Drake woke up with the sunlight warming his face. Stifling a yawn, he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Scarlet's naked body. The police chief had a peaceful smile on her face, her chest rising and falling rhythmically as she used his arm as a pillow.

Smiling slightly, he pulled his arm from under her, careful not to wake her up. After that, he tiptoed his way to the bathroom, and entered the shower. They had fallen asleep immediately after last night's... Activities, and now his dry sweat had left him feeling dirty.

After taking a short cold bath, he wrapped a towel around his lower body, and went back to the room. His clothes were still there, thrown everywhere, and mixed with Scarlet's. As for the cop herself, she was already up, and donning a simple shirt without worrying about wearing anything else. Drake's gaze couldn't help but wander.

"Hey, handsome. My eyes are up here."

He looked up somewhat embarrassed, only to find a playful grin on her face. Instantaneously, Drake felt relief. Both of them knew that the previous night was nothing more than a casual fling. However, since they were very likely to work with each other when the Secret Service team arrived, he didn't want the situation between them to be awkward. Considering her joke, it wasn't.

"What do you plan on doing today? Apart from starting a pandemonium in front of my station, I mean?"

"Hey! That wasn't my fault..."

While Drake was sulking, Scarlet giggled, and threw him his shirt. While she tied up her red hair, he put on his clothes, including his holsters, which had been thrown under the bed. Remembering something, he went back to the bathroom, to stare at his reflection in the mirror. At some moment during the night, his curative had fallen, and a red and swollen scar had appeared. Yep, he definitely needed to find an Arton.

"Hey, Drake, let's go! I gotta be on the station in half an hour."

"Roger that, chief!"

Laughing, they left Scarlet's apartment. Conversation flowed naturally between them, as if they were old friends. Drake was glad that was the case. He liked Scarlet, as he was sure she liked him, but neither of them wanted to enter a relationship or something similar. They just wanted to have a good time, and that they did.

"I need to pick up Frainer and Kniivar at the hotel before they do something problematic. Can I meet you at the station afterwards? I need to talk to you about the whole Tauron thingy."

"Sure. Pick up breakfast for me on the way, would you? I'm starving, but I woke up late today. Haha..."

She winked at him, making clear what she was implying, then took off in the direction of the police station. Drake continued on the same street, taking in the sights of Ricker while he could. He had a gut feeling that the peace wouldn't last long.

-------------------------

In one of the many hills outside of Ricker, a small group of about twenty young Barbarians were gathered. Speaking to them was a normal man, one of the so-called invaders. He was handing out all kinds of firearms to the group of warriors, and couldn't stop a grin from appearing on his face.

"Broken Eagle, is your group ready?"

One of the Barbarians, a young man in his twenties, nodded excitedly, still examining the gun in his hands. He would have fired a few shots as a test if the man hadn't held him back. Still, he nodded repeatedly, his snake-like tattoos seemingly shining with a dark blue hue.

"We will attack the city of Ricker, huh! We have to kill, destroy, and pillage, but not leave anyone behind, dead or not. Huh!"

Hearing that, the man nodded, and smiled to himself. Soon, his plan would be complete, and he would wipe out all those filthy Taurons. As for those young and prideful warriors in front of him, they were nothing but paws in his hands, and he was playing a game much bigger than them.

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Broken Eagle looked at the town before his eyes. He and his group of rebels were just outside Ricker. If they walked a few more meters forward, they would be seen by the police officers at the city's entrance. But by then, it would be too late.

They had managed to slip past two army patrols, which had coincidently changed their normal route. Now, even if the outpost was warned to their presence, it would be at least an hour before any soldiers arrived, and the Barbarians would be gone.

"For too long the invaders oppressed us, brothers! Huh! Today, we take revenge and burn their city! Ihaaaa!!!"

Yells and cheers emerged from the group of young warriors behind him. They had all suffered greatly in the hands of the invaders before, their friends and families killed while they could do nothing but watch. But now, they had the same weapons the hateful invaders used. Now, they had the means to take their revenge. As one, they urged their Yscalents forward, and charged towards the city.

--------------------------

Taking a sip of his coffee, Drake let out a sigh of relief. Apart from that, he did nothing, and just stared at Scarlet as she did some paperwork. Frainer and Kniivar were by his side. The two Iferes had been quite unhappy that he didn't return to the hotel until this morning.

It was at this moment that the alarms started, startling everyone on the police station. The speakers were so loud that he had problems hearing his own thoughts.

"Lieutenant! What the f*ck is going on?!"

"Barbarians attacked the city by the south entrance, ma'am! We already have two officers down, plus an unknown number of injured civilians."

"Call the f*cking military, and get everyone ready! I want you all on the streets in half a minute! Move!"

"On it!"

While Scarlet was barking orders at her subordinates, Drake was rooted on the spot, stunned. This wasn't supposed to happen. Tauron River had promised to wait, and let Drake try to salvage the situation. Barely a day had passed, so why was he already breaking his promise?

He was pulled back from his disarray by the raging police chief, who slammed her hands on his chest. She was fuming, and Drake could see she was barely able to control herself from beating the crap out of him.

"Explain what the f*ck is happening! Your friends are killing my people!"

"I-I... I don't know! I just delivered supplies to them, they shouldn't..."

"F*ck! F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! I will deal with you later! But you better get your ass out there, and help me stop those motherf*ckers, otherwise I will kill you myself!"

Completely ignoring Drake's Ifere companions, who were about to pounce on her for threatening him, Scarlet stormed out of the office while grabbing a submachine gun that a cop gave her. Drake stood still for a few more seconds, processing what was happening, before punching the door in frustration, and taking his pistols out of their holsters.

"F*ck! Frainer, Kniivar, let's go! No need to hold back today, got it?"

He was pissed. Really, really pissed. Usually he would have told the two Iferes to only kill if absolutely necessary, but he didn't care anymore. If the Taurons were attacking a city full of innocent people, he wouldn't mind sending them all to hell. He would deal with his conscience later.

----------------------------

"Hahahaha!"

Broken Eagle laughed maniacally as he witnessed another of the invaders wearing dark blue clothes fall down, a bullet on her leg. Kicking his Yscalent to make it advance, he was about to finish her off with his brand new gun when he thought of something, and a cruel smile appeared on his face. Picking up the spear strapped to his back, he aimed carefully, and threw it.

The weapon traveled through the air swiftly, and impaled the defenseless invader. With a gurgling sound, her struggle ended. Because of the tremendous strength behind the throw, the spear had pierced the ground, leaving her body standing in a weird half-kneeling position.

"Arghhh!"

Suddenly, one of the warriors he brought with him fell down, blood oozing from a hole in his chest. Broke Eagle's head snapped towards the direction where the shot came from, and he saw a red-haired invader leading a bunch of people using the same uniforms like the one he just killed.

Enraged, he lifted his gun high above his head, and yelled a war cry. His followers, inspired, redoubled their efforts to kill and destroy, and charged towards the new enemies.

--------------------------

Drake arrived a few seconds later than Scarlet and the cops, and what he saw was a scenery of chaos, death, and destruction. Differently from the fights he had gotten into before, this was a full-on battle. Bullets were flying through the air, and screams of pain and anguish thundered in his ears.

He caught a glimpse of the attackers, and, although they were too far for him to accurately see their tattoos, he had a feeling there was something different about them. They weren't Taurons. However, it didn't matter. He could see the bodies of some cops, brutally murdered while trying to defend their home. There were also innocent citizens, men, women, and children that had nothing to do with this fight. Seeing them dead or wounded lit a fire in Drake's heart.

Seething with anger, he ran forward, ignoring the shots fired in his direction. Diving behind a car, he glanced at the two Iferes. The Spirit Contract made it possible for him to transmit his intentions without the need to speak, and both Frainer and Kniivar understood that now all Drake wanted was to kill the Barbarians.

Something he had noticed long ago was that he was talented in shooting. However, that skill seemed to become even stronger when his life was on the line. Singling out one of the many guns that were firing in the cacophony of noises, he got up, found his target, and fired. A young Barbarian more than a hundred meters away dropped from his Yscalent just as he was about to fire at a couple that was hiding inside a Rootler cab.

Ignoring the astonished expression the civilians were sure to have, Drake told Frainer to use Nightmare Clouds on the nearby enemies. He couldn't care less if it would scare the bystanders. When two Barbarians suddenly gripped their heads and started screaming, they were quickly taken down by the cops. Scarlet, seemingly noticing something, looked at Drake, but he was too occupied to answer her questioning gaze.

"Kniivar, Uproot!"

The small Ifere complied happily, and suddenly the trees on the sidewalks withered and died. A ball of green light, about ten centimeters in diameter, appeared in Kniivar's open mouth, and then flew towards an unaware raider. It hit him straight on the chest, and he was sent flying with a sickening crack. He didn't get up.

Sprinting forward, Drake changed his cover from the destroyed car to the side of a building. A bullet flew past him, missing his chest by mere millimeters, and he returned fire, hitting the Barbarian's left leg.

Although the enemy couldn't be considered harmless now, he was a lot less dangerous, so Drake ignored him, and proceeded to find his next target. He didn't notice it, but he was behaving like a machine, and was efficient as one. With his companions' help, three more Barbarians fell down, dead or wounded, in a matter of minutes.

Another cop screamed in pain as he was hit in the chest by a spear. Drake immediately dove down to help him, and tore off a piece of his shirt, tying it around the wound and the spear. It wouldn't do much to stop the bleeding, but it was all he could do for now. If he tried to pull it, it would only accelerate his death.

Staring at the bright red blood in his hands, Drake shrugged, and wiped it on his clothes. Firearm wounds were one thing. Spears, blades, and arrows, on the other hand, were much more brutal, at least visually.

"Agh..."

"Shhh... Shh... Don't worry, someone will be here to take care of you shortly, okay? Stay awake, buddy, and don't move. Yeah, just like that."

Deciding he had had just about enough, Drake got up and, giving the wounded cop a last look, searched for the one who had thrown the spear. He soon found him. It was a young Barbarian, who seemed younger than Drake. He was giving orders to the others, all the while spraying bullets towards Scarlet and the others, forcing them to keep their heads down. He also seemed to be retreating, and Drake noticed that the ten or so attackers that remained on their Yscalents were picking up their dead and wounded.

"Oh, no you don't, a*shole."

Picking up the rifle that the cop had been carrying, Drake took aim, and squeezed the trigger. The Barbarian stumbled, and slipped along the side of his mount, holding his bloody shoulder. Before he could get up, Frainer glued to his head, and used Dreamscape. Without a sound, he collapsed again.

"Don't let this one escape, Frainer. Kniivar, come with me. Let's put an end to this."