Panam and V headed to the fire to get some coffee and porridge. She reached down and grabbed his hand. He looked over at her. "Everything OK?"

"Yes, just… Thank you."

"No problem. Anytime" He squeezed her hand in return, then reached for a couple mugs for coffee. They were at camp now.

Mitch looked up as they approached. "You… get everything sorted out? Shit was kinda rough last night."

They answered at the same time "Yeah. All good. Nova".

"Nova". said Mitch. "Finish your breakfast and let's see what the fuck happened here."

Everyone ate together, shootin' the shit. The mood was light, things almost felt normal. Shit, he almost forgot he was dyin'.

"Well, let's take a fuckin' look". Dakota poured the rest of the coffee on the fire. "Grab your iron, just in case any shit goes down, and let's go. Maybe we can find some pills or somethin'"

He grabbed River's gun out of the basilisk. Panam had Kerry's pistol. Fuck, he'd given Johnny's gun to Mitch. Well, Mitch did have a synthetic arm, seemed appropriate. Dakota had some auto-shotgun she'd made, and the other nomads had 'saka assault rifles. They looked like a little army headed into the empty warehouse.

They stepped inside; everything was boarded up except the big sliding garage style door. The interior was surprisingly bright. V looked around. How the fuck was it so well-lit in here? Then he saw it, same time as Dakota.

"Bullet holes…". They said at exactly the same time. Mitch, Panam and the other nomads looked around and saw them too.

They looked at the bodies. "Panam...?" Mitch said. He was pointing at a pile of bodies, badly damaged. Some were hard to identify as human. "What's that look like to you?"

Confused, she looked at Mitch and back to V. V shrugged.

"Like a pile of bodies? Not sure what you are getting at Mitch" Her face scrunched up, and she looked baffled now.

"Look at their tatoos. Their chrome". Mitch gestured to the bodies.

Panam and V both looked at the pile and then back at each other. Then they saw it, both at the same time. The tatoo - "WRAITH".

"Well, they ain't gonna get any less rotten. Let's check em' out." Mitch hopped on the pile of bodies. The other nomads recoiled.

Mitch saw their expressions. "This aint shit. You guys weren't in the war. This many, this'd be a slow day". He methodically laid each body out, side by side, checking each one for any markings or identification. Everyone in the room was frozen, paralyzed with disgust. Now that the Mitch was moving the bodies, the smell was almost unbearable "Raffen, every fuckin' one." Now he looked puzzled. "What the fuck kills 30 Wraiths like this? These guys were packin' too, and chrome'd out. You'd need a tank, or…"

One of the other nomads chimed in. "Cars out back – shot to fuck too. Fulla' holes. All wraith shit too. The tire tracks lead here, but nothing headin' out."

V's stomach dropped. Fuck. That meant whoever, or whatever did this was still here. He slid the safety off on River's gun. He heard clicks as the other nomads did the same. Fuck. Had they walked right into a trap?

He heard the sound of grating, sliding metal, and looked around. The room dimmed. The door was closed now, they were trapped.

"V?". Panam looked at him. Her face was full of terror, ghost white. He felt the color drain out of his own face. Fuck. He was about to get his family killed in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. Should have taken himself out on that rooftop back in NC. He looked around. Everyone was pale. Fuck. Johnny was right, he never should have called Panam befoe that raid on 'saka. Why did he have to drag her into this? He threw up. Porridge was worse comin' back up.

He heard a metallic whir. Four, no, six Militech autocannons appeared out of sliding plates in the floor. He saw them spin around as they scanned the room, and then each one locked on to someone. Looked like 10mm autocannons. Fuck. They'd be nothing more than red mist and chrome soon.

Panam ran over to him. He could hear the whir as the turret followed her. She embraced him tightly.

"Panam… "He started, but she cut him off.

"It's ok. V – I love you. I just wanted to say it. One time. Looks like this is our last chance. I do not regret ANYTHING. I would do it all again." She was choking up bad, so bad she couldn't get any more words out for a few seconds.

"Love you too Panam. I'd do it again too. All of it." His voice broke. He couldn't speak either. His throat felt full, and his eyes were burning. Fuck. Well, guess he didn't need to worry about dyin' in a few months.

She looked at him, "You fucking sweet talker. You had better mean that."

"I do". He really did. He finally understood what that jacket Saul had given him meant. Meant they'd all be willing to be there for each other. To die for each other. Johnny never had that; he wouldn't have understood this. He didn't regret calling her after all. Shit she'd probably have been pissed if he hadn't given her the chance to help him. But he did, and she showed up at 3AM, to help him raid 'saka tower. Fuck. He did love her.

He held her close and closed his eyes and waited for the sound of the autocannons. Hopefully it was quick. Lookin' at the size of those cannons it wouldn't take to many rounds.

He heard another metallic whir, and then another different noise. Sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. Where had he heard that? It was getting closer. Sounded like footsteps. No fuckin' way. Whatever it was, sounded like it weighed 500 kilos. Fuck, was there a 'saka mech here too? What the fuck was this place? He opened his eyes and looked over at the last opened floor plate. There was no turret on this one, but there was bright bluish light coming out of it. A shadow was gradually obscuring the light, and the sound, definitely footsteps, was close now.

A metallic sphere appeared in the stairwell. No, not quite a sphere. And what was that on it? Two smaller silver orbs, with little red circles in them?

"What the fuck…?" Everyone in the room said it at the same time. Their eyes were all open now, all on the doorway. They could tell now that the sphere was a head, and the smaller orbs were eyes. A figure emerged from the stairwell now, ten feet tall and chromed out the ass. V wasn't sure if it was a robot, or a human. Then it dawned on him who it must be.

"No fuckin' way" V yelled. He trained his gun on the figure. The other nomands did the same. Who fuckin' knew if bullets could get through that chrome, but they'd go out swingin'. Johnny would have liked it.

"Smasher". V yelled again. "How? Panam and I zeroed you in 'saka tower."

The figure paused. It's face looked puzzled. Guess it was human. Robots don't get confused.

"Smasher?", The figures's voice boomed, but there was hesitation, like it was thinking about what he'd said. It sounded human. Robots don't hesitate.

It's red eyes flashed and dimmed, then went bright blue, same color as the desert sky. The turrets sunk into the ground.

"Can you please lower your weapons?" The figure asked. Now it sounded downright polite. "I have lowered mine as a show of good faith." Definitely human. They all looked at each other and holstered their weapons.

"Thank you. My apologies for the welcome. Had to be sure that it was you. We've been having some trouble with the locals". The figure pointed at the bodies and the bullet holes. "Sometimes they have to be reminded not to come here." The figure looked back into the stairwell "Boys, can you please clean this up?"

Two more chromed out figures emerged from the stairwell in single file. They were big, but smaller than the first. Their eyes were gone, hands and feet were all metal. Only their chest and back were flesh. How were these guys not cyberpsycho? They had a lotta chrome. V saw the tattoos on their backs as they started carrying the bodies back into the stairwell. 'MAELSTROM'.

Then it dawned on V who it was. Must've dawned on Panam too, and Mitch. All at the same time. "Ortega?" They all said in unison.

The figure smiled. "In the flesh". Then he looked down at his full metal body and laughed. "Well, you get the idea. Did you bring the merchandise, as we discussed?"