The castle of Tharkhold was pulsing with all the expected activities prior to the storms. Lightning crackled in the black sky as the clouds began to amble in a circular fashion. Freshly hatched, Ravagons swooped between peaks and dark alleys, stretching their untested muscles. Demons and Caco-demons from countless existences scrapped and cursed with each other. High above, overlooking it all, the Gaunt Man stood with forbearing countenance.

The High Lord Uthorion forced a smile through his host body, the beautiful Lady Ardinay. "If I didn't know you better Lord Salisbury, I would say you were almost excited about our new quarry."

The Gaunt Man scowled at the use of his born name. Uthorion loved to play little word games, to jest or play with his fellow Lords. Nothing pleased Uthorion more than to get under the skin of an adversary, the ultimate of this being his eternal torment of Lady Ardinay, a former conspirator in his rise to Lordship. It was the closest thing to any real power Uthorion would ever have. Nonetheless his armies provided excellent fodder for oncoming storms.

"One can always savor the moment of victory in our Possibility Wars. In a short time, our darkness devices will spill forth the blood of these realities. Gibberfat!" In puff of sulfur, a small rotund demon appeared, its blood color skin coated with filthy grease.

"Yes, Milord?"

"Are the first stalaes in place?"

The disgusting demon's head bobbed emphatically "Yes, Milord."

"Then it is time to unleash the torrent."

A multi-verse away, the skies, above the Norrathian City of Qeynos and Clan populous of Tir, turned black as pitch. The clouds in the sky began to twirl with maddening pace. Thunder shook the earth, shattering homes with deafening cracks. Acid flowed from the heavens, scorching those unfortunates outside and then nothing. The storms devastated and expanded, leaving the survivors in the eyes of these terrible funnels It was not entirely devoid of pain though, screams filled the city, as many people began to distort into large almost reptilian creatures. The cries were silenced shortly, as the beasts ensued their great hunt upon the remnant, all with same chilling war-cry. "Stoooormeeers!"

Anarchy Online/EverQuest

Reality Storms

Ch.4 The Longest Journey

"Joe!...Joseph!....JOSEPH!!" The voice screeched and was answered by a loud thump.

"Ow!...Sonofa...stupd bunk...."Joseph growled massaging his head. "What!?!..uh I mean, how can I help Professor.?"

"I thought I told you fix these damned survey scanners!"

Joesph grumbled harsh words under his breath. " I looked at them last night, there was nothing wrong with them Prof."

"Then how do you explain these distorted readings?" An annoyed flick landed several photographs in Joesph's lap. His eyes grew expectedly wide.

"This. This can't be right. A dense forest in the middle of the wastelands?"

"Exactly, so fix the scanners properly this time."

Joesph's eyes glanced over various notations and computer markings along the side of the printouts. Despite the obvious problem of a forest in the middle of no-mans land, there was nothing wrong with the Orbital's scanning array. "It's impossible, but the scanners are reading correctly. Prof. There's a forest at these coordinates."

"I doubt it, it must be interference from that EM-heavy storm over Tir." The Professor chewed on the tip of his antiquated 'glasses'. "Although this may be the discovery of a lifetime. Take one of the Orbital's shuttles down to the coordinates and inspect it by eye Joesph."

Joesph gave an exasperated sigh, he really missed his pillow. . . However, his desire to get an A in this class prevailed. Yes, Prof."

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

Chairman Ross was in a good mood for the first time in several weeks. The Holo display, filling his office, showed a healthy amount of blue, in stark contrast to the steady wall of red symbolizing the Clan advance. The inclusion of 'Return on Investment' had decidedly turned things back towards their proper order. He now had the happy duty of deciding whether the OT projection was worth saving or should he scrap it and the Clans for a fresh start?

Well, he would have some time to decide the Clan's fate. At last he could turn his attention to other matters. It was time for a progress report upon the exploration of the New World. He thumbed the signal to his secretary to send in the Jobe scientist.

The stereotypical looking scientist shuffled into the Chairman's office, his bald head reflecting the gentle lighting in the room.

"It's ...it's an honor to talk to you Mr. Chairman"

"It is nice to chat with you as well. Please sit Doctor." The scientist was noticeably worried, the Chairman was rarely in such a pleasant mood, and he doubted it would last the appointment

"Thank you sir."

"How goes the study of the New World and this remarkable element" Ross asked, motioning toward the preliminary studies of the captured element.

"Uh...well.. Sir... Unfortunately, the investigation hasn't gone at all...sir"

Ross' smile disappeared. 'Oh shit.' The scientist thought. "What?"

"Yes...uh..um well sir. Unfortunately the Jobe facility has been rendered inoperable. We have not been able to mount any further expeditions nor have we even been able to maintain our services into the Shadowlands."

Ross' face became lined with anger. "For what reason."

"Well..uh... Several weeks ago, just after the start of the war, the team you had us dispatch returned. Unfortunately, our shifting system suffered dimensional recoil, the Rubi-Ka construct of Jobe was nearly destroyed. Many lives and countless hours of research were lost in the recoil. The portal systems were damaged beyond repair. We cannot open a portal to the Shadowlands or the New World until we have rebuilt. Which I'm sorry to say could take a long time."

"I want those portals reactivated by the end of the week."

"It's impossible sir. We have to rebuild and research almost from scratch. Jobe simply does not have the money or the personnel to resume portal services for at least two years."

Ross drummed his desk, staring a hole into the fretful scientist. He leaned closer gazing into the doctor's eyes. "I don't care what it costs or what personnel you need. Drag them off the streets, if necessary. Those portals will be reactivated by the end of the week." He slid a blank but signed OT expenditure's ledger to the scientist. "Do I make myself clear?"

The scientist sighed in resignation. Jobe had always tried to publicly display a neutral presence. Despite that façade, anyone who actually bothered to think, would know that Jobe Research was an Omni-Tek instrument. It was another matter altogether to finally admit it. The scientist picked up the ledger. "Yes...Yes.. sir.."

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

Dossier File 110005689345

Filed by OT Exec-OP's

Handle: Freeon

Real name: Cloe Roberson

Position: Asst. Vice-Chairman of OT Rubi-Ka

Age : 24

Skills: Business Mathematics and Tactics Genius

Summary: Cloe Roberson, more commonly known as Freeon, began as a village finance manager at OT Alpha Centauri. Her first business venture gained the company 1 Billion credits, in four months time. Due to her rare abilities, she was promoted to Chief Accountant of Rubi-Ka, making her the third most powerful person on the planet.

She is known for having commanded a fleet through a series of maneuvers that, again, gained great profit. It was through these series of cold calculations, that she earned her nickname. As a reward, Cloe was promoted to Assistant Vice-Chairman. In the absence of Chairman Ross, she governs Omni-Tek.

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

(Music Cue: Alech Taadi by Khaled. Aka 5th Element Cab Chase)

The highly polished blue skin of the Yalmaha gleamed brightly in the Rubi-Ka suns. With a highly satisfying foom, it went from hover to supersonic coursing out of the Lush Fields resort. With a flourish, the Yalmaha flipped end over end before weaving side to side to an unheard beat. The pilot inside smiled, completely relaxed for the first time in quite some while. The resort charged a small fortune for each of those five worn-out pleasuroids, but when one has an unlimited drawing account...

"Ground it now, Hotdogger!" A loudspeaker blared across the countryside. Three Omni-Pol Katanas swooped down from above, flanking the blue Yalm. "Even you rich boys have to obey the law! Bring it down playboy!"

The pilot smiled, if those cops ever had any idea who they were trying to bring down... Well, time to make them earn their pay. Faster than the cops had ever seen, the Yalm executed a barrel roll, dropping the craft so far that it skimmed across the tree tops. Birds, and leaves billowed in the vehicle's wake.

" Holy shit!" The lead cop cursed, observing the Yalm gaining distance far below them. "Alright punk. You want to play. Let's see you hotdog this." Arcs of plasma fire ignited the earth and trees around the speeding Yalm. The swift dodging and weaving made a hit impossible, forcing the cop to expand his vocabulary of curses.

Several more plasma bursts erupted just ahead of Yalm, encasing it in flame and smoke. When the Yalm did not reappear, the Katanas arced out making a wide 180 to observe the results. Scorched earth was all that they saw, just before collision alarms screamed. Dead ahead, the Yalm boomed towards them. The Omni-Pols struggled to turn away but there wasn't enough time before streams of harmless grid energy passed over them.

"Transition to Grid Matrix complete, Ms. Roberson. Was it really necessary to be so reckless with the Omni-Pol officers?" her droid passenger queried, its almost puppy like- photo cell eyes blinking inquisitively.

Freeon laughed innocently "I've told you not to call me Ms. Roberson in private. Makes me feel old." She huffed "Of course not Doritos. It's just good fun, plus it keeps them on their toes. "

Impossible as it seemed, the emotionless face of the droid gave her a 'Yeah, right' glare. Freeon ignored the droid's accusing stare and turned her attention to the swirling energies encompassing the Yalmaha. It was easy to see why Grid-hackers spent so much time here, screaming and often going insane when deprived of their precious Grid. The timelessness of it, the infinite all seeing love it gave to you was hard to leave. Despite the dangers, the grid provides benefits besides swift travel. The lack of 'time' in the grid allowed one to spend as much time as needed to absorb data. In this case, for Freeon to catch up on the events occurring while she had been on vacation.

"Give me the situation report, Doritos."

"The fastest way to bring you up to step Ms. Freeon, is everything has been going straight to hell."

Freeon's eyebrows raised, things must be bad to get her secretary-droid to swear. She grimaced through the bulk of the sitrep, things really had gone to shit. The Clan was out of control... Grid alive!! Ross even had to call in a marker from the 'Investment? ... The Jobe facility nearly destroyed on the verge of exploiting a New World... Two highly trained and expensive teams wrecked, and the only thing to show for it was some punk kid... Well, it was better then showing up empty handed.

"Has there been any progress with interrogating the alter-world detainee?"

"Unknown at the time Miss. Sitreps from the Jobe facility have been sparse at best. With the damage that was suffered, it isn't surprising. However they should have progressed quite a bit, the lead interrogator is one of the survivors from the second expedition. She is reported to be a skilled linguist and already experienced in their tongue."

"Who is the interrogator?"

"A Ms. Ryio Katsura, a genetic construct from the Shadowlands. She is skill-"

Freeon giggled "I know all about her, it's been so long since I've seen Ryio." It had been a while, way back in the early days of Shadowlands exploration and novictum-gene experimentation. They had raised some hell in those days.

"Alright first thing on the agenda is to get a report from Jobe." Freeon said with a smile, it was a thin...but plausible excuse to see an 'old' friend. "By the way, did you get those upgrades from Hotwire, like I told you too?"

Doritos impassive metal face seemed to exude trepidation. "Yes, Ms. Freeon" Upon noticing her slightly widened smile and rising heartbeat, it quickly added "Computing Grid coordinates now to Jobe beta facility"

"Party poop"

The world disintegrated into streams of blue pulsing grid energy into eternal nothingness and then light. Rubi (Solara Majora) shined with unfiltered brightness over the horizon of Celuloe (1st moon). With the star's glorious splendor casting forth, the pure light crept over the moon's surface illuminating the 'city' below. Immediately dozens of automated tracking systems latched onto the coasting Yalm, unseen missile and particle turrets following the craft's every move.

"They've beefed up the security around here." Freeon mused.

Unidentified Vessel. Cease engine functions and transmit security code. You have 1 minute to comply or else.

"I'm almost tempted to find out what the or else implies."

Doritos shook his head in scolding disapproval "Haven't we had enough excitement for one day Ms. Freeon?"

"No fun at all." It took only a few seconds for the automated defenses to read her ident code. She had brief fantasies of the computer breaking out in strains of the Omni corporate anthem when the combo hit it. Doritos had already detached from the access chair and was preparing some fresh tea. His new servomotors were so much better, why he didn't even skip a beat when the tractor/pressor array grabbed hold of the Yalm. 5 worn pleasuroids... 4 hours (subjective) grid temporal distortions... 3 Disgruntled Omni-pol's... 2 Corporate Grid warps and 1 extravagant use of tractor arrays when one could just as easily pilot into the airlock. That expense account was looking more and more pained with every passing moment.

The airlock whumped as it mated with the blue Yalm, air surging in to pressurize the tube. She finished her last sip of tea, then strode out through the docking tube. Doritos followed closely behind, assuming the more stereotypical functions of a corporate bodyguard droid; silent, deadly and passably menacing with a hint of comical.

Upon entering the facility, she was assailed with a battery of various forms of pleasantries, BS and soothing lies. The facility director was surprised/happy/wary/annoyed/angry/bootlicking and all without being offensive, quite a trick.

The director learned first hand how Freeon earned her nickname. "Director, you are in charge of facility currently worth 175 Billion credits as of an hour ago. That price tag is steadily rising at the rate of a billion an hour. Every minute you stand here, attempting to cover your rear for glaring failures to bring this facility online, you are costing Omni-Tek over 16 million, 666 thousand credits. Now unless you intend to repay us by working in the notum mines for the rest of your natural life, I suggest you stop wasting the company's and my time."

The director stammered and babbled before beating a hasty retreat, all under Freeon's cold glaring eyes. As he rounded the corner, Freeon's features softened and she mused to Doritos. "Maybe I should have asked for directions to the interrogation room first before laying into him."

Even without directions, it did not take long to find her destination, the beta facility was scant in size by comparison to the original. Turning into the correct hallway, Freeon smiled; Ryio was just ahead staring into a pane of one-way plasti-glass. Ryio had grown quite a bit, since the last time Freeon had seen her. Ryio's long red hair was a crisp contrast, flowing over the gunmetal cybersuit scantily covering her body.

"Ryio!" Freeon exclaimed happily.

Ryio's eye grew wide with recognition and smiled nearly ear to ear. "Freeon!" They hugged each other heartily.

"Ryio, it's been so long. How have you been doing?"

"Great! How about you?" There seemed to be something sly in her smile, Freeon mused.

"Good" Freeon said with a relaxed sigh "I just got off vacation, and look what messes happen when I leave."

"Yeah." Ryio said with girlish giggles, making her seem closer to her real age, rather then the age one expects an assassin to be.

"How is our visitor?"

"He's doing well, no complication to adjusting to our world." Again Freeon seemed to notice something in her smile.

"Have you been able to learn anything from him?"

"Yes. Fry, that's his nickname, has been very giving." Ryio's manner was noticably different. She was bubblier then usual, her posture was so relaxed...almost satistfied...That's it!!

"Oh my!! Ryio, you're such a ho!" Freeon exclaimed teasingly. Ryio instantly turned redder then her hair.

"Details! Give me all the details girl!!"

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

With a thunderous roar, the dropship billowed to a graceful landing on the outskirts of the strange, new forest. The ramp descended giving Joesph a clear view, it was beautiful in a slightly twisted fashion. The lush green stood in glaring contrast to the encasing desert spreading outward without end. Joesph unclamped his helmet with much relief, lousy p.o.s lab dropship hadn't been airtight since before he was born.

(Music Cue: Bodies by Drowning Pool)

A blood-curdling screech pierced his ears, and upon whirling around to locate the source, a shaft whisked past his ear.

" Maadib!" He curses in shock , stumbling back in panic, the ramp ran out quickly, sending him to the ground.

"Stooooooooooooormer!!" Cries the beast, almost seven feet tall, a lizard creature soaring countless feet above him, with a second spear in hand ready to strike . In adrenaline induced slow motion, Joesph's analytical mind began absorbing the situation. Coiled muscles rippled in rhythmic pulses, showing the creature's massive strength. The beast's loincloth was adorned with weaved bone and plant talismans. Strange tattoos crossed its face and chest in ornate patterns. Joseph's mind could easily imagine the attack from his mind's eye, slowly rotating behind the beast, to gaze at the tattoos coursing over tensed muscles. Its arm dragging back, then snapping forward in terrifying lethargy, the spear departed the creature's hand, and Joesph willed himself to roll away, snapping from the daze. The spear had scarcely missed him, before its wielder landed behind it.

With badly shaken nerves, Joseph leveled his self-defense gun and fired, the flechette's impact returning him to the adrenaline daze.. Each flechette carving through the beast's hide, and exploding through its back , the tattoos being rent in agonizing slowness to Joesph's mind. Black globs of blood squirted out of the beast, and in dazed shock it fell before expiring.

Exhausted from the adrenaline rush, Joseph lay on his back, staring at the sun, taking air in large gulps. The sound of shuffling sand brought him from his exhaustion. Looking ahead, he was greeted by strange, but pleasant sight. A girl was squatting down near the lizard beast, inspecting it. She was beautiful to say the least, but never in his life had he ever seen one with blue skin that was perfectly adorned by her long mane of white hair. The leather cloth seemed to be barely covering her, stretching and tightening as she bent and moved around the corpse.

She must have heard him stirring, for she turned to him. For a few precious seconds, her clear white eyes locked onto his. She stood, clutching her walking staff and started to walk towards him.

"Stoooorrmeeeers!" The beast growled, its hand shot out and grasped the girl's thigh, its claw biting into her skin. How was that damn thing still alive? Joesph emptied the pistol into the beast's skull, hoping it would stay dead this time.

The girl seemed shocked, not so much by the lizard-creature but by the pistol Joesph used. It was as if she had never seen one before.

"Are you okay?" He said, placing the pistol on the sand, gazing into those beautiful eyes again. The girl smiled and raised a hand toward him. She chanted something in a foreign language. Joseph was about to wonder what she said, when a dark misty cloud gathered around his throat, choking him. He wheezed and gasped for air, but to no avail. As everything went dark, the last thing he saw was the hand of a skeleton reach from behind and pick him up.

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

Council Leader Elias Marteen .... No. That was not appropriate any more. High Lord Elias Marteen gazed at the holo-display with expectant happiness. The planetary overlay shone with a normally sickening shade of blue. The blue was even starting to intrude on former clan territories, but this did not worry him one bit. It was all going according to his brilliant plan.

"Elias your forces are far superior to Omni-Tek now, but a tiger caged in its own den fits far more fiercely then one in the open. Do the thing a man of your brilliance should, let Omni-Tek recapture territory, over extend their supplies. Wear out their war machine and exhaust the civilian moral". Mohan said in between gasps of pleasure, her warmth encompassing him.

What power the Possibilities gave him! So much he could feel and see now. Brought unto the fold, the other High Lords respected him so. His insight and tactical genius made him widely respected. Though strange and somewhat unsightly, the gift of the Edienos, the tribalistic towering lizardmen, was a welcome addition to the Clan forces. Not even the mighty 'Return on Investment' could sway the oncoming torrent. Peace, Freedom, and Liberation would finally be coming to Rubi-Ka.

The Edieno bodyguard stared at the small, pink creature before him with particular disgust. It adorned itself with dead things, even the very room was testament to this world's love of the dead. He subtly stroked a small plant shoot on the side of his loin cloth. He couldn't wait until Lord Uthorion broke the alliance with these disgusting creatures. Gazing intently at the creature, the Edieno hoped Lord Uthorion would reward him for his stalwart service in the face of all these dead things. The creature turned to him and spoke in it's filthy tongue.

"It's time. Send word to the troops, smash everything, we move for Omni-1." Then musing to himself, Elias spoke "Chairman Ross, you will learn first hand, that when you sow the sky, you will reap the whirlwind."

It's truer then you realize, the Edieno thought.

End of Chapter 4.