The Lanaktallan Unified Executor Council high threat response team members were pressed against the wall. A heavy combat drone was moving slowly down the hallway, repulsors humming as it bobbled toward the door that two Lanaktallan were on either side of. It slowly moved up, extended out robotic arms, and sprayed foam around the doorframe.

The Lanaktallan tightened their grips on their neural rifles, some of them nervously clopping in place, feeling the tension mount up.

The probe ignited the foam.

The doorway exploded into the room beyond and the drone lunged in.

"EXECUTOR SECURITY FORCES! ON YOUR STOMACHS!" the drone bellowed.

The five people in the one room undecorated squat didn't have a chance to react before the neural shots started being fired. Bolts ricocheted around the room, bouncing off the ceramacrete blocks and knocking free peeling strips of paint. A flashbang went off, after the last occupant had dropped, neuro-stunned, to the ground.

The three Gal-Net link decks exploded in a shower of sparks, the larger and fancier one squealing as a hidden electromagnet went life and wiped out the deck.

Two of the neo-sapients were still hooked into their Gal-Net decks, the third had been paying attention to medical monitors attached to the first two.

The Lanaktallan officers moved in, watching the drone cuff each of the three occupants then lift them up with tractor beams and wrap them in slings that extended down from the undercarriage as the unconscious neo-sapient was lifted. The officers watched as another drone entered and gathered up the meager possessions in the room. Another drone entered and scanned the walls, the floor, the ceiling, gathering evidence from the room itself.

First the prisoner drone left, then the Lanaktallan, then the drones.

The neo-sapients were loaded into the van, which disappeared into the night.

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UNIFIED CIVILIZATIONS NEWS

The terrorist known as Crashrider, revealed to be a Gulmisavian by the name of Eegleet, was apprehended in his heavily fortified terrorist base late last night after a three day stand off with Unified Law Enforcement agents, who were forced to call in the Executor High Threat Response Teams. After a fierce firefight, during which multiple agents were killed, the majority of Eegleet's terrorist organization, which detonated the Makalet Fusion Reactor two years ago, were killed. Three of Eegleet's organization, including Eegleet himself, were captured and are being moved to a maximum security facility to await trial.

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Eegleet raised his head, staring at the door to his cell as it opened. He cradled his paralyzed arm close as he tilted his head slightly to bring his one working eye around so he could see the door. It opened slowly, showing two Lanaktallan standing in the hallway, shooing the shavashan orderly away.

"Eegleet?" one asked.

"Call me Crashrider," Eegleet said, giving a lopsided grin, the scorched nerves on the side of his face refusing to move the muscles.

"Come, quickly," one said.

Time to get shot in the back of the head and thrown in a ditch, Eegleet thought to himself. He stood up, nodding, and followed one of the Lanaktallan out.

He saw Kimmda and Peskun, each following a pair of Lanaktallan and a Shavashan orderly.

They had been in prison for nearly two months and knew how things went.

The three prisoners kept their heads down as they followed the six Lanaktallan Executor Security Force troops. The three shavashan peeled off from the group, accepting a small datacube from the Executors. They passed nobody in the hallways, nobody was in the elevator as it went all the way into the basement, and there was nobody in the sub-basement parking lot.

All three considered what was happening.

While it was real life, not their online game, there were a lot of parallels.

Nobody goes through this much trouble to kill someone and dump the body in a trash disintegrator, Eegleet thought, They could have just killed us in our cells and had the autopsy say what they want.

The trio followed the Lanaktallan onto a bus, still staring down, still staring silent.

The bus moved through the night, the windows blacked out, until it came to a stop. The Lanaktallan ordered them off and to follow with curt commands.

Follow onto a stripped down spaceship.

Once on board, they were locked into different rooms for the entire two week voyage. They were fed via droid and that was it. No other contact with anyone else.

But all three of them knew, you didn't load up three prisoners into a space ship just to take them somewhere and kill them instead of just strangling them with a bedsheet and hanging the body up with their genitals cupped in their hands for an embarrassing masturbation-suffocation accidental death.

The ship landed, in darkness, at a private landing deck.

Eegleet and his companions were marched off, blast helmets over their heads so they could not see. They could all hear the ship lift off behind them.

The stood out in the open, bare feet on the landing deck, feeling the chill soak into their clothing. A damp feeling that made their clothes stick to them.

"You can take the helmets off," a voice said.

Eegleet got his off first.

A Telkan female, dressed in expensive clothing, with expensive jewelry on display, stood in front of them. One either side were large beings carrying rifles, obvious sec-men.

"Follow," she said, turning.

The two sec-men gripped their weapons, making their muscles flex, giving a silent promise of what would happen if the three disobeyed the one word command.

Eegleet stayed silent, handing the helmet to Peskun so he could cradle his arm close to his own body. The Telkan led them into a large freight elevator, stepping into the middle. The three Gulmisavians scooted in, trying to stay back from the two sec-men and away from the Telkan woman, who seemed cold, remote, and downright dangerous.

One of the security guards reached out and pressed the unmarked button toward the bottom of the control panel. The cage door shut to the elevator and it began to head down, shaking and rattling. Each floor that went past was obviously abandoned, debris from failed businesses left behind on some, homeless encampment on others.

The door opened to an abandoned parking garage most the lights out. The only lights on were over a black luxury sedan that was slick and smooth looking. The Telkan pointed at it and it chirped, the indicator/driving lights coming on and one door opening.

The Telkan held out her hand, stopping Eegleet and his companions while the two sec-guards headed forward. They tapped on the window, checking the identity of the driver and the being in the passenger seat. They then swept the car, using hand-mirrors to look underneath, before straightening up and motioning.

The Telkan moved forward, got in, and sat down on one bench seat. Eegleet and his two companions on the bench seat facing her. The two sec-men got in, one on each side, now carrying cut down carbines with grenade launchers underneath.

Eegleet noted that the vehicle didn't seem to even move despite the vague sensation of acceleration.

Despite the fact that he had only experienced such thing inside games, it felt comfortable to Eegleet. A quick glance to the side at his two companions showed him that they felt the same way.

The ride was silent and long, the Telkan staring at them, her cybereyes, obviously expensive models, locked onto them.

Finally the vehicle turned sharply, moved for a moment, then came to a stop.

The door opened and at a motion from one of the sec-men, Eegleet and his companions got out.

Eegleet looked at what was in front of him. A manor. A huge, lavish, obviously owned by a Most High, honest to deities manor. The lawn was ornate and cultivated carefully, the bushes shaped into pleasing forms, the fountains and paths of expensive stone.

Waiting by the walk was another Telkan. A male, dressed, again, in rich business attire.

"Follow," the Telkan ordered.

Eegleet heard the grav-sedan leave as they followed the Telkan into the manor. The path led up stairs and down elevators, until the quartet moved through a battlesteel walled corridor before stopping in front of a heavy door made of scavenged Terran warsteel.

The Telkan touched one finger against the panel for a moment, then nodded and stepped back.

Eegleet noticed that the male had the bulge of pistol under his left armpit just as the female had.

The door cracked open, hissing steam, bright white light streaming through. Once the door had opened far enough, a silhouette of a Lanaktallan appearing in the mist. When the mist cleared a large Lanaktallan, with expensive clothing, was standing there.

"Come with me, please," the Lanaktallan said.

To Eegleet, the Lanaktallan seemed familiar somehow.

The walls of the room beyond had holoposters and 2.5D advertisements on the walls for games.

Terran Infrastructure Attack was one. Executor Panic DLC! was another. Terran Maintenance Attack Simulator Platinum! was prominently displayed.

Eegleet frowned. Those titles were familiar.

The Lanaktallan sat down on a comfortable couch and motioned Eegleet and his friends to do the same.

They were all silent for a moment until the Telkan poured drinks, expensive real alcohol, and moved back by the wall, his cybereyes unreadable.

Before Eegleet or his two friends could ask any questions the Lanaktallan reached out and touched the table. The table lit up, showing that it was a display and input device beneath a layer of armaglass. The Lanaktallan touched an icon and the holoemitter in the middle of the table lit up.

Eegleet and his two compatriots watched the news broadcast that detailed how the prison station they had been on was supposedly attacked by the Terrans, who captured everyone aboard the station before jumping back out of the system, proving that Eegleet and his friends had been working for the Terran Confederacy the entire time.

The news clip ended and the holoemitter went dark and lowered into the table.

"You are wondering why you are here," the Lanaktallan said. Eegleet nodded. "Why I would go through such expense and effort to bring you here and provide a cover story for what happened to you. What I could possibly want from you."

Again, Eegleet nodded. His two friends were letting him take the lead, staring down at the table as Eegleet looked his host in the eyes.

"A year and a half ago you tried to contact someone, saying you had an important piece of software." his host said. "Because the Precursors and the Terrans were fighting, with the Unified Council getting in the way, you went ignored."

"Yes," Eegleet said.

"Remind me what it was," the Lanaktallan said before sipping at his drink. He noted Eegleet's silence. "Have no fear. If I wanted you dead, I'd have had you killed in your cell."

"The master algorithm for Precursor combat machine strategic intelligence systems," Eegleet said.

"And now you wonder what keeps me from killing you once you give it to me," the Lanaktallan said.

Eegleet nodded, staying silent.

"Nothing. There's no promise I could make to you that you would accept as proof," the Lanaktallan said. "Perhaps the truth of my identity could convince you to turn a copy over to me."

"What do you want it for?" Eegleet asked.

The Lanaktallan motioned and the Telkan moved forward, refilling the drink. The Lanaktallan sipped at it.

"I plan on using my GalNet to SolNet connection to transmit it to my contact in the Terran Confederacy," the Lanaktallan said. "To help bring this war to an end."

"We almost got caught. The Executors will notice the second you try to move that piece of software anywhere near the secure Network Interface System," Eegleet said.

The Lankatallan nodded. "For anyone but me, yes," he said. "I will have no problem."

"It's a huge program," Kimmda said. "It'll be obvious to any security VI."

The Lanaktallan chuckled. "Not... exactly."

"It's an artificial intelligence algorithm, not exactly something you can hide," Kimmda countered.

"Wait, I know you," Eegleet said.

"I hope so," the Lanaktallan said. He stood up, gave a weird bow at the waist before sitting down.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said. He tapped the table. "I am Great Most High of Planetary Maintenance Da'amo'o," the Lanaktallan said.

He smiled wider.

"You would know me as Da'amo'o the Magician."