see if emotions play a part in any strategic moves

Reminder: war scheduled at noon in Virtual Reality (VR) Room eight

Reminder: must condense reminders

Reminder: upload extra Nanolathes to ACU

Uploading files to display:

C:\Core Memory\HUD\Lessons\History\Documents\Faction_Notes

-.-.-.-

The United Earth Federation is the "core human" faction, representing the natural technological evolution of modern human technology. The UEF seek to unify the once great Empire that is now splintered. UEF military is more conventional-styled than the others, relying on "classic" weaponry like battle tanks and projectile weapons such as bullets and explosives.

The Cybrans are the second faction, humans enhanced with cybernetic implants and twined with a symbiotic AI. They are fighting for their independence, after many years of enslavement by the Earth Forces. Cybran units are often insect-like in appearance, and known for being extremely versatile: from assault bots which can repair other units to walking destroyers, a good Cybran Pilot can adapt quickly to every situation.

The Aeon Illuminate is the third faction. They are made up of humans that follow The Way, the philosophy of the Seraphim aliens found years ago before they were wiped out by Commander Smith-led xenophobic humans. Aeon units are generally more aesthetically oriented than their UEF and Cybran counterparts - as a result of this, they possess a sleek, alien, organic and seemingly innocent form in neutral mode - but when in attack mode, they open up, revealing their weapons and giving the enemy cause for alarm.

The Seraphim are an alien species that makes up the fourth and currently final faction. There is a debate going on about whether or not the outcasts can be considered a fifth faction. It is the species that the Aeon found on Seraphim II, and who taught them about The Way. Humanity thought it destroyed the race, but actually the colony on Seraphim II was comprised of exiles who believed they could follow The Way without sacrificing the ability to fight.

When the Black Sun was deployed by the UEF, it created a rift between the Seraphim realm and humanity's realm. An army of the Seraphim came through the rift to cleanse the galaxy of non-believers.

Because of their close connection to The Way, and the extreme empathic feelings that arise from that connection, the Seraphim are physically incapable of harming another sentient being. In order to wage war, the Seraphim utilize warriors that have agreed to permanently sever their connection to The Way. These Seraphim Warriors immediately become ruthless, emotionless, killing machines.

The Seraphim units are composed of some superior technologies and sleek designs, somewhat resembling the Aeon. Their units appear organic in design, like the Aeon, but possibly more alien and foreign.

-/-/-/-

Reference: Wikipedia – page last updated June 15th, Year 3856 (By Earth Clock).

Warning: Time of page last updated may not be an accurate measure when in other planetary time zones.

Time since page last updated: 14 hours.

Also note that this document contains slight alterations based on notes taken in class.

-.-.-.-

Reminder: review and proofread History Class Homework

Uploading files to display:

C:\Core Memory\HUD\Lessons\History\Documents\Infinite_War-Homework

-.-.-.-

The Infinite War raged for over a thousand years, with the UEF fighting to unite what "decent" humans were left, the Cybrans fighting for independence and freedom from UEF enslavement, and the Aeon fighting to cleanse the galaxy of those who didn't believe in The Way.

The War was nearing an end, every faction spread to breaking point, when the UEF unveiled a super-weapon. A cannon capable of destroying entire solar systems: Black Sun. Black Sun utilised the Quantum Gate Teleportation Network to amplify the power of the cannon to the point where it could destroy a number of enemy core planets in a matter of seconds.

However, when the cannon was finally activated, though it was unknown which faction had achieved control of it at the time, the firing of the Quantum Cannon created a soft spot in the fabric that separated the realm of humanity from the realm of the Seraphim. The beam from Black Sun never actually got anywhere – it dissolved into the Quantum Rift that opened up and allowed the Seraphim armies to pour through. Unknown to all, a traitor had been preparing the Seraphim for this encounter.

The factions had no choice but to evacuate from this new threat and the Earth was carpet bombed by strategic bombers so large that they could shade an entire city. Humanity appeared to be nearing extinction, and as a final desperate bid for survival, they forged an alliance against the Seraphim and the Order of the Illuminate, a separatist faction of Aeon Commanders who used the Seraphim as an excuse to destroy humanity and all who did not ally with the Seraphim.

After countless battles, and with heavy losses on both sides, the Alliance managed to destroy the traitor and take the fight back to Earth, waging one final battle to push the Seraphim back and end the threat to humanity. It succeeded, but only just.

Before Princess Burke of the Aeon sacrificed herself in unknown ways to close the Quantum Rift, the Seraphim had one last gift for humanity: more exiles. The outcasts were unaccepted in normal Seraphim society because of their weak connections to The Way, making them capable of being an ACU Pilot without needing to sever their connections, but still having empathic abilities. To the Seraphim, this made them criminal, unwanted. So they exiled them to a new realm via the Quantum Rift.

Since the traumatic events signalling the end of the Infinite War, a treaty had been signed: a treaty that would officialise the ending of the War. But, as the UEF had let their allies take the brunt of the damage from the war with the Seraphim and the Order, they assumed control for themselves; forcefully. The war may have ended, and there may be peace, but the discrimination of individuals based upon faction was never going to leave.

The training of new ACU Pilots and Commanders seemed to become a privilege only the UEF were allowed. All laws were created and dictated by the leaders of the UEF, and slowly but surely, the Cybran and Aeon citizens that had survived the war were being forced into stricter and stricter leashes. They could lead good lives, but under the eyes of their "superiors" they were still vagabonds and "highly likely to be criminal".

The Academy, location top-secret, is one of the last pure-science facilities that will let in anyone, no matter who they are. You might think that in this day and age there would be more places like it, dedicated to knowledge, but the factionism that is driving the newest generations of humans and aliens apart is just one reason pure-science is disappearing again.

The Infinite War only ended twelve years ago.

But many ask themselves…

Can the Infinite War ever truly be over?

-.-.-.-

End of file

Retract HUD?

Y/N

-.-.-.-

Well, looks like I've got my homework for History class done. I check the other reminders I've left on my HUD before shutting it down. Actually, I can't shut down my HUD; it's a part of me. It's vital, like my brain. So I just switch it to background mode, where it doesn't get in the way. Looks like another sunny day here at the Academy. I hop out of bed, running a quick system diagnostic while I dress.

I've got my favourite lucky Cybran zip-up hoodie, black with dark red stylised circuitry on it, and the standard ACU Pilots' armoured shirt on underneath. It goes perfectly with my black pants. Ever since mass fabrication became widely used, styles and brands didn't really seem to matter much anymore, since we could design them to whatever we wanted or needed. Looking in the mirror, I see my glowing dark red eyes, cold and calculating; stare back at me, the circuitry lining my skin like tattoos flashing quietly with activity in time with my thoughts. My short brown hair is sticking up as usual. I got a military cut once. I can't remember how long ago it was. Probably a few months. My HUD lets me know the results of my scan, completing my ritual of getting up every day for these last couple of years.

Everything is running fine, although a little bit of breakfast wouldn't hurt. I'll last. I check the time; almost 10:30 AM. Heading out to the lounge, I notice a strange quietness.

"Sarah!" I yell, looking about for my sister Cybran. Each flat here in the Academy comes with two bedrooms, a lounge, bathroom, and kitchen. Designed to hold up to four people, but the Academy didn't have an overflowing roll this year, so we got a bedroom each for once. Although I know who she'd much rather share a bed with… "Rick's waiting for us, remember?!" I yell, trying to figure out where she'd gone. The flat wasn't big, but Sarah was kinda quiet and sneaky.

"VEX!" Crap. Found her…

"C'mon, Sarah, it's you and Rick vs. me and 'Vadam," I say, heading to the bathroom. "Whoa, nice hair," I laugh, watching as Sarah tries to untangle the mountain of knots in her long grey-white hair. I lean on the doorframe, grinning madly. She's a bit shorter than me, but I've got a tall, skinny frame; she's a bit more solid. Her beautiful face is a little contorted in anger right now though.

"You bastard." She mutters, flinging the heavily abused comb at me. I catch it and start pulling out the crush of long grey hairs. Her hair is usually a mess, a long wavy floppy mess; but it's not usually this bad.

"I'm open," I say softly, closing my eyes and bringing up my HUD again. Every Cybran has cybernetic implants and is twined seamlessly with an AI, letting us connect to electronics with wireless capabilities easily, think faster and more accurately, and share experiences with one another in a way that only a Symbiont can understand.

One CyNet user is open for connection: Sarah. As we connect, I get hit by the always unfamiliar rush of someone else's memories. It's always weird though, seein- living it from another person's perspective. It's not just sights and sounds, its feelings, smells, emotions; almost physical.

"So that's what the back of my head looks like," I say, as I always do, when I connect with Sarah.

"Yep, messy and ugly!" Sarah says perkily, causing me to laugh.

"Not much better than yours right now."

"Shut. Up." Sarah warns, and I decide to stop it. Despite our ability to consciously think while we're asleep, Sarah had opted for normal dreams last night, and she'd sorta woken me up. I went in to check on her, and… well…

She wasn't the most settled sleeper at the best of times… but she could move a lot when she started dreaming about her UEF boyfriend, Rick.

"So, have fun with Rick?" the door got slammed into my face and my nose started to bleed a little. "OK, OK," I apologize, "I went through puberty too!"

"Why you little-"

I'm already walking towards the door, closing down my HUD. I've pissed her off enough already. Reminder completed, I delete it from the list.

She can be a pretty good challenge on the battlefield once she's riled up. I'll connect with her afterwards; see if she was thinking something along the lines of "Screw logic! Steamroll him!"

The Academy is a big place, full of students from all factions and all corners of the galaxy. My teammate for today, Seth-Vadam, is a Seraphim outcast, shunned by his own people when the Infinite War ended. He's been welcomed here, but he does have to endure being studied, as well as studying. He owns his own Armoured Command Unit, just like me. I'm pretty sure him and I were supposed to be meeting with Rick at the ACU Garage before heading to the VR Room for our fight.

The halls in the Living Quarters section of this massive building are carpeted based on Faction: Red for the Cybrans, Blue for the United Earth Federation, better known as the UEF, Yellow for the Seraphim and Green for the Aeon. Floors that have multiple Factions within residence usually have a dark grey or black carpet. Sarah and I lived on one of the black floors, with Ariel next door to us. She's Aeon, orphaned during the Infinite War and shipped from system to system until she ended up here, with us.

I knock on her door, wondering if either of them is awake. Ariel and Merissa are both sixteen, and aren't eligible for ACU Pilot Training yet, but it wouldn't hurt for them to see some live action before they get thrown into the Pre-Training Studies.

"Who is it?" I hear Ariel's sweet little voice calling from the lounge of her flat. She may be sixteen, but she looks and acts more like she's eleven or twelve. Ever since space-exploration and colonisation kicked off, along with untold amounts of genetic engineering, there's no telling how long a person will last. Princess Burke lasted for a good two-hundred odd years, and she sacrificed herself at a time when she still looked around thirty years old.

Amazingly, I'm actually quite worried about how close I am to dying of old age. Despite being a clone myself, I'm eighteen; not just in age but also physically and in some ways mentally too. The only reason I'm worried is because my friends will probably outlive me. At least as a Cybran I still have the "brain in a jar" option my dad took.

"It's Vex," I answer, opening the door. "We've got a Virtual Reality Field Test in a couple of hours. You guys wanna come? We could use some Intel Operators," I smile, casually looking around her apartment. It's almost exactly the same as the one I share with Sarah, but with a distinctly more Aeon tone of décor.

Ariel is sitting at the desk in the lounge, reading through some textbooks on the early ACU. Wow, those guys didn't perfect the ACU until right at the end of the War.

"Hmm… hey Merissa, wanna see Bug-Man and Vex verse the Romantics?" she grinned, calling to her friend. Ariel's platinum silver hair and bright green eyes match her playful personality far too well. The way her shoulder-length hair clumps into spikes just makes the illusion of "Trouble-Maker" so much easier to believe. Despite knowing full well that Seth-Vadam was closer to a lizard than an insect, she insisted on calling him the Bug-Man. Maybe it's the mandibles.

"Why not? I still want to see the Seton's Clutch rematch though!" Merissa calls from the bathroom, more than likely spending hours getting her makeup perfect. "Vex, when are you guys gonna bash Dumb and Dumber?" she asks.

"Probably as soon as they can find two more teammates. I'm not going on their side this time." I answer, leaning on the dining table.

"Awesome!" she yells, probably doing a little dance and messing up her hair.

"I gotta go set up my ACU for the fight," I excuse myself. "VR Room eight, noon." I tell Ariel. I'm just about to close the door behind me when I remember something. "Hey Merissa, you mind helping out Sarah? She's got a bit of a bad hair day going on," I smile. I wonder if Sarah will tell Merissa how she got her hair in such a mess.

"See you then!" Ariel calls, waving to me as I close the door behind me.

-.-.-.-

Initiating Second Memory File V-2

-.-.-.-

"One down, two to go…"

"Clkclkclk- aaarrrrcccc why you mutter to yourself? I am here to talk," 'Vadam says, hanging upside down from the roof of the chest compartment in my ACU. He's wearing a dark grey hooded shirt, and some kind of skirted robe to hide his multi-jointed legs. Now that I think about it, it's probably his species day to day clothes and not special togas for priests or anything. He has yellow-orange skin, huge eyes, and mandibles like an oversized bug, but the texture of his skin and a lot of the things he does suggest he's a humanoid lizard. He doesn't have a tail, but he has clawed hands and various lumps of bone jutting out over his skin in places. My Seraphim friend had come from a low-gravity world, and it really showed with his skinny limbs.

"Just thinking aloud," I apologize. 'Vadam lent me the synthetic DNA Nanolathe patterns stored on his ACU's Engineering Suite. I had made a full copy and upgraded my own ACU's Proto-Crafter to be compatible with Seraphim build patterns. I already had slots open for Aeon and UEF Nanolathe patterns, but I suspected it might be a little harder to get those right now.

"Tell me, clkhark, what are you thinking?" 'Vadam asks, crawling along the ceiling like a giant grasshopper of doom. I have to remind myself he's more of a lizard, but I can't really be sure anymore, can I?

"My ACU can now build any Seraphim structure yours can, if all goes to plan."

"Clkclkclk- but isn't that cheating?!" 'Vadam exclaims, falling to the floor and grabbing me by the shoulders. I brush him off and smile.

"Well, if it doesn't work, we don't get any help. It's a 'if you can make it work here, then it's going to work out on the field, and if you can get an advantage, you better take it' sorta world, remember?"

"Yes, clkhark, but… can you do it to mine too?" he asks, his mandibles parting and his jaws opening slightly as he holds his head a little higher. I know it's a Seraphim's way of smiling… but it doesn't make it any less creepy. I was watching him last time we had a whole roast chicken for dinner. It wasn't just a massacre; it was a gory, messy, and exceedingly greasy massacre. It had taken a whole week to get the chicken fat stains off the walls.

"If mine can't build anything and we do the same to your ACU, you know we're going to fail miserably in the VR Room. If it works, however, I'm gonna upgrade all our friend's ACUs as well," I say, climbing up the ladder to the cranial Command Centre. "Deal?"

"KAAARKKK! I loves it!" 'Vadam cries, jumping up to the hatch. His powerful legs send him straight up and through without even needing to touch the ladder. Of course, once he's through, he hits his big head against the black metal roof. "Owww," he moans, rubbing his head. He quickly shakes it off though, with a few chitters and clacks from his sharp teeth and big mandibles.

"I would test it before the match, but you know how strict the UEF Law has gotten outside the Academy," I grimace, shrugging. The UEF are just OCD with their CFA. Stupid "Control Freak Attitude" of theirs.

'Vadam nods. Outside the Academy, anybody who isn't UEF gets treated like a lower life form, and the police officers that line the streets even have whistles that send out really painful programs to any nearby Cybrans.

"Hmm…" he mumbles the sound like he's gargling marbles. "Any way to test in the VR Room, clkhark?"

I'm pretty sure clkhark means friend, but I'll have to either sit in on one of Ariel's Seraphim Language classes or ask her. "Unfortunately not. I needed to book our match almost a week in advance," I answer, hooking myself into the command seat. "But I have an idea. Get your ACU ready in case mine fails," I say, buckling up the last strap and opening up the rear hatch for 'Vadam.

'Vadam laughs and shakes his head, "You are crazy, but I like your style," he says to me as he strides away to gear up his own ACU.

The Armoured Command Unit, known as the ACU, is the absolute pinnacle of war technology. The Quantum Gate networks could teleport armies anywhere at any time, but the costs of doing so were phenomenal. So, the Armoured Command Unit was designed: a war machine capable of creating and commanding entire armies at a moments notice. It was the perfect tool. A single Pilot in a massive bipedal walker. Gated in on their own, they could effectively and efficiently create the army that could have been Gated in but for a fraction of the cost. They would even have all the necessary facilities to produce reinforcements onsite.

Once 'Vadam gives me the signal for "all-clear", I switch to manual control. This is a relatively new feature for the ACU. The cannons and the Proto-Crafter detach from the arms and attach themselves to the thighs of the ACU, and hands appear. At this point, the pilot inside is gripped by the reactive control panels' manual handles and the ACU releases itself from the standard automatic idle state. We call it Mimic.

After edging out from my assigned holding bay, I stretch my arms out and watch the screen as my ACU mimics my movements in real-time.

"Tempest, how's your systems?" I ask, using one of 'Vadam's call-signs. The other one was "Arbiter". Sarah's call-signs were "Princess" and "Dream", while Rick was known as "Templar" and "Knight". Ariel's were "Star" and "Cobra", and I was known as "Glitch" or "Titan".

"Good to go, Glitch," he responds, giving me a thumbs up. I look at the screens from his face to what my ACU can see, and it shows his Seraphim ACU giving me thumbs up. When we're in our ACUs, it's all serious business. His English seems to improve dramatically…

"Ok, follow me and be careful. No leaping around or anything; your ACU may be the pinnacle of Military Tech, but I doubt it can attach itself to the roof," I say, smiling. Tempest nods, but tries a small hop anyway. His ACU gets both feet off the ground, but the resulting shockwave of it coming back down is enough to cause a small earthquake. Tool racks rattle and chains swing.

"Sorry, clkhark, I couldn't resist," Tempest says, holding his head down and accidentally catching one of those giant shoulder spikes in the roofing. He quickly stands up straight and looks a bit paler. "Clkclkclk eraga manatoga maanikta vuha sageca," he says in rapid Seraphim, moving to a crouch.

"I don't think the designers of this place were ever expecting an ACU as tall as yours," I laugh, interfacing with my ACU's systems via my HUD. I can now see everything from my ACU's perspective directly, not needing the cameras. The huge door to the Garage opens up as I get closer and the bright sunlight from outside blinds me for a second before my eyes adjust.

"So, what is the plan being?" Tempest asks, crouching behind me so as not to get tangled in the roofing again. He almost crawls out behind me onto the Academy Campus, which has a couple of the students on the gangway laughing their heads off. I flick on the speaker system with a thought and point a giant robotic finger at them.

"You guys laugh now, but do you think you could do it?" I ask, scowling at them.

It's a couple of those factionist UEF bastards. One of them shakes his head and laughs some more while the other one holds his hands up in the "I'm unarmed" gesture and walks off.

I wave a hand far too closely to the remaining student, and he runs off. Scare tactics work, you know. And if you aren't in your own ACU, don't piss off the guy who is.

"Tempest, you see those T2 Air Staging Platforms over there?" I say, pointing to some sqaureish buildings on the other side of the Campus. Tempest nods, and starts to walk towards them. "Wait, man, I still haven't told you the plan!"

"Talk while we walk, then," he answers, striding towards the platforms. I follow him.

"I may need to upgrade the Engineering Suite for the Seraphim Nanolathe patterns, but the plan is to reclaim the Seraphim landing pad and build a new one. I need you here as backup because if I can't build a new one, then you'll have to before the UEF calls it sabotage." I explain, dodging some garden plots. Thankfully this side of the Campus is almost always empty. There are also a lot of ACU footprints in the ground. We often use this place for safely upgrading our machines for real (VR Room upgrades are only temporary, you see,), and to make sure they don't get rusty from lack of use.

"So if this works, you will be able to build any Seraphim thing without the need to capture a Seraphim Engineer… I like that idea, but won't people get suspicious of you? It's like planning a one man army that can be all armies, a zerak-clk. You realise the disadvantages of this idea?" Tempest asks, picking up his cannons and switching back to automatic.

I sigh. Yes, there are lots of things that could go wrong with this. If the wrong people knew, specifically Nick and Nate, the factionist UEF bozos we call Dumb and Dumber, then they'd probably use it against us. Whether it would be in the field of battle or the court, I don't know. The UEF leaders are quite factionist so I doubt it would be kept in the dark, even if it did secure them a tactical advantage. All they really wanted was an excuse to murder or enslave the last of us.

"Yeah, I do know. But hey, if we can't make any progress in technological evolution, then we're stuck fighting in the same way forever, always with the same strategies and counter-strategies. War would become predictable. We need to shake things up somehow, and I don't know any other way to do this." I tell him, switching my ACU back to automatic mode, but keeping my connection via HUD online.

"It's not just the ACU that can change the way war is fought," Tempest says, moving his ACU into position beside me, facing the Seraphim landing pad. "You need to upgrade the Engineering Suite, clkhark?"

I switch my ACU to view all available building options. There's everything up to T4 Cybran stuff, but no Seraphim. "I'm looking, but I don't know where the Seraphim build options are," I respond. It should be installed, but-

Wait.

The Engineering Suite.

"One second," I say, scrolling through the possible upgrades I can install onto my ACU. The Chest system already has Advanced Resource Generation, which is a pretty crap generator, and I've already got Cybran T3 Engineering Suite, and the Cannons have Advanced Cooling- hang on, why is the T3 Engineering Suite labelled as Cybran? "Tempest, check your upgrade screen for the T3 Engineering Suite. Is it labelled as 'Seraphim'?"

'Vadam quickly scrolls through the upgrades. Here at the Academy, a lot of the Tech students create upgrades for ACUs. They get tested in the VR Rooms before they get applied though, but of those that are successful, us ACU Pilots get them as viable upgrades. If you thought an ACU could be extremely versatile before the war with the Seraphim ended, then you haven't seen anything yet.

"There's heaps here, but the T3 suite isn't labelled as Seraphim. Just T3 Engineering Suite," Tempest answers, sounding confused.

"Stand by to assist," I say, scrolling through my available upgrades. There were some that could be installed without interfering with other upgrades, which was pretty handy. Let's see… there's Cybran T3 Suite, Advanced Build Speed… I'd heard that one could stall an economy faster than you could say "Uh-oh". Ah, found it. The "Seraphim T1 Engineering Suite".

"Ready to assist," Tempest tells me, readying his Proto-Crafter.

"I have to upgrade to get T1 Seraphim structures, and it's non-conflicting with Cybran T3 Suite," I tell him, starting the upgrade process. The Drones, those little machines that hover around with miniature Proto-Crafters, detach from their holdings on the jagged shoulders of my ACU, and float around me, their lasers focused on the main Proto-Crafter. Seth-Vadam's ACU turns to face mine and a glowing beam of particles accelerate towards me. They look like darker versions of the particles I see from the Aeon, like they suck in light instead of reflect it.

"Ten seconds to completion," my HUD tells me. As soon as it's done, I prepare my ACU for the T2 suite. It passes almost as quickly as the first upgrade.

"Did you get Advanced Build Speed?" I ask Tempest, thoroughly impressed.

"Of course, clkhark," he says, "the Seraphim are capable of four extra levels of Resource Generators," he reminds me with a chuckle.

"I can almost imagine you with a Paragon hiding away in there," I retort, starting up the T3 upgrade. As always, the gap between T2 and T3 is much larger, and much more resource intensive. My mass reserves are almost depleted when it's over. An Aeon Paragon Experimental Resource Generator would be pretty helpful right now.

"Upgrade complete. Awaiting instructions." The HUD says, and I have a look around on my building screens. There's a new icon tray, filled with the Cybran and Seraphim icons only, below the build screen. There's an Aeon and UEF symbol, but they're shaded out.

"OK, we're good to go. No more assistance required; reclaiming Seraphim Air Staging platform now," I tell Tempest, tasking my ACU with the job ahead.

The Air Staging Platform structure gets weaker and weaker as I convert the mass on it for storage in my ACU's compartments, almost collapsing before I whisk away the last traces of matter.

'Vadam watches in what must be a mix of worry and wonder, as he changes his ACU back to Mimic before carefully surveying the area. One of the ACUs the school owns, for policing purposes, activates as the pilot starts yelling commands to the schools enforcers. When a student in an ACU appears to go rouge, they prefer to stop and disable them before asking questions. Pity all the ACU's are UEF; they don't even seem to have even grasped the concept of EMP stun weaponry yet.

"Trouble, right behind you, Glitch," Tempest warns me, swinging around to face the Guard. He manually reconnects his cannons and Proto-Crafter, pointing them cautiously at the Guard.

"Stand down, or risk expulsion and death!" the Guard yells at us through the comms system. He looks angry. I quickly search through the new building options available to me in my HUD. I can't understand what any of the names of these buildings are!

"Tempest, what's the Air Staging Platform called?"

"Just look for the big flat hexagon!" he cries in panic, not liking the ideas of expulsion from the Academy or death. He quickly builds up some blast walls across the field, keeping the Guard from getting any closer. I'm surprised he's done it in Mimic mode, but I hurry to find the building. My hands are slick with sweat and my brow furrowed in anxiety and concentration.

"Found it!" I yell, starting up the building process. I can't believe it, but it works! My Cybran ACU is crafting a Seraphim structure!

"That's tactical missile defence!" Tempest screams, reclaiming the building before I've even begun to start it. "I'll lay it down, you build it!" he yells, placing down a new landing platform for me.

"Sorry!" I yell, changing to Mimic in case the Guard decides to shoot at us. It's probably going to be useless to try and dodge a shot from point blank range, but it reassures me nonetheless.

"What are you two up to?! Stop at once!" the Guard barks at us through the intercom, unable to see us behind the tall, spiked blast walls. Judging from the look on his face, he's really pissed off.

"I'm sorry for any misunderstanding," I tell him, "but I was just getting you guys a new landing pad," I try, hoping the Guard buys my excuse. "It looked like it needed repair,"

"Then why did you need to take it down?! This is VR Room stuff only!" the Guard starts shooting at the walls Tempest has built around us; his bulky ACU smashing them down surprisingly fast. He must have an Anti-Matter Cannon installed. Not surprising, though. He is employed to stop people going rampant with one of the most feared pieces of equipment known to man and alien.

"We've got a match going later and that had to be booked a week in advance! This was the only way I could think to test this upgrade-"

"Fine. Take down these walls and I'll see you in the Headmaster's office in four hours. You had better be able to explain yourselves." The Guard growled, continuing to blast down the walls just as fast as Tempest could reclaim them. I'd barely finished the platform when the Guard shoved their ACU's face into mine.

"Of course, sir, we didn't want any trouble." I apologise, backing up before switching to automatic. The Guard isn't happy, but we're allowed to return back to the hanger in one piece.

"That was too close, clkhark," 'Vadam says to me once we're out of our ACUs and rejoined on the gangways that line the Garage. "I still can't stop shaking," he says, holding his clawed hands out in front of him. Indeed, his hands are shaking, thumbs included.

"Yeah," I agree, rubbing my sweaty forehead. "It really makes me wonder… are we ready to face a life or death situation against a real Pilot?" I say, running my hand through my short brown hair. It's spiked up with natural hair gel, and now it clumps into spikes with my nervous sweat.

'Vadam shakes his head. "I suppose we just have to… oh, I don't know. What time is it?" he asks, looking around for a clock.

I check my HUD. "About ten minutes until we get into the VR Room," I tell him, walking towards the exit. "I can't wait to put UEF and Aeon Nanolathe patterns into my ACU; it'll be like a super ACU!"

'Vadam smiles. "I remember when you first beat me… I was surrounded by countless Monkeylords, a hundred Loyalists, endless gunships, and you were standing on top of the hill, telling me there's no kill like overkill; right before nuking me."

We walk down the long, wide hallways that line the Academy like tunnels in an ant-hill. "Good times, and good advice," I grin, looking around. Almost all of the walls on the outside of this gigantic building are glass, and we see more than a couple of groups talking about "The Cybran and the Alien in the courtyard". There are only two Seraphim with ACUs in the Garage, but a lot of people couldn't tell each of the three hundred Seraphim students apart even if they tried.

The VR Rooms are near the middle section of the floors dedicated to learning and studies. Each room has a specific map in which we wage war, and we were booked in for a 2vs2 war at the Burial Mounds. The VR Room scanned each participants' ACU for both hardware and software systems so that when the fight started, it would be like we were actually in our own ACU. The school had actually gotten a whole bunch of ACU heads donated to them by each faction in order to train us properly, in the kind of environment we would be in when we got to wage war for real. The VR Rooms were so good that if you kicked over a particularly sturdy enough tree while walking around, then the system would physically move the ACU head, so we'd feel the exact same thing we would of if we had actually kicked over a tree that really didn't want to die.

As we enter the elevator, I see our old friends, Dumb and Dumber. "C'mon, hurry up," I mutter, pressing the button embedded in the wall a few more times. Dumb and Dumber, stupid ACU jocks that think being UEF makes them better than everyone else. Twins, sport addicts, and some of the most factionist assholes out there. Nick and Nate just spot us as the doors close, and I sigh in relief as the elevator jerks into motion, sending me and 'Vadam rocketing skywards.

"I don't like them." 'Vadam states as we hit the right floor.

"Me neither. We still owe them for the Seton's Clutch Simulation," I remind him, beginning the small trip to the VR Room lobby.

"Vex! How ya been?" I feel a tough arm grab my shoulder and pull me close to Rick, jerking me off my intended path violently. "Skinnier the last time I saw ya, if that's even possible," he says, patting me on the back. Although he's got the build of a sporting legend, so it feels like he's pounding me with a sledgehammer.

"Rick, you have the keenest observations," I say, grinning evilly and backing away far enough that he couldn't continue trying to break my back. I consider it sabotage. "So how's Sarah been?"

Rick looks surprised, his military hair cut making him look a UEF at a war crimes trial. You know, those ones who "have no idea what you're talking about!" war crimes? "I thought you Cybrans knew everything about each other," he says, scratching his head with an arm that wouldn't look out of place in a gym advertisement. The armoured sky-blue shirt he's wearing just makes those oversized muscles stand out even more, contrasting with his dark-blue jeans.

"The key to that is letting the other in," I say, bowing. "And I don't think she was that happy last time I saw her. And you know; this is probably the fiftieth time I've had to tell you that constant connection often causes a lot of things you don't want. Like multiple personality disorder, overlapping memories, existence crisis, you know, loony bin stuff."

"Ariel! Ghatarkma, clesmaga manotoga maimthemwell?" 'Vadam cries while picking up little Ariel and twirling around the small room with her, speaking in Seraphim.

"Vu, nickta verminon, Genmarkma," Ariel replies, hugging him back.

"Umm, are those two dating?" I whisper to Rick, pointing at the mini-ballet going on.

"It's homework, Vex," Rick laughs, pounding me on the back again. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the last one of us to find a lover," he says, shaking his head.

"Oh, really?" I retort, thinking about how I would nuke him to hell and back with missiles in a loveheart formation. Hang on; I think I understand what he means now-

"Yeah, really. You have the least amount of romantic know-how and anybody who could teach you isn't a Cybran. Face it; you're more at home with machines that you are with people." He tells me. I know it's true… but still…

"Yeah, I'll be inventing the latest thing stopping your honeymoon from being invaded by terrorists." I snort.

"Vex, you'd be the one crashing the party." Rick laughs, shaking his head some more. "I sincerely doubt you plan to leave me and Sarah alone together," Rick and Sarah are dating. They've attracted a lot of unwelcome attention from all the factionists out there, but they make a sorta lovely couple. You know; standard muscled dude and the brainy girl next door?

"Well, she is only seventeen. You and me, we're eighteen, legal," I say, "and have you seen what that girl dreams? You'd be begging for a gatecrasher!" I say, suppressing my smug grin.

"I heard that!" a rather pissed off voice yells from around the corner, causing Rick to startle, his piercing blue eyes widening in surprise. I stare at Rick, saving the image for later. If there's one thing I can turn back to for a laugh when I'm two thousand years old, it'll be the look he's wearing right now.

"Sorry, sis," I call back to her, giving Rick a wink and a thumbs up before being tackled by a really big bug and a little girl with glowing tattoos doing the ballet.

We hit the black carpeting with a thud and the other two leave me winded on the floor, getting up to start all over again. "Ouch," I choke out, coughing. Man, what did I do to deserve all this? Oh, right…

After getting up, avoiding the Blue Hulk, the Ballet Bug, and the Glowing Girl, I carefully tread my way to Sarah. I would say she looks ready to scream blue murder at me, but Cybrans aren't blue, and she's wearing a grey hoodie with the hood covering her face. I can see yellow light instead of the normal red coming from her facial circuitry.

"So," I start.

"YOU BASTARD!" she screams at me, and I have to duck a punch. And then sidestep another, before finally I grab her arms and hold her still. "Let go of me!" she yells, and I loosen my grip slightly.

"Promise to stop trying to kill me until we hit the VR?"

"No."

I let her go. "So did Merissa show up?" I ask, trying not to start a war… yet.

"Yeah, with a barrel of face paint," Sarah responds sarcastically, pulling down her hood. There, in amongst her bright red circuits, are curved scythes of the glowing white-green Aeon tattoos. "She was only going to help me if she got to do some tattoos. I told her that she could if they weren't permanent."

"And…" I prompt her, gesturing with a hand.

"They'll last a month."

I can't help it. I really shouldn't of, but I burst out laughing. I doubled over, trying to hold it in, but it didn't work. It was just too funny.

I got a black eye for my trouble.

-.-.-.-

Initiating Third Memory File V-3

-.-.-.-

"Welcome to the Burial Mounds," Ariel says to me through the comms system. She's acting as HQ Intel Command for me and Seth. Merissa, who'd shown up almost ten minutes late, was acting as HQ for Rick and Sarah.

"This place reminds me of the graveyards we had back on Sera-Kryil Twelve. Are you sure there's nothing under here?" 'Vadam taps the plateau his ACU is standing on.

"Maybe a few billion digital ACU corpses, but other than that, no." I reply, assessing the situation.

I flick to the global channel, as does everyone else. "OK guys, are we clear on the match setup? I'm red, Rick's blue, Sarah's black, and Seth's yellow," I say, seeing everyone nod. "Intel Operators are Ariel for me and Seth, and Merissa for you two." More nods. "We're limited to two Experimental Units each our choice, no capture, no Aeon units, and Tech 2 units only," more nods. "Tech 3 buildings, Transports, and Engineers allowed, no Nukes or Tech 3 Artillery, and those Experimental Units get picked at the start, and fill up our Tech 4 build options." More nods. "Once we have an Experimental up and running, it disappears permanently from our build screen. Everyone pick your Experimental Units now."

Seth chose a Seraphim Ahwassa Bomber, and a Cybran Megalith Megabot.

Sarah chose a UEF Fatboy Mobile Firebase and a Monkeylord Spiderbot.

Rick chose a UEF Novax Satellite Center and a Scathis before he was reminded of the no Artillery rule. He decided on a Mavor before we reminded him again. Basically, to annoy everyone, he listed every Experimental he wasn't allowed before finally picking a Seraphim Ythotha Assault Bot.

I was a little different. I'd said we could choose any Experimental we wanted… and I wanted a Fatboy. Oh and an Ahwassa Bomber for good measure. It was about as close as I was going to get to a Nuke anyway.

"Are we allowed to re-choose our selections?" Sarah asks, a little worried that I'd chosen a Fatboy. She'd gotten to choose a Fatboy, so I don't see why she's complaining. Unless it was because once it was online I'd have access to three factions' worth of units?

"Nope, we're stuck with what we've got," Merissa says, playing around on her control panel. "Or, I can't change it without breaking something important," she grimaces.

Well now, looks like I've secured us an advantage in this take-no-prisoners war. I've got about five seconds to enjoy my choices before we begin.

"Good luck, boys," Sarah calls, waving a giant hand at us before walking away.

"May the explosions be forever in your way," I reply smugly.

"COAGH!" Seth screeches through the comms, causing a lot of us to cover our ears. By the way: when your ACU is in Mimic, that isn't a good idea.

"That means good luck," Ariel supplies quietly, teleporting everyone to their assigned LZ as I hack the system and make sure everybody's ACU is fully repaired.

As far as I know, I'm at the farthest south Landing Zone, and Seth is waiting at the north-east LZ. I take a moment to look at my surroundings. To the north-west is the river, and to the north-east is just more land. The huge river cuts diagonally across the operations area, and the land on the other side is a mirror image of our side.

"Arbiter, Star, how's our Intel looking?" I ask, setting up four Tech 2 Mass Extractors surrounded by Mass Storage so I can get the absolute most out of them. I'm going to need all the Mass I can get.

"Star is here and I need something to see so I can report to you…" Ariel rolls her eyes. "And I can't even think of what your strategies are yet."

"Arbiter is here and working on air superiority. Currently pumping out Template Alpha-Air-Scout-T1. Star, they are ready and open for your command," 'Vadam says, handing over control to Ariel. The units immediately change their Friend-or-Foe tags to dark green, some of the reactive armour panels morphing appropriately. Merissa would have white units.

"Titan, gathering that info now," Ariel reports, sending out a small squad consisting of ten air scouts, fourteen bombers, and six interceptors.

"Good. Keep me posted," I order, pumping out a small cartel of Tech 1 Engineers and Tanks. "Arbiter, Trade-Squad heading your way. Let me know when they arrive."

"Acknowledged, clkhark. Starting to Tech 2," Arbiter responds. Jeez, four extra upgrades of Resource Generation and an Advanced Proto-Crafter really pay off. "I won't be sending a Trade-Squad," he warns.

"No need," I say, smiling.

"What did you do, Vex?" Star asks me, frowning. The screens above my main control board light up next to the faces of Ariel and Seth as Ariel's bombers take out a wandering Engineer.

"I've uploaded all the Seraphim Nanolathe patterns onto my ACU. Do you think Merissa would lend me her Nanolathe storage after the fight?" I ask, starting up what I hope is a Seraphim Land Factory while upgrading my Cybran factory to T3. It has eight T1 Engineers assisting it, so it should be good for now.

Uh-oh.

"Arbiter, got any spare mass you could send me? I'm about to stall!" I panic, realising I hadn't upgraded the Mass Extractors to T3 or built any more yet. Thankfully Seth chucks 300 units of mass my way, right at the last moment. "Thanks, I'm claiming new Extraction Points now," I say, using my connection to the ACU to do four more orders to my units at once. I start production of hovering Seraphim land units, and then kick off Extractor upgrading and am forced to use my ACU to start building Tech 3 Extractors further inland. Soon, with a couple of Tech 3 Power Generators online, my Economy stabilises and I can send some of my new hovering tanks to keep Princess occupied.

"Bad news, Titan," Star says, biting her lip. "Templar's hit Tech 2 and is pumping out shitloads of Tech 1 Bombers."

"Arbiter, how's your sky fleet?"

"Bombing now. I'm hitting Princess's outlying Extraction Points. She's got hardly any Anti-Air," Arbiter observes, bringing up some shields, AA, walls, and other assorted defence systems. "Or TMD, for that matter," he says, building some Tech 2 Cybran Engineers for our spectacularly awesome Loa Missile Launchers to outsmart Princess's lack of Tactical Missile Defence.

I don't respond, waiting for some Intel from Star before I really start something. I've gotten a Tech 3 Naval Factory and a decently sized army to cross the river before Star speaks up.

"Small problem. You don't have any point defence at all, and Princess is coming at you with a shitload of Wagner amphibious tanks and a Monkeylord."

"Well, crap. How the hell did she get a Monkeylord up so fast?" I do a quick check of all the upgrades on my ACU. There's two Tech 3 Engineering Suites, Cybran and Seraphim, Advanced Weapon Cooling, and Advanced Resource Generator. "I have an idea… Arbiter, can you send over some building support? I'm gonna grab the Advanced Building upgrade."

Star gasps and Arbiter grins. "I was wondering how long it would take you to get it," he says. "I'll need to set up some Zuthuthaam first though. You have a Monkeylord and a pissed off sister after you, for goodness sake!"

I laugh. "I was wondering if she was going to try Steamroll me. Your right, I probably should have built some Artillery to deal with her. I've got a small army of mobile AA up and running, and I'll send over a squad of bombers and interceptors in a moment." I tell him, running a quick diagnostic on my economy.

Everything is in the green and full to capacity.

It's a pity I can't get a Paragon or something, but they're almost more risk than they're worth. Almost.

"Star, is that squad Arbiter gave you still online?"

"Affirmative. I've been running hell for Templar's parked Bomb-Squad."

"Titan, can you send any naval units? Princess is going all out with these subs, and I can't get anything in the water!" Arbiter says, bringing online some Torpedo Bombers.

"I'm gonna send in a transport loaded with Fire Beetles and crash it," I tell him, loading up the suicide bombers onto the transport with a thought. "If there's one thing she won't be expecting, it'll be a kamikaze Cybran. She's totally expecting the baby."

Star dissolves into a fit of laughter, and can barely breathe after a minute. "You are not sending a baby to deal with her navy," she says, gasping.

"Glad you know you're a grown-up now," I say, handing over control of my kamikaze Fire Beetles. She relishes the chance to blow something up spectacularly, and I can't help but smile for my favourite diabolical little Aeon pyro.

Seth's transported Engineers, a mix of Cybran and Seraphim, build up defences around my base while I construct some Hive Engineering Stations to assist the Naval Factory as it starts to pump out Salem-class warships. The speed is almost alarming, but more than satisfactory.

The most epic thing about the Salem-class warships? They're amphibious. They can sprout legs and walk on land like mobile firebase defence. And considering that naval units are by far the most destructive of all for their Tech level, it is unbelievably effective at bombarding things while on the move, whether it be in land or water.

"Star, can I get an update on that Monkeylord?" I ask, bringing a few Salems inland to defend some outlying mass points.

"Not until you build some sonar, dumbass."

Oops.

"Templar just took out my squad with Surface-to-Air-Missiles," Star reports as I amend my lack of sonar. Bloody SAMs. By now, almost every Engineer and factory I have is at Tech 3. The Monkeylord: a fearsome sight in optical range, and even worse on radar. The giant spiderbot not only has active stealth, but also a friggin' gigantic heavy laser generator on its back!

"Here, have some gunships," Arbiter grins, handing over a ton of Vulthoo. If there is one thing that guy is good at, it's an overload of Air Superiority. Almost five hundred Vulthoo make their way towards Templar's base, seeking revenge.

Star flicks to the global comms channel for a moment. "Eat this, smartass!" she screams at Templar, focusing all five hundred of the gunships on one target at a time. First she takes out the AA, and then pounds any factory she can get her guns trained on to the ground. "Maybe next time he'll think twice before messing with my scouts," she says, going back to our private channel. I can't help but agree. But I'm also worried that Templar already has SAMs up; Arbiter's army is almost nothing but air forces.

I order my small army of Salems to head out to the other side of the Burial Mounds, while setting up some Tech 2 defensive Artillery stations.

"Heads up!" Star yells, flagging the beachhead between me and Arbiter. "Monkeylord on the loose!"

"Dam," I mutter, quickly throwing up some Seraphim Tech 3 shields and Cerberus point defence. "Arbiter, get some mobile shields active, we need-"

"Seraphim don't have Tech 2mobile shields! Get that bloody Fatboy online!" he screams back as Star sets her gunships on the Monkeylord's tank escort.

I rush as much as possible, sending some recently constructed Salem-class warships to delay the Monkeylord. Sarah must be having a bad day, because the Monkeylord starts walking further inland, away from me and Arbiter.

"Fatboy online. Should I start up the Ahwassa?" I ask, setting up my factories to continuously pump out a carefully selected stream of units. The giant tank in front of me rolls itself to the cliff edge above my Naval Factories, and starts constructing some Tech 3 UEF Engineers for me. As soon as they're done, I order them to build some backup factories while the Fatboy chugs out Parashield Mobile Shield Generators as I send a Tech 3 Engineer UEF Trade-Squad to Arbiter.

"Trade-Squad is under your control now," I tell him, sending up some spy planes to Star, whose last Vulthoo have just been murdered brutally by Merissa's hoard of Interceptors.

"Thanks. Hey, are those Ravager T3 Point Defence really as good as I've heard they are?" he responds, engaging in some Naval Warfare with his hover tanks. He immediately begins his standard Fire-Base template manually, so he can store the UEF equivalent in his ACU's memory for later, which gives me a sudden thought.

"Those Ravagers are worth their weight in gold, and they weigh a lot. Do you think I could store a four-faction Fire-Base?" I ask, instructing my Renegade gunships to support the Gunther and Zthuthaam Tech 2 Artillery instillationsin keeping away the armies of Flapjacks and Vipers Templar has amassed at his shoreline to try and keep my Salem squads from coming through. Disappointingly for him, he forgot about the new Hoplite rocket bot, and that I had access to all the missile-hogs he did. Oh, and the Fatboy, which was quickly gaining high Veterancy with those huge battleship guns. The Fatboy's shield would barely last two hits when it came to missile exchanges, so I ordered a nearby Cybran Engineer to construct a small wall of Zapper TMD while the Fatboy kept the Parashields coming. "Prepare for your doom, Templar!" I yelled at him over the global channel, watching Arbiter's Ahwassa fly over my head.

"You sneaky little-" Templar's message was cut off in a sudden burst of static. His units ceased to function for a few moments as the EMP effect of the Ahwassa's gigantic energy bomb went off.

I laughed. This was going better than planned, and we didn't even have a plan! "Star, sending you some air scouts. I need Intel on that Monkeylord and Templar's status."

"Coming right up. By the way, you might want to set up Omni," she reminded me in that innocent way that really grinds on my nerves because she knows it is far from innocent.

"Star, when you're out in the field with more than two squads of units to handle at a time, you'll forget some things too," I say through gritted teeth. Bloody Omni radar. It's up in a matter of seconds, thanks to the new Advanced Build Speed I've gotten. Remarkably, it is non-conflicting with the Engineering Suite upgrades.

"Yeah, like seeing the Monkeylord isn't as bad as not seeing it?"

Crap.

"Arbiter, Princess is flanking us with the Monkeylord!" I yell, panicking slightly when I realise that the rear of my base is literally virtually undefended with a goddamn Monkeylord behind it.

"Hey Titan, I heard you nuked my boyfriend," Princess says, thoroughly enjoying having a Monkeylord somewhere on our side of the river.

"I nuke everyone, sis, get over it." I say, rolling my eyes. Almost every person I've fought in the VR Rooms has been nuked by me at some time or another. Including Sarah.

"I'm firin' mah lay-zar!" she says in a far too happy voice. I switch to Mimic and look around.

"I don't see no laser," I report.

Princess is speechless for a whole minute.

"Where's my Monkeylord?"

"Scrap metal," Arbiter says, joining into the channel. "I still have an Ahwassa up, you realise,"

Princess scowls at Arbiter through the video-comms. "Time to squash you," she says.

And now I realise why we haven't been attacked by them so much. They'd been storing up unimaginable amounts of gunships in the area just outside the Omni range and cloaked them with Deceivers!

I switch back to team-chat. "Star, what are our options?"

"Well, since you have about 30 seconds before those gunships are mobile… get everything you can underwater and set up a HARMS torpedo station perimeter. Then all you need to worry about is torpedo bombers. Arbiter, I suggest you try to bomb those gunships while they're parked, and do the same as Titan. Get everything underwater and anything that can get in the air moving; I'll co-ordinate the mobile shields and AA while you guys are under," Star responded, quickly sending what little gunships she had left to break up Princess's outlying Mass Extractors before suicide bombing them at Templar, who was still trying to recover from the first Ahwassa blast. He'd had an Ythotha half online before the Ahwassa had blasted it to hell and back.

"Titan, Templar's in the red! If we can get him now, we have a fair chance at taking him out before he can cause us any more grief!" Arbiter yells to me, sending his nearly broken Ahwassa on one final trip.

"Wait! We need that Experimental! Land it near my base, I'll try and repair it," I tell him, sending all my amphibious units underwater. My only other Experimental is another Ahwassa, and it'll be far more effective with two of them.

"Fine, but hurry. He's repairing his ACU!" Arbiter shouts, sending a twenty-strong hoard of Vulthoo and Stinger Gunships at Templar.

"Why haven't we been seeing any activity from Princess's base?" I ask Star, who is busy micromanaging my banks of Parashields, Banger AA Trucks and assorted Missile-Junkies.

"She's been a little preoccupied," Star responds, not elaborating.

"So we should be glad Merissa's on their side?"

"Yeah."

"Arbiter, the Ahwassa is repaired. Almost all of my Engineers are here with me, since they float. Send your bomber at the gunships first. If they get mobile, we're screwed. I'm going to go all out in constructing a rival air force and getting my own Ahwassa online. Templar's finished, but only if we aren't torn to shreds moments later," I tell 'Vadam, building a single Seraphim Air Factory and telling all the units I have with some way of assisting in building to get it going. A total of almost 80 Tech 3 Engineers are assisting one factory. Each Seraphim Fighter/Bomber takes a mere half-second to construct. It actually takes longer for the factory to start a new one than it does to get it built.

"Death to the- oh, SHIT!" Arbiter screams in horror as a billion gunships rise from the stealth fields of the Deceivers.

"Steamroll?" I ask, slightly defeated. The gunships are, of course, heading for me. I get the Ahwassa's build pattern online, just building it enough for the other Engineers to work from before scurrying into the murky depths of the river.

"T4 Strategic Bomber online." My HUD tells me, and I barely get it in the air before Princess's gunship swarm totally decimates my army of Engineers.

"Hey Princess, surprise!" I yell into the global channel as my Seraphim Fighter/Bombers come back from removing every little bit of AA and Factory in Templar's scorched base. Half the army suicides by crashing into the panicked gunships, but the rest shoot their way through. "Did you even think to bring any AA?" I ask her, shaking my head in disbelief. Almost too easy.

"Titan, she did." Star sighs.

"What?!"

A new threat that I've realised far too late; each of those Stinger gunships under Princess's control has a transport clamp, and those can hold Mobile Tech 2 Flak Artillery units. Ground-to-Air AA just got wings.

My fighters, my last hope, are blown up almost as fast as they took out the Stingers by ramming them.

"Arbiter. What have you got left?" I ask, constructing a wall of HARMS, cornering myself into this part of the river before bringing up as many floating SAMs as possible. Since I lack Support Commanders, or any land-bound amphibious builder, my towers are prematurely blown to little bits.

"An Ahwassa, a few bombers, a bunch of other junk… and my Megalith. Remember how you said that changing the ACU was the only way you knew to change the way war was fought? We could certainly use some more units and buildings," he tells me, sounding a bit defeated.

I sigh. New units would be cool, but-

Meh, screw homework, I'm going to be busy with designing a fully submerged Sub Factory. And maybe have a meat and gravy sandwich while I'm at it.

"Star, I'm blind down here. What'cha got for me?" I ask, plans for new units forming in my head when I probably should have been more concerned with the fact that there was another Fatboy in the water that wasn't mine.

"Well," Star says, "You're screwed until those gunships need to refuel, and until then, you have an Experimental or two working on running you over. As in a Ythotha trampling. Also, you may want to take out the Novax Center before letting your Ahwassa park itself."

"Point taken," I say, sending the aforementioned Ahwassa on a bombing run over Templar's head. "Arbiter, send your Ahwassa at Templar. Let's get rid of him and then blow Princess up!"

"Affirmative. Titan, I'm going to draw the gunships away from you. Make use of that Advanced Proto-Crafter and get some SAMs online before Princess realizes I'm faking. Star, I hand over control of this rather large… mekago bazor for Princess," Arbiter grins, doing that creepy thing with his mandibles again.

"What's a mekago bazor?" I ask, confused but building some AA.

"It means something that even I don't understand once you translate it, but I can sum it up as "Unreturnable Gift That May Cause Bodily Harm", or, if you want the specifics, it's a Tech 3 Transport over-loaded with Fire Beetles. Big Badda Boom," Star says; the absolute poster-child of explosive-loving people everywhere.

"Ha-hah," I laugh, clapping and shaking my head in wonder. "That's my girl," I smile, watching as the murky depths of the river a lit up with the explosion of fifteen mekago bazor detonating on a single target. I immediately notice the Fatboy, silhouette visible from the explosion, trundling towards me, sending out torpedoes. And then I see the really big piranha-like thing as I whap my ACU's head into as I dodge the first volley of explosives.

"I told you there was a Fatboy gunning for you!" Star yelled in her "I told you so" voice as the HARMS torpedo stations whirr into action. With a little bit of micromanaging, the HARMS only shoot four Kril Torpedoes, and I manually send the nanites inside to destroy the main electronic network of the Fatboy. Soon, Princess's Experimental is just a museum piece. All the internal networks are destroyed, and all the guns remain…

"Arbiter, I'm going to just test a quick theory here, but it might take a moment. Can you hold them off for a while?" I ask, thinking about what he'd said before, about new units.

"Templar is gone in 3… 2… 1…"

The river is lit up again by the death-nuke of Templar's ACU detonation, his core reactor collapsing. There's a slight muffled whumph and a shockwave as the explosion washes over my underwater workshop. Using some highly micromanaged nanites, I cut away the big warship cannons and attach them to my own still-functioning Fatboy. Then I remove the torpedo launchers. I think about putting them onto the Fatboy, but that's rather pointless, isn't it? I've got at least seventeen HARMS systems I could use! But now that Templar has been dealt with, I'm planning to bring the Fatboy topside anyway. No more torpedoes needed, but I could put on some AA, that's for sure.

"Going back under," Arbiter reports. "Got those SAMs up yet?"

"I should have enough. Princess left me my Salem Factory, as well."

"Titan, send something at her already!" Star whines, having run out of units to play with. The Mobile AA and shield wall had already been destroyed, but she'd taken out a good deal of the gunship swarm. I seriously could not believe we'd missed that swarm until it had been too late.

"On it." I say, giving her control of a large amount of Salems. "Happy birthday!"

"OMG, thank you!" Star squeals, finally getting some land units. We don't know when her birthday really is, so we sorta have like twelve parties for her every year.

"Raiding party!" Arbiter, Star, and I all yell at once on the global channel. Princess's gunships have only just been finished off when I send my new Fatboy II, complete with four towers worth of Cybran SAMs on top, straight into the heart of her base.

"Mekago bazor! Mekago bazor!" Arbiter yells, flagging a rather new development in our way.

Twelve Monkeylords; waiting for us.

"What the hell?!" I yell, pulling my Fatboy II out of there before I lost my last link to UEF units.

"Umm, I layered down twelve or so constructs before I completed my first Monkeylord and lost the blueprint, so technically I'm not cheating, am I?" Princess asked innocently, looking up at me with her almost-perfected puppy eyes.

"Seth, nuke her."

"With pleasure," he replies coldly, as I give him my Ahwassa Bomber. Before you know it, one of the Monkeylords is scrap metal, and half the base is nothing but wreckage.

Just as an epic war between Monkeylords, Ahwassa, and a Megalith started, I had an idea. Calling up my HUD connection to my ACU, I scanned my new Fatboy II and labelled the resulting wireframe schematic as "T2 Doom Tank". It wasn't constructible in any known factory, but it could be done straight from the ACU, which made me wonder if it would be possible to construct other units straight from my ACU.

Think later; blow up sister first.

"Star, you want a Doom Tank?" I ask, building up a U shaped wall of Hives, with just enough space to put a Doom Tank Nanolathe pattern in.

"What in the world is a Doom Tank?" she asks, confused.

"This." I say, handing over control of the first one ever constructed. I hear a small gasp, and then cackling laughter. "You are bloody unbelievable, you know that?" I tell her, setting up more Doom Tanks in the Hive wall.

"I want… MOAR!" she screeches in glee, tearing through Princess's defences with twice the firepower of a normal Fatboy, and I order my reserve Doom Tanks, about five in total, barely constructed, to start pumping out hoards of Flapjack missile trucks, Mongoose Gatling Bots, Pillar heavy tanks, and Parashields. I also set up a couple of Engineers to start building Klink Hammer Artillery Stations so I could bombard Princess even further into the ground.

"Now, have I levelled the playing field yet?" I ask in global, watching at Princess's unbelieving face. So? She got an army of Monkeylords, and I've got an army of improvised Doom Tanks.

"Not quite," a chirpy voice says. "I think you forgot about someone," Merissa smiles in a way that tells me she's got more than enough firepower to deal with my Doom Tanks.

"Unless you have a bazillion Ahwassa, I doubt it," I say, wondering what the heck she could be controlling.

"I don't want to give away my secrets-" Merissa starts before getting cut off by Star.

"Yes you do. You want to give away everyone's secrets," Star says, rolling her eyes and tearing another Monkeylord into oblivion.

"Mmmmmm… Yeah, you're right," Merissa sighs, chewing her lip. "I have about forty Ythotha Nanolathes hidden by Deceivers," she giggles. "Templar was awesome enough to hand over all the necessary building drones before he carked it."

"Great… Arbiter, where are those Ahwassa?" I ask, setting up a UEF Air Factory to pump out Stingers and load them with Parashields. I don't know why, but I just feel like putting Parashields on them. Maybe they'll last longer.

"Shot down," Arbiter grimaces, shaking his head. "I have, however, received plans for a unit called the "T2 Doom Tank". I assume you messed around with the Fatboy?"

"Star, if you would be so kind," I nodded to her, grinning.

"Check this out, Bug Man," Star grins, handing over one of the many Doom Tanks I've supplied her with. Princess now has a full armament of Ythotha coming from her north to strengthen her defensive lines, which are being thoroughly blown to bits and being built back again.

"Impressive," he says, building some Parashields to defend him while he brings his trademark Fire-Bases online.

"Incoming!" Star screams at me, flagging an area just to the west of me. Pretty much where Templar's old base…

The sheer amount of Ythotha coming at me is enough to scare me shitless, but then my good old AI counterpart kicks me into action. I switch my ACU to Mimic, and start sprinting for the water. If there's one thing I know, it's that dam near all energy based weapons are useless underwater.

"Shit!" I yell, taking a leaping dive off one of the cliff edges and into the river, a huge energy blast turning that cliff into a crater. "Goddammit! Hey, does Merissa even have a call-sign yet?"

"I'm pretty sure it's "Barbie", but I could be wrong," Star shrugs. "You know, if I had some way to get Mass and Energy, I might be able to build an army using the Doom Tanks." She suggests.

"I'm a little busy trying to save my last link to the Doom Tank," I say, targeting the mass of Ythotha with my new shielded Stinger squadron. While they occupy the Ythotha, I send a couple of Doom Tanks and my original Experimental back to my side of the river. "Look, I'll donate you another Doom Tank and some resources so you can build an Engineer and set up an economy while I sort out Merissa's Ythotha, OK?"

"Fine by me," Star grins, ordering her army to simultaneously bombard Princess's inner Factories and the Ythotha that are desperately trying to follow me underwater.

"Titan, I know you're in a bad situation, but do you think you could help me?" Arbiter asks, sounding panicked. "My last Doom Tank just got annihilated by a Monkeylord and I don't have any backup Engineers! They all died by Bombers!"

I only have three Doom Tanks left, one of them being the Experimental Fatboy I modded. "I'll see what I can do. Star, how are my Artillery defences holding up?"

"Bombed to hell and back. We might actually lose this," Star says apprehensively, tilting her head.

"Arbiter, fall back. Retreat to our side of the river, and set up as many of the Defender templates as you can. Save some room on the higher ground for Artillery and Missile-Bots," I order, finally crossing the large river. Merissa's Ythotha aren't following, instead cornering in on the last of Princess's base. "While you set up defences, I'm going to kick start our economy, and swarm the area with Missile-Bots for shoreline firepower. Once we've got the shoreline secured, we should have enough of an economy to swarm Doom Tanks and every other useful unit you can think of. Sound good?"

"Those two are probably going to be able to counter it somehow, but for now, it sounds good. What should I do to hold off the ground forces?" Arbiter asks, pulling back. He self-destructs everything that Princess might be able to capture to gain Seraphim Tech, and then uses his backup force of Vulthoo to keep the Ythotha off his tail until he reaches safety. I forget to remind him about the no-capture rule before the self-destruct countdown ends.

"Hovering Seraphim tanks and Cybran amphibious tanks. That way you can tackle both Riptide and Wagner tanks," I suggest, going far inland. My shielded Stinger squadron is, unbelievably, still alive. And unharmed! "Star, take these Stingers. They're shielded, so they should last a while. I need you to scout inland and find out where all those Ythotha came from and if there's any more we should be worried about."

"On it," Star responds, kicking into action. She blasts a good amount of Factories and Mass Extractors on the way, leaving the smouldering wreckage behind with a guard in case Merissa or Princess decides to try getting them back.

"Titan, we need to pool our resources, or I'm never going to be able to pull this off," Arbiter tells me. He's getting bombarded by Princess's new air force, so I quickly set my team's resources to pool.

"Star, get some Engineers online and get him some backup!" I yell; constructing some SAMs as a small flight of bombers gets through. The EMP effect knocks out my systems for a moment, and I'm left in darkness.

And stay in darkness.

-.-.-.-

Initiating Fourth Memory File V-4

-.-.-.-

"Star?" I call, getting worried. EMPs are never supposed to last this long. I open up my HUD, and it tells me my ACU is offline. All the lights and sounds I normally hear from the VR ACU head are gone. What the hell?

I check for available networks, seeing only the Academy Intranet. The usual hum of activity from cellphone networks are missing. I start unbuckling myself from the control chair, numerous possibilities running through my head at breakneck pace; some of them literally.

"Vex!" I hear a strong voice yell from somewhere behind me, muffled by the thick armour of the ACU head.

"I'm here! What happened?" I yell back, finally getting the last strap undone.

"The power's cut, and I don't think it was an accident!" the voice yells. I think it's Rick. He's the only guy I know who can bellow that loudly and care enough to check on me.

I stalk over to the rear exit hatch, and start twisting the giant wheel-lock. It takes a moment, but it finally gives and the door opens. I gasp when I see what its like outside. There's hardly any sunlight, as it's blocked out by the thick cloud of smoke that's covering the skies.

"Rick, what the hell is going on?!" I exclaim, climbing out of the VR. "This is insane! I got hit by an EMP in the VR just as the power cut!"

Rick doesn't look all that shaken, but then again he is the son of one of the UEF's top Military Generals. "The Headmaster thinks we may be under attack. Nobody has any idea who, or what their motives are, but we need to get out of here," he explains, moving to the HQ room where Ariel and Merissa would be, probably scared or annoyed.

"Gotcha," I say, moving around to the VR Seth would be in. I knock on the ACU's armoured plating as loudly as I can, and get a muffled reply.

"What was that?" I yell, straining to hear the response. I hear a large squawk and then a huge bang as 'Vadam kicks the door. Man, could he do some damage. There are a couple more thumps before the armour plating shoots away, and Seth falls out of the VR. "Dude, I highly recommend you avoid playing soccer," I say, quite seriously, before explaining what's going on.

The floor starts shaking and there's a giant roar in my ears, causing me to fall painfully to the ground as a huge Broadsword Gunship flies past the window. I can't believe how huge it is up close! It's like staring at a flying fortress… hang on, that's the CZAR.

"Seth, grab Sarah and let's get out of here," Rick shouts, running towards us with Ariel and Merissa following closely.

'Vadam lets out a stream of clicks, whistles, and grunts before trying to open up the door to Sarah's VR. He uses his claws to cut a few handholds into the metal before tearing it open. The ACU heads used in the VR Rooms are significantly weaker than a real ACU's armoured plating, and 'Vadam easily rips through the plating and electronics to get Sarah, who is unconscious in the Pilots Seat.

As soon as there's a doorway large enough for me to get in, I rush to get to Sarah. She's suffering from Overload; it's a rare occurrence of looping and repeated data feedback from HUD connections when there's a power surge right after a power cut. It can leave a Cybran with migraines for days after: if they survive.

"Are the elevators still working?" I call to the others, removing the straps holding Sarah in place. Her body hangs limply from the command center, her head flopping downwards. The near white hair keeps getting in my face as I struggle to hold her up and get the last straps undone.

"Power's out, we gotta stick to the standard Evac plan!" Rick yells, anxious to get out of here.

"Almost there…" I mutter, fiddling with the last clasp. Sarah's unconscious body falls ungracefully on top of me as the whole building shudders and starts to lean slightly. "What in gods name was that?!" I ask, dragging Sarah to the hole in the wall before handing her over to Seth. I try to be careful as I climb out of the hole, but the building groans and the floor seems to jump below me. A spike of jagged metal slices through my pants and cuts deeply into the side of my shin. I gasp as I feel the circuitry down there suddenly get cut off from the rest of me.

Rick hauls me through, and we head towards the stairwell as fast as possible. "Get to the Garage," I tell him, "and get everyone into their ACUs. If the Quantum Gate is still active, head there. Get anybody who hasn't got an ACU or an armoured way out of here into the chest storage compartments," I gasp in pain again as I trip over something. Rick grabs me and gets me back on my feet before I've even had a chance to fall, and I look out the window.

The smoke clears slightly, and I can see an army of bots on the plains outside the city. The Academy Guards are busy trying to fight them off, but from the looks of it, they're heavily outnumbered. And their ACUs were upgraded with quick submission of a small force in mind, rouge students, rather than fortified resistance of a substantially larger enemy force. They had little to no economy, and their best bet was to go Mimic and take long-range shots and find cover. They knew they were fighting a losing battle, but they needed to get the city evacuated as much as possible before giving up.

"Vex, no time for sight-seeing," Rick says, pushing me towards the stairwell. When I look down, I can see our friends and other students fighting to get out. Lots of panicking going on down there. Seth's carrying Sarah, whose visible circuitry is flashing unpredictably as her mind battles to get control of itself again. Her new Aeon tattoos are hidden by the way 'Vadam carries her, with her head nestled into his shoulder. His armpit probably smelled like fish.

As Rick and I start to climb down, there's an ungodly sound and the building shakes like an oversized baby rattle. The hallway that we'd just left got demolished by a badly guided Wasp ASF fighter, sending shrapnel and plane wreckage everywhere. We can't stop though. Stopping would mean dying.

I can barely think straight, my leg hurts that much. I can still wriggle my foot, though it hurts like hell and feels unnatural, like it isn't my foot. Time to worry about that later: escape first.

"AFK," I tell Rick, who nods and grabs my shoulders. AFK, "Away From Keyboard" is used when people were chatting on the school network and had to go away for a moment; usually for a bathroom trip or snacks. When a Cybran went AFK like this, it meant I was letting my AI side take over while my mind retreated. My AI side wouldn't communicate, but simply put my body on autopilot and would let the organic me know when something important was happening. Something I would need to be there for.

Now gracefully oblivious to the world around me, I could do some thinking without being distracted. Rick would have to guide my body in the right general direction, but I wasn't currently needed there.

Who would attack us?

Why?

Would they have unofficial higher-ups backing them?

How many were there?

There was a lot to think on. Who? From what I'd seen out the window, it could have been either a UEF or Aeon gone rouge, although the UEF is the only faction I could think of that might have something against the Academy. Why? If it was a UEF, then I'd say it was because of the Cybrans and Aeon who got free will around here. Well, you know; free will within the school boundaries. A lot of factionists resented that.

The Academy was considered a "pure science" facility; they only let us research and conduct science on what we wanted to, which produced much better results than someone who would have just been paid to research something. That was extremely good, but a lot of people didn't like the fact that there were Cybrans and Aeon living here.

"Vex! Wake up!" Rick yelled to me, and my AI flags it into my consciousness. It takes a moment for me to fully reintegrate with my body, brining a wave of dizziness.

"I'm back." I tell him, shaking my head to clear my senses. We're in the ACU Garage, along with everyone who couldn't make it to an evacuation tank- I mean transport. Everyone who owns one of the ACUs living in the Garage is also here with us, and everyone seems to be looking to me… "What's happening?" I whisper to Rick, slightly annoyed.

"I told everyone to get in here because it's fortified, and you'd have a plan to get us out," he says quickly, wincing as another plane flies into the building above us.

"OK, everyone! Listen up! Step forward if you're a Pilot, and come over here," I point to Rick, who shuffles back a few steps. "If you have an ACU but can't pilot it, come over here to me, and hurry up!" I yell, trying to get people moving. A few Pilots that I know go over to Rick, and a few of the crowd pick their way over to me.

Merissa, Seth-Vadam, Jones, Maxine, and Andrew make their way to me, 'Vadam still carrying Sarah. Those are the ones I know who own an ACU. The rest I don't have time to identify.

"Rick, how many of yours have an ACU?" I yell to him, and the ACU owners raise their hands. "You guys, get into your ACUs and empty the rear chest storage – load as many people as you can in there, doesn't matter which faction, OK? We need to get everyone out of here and if I see any factionism going on in this Evac, I'm going to rip your damn head off myself. Am I clear?" I ask, glaring at Nick and Nate in particular. They scowl, but nod. "Good. Now get moving! You lot," I point at the remaining Pilots without ACUs, "Get over here," I order, feeling another shockwave running through the floor. The loudest thing any of us have ever heard roars all around us. The top of the Academy is falling down. This only sends all the rest of the civilians into a panic.

"HEY! SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Rick bellows, getting everyone to freeze for a moment. He nods to the Pilots, and they rush away to get into their ACUs while Rick addresses the crowd. "Find an ACU with open compartment doors, and get the hell in there! This is our last chance Evac! Any factionism from Pilots or Evacuees means you get left behind! Now MOVE!" he roars, and everybody starts moving again, but in a slightly more ordered manner.

I bring my attention back to the Pilots around me. "OK, everyone who can't drive their ACU, these guys are going to pilot for you. You'll be in the control center alongside them, but remember to let them do the piloting. If you know any of these Pilots," I'm too busy to take notice of who's who anymore, so I'm just going to let them do it. "Then drag them to your ACU. Pilots, don't disrespect them or their machines; our lives depend on this. Seth, you're with me. Bring Sarah and Ora-Diel," I order, pushing the others along. Ora-Diel is another Seraphim, and she's been doing a lot of ACU training.

The emergency generators, AKA our ACUs, are still up and running so I access the comms system via my HUD and broadcast a message to all pilots. "Use channel code "Zeta-Evac-Twelve" for all relevant broadcasts and tactical information. I'm not going to leave anybody behind, so make sure you all listen out when I broadcast. Failure to do so will probably result in death, likely from whoever's attacking us." I say, cutting off my connection before I could get any response.

"Clkhark, what about Sarah's ACU?" 'Vadam asks me, holding Sarah up a little higher. She's still suffering from Overload, and her circuitry is positively dancing with activity. That's a problem… they should be going inert right about now, but I can't deal with it without letting everyone I'm trying to evacuate die. Ora-Diel is already in Seth-Vadam's ACU and is opening up the bays.

I'm almost ready to leave her ACU behind, but then I spot one particular Cybran who can't quite find where he should be. Dammit. I'll need someone in Sarah's ACU with the Pilot, but I need someone with Sarah while I'm stuck in the Pilots seat. "Jake, over here," I call, limping towards the bays where Sarah and I have our ACUs parked. "Seth, you go with him. He's going to have to pilot Sarah's ACU," I say, and they both nod. I know Jake's a little rusty on the piloting, so I tell him to just make sure it moves.

"Guys, remember to hold fire," I broadcast to the Evac channel, before putting out a broadcast on the speaker system. All the current ACUs are loaded up, some to beyond capacity. "Everyone still on foot, two more ACUs are available for load-up, go to holding bay F5," I order.

"You'll be OK on your own?" 'Vadam asks, still holding Sarah.

"I'm going to have to take Sarah in mine," I say, a little apologetically. "Jake, start up Sarah's ACU and get the hatches open. Seth'll join you in a minute," I say. He nods and runs off.

"Vex!" Ariel cries, running over to me from the last of the crowd making their way to the last ACUs as more tremors run through the building. It must be chaos out there. I'm glad to see Ariel though.

"Seth, I'll open up the doors for you. Leave Sarah in the control room, and head over to Jake," I tell him. Ariel looks worried. "Ariel, you're with me," I grab her hand and limp over to the ACU control room. Climbing up the stairs is a lot harder now that I'm off AFK. It hurts like hell, too.

"Vex, are you sure about this?" Ariel asks. Her bright green eyes are open wide, flicking to everyone's faces and back again as I open up the storage bay doors. It's going to be a tight fit, but we should be able to get everyone in.

"Of course I'm not," I say, and it seems to startle her.

"What do you mean your not sure?!" she shrieks, and I quickly hug her close.

"I mean that I have no idea what's going on at all. The best thing I can do right now is get these people as far away from the action as possible. As soon as we're outside-" another earth-shaking explosion rattles the Garage, chunks of debris falling from the ceiling. "Get in!" I yell, pushing her into the ACU hatch just before leaping away from a particularly large chunk of lethal concrete. It smashes through the floor and bounces heavily onto the next one. I do my best to climb into the ACU hatch with a useless leg and a sloping floor, watching the chaos around us.

"Vex, is she supposed to be doing this?" Ariel asks me as I strap myself into the Pilots seat. Sarah's propped up against the rear wall of the Command Center, and Ariel has taken the initiative to watch over her.

"No, she's not. I need you to keep an eye on her, and tell me how she's doing mentally. Don't ask how, just look at her circuitry. Tell me if there's any distinct change in the lights," I tell her, hoping she knows what I mean.

"Distinct?"

"Trust me, you'll know. If your head starts to hurt, focus on something else, but keep those lights in your vision," I say. The girls are positioned behind me, so I can focus on the Evac situation.

"Broadcast, broadcast," I test; making sure my ACU is in the right channel. "Everyone, sound off. Just give me faction, and let me know if you have an Area Shield upgrade, Surface-To-Air Missile Systems, or Build Spec upgrades." I order, flicking through my available ACUs. As each Pilot sounds off, I set up a screen to track each one. Two Seraphim ACUs, and about twenty put together from the other factions. Four of those are UEF, and have area shields. "Form up into four groups, as even as possible, make sure your all under a shield, and let's get moving. To all passengers, get ready for a bumpy ride. All units hold fire until I can get Friend-or-Foe tags up."

It's a sight to behold, twenty three ACUs, all with various upgrades to their hardware, from all the factions, walking out of the Garage in one big stream. I take a moment to check which ACUs are equipped with SAMs and distribute them between the four groups. All Guards are deployed, so there's no-one to stop us. Pretty sure they wouldn't be able to anyway.

"Broadcast, broadcast," I say in the Guard's personal channel. "Is there anybody out there? Please respond, over."

"You again?" one Guard asks over the comms, astounded that I'm still alive. "Well, good thing we have more ACUs out there-"

"Sorry, can't help fighting," I say, directing the groups to go through the streets that appear to be the least bombarded to get the Quantum Gates at the heart of the city. "Strictly Evac. All the transports were full and left before half the Academy could get out, so we've got about twenty three ACUs loaded beyond capacity with civilians. We're heading to the Gates. Can you supply radar feed? We need some Friend-or-Foe tags before we get moving. Who are our allies and who do we need to shoot down?"

"Bloody UEF renegades," the Guard says, tired. He's been doing a good job so far. "I believe you Cybrans know all about the factionism issues?"

"Only far too well." I respond, watching my orbital view of the area. "What are the tags?"

"City defences are orange, Guard forces are blue. Civilians are grey. The enemy seems to be multiple tags, but we can pin all hostile forces as green. You lot happy as red?" the Guard tells me. I broadcast the information and radar screenings to the rest of the Evac Pilots, as well as update their tag spotters.

"Fine by me, and I'm currently in charge of the Evacuee ACUs, so the others won't complain. Don't know why they would at a time like this, anyway… sorry. Did any of the Evac transports make it out?" I ask. The Guard suddenly looks like he's gone from middle-aged to old in a matter of seconds.

"War crimes," he says, looking away for a moment before being forced to start commanding what little forces he has left fanatically. "The Gates have been destroyed and that section of the city is mostly rubble. We can't win this, and we can't evacuate anyone any more. I'd love to help, but I'm seriously wondering how we're going to do this."

I think for a moment. Dad's probably going to be extremely pissed off, but we need somewhere safe to go where we know we can regroup and organise a fortified resistance.

"I have an idea, but you guys will need to knock out the Quantum Gateway restriction satellites," I tell him, redirecting the group back away from the city centre. There's a few complaints over the Evac channel but I quickly remind them I'm the only one who currently knows where's relatively less violent.

"I could do that," the Guard says, slowly nodding. "What's your plan?"

"Send scouts over the Western Plains." I order, "Don't argue with me. I know you're higher rank, blah blah blah, but right now I don't care and neither should you. I've gotta get this ACU hoard under control, so let me know what you see." I tell him, completely serious.

"Vex, Sarah's lights are getting worse," Ariel says worriedly. "They're getting brighter and faster,"

"Shit." I curse under my breath, switching to Evac channel. "Guys, we're going to be heading near the front lines. There's a lot of Tech 3 running about on both sides, so builders get behind and combatants up front. Stay behind the bloody shield wall – you wouldn't last a second outside it," I order everyone, and of course, Nick and Nate are the ones who object the most.

"Why should we be taking orders from a Chiphead?" Nick asks, his eyes narrowing. "For all we know, you're the one leading us to our deaths!"

"THE GOD DAMN UEF ARE ATTACKING!" I shout at him, bashing a fist down on the control panel. "You either follow orders, or you relieve command of your ACU to someone who will. I'm not going to tolerate anybody risking the lives of a couple hundred people just because you can't see shit." I say, gritting my teeth.

"You might of-" Nate starts before being cut off by Rick.

"If you aren't following orders, you're endangering the rest of us." he says, going to Mimic and pointing his Anti-Matter Cannon at Nate's head. "Any more questions?"

There were none.

"Great teamwork guys; really appreciate it," I say, praising the others. Most of them are scolding Nick and Nate, but I ask them to stop. Better to wait until everyone's safe and alive first.

"Scout was shot down by Air Superiority Fighters," the Guard reports, watching the north walls of the city. "But there was nothing else there, and those ASF had followed it all the way from the eastern walls. Whatever your planning, you'd better hurry." He says, raising an eyebrow when I lead the rest of the Evac group out the gates. At least now I know there's decreased risk of flanking.

"We've got some backup for you!" I say, directing the Combat Pilots to get to the shield wall and hold off the latest wave of enemy units. "Ora, Seth's ACU has some unbelievably fast building capability. Get us a couple of Ythotha and some Ahwassa patterns up for the rest of the builders. We need to give the Guards some reinforcements! Everyone who has their ACU outfitted for max build capability, get to work on those Nanolathes. Four ACUs per Nanolathe, the rest of you, build some factories or Experimentals," I yell to the Evac group.

"Well, this is a surprise. I thought you said "Strictly Evac"?" The Guard says, looking kind of flustered.

"Sir, I do believe you'll need the help." I say to the Guard, who can't really believe the sudden amount of help he's getting. "Now, how are the defences of the city holding up, and can we get everyone who's still out there here?" I ask, using my new Seraphim Nanolathe patterns to throw up what I now recognise as Tech 3 shield instillations.

"The defences are doing terribly, and this place is currently the most assaulted spot, but the only one even remotely defendable," the Guard says, still watching the force I have under my command throw up those very defences.

"Good." I say, nodding. "Guys, we need some Tech 2 Artillery online for the larger assaults," I order, flicking through the status of all the Combat ACUs. "Nate, pull back. You too, Jones. Actually, all Combat Pilots pull back. You guys are getting far too cocky," I tell them. "Come in for repairs. Don't forget that if even one of you guys gets taken down, you'll be taking the rest of us with you. No heroics!"

"Vex," Rick says, getting my attention. "What's the plan?"

"Defend this place while I get a Gate online. It might take a while to get the codes I need, so don't let anything through." I order, thinking. I didn't feel like this when I was confronted by the Guard: I felt scared. Now, though, I feel like I'm totally in control. No uncertain enemies; only defined Intel.

"Sir, can you order everyone and everything that's going to be evacuated into this spot?" I ask the Guard, flagging a clear spot just behind our shield wall. More shields are going up around it as I speak.

"Yes, but are you sure you can get everyone out?" the Guard asks, clearly concerned.

"No," I respond, "But if this doesn't work, it's not like anybody's going to live through this anyway."

"Good point."

The battle rages on around us as I select a couple of Cybran ACUs to help me get the Quantum Gate online. While my ACU is automatically building, I check on Ariel and Sarah. "How is she?" I ask quietly, turning in my seat to try and face them, but failing.

"The lights are flashing slower now," Ariel whispers, almost crying, "But they're brighter each time. Is she dying?"

I sigh. There's no easy way to put this, and I've only ever been able to tell her like it is. "Possibly. If Overload gets bad enough without proper treatment soon after the event, it can erase a Cybran's memories, personality, and even their brain. The AI they've been twined with can also be erased; overwritten. If she ever wakes up, she might not even be Sarah anymore. Heck, if it gets that bad, the most basic brain functions get damaged and they die anyway," I close my eyes, leaning my head back. "It's truly the worst way to go. Drowning, suffocation, beheading… sure, that's bad; but Overload… I've heard it's close to being awake while your soul is washed away, bit by bit."

"We can save her, right?" Ariel asks, and I hear shuffling. "You could connect to her and-"

"It doesn't work like that. She needs to physically connect to an external hard drive, and offload the event. Last time a Cybran tried to save another suffering from Overload, the problem simply spread. Overload is like the plague, only far more isolated and twice as dangerous. I'm sorry." I say, hanging my head in defeat, or shame. Possibly both. "I need to talk to dad, and this is probably going to be a risky move, so please don't let him know you're here," I ask, feeling terrible about it.

Once the Gate is finished, I connect to its Quantum broadcasting signals via my HUD and stretch out to the Cybran Network, CyNet. I locate Dr. Brackman's signal and request chat. He knows who I am and immediately accepts without question.

"My boy, what's going on?" Brackman asks, his brain flashing with every word through a video feed I uploaded to one of my many command screens.

"Dad, sorry about this, but I need the Gate codes for us to get to the Panacea. The Academy was attacked by some UEF factionist rebels, and we need to get everyone to somewhere safe before they start to pull out the Nukes."

"I've heard about some of your fellow students, oh yes. Are you sure about this?" he asks, concerned. This isn't quite how I was expecting him to react, but then again he has had about a thousand or so more year's worth of diplomatic experience than me.

"If I had anywhere else to go, I would, but you know how riled up the UEF is at us. If we went anywhere else, they'd view us as hostile anyway." I say, hearing another wave of enemy units pummel our battered defences.

"Fine, but I'm warning you, if anyone starts acting up, I won't hesitate to throw them out the airlock," Brackman says to me, feeding the codes into my ACU.

"Thanks, dad; I'll try not to let you down," I say, swapping over to Evac channel. "OK everyone, listen up! The gate's almost ready for transport. The receiving end is going to be paying the energy costs, but make sure you go in one ACU or unit at a time!" I yell, uploading the codes into the gate. "Let's move, people! Turn all weapons to hold fire before you go into the portal, or you'll regret it. I've got us a safe landing spot, but the locals are on a hairline trigger, got it?" everyone listens. Thank god they do.

"OK, civilians first, ACUs last," the Guard orders, sending a couple of his shiny new Ahwassa over what we suspect to be the enemy base. There's a massive explosion as the energy bombs detonate. I feel a little annoyed at the fact that I wasn't able to directly contribute anything to the battle.

As the last of my Evac ACU group enters the portal, I look back to the city. It's in ruins, smoke blocking out the rest. "You first," I tell the Guard. "I'm going to set it to a self destruct timer so they can't follow us."

"Good idea. You know-"

"Save it for later," I say, nodding towards the Gate. "Hurry up and move it, will ya?"

The Guard smiles and shakes his head, but moves through the portal. I rig a timer to a nearby T3 power generator, setting it to explode in one minute. It'll take the Gate out with it, along with the rest of the base. Chain-reactions: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Strategic Launch Detected

And… now I don't even need to bother with a timer.

"Ariel, we're going to get Sarah some help," I reassure her, stepping into the portal.

There's a huge flash, a moment of nausea and weightlessness, and then I find myself back on solid ground. The gravity of this place is slightly lower, and the ACU cushions the impact nicely. I quickly move forward through the crowd of ACUs, heading towards one of the docking bays. As my ACU docks in, I open up the doors on the storage hold and the control room.

"Everyone, find a dock. I know a lot of you aren't probably going to like this, but for now, we are guests on Dr. Brackman's new flagship, the Panacea. This is a purely Cybran vessel, so please comply with anything asked of you. Make your way to the mess halls and wait for further instructions. Thank you," I say my final broadcast over the Evac channel, before connecting to the massive ships systems and requesting some help for Sarah. Every Cybran knows how bad Overload is, and specifically trained medics are rushing for her, responding instantly.

As the other massive machines start filing away into the docks, the Guard's ACU remains in the middle of the bay. It simply sits there, the Guard probably talking with dad for a while, before finally moving to a separate set of docks where the Cybran ACUs are stored.

"Vex," Ariel says, gasping. "Your leg!"

I look down at it. There's a pool of blood in my shoe and my pants leg is crusted with dried blood. "Yeah, it's bad." I say, starting to unbuckle the straps holding me into the Pilot's seat. "I'm more worried about Sarah right now. There are medics on their way," I tell her, getting the last strap undone and falling to the floor. I can't risk putting any weight on my leg. "Ariel, can you open up the first aid kit?" I ask, pointing to a wardrobe in the wall. There's a set of crutches inside, which she hands to me. This is gonna hurt…

Ariel pulls up the leg of my pants as carefully as possible, but it's hard when it's almost solid with caked blood. Her face pales when she sees the cut, a large deep wound, almost to the bone.

"Don't you dare puke on me," I say, gritting my teeth in pain. "Just get it over with, I'll be back in a moment," I tell her, going into AFK while she bandages my leg. The AFK doesn't completely get rid of the pain, but it makes it far more bearable. My AI intercepts the electrical pulses coming from my nerves and deadens them somehow. I don't plan to figure out how.

"Vex, it's done," Ariel's voice calls, heavily muffled by the AFK. I surge back into proper consciousness, gasping when I can feel my leg again.

"Ouch," I rasp, getting up. The medics have already taken Sarah away on a stretcher, rushing her to intensive care. "So, we're finally safe." I say, leading the way out to the Panacea's hallways.

"There were a lot of injuries before you organised everyone to get into the ACUs," Ariel tells me, following as I make my way towards the mess halls.

"I know. I'm going to make sure everyone with an injury, whether Cybran or not, gets treatment. The one thing we can't offer, though, is therapy for those who lost friends and family." It's kind of annoying. We Cybrans, who can literally know exactly how a person feels, can't offer therapy to someone we can't connect with. "The only way we could offer that would be to give them implants so that we can connect, but I don't think that'd help our cause."

Ariel nods mutely. She's a little busy looking around the huge place. The Panacea is one of the first Cybran vessels designed with impressing people in mind, and boy does it work. It's that big that it takes six Paragons to keep it stable, and can act as a fully self-sustained planetoid sized colony. Far in the distance was the giant central cavern, where all the "natural" lands are, larger than the city and surrounding plains we'd just left. It was over twenty kilometres wide at the smallest points, and from here we could barely make out where it ended, if it did. About two kilometres of assorted rooms for residence, work, and play lay between us and the landmass, forming a huge bustling metropolis on the edge of the wilderness.

The walls lining the sides curved up into the reactive armour plating of the roof, which was currently displaying a night sky, contrasting a deep bluish shade with the soft red glow of the Cybran electronics that covered most surfaces.

"This place is huge!" Ariel says, her jaw dropped in wonder. "How did you guys manage to keep this a secret?"

I grin, despite everything. "The trick was that it wasn't a secret. Dr. Brackman has actually been showing it off a lot, calling it the next step in space exploration. Of course, he didn't have all the military hardware on it at the time," I winked, and Ariel's eyes went even wider. Sheesh, they're gonna pop out of her head soon.

"Uhh…" she grunts, speechless.

"This way," I tell her, nodding towards one of the halls leading out from the walkways along the massive cavern. Soon, we're enclosed in a tube of blackened metal and glowing red lights that line the ship like wires in a server farm.

"How big is this thing?" Ariel asks as we enter the main mess hall, which is big enough to hold almost all of the refugees from the Academy and the city. I know that all the teachers, ACU Pilots, and the staff from the Academy would be in a separate mess hall for the VIPs. All the ACU owners would be in there too.

"Well, let's just say that if I wanted to ram the moon into the Earth with it, I could." I say with a chuckle. The Panacea is truly one of the largest feats of space-engineering ever attempted, and the area we'd seen was just a fraction of its true size. "Heck, I could probably replace the moon with it."

Everyone in this mess hall wouldn't be a leader, or anybody who would actively make decisions for the rest of them, so I climbed up to the stage with Ariel, skirting around the crowd. Everyone cheered when I made it up there, so loudly that they must have woken up the dead from the next system over!

"Hey, everyone, nice to see you guys alive and well," I greet them, getting more applause. "Look, I'm sorry for those who didn't make it, and we can honour them later, but right now we've got some other important things to do first. Don't worry, they will be remembered, and they will be avenged!" I shout, earning more cheers of encouragement and praise. "First though, we need to get you lot settled in. We may need to shuffle some people around, but I'm planning to get all evacuees residence in the same basic area, so we can continue studies from the Academy and get our community back on it's feet, even if it's wearing different shoes," I joke, most of the crowd chuckling quietly. "For now though, dinner!" I shout, and people suddenly realise that some of my Cybran brothers and sisters have been moving plates of delicious food onto the tables and around the hall while I've had them captivated. "Enjoy some good food, and get some rest. After what happened today, you all deserve it," I finish, bowing as much as I can in crutches. Everyone is silent for a moment, and Ariel starts clapping behind me. It only takes a moment, but soon everyone is clapping, including the Cybrans who already live on the Panacea.

"Are you one of the higher-ups in the Cybran Nation?" Ariel asks me as we leave. My stomach growls at the thought of a hot meal, but I know we just have to get to the officers mess hall first. It's where all the important staff go for gatherings.

"Actually, not really." I tell her, shrugging a little. "I'm Dr. Brackman's biological son though, so I carry a lot of influence off the field. Just don't ask me to be a diplomat. As you just saw, I'm much better at telling people where to go and what to do and leaving them to sort themselves out from there," I say, putting my palm on the scanner and pushing in a few keys before standing aside. "Can you put your hand on the scanner please?" I ask Ariel, who quickly complies. I press another button and it scans her palm-prints into the locking system. "You now have access to the officers' mess, and can come in here at any time," I tell her, smiling tiredly.

"Cool!" she grins, pulling her hand off the scanner and putting it back on again. The big double doors open up, and she removes her hand. After waiting for the doors to close, but not getting the result she wants, Ariel puts her hand on the scanner again. It doesn't scan, and the doors stay open. She looks at me, annoyed. "Aren't they supposed to shut automatically?"

"Smart systems; it won't close until you've gone through. The system's going to recognise you as mischievous now," I say, suppressing a laugh. "Come on, I bet you're starving."

We walk- no, I limp- in and find ourselves a seat at the back of the hall, just listening to the last of Brackman's speech. He's been telling everyone about the fact that the Panacea isn't something they should try mess around with. He expects everyone's full cooperation when there's an emergency, and makes sure they all know that none of the Cybrans living on the Panacea want any trouble. Until I'd brought the population of the multi-faction city here, it had been a purely Cybran environment.

He told them about the one thing the Cybran Nation had hoped to achieve with Panacea, which was Cybran Isolationism. "The Cybran Nation does not wish to be involved with the politics of others; it simply wishes to be left alone." And, as such, the Cybrans wouldn't go out of their way to interact with the newcomers, but as individuals, they wouldn't go out of their way to avoid them, either.

It was all very complex, and it took a while for all the ground rules to be set, but dinner was finally served and I got to have a chat with friends and family.

"So, my boy," Dr. Brackman says, his holographic self appearing on the seat next to me. Ariel's on my other side, Rick's sitting opposite, and Seth-Vadam is on his right. "How have your studies been going?" he asks, causing me to choke a little on my food.

When I finally get enough breath to reply, I say, "Dad! All things considered, that's what you ask me?!"

Dr. Brackman nods, as though there's nothing odd about it. I groan.

"Fine. I've been excelling in Tech, made a few upgrades to my ACU, figured out what the hell is wrong with Quantum Inversion Stealth Generators, and saved roughly three quarters of the school from total annihilation." I say, shaking my head in wonder. Back during the Infinite War, the UEF had their own nickname for my dad; That Crazy Old Bastard. Sometimes I truly wonder if he hasn't gone insane. After all, he is the only living person who survived, and in some views started, the entire Infinite War.

"That is very good. Oh yes, very good. Who are your friends?" he asks, gesturing to Rick and Seth, still looking at me keenly.

"Oh my god, you can be seriously embarrassing sometimes," I mumble into my hands, hiding my face as my "friends" find my discomfort highly amusing. "I'll tell you later."

Dr. Brackman nods, and his hologram gets up and leaves us. I know I was probably a little harsh on him, but jeez.

"Your dad's cool, even if he is just a brain in a jar," Ariel says, putting a hand on my arm.

"Don't forget the spinal cord," I laugh. "I'd say dad has some serious guts, letting everyone on the ship, but he doesn't actually have any,"

Rick points at me with his fork, taking a breather from his gigantic steak. "So you're the heir to the Cybran Nation, and I've been mocking you all this time? I feel like a traitor," he says, still chewing. We're all hungry, so nobody can really be bothered complaining.

"Hey, I'm not actually the heir. That would be Sarah," I wink. "You saw me out on the field. I'm not a politician, not by a long shot."

"True. So if I marry Sarah, does that mean some stupidly small chance of possibly becoming King of the Cybrans?" he asks, twiddling the fork around as he speaks.

"Not really. You'd be known as the royal consort, possibly, but honestly, Sarah's just next in line to take over once dad's incapable. It takes a special sort of mind to keep a whole Nation on its feet while juggling factionist world leaders, traitorous nodes, and all that sort of thing. If Sarah didn't have the mind, then someone who does would be picked." I tell him, enjoying my own food. "Sarah just gets picked first because she's the child of the two most brilliant minds the Cybrans have ever had; Ivanna Dostya and Gustaf Brackman."

'Vadam is intrigued by this, pausing another roast chicken massacre (a clean one this time) to ask me something. "But… Brackman's a brain in a jar. This is probably going to make me sound stupid, but how did he get her… you know?" he asks quietly, leaning closer and half shrugging, trying to hint at the word pregnant without actually saying it.

"Exo-womb. We're both test-tube babies," I shrug. "If it's any consolation, I did accidentally walk in on them one time when they were both plugged in to one of the VRs. The phrase "Oh yes," haunted me for years," I say, shuddering at the memory.

Rick bursts out laughing for a moment before what I say sinks in. Then the horror dawns. "I… don't know what to think of that…"

"Best not to think of it at all. Forget I asked," 'Vadam says, squirming in his seat. Ariel, slightly oblivious to what the rest of us are talking about, opens her mouth to ask a question. I quickly drop a cherry tomato in there before she says something the rest of us will regret.

"Ariel, don't ask. Seth did that and he regrets it already," I tell her, trying to prevent traumatisation. Hang on… wait, never mind.

"Fine," she huffs, chewing on the tomato. "So what's going to happen to the school? We're all homeless-"

"I'll sort that out soon,"

"With no possessions, no idea of who's dead and who's still alive, no teaching facilities-"

"I was going to sort that out after the residence issue,"

"And last but not least," Ariel continues, glaring at me, "Some people are going to demand to be let off and will probably use this as an excuse to start another war. I know you've treated us as well as possible, but the way you handled disobedience in the field… well, some of the higher-ups in the UEF won't appreciate that,"

I lean back, crossing my legs under the table. Actually, that hurts. "Yeah. Dad's made sure to let everyone know that if anybody starts trying to cause trouble, he's going to shove them out the airlocks and they can fend for themselves. He's also claiming temporary ownership of all ACUs until everything is sorted out, which might not help our cause. But hey, we were never expecting visitors."

Seth finishes off his third whole-roast chicken, and looks around for more. "You guys are surprisingly good chefs," he says, eagerly licking up the last traces of flavour from his plate.

"We've had years and billions of simulations to get it right," I nod. "Our VRs are beyond anything the UEF and Aeon can do. You have to be a Cybran to get the most out of it, or be in some big-ass brain scanner, but I describe it most accurately as "Stepping into an alternate reality or parallel universe". It really is quite amazing."

"Vex, do you know how long we'll be staying here on the Panacea?" Rick asks me, having finished his meal.

"I have no idea. I can try to set up some long-term arrangements, but only if a short-term thing can be done without trouble, and it'll take some time and the cooperation of everyone. We can actually start up the Academy again, if you know what I mean," I reply, gesturing widely in front of me. "I suppose it really depends on how long people are willing to stay."

"I'm willing to live here," Ariel says, a defiant look in her eye. I smile and stroke her hair. She's a good person.

"I don't think there's actually that many of us who actually have somewhere to go," 'Vadam says, looking around. "I mean, a few Aeon may be annoyed at lack of temples for The Way and stuff, but it's better than slavery by the UEF." He shrugs. Rick, a UEF himself, isn't bothered by Seth branding the UEF as enslavers.

"I've always got a home on Earth waiting for me," Rick says. "But frankly, I'd rather be with my friends. My parents would highly disapprove you guys, so I'm sticking around."

I suddenly have an idea. I use my HUD and order a round of lemonade for us. When they arrive, I grab one and hold it up.

"To rebels with a decent cause!" I toast. The others grin and hold up their glasses.

"To a decent cause!" they chorus, everyone clinking glasses with one another.

"Amen," I finish, drinking.