The following day, the atmosphere at central command was more than a little subdued. What should have been a day of celebration and quiet reflection had turned into a bloody massacre as a result of the running street battle and resultant riots caused by Gates' manipulations. Instead, the entire population was in mourning. The mayor and Colonel Truman had been killed in the attack.

Gates strode into the building, wearing his new uniform. Although both he and Hicks were the same rank, and both were Colonel Truman's immediate underlings, he was chosen to lead central command in the interim. Hicks had been responsible for the security detail, and as a result, he was held responsible for the deaths of Colonel Truman, Mayor Fallon, and all of the citizens who were killed in the crossfire in the massed battle the previous day. He made his way into Colonel Truman's office, making himself comfortable in his chair. There was a knock at the door. He looked up to see Hicks standing before him. He was nowhere near as well groomed and presentable as he normally was as a result of a long, sleepless night. Between being hauled before a disciplinary hearing and his feelings of guilt, he had understandably not had a restful night.

"You wanted to see me." He stated as he came into the room. He hadn't slept much, and he hadn't shaved or showered. He knew that there was likely to be serious repercussions for the events of the previous day. Gates closed the door behind him.

"The disciplinary board has given me their judgement." He told him. "Given your incompetence and your failure to do your duty, I have no option but to give you a dishonourable discharge. Hand me your identification."

Hicks gulped down the lump in his throat and pulled off his ID badge. He had suspected that this was a possibility, but he didn't want to believe it was happening. Gates took it off him, as two soldiers entered the room.

"If you would be so kind, please escort Mr. Hicks off the premises." He told the soldiers. "I'll let you go to your locker to change. I expect you to leave your uniform."

Hicks just nodded and left the room with the officers. Gates leant back in his chair and chuckled as he saw the fruits of his planning finally beginning to come to him. He was interim leader of Corinth's military forces, and once an election was held to elect a new mayor, an election Chas was certain to win, he would be named as Colonel Truman's permanent replacement. The phone rang and he checked the caller ID.

"Chas, I trust you're well." He said in a casual tone.

"You never said anyone was going to die!" He screamed down the line. "You said you were going to discredit Mayor Fallon. You never said anything..."

"I can't help it if a few gangsters decide to blow each other away now can I?" He asked him.

"That's bullshit Gates! You knew that was going to happen!" He yelled. "You've gone too far!"

"I think maybe we need to meet to discuss a few things." Gates told him. "I'll meet you at your mansion in an hour."

With that, he hung up the phone and gathered his jacket. He was so close to everything coming to fruition. He wasn't going to let anyone get in his way, least of all a spoiled rich brat with an ego.

Hicks wandered through the streets of Corinth, making his way to the race track. He made his way inside, finding the room full of men in business suits. They all stopped talking and looked at him curiously. No one went into the lounge here, it was well known that this was the headquarters of the Scorpion Cartel. People were too sensible to go there. He walked up to the bar and gestured over the barman.

"I'd like a large scotch." He stated.

"Sir, it is only 11 AM." The barman told him.

"I know what time it is!" Hicks stated angrily. "Get me that drink!"

The barman put together Hicks' drink, handing it over. He downed it quickly, before handing back the glass and gesturing for another. One of the Cartel members came over behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"You know this is a private lounge." He informed him. "We'll overlook this, but you have to leave."

"Really?" Hicks asked him. "I'm having a really bad day, so I'd suggest you just let me be. You might want to tell Fresno Bob that I'm here."

"You might want to just leave." The gangster told him, grabbing his shoulder. Hicks grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm sharply, snapping the bones with ease and smashed his face into the bar.

A couple of the other gangsters got up from their table and rushed him. Despite their superior number, Hicks easily outmatched them with his military training. Soon, he stood alone in the room, half a dozen broken bodies littering the floor, groaning in pain. He picked his glass up off the bar and drank his scotch.

"You know there are better ways to get my attention." Fresno Bob said as he arrived in the room, looking around at the wreckage of the private lounge. Dozens of gangsters filed into the room behind him. Hicks stood, ready to fight, but he knew that there were too many for him to defeat, even with his training. "Now, you might want to tell me why I shouldn't just ask these gentlemen to bury you under the race track."

"I'm unemployed." He told him. "With a dishonourable discharge on my record, no one will employ me. I'll be forced into compulsory agricultural duty unless someone else employs me. I don't really see myself planting potatoes for the rest of my life."

"You want a job?" Fresno bob laughed. "Why should I employ you?"

"I just took half a dozen of your guys and handed them their asses in less than two minutes." He reminded the crime boss. "I think I've proven what I can do."

"I'll tell you what." Fresno Bob began, gesturing one of his largest henchmen forward. "If you can beat Knuckles here, I'll give you a job."

Knuckles walked up to Hicks, sniggering. He towered over the former soldier, and was significantly heavier. Hicks stood confidently in the larger man's shadow.

"I'll go easy on you." Knuckles told him, drawing back a fist. As he lunged forward, Hicks dodged to the side, before kicking his knee, shattering it with a sickening crunch. As the huge mobster fell to the floor, screaming in agony, Hicks hooked him into an armlock, snapping his arm with ease. He then knelt on his chest, his hand hovering over his face.

"Should I finish him?" Hicks asked Fresno Bob. The gang boss just shook his head and started clapping.

"I think you've proven your point." He stated as the huge mobster was helped from the room. "Consider yourself a member of my security staff."

Chas was pacing in his study impatiently when Gates arrived. Brie was sitting on the huge leather chair by his desk. Both of them had been horrified by the events of the ceremony the day beforehand. Chas knew that Gates planned to have the ceremony interrupted as a way to show up the mayor and create doubt over his suitability to lead. Of course he had never said anything about using the Cartels, and he certainly never said anything about them being armed with military grade weapons.

He gulped down some water to dry his throat and his mouth, almost spilling it on his dress uniform. As an officer, he was to attend the Mayor and Colonel Truman's funeral that day. He couldn't refuse, not without attracting his attention to himself. Of course he had no idea how he could go through with the ceremony, not when he was feeling crushed by his guilt.

"Acting Colonel Gates is here to see you sir." His butler announced as Gates stepped into the room, followed closely by two soldiers in uniform that Chas had never seen before.

"Thank you Jeffery. Would you give us some privacy please?" He responded. The butler bowed and started to leave the room. Gates grabbed him as he attempted to show the strangers out.

"My comrades are staying here." He said flatly. Chas felt uneasy, but he waved the butler out of the door. As he shut it behind the servant, he rounded on Gates.

"It looks like the plan went a little awry." He said with a smirk.

"You said you were going to disrupt the ceremony!" Chas snarled at his co-conspirator. "You never said anyone would die!"

"I would say the ceremony was disrupted." Gates said with no hint of remorse. "I have to admit that I didn't intend for the Mayor to die. I was happy enough for him to be forced to resign following the riots, but Colonel Truman pulled him into the shot."

"You had Colonel Truman assassinated?" Chas gasped. Like all the other people of the city, he thought they had simply been hit by a stray shot during the riot.

"I told you I wouldn't be serving the Trumans forever." Gates replied. Brie and Chas looked at each other in their horror as they realised how far Gates was willing to go. "This accelerates things now. Since the Mayor is also dead, they have put the colony under Martial Law. That means that I am now in command. Well, until they can hold an election for a new Mayor. It looks like your campaign starts a little earlier than we thought."

"You murdered Colonel Truman!" Brie shrieked. "You killed Mayor Fallon, dozens of people are dead because of that riot! They're dead because of you! Are you insane?"

"Just remember who got you this far." He whispered menacingly. "When you're in power, just remember who got you there when you make the decision to make my promotion permanent."

"You have to be joking." Chas laughed nervously, hardly able to believe what he was saying. "I can't go through with this! You've gone too far!"

"Listen to me you jumped up piece of shit!" Gates snarled, grabbing him by the jacket and lifting Chas from the floor, slamming him into the wall with a force that should not have been possible. "I've worked too long and hard for this!"

"You need me Gates!" Chas reminded him. "You can't manage this if I don't become Mayor. I don't care what happens to me anymore, you aren't going to get away with this! I'll tell the military, I'll have you arrested, I'll..."

He was slammed into the wall again, silencing him as air was driven from his lungs. Brie got up from the chair to try and attack him, but the female stranger grabbed her and forced her down onto the chair again, before holding her in a painful grip that she couldn't break.

"Brie!" He coughed, watching her struggling against her grip. She had a hand clamped over Brie's mouth to prevent her from screaming.

"You are right about one thing, I need you Chas." Gates told him, drawing closer, smirking. "But I don't need your parents, I don't need your butler, and I don't need her."

He released one hand, holding Chas' entire bodyweight above the ground with one hand as he pointed to Brie. Chas saw the look of fear in her eyes as they pleaded with him to save her.

"Nightshade, hold her steady." Gates ordered the woman holding him. "Mandrake, take the letter-opener from the desk. If Chas doesn't agree to our demands in 30 seconds, cut out her left eye, after a minute, cut out the right."

"ALRIGHT!" Chas screamed, causing Gates to smile. "I'll do it, just please, leave and don't hurt her!"

"Mandrake, put the knife down." Gates ordered him. Mandrake drove the dull blade of the knife down with enough force to drive it into the desk. "If you tell anyone about this, we'll be back. You can't stop us, you know you can't. If you don't do as we tell you, your lovely fiancée will end up the same way as Colonel Gates."

With that, he dropped Chas unceremoniously to the floor, where he fought for breath. Nightshade released Brie, allowing her to rush to Chas' side.

"No one will stand in my way." He told them as he turned to leave. "Marcus found that out the hard way."

As he left, Chas and Brie held each other tightly for comfort.

"Did he just say he killed Marcus?" Brie asked him. "Chas, he's psychotic! He has to be stopped!"

"We can't Brie, you know what will happen if we do." He told her, looking into her eyes in his terror. "There's nothing we can do."

Back at the Garage, Ziggy went into Tenaya's cell to check on her. She was sitting on her chair, quietly sleeping. Ziggy loved how peaceful she looked as she slept. Dillon always said he never slept as a result of his implants, but it seemed that Tenaya did. He looked down, smiling as he saw the dandelion he had given her still resting in her hand. As he turned to leave, not wanting to disturb her, she began to stir.

"Ziggy?" She asked as she came to. He turned around, looking at her regretfully.

"I'm sorry to wake you, I didn't know you were still sleeping." He told her. "I just wanted to check on you before the funeral."

"I'm fine." She replied with a little sorrow in her voice. "I'm really sorry I wasn't more help at the ceremony. When the riot started..."

"It's alright, I know you did your best." He said reassuringly. "When that riot started, there was s much going on. None of us could have prevented it."

"I just wish there was something else I could have done." She reiterated. "I see you're dressed for the occasion."

For the first time since his early days with the Rangers, he was wearing a suit for the funeral, though now he looked more presentable in it, having received a little help in explaining how to wear it properly. "It looks good on you."

"Thanks." He replied, smiling a little at the compliment. "We'll be going to the funeral shortly."

"How is everybody?" She asked him.

"Scott's holding up pretty well." Ziggy told her. "Flynn's holding the rest of us together pretty well."

"What about Summer?" Tenaya asked him. Ziggy sighed.

"I think there's a part of her that blames herself for what happened because she wasn't there." He told her sadly. "She was pretty close to the Colonel. She's been shut up in that chamber with Dillon's pod all day. I'm really worried about her."

"I feel badly for them." She commented. "I never used to think about what it meant to lose someone."

"We all feel badly for them." He told her, holding her hand. "I'll be back later, I promise."

With that, he turned and left the room, preparing himself for the ceremony ahead. He knew that right now Scott and Summer would need all the help they could get.

Meanwhile, in another area of the compound, Summer was sitting by Dillon's stasis pod, staring into it, into the face of the man she loved.

"I really wish you were here." She whispered, running a hand over the shell of the pod longingly. "I can't believe he's gone."

She wiped away a tear and leant over the pod.

"I don't know how much longer I can take this." She whimpered. "It feels like I'm losing everyone."

"You haven't lost us." Scott told her as he came into the room. He was dressed in a dark suit for the occasion, though his shoulder was in a sling as a result of the injury he had suffered during the attack. "We're still here."

Summer got up and made her way over to Scott, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry." She stated, looking into his eyes sympathetically. "I know this must be hard for you."

"I'll be fine." He responded, releasing her. "I know you cared about him too."

"Guys, the car's here." Flynn told them as he entered, finding them together. "It's time to go."

In the memorial gardens, preparations were already being made for the funeral. Military personnel had set up a tight cordon all around the grounds. Everyone was subjected to thorough scans before they were allowed to enter. As a result of the riot at the ceremony, the military was keen not to repeat the experience. No one was getting in with a weapon that wasn't in the military. It was for this reason that Fresno Bob had called the Cartel bosses here to meet and discuss the repercussions of the battle the day before. His car stopped, and he looked around the men in the car. His gaze stopped on Hicks.

"I'll take the new guy with me." He told them. "Everyone else wait in the car."

"I don't even know why we're here." One of the men grumbled. "Colonel Truman put so many of our friends in prison..."

"He was a worthy adversary." Fresno Bob interrupted him. "He may have been an enemy, but I respected him. I want to pay my respects. Besides, I need to know what the hell Newmark and Ronan thought they were doing. We all drew up that truce, we know what a full scale war will cost us!"

"So why's the new guy going with you?" The driver asked. "Surely you should take someone with a little more time in the Cartel. You don't know if you can trust this guy."

"Colonel Truman was the best friend I ever had." Hicks stated flatly. "You can trust me because there's no way I'd disrespect him by interrupting his funeral unless I had to."

"Besides, we aren't allowed weapons in the grounds." Fresno Bob reminded him. "I think after that little display at the track, we can all agree that he'll be the one best suited to protect me if anything happens."

With that, he and Hicks went to the gates. They were both searched for weapons before being allowed inside. The guards all exchanged a few glances and whispers as they saw Hicks accompanying the known crime boss. Hicks could feel their judgemental gaze and knew what they were thinking. He had betrayed them. By turning to the Cartel when he was discharged, he had turned his back on everything they had ever taught him. He made his way with Fresno Bob to confront Newmark and Ronan. They came over to him sheepishly. As the leader of the most powerful of the Cartels, Fresno Bob was the only one they trusted to mediate this meeting.

"What in the hell was that all about?" Fresno Bob asked them. "Are you completely insane?"

"He was coming to invade our territory." Newmark snapped accusingly, pointing at Ronan.

"You made the first move!" Ronan replied.

"Enough!" Bob interrupted them, considering things. "Where the hell did you get those weapons? They're military grade, not available to the public."

"The guy who tipped me off to Ronan's attack sold them to me." Newmark told him. "He warned us that Ronan had someone in the military in his pocket and bought some serious hardware."

"You're a lying piece of crap Newmark!" Ronan stated. "You're the one with the military connections. If it wasn't for me buying these from a dealer, you'd have over-run us when you attacked."

"We didn't attack!" Newmark yelled, biting a large piece of nougat. "If you're so innocent, why were you in the plaza?"

"I was there to intercept your attack." He replied.

"Wait, so both of you are claiming you were told the other was attacking and bought weapons from a supplier?" Fresno Bob asked them. "Either one of you is lying, or someone's played you both for suckers."

As they were about to answer, Fresno Bob gestured to them to be quiet. A guard arrived.

"The ceremony is about to begin." He told them, giving Hicks a dirty look. "Come with me please gentlemen."

With that, they assembled around the edge of the two graves. A minister was standing, preparing to read the ceremony. Looking around at all the mourners, Newmark's mouth hung open as he saw Gates standing beside the minister, wearing the uniform denoting him as Colonel. He nudged Fresno Bob.

"That's him." He whispered. "That's Kirkdale, the guy that sold me the weapons."

"He told me his name was Sutherland." Ronan added, his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "He sold weapons to me too."

Hicks shifted uncomfortably as he heard this. He now knew that Gates was involved in the riots. It was his fault all those people died.

At the end of the service, the Rangers prepared to leave the grounds. They were approached by Gates as they were about to get into their car.

"Scott, I wanted to offer you my condolences." He told him, saluting him. "He was a good man."

"He was, thank you." Scott replied, returning the gesture. "We'll just be going."

"There's just one more thing." He stated as Scott was beginning to get into the car. He stopped short. "I'm sure by now you know that I'm the interim leader of Corinth's defence forces."

"I had heard that." Scott said sharply. "Is there a point to this? I've just attended my father's funeral and..."

"I wanted to hit the ground running. Given the way things are going, I have launched a programme of technology similar to the Ranger technology." He told him, handing Scott a folder marked "Project Strychnine".

"That's good, we can use all the help we can get." Scott replied.

"The thing is, I'm not comfortable with this informal alliance we have with the Rangers." He told him. "The bond between Colonel Truman and Dr. K was strong enough for him to let her write her own ticket, but that's not my way. That's why I'm making a decree that the Rangers are no longer to operate independently. You are all to submit to my orders from now on."

"You can't do that." Scott protested. Gates just gave him a little smirk and handed him an envelope.

"That is the order." He told him flatly. "The law is that all defensive technology strategy is to be the sole jurisdiction of the military. If you will not submit to my orders and enlist, Project Ranger will be shut down and you'll be charged with treason."