“Soo.. ummm… hello again?” commander Palmer waved her hands and greeted the titans. Isana smiled and waved back, keeping quiet.

“I don’t know if you can understand me, but do you know where he went?” Palmer asked, hoping that somehow she might be able to get her message across the language barrier. However, all she got was empty stares from all 3 of her guests now sitting in the tent with her.

“hmmm…” Palmer pondered for a while, then tried one more time, this time with more exaggerated hand gestures. “Palmer…” She said pointing to herself, like teaching a new baby words. “Isana”, she continued, pointing at Isana. “Kiefer?” She asked, this time raising both her hands with the palms facing upwards and looking around with a confused look on her face.

Rashael seemed to understand what the human female was asking, and stepped forwards and pinted at the exit. He snatched the note pad that Palmer was using to transmit messages back to the boat via her secretary and began drawing images.

He drew a picture of a clock with 24 dials with the dial pointing at 12 noon, and then drew 4 people underneath it to represent the titans and Kiefer. He drew the door and a line that extended from Kiefer’s stick figure that led out the door.

“I see, so they only know that he left.” Palmer interpreted the drawings that Rashael passed to her. Well, I’m sure he will come back for them sooner or later. I just have to take care of them while he’s not here. I have yet to thank him for saving my fleet.” Palmer muttered to herself. Then she looked curiously at the little girl who had snatched the notepad and pen from the young man and began scribbling something on it. On closer observation, she realized that the young girl named Sher was actually wrting sentences in English.

“By your help, upon activation, the twins shall become one through space and time without moving. They shall form a bridge that joins their separate locations, and allow all movement between each other.” Palmer read the verse out loud, confused at why the girl had chosen to write such a cryptic and confusing poem. What she did not realize was that Sher was simply copying down in her untidy handwriting, the rune markings she had seen on the portal runes back at Rashael’s underground Mansion.

Palmer was intrigued, but she did not know what to do with the writing, so she simply folded the paper 3 times and stashed it away in her breast pocket. Then, she suddenly heard cheers erupt from outside the tent and tried to leave the tent to investigate, only to realize that her way out was blocked by none other than Kiefer himself.

“Why hello there Palmer. Nice to see you again.” Kiefer greeted, to which Palmer reciprocated and made way for Kiefer to enter.

“Kii! You’re back! The lady here was just asking about your whereabouts. I don’t know if she understood Rashael’s drawings or Sher’s writing, but it doesn’t matter now. Where did you go?” Isana asked excitedly, jumping from her seat and pushing Palmer aside before hugging Kiefer.

“Sorry I’m late. I had to tie up some loose ends, and I brought back a present for the commander as well as souvenirs to take back to Mutatis.” Kiefer replied with a grin that could only mean that he thoroughly enjoyed his time.

[[A few hours back]]

“Now line up and face forwards! My men are now going to choose their sandbags now. You have no say in this and you will follow whoever picks you!” Valares screamed at the top of his lungs, his piercing voice almost causing deafness in the closest recruit.

Following his announcement, a stream of men and women came streaming in to take a look at the 50 or so candidates lined up. The crew was widely varied, with some being burly, barbaric and unkempt, while others looked like gentlemen dressed in a crisp freshly pressed uniform. The women were mostly dressed similarly in pants and uniform top, with the occasional dress fluttering in the foggy sea wind.

A beautiful woman looking to be in her early thirties strolled past the line gracefully, her jeans and shirt carefully outlining her curvaceous body. A sleeveless, unbuttoned leather jacket was covering her chest, but it only served to accentuate her charms even more. With waist long flaming orange hair that flowed in the wind, she stopped in front of Kiefer and carefully inspected the man before a grin sprouted on her face.

“You. I like you. You have a handsome face and a well-built body. You could serve as more than a sex toy for me. Come with me.” She ordered, turning crisply and heading towards the edge of the destroyer, descending a set of stairs that led to the floating platform where the destroyer was docked. Kiefer followed her silently, staying no more than 5 paces behind her.

They traversed several platforms laid out in a maze, Kiefer mentally mapping the docks in his mind. He could not see past the thick fog that had descended and limited vision to within 20 metres. Finally, after 30 minutes of twisting and turning on and off uncountable numbers of platforms, Kiefer arrived on an aircraft carrier that seemed to have been kept in a pristine condition. There were numerous crews on board scrubbing the decks and repainting the walls. Others were busy loading supplied such as food and water on board.

“Welcome to my ship. It is the newest in the fleet and the only one capable of providing actual air support. From today onwards, you are going to be my bitch. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, not that you are going to hate it. I am Captain Selena, first mate to Commodore Valares. My orders are absolute and can only be rescinded or over-ridden by orders from Valares himself. Any questions?” She asked, turning to face Kiefer.

“Yes I have some questions.” Kiefer replied calmly, which shocked Selena since most recruits were usually too terrified to even speak back to their superiors on their first day.

“What is yo –“ (Selena)

“What do I do to rise up in ranks?” Kiefer cut her off, which seemed to irritate her. But it was not as annoying as seeing the recruit not showing even the slightest hint of fear or respect.

“You have to show your strength. You either prove your worth to the fleet in a position other than what you are currently given, or you can simply kill a superior and take their place.” Selena answered, studying her new recruit’s poker face.

“I see. So if I kill you, then I get to be the first mate to Valares?” Kiefer asked, a hint of a deadly smile showing at the corners of his lips.

Selena’s expression turned solemn instantly, realizing that she had picked up an ambitious recruit who looked like he would be able to deliver his threats. “Sure, but it is very difficult to kill me. Trust me, I know. The only reason I’m stuck in first mate is because Valares was Commodore first, and we are both stuck in a stalemate in trying to murder each other.”

“And if I kill Valares, I will be the leader of the pirate fleet?” Kiefer asked again, trying to confirm what he had just heard.

“Yes. But for now, I want you to strip. I need to inspect the goods before I bring you any further. You know, check for weapons and all.” Selena ordered, a vulgar smile showing itself on her face. Kiefer could already see her mentally stripping him and it kind of creeped him out.

“Damn this woman is nothing but a whore. Who knows how many men she’s done it with and what kind of new diseases she’s carrying. To think that earth had advanced for centuries and still not find a cure for vulgar people.” Kiefer thought internally, ignoring her and walking around the ship on his own.

The ship was larger than any of the other carriers he had seen, both from the 21st century, and from Palmer’s fleet. A simple wind spell from Kiefer dispelled the fog temporarily to reveal the behemoth that was hiding within. By Kiefer’s estimates, this monster had to be close to a kilometer in length, and 2 to 300 hundred metres in width. Staring down the edge, Kiefer knew he was about 12 to 13 floors up and above sea level, which only goes to show how much more is hidden below the water surface. The deck was parked with small planes with jet propulsion systems on each wing that looked like they could hinge and turn, enabling a harrier-like lift off. This meant that more planes could be packed onto the already large supercarrier since there was no need for a runway.

“Are those automated planes? I don’t see a pilot’s cabin in any of them.” Kiefer asked curiously, turning back around to find a handgun pointed right at his forehead.

“Yes, and just do what I tell you to do, it would be a shame to ruin such a pretty face and such an awesome body. Though I don’t particularly mind Necrophilia, I’d rather do it with a live sample.” Selena growled, displeased at Kiefer’s carefree attitude and disobedience.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. There is no way you can hurt me. Try firing for all I care. I have a separate purpose for coming here so I have no intentions of following you around. But if you insist on standing in my way though, I might have to remove you from the equation.” Kiefer threatened.

“That’s too bad. I guess I’ll just have to make do with your body.” Selena grumbled, and pulled the trigger. With a loud bang that attracted the attentions of everyone on deck, Selena shot Kiefer right in the head, only to see Kiefer’s head tilt back a little from the impact with the bullet that ricocheted off into the sky.

“You – you… you have an artifact too?!” Selena stammered in shock, seeing Kiefer unharmed as he had predicted.

“Oh? That’s a new term I’ve never heard of. What’s an artifact?” Kiefer asked, now more curious than ever.

“Don’t mess around with me! Just so you know I have the same artifact that you have, so bullets don’t work on me too.” Selena warned, taking a few steps back from Kiefer.

“Just tell me what an artifact is. I’m not the slightest bit interested in killing you, not that I won’t if I have to.” Kiefer sighed, looking at the overcautious woman.

“How the hell can you not know when you are clearly using one? Artifacts are technology from before the cataclysm when mankind was at its peak in technological advancements. Most were destroyed by the natural disasters, but some of us manage to dig up well preserved devices that still work. For example, the one that you and I both have is called an energy shield. See? It’s mounted on my back.” Selena replied, taking off her leather jacket to reveal a bulky looking piece of equipment on her back below her shirt. “It covers the user in an electromagnetic field that deflects all incoming metallic projectiles.”

“I see. Thank you for that piece of information. For that, I will let you go with your life, however, I will be taking this ship so kindly please order all your crew to leave this ship.” Kiefer replied in a mocking tone as he reached into his PD and pulled out a titan laser. “I’m not sure if your shield will block this, but this is also an artifact that I collected, so if I were you, I would do as I say.” Kiefer lied and threatened once more.

“Tch! What do you want!? You are one of those Artifact hunters aren’t you!? Why do you need this ship in the first place!? What is your true goal? You already have the same artifact I do, so I know my artifact is not what you are after.” Selena queried once more, backing up a little more from Kiefer.

“What I want, is for you to tell your crew to vacate this ship or they all lose their lives.” Kiefer repeated his demands.

“Dammit!” Selena cursed, before pulling out a handheld device from her jeans pocket and speaking into it. “This is your captain speaking. I want everyone to leave the carrier now. I repeat. Leave the carrier or risk losing your lives.”

With the announcement echoing through the many decks of the ship, many crew member began briskly disembarking the carrier, all with confused looks on their faces. Within 10 minutes, Kiefer saw that most if not all the crew were on the docks and no one else was coming out. With that, he grabbed Selena by the waist with his mana ropes and ascended a few steps into the air on his mana platform.

Selena had a bewildered face as she watched her entire supercarrier along with its entire fleet fo automated harrier jets disappear into nothingness. She tried to scream as Kiefer muffled her mouth with silvery threads and sped through the fog back to the destroyer where he had first met him.

“Selena! What are you doing here!? Trying to kill me again?” Valares roared when Kiefer kicked the door to his room down with Selena next to him.

Selena had a look of terror in her eyes as she vehemently shook her head, trying to deny the accusation with her mouth still muffled. Next to her was one of the young men that Valares had seen form part of the new recruit line-up. Still bewildered and shocked by the sudden intrusion, Valares quickly drew his weapon from the top of his table and fired off a burst of 3 rounds in Kiefer’s direction.

Selena’s eyes widened as the bullets bounced off a silvery dome and embedded themselves in the furniture that was around the room. Then, something even more horrifying happened as Valares began disappearing the same way her supercarrier did, starting from one end and finishing when the entire person was seemingly deleted from all existence, all within the timeframe of a second.

“There you go Selena, you are now the leader of the pirate fleet. The carrier is compensation for the rudeness and disrespect you showed me earlier. This favor I’m doing you by making you the leader of the pirate fleet, I expect to be repaid in the future.” Kiefer reminded her, before disappearing into the sky once more.

It would seem that the fleet had already made it to New Manhattan island by the time Kiefer returned and most of the crew members recognized their savior instantly as he descended from the skies. They all roared and cheered as Kiefer approached the newly constructed concrete tent on the island just mere paces from the buried empire state building.

“Why hello there Palmer. Nice to see you again.” Kiefer greeted. “Sorry I’m late. I had to tie up some loose ends, and I brought back a present for the commander as well as souvenirs to take back to Mutatis.” Kiefer answered Isana who had rushed to the door to hug him.