Emmerich had scheduled his next port inspection in time to see their supply shipment's arrival. Meeting his escort for the day and boarding the vehicles they set out. On the drive over he took in the view.

The camp had undergone a transformation. The tents had been taken down and placed into storage. The final units of temporary homes were being prepared by their automated workforce. The robots welded, wired, plumbed and installed fittings. Once the units were complete the few remaining pieces of furniture would be brought in. After a final inspection the unit would be marked off as ready and awaiting assignment.

They were brutal mixes of concrete and metal. Roof mounted solar processing arrays gave them power and gathered rain water. Each also had a reinforced shelter for its occupants in case of any danger. Utilitarian would have been polite.

Squads of off duty Gears and DBI personnel sat talking. What they were discussing Emmerich had no idea. But it was great progress from how things had been more than a month ago. They'd been at each others throats now they were all excited to see their family again.

Other teams could be seen heading out or returning to the camp. A Vanguard team whipped past in light vehicles. While a line of loaded Minotaurs pulled up at the recycling center's unloading bay. Shadows passed overhead. looking up Emmerich watched a pair of Ravens flying overhead. Pallets of material slung below them.

Reaching the perimeter of the camp they passed through one of the gatehouses guarding the passage through the wall. The convoy actually drove through a tunnel built of concrete. Emerging out of a gatehouse on the other side. Even here there were fortifications, some still being built.

These positions had the heavy weapons. The mix of shapes had seemed strange to Emmerich before. So he'd opted to ask one of the troops working on them during an inspection. The soldier had explained them at length to him. He now picked out the shapes of mortar pits, gun nests and the networks of trenches and tunnels that connected them.

It was still a strange sight to him. Here and there soldiers were lugging supplies and prefabricated sections into place. Laden Minotaurs rolled to the ramps leading to the positions then back though the gate. Their cargo taken off and moved into the earth works by Loader exo-suits. Whole parts were being shored up be it wood, concrete or metal.

Not to say that the Gears were the only forces outside working on the fortifications. Squads of Peacemakers were amongst the Gears working alongside their human counterparts. A Watcher hovered overhead. No-doubt its view being broadcast back to the Command center. Where the officers could review progress and update their plans.

Emmerich opened his tablet and cheeked the feed himself. The camp now looked like a large octagon. With exaggerated arrow heads on its corners.
They were doing well. If they could keep this pace and keep morale up. Emmerich was sure they would be more than ready.

Their journey to the port was only broken up by the passage through the guard posts setup along the main roads. Most waved them though without hesitation.
Reaching the harbor the convoy found they had missed the supply group's arrival. The unloading was in full swing. With the volume of traffic coming out and in they would be in the way. They opted to stop and take in the view from a hillside over looking the bay rather than try and push though.

Out at the entrance to the bay a set of ships were already unloading. With the bay too shallow for the heavy cargo ships they were relaying the supplies in. Some had unloaded barges already laden with cargo. Those equipped to do so passed their containers down to empty barges that had made the trip already.

Inside the harbor barges were being brought alongside the cranes. Unloading the incoming shipments. Once a barge was empty it was moved back to the ships for reloading. Some containers were being loaded onto trucks others were being stacked for later processing.

'Our honored Governor has arrived,' A voice called out. Turning Emmerich saw Ramos approaching the group.
'Good to see you Chief Ramos,' Emmerich said, before gesturing to the harbor, 'I take it things are going well?'
'Better than they were a month ago,' Ramos said, grimacing at the memory of how Site 13 had been when Emmerich arrived.

'That's in the past now,' Emmerich had no interest in making her recall those memories. He had enough bad ones of his own. Better to change the subject.
'I can't say I've seen our Hub constructor. Is it already unloaded?' Emmerich said, looking across the yard.
'Not yet. Let me check,' Ramos said. She tapped her radio. 'Brooks any ETA on the Hub constructor?'

Emmerich fiddled with his earbud before finding the right channel. A woman's voice came over the radio.
'Oh you know Boss. Just let me pull that report from the air for you. I'm juggling our tugs, the barges and the few ships small enough to enter the harbor proper. So give me a second.'
'In your own time Brooks. Not like the Governor is here waiting,' Ramos grumbled.
'Is he going to have me shot?

Ramos looked over. Emmerich massaged his temples. That story had spun out of control. The latest was that he'd called them both into his office and threatened them with a Snub on the table.
'I doubt that,' Ramos said. Shaking her head.
'Then he can wait a minute.'
'Brooks.'
'And. Here. We. Go. Please direct your attention to the bay mouth.'

At first it looked like one of the ships was approaching. However as the shape drew closer they could see it was not a ship. It was a single massive vehicle being carried on the back of several barges that had been interlinked.

Coming into focus on its mobile platform more detail became visible. It had six wheels either side. Each large enough that it would have taken three people on each others shoulders to reach the upper rim.

The divers cabin looked like a small slit on the front of the machine. The rest was a series of paneled sections covering the internal workings. It was like a single massive truck had been built to carry a industrial distinct inside. Which wasn't far from the truth.

The machine was a marvel of both science and technology. Whilst the smaller fabricators that were being used onsite could make the basic components of living. They were like stone to steel compared to a constructor. When fed with rubble and scrap it could turn out a small city within a month.

An air of awe had overtaken the group. The platform was brought into the slipway. A set of Construction Mechs attached a set of heavy panels forming a ramp. The machine let out a huge burst of its horn and began moving off the platform and onto dry land.

Ramos recovered first, 'Got to admit we still know how to build them,' she said turning back to the group.
'Quite,' Emmerich said, 'I'm happy to have it here but where will we store it? We've nearly finished enclosing the camp now.'
Ramos nodded, 'O'Connor's plan did have some wiggle room. And he redid some parts when he found out the UIR were bringing their own hardware. We've still got some room to fit the constructor in.'

Emmerich perked up at that, 'Hopefully we can find a place to start work soon. Did we have any new locations yet?'
'I'm afraid not. Looking inland we would need to go quite a way to find a better location,' Ramos said, shaking her head, 'I'm still not sure why the COG even built a base out here.'
'Didn't the briefing paperwork say the town was abandoned during the Pendulum wars?'

'You mean the records that also failed to mention the base entirely,' Ramos noted deadpan.
'True. The research team will be looking to decrypt the records. Perhaps there's something that will tell us why its here. It still feels off for a place like this to have just been abandoned,' Emmerich said looking out across the bay.
'I'll admit it's been giving me a bad feeling too. Most places we've worked before there's stuff dumped over and half the doors are unlocked. But this place. Just feels like people just calmly packed up and left. Not even any litter in the bins. You think the place had been written off at some point.'

'Speaking of written off,' Emmerich turned looking at one of the Onyx, 'I take it your investigations haven't gotten any results yet Corporal Chen?'
Chen shook his head. 'No sir. According to the records the civilians in this area were evacuated. No records list exactly why they needed to leave. The place made enough money from giving tours of the caves around here. Apparently this place had Mages once by some of the material that was found.'
'Mages as in "Kings and Wizards" the game?'

'More or less but that was over 4000 years ago. Records say they drew their power from here and were able to control the elements. Their magic was proven to be gimmicks and illusions though. Just tricks made up by people to make them seem powerful' The Chen said with a slight shrug.
Ramos snorted, 'A deserted peninsula once inhabited by Wizards. At the end of the world with abandoned military base that we have no records of under it. Hell of a place we picked Governor.'
Emmerich sighed as he looked out over the harbor, 'I distinctly dislike not being able to trust the ground under my feet. Here's hoping we get some answers soon.'

With the port inspection complete Emmerich and his escort returned to the camp. Rather than going back to the Admin center they went to the new area of the camp. The lab modules had already been set up and he was interested in meeting their chief scientist.

Entering the Labs they found the rooms were bright and sterile. Neat spaces filled with equipment that Emmerich couldn't guess the name of let alone function. A few moments after they arrived a man in a lab coat steeped out of a room and called over to them.

'Good Afternoon I'm Dr. Darnell. I take it you're Governor Emmerich?' Darnell walked over his hand out.
Emmerich took the offered handshake, 'A pleasure to meet you Doctor I hope your team is ready to get started..'
'We got your message. And started getting some ideas together while we were waiting for our transport. Better for us to be working on something rather than just sitting on our hands.'

Surveying the labs as they walked Emmerich had to agree the others did seem enthusiastic about their work. All were dashing between workstations or standing over meeting tables likely in deep discussion.

'May I ask how we're going to get around the material in the ground first?' Emmerich asked.
Darnell nodded and gestured to the machine, 'First we need to understand why the substances are causing issues with our survey equipment. Then we'll see if we can make adjustments to the existing equipment to circumvent it. It's a shame we couldn't get any samples analyzed before we got here. We'll be going from scratch.'
'I thought that Chief Ramos was sending you everything we had so far.'

'We've not received anything more than the reports about the base line issues you've been having,' Darnell said with a shake of his head.
Emmerich shook his head, another delay, 'Perhaps it was just an issue with communications. Regardless, what about the second issue with regards to the base encryption?'
'The base encryption is not COG standard. We're starting to think it might be backed up by a semi-sentient program that's adapting as we try to get in. We try one attack and get a byte then the next one scrambles itself before we can read it. We've got our own semi-sentient programs but we don't have anything made for this sort of thing. We're looking at coding something bespoke to get into the systems but its slow going at the moment.'

Emmerich nodded. 'I neglected to ask. What was your doctorate in?'
'My doctorate title is "Doctor of Science" so just science in general. I can't give you the full depth that an expert will but I can do well enough for the basic stuff. My role here is just to help balance the workload between those more specialized staff. And keep you advised in layman's terms,' He leaned over whispering to Emmerich, 'That the last part was the summary from a team leader. Don't go thinking we're all geniuses here.'

He moved back, `We have a couple of specialists in several fields. Everyone here is cross trained into at least two. But we're a small team still so we're all chipping in to the best of our abilities and leaning on the AI suites for the bulk of things. Speaking of cooperation I have some files I need you to look over. This way please.'

Darnell led them through a wing of the labs till they reached a small office. It was utilitarian most likely because it had been installed a few hours before. Only a set of chairs and a desk with a terminal had been installed. Upon entering Darnell gestured for Emmerich to take a seat as he sank into the chair behind the desk.

The doctor took a breath composing himself before speaking, 'I'm going to be honest, you're not here for paperwork, Governor.'
'You have something that needs to be discussed?' Emmerich leaned forward with a feeling of unease building.
'You're aware we're been provided with a copy of the Archive from New Ephyra. Correct?'
'Yes, it's a record of all recovered data. Setup by the Ministry of Preservation. Why?'

'There are gaps in the Archive. Intentional ones. Most are things like how to make dangerous stuff like guns, bombs and things like that. The concept is there but no process or instructions for how to make them,' Darnell said with a sigh.
'Where are you going with this?' Emmerich asked.
'The gaps are not due to lack of information. The Ministry restricts the ability of regular citizens to access certain parts. The most dangerous stuff however is normally kept entirely separate from the system.'

Emmerich sighed, already seeing where this was going, 'When you say normally...'
'I was only informed once. We were getting ready to leave. Our copy includes the restricted section,' Darnell said with a nod.
'Is it isolated?' Emmerich asked his mind running.

'Yes,' Darnell replied, 'Totaly air-gaped and secured.'
'Why would they give us that?'
'They might be afraid the Archive in New Ephyra could be damaged. Normally the Settlements just tap into the main one but that won't work out here. So we have a local copy. Part of it is to help our other work. My directives are to help this Settlement but also work with the teams out at the rest of the Settlements. We're trying to remake the old Defense Research Agency, great minds working together and all that.'

Emmerich took a long breath, 'Is there anything else in the restricted section I need to know about?'
'It has a section I can't access,' Darnell said with a uneasy look.
'You can't access part of it? Didn't they check it before sending it here?'

Darnel nodded, 'They did and I was shown what was on the index at least. But this section didn't appear until we installed the archive here. Someone must have configured it to be hidden until some condition was met. But I still can't see the contents.'
'What about the file name can you at least see that?' Emmerich asked.
'Its and I quote "Don't tell Jinn."'
'Baird,' Emmerich spat.

Being back in the meeting room was uncomfortable. Considering what they were sitting on, figuratively and literally. Emmerich had taken Myers, Remos and O'Connor to one side and briefed them on the situation. As such the Archive room was now under double guard.

Once that was done they simply had to wait until the command bots started moving. This time at least they had some refreshments. Not that being in the room would be any more pleasant once Jinn found out about the restricted section.

As before the bots began to move as faces appeared on them. Jinn, Baird and someone who Emmerich could not recall having met before.

Jinn's bot inspected the others pausing on the newcomer, 'Dr. Hana Cole. I can't say I was expecting to see you here.'
So there was another doctor involved now. Looking across the table Emmerich saw Dr. Darnell shifting in his seat at the young woman's presence.

'First Minister it's an honor,' Hana's bot gave a polite nod.
'Yeah yeah we all know each other now. I asked Hana here to help explain what Emmerich's about to snitch about,' Baird said with an annoyed tone.
'And why would we need an expert in the fields of Biochemistry, Toxicology and Chemistry present?' Darnell asked. His look of concern now spreading across those present.

Jinn's bot turned and faced Baird's, 'Yes Baird. Why don't you explain? Since you know far more than anyone else here seems to.'
'Jinn for the record this is why I did what I did,' Baird began.
'What did you do specifically?' Jinn asked with a surprising amount of composure.

'Provided an expanded... section to the Settlement archives,' Baird said, his bot shrugging.
'How expanded? I signed off on the limits that should have been set,' Jinn pressed.
'We included some extra things. Older schematics and software. Plus some newer stuff that's been worked on by Hana here,' Baird's bot turned to look at Hana's, 'Your dad's fine by the way, he says hi.'

Jinn's bot slammed its hands onto the desk. Hard enough it cracked, 'Don't try to change the subject Damion. What. Did. You. Do.'
'Gave all the Settlements a fighting chance should anything happen to us.'
Jinn for her part just glared at Baird or at least her bot glared at his.

Baird rolled his eyes, 'I gave them everything. My latest tech, everything we could get from the old COG and the stuff from Hoffman's new project.'
'I specifically barred that doctrine from evening being considered. What has that old bastard done now?' Jinn hissed, her composure breaking.
'Umm,' Hana's bot looked around, 'That is what I'm here to explain.'
Jinn's bot tilted down looking at the desk for a moment before taking a seat, 'Very well then explain exactly what you Hoffman and Baird have done behind my back.'

'A few months ago I was approached by Colonel Victor Hoffman. He told me that he was working on an initiative to combat the Swarm and required my expertise,' Hana said.
'Did he tell you that I had ordered that initiative shut down and that he had retired?' Jinn said.
'He neglected to tell me that part. I was under the impression that the project was need to know since it involved sensitive work. Hoffman had acquired a chemical compound that breaks down tissue on contact. Its keyed for the Swarm so its far more deadly to them than us.'

'And you've deployed this as a weapon how?' Jinn asked, her bot leaning forwards.
'I created a delivery system that can deploy the gas. We call them Venom bombs. After that we tested it on the island of Pahanu. There was an old COG installation there that had been used as a Burial site so it was an active Hive,' Hana reported.
'I'm aware of the site. I ordered it to be cleared with DeeBees.'

'Yes but once inside a Hive the DeeBees are overrun. And since the Swarm will turn any units we send into the Hives we needed Gears for the job. Hoffman found a team and we sent them in. Our first attempt failed. The gas was too weak and the team was unable to reach the lower levels to deploy the bomb properly,' Hana sighed.
'The gas was too weak?' Jinn queried.
'It was able to kill human sized Swarm fine. But larger creatures. Carriers, Wardens and the like were able to endure the gas. So we upgraded it. A local creature call a Wakaatu had a very unique toxic and corrosive venom. We secured a sample and I integrated it into the Venom bombs. Our second deployment also used Snatchers to bring the team to the heart of the hive.'

O'Connor butted in, 'You used Snatchers? How?'
'The idea was quite brilliant. Leslie Macallister, one of the team. Noted that the Snatchers take anyone they capture to the center of a hive. I created a system that can wake a Gear after they are inside the Hive. Once there the team can deploy their payload. The gas clears the hive and during the confusion the team escapes.'

Jinn was silent for a moment before responding to Hana's report. 'You've created a Bio-Chemical weapon? That is man-portable and capable of killing everything it touches?'
Hana's bot shook its head 'Not everything, no. Just organic and some carbon based materials.'
'What kind of carbon based materials?'

'Those normally found in air filtration systems. Most Burial sites are bases or mines. So the gas needs to burn though their ventilation system to be effective. The sites will self seal to prevent the gas escaping,' Hana said with confidence.
'So not only have we now created a weapon that is totally indiscriminate. It also will burn through any means we have to make an area safe once it's been used?' Jinn asked.
'It's self limiting. Once the supply of organic material is used up the remaining gas begins to breakdown. You see on contact it enters the blo-' Hana began.
'I don't care how it works! I care about the fact that it could be used against us!' Jinn declared, 'If one of those weapons went off inside a Settlement what would happen? By your own admission the shelter filter system would be near useless.'

They were silent for several moments the thought of what such a weapon would do. In side a densely populated area was horrifying.

'I… I hadn't considered that possibility,' Hana stuttered, 'The gas has been keyed for the Swarm. It would lack the density to be dangerous to a human adult in the open.'
'What about a child or the elderly?' Jinn said.
'We… We only make them in small batches, three at a time is our largest deployment.'

'And yet you provided the means to manufacture these weapons to Damion Baird. Who has now supplied it to every single settlement we have,' Jinn snarled.
'I had assumed we would be training new Hivebusters and needed to set up a means to keep them supplied,' Baird said.
'Hivebusters?' Jinn's eyebrow visibly rose on the bots screen.

Hana's bot shifted in its seat, 'Sorry that's what we dubbed the team.'
'At least you didn't give them the data for the Hammer,' Jinn sighed.
'Right… About that...' Baird mumbled.

'Who can unlock the data?' Jinn asked, her bot glaring at Baird's.
Baird's bot waved its hands, 'It's locked to the Governor of the settlement.'
Jinns bot turned to the assembled chiefs of Settlement 13, 'Governor Emmerich this a direct order. Under no and I mean no reason on Sera are you to access or grant access to that data without my explicit approval. Am I understood?'

'Yes First Minister,' Emmerich responded nodding.
'Good at least someone can follow orders. Baird, we will continue this in private,' With that said Jinn disconnected closely followed by the other two.

Those who remained sat in silence for several moments until it was broken by Hudson, 'That went well. If we manage to survive the rest of these meetings, the war will be easy. Right?'
'Hudson. Consider my instruction to shut up a standing order,' Myers said, rubbing his temples.

With the knowledge of what the restricted archive contained. Steps were taken quietly to add additional layers of security. Armed DeeBes were rotated to guard the area containing it. For those that asked. The agreed explanation was simply the need to ensure the security of the archive. Due to their lack of a constant connection to the rest of the COG. No one asked why an issue with the network required gun turrets to be installed in the corridor leading to the room.

His terminal let out a note alerting him that a set of messages had arrived. He thought of letting them wait until later but instead he opened the first message and started reading.

The first was from Ruperto. Sheila Cathryn's husband. He remembered Emmerich being a nice young man who his wife had often joked about and that they had spoken at a few events. He was thankful for the message and said he would be staying at New Ephyra.

He was helping others who had lost their loved ones during the withdrawal back to the capital. He was not past his loss but understood that Emmerich was concerned about his wife's passing. He had also been far more polite then the DeeBee that had turned up trying to assign her.

He had not been present when she had been injured but Sheila had spoken of it when they had been at the capital. She had been too close when a grenade had exploded. Spared the shrapnel she had taken the force of the blast causing internal bleeding.

She had been treated. But during the battle for the capital the stress became too much and caused the injuries to return. She had died halfway to the hospital.

Emmerich filed the message. Sheila had been like family. She'd been there to help and guide him from his first day at Settlement 2. This war was taking more and more people all the time.

The second was a notice from the New Ephyran Wellness center. Advising him that Luke Carter was not taking messages at this time but would respond when he was able to. No doubt he was receiving counseling and the last thing they needed was a message that could risk reminding him of what had caused his break down.

The third was a notice about their citizens finally having left on the journey to the site. Apparently with their other DeeBee Brigade the 25th Mixed Automated who would be the group's escort. He also saw that his Lieutenant Governor had been assigned.

He pulled up the message and read the details. Then reread them. Then he rechecked them. Then wondered if it was too late for him to just go back to New Ephyra before this Windflare hit.

She felt new...was that something she could be? New? Or was she changed? The world before seemed so dull. Lacking the fine details she now saw so clearly.

Looking at the hive. The new Elite Huntress surveyed the forces at her disposal. So many ways for them to fight. To kill. To break the weaklings that dared to defy them. Yet she felt caution tempering her thoughts.

A distant voice whispered. 'Cunning.' What did it mean?

She reached out and felt their shared mind. Before it was mere impressions of those around her now she could see what the Swarm saw. Now she could see the hive itself bright with life. The inhabitants go about their tasks. The elegance of their harmony brought joy to her heart.

As she looked beyond she could see small flickers of light ranging out. Some were gatherers seeking new members or materials, sometimes one and the same. Others were hunting for food to keep the hive fed.

A small cluster of lights drew her mind in. Here a group of Hunters stalked a train of Humans their destination would be their new False-Hive. No Settlement. The Humans called them Settlements didn't they?

But their group would not be alone. The memories of the treasure she had brought to the Warden came to her mind with ease. Before the shapes were meaningless. Now she understood it clearly. There would be more. More Humans, more of the ones that did not fight... At least not well compared to their warriors. They called them Sivils-Lans? Civilians. Yes Civilians. This Hive would grow well with their flesh.

But how to take their Settlement without wasting her new force? She looked out, finding there were several groups of ships sailing past a small bay to the East. Their markings declared them as COG. At her thought another hive further south sent her an image. More ships this time with the markings of the others that were coming. The Union. No better than the COG whatever they called themselves they were just human.

The voice returned. Whispers at the edge of her mind. 'Divided.'

What did it mean? The Hive? No, they were unified. Truly connected. So what did it speak of? The human icons came again. They were divided. But was that it? Was this the knowledge the voice offered?

She thought of the humans traveling to their Settlement. Some were journeying along the old roads. The rest were coming over the sea. They were divided. They were weak.

She thanked the voice for its wisdom and began to set her plan into motion. The humans would fall so easily they would welcome their downfall into their very midst.