They came towards late afternoon, when the sun was a fading yellow disk floating downwards across the blood red sky. Dust devils would occasionally throw up tiny whirlwinds of sand across the dune sea. As he adjusted his macro-binoculars, he could see that they paraded everything out in front, hoping to scare them all into surrendering without a fight. He could see about ten BattleMechs, all throwing little wisps of sand up into the air; like menacing iron giants of doom. Behind the gargantuan war machines he could see armored vehicles carrying men as well as tanks.

Dominic Durant frowned. He could tell from their domed turrets that they were Po heavy tanks. Although they used technology that stretched back to over a thousand years ago, those battle-tanks would still be as lethal as ever against unarmored and unprepared troops. He could also see a pair of Scorpion and Chevalier light tanks beside the 'Mechs. Helicopters overhead buzzed incessantly like shrill whispers in the desert winds.

Putting down his macro-binoculars as he lay stretched out on top of the city's southern wall, Dominic then keyed in his personal communicator. "What's your count on the choppers?"

"I count about five. Four Pintos and one Ferret." Chifune answered.

"Have you got your positions set?" Dominic asked.

"Been staking them out all afternoon, I got over a dozen prepared sniper posts ready." Chifune said over the scrambled comm. unit.

"Okay, over and out." Dominic said as he once again picked up his macro-binoculars and began to observe the forces arraying against them. A light tap near his foot instantly made him lower the binoculars and turn around.

It was Natasha Kerensky. "How is it going?"

"They brought everything but the kitchen sink." Dominic sighed as he took a sip of water from his canteen. "They want to show us just how much firepower they got out there in order to scare us into surrendering."

"You think they might try to negotiate before they attack?"

"Highly probable. They don't want to take any more casualties and the sun hasn't set yet. Like you said, they will attack as soon as night falls."

"Okay."

"How are the others?"

"Everybody is busy. All the bodyguards were giving weapons instructions this morning and now everybody is setting up defenses and preparing Molotov cocktails with the remaining fuel and the archaeologist's liquid soap supply."

"Malone and the other engineers?"

"Hard at work with the industrial core drill." Natasha gestured at the slight whining sound coming from the deserted streets. "Been busy since last night."

"So far so good." Dominic sighed as he slumped beside a stone wall.

Natasha sat down and turned her head in his direction. "Major Durant?"

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Dominic smiled as he closed his eyes. In the calm before a battle, people always tended to get a little more philosophical than usual. It was almost as if everyone was trying to make peace with themselves and the world, just before all hell would break loose. "I believe that as long as someone struggles against his inner-nature, there is a chance to change his ways. But when he finally succumbs and accepts it all, then it's destiny."

"That is an interesting view."

"You know something? People always told me you were either a great impostor or the actual ghost of the real Natasha Kerensky." Dominic giggled. It was a gesture to partly get rid of the stress and also a slight sign of hysteria.

Natasha grinned. "Would you believe me if I told you that I was a clone of the original Black Widow and created by the surviving remnants of House Amaris to be their number-one assassin?"

Dominic let out a deep-throated laugh. He hoped that the other defenders who heard would not take it as a bad sign but he needed an outlet right now. "Oh come on! If things weren't so serious now, I would have recommended you for stand-up night at a Solaris comedy club!"

Natasha said nothing as she kept grinning and turned the other way.

His laughter soon subsided and he leaned over and clasped her shoulder. "As far as I'm concerned, Captain, it never mattered to me who you were or what you are. I'm just glad to have met you."

A whine of engines instantly made them alert as they both peered out with their macro-binoculars. A jeep with a white flag mounted on its roll bar began to approach the Urash Gate. As soon as it got within ten meters, it instantly stopped and two white-robed men got out. One was quite tall, his head was shaved and what looked like facial tattoos covered most of his face. Natasha could see that he was wearing a MechWarrior's cooling suit underneath his white robes.

"Just as we suspected." Natasha said as she kept observing with her macro-binoculars. "They want to talk."

"Let's go, then." Dominic said as he got up and dusted off his uniform. "I'll get Sanz too."

As Amon Goth stretched his muscular frame while standing in the hot desert sand, three figures came out of the main southern gate of the ancient city and walked towards them. A medium-built man, dressed in a Star League uniform was accompanied by a beautiful, red-haired woman dressed entirely in black. The third man wore civilian clothing and had a Star League lapel near his collar. Goth realized that the rumors were indeed true. He kept his cool as they approached.

Dominic walked up to Goth as he stared at the much larger man straight in the eye. "Where is Precentor St. Jamais? I only want to negotiate with the commanding officer.""

Goth stared at him for a long time. There was both hatred and anger in his eyes. "I am Adept Amon Goth, Executive Officer for this unit. Precentor St. Jamais greets you and demands your immediate surrender."

"I demand to speak with him." Dominic was adamant.

"Then you must come with me." Amon Goth countered.

"Maybe."

"You have my personal assurances that no harm will come to all three of you, including Captain Kerensky."

Natasha suppressed a smile. So they knew about her.

Dominic was still skeptical. "Oh really?"

Carlos Sanz kept quiet during the whole time.

"My word counts." Goth said with obvious menace. "You know of my records."

"Yes, I do. You refused to kill Clan prisoners during the mopping-up of Tukayyid and you also refused to press an attack on a ComStar outpost in Terra even though they were surrounded and had no heavy weapons. You are a man of honor and you only fight someone worthy of your stature." Dominic said. "But I wonder about your commander."

"Like I said, you have my word that no harm will come to you." Goth repeated.

Dominic smiled. "And if someone decides to lose his temper and shoots me while in your custody?"

"Then I will kill that man myself." Goth said.

"Alright then." Dominic grinned as he gestured back towards the city.

Chifune Kishikawa breathed a sigh of relief as she safetied her Minolta 9000 sniper rifle. So the enemy was at least willing to talk.

Natasha, Sanz and Dominic rode at the back of the jeep as it traversed a sand dune and then moved into the WOB staging area. Natasha kept quiet as she continued to make a head-count on every vehicle and infantryman whom they passed by. The Black Widow expected the Blakists to also include their battlesuits as part of their intimidation game but she was slightly disappointed that they didn't show them. Perhaps these Blakists weren't so confident in an easy surrender after all.

The jeep finally stopped in front of a prefabricated tent in the heart of the enemy camp. Although the heat was still quite intense, a slight breeze had come in from the mountains to the south as the sun began to set to the west. As she looked back, Natasha could still see the gleaming blue walls of Babylon near the edge of the horizon. She wondered whether the Blakists were intimidated by the huge size of the ancient walls and whether they imagined a horrific battle that lay ahead. Whatever the case, she had no illusions. Both sides would not negotiate their way out of this one. Now that the defenders knew the contents, they knew that the Blakists would never let them leave the desert moon alive. All that they were doing now was just sizing each other up, like two gladiators preparing for a duel to the death.

"You are to be searched before you go in there." Goth gestured towards the tent as a squad of WOB infantrymen surrounded them.

Dominic looked at Natasha. "Sanz and myself will handle the negotiations. Care to wait here?"

"No problem, Captain." Natasha said as the men searched them both thoroughly.

Dominic and Sanz were then led into the tent while Natasha just loitered outside, close to the jeep. As she kept observing the troops nearby, she noticed that Amon Goth had also stayed outside and was staring at her.

"So you are the Black Widow." Goth said as he approached her. "The pilot of the Spartan is hoping that you will fight so that he can get a second chance at you."

"You can tell him that I will be ready." Natasha said. "Why aren't you participating with the negotiations?"

Goth smiled. "You and I know that these parleys will be futile."

"Perhaps. If that is the case, why did you agree to a truce then?"

"The Precentor agreed to it, not me." Goth said. "But a truce is also useful so that one may size up the opposition, just like what you are doing right now."

"Shouldn't you blindfold me, then?" Natasha asked sarcastically.

"No. As you can see, the odds against you are not good."

"I know."

"But you will fight anyway." Goth laughed. "We are not so different, you and I. We are warriors to the core. We both hate politics and yet we realize the necessity of it. If we were not on opposing sides, I would welcome you as an ally and a friend. I have heard of your reputation through our intelligence network, they say that you are truly the Black Widow reborn."

"You are not like the others here, Goth. Why do you fight for the Blakists?" Natasha asked.

Goth looked out into the distance. "I am a soldier. Causes and such really do not matter much to me. It is the thrill of war that gives my life meaning, for 'war is the ultimate craft, and man is its ultimate practitioner'. I always believed that even before mankind came upon this existence, 'war was already there, waiting for us'. Nations, empires and kingdoms rose and waned from war, never from peace."

"So you've embraced it." Natasha said as she recounted what Dominic said to her about fate. "You have accepted your lot in life without question."

"Yes. And I am at peace with myself because of it." Goth said. "The Buddhist creed states that unhappiness is caused by desire. The need to want something that you cannot have; that is the cause of misery in the world. I, on the other hand, have everything I need. War will be coming across the Inner-Sphere, a war that will be more destructive than anything since the Amaris Civil War, and I will be there, right in the middle of it all."

"You will have to survive this war first." Natasha said softly.

Goth grinned as he pulled at his robe and began to walk away. "Then may the best MechWarrior win."

Dominic Durant and Carlos Sanz could see that the tent's white fabric had mathematical glyphs and symbols printed on it. It was almost as if they had ventured into the folds of a giant white robe worn by the Blakist priests. The effect was somewhat eerie but Dominic knew that it was done on purpose. A suspensor lamp made a bright illumination within the interior that cast long shadows over the various chairs and tables that were strewn with maps. Sitting in the center of the room was a man wearing the white robes of Blake's Blessed Order.

"I am Precentor St. Jamais of the WOB Militia unit Heretic's Bane." The man said as he continued to sit and stare at the two Star League representatives. "May I offer you some coffee or tea, perhaps?"

"No, thanks. I recognized you from your private Tri-Vid movie." Dominic said as Sanz glanced at him nervously.

Brandon's demeanor instantly changed. What he had thought would be an easy capitulation by the delegates was beginning to turn into something wholly unexpected. He was not used to being on the defensive, much less so because of his seemingly advantageous position. "I see.. Who else has seen the vid aside from yourself?"

Sanz was about to say something but Dominic immediately cut him off. "Just me." The SLDF Intelligence Officer said.

"That is part of my personal belongings and I insist you return it to me." Brandon was beginning to get angry.

"In due time." Dominic smiled. He was playing a dangerous game but he was enjoying this. "But first, I must ask you to refrain from attacking us."

"I am not here to bargain!" Brandon's temper finally got the better of him. How he wanted to kill these two fools with his bare hands but he knew that if he violated the temporary truce there would be absolutely no hope to end the situation without bloodshed. "I am here to give you an ultimatum. Surrender peacefully now and I will be merciful."

"Could you explain that?" Sanz asked.

Brandon sat back as he began to calm down. "All we want is the datadisk and any copies that you might have made from it."

"Datadisk? What datadisk?" Sanz tried to make a bluff.

"Don't insult my intelligence." Brandon said tersely. "I am sure that by now you know of it and of its contents. Give it to me and you have my word that I shall let you all live."

"Forgive me, Precentor St. Jamais, but I find this to be very hard to believe." Dominic said. "We know the contents of that datadisk and I'm sure that you will do anything to suppress that information. Why else would your operative transport us to the middle of nowhere? You just don't want any witnesses."

"That was an unfortunate turn of events. We did not expect you all to resist. We were supposed to board your DropShips and do a thorough search and once we did recover the disk, we would have let you all go." Brandon said.

"But you were late and things got out of hand. Then you resorted to using nuclear weapons." Dominic said, his anger rising as well.

"That was our last resort." Brandon said. "But I want this to end peacefully. I could use nuclear weapons now to flatten that ancient city of yours but I am trying my best to be merciful, even though my gesture is clearly not being appreciated."

"You're lying." Dominic said. "The reason you don't want to nuke us is that your ego won't let you. You want to recover that datadisk rather than to see it destroyed."

"Listen, my ego has nothing to do with this!" Brandon exploded again. "You know what is on that disk. Already there are factions within our Order that is threatening to undermine the unity of my cause and the only way to silence them is to publicly refute this within our own ranks. For that, I need the datadisk."

"And what about us, then?" Sanz asked.

"You will be kept under 'protective custody' so to speak, and once the Star League Conference is over, then you shall be returned to your respective homeworlds." Brandon said.

"So you will then let us go just like that?" Dominic said. "I find that hard to believe."

"Believe what you want. Those are my terms." Brandon said as a matter of fact. "Either do this my way, or face Blake's full fury. My mercy only extends up to this bargain, anything else and I will not hesitate to use all forces at my disposal."

"And so we surrender to you and act as if nothing has happened? What guarantees do we have?" Dominic said.

"None whatsoever. Either you expect my mercy or face my wrath." Brandon smiled. This time he was telling the truth.

There was no reply.

"Coincidentally," Brandon said, "I noticed there were other civilians present in that city of yours, who are they?"

"They are a privately funded archaeological expedition sent to unearth that city." Sanz said.

"And you brought them into this as well? Do they know that they are going to die?" Brandon said.

Now it was Dominic's turn to lose his temper. "We did not bring them into this!"

"Oh yes you did." Brandon was fighting the urge to laugh. Now he was beginning to enjoy himself. "If you had decided not to resist, you would not have their lives under your responsibility as well. In fact, if they do get killed, it will be on your head."

"My head? You bastard!" Dominic tried to rush the Blakist commander but Sanz grabbed his arms and held him tight.

"Remember that when the ancient Romans ever entered a city that tried to resist them, every soldier was under orders to kill every man, woman, child and animal that they could find. Tonight, I will take that city." Brandon said with apparent relish.

"No one ever successfully laid siege to Babylon." Sanz said as Dominic calmed down. "The Persians defeated the Babylonians outside, not inside."

"The Persians never had tanks, 'Mechs, or airpower. I have them all." Brandon upper lip twisted into a malevolent smile.

"I've heard enough. I'm going back to Babylon." Dominic said as he turned and started to leave.

"Major Durant, I hope that you will be democratic enough to explain what I have offered here?" Brandon said as the two men started to walk out.

"Of course." Dominic turned around to face him. "Unlike your 'Blessed Order', we decide by vote."

"Good. You have until dusk, which in my estimation will be in a few hours time. If I don't see a white flag flying on the southern gates of the city by then, I will know that my offer for peace has been rejected. Save your people, Major." Brandon said.

"I'll try." Dominic said as he and Sanz turned towards the exit of the tent.

"Oh, one more thing." Brandon called out just as Dominic opened the flap on the tent door. "You don't need to return my private video after all. I made a new one. The woman from the raiding party was quite.. exquisite. That's where I learned all your names from."

Sanz looked at Dominic who stopped cold. There was an eerie silence that went on for what it seemed like an eternity. With his face a mask of stone, Dominic resumed walking out of the tent. Sanz followed.

"I might do that again tonight if you give me the excuse." Brandon kept talking, as he knew that they were still within earshot of him as they left.

As both men walked towards the waiting jeep, Dominic's body trembled with rage.