෴Raz෴

෴Braithwaite෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Try Not to Die

෴෴෴෴෴෴

“Try not to die, I’m looking forward to opening you up and seeing just what makes you tick.”

With that, Braithwaite turned and left. Raz tried to stand but found his body strangely too heavy to get up.

[-25 Hp.]

[+5 Hp.]

[50/100 Hp]

[Combat rank 2 upgrade installed, and coming online.]

[Prepare for possible side effects.]

Raz was pleasantly surprised to discover that he felt no additional pain. The burning inside him actually began to subside. The sick feeling was so minor compared to the reduction in burning that it almost felt perversely good. His arms and legs and then head all began to be so heavy that it was taking serious effort to avoid flopping down like a rag doll.

[Rapid regeneration active for ~90 seconds.]

[-30 Hp.]

[+10 Hp.]

[30/100 Hp]

Raz felt his vision going dim. “Do the next-” The growing lethargy took him. Raz slumped over in the cot and couldn't muster the energy to finish the sentence.

[+12 Hp.]

[42/100 Hp]

[-20 Energy.]

[80/100 Energy]

[-25 Hp.]

[+12 Hp.]

[29/100 Hp]

Raz tried to get off the bed and crumpled to the floor.

[+12 Hp.]

[41/100 Hp]

[-20 Energy]

[60/100 Energy]

Raz could only lay there staring at the floor pressed against his cheek and watch as his abilities slowly lost the war of attrition against the overdose of Catalyst.

[-20 Hp.]

[+12 Hp.]

[32/100 Hp]

Get Combat rank 3!

[Combat rank 3 upgrade installed, and coming online.]

[Prepare for possible side effects.]

[Sub abilities: Weapon inspect, Targeting, Ballistic Projection now available.]

[Sub abilities: Scan, Detect Hazard, level 1 now available.]

[Abilities: Targeting, Scan, unlocked]

[+15 Hp.]

[47/100 Hp]

[-20 Energy]

[40/100 Energy]

[-15 Hp.]

[+15 Hp.]

[47/100 Hp]

Raz started to feel like he should be able to move, but it just seemed too hard. “Spend more.” He couldn’t muster the energy to say more.

[+15 Hp.]

[62/100 Hp]

He struggled and finally rolled over off his stomach.

[-20 Energy]

[20/100 Energy]

[-10 Hp.]

[+15 Hp.]

[67/100 Hp]

Raz used both arms and managed to sit up.

This isn’t looking great. Put any into storage that will fit!

He tried to meditate, and pull in energy from around him. He could sense the energy right there, all around and pressing in on him, but couldn’t seem to reach the mental state to be able to pull it in.

[+15 Hp.]

[82/100 Hp]

[-20 Energy]

[0/100 Energy]

[Energy depleted.]

No shit.

He tried to meditate again and for a second he nearly had it, but the pain and nausea kept him off balance enough to prevent him from accessing what felt like nearly infinite energy all around him.

[-10 Hp.]

[+5 Hp.]

[63/100 Hp]

Raz staggered to his feet and shuffled toward the bathroom. Ok, purge if we still need it.

He took another step, resisted a retch. Took one more step and heaved hard. Acrid yellow vomit shot out his mouth and nose spraying onto the floor and himself.

[Excess upgrade material purged.]

[+5 Hp.]

[68/100 Hp]

You could have warned me it was on a hair-trigger. I wouldn't have minded making it all the way to the toilet. I do feel a lot better though.

Bee didn't answer. Raz stripped off his clothing, wiped up the vomit on the floor with his already vomit covered shirt and took his nasty clothing into the shower with him.

[+5 Hp.]

[72/100 Hp]

So we lived, hurray for not melting or whatever was going to happen. That got a lot closer than I would have hoped. Too close.

He turned the spray as hot as he could stand it and began soaking the clothing in preparation to clean it up.

[+5 Hp.]

[77/100 Hp]

Ok you can stop showing the hp for now as long as they trend positive. I can actually feel that I’m getting better.

Bee remained silent, except for a low grade buzzing in the back of his head. The HUD stopped scrolling his hp.

He finished up in the shower, hung the wet clothing up to dry and changed into the fresh set he’d obtained earlier. He then realized just how tired and wrung out he felt and laid down on the bed.

You’ve been quiet for a long time. Are you sulking?

[Please wait.]

The buzz that Raz had come to associate with Bee thinking hard continued and intensified.

I hope you’re not sulking. We lived, and that would be a stupid thing to be upset about.

Several more minutes passed while Raz experimented with pulling very lightly on the energy around him, trying to control the euphoric feelings as he did so. He’d enjoyed several long pulses of incoming energy singing in his veins when Bee finally answered.

[Not sulking, running simulations, and calculations.]

The background buzz stopped.

[Your more aggressive and reckless course of action turned out to be the correct one.]

[My course of action would have been far more conservative, and would have revealed the purging capability to opponent Braithwaite.]

Ok, well like I said, we lived, so that's a good thing. I knew it was a risk, but sometimes to get through bad situations, you have to take risks.

[We have lived, gained ranks in abilities, learned several things and not revealed any new information to opponent Braithwaite.]

[Your course of action is far better in every way I can assess it.]

[My simulations showed your course of action failing, and mine having a chance at success.]

[My models are clearly flawed.]

You’re part of me, right?

[Correct.]

Well, I’m not perfect. So guess what, you’re not perfect either. Get over yourself and let's figure out where we stand. The one thing we know for pretty damn sure is that doc psycho will be back sooner than we want, and when he does, if we’re here, he’s probably literally going to dissect us.

[Or vivisect us.]

Well aren't you just a damn ray of sunshine. Yeah, or he might take us apart while we’re alive. Way to see the positive side. The question I have right now is just how much of a guess you’re making for my health and energy.

Bee didn’t comment on that.

[Energy and Health full.]

Now see, that's what I’m talking about. As we discussed earlier. All my upgrades are in the perception suite, right?

[Correct.]

So then, how the hell am I able, even with some abilities that frankly don’t seem to fit with perception at all, able to come back from the brink of death in a couple of minutes?

Bee didn’t reply. Raz felt the slight buzzing in his head that he’d come to associate with Bee thinking very hard.

You don’t know, do you?

[That is correct.]

Would it help if I took a guess?

[It might.]

I’m not looking to jinx myself, but tell me this. Is the energy reading exact, or based on percentages, or something else?

More buzzing in the back of his mind.

[The documentation implies it is a percentage based on user/host interface.]

Implies! You’re thinking, good deal. Ok, so next, is health or hit points based on percentage, or some kind of structural reading of my body, or something else?

[Something else.]

Is this going to be one of those teeth pulling sessions?

[The HP reading appears to be based on how you feel.]

“Seriously?” Raz blurted out.

[Yes.]

So, it's possible I’m just a wimp, or at least not used to that kind of pain, and you’re reading my pain levels as dying and it wasn’t as bad as it felt?

[That is possible, however with Triage and Recovery fully activated, each time you are injured, the System/Host integration will improve until I can provide more accurate information.]

[Additionally, you were dying. That is not debatable. Large quantities of intravenously administered upgrade datastream are lethal when the quantity exceeds capacity and storage.]

But just how close it was, we don’t really know.

[Correct. The main uncertainty is the exact rate at which you were dying.]

That’s fair. Too bad though, I wouldn’t mind having a real regeneration ability.

Raz stood up and stretched. The first step is the door. I don’t think we’ve got the luxury of patience any more. We’re going to need to be ready to move if we get the chance.

[That seems accurate.]

I’d love to get out of here unseen, but let's be real, if we see anyone that's not one of the enhanced, we’d better be ready to run. If that fast lady sees us, or someone manages to call her, we’re done.

[This is also true.]

Raz pulled the gloves out from under his pillow and started to pull them on.

[Weapon Inspect rank one activated.]

[Armored combat gauntlets.]

[These gauntlets appear engineered to withstand the forces involved in superhuman strength hand to hand combat.]

[These gauntlets appear to be extremely heat resistant.]

[They are electrically and thermally insulated.]

What, no +10 to ball punching or whatever?

[It appears that rank one weapons examination provides a description with some info that is not otherwise obvious.]

[Additional ranks of this ability may reveal whether the item has any special scrotum related attacks.]

[Making use of them in combat situations will also increase inspection confidence.]

So, what I’m hearing is that it is in fact possible that it has +10 to the nut tap. Raz chuckled to himself.

If Bee could sigh Raz felt sure it would be doing so right then.

[Yes, it is not outside the realm of possibility.]

That's all I needed to hear. You know we’re in some serious shit here, denying myself a little situational comedy isn't going to make it better.

Raz settled down in the middle of the cell and waited for the next guards to pass.

෴ WD40 ෴

෴Darby O’Cellan෴

෴Wilson Meyers෴

෴Chris ‘Chrome’ Johanssen෴

෴Cade ‘Barricade’ Williams෴

෴Frank ‘Ringo’ Star෴

෴Jim ‘Blink’ Thorpe෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Mission Brief

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Wilson looked around the crowded mobile command center at his people. He glanced down at Darby for some support and got a tight smile and nod.

Hex One sitting in the front row locked eyes with Wilson and tapped her mask.

Wilson nodded to her. “All right folks, before we start, a reminder to keep your masks on. Hex made a good point that cameras and facial recognition are just getting too common.”

He glanced around the trailer and didn't see anyone without a mask. “There some good news, and several items of bad news.”

He pursed his lips and tried not to think about how many faces were missing today.

“I’ll start with the bad news. Obviously the most critical item is that we’re running short handed. We’ve had a very heavy few days and we’re now working in alternate team configuration. We’ll be taking a breather once this mission is complete, and let everyone who can recuperate. However, on the upside we’re running a little heavier than usual on relevant combat enhancements for this mission. As always, my primary goal is first, that you all spend the night safe in your own beds tonight. The mission is a close secondary, but is secondary nonetheless.”

He smiled. “On a related note, one of the good news items is that whether or not we find the VIP, this is our last operation in this contract. I’d like to find the VIP and get the bonus as much as anyone, but like I said, we’ll be taking it easy for a while after tonight.”

There was a murmur of agreement and appreciation for the good news.

“That brings me to the next piece of bad-” He was interrupted by a knock at the side door of the armored command center made to look like an ordinary semi-trailer.

Several weapons snapped to shoulders and the clicks of safeties disengaging was loud in the suddenly quiet room.

Wilson’s eyes glowed for a moment as he looked at and then through the door. “Relax, it’s just Chrome.”

He scanned the street behind Chrome with his ability and then opened the door. “Get in here.”

Chrome came in looking like an average build slightly taller than average man with a scruffy beard and a long coat. Once inside he took the long coat off and revealed the battle gear that matched everyone else in the truck that had hidden beneath the coat.

While the team greeted Chrome, Wilson and Darby shared a meaningful look.

Darby stood up and stepped to Chrome. “How you doing?”

“I’m good.” Chrome said.

Darby leaned in close. “Seriously Chris, how are you really?” he whispered.

Chrome shrugged. “Honestly, I think I’m fine. I got shook up when I saw Triton go down. He was a great guy, my best friend. I’ve gotten used to not worrying much about myself, and when someone else goes down I wish I could have done something. I thought he would survive anything we ran into. I gotta get back to it while it's fresh. Might be now or never. I’m worried that if I don’t come with you, I might lose my nerve for it.”

Darby looked him in the eyes for a long moment and apparently was satisfied with what he found there. “Ok, we’ll be glad to have you. When we go in, make sure you’re nice and shiny and we’ll welcome your added muscle,” he said at a normal volume. “How did you know where to find us?”

Chris laughed. “Rach-Razor asked me to swing by and bring her some aspirin. I guess that arm is still bothering her.” He pointed toward the back of the truck. “You’re still parked a couple hundred yards up the road from where she parked Wrath-1, so it wasn’t a major discovery. I was all prepared to call you and get a location but this was easier.”

Darby smiled and directed Chrome to a seat, whispering as he did. “And remember it's better to pull back or pull out than freeze up.”

Chrome nodded and sat down.

Wilson cleared his throat.

“As I was saying, some good news is that this will be the last op for this contract, and whether we find the VIP or not we get paid the balance of the contract.”

He smiled and shrugged a bit. “Now, since I have the time, I’m going to bore you and do what I always do, and go over the high points of the plan one more time. Humor me and pretend you’re paying attention.”

He glanced around the room, making sure to meet everyone's eyes briefly. “The bad news. Blink has had the recon team hard at work since yesterday, and here’s what we know. This site is fairly hardened. They have at least three enhanced individuals who are significant threats, and probably more we don’t know about. We’ve got images for the three we know about. Keep in mind this whole facility is a research and development site for black market ability research. Assume that the three we know about are just the tip of the iceberg.”

He stepped out of the way and nodded at Hex Two. A picture of Fidel appeared on the big screen.

“This is Fidel Chavez. A Russian national known to work for the Martine syndicate. We know he has at least rank two strength, rank three durability, and some thermal energy abilities that we don’t have classification info for. He’s known for being, or at least thinking of himself, as a man of honor. Thinks of himself as a sort of communist revolutionary. Use that however you can. Bottom line, dangerous, bad guy, but also probably the least truly bad guy in there. Rhino, Rex, change of plan. Chrome, you’ll be his counter. I know he’s stronger, but you should be able to slug it out with him and keep him busy. Rhino and Rex will fill normal roles and back you up for that. From what we know about you and what little we know about him, as long as he doesn't get you in a hold and overheat you he shouldn't be able to do much damage.”

Chrome swallowed but nodded. “Do we know how much heat he can make?”

Darby spoke up. “Infosec’s data dig indicates he has at least a rank 2 heat or flame based abilities. Not enough to hurt you in the short term, but if he manages to hold you down and start heating you up, I don’t want to see how that would end. That's why you have backup.”

Wilson nodded at Hex. The picture of Fidel was replaced by a snapshot of Lisa. “This is Lisa Evans. She often goes by Zoom. I’d consider her more dangerous than Fidel there. Intel suggests she has rank one strength and durability. What makes her really dangerous is that she has rank two speed, manifested as high velocity movement. Basic speedster and all the problems of dealing with them. The only upside for us is that older intel suggests that her reflexes aren't in line with her foot speed. Don’t assume you can play matador with her though, she still effectively has enhanced reflexes rank one. Darby will be her soft counter. The trip wires and clotheslines are up a few hundred yards out beyond the lighted area. If she makes a break for it we might get lucky and take her down that way.” He looked down at Darby with a serious expression. “But we’re counting on Darby handling her. After all, as the man likes to say. He’s just here to look good.”

Darby shrugged and smiled. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” He said in an exaggerated accent and then looked over at Hex. “However, make sure none of your copies are too close to me. I might not have a lot of time to waste if I have to do it.” He said with a more serious tone.

Hex nodded.

Wilson inclined his head at the screen to Hex. The image switched to a picture of a younger Leon Braithewaite.

“This is Leon Braithewaite. Probably the most dangerous man here. Not just for his abilities, but just based on how much of an evil psycho this guy is. Every file we could find on him disagreed on his exact ability set, but they all agreed that he’s a psychopathic monster. We know he has well manifested strength and durability enhancements, and it’s suspected that he has some kind of energy ability at the very least. Assume he is maximally dangerous. We all know the deal with reds who haven’t been cured, but keep in mind he was a monster before he started on catalyst treatments.”

Wilson looked around the room and then sighed. “Unfortunately, without Triton, we don’t even have a partial counter to this guy. I suspect we’ll just want to pour heavy AP and thermite firepower into him, and if that isn’t getting the job done, or if we need him for any other reason, we call in our client to be the heavy for us. I’ve authorized heavy rifles for those who want them, and non lethal grenades, but with nothing known about the VIP, we cannot risk using anything hotter than that.” He shook his head slightly. “On the topic of our client, his representative tells me he is deeply engaged in something nearby but will either come as soon as he wraps up, or will drop everything if we directly summon him. Let's hope that isn’t necessary.”

Wilson sat down and looked around the room.

“Now as for the rest of you. Here are your roles.”

He picked up and then glanced at a clipboard. “Rex, I’ll be joining you on overwatch. I’m sure you’re prepared, but a reminder that we’re dealing with hard targets.” He met the curly haired man’s eyes and they shared a nod.

“Blink, you’re rapid attack support. Focus on helping Hex with the infiltration, and keep a safe egress target location in mind. Keep your gear light and don’t make any risky jumps. I want everyone back intact.”

“Yes sir,” the wiry man nestled in the corner of the room replied.

“Ringo, I want you on general crowd control. If Zoom is onsite, give Darby a hand with her. Speedsters are especially vulnerable to having their momentum messed with. So do what you can but make sure you get to cover before using your ability.”

Ringo looked embarrassed. “That only happened the one time, and let me think, who was it that was falling to his death when I took all the inertia and let him land softly?” He smirked and winked at Wilson, “Oh right, that was you.”

Wilson smiled indulgently. “All the more reason for me to want you to stay alive.”

“Barricade, you’ll be doing your thing as usual. Give us cover, take theirs away.” He looked at a short man sitting with the fire team.

Cade nodded somberly, appearing to be deep in thought, staring into the distance at something no one else could see.

Wilson turned to the functional remains of three other fire teams that had been combined into one. “Gentleman, reminder, tonight you are fire team Hammer. We’ve gone over the assault plan enough that I’m sure you’re all sick of it. As usual, do not engage the enhanced unless they are already engaged, or you have no choice, and of course, do your best to not be engaged by them. If you encounter enhanced inside, fall back. AP ammo all around. We don’t expect any chimeras on site based on seismic, but aside from Braithwaite, that's what your thermite magazine is for. Rhino, you’re the shot caller for Hammer. Fugue, I want you doing what you can to keep them from noticing us until we want them to. Once we initiate, then just follow Rhino’s lead.”

Rhino nodded and put up a fist bump for the other five men with him.

“All right Darby, let's wrap this up.“ Wilson sat down

Darby stood up. “As with yesterday, Hex has been kind enough to assist us both with comms and devoting several of her copies to the operation end of this work.”

Hex Four spoke up immediately. “We’re not copies. Every one of us is a real person. We can think and act as one, but in some important ways we’re all separate as well.”

Darby nodded, “Right, my mistake. Not copies, but Hex has agreed to add some bodies to the op as well as handle comms.”

Hex One started the truck engine. “I’m also your chauffeur this evening. I’m also already onsite getting some things prepped with the recon team. We should arrive at the staging point in about eight minutes.”

Darby looked around the room. “You heard the lady, let’s get final gear checks done and get our heads right for this. I want everyone coming home tonight.”

The rest of the team began checking their gear and loadouts amidst the low buzz of conversation.

෴Doktor Midnight෴

෴Mark Walcott෴

෴Cindi Walcott෴

෴Jim Hunter෴

෴Gillian Yueng෴

෴Anita Hillman෴

෴Chris Redding෴

෴Bill Redding෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Kill it With Fire

෴෴෴෴෴෴

“Boss, you got three seconds or less!” Emily’s frantic voice came over his comms.

“So much for that plan.” He muttered.

With no time to waste, he released the gravity ability and his armor seemed to explode off of him. He formed it into a dome as large as he could floating above the group and slammed it to the ground. Except for the two furthest soldiers, the group was engulfed in total darkness.

“Stay still!” Midnight urged them all. “This struct--”

He was cut off by massive thump and a deafening shockwave that passed through the dome-like shape above them. The sound died down into a sort of whooshing roar. The blackness around them changed as the structure above them began to glow a dull orange in several places and the air around them started heating up.

The light revealed some of the people moving a bit at the edges of the dome, with Midnight in the center, one hand on the central shaft going up to the dome above.

“Seriously, stay still! The support pillars are very thin and might cut you in half if you stumble into them. You might not even be able to see them in the dark.”

The group stood still. The dull orange spots expanded, with bright red points appearing in some areas. The air in the small area started to get hot. One then another of the soldiers turned on their lights. The beams illuminated a fit man that looked to be in his fifties wearing a dark grey three-piece suit that shimmered slightly iridescent in the light.

Midnight sighed. “I hope you all realize that your own people decided that killing you was worth a shot at me.” If that doesn’t bother you, realize that I could have just gotten out of here instead of saving you. Give that a little thought while we get uncomfortably warm in here.”

Mark spoke up. “We can help cool it off in here.” He looked over at the soldier that seemed to be in charge. “If, um, that's ok.”

The soldier didn’t answer. He silently mouthed words as he stared open-mouthed at the glowing dome above them. One of his men nudged him, but he just kept muttering to himself.

One of the other soldiers spoke up. “It’s getting pretty hot in here if you can cool it down go for it.”

Mark and Cindi held hands and closed their eyes. An uneven ring of frost appeared on the ground around them and the small domed chamber started cooling off immediately.

The glow above them began to fade, returning the small area to a darkness only lit by the flashlights held by the soldiers.

The couple continued to cool the air and the dome until the glowing was gone.

One of the soldiers pointed his rifle at Midnight. He flicked the safety off and then looked at the dome above them. At the sound of the clicking safety, the blue-haired woman tensed up and then released another beam. The brilliant flash was nearly blinding in the small area. The beam missed Midnight by several feet, striking the ground near the edge of the dome. The sandy ground where the beam struck glowed a dull orange in its aftermath.

Mark groaned and then toppled over pulling Cindi to the ground with him. She sat up but when she tried to help Mark sit up he screamed. Instinctively, the soldiers pointed the lights at them. His leg was missing from mid-thigh down. One of the lights moved a bit and revealed the detached foot sitting on the ground still smoking in the military issued boot.

Jim ripped off his belt and crouched down by the couple. He wrapped it onto the leg and tied it tight around Mark’s thigh. Mark moaned and then went limp as Jim tightened down the tourniquet.

Cindi looked at the wound, then gasped when she caught sight of the severed foot. She looked at the blue-haired woman with rage in her eyes. The woman tried to say something but seemed to choke on her own words, the breath coming out of her mouth became a puff of visible mist. Her eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground. Cindi looked back down at her husband.

“You people tried to kill us. First, you kidnap us, then you put bombs in our necks, and now you send in a missile while we’re supposed to be fighting the one person who just saved us from you? What kind of monsters are you?” she screamed at the soldiers.

The soldier in command seemed to snap out of his fugue. He looked around, taking in the situation. He scrambled in his pocket and pulled out a small device.

Midnight reached out with his free hand and the device shot out of the soldiers grasp and slapped hard on his palm as he caught it. He glanced at the simple interface. “So this is the thing that triggers the bombs?”

One of the soldiers raised his rifle. Midnight glanced at him and the rifle pulled him to the ground as though it suddenly weighed hundreds of pounds. The other two soldiers were similarly yanked to the ground and then held there helpless. “I tried to be nice. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt here. But you just keep on trying to kill me.”

He looked over at Cindi and Jim as they continued to help Mark. “I have people that can help him.” He glanced up at the dome that was starting to glow orange in spots again. “We’re probably safe from whatever kill signal they send, at least until the fire dies down and they realize we might still be here. If you want my help, you’re welcome to come wi-”

Gillian charged him again with the stick. Her translucent form was nearly invisible in the dim light. She screamed something no one else could understand.

Midnight started to pivot and dodge but realized he couldn't move more than a step without losing his grip on the central shaft supporting the dome above. With a sad expression, he flicked his hand at the charging woman. An unseen force flung her away from him. She flew through the air, landing with the upper half of her phantom body on the other side of the dome. Her legs thrashed and twitched, then went still.

A sound behind him made Midnight turn. The two brothers were finally getting Chris dug out of the hole he’d found himself in. He’d left the sheet metal behind to help him get free. Seeing his gaze on them, they both put their hands up and tried hard to look non-threatening.

“I’ll say this one more time. I can help you. I can get those bombs out of you, or I can just leave and let you stay with these jokers.” He said, pointing at the soldiers pinned to the ground.

Cindi glanced at Mark’s unconscious form and then at Jim before looking back at Midnight. Jim nodded slightly “We’ll come with you.” She said firmly.

One of the soldiers grunted something.

Bill and Chris whispered to each other. The soldier grunted again.

Midnight looked at the soldier. “I know. It's hard to talk when you can barely breathe. For what it's worth, I wish I could have saved the two of you that were further out. They were just too far. I’m going to let up a little on this pressure, but if you plan to try anything know that I am done with kid gloves. If you make me, I’ll turn you into a paste and sleep like a baby tonight.”

The soldier drew a long shuddering breath. He started to talk and then coughed a few times. “Is it true that you can fix people who have bad side effects from abilities?”

Midnight nodded. “Yes, I can.”

The young soldier on the ground avoided the looks from the soldiers, “If you can help my brother, I’m with you.”

Nearly an hour later, emergency response teams would be puzzled by the scattered chunks of lead and pieces of shattered plastic in a circle of untouched grass and dirt, surrounded by a ring of near-total fiery devastation. In the center of the ring were two soldiers locked together in what looked to be seamless brass manacles, and the bodies of two women. One still frozen solid, the other burned beyond identification from the waist up.