20 Chapter 20: Return to Sender

"Pull!" Reid yelled as the soldiers fell back from their positions. It was dark, tight and heavily close quarters in the underground tunnels beneath the mountains.

The Marines were buying the demolition team time to properly set the explosives to bury the entire place. King Martain's skeletal warriors have so far been a significant help in bogging their attackers. Gunfire was exchange by arrow and magics from the Slaegians as the UFE scrambled for cover. The bright magical missiles thrown from Carliah and several accompanying battlemages suppressed the marines to the pillars.

The Rules of Engagement states by order of Major Holyfield is to leave no survivors…

"Damnit! I am down to my last mag!" one of the marines yelled.

"Switching to secondary." Yelled another.

"Firing!" an AT soldier warned as his Rocket Launcher blasted out of his shoulder. It zipped passed the marines straight into a shielded formation of Slaegian Legionnaires obliterating them where they stand.

"For the Empire!" rally cried one of the Knights as he charged into the fray. He and a couple dozen or more medieval fantasy troops advanced at the Marines. They were under the covering fire of Magic Missiles launched by Carliah and her mages in a rainbow display of magical prowess. The projectiles struck like rain falling on a roof at the tunnel's walls and pillars. Some exploded in a expulsion of fire, others made the ground it made contact with explode in freezing cold ice.

"Aaagghh!!! It stings like a motherfucker!" one of the marines cursed and gnashed his teeth as he dove down to a nearby pillar for cover and looked at his forearm. It was struck by one of Carliah's Magic Missiles in the exposed part of his rolled sleeved army fatigues of his right forearm.

The wound was similar to a bullet entry wound with the additional effects of a cauterized skin with 3rd degree burns and the wound was bleeding like a leak in a pipe. The rifleman luckily had a bandage on his pocket and with a little bit of dexterous movements from his uninjured left arm which was weaker than his right, he applied himself first aid and was back on the fight but in a reduced combat effectiveness posture now resorting to using his pistol to return fire.

"Filthy Sorcery! Feel God's Wrath upon you!" Bishop preached as he unloaded several shells of his Master Combat Shotgun at the Slaegians. To Reid and the Marines credit, he was fighting just as or even more intensely than they could do. The old priest was also albeit in a disparaging display of foolhardiness a he was letting himself be exposed right out in the open field. Yet as if from an act of divine providence, arrows, javelins and even a couple of magical projectiles narrowly avoided him.

"Well glad to know you are getting along with the last person I expect you would buddy up with but we got a tunnel to blow up!" Inspector Reid yelled. "How much longer Sarge?" Reid called out to one of the Demolition Engineers.

"ETC, two minutes. Keep em away from us." The engineer replied.

"Begone back to whence you came Spawns of Hell!" a distinctly armored man carrying with him a shiningly bright blade of a pale orange color struck down a whole squad of King Martainn's Skeletons. He was backed up with a dwarfish man with greying hair dual wielding a hand crossbow and an axe.

"Findrum! Flying Angel!" Petur said as he began to feel overwhelmed with fatigue and mana burnout.

He had one more card left to play that he uses when the fight hangs in the balance.

The Dwarf cupped his hands and placed his arms around his waist, his strong limbs in preparation for a boost as Ser Petur dashed towards the Dwarf. He whispered in his head to will himself a cast of two off his favorite combination of 'Utility' spells which have more indirect uses in combat applications from the Restoration School which is 'Haste' and 'Fly'. Restoration not only covers Healing Spells but it also has several spells that revolves around the person's body expending themselves to perform preternatural feets no one with magic could hope to achieve.

Just as he was about to run over the child sized man, Petur's feet stepped off of the handy platform that Findrum made and upon contact, Findrum with his innate strength pushed Petur upwards with all of his might. The magic soon began to flow in Petur's body as he felt becoming lightweight as a feather. The magic knight's feet leaped off of Findrum's hands giving the jumpstart to finally levitate his feet off the ground. Towering above everyone by about 10 feet gave him a significant height advantage. With his Spellsword casting abilities, he grabbed an ethereal halberd from his hands and with a heavy swing and a hateful gaze for all Demon and Undead kind reaped down on the Skeletons who swarmed bellow him like ants.

Cutting them down was much easier when compared to doing the same on his feet but it left him more exposed to the Enemy Gunfire that he across the hall cowering behind the tunnel's pillars.

"Cowardly Demons! Come and face me in glorious hand to hand combat! When will Xiglilauth send me a champion worthy of my strength." Petur invoked 'the Seducer's' accursed name.

The old ancient legends said that Xiglilauth was responsible of turning Alboen against all of the world. Gave him secrets that turned his army into a terrifying legion of the damned that seek to devour Gliesia. It took the Empire's founder Caldell Slaegiac and the ancestors of what will consist of the future noble families of Ysanigrad to defeat him.

Although Petur was only a few feet away from the ground, he now had an advantage against the skeletons, height. Like a farmer on a field of wheat in harvest day, he continued his reaping. Bones and rusted iron flew like tossed wind and rain in a storm as the Tyr Rianni skeletons were cut down by the warped weapons of Ser Petur. But his advantage came at a cost, he was just as exposed to the hail of firing projectiles that volleyed over him but thanks to his speed, he managed to expeditiously retreat to the cover of the pillars before hitting and running back to take down the skeletons.

"Focus fire on that fucking pretty boy up there!" Reid ordered.

"We are done! Let's get out this place is going to blow!" the Demolition Sargeant interjected.

In a moment of opportunity, Petur met his eyes on Inspector Reid. Who he got a good look on the face of these outsiders? His face was human but his body, everything from the blue short sleeve shirt with the golden badge on the sides to the leather like vest on his torso were all otherworldly to him. Even the metal stave he carried which he could confirm the rumors he had heard from travelers from Tyr Rian spat fire and drummed thunder all in a nimble rhythm to outclass even the finest Archery Lines. After a moment of awe, the Magic Knight switched to raw and utter hatred. He dove down from his heightened position, not noticing the Explosive Charges starting the detonation process, his spear aimed to impale the tainted flesh of these 'Demons'.

Father Bishop, for want of a nail looked back as he reloaded the slug shells of his shotgun and saw that 'Pretty Boy' Slaegian was about to make a nosediving attack on the Inspector.

"Die! Minion of Alboen!" Petur gleefully said as he raised his weapon to the air at the unsuspecting Reid.

"Psalm 67 Alien scum!" Bishop yelled as he breached a shot of 12G Slugs at Petur's direction.

The shot landed on Petur's armor but his armor managed to save him from being penetrated due to the thick Burugonite metal that he commissioned from some of the finest dwarven-human smiths in Ysanigrad. However due to the initial pre-condition of him enchanting his body with 'Haste' and 'Fly' Restoration spells made him deceivingly bantamweight compared to his real 150 Kilos. The stronger force impact of the Priest's shotgun with collided with Petur's dainty frame cause the Magic Knight to fly the opposite direction 15 feet away from Reid.

The Inspector turned around to see what Bishop fired and saw the knocked down pretty boy Magic Knight and turned again to the Priest who pumped a new shell into his shotgun's chamber smirking proudly that he defended God's children. Even Reid gave a fleeting but sincere smile too as a mental projection of gratitude.

But then the Tunnel began to start shaking, then the ceiling collapsing gradually and thunder rumbling from the distance. The Demolition has begun!

"Run!" Reid told the old man. They turned tail and rammed their way through the slowly collapsing Tunnel Hall.

It was a straight but very strenuous if running for one's dear life 100 hundred meters to the safety of the exit. Reid and Bishop were the only people that were in the last and worst possible position one can be in the planned demolition of the Tunnels. Debris fell down and explosions occurred but the men, despite their age skillfully dodged and weaved through the structure as the whole place began to collapse even further with more intensity.

Meanwhile at the Slaegian side of the Tunnel, Petur was helped up by his comrades Findrum, Karliah and Mita who got the Knight back up to his feet.

"The Tunnel! They are destroying the tunnel!" Findrum screamed.

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"Denying us the shortcut to bypass the mountains! Clever!" Karliah reasoned out the possible motivation behind such a turn of events.

"We need to leave now or this place will be our graves." Mita tugged Petur who tried to chase after the 'Demons'. She had to be supported by Karliah and Findrum who tried to yank the hot-headed Magic Knight from certain doom.

All around them the tunnel was collapsing and they might have only less than a minute left to get themselves out of there less Mita's words become true.

Giving up albeit with much loathsome breath, Petur relented and gave up his little tug-of-war and let their eternal enemies go. He turned around and he sprinted alongside his companions.

"Watch out Petur!" Karliah yelled as she formed a protective force field around the party.

Rocks began to fall directly on top of them but the shield held, deflecting the boulders to the sides. But Karliah had to move slowly since the Magic Shield has to be channeled properly to maintain its strength. The Adventurers were now painstakingly inching their way to the bright exit on the Slaegian side of the tunnel but every second they are still in the tunnel, the entrance slowly sealed itself with ruined boulders.

Petur used the last few bits of his mana to cut down the boulders into more manageable sizes as the party made the homestretch when the tunnel was good as clogged except for the small gap of space of Magic Shieldings being produced being besieged by the full weight of the mountain and Tunnel's collapsing edifice. Fatigue, Sweat and Mana Burnout plagued Karliah as she used up the last of her strength to push herself to the last few meters between everyone and safety.

"EEEYYAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!" Karliah screamed with all of her lungs as she and the rest of the Grey Order adventurers leaped out of the Tunnel entrance before the whole mountain descended fully upon them. A great expulsion of dust followed fogging and irritating their eyes for a few moments before their eyes could clarify.

They were all alive and accounted for. Beaten up but still emendable shape, except for Karliah…

"Karliah!" Petur shouted as he moved over the mage.

She was breathing and sweating heavily like if she had just run a marathon. She was suffering from a severe mana exhaustion.

"We need a cleric now." Mita said as she turned around to see if the rest of the people who made it out.

But she only saw a dozen other people besides them. All were either Slaegian Legionnaires or some of the levied laborers.

"We need a healer here. One of ours burnt out her Mana." Mita asked the survivors.

"The Cleric that came with us… he was… in there…" one of the Legionnaires reluctantly informed the Crow. "I saw him… chanting some Battle Prayer's and exorcisms but… the demons got him with their magic. His body… filled with so many blood holes… Invisible Arrows!" he stuttered trying to break the bad news.

To see such power, unprecedented, unseen, unheard off. The trauma

"What? Are we all that is left?" Petur said unnervingly.

"I am afraid so. Come, the town of Vercourt is only about half a day from here. Let's carry the Mage to the cart and hurry." Findrum ordered.

As the survivors licked their wounds and gathered their carts for the road ahead, Petur's mind boiled with anger. They have not succeeded in their objectives, it was a mission failure. The shame of his first defeat, permanently branded on the Magic Knight's ego. He looked back at the collapsed tunnel as he was about to board the carriage wagon to the next town.

"The Emperor will hear of this desecration…" Petur vowed.

Meanwhile at the otherside of the Dorham Mountains, Reid and Bishop were panting for breath. Their bodies expended to the limit that people their age could fully muster. But their faces were kissed by the bright afternoon sun rather than the cold hard rock of the collapsed tunnels.

"Ha-Ha…Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" the Priest began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Reid asked.

"I never felt so… so… good for the last 20 years like this. The thrill! The bright lights! The danger! So, this is what Jesus felt like when he walked the Earth to save the masses. I… I am beginning to like this place already…" Bishop said as he pushed himself upwards to stand up. But he began to feel some cramps on both of his thighs, grasping both tightly with his hands as he unsteadily rose upright.

"Nothing like a chair and a hot compress can't fix. I wonder if 7-Eleven got some instant tea or hot chocolate… I could use some right now." Bishop commented.

"Sir I got Major Holyfield on the Line with me. What should I say to him?" a Radioman briefly butted in with his electronic mic on his cupped hand.

"Tell him, we are heading back to New Albany. The Tunnel's are gone. But I believe this is only the beginning…" Reid muttered.

To him he felt like he was awakening a sleeping giant, and give it a thirst for vengeance. But for the Slaegians in the other sides, they were about to say they just stepped into the gates of Seven Hells itself, unknowingly attacking someone far greater than anyone in Gliesia can ever hope to imagine.

------------------------------------(Meanwhile at Kesserheim Stardocks) ----------------------------

Iris Cadohagan eyes wondered like a breezy child. The Kesserheim City lights twinkled in unision with the Stars above them. She was at the Departure Lounge's balcony of the Kesserheim Stardocks quietly stargazing. The stars and the city lights made it hard to tell the difference between them in a beautifying display of contrasting visual arts. Trying to tell which bright distant light is a lit window or a star distracted the boredom of waiting for many hours in that Departure Lounge, it was a good thing that the First Class exclusive Membership Club was completely reserved for the Interstellar-slash-Otherworldly guest for that night. The Manila is currently still fueling up and other pre-flight preparations and checks that takes time for the Logistics ship to process through.

She had always wondered, ever since she had left Gliesia, where her home world was in that vast ocean of darkness with starlit lanterns. She tried to reach out on all the stars out there as if she was trying to catch butterflies from the days of her youth. Despite the frightful incident of being chased by exploitative Megacorpos who wanted her and Aliathra, she had an overall fun time at

"Hey Iris…" Samantha's voice interrupted her daydreaming. She was followed by their new Elf companion Aliathra.

"Greetings Samantha and Aliathra. Care to share a seat with me outside?" Iris offered.

"I would love to." Samantha nodded yes.

The two newcomers grabbed a chair on one of the balcony's tables and sat next to the Vampire. It was a rather intimate all female sit down between the three. Samantha still had suspicions and concerns for the Elf especially after she was discharged from Saint Luke's with that artificial heart, she was unknowingly implanted in to save her life. But command said otherwise and insist that she is to be safely returned to Gliesia where she belongs. The once beyond scared straight elf who would hesitantly take a step forward in their presence was slowly brighten up as her demeanor upgraded to a content but stoic face. The Lieutenant had always noticed that the Elf was always very observant, almost nosy even when she walked the streets of Kesserheim both from her first-hand account and the accounts of Diaz and Kayin who had accompanied her. Originally, she wanted to personally take care of the whole touring part of the trip for the Elf but she was told by Clay that she, Iris, Diaz and Kayin were spirited away by people who looked like they were from Aparo Corporation.

"So as the person in charge of introducing you… well officially to the safe being and enjoyment of our guests. I am required… to ask for your feedback?" Samantha told them.

"Feedback?" Aliathra asked. "Your required to ask us what we think?" the elf continued her question.

"Yes, both of you. I got Princess Aria and her Entourage's opinions and they said they enjoyed the whole trip and are inspired by all the sights of the UFE's largest Ecumenopolis… sorry… City Planet, Kesserheim." Samantha said.

"City Planet? Are you saying that this celestial body is an entire city?" Aliathra raised her voice in curious but very pushy dialogue.

"Indeed. Our… uhm… we Earth Humans are very knowledgeable when it comes to such large and long-term engineering projects." Samantha answered.

"How can you build such a colossal planet. Back in Gliesia this would have been an impossible feat, even with our Magic and every architect in existence, both dead and alive to build this… This!" Iris… almost excitedly pointed to the Kesserheim Skyline.

"Hundreds of Years of Knowledge, Experience, Learned Mistakes and some really… 'forward thinking' Architects of our own." Samantha couldn't contain her slight smile. She remembered from her Contemporary history books that the people who made the conversion of Kesserheim from a mineral rich savanna planet into the Ecumenopolis it is today were, by all accounts 'a few screws loosed inside their marbles'.

"We have millions… no… billions of books, data, records that detail all of our knowledge through the ages." Samantha stood up and spread her arms out like a bird in flight emphasizing the infinite knowledge that the UFE have compared to the two primitives.

"So, your saying you have your own Great Library of Lyanlenor?" Aliathra said.

"The Center of Knowledge in all of Gliesia? Have you seen it? They say that you need to have permission to access the Lower Vaults and it's not even open to the general public. Did you actually… went inside those Vaults?" Iris asked.

"Just one… it was about healing spells and notes from ancient Clerics." Aliathra fibbed.

It was further from the truth that as a Lareththor, she and her family by default had unlimited access to the entire Great Library.

"Not open to the General Public you say? That doesn't sound healthy." Samantha objected.

"Why? Why would you say that?" Aliathra stood up from her chair pridefully.

One such the reasons why access to the Great Library is limited via referral memberships (or being a Lareththor) was that first, the Library has an archive of Magic related literature ranging from books, thesis, Arcane Treatise and Journals of Arcanists and those who researched the Winds of Magic and related phenomena. All dangerous in the wrong hands, especially to those of powerful Magical capabilities.

"I am just saying, that keeping some information locked up can be very… unhealthy… I mean more of the words of… Regressive." Samantha argued. "If you keep so much knowledge locked up, why keep it when it is meant to be shared?"

"For such advanced knowledge we had to keep it safe from the others. Maybe…maybe one day the Librarians might let you come in." Aliathra tactfully reassured Samantha's curiosity.

They were, even before they split were the most powerful civilization in all of Gliesia. Many of their own discoveries of Magic and the Mana Crystals were made through hard work, trial and error and some cases pure dumb luck (and straight up accidental 'Divine Inspirations'). Such knowledge had intricacies were so complicated that only Elves in their long-life spans could even hope to master, let alone be able to memorize such theorems, laws and reactions. The other races were more focused in their more based needs and wants such as food and a roof to sleep under. Elves in the other hand don't need to worry of such things and can dribble in the diversions of more refined paths such as Artists (Martial and Aesthetic wise), Philosophers and Scientists. Elves were such blessed beings able to feel every intimate details of the world around them, the magic, the life, the touch of textures, the taste of a meal, the feeling of happiness, the feeling of homesickness…

Homesickness…

Aliathra looked back up to the stars again… she was mesmerized by their twinkling beauty but she was a stranger in an even stranger land. She felt a disconnection between her and the Mana of Gliesia, like a sense of abandonment, the same feeling one would expect a lover who let you go, or a child despairing over being orphaned.

"Where is… Gliesia… from… here?" Aliathra muttered.

She could feel her heartache as she said those words. The glass and painted concrete composure of Kesserheim was appreciative of such architecture but the absence of anything… Natural was uncanny to her. She missed the fresh air of the green meadows, the feel of the wind and the sprinkling of river waters splashing by rocks.

"Now that you mentioned Elf. Where is it from here?" Iris asked Samantha.

"Hang on, I got an App for that." Samantha reached into her pocket.

"An… App?" Iris asked.

"You know our computers, right? Those machines that 'make our jobs easier'?" Samantha reminded the Vampire.

"Yes, and you got many of such gizmos from as small as your hands to as big as a War Horse." Iris answered.

"Well, the way our Computers 'make our jobs easier' is through these… special abilities that we uh… encode… I mean… enchant… yeah… I guess that makes more sense to you… We 'enchant' our computers with these 'runes' you see here on my computer that helps us do work. This 'rune' here is called 'Kepler's Augmented Reality Stargazer'. It let us see stars and find out more about them." Samantha pointed to an Application she has on her phone of the said name.

Eversince the advent of Earth Humans ascending and expanding to the stars there was a renaissance on all things Astronomy, Sci-Fi and Xenology related. Kepler's Augmented Reality Stargazer allows the user to be able to visually see the stars in whatever constellations that can be seen from the user's current position. More often than not, it was quite a perspective shift to see new constellations from other planets compared to the classical ones back at Earth.

Samantha typed in their current location of Kesserheim and raised her Smartphone's camera pointing upwards for the app to be able to function properly. After a second the camera view sparked to life with highlighted points, text and speech bubbles that were attached to each star. They even noticed that some of the constellations had playfully drawn pictures that were outlined to visibly represent the constellation, they saw a constellation that looked like a chair, another a trident, and a crescent moon. They each had assigned names and the way they were 'speaking' to the Gliesians was inviting.

"So… Benham system should be over… right there." Samantha turned to her right and pointed with her right hand while her left held her phone.

The two other women huddled to her and looked upwards as they aligned the aim of their eyes to the direction of Sam's fingers.

"Benham system is right over there. Frontier territory. We called in Benham after a Naval Surveyor back when we Earth Humans used to be sailing the Seas rather than the Stars. It's the name we call Gliesia over. Which reminds me… do you have a name… for your star? Sun?" Samantha asked.

"Anadi." Aliathra said.

"Sounds like a really nice name." Samantha smiled.

"So where is this Earth you… strange… uhm… variety of sorts of Human you said you come from?" Aliathra asked.

"Right… over… there!" Samantha turned to the opposite direction and pointed again.

"What does your home look like? When I saw it from the ship it looked like it was just a giant big rock. No signs of a sea, or any foliage." Aliathra said.

"Yeah, is your home like that too?" Iris asked.

"No. Watch here. Look." Samantha turned to her phone and tapped the Icon for the Sol System (often nicknamed as the 'Origin System'.

The screened zoomed to a star system with elliptical arcs that hover around the Sun. She tapped to the planet that was third closest to the star and zoomed in. The planet was mostly blue saved for some blemishes of green land that covered an eye-catching proportion of the land to water ratio of the planet. It was strangely like how Gliesia was theorized too look like if viewed from the heavens. (Too bad they haven't developed any Space-worthy technology to prove such theory that Gliesia was mostly green and blue. A marriage of jade land (with some discoloration from deserts and mountains) and azure oceans all made… as their religion states by the loving care of Neneth Goddess of Life.

"It's like… ours." Iris said mesmerized by the technology of the UFE. "How did you learn of such 'enchantments'? I would like to meet these 'Enchanters'. Perhaps we can talk about how we both share the same" the Vampire asked in her own (comedically mistaken) interpretation of Samantha's lecture on Computer Applications.

"I just… got… the 'runes'… for free at the store…hee-hee." Samantha blushed. It was like trying to explain the birds and the bees to children in a language comprehensible to such archaic individuals. She couldn't help but hide her laughter in vain.

"What's so funny?" Aliathra asked.

"Was it the fact that you said after watching that Magic Mirror play that theater performance of 'Lord of the Rings' and you said when Diaz asked you what did you like in it. You said 'I liked Gimli. He reminds me of my Ranger Master. Boisterous, tough for his small size and farts a lot when he's drunk.'" Iris gave out her guess on the sudden change of air that filled the Redhead's face with such wild mirth.

"And I can still remember the roar of laughter that followed… I… don't get it. What's so funny?" The Elf complained.

"Were you paying attention to the film Miss Aliathra?" Samantha twitched her eyebrows.

"Hey ladies, Pizza is here." Crocker interrupted them.

"Pizza?" Aliathra asked.

"Oh you will love it! Kayin was such a dear when he and Vincent introduced me to it. It's like a pie… but you get to see the insides of it." Iris answered.

The Elf was no stranger to Pies, having ate a dozen kinds of them from the fruit pies, vegetarian pies and meat pies for appetizer, main course and desert for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She finds the cross section part of the inner workings of the pie to be the most fascinating thing to see when she sits down on the table for a slice. Yet an 'open-face' pie was something she had never heard of. Wouldn't the ingredients flood out of the crust like flood of gourmand cuisine on the clear table floor ruining its hygienic purity?

The walked back inside the lounge where the UFE and their otherworldly guests gathered themselves around a table as half a dozen square boxes were stacked on top of each other.

"A-righty, I shall now show you my Fantastic friends, one of God's greatest gifts upon all of mankind. Pepperoni!" Diaz smiled as he flipped open the top most box.

The pizza 'pie' was flat, with no distinguishing features but white curdles that dotted the golden brow surface of the pizza. Aliathra was disappointed by the revelation.

"Oh shit… this is the Cheese…" Diaz awkwardly knocked his head in admission of being caught dumbfoundedly in front of guests, Diplomatic guests to boot.

He pulled the Cheese Pizza aside and peeked open the box for a moment before confidently smiling again.

"Pepperoni!" Diaz smiled as he flipped open the second box.

It was much more visually stimulating compared to the bland aesthetics of the Cheese Pizza.

There were slices of a blood red colored pizza that dotted the oozy cheese ground of the pie. There bodies showed signs of slight rising and a few bumps from the effects of molecular expansions when inside the oven. The slices sun kissed bodies also emitted an enticing peppery scent that tingled the noses.

"Guests first." Diaz said as he grabbed a circular saw and began to loosen the cheesy bonds of the pizza to allow the ease of serving.

Aliathra, not wanting to insult her marks grabbed a slice of pizza and a plate. She silently stared at the morsel, not knowing how to eat it. Normally she would have eaten a pie with a fork and a knife but she wasn't given any such utensil.

Then she noticed that some of the UFE Humans were eating the pie with their bare hands in a very uncouth display.

"See this is the best way how to eat it everyone." Diaz demonstrated by biting down a slice of the pizza infront of the guests before smiling.

But to Aliathra's and even the guest's shock, there was a red pulp that stained the outlays of his mouth after he took away his slice of the pizza.

"Is that… blood?" Princess Aria gasped.

"Oh no, this isn't blood is one of the… uhm… ingredients you put in pizza. Tomato! It's a fruit… at least according to most people… that when you mash it down to a sauce looks like blood. Don't worry its actually taste very sweet and pulpy. Come on try it." Diaz explained.

"I was in that position too when I ate it. It's not blood and Obediah has been selling them to the farmers and they said they love it." Iris added.

"Thanks Iris." Obediah wholeheartedly showed his gratitude for the good word.

With some hesitation the Tyr Rian entourage bit down on the pizza. Their concerned eyes soon changed to ecstatic smiles as they rose up and nodded approvingly on their food.

Aliathra looked down on her food again. Reassured that she wasn't inadvertently eating something abominable. Aliathra, with the visual reference aside, grabbed hold of the pizza slice but as her delicate elven hand made contact, she felt a burning singe on her lithe palms.

"Ahh." Aliathra cringed. She reflexively dropped the slice back to the plate's surface.

She shook her hands to fend off the stinging feeling of the still fresh out of the oven dish. After it subsided, she looked at her hand and saw her hand had left a slight pinkish burn mark on her flawless ivory skin.

"So this is why mother told me that I should never eat with my hands." The Elf said to herself.

"Hey, here." Diaz voice snapped her out of her own self thought. He hand her a pair of plastic fork and knife for the pizza.

"Come on, please enjoy it. I had to run all the way across the terminal to get you this." Diaz said with a raspy breath.

Grabbing the utensils, Aliathra delicately cut the very tip pizza slice and extracted a singular pepperoni slice from its cheese melted restraints and placed it right on top of the incised portion. She softly pierced the piece with her fork and placed it on her mouth and with a grace of an Elven maiden took a bite.

She enjoyed it. The moment the pepperoni, cheese and tomato sauce made contact with her mouth, the flavors exploded. At first it was spicier than she would normally would it but the spice made her mouth water with desire as soon as she swallowed the pizza slice. She immediately cut up a larger portion of her slice with her knife and fork… and again… and again all the way to the crust.

"This is wonderful Human." Aliathra said. "Thank you, Ser Vincent." She flattered him with a fake smile. The elf needed to gain more of his trust since as she observed, this Earth Human… Demon… person thing was the one who showed interest to her like a suitor walking to try for her hand.

"Oh, my lady. An honor for your service… bleh." Diaz sarcastically bowed chivalrously. "So… 'Princess' what will you do after you get back to Gliesia?" he asked her.

Aliathra still remembered the cover story she and Diaz made to explain her unexpected appearance in front of Don Aparo in his Corporate Headquarters.

"Oh, I will go stop by at Vercourt outside of Tyr Rian before heading back to Ethuilen. I will tell stories about New Albany during my travels as a good word for all of you." Aliathra lied.

Vercourt, according to her instructions will be a rendezvous point for her and her Grey Order contacts. She would go there after she finished her scouting mission in New Albany and relay her findings to them. She have lots of stories to tell, Metal Demons of questionable origins, Cities as tall as mountains, everything ruled by magic and these 'Mega-Corporations' apparently ruled like Kings thanks to their incomprehensible resources, power and ruthlessness if her near death experience in Kesserheim had anything to go by. How in the heavens would her people and the whole Gliesian world can compete with such Otherworlders? She has seen how they can taint the land by their presence in New Albany, reshaping the land to what they deemed fit. She has seen their warriors, where one of their 'Ohg-Mented' have the speed and strength of ten of their best knights. She prayed to Neneth for some sort of sign of salvation from such radicalism. She saw the way their honeyed words and disarming inventions charm Princess Aria, a pillar of influence and moral support from the auspicious Princes Clovich of Tyr Rian based on her gathered information about the ruler of the Principality.

She could feel her heart in a limbo of despair and feigning her stoic aura in front of such seemingly hostile elements around her.

--------------------------------- (The Next Day) --------------------------------

After some delays on the Manila's pre-flight preparations which involved tracking a shore leaved sailor to a brothel, a misplaced fusion battery and a rat infestation… the Military Cargo ship was now ready to set her sails again. All it needed to do now was to deliver in some fresh new cargo of much needed supplies, machinery and equipment for New Albany and the slowly modernizing Tyr Rian. News from Governor White confirmed that they have now implanted some Asphalt onto the larger old dirt and stone roads where carriages and the UFE's many vehicles can pass through with ease like blood vessels fueling the growing health of the two cities slowly adopting each other like sisters.

For Aparo Corp, there invested support was immediately felt. Crates with their branding were hauled into the cargo bays of the Manila. Samantha can count two dozen shipping crates that were 8 feet hight and 40 feet in length. Robert Bianchin overseeing the logistical leap.

"So, tell me Mister Bianchin, what are inside these crates." Samantha asked him.

"Mostly surplus items and dead stock inventories that the Warehouse boys were trying to look for an excuse to get rid of them. This is all just the first wave of Aparo Corp's support for you guys, all the stuff we can ship to you guys in a moment's notice without having to pay taxes or bribing some corpo-hacker not to rat us out. Dozers, Constructor Mechs, Mazak's and other CNC machineries, Chemicals, Guns… all Last-Last-Last! Gen."

"Guns!?!" Samantha exclaimed. To hear the dreadful 'G-word'.

"Ever heard of 'Gunboat Diplomacy'?" Robert twitched his eye brow.

"Wouldn't that be too harsh on them?" Samantha objected.

"Aparo maybe optimistic on betting his chips on Benham-3 Lieutenant but he isn't naïve. He ALWAYS protects his Investments. Legal or not. Besides, the Constructor Mech's are going to get paraded during the official opening of the UFE Embassy. It's going to happen in about three days after we touch down on Benham. Heard Governor White is going to make an epic speech when the ribbon gets cut. You know to show us as being peaceful and willing to live together in harmony. You know typical sweet talking and smiling to charm them to our side. The Magics of Behaviorism! Say some magic words and they will happily do what you say."

"I think I glossed it over in the mission file." Samantha confessed to her moment of inattention. "Hang on, you said 'Last' several times before saying 'Gen'. What gives on that?"

"Oh, its mostly the Constructor Mech's 3rd Generation of its kind back when they were still relegated to civilian work with their balls and asses hanging in the wind like a naked hobo. That until before the Military attached a minigun and a 90mm on it and BAM! BattleTech's were born. Hey I heard that Major Holyfield is attached with the Garrison there, alongside 119th Mechanized and 53rd Engineering. Heard that the One-Nineteenth has a whole bunch of medium and heavy Mech's including the new Taranis model. Ultra-Cooled Cannon!" Robert said with a breath of geeky excitement when he talked about the Mech's.

He couldn't help it because Aparo Corp's Weapon's Design division were the designers of the Taranis BattleTech's main feature, a 180 mm Autocannon with a specially made barrel made from a top-secret alloy that allows to the gun to be continuously fired without overheating for extended periods of time. This in complementary conjunction with the gun's Autoloader which can load 10 rounds/minute. An impressive statistic for such a gun's caliber. An additional fact from his statement is that the early Mech's had their vital parts such as support structuring, engine, exhaust completely exposed in order for maintenance engineers to quickly work on them in case they malfunction. This was an early design flaw that was addressed some time later when the Constructor Mech's and eventually their offspring the BattleTech's were given protective covering and more reliable inner machinery when they are sent off to more hostile workplace environments such as icy gale wind tundra and the spontaneously combustive volcanic yet mineral-rich planets.

"I have seen one in a demonstration once during the last year of my Cadet days but I still believe its quite overkill. I mean we are dealing with people barely into the Renaissance. We can't just expect to win their Hearts and Minds if we carry one of the biggest guns in our arsenal all around the time." Samantha said.

"You have a point on that but that's ASSUMING they would like to play ball. How old are you Lieutenant?" Robert placed his hips on the side judgmentally.

"23 and fresh out of WestPoint."

"Great School and all. But you still got much to learn kid. Don't think you got that C.O. badge 'cuz you are the daughter of a War Hero and ESPECIALLY you being a 'Strong Woman' in such a manly field." Robert pointed out with his piercing and weary eyes.

"The boys always beat me in Systema when they don't allow groin shots and weapon wielding." She objected.

"That ain't the point little girl. My point is that even if you are the leader, you must always listen to your team. Especially from the likes of Crocker and Obediah." He said as he turned his head towards the two Stryder group members who were casually enjoying a cup of coffee as they inspected their new military gear.

"Crocker, I know his kind. Seen more fights than a woman your age had your period. In my experience, sometimes the safest approach is the best approach, trust me on that since he had to deal with all sorts of Cutthroats." Robert explained.

"Like Diaz?"

"Yeah people like Diaz is what Crocker probably had to eat for breakfast everyday when he was a peacekeeper. I read his files, all sorts of shit happened I can tell you that."

"What about Obediah?"

"Obediah like a good number of people have family to protect. In a workplace such as yourselves. He will most likely rely on you the most for what to do next right next to Crocker your second. You got to treat your lads right alongside with choosing carefully. You can't just push your men to the limit… especially for someone of HIS age and a daughter. I hate to see a man like him put in a bag, yeech." He cringed.

"I see… I see… maybe I am a bit too hard on Obed sometimes and sometimes behind close doors me and Crocker would argue over things. But Robert, about my question about the Gliesians… why so much caution over such primitives?" Samantha said.

"Exhibit A, they might not think like we do. I mean they probably have never seen a gun before and they could just blindly charge in while screaming 'Leeroy Jenkin!' or whatever to shank you. The Range Game is our edge with them don't forget that. Exhibit B! Magic! It was lucky for you to befriend Iris being a Witch and a god damn Vampire. But what about everyone else? Would they smile on you or cast some crazy ass D&D shit on you to fuck up your day? It's a good thing Mages, at least in RPG's I have seen they stand out like damn fire flies but they could do anything and we won't be able to know what they could do until its too late! Doctor Mahelona better get some nice research over the new lab equipment I will personally hand over. This kind of stuff… shouldn't exist in my book." Robert gave his opinion on Magic.

Meanwhile behind a crate, Aliathra was eavesdropping on the two. She had heard every single word of that conversation and gained some valuable intelligence. That the Lieutenant was inexperienced, the UFE are bringing out some of their best weapons to meet the Slaegians in battle and finally this 'Governor' who sounds like a very important almost revered figure who has the 'Magics of Behaviorism'. Was it some sort of spell or set of spells that can make people 'happily do what you say'? That sounded dangerous. If the UFE can seduce people with their gifts of opulent cities and excessive fire power then her world is in serious trouble. The elf's heart race with dread at the imagination of such a destructive and altering force these Earth Human… 'Demon' or what ever these people are. As a princess with a duty to protect her own from those who seek its harm, whether directly or by proxy, she must stand up and fight. But right now she must focus on staying alive first.

She turned her back only to bump into the steeled-up chest of Diaz.

"Woah! Hey Elfy I was looking for you." Diaz said with a flirtatious smile.

"Looking… for… me?" Aliathra said nervously.

"Yeah I just want to invite you to something. I mean you being a pretty girl and all, being fish outta water in all of this new stuff. I want to…"

"Fish out of water?" Aliathra asked, not comprehending the idiom.

"Being in a strange land far from home can get REALLY stressful. It's not healthy amirite? My people feel like that every day. Working abroad away from home and family. Absolutely terrible!"

"Indeed. Don't you suppose you have ways to alleviate such burden on yourself?" Aliathra maintained her graceful demeanor to hide her silent terror.

"Electronic Music! My car has some great audio and I got great soundtrack. Can be really fun to just chill out in. You want in? We can like maybe get to know each other more and… stuff." Diaz also hid his rather obvious affection for the Elf.

Who could blame him with Aliathra's golden hair, blue eyes and flawless snow white with some pinkish hue skin? Plus the way she styled her hair with the braid on her back and bangs that helped emphasized the penetrating elf ears that peeked over her hairdo was just inviting for any bachelor to seek her attention.

The prospect of gaining more valuable information on Diaz, probably the greatest threat to the Alliance of Order's could face outside of the UFE's incomprehensible technology and Eldritch 'Common' language was too much of an opportunity to pass up.

"How can I refuse such a tempting offer? Take me to this 'Electronic Music' you speak highly off." Aliathra flattered him.

"Great! Looks like ain't sleeping alone tonight! Your gonna love it! These artists are like our Bards! They sing of love, peace, freedom and bravery! The beat will mesmerize you." Vincent took Aliathra by the hand and walked her over to his Mustang for some time musical time together.