Date: 9th Month, 478th Year AOP

Location: The D.M.S. Iron Rook; Upper Troposphere 25 nautical miles from the Slate Sky City.

Time: 1832 Hours

The cargo bay was decidedly larger than Gage had thought possible, even for an airship the size of the D.M.S. Iron Rook. He had to consciously restrain himself from gawking at the massive expanse of space inside the ship originally intended for the winged Avian race to fly freely within its cavernous confines. At over one thousand feet in length and three hundred in width, he was just barely able to focus on the far edge of the bay without intentionally enhancing his sight. The place was dark, lit only by a few red lumen crystals set into the walls at intervals theoretically sufficient to keep soldiers from tripping over their own boots. It was also completely devoid of any cargo, which explained the lack of guards in the vicinity, with its only contents being ten unpowered air barges resting in their dry docks along the walls.

After scanning the area for signs of life with his eyes and his… other senses, he reached down a hand to pull Ace bodily through the ancient service hatch, lifting the young man and his gear with no more effort than Ace himself would use to retrieve a ratchet from the floor. “Thanks” Ace said in a shaky whisper as Gage lowered him to the deck. “Don’t mention it” he replied as he fitted the floor plates back into place over the hatch. “Now let’s get you aboard one of those barges.”

They slinked quietly to the side where the shadows cast by the glaring red lights were the longest, and made their way to the closest barge. Outside the closed cargo bay doors, Gage could hear the shouts of soldiers and the groaning of straining steel as the Iron Rook prepared to take on the crew of the Liberty Torch. They had only minutes to spare.

Reaching the first dry dock, he glanced over the barge within. The transport looked like nothing so much as an enormous squashed tadpole, with a large, bulbous front end that tapered down to a smooth, flat cargo area designed to carry large pallets and crates of goods. Its swollen front end housed a small set of the mysterious anti-weight crystals that kept all airships afloat, as well as a spherical socket in the bridge where a small melon-sized Animus crystal would be inserted to furnish the aether power to fuel the crystals. Two enormous gas-powered turbines slung to either side of the rear of the barge provided thrust, their hulls gleaming with fresh coats of white paint. Say what you will about the Protectorate, but they always took care of their equipment.

Gage gathered his feet under him and leapt upwards, landing softly on the rear of the air barge’s cargo deck nearly twenty feet above. He glanced back down at a gaping Ace, and his sharpened hearing caught a muttered oath of incredulity. He smirked before moving to check the barge one final time for any unexpected guests. Despite their being considered third-class citizens by the Protectorate, the Spurned still represented a very real danger to Gage, as his other senses could not detect them. An arc pistol might not be much of a threat to someone with Gage’s… talents, but ironically a good old-fashioned club could do the job just fine, if he wasn’t aware or prepared.

Completing his inspection, Gage reached for a length of cable hanging on a hook next to the rear of the deck and threw the end over the edge to where Ace waited below. “Climb up” he called down. He tied the end of the cable off on a cargo hook and glanced around the bay looking for his own potential hiding spot. The cable jerked as Ace began climbing, then Gage heard a muffled curse and a thud. Glancing over the edge in concern, he saw Ace picking himself up with a grimace.

“Um… I don’t think I can carry all this up a rope, since I’m not that great at rope climbing anyway…” Gage sighed, then leapt down next to Ace, grabbed his tinker’s bag from his shoulder, and leapt back up to the barge. “That’s not fair, sir” Ace whined from below. The cable jerked once more as Ace resumed his climb. “It’s ok, Ace” Gage replied with an air of resignation as the teenager’s face crested the edge of the barge, red with effort. He offered the tinker a hand up, and Ace accepted it gratefully, “The hunger pangs are so much better on your end of the deal, though. Just remember that.” Ace winced, then nodded.

A deep clang reverberated through the cargo bay, bringing them both up short. “Come on, let’s get you hidden Ace.” Gage moved towards the bridge where he had already emptied the crystal service compartment during his search of the ship. He opened the hatch to the space, just large enough to fit a single person lying down. “Quick, get down inside, and-” he was cut off by a deep metallic clang from the bay doors, followed by the screeching squeal of metal on metal as light streamed into the bay. Soil and stone, Gage thought, I haven’t gotten my own ride yet!

Ace quickly ducked down inside the compartment, and Gage dropped the hatch as quickly as he could, slipping in a thin scrap of metal to prevent the latch from closing and trapping the tinker inside. The massive doors clanged into place as he straightened, and quickly donned his dark-lensed goggles to keep from getting blinded by the brilliant red and gold rays of the evening sunset that hung like a hateful orb of brilliant fire and pain just above the horizon. The sunlight struck the skin of his face, burning like sand in an open wound, and an involuntary hiss escaped his gritted teeth before he felt his core surge with dark healing energy, reducing the burn to a mild irritation.

Stiff winds from the air outside whirled through the cargo bay, whipping strands of thick black hair into Gage’s eyes and face. A large, dark shadow fell across the opening, eclipsing the searing rays of the sun, and his heart leapt as he recognized the flaming torch emblazoned across the wooden planks of the Liberty Torch slowly dropping into view. His stomach clenched as he saw black scorch marks and gaping holes blasted into the side of the ship from arc cannon fire. She’s hurt. Hurt bad.

The man doors on the deck below him slammed open, and the sound of marching feet thundered into the cargo bay. He chanced a glance down at the ground below, and was greeted with a sea of red armored figures marching in formation. Let’s see, three, four, five, six cohorts. A full legion. Great. Gage sucked in a breath, letting it out slowly as his mind worked furiously. At this rate, his only hope was to get to the next berth and into his own compartment without being spotted before they offloaded the crew of the Liberty Torch. The sun would light him up like a bug under a lamp to anyone offboarding from the Liberty. He glanced up at the steel beams running fifty feet over his head, then at the wood planks of the walls of the cargo bay and grinned. If he was careful, it might just be possible…

He let out a breath, then focused himself, reaching for the primal instinct that he kept repressed deep within. His breathing slowed and his gaze sharpened once again as he drew upon his darker nature, willing the darkness to move, to aid him, to form. He glanced down at his arms, his coffee-colored skin now covered in the fine matte-black sheen of solid carbon, and flexed his fingers, their two-inch razor-sharp tips capable of penetrating solid steel. He climbed atop the roof of the cargo barge, careful not to make any sudden movements and so attract the attentions of the troops on the ground below, and raised a hand to the wooden planks on the wall, his sharp fingertips biting deep into the wood fibers.

Then he lifted.

Hand over hand, Gage climbed up the vertical wall of the bay, his fingers leaving parchment-thin indentations in the planking below him. He reached the hollow steel beams running along the underside of the bay roof and hauled himself atop the lowest one, sparing a glance down at the proceedings a good seventy feet below. The Liberty Torch had finally been brought into place, and the offramp clanged to the floor of the Iron Rook's bay. A squadron of soldiers waited aboard the Liberty at the top of the ramp, their arc rifles held at the ready as they surrounded the prisoners.

Gage's gaze was drawn to the foot of the ramp where stood a positively enormous man, his shoulders nearly as broad as some men were tall. Massive hands the size of melons were clasped behind his back, and he wore the white bicorn cap of a Marshal’s with the gold emblems of the shield and sun of the Protectorate Air Force gleaming from its crest. Gage's sharp eyes could make out the immaculately trimmed salt and pepper walrus mustache that partially hid a silvery scar that slashed three uneven lines from his upper lip to the bottom of his improbably-square jawline.

An aide stepped forward to hand the Marshal a roll of paper, the man’s head barely reaching to the Marshal’s armpit. The Marshal took the roll without comment, holding it behind his back as he re-clasped his hands, gazing up at the knot of troops and prisoners at the top of the ramp. Behind him, his commanders and troops filed into position as they awaited the prisoners, flanked by more than a dozen Arbiters. Gage saw Claudette standing in place at the head of the Arbiters, her freckled face pale but otherwise inscrutable.

Gage felt his heart clench painfully in his chest as he looked back to the top of the ramp and spotted Commander Auria Grace move to stand at the head of the crew behind the wall of black-faced red helmets, her mane of golden hair blowing freely in the winds that still swirled outside. From his vantage, Gage could just make out the Surface of the world through a thin layer of cloud cover. Vast carpets of green grass lay alongside the placid blue of a small lake thousands of feet below. It almost tempted one to believe it was as safe, quiet, and peaceable as any duke's private garden. Almost.

At some unspoken signal, the red-armored soldiers escorted the front third of the crew of the Liberty Torch down the ramp. Per Auria’s predictions, the Protectorate had separated the Apt from the rest of the crew who were without talent, herding their talented prisoners forward towards the waiting soldiers at the bottom. As they reached the bottom of the ramp, the soldiers stopped, then turned to point their arc rifles at the prisoners.

“Kneel!” barked the foremost soldier. The beautiful commander gave him a raised eyebrow, then turned to stare at the Grand Marshal who towered a good two and a half feet above her. “Dignity, huh?” her full lips curled upwards in a smirk. Gage’s heart squeezed painfully at her cheeky response, but he couldn’t help the upward twitch that formed at the corner of his own mouth. Spurned Soils, but that woman has more stones than all the men on our crew put together. Myself included. The Marshal coughed lightly into a fist before shaking his head at the soldier. The red-armored figures relaxed slightly, but did not lower their weapons.

Commander Auria turned to face the Marshal, her own dark grey uniform and black leather battle duster should have seemed drab next to the bright white of Karkas’s own, but she was nothing less than a vision of wild beauty to Gage; a queen retaining her honor in the face of cruel betrayal. Gage let a low growl escape his lips. Whoever had betrayed them was going to suffer. For a long time. And then he was going to eat well.

His attention returned to the ground, where the Marshal was unfurling the roll he’d been given. “Auria Camilla Grace. For the crime of terrorism, piracy, and treason against the cities of the sky, you and your crew are hereby placed under arrest, to be remanded to the custody of the Protectorate in the capitol city of Solgrace where you will await your trials.” He closed the scroll and nodded to the nearest soldier, who produced a set of silver-runed steel manacles and handed them to the Marshal.

The Marshal took the manacles in hand as Auria held out her sheathed arcblade cutlass in both hands in the formal gesture for surrender. The Marshal reached for the blade, then froze as a high, cold voice echoed through the hold. “Stay your hand, Marshal, that blade does not belong to you.”

Gage’s head whipped around at the familiar sound, his heart leaping to his throat. At the top of the Liberty's ramp, next to the large knot of soldiers and captive Knackless crew, stood a thin golden-haired man wearing the white battle robes of an Arbiter, the cowl thrown back to reveal his high cheekbones and haughty expression that were a mirror image of Auria’s own. Auria’s expression hardened as she turned to face her twin brother, her full lips pressed so thin they nearly disappeared. “Hello, Nathan. So good to see my boot-licking little brother again. How’s your…uh… research into the cure for the Spurned coming along?" Nathan's eyes narrowed as she continued, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I take it that father has not yet been able to enlighten the Assembly of Elders to the mad dog they have allowed to sleep in their own bed?”

Nathan let out a mirthless laugh, his icy blue eyes gleaming with malice. “Thanks to your efforts, my dear sister, my research has been going quite poorly of late. Also, you should know that Father is… no longer on the council.” Gage’s blood ran cold and his head reeled from the implications. If Elder Paulson Grace had been deposed, that could only mean… “It appears that his favorite daughter soiling the family name by taking up with criminals and terrorists was not doing his reputation any favors.” He strode down the ramp, his face now alight with a cold fury. “I had to abandon my research and step in to salvage our family name when Father was dismissed. I was forced to promise that I would bring my wayward sister to justice for her crimes.”

He came to a stop before Auria, standing between her and Marshal Karcas, his hands on his hips. Auria sighed as she looked at her brother, her features suddenly weary beyond her meager twenty-eight years. “Nathan, why-” she began, then her eyes flicked downward and her features suddenly twisted with revulsion. Gage followed the direction of her gaze, and his enhanced vision spotted a small trio of black crystals hanging from a gold chain around Nathan’s left wrist, and he felt a thrill of his own horror. “Nathan, you didn’t…” Auria quavered. Her brother’s smile widened, his teeth gleaming in the reflected sunlight. “Oh, but I did.”

Gasps of fear rose from the top of the Liberty's ramp and Gage saw three skeletal figures wrapped in black rags emerge from below decks, their lurching, swaying gait so unnatural as to have been controlled by badly managed puppet strings. Dark cowls with black masks were pulled close about their faces with a strip of red cloth covering their eyes, and each wore a single golden circlet studded with emerald gemstones atop their head like the crowns of the Old Surface kingdoms, the gleam of the precious metal just barely visible beneath their cowls.

Gage’s stomach dropped even as Auria’s face twisted in revulsion, unable to tear her eyes from the approaching dreadnoughts. Gage doubted his ability to take on one dreadnought by himself and emerge unscathed. Against three, he would just be torn apart. Nathan stretched out a hand as though presenting the creatures to the Chief Protectorate himself. “Behold, my loyal pets, whose brave efforts have given us this great victory!” He turned to look at Marshal Karcas, who was gazing at him with an expression of poorly concealed distaste. “Oh don’t worry" Nathan reached up to give the man’s enormous shoulder a condescending pat. "I’ll remind them that you were an excellent chauffeur and that you took orders quite well.” Gage thought he saw a muscle twitch under the Marshal’s eye.

Nathan turned back to look over the captives before him, meeting the gaze of each in turn. “The Assembly has tasked me with bringing terrorists that soil our lands under control.” He jerked the arcblade cutlass from Commander Auria’s hands and withdrew the blade from its sheath, inspecting the softly glowing crystal-inlaid steel with something akin to reverence. For the first time in his life, Gage saw the spark leave his beloved’s eyes as she seemed to shrivel in on herself, her composure breaking. “Nathan, how did it come to this? How did you come to this?”

“This blade has been in our family for ten generations, Auria.” he replied, as though she hadn’t spoken. He glanced up to meet her eyes and his teeth flashed in a mirthless smile. “I think that’s a nice round number to finish things with, don’t you?” The tip of the blade emerged from between Auria’s shoulder blades as if in slow motion, and Gage stared in shock at the hilt of the blade that was now buried in her chest as she gazed into the cold, emotionless eyes of her twin. She coughed, spraying blood across Nathan’s face and robes, then looked back up. “I f-forgive you… N-Nathan" she croaked, then collapsed to the deck, the sword still buried in her torso, and did not move again.

Gage reeled, struggling to keep his balance on his precarious perch above the group. Marshal Karcas roared in outrage and Claudette let out a grief-stricken scream at the same time, dashing out of line to fling herself atop Auria’s body. “You said you wouldn’t hurt them if they surrendered!” she screamed, sobbing as she cradled Auria’s lifeless head in her lap.

Gage watched as if from a great distance as Marshal Karcas stepped forward, his face a strange mix of beet red mottled with white lines of fury. “Arbiter Grace!” he snarled, his voice a deadly threat, “You have sullied my honor! These men and women are under my protection, and I will not stand by while you-” Nathan snapped his fingers, and the three dreadnoughts seemed to simply appear at his side, their ungainly swaying gait vanishing as they moved with the easy grace of predatory cats. Nathan held up a finger for silence, and the Marshal froze in place as though made of stone, a single throbbing vein in his forehead the only indication he was alive.

“First, that’s Grand Arbiter Grace to you.” He dropped his hand with a long-suffering sigh and continued. “Second, Marshal Karcas, your efforts here have been nothing short of exemplary. Yes, your hospitality has been somewhat lacking, and your determination to give your enemies face is… admirable, I suppose. In this case, however, the Assembly has been crystal clear in their expectations.” He turned back to face the soldiers on the Liberty Torch. “Lieutenant, leave the Knackless aboard the Liberty Torch and return to the Iron Rook at once. They are not worth our time.”

The soldiers obeyed, some even breaking formation in their haste to comply, and in less than 30 seconds, the Knackless crew of the Liberty Torch stood in place, confused and apprehensive, but unguarded. Nathan reached up to touch the emerald linkstone at his temple. “Captain, will you please give orders to cast off and take us away from the Liberty Torch? Cut her loose if you must.”

Gage’s numbed mind struggled to process the scene before him: the slowly spreading pool of dark blood around Auria, her head in Claudette’s lap as the red-haired traitor wept bitter tears over her cooling body, his Apt friends, brothers and sisters in arms, weeping or hurling outraged threats at the blonde-haired arbiter who impassively flicked a droplet of blood from his cheek as the red-armored soldiers hefted their weapons threateningly at the unruly prisoners.

This couldn't be real. This was- With a jerk that nearly made him slip from his perch, Gage felt the Iron Rook shift sideways as her crew cut the lines holding the Liberty Torch tight against her hull and she fell below his line of sight, the blazing rays of the sun once again searing his skin.

Less than a minute later, he saw the crew flinch back from the opening. A wave of heat blasted him in his perch as a flash of orange-white light illuminated the inside of the bay, followed almost instantly by the roar of a titanic explosion. The remaining prisoners below cried out in renewed grief and outrage, and a few surged forward, pulling up short as they came face to face with the sightless gaze of the dreadnoughts and the red-armored troops. The doors of the hold whirred and screeched before slamming shut as they closed off the sunlight and the distant roar of the wind.

“Yes, yes. This is exactly what terrorists deserve.” Nathan raised his hand in a dramatic flourish as he addressed the prisoners. “Those that threaten the order of society and terrorize the populace with false words and sweet poison deserve no quarter. The Protectorate works tirelessly to protect its citizens night and day. It has no time to deal with ungrateful fools.”

Gage suddenly found himself wishing that he had been aboard the Liberty Torch when she made her final descent. A fall from the rafters wouldn’t even be enough to break one of his bones properly, but a fall to the Surface might… He watched as Nathan loomed over Claudette who was still hugging Auria's body to her breast, her Arbiter’s robes now more crimson than white. “Miss Hersch,” Nathan drawled. “You seem to regret some part of what seems to me to have been a very favorable bargain for you.”

Claudette glanced up, her eyes puffy and swollen and her freckled cheeks stained with tears. “You monster” she managed to croak, “Your own sister. Your twin. How could you?” Gage should have felt some small admiration at her boldness, but whatever he might have felt was swallowed by cold misery and fury. She deserved whatever she got.

“Ah. Yes.” Nathan mused. “I suppose to you I must seem like a monster. All great men are misunderstood by their lessers, or so I’ve been told." He shrugged. "Our Avian masters consider me to be quite efficient, I'll have you know, however, I believe you have more immediate concerns. For instance, I would suggest that you ask your lover to join us. I’m sure you can find him around here somewhere. I could just ask the bridge operator to reopen the doors and jettison all the barges, or maybe my dreadnoughts can sniff him out…”

The clang of plate metal sounded from the barge at the rear of the hold where Gage had left Ace, and the sandy-haired young man stepped to the edge within sight of the troops on the ground below with his hands raised. His faded yellow leather airman’s suit was even more rumpled than usual, and his face held a slight green tint as he took in the grisly scene before him.

“Ah! There he is! So good to see you again!” Nathan exclaimed as if seeing a long-lost friend. “Welcome to the party, Journeyman Tinner! You’ll be happy to know that your lover has already purchased your release with the blood of these foul traitors, but know that I will be watching your every step…” his smile widened to eerie proportions until he looked quite mad, “...and so will my beautiful pets.” The dreadnoughts turned as one to face Ace, and the boy’s complexion drained of all color. "I've heard it's quite painful to be drained" Nathan said, his tone still light, "Something akin to being flayed with knives made of salt. If you'd like me to demonstrate I'd be willing to-" Ace's eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed bonelessly in place atop the barge. Nathan let out a savage cackle.

“Ace!” Claudette screamed, but Nathan whirled in place, his pristine white robes spattered with Auria’s blood swirling around him like a storm as his visage changed in the span of an instant from light and jovial to something cold, cruel, and angry. “Silence, you fool” he hissed as he seized the ex-Arbiter's face in one hand. Auria's body dropped to the deck with a thump as Claudette's hands grasped Nathan's arms reflexively as he lifted her bodily from the ground in a display of strength that belied his slight frame.

“Do you think I don’t realize who has not been found?" he seethed. "Do you think I didn’t consider that Gage Blackwood is not among any of the prisoners here or any of the dead aboard the Liberty? I know my slut of a sister had feelings for that abomination. Did she send him away before they were taken?" Nathan spat to one side, then continued in a strained tone. "As much as it pains me to say it, that thing is key to my research and for the good of the citizenry I need him, now WHERE IS HE?” His voice rose to a scream, to something feral and… desperate? Gage's thoughts were a whirl of despair, grief, and morbid interest. How do I have anything to do with his research besides just being a type of Spurned? Could he have figured out...

Then the Grand Arbiter stopped, a sly smile spreading slowly across his face. “But of course. To get someone to join, one must offer a proper invitation.” He released the redhead and she crumpled to the ground as he turned to seemingly address thin air. “Gage… I know you’re here… somewhere…” The blonde Arbiter glanced upward, and Gage shrank back behind the steel beam into the shadows against the ceiling. “Gage…” Nathan called out again, “If you don’t come out, I’ll have to set my pets on these poor prisoners. We wouldn’t want to see that, now would we? Come on now Gage, if you-”

Claudette's ragged voice broke in. “Gage, if you’re here, don’t you dare come out! He’s going to kill them anyway!” Gage risked a glance over the side, and to his surprise, Claudette was standing to face Nathan with fury in her gaze as fresh tears tracked down her face. Nathan’s expression went from eager to bored in the span of an eyeblink as he let out a loud sigh of exasperation. He reached out and yanked Claudette forward by the arm, then struck her in the face with sufficient violence to make her head spin and knock one of her golden Arbiter’s pins loose from her hair. The precious metal clanged against the steel plates of the deck as she slumped unconscious, hanging loosely from the arm Nathan held in a grip of iron. He reached out with his other hand and savagely yanked the remaining two pins from her hair, letting her long fiery red tresses fall in a loose frame about her face and shoulders before dropping her unconscious body back to the floor in the pool of Auria’s blood like a piece of garbage.

“I simply don’t understand why the Avian Queen wants her alive” Nathan commented almost offhandedly to Marshal Karcas, who had been standing as rigid as a statue through the entire series of events. “She seems far too much trouble to me.” He sighed. “Throw her in a cell with her terrorist lover until we return to the capitol. Then search this entire ship for that draug. I know he’s hiding here somewhere.”

He turned to leave as two red-armored figures began to drag Claudette’s unconscious body away, then snapped his fingers as though remembering something. “Ah right. I forgot to tell Miss Hersch she was right about the rest of the prisoners after all. A pity that Gage wasn’t here, though. I would’ve enjoyed making him watch. This way is so much more… boring.” He sighed again and turned to the dark-cloaked forms that shuffled in place with a sudden horrible eagerness. “Go ahead my beauties. Enjoy yourselves for once.”

Gage did his best to block out the screams.