Copy X delicately scratched his face, being careful not to mar the lines of his makeup. He was in his full angel armor and attracting some odd looks, but he didn't much care… he wanted to be ready in case of trouble, and his angel armor was stronger. The only thing better was his Seraphim form. They were in the Reploid part of town, and Ciel was attracting a few strange looks, but not for too long. The few Reploids who cared to spare the time examined the black marks Ema had painted on her face, and accepted her presence. Ciel hardly noticed, too busy examining the strange Reploids walking quietly on the streets.

If anything, Tartoga Bay had even more Reploids than Hell's Mouth. Leviathan was amazed by the size of the Reploid quarter… it really was almost half the city. Although it was a little annoying, the way the city was strictly sectioned. Each caste's living quarters were separated, and industrial and merchant areas were also very strictly defined. That made it easy for them to find the merchants they wanted, but prevented them from seeing more of the city… Copy X wasn't interested in sight seeing, and led them directly to the market district.

The warehouse Copy X led them to was rather shabby, in a cosmetic way. The paint was peeling and the stonework was grubby, but there were signs of solid workmanship and good repairs… all that it needed to be really attractive was some cleaning. X slammed the door open, making several people look up from their work in surprise.

Ciel blinked as she saw the interior of the building. This was a Reploid repair workshop. There were perhaps a dozen technicians with the same marks she was wearing, working on a wide variety of patients. A small female Reploid in dark blue and silver walked up to them, frowning.

"Who are you lot?" She demanded, raking them over with dark blue eyes. Ciel examined her design carefully, rather impressed. She was a tiny thing, barely reaching Ciel's shoulder, but compact. She looked very agile and dexterous. Her hair was thick black, held up with silver disks, and her features would have been beautiful if they hadn't been so hard. She paused on Ciel's markings, and frowned.

"I'm X," X introduced himself with a charming smile that cut absolutely no ice. "This is Ciel, and this is Leviathan. Ciel is looking for some work? And we were wondering if we could acquire some parts?"

"Hrmph." She looked them over again, then sighed. "I'm Silver Tail. Follow me." She turned around, revealing the reason for her name… a thickly furred, silver wolf's tail. X reached out towards it… until Leviathan smacked him with her spear. She was sure Silver Tail wouldn't be amused with tail stroking. Or worse yet, tail pulling. The office she led them into was large and mostly empty. A large chart was pinned to one wall, with days, times and names written on it. A desk sat in the middle of the room, with a battered chair. There was also a very old shield hanging up on one side of the room, looking battered but serviceable. There were two chairs in front of the desk, and a few more under the shield, obviously meant for visitors. She sat down behind the desk, and impatiently motioned them into seats. "How long are you going to be here and what kind of hours do you want?"

"Just the next two days, probably." X answered, then glanced at Ciel. "I don't know about hours…"

"Any hours are fine," Ciel said brightly. "I'm used to pulling all nighters." And if it would get them money, she was willing to do it again… she would have plenty of time to recover on the ship. Silver Tail lifted her eyebrows.

"Our maximum is twelve hours a day. Human or Reploid, it doesn't matter, people start making mistakes past that." Silver Tail drummed her fingers against the table. "I'm sure I can find some stuff for you. It's equal share for everybody, every day, minus forty percent for operating expenses and tax." Ciel winced, and glanced at X, who nodded. As such things went, this arrangement was reasonable. "And we take a few charity cases, referred from the Azure Sisterhood. You okay with that?" Ciel frowned, slightly confused, but nodded… she was fine with doing charity work when she would be receiving a piece of the overall profits. "Alright. What are the parts you need, exactly?"

"We need a class A fusion generator," Ciel replied. Silver Tail's eyes narrowed, and her lips tightened. "Very small, no bigger than-" She quickly gave the other woman Zero's parameters.

"Absolutely not." Silver Tail replied, her eyes hard as stone. Ciel blinked, sitting back in surprise at the hard, clipped tone. "Do you have any idea what you're asking for?"

"A… class A fusion generator?" Leviathan said, confused, and glanced at X. But he was just as confused, frowning.

"Military ordinance," Silver Tail corrected them. "Stolen goods, from the Tyrant's army, no less! I'm not touching that." X blinked, startled.

"I got a saber from them before," He said, rather bewildered. Silver Tail only scowled harder.

"That was before, this is now!" She snapped, standing up. "Get out of my office and never mention this again!" They all rose hastily, stunned by her vehemence… and slightly alarmed. Silver Tail seemed almost afraid of something. Then they all started as there was a very large crash from the workroom. Silver Tail swore, and dashed out the door.

"Oh, hell!" X readied his gun, then dashed out after. He wasn't disappointed… several strange Reploids had invaded the facility, and the technicians were cowering in the back. The Reploids were led by a very impressive, brand new combat model in dark grey armor, with gold highlights and gold marks on his cheeks. The caste mark inlaid on his head was a sharp, triangular design in brilliant blue.

"Snofru." Silver Tail hissed, and the leader flashed them a grin. It was nicely calculated to make them uneasy, since his teeth had been designed to be shark-like. "What in hell do you want?"

"Come now, Silver Tail. You know better than that." He said in a compassionate tone. His voice was deep and throbbing, almost furry. It would have been a wonderful, soothing sound under other circumstances.

"You bastard, you bugged my desk!" Silver Tail was so furious, her tail was puffed to twice its normal size. Snofru grinned again.

"Oh, of course my dear. Did you really think I would leave you alone?" There was something dark and poisonous in the gaze he fixed on her. X was unpleasantly certain that they had accidentally become the trigger point in a situation that really had very little to do with them. This stranger obviously had a grudge against Silver Tail. Then his gaze traveled over X and Leviathan. "You're all coming with us."

"And what makes you think you can make us?" X asked pleasantly, his buster rock steady and his red eyes bright. He was sure that between them, he and Leviathan could take this small squad.

"Why, our weapons." Snofru replied just as pleasantly. X barked a laugh, then blinked as one of the soldiers behind him pulled out what looked like some kind of rocket launcher. He frowned as he realized this particular soldier was human, from his caste markings, and-

X's thoughts slithered to a stop as the human turned and fired a single shot into a corner of the room. There was a small explosion and a sound like tearing canvas, and screams from the rest of the room. There were no screams from that particular corner. Three humans had been crouched behind a lab table, but now there was nothing but a finely divided paste on the wall…

"You Maverick bastard," Leviathan whispered, her hands tight on her spear. She started forward… and stopped short as he aimed the rocket launcher towards the middle of the room.

"He's a human, Levi, he's not a Maverick." X said, weirdly conversational… and his calm tone made his next words even more insulting. "He's just a sadistic murderer." To his disgust and borderline nausea, the human smiled at him. There was a light in his eyes that made Copy X think he really had enjoyed it. "If you want to call the others Mavericks, though, that's cool."

"Silly archaic term," Snofru dismissed it with a snort. "Now, lay down your weapons or they all die… including that cute little girl hiding behind you." Ciel blushed, somewhere between angry, embarrassed and afraid. She was hiding behind X, but she didn't appreciate being called a little girl.

X hesitated for a long moment, then slowly drew out his beam saber, tossing it onto the ground.

"X?" Leviathan hissed, and he glanced at her, then spoke quietly.

"Three more of those bastards have launchers, Fairy. We can't get them all before they kill everyone in this room." Copy X tended to be self-centered, but allowing a massacre was totally beyond him. Leviathan hissed softly, trying to figure a way out of it… then throwing her staff onto the floor with angry force.

"You too, Silver Tail." Silver Tail looked even more mutinous, but tossed down several knives and a carefully concealed gun. "The garrote as well, my dear." She snarled at him, but pulled off her belt, a dark blue scarf. Snofru smiled darkly. "Shackle them." Several of his underlings started forward, holding shackles that had obviously been designed with powerful Reploids in mind. Copy X submitted to the indignity, but his glittering red eyes were bright with fury. Leviathan was just as furious… and snap kicked one male in the balls as he attempted to grope her. His scream was pitiful, and several of the others immediately aimed their weapons at her. But Snofru laughed, amused, and waved them down.

"Why are you doing this?" Ciel asked. "We just wanted to buy a generator…" Snofru tilted his head at her, and smiled again, revealing his pointed teeth.

"Military ordinance. I think the Tyrant will want to hear about your activities, eh? You might be spies." Snofru grinned widely. "Or you might not. Perhaps the Tyrant will be merciful." Silver Tail snorted, then spoke up sharply.

"What do you want with me, damn you? I'm not a spy!" She was already shackled, her tail still puffed with anger.

"Why, conspiring with spies." Snofru said, his voice smooth as butter. "I suppose I could reconsider the… severity of the charges, since you rejected their demands. If I'm given a reason to do so." Silver Tail stared at him, then bared her teeth in an expression that was more of a grimace than a smile.

"Why don't we discuss it?" She suggested, speaking as if the words pained her. Leviathan muttered several insults about turncoats and suck ups, but X only shrugged… their actions had triggered this, although he suspected Silver Tail had had a longstanding issue with Snofru. If she was going to get out of this by prostituting herself to him, Copy X wasn't going to judge her. In fact…

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in our services, too?" Copy X suggested almost brightly, and Snofru's smile disappeared.

"I think not. You are going to the Tyrants' palace." X shrugged as best he could, with the bonds in place.

"Can't blame a guy for trying." He had the feeling a night with Snofru would be vastly preferable to whatever might happen at the Tyrants' palace…

"Ema," Axl shook her awake, and she blinked up at him, rubbing her eyes.

"What time is it?" Her eyes were gummy and her head felt like it was full of wool. Not much light was penetrating the room, through the portholes.

"It's early morning, and X never came back." Axl said softly. That made Ema sit up, her expression alarmed. They had assumed that he would be back late, and had gone to bed… this was unexpected. "Neither did Leviathan and Ciel."

"Shit," Ema said, throwing the blankets away and pulling herself out of bed. Soon, she and Axl were up on deck with Zero, who was pacing nervously. He was blaming himself for not realizing they hadn't come back. Here in harbor, Leviathan would have joined him… but he had gone to sleep, since they had gotten back early, and it hadn't occurred to him…

"Alright," Axl easily took charge. "We're going to have to go looking for them. We should probably take some of the Rebellion soldiers, and get some of the crew of the Wandering Gypsy over onto the Bad Penny, so they can take the shipment." They had secured a massive shipment of glassware, perfume bottles and ornamental vases. The merchants in glassware had been almost frantically grateful to find a ship that was available and had a light enough touch to handle the breakables. Tartoga Bay made wonderful glassware, but most of it was sold in other markets. They would be delivering the glassware to a supply depot in Bombay. Right now, that was a lesser concern, but getting the sailors to take care of it wouldn't be difficult.

"Right. Then what?" Ema asked, and Axl thought about it a moment.

"We'll have to try to retrace their steps." He smiled wryly. "If things have gone as wrong as I think, they won't be hard to find."

"Then let's get started." Zero didn't want to delay a moment longer than they already had. Ciel and Leviathan were both in deadly danger, and he wanted them safe.

Tracing them wasn't as easy as Axl had thought it would be… mostly because no one was willing to admit they had seen them. That reaction was informative, though.

"They must have fallen afoul of the authorities." Axl muttered. "We'll just have to go look for at the Reploid repair shops, until we find one that someone's trashed." He was sure X and Leviathan wouldn't have been taken quietly. And the authorities of Tartoga Bay were not currently noted for moderation.

As it happened, he was right. The three of them stood across the street, in the mouth of an alley, looking at a building that had obviously had the front door and a lot of the front wall kicked in. It was being repaired in a desultory fashion, and a girl was sitting nearby and crying. Zero started to walk over, but Axl caught his arm.

"Don't do that," he said warningly, as Zero gave him an unfriendly look. He was seriously worried about Leviathan and Ciel. "They wouldn't talk to you out in public anyway. We need to get someone in private so we can threaten them until they spill." His eye caught a gleam of dark blue. "Ah, perfect candidate." A small female Reploid was limping down the street, using the wall for support. She would go right past them.

"Why? She isn't even over there. She might know nothing." Zero asked quietly. Axl smiled, and Ema grinned.

"We know her. That's Silver Tail, and she runs that place," Axl said, making a small gesture towards the destroyed repair facility. "Or at least, she did. All of you stay quiet. Ema, you be the good cop." Ema nodded, smiling. She understood Axl's plan.

It was surprisingly easy to seize Silver Tail. Axl was being careful… he knew she customarily carried several knives and a gun… but she only squirmed, hissing.

"Silver Tail, I'm sure you know…" he trailed off, blinking at her. "Holy hell, what happened to you?" Close up, he could see the marks of heavy blows on her synthetic skin. Her left cheekbone was actually deformed from it. She glared up at him, beaten but far from broken.

"I spent the night satisfying Snofru and his entire fucking legion! Just kill me now and put me out of my damned misery." She dropped her chin to her chest, utter exhaustion in the lines of her body. "I hate my life."

"Well, you'll hate it even more if you don't tell us where X, Levi and Ciel are," Axl said threateningly, but that set Silver Tail off on a new tangent.

"X! Don't mention that cretin to me. If I had my guns, I'd shoot you!" She squirmed again, then subsided as Axl's grip on her tightened. "They're at the Tyrant's Palace, probably being tortured to death. Can I go now, before someone sees us together?"

"Tortured to death?" Zero said, stunned, as the Rebellion soldiers looked horrified. They had brought three of them, as backup. "Why?" Silver Tail bared her teeth in a grimace.

"That's what they always do with spies. Have they ever caught any actual spies, or just idiots like X? Who knows. Can I go?" Axl let her go, and she limped away, towards the ruined repair shop. There were several glad cries, as the repair techs spotted her. Axl and Ema exchanged appalled glances.

"Where is the Tyrant's Palace?" Zero asked, his beam saber out and his eyes hard. Axl gave him an alarmed look. He knew what Zero would have done a hundred years ago, and doubted this one was thinking of something different.

"Zero, you can't attack the palace head on!" Zero scowled. "This place makes A class fusion generators and LOTS of Reploids, Z. There must be at least a dozen guarding the Tyrant. And the palace has all kinds of fortifications. We'd need the whole Maverick Hunters to take it on!" Axl suddenly smiled, nostalgically. "Actually, it'd be just like old times."

"Don't go all over historic, Axl," Ema said impatiently. "If we're not attacking head on, what should we do?"

"Hm…" Axl considered that for a moment, then smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. "Let's go see Vile." Zero stiffened, his hand tightening on his saber. That name was familiar, although he couldn't remember why.

"Vile?" Ema sounded dubious. "He won't help us, Axl. He can hardly stand you, and he detests X."

"Oh yes, he will. Right Zero?" Axl flashed him a grin, and Zero nodded, understanding Axl's plan.

They would make whatever threats were necessary to get their friends back safely.

"Ow." X squirmed slightly, trying to relieve a bit of the pressure on his back. He and Leviathan had been hung from the walls by their wrists, their feet not touching the floor. It was an uncomfortable position, even for a Reploid. For a human, it would quickly have led to dislocation of the shoulders. Fortunately for Ciel, her captors had taken her human nature into account. She was chained to the wall with a cuff around her throat, but it gave her enough play to sit and even lie down. They weren't worried about her assaulting them, with no weapons or armor.

The little they had seen of the palace, as they'd been dragged to the dungeons, had been quite overdone. The Tyrant's Palace was actually a very old building, and it had accumulated fine furnishings like a dog attracts fleas. Gilding and fine marble had flashed by, priceless tapestries and glassware filled with flowers made of gold, silver and jewels…

The dungeons were a complete contrast to the gilded glory above them. Slightly damp, smelling of mildew, the holding cell they were in had several stains on the wall X suspected were dried blood.

"When are they going to do something with us?" Leviathan complained. They had been chained up and left alone for the night. X gave her a mildly curious look.

"You're eager to start the interrogation?" He couldn't imagine why. It was likely to be ghastly, and Leviathan had surely realized that by now. Leviathan glowered at him, but subsided.

"Zero will save us," Ciel said confidently. X looked dubious, but didn't express his doubts. He knew Zero was very, very good… but so was he, and Copy X could never have broken into the Tyrant's Palace in a head on attack. Subterfuge, on the other hand… Tyrant's usually died by assassination. Axl and Ema both knew that, so maybe they would think of a way.

Everyone looked up as someone entered the dungeon. It was Snofru again, and he was looking particularly pleased about something. He looked them all over, amusement in his eyes. Behind him was one of his soldiers… Leviathan tensed as she recognized him as the man who had fired the butterfly round. He regarded them with cold, empty brown eyes.

"So," Snofru said pleasantly. "How are you enjoying our hospitality?"

"Oh, just hanging out." X replied, and the human behind Snofru snorted, amused at the rather feeble joke. "Although it was better before you came to visit. What do we owe the honor to?"

"Oh, nothing much…" Snofru walked over to Ciel, who cringed away. He seemed pleased with that, and gripped her chin, forcing her head up. "A pity you're human…" X's eyes narrowed, and he lost patience with Snofru's play.

"Is that the only way you can get a woman? Threats?" X said scornfully, and Snofru turned to glare as the human soldier looked amused. "You must have a REALLY small peter." That was all it took to set the volatile Reploid off, and X grunted in pain as Snofru took one smooth step and slammed a fist into his gut. X gasped, then said something in a language Ciel and Leviathan couldn't identify… but their captor obviously could, and his face twisted with rage. The beating continued, X refusing to stop his insults, until the human began to look alarmed, and stepped forward to grip his superior's arm. Snofru turned on him with a snarl, and if the human had faltered at all, would probably have torn his throat out. But the soldier met his eyes evenly, without any sign of fear.

"If you kill him, the Tyrant will have YOUR head." He said quietly, and Snofru growled deep in his throat, jerking away. X slumped in his chains, gasping harshly, a bit of blood trickling from his lips. Snofru looked at him, his eyes burning with rage, then gripped his head, pulling it back until Leviathan and Ciel could hear the metal of Copy X's spine creaking.

"I will love seeing what's going to happen to you." He told X, who stared at him blankly, eyes slightly glazed. Snofru snorted, dropped X's head, then stalked out of the room…