The Rockaverse

As Azure spoke, Ash cocked an eyebrow, taking in her statement first, and then Syra's, before his face lit up. He snapped his fingers, looking from Azure to Price. "There's someone else who could help us with training an army too. A fellow from the Holy Land... Robocoponov? Yes, that's the one, Demetri Robocoponov! Ulfirian gentleman, older, and a soldier from Ulfire, so he should be pretty easy to recognize if he's still there."

Price gave a smile and nod to Ash. "I'll have someone find your friend and direct him to join you all here, that is if everyone is in favor of that?" His gaze mainly lingered on Azure, but looked to the other Lords of Rock as well.

"Between myself, Rob, and Lady Azure, I can see us having a comprehensive grasp of training and strategies. There's a lot we can achieve together." He gave an affirmative nod to Azure.

Returning his attention to Syra, Price responded warmly. "I think another set of keen eyes could be good quite useful in capturing Theory's Camp, particularly when they belong to someone with considerable knowledge on our enemy."

Ash felt apprehensive about having Syra there for the capturing of Theory's camp, but then again it was her decision, and Price wasn't wrong about the possible benefit she could have. He turned his gaze to Seru to see what she thought, but she still seemed quite... Out of sorts?

___________________________________________________________________________________

"I already told you, you diminutive little cretin, this is CONFIDENTIAL Matranical business. The Empire has killed people far more important than any of you for far lesser reasons." Maximilian spoke with bitterness and vitriol, finding his patience being worn dangerously thin by the Horenor Militia that still questioned him. He walked away from the group, some of whom persisted in following him, and picked up his cloak from the ground, still in mostly perfect condition.

"You people just about burned down a city block! Being from the Matran doesn't put you above the LAW sir!" One of the guards yelled at Maximilian.

The Phoenix donned his cloak, turned around, and swiftly brought his hand across the guard's face, a firm and loud slap. The guard was stunned for a moment. "You will cease to interfere with the business of the Empire. Should you be dumb enough to try continuing down this path, I assure you the consequences will be more severe than you could possibly imagine. Now, tell me; who was the driver of that car? The one who hit me? What does he have in common with that Yybian?"

Another guard fidgeted slightly, uncomfortable with the whole confrontation. This wasn't what he joined the city guard for... "That was... Kilakanji. He's a diplomat or something, for the Longbaoan Embassy. I dunno how he knows the Yyb guy, but that was definitely Kilakanji's car."

A Longbaoan Diplomat? The realization was stunning, almost shocking to Maximilian. Were the Longbaoans involved in this too? Even if they weren't and this was just sheer coincidence, the events of this evening would not reflect well on their relations with the Matranical Empire. Maximilian was silent a moment, before turning to the guard he had slapped, and rummaging in the guard's pockets.

"H-hey! Stop that you freak!" He nasally protested.

Maximilian ignored him as he pulled a notepad out and borrowed it from the guard. "I'll be keeping this." Well... Not quite borrowing. He produced a pen from his own jacket, and quickly took some notes before placing both back in his jacket. "As I said, this is confidential Matranical business. I expect you all to keep your mouths firmly shut about this and not tell a soul. If you do... Well, the Matran has it's ways of finding out. If anyone wants to know what happened here, tell them it was just Phoenixes killing Phoenixes."

Seru frowned at the unfamiliar name but kept her eyes shut.

***

Her gaze snapped to Syra as she heard her name being spoken. Seru blinked for a moment and then nodded at the girl, her hazy mind finally in the conversation.

"Woah now, an army? Are y'all pullin' my leg here? Just - just hang on a second before you start makin' plans to take over the whole damn Rock," Seru frowned, the rooms attention now on her, "We need money, which luckily for us we have. But we also need time. How the hell d'you think we're gonna train up a buncha folks to fight a fella like Theory in the time y'all are plannin' to do this? Not only that, but where the hell are we gonna find the numbers? Do y'all think there are a buncha folks just wanderin' around lookin' for something to do? Money can only do so much 'n money is useless to men that know they gonna die fighting a warlord. We need loyalty. The problem is we're new, we don't have connections. It takes years to gather enough loyalty to the scale y'all are talkin'. If y'all tell any man on the road that we'll pay him to help us take down Theory he'd just laugh at you. Naw, this ain't the right approach." Seru slapped her legs, "We need to ally with a warlord that hates Theory as much as we do. That's the only way that yer plan is gonna work."

The cliffs overlooked a small ravine, citing across towards a waterfall near the lush green jungles below. These jungles fell into Sudean territory, but over a millenia ago they were once the Yyb's. All the Yybs. The ravine was the site of a fierce battle that split the tribes. A battle so old it had lost it's name, but the acts of violence that has occurred in it were so horrendous that they permeated through the oral tradition of both tribes.

Of course, which tribe truly commuting the atrocities varied, depending on which tribe told the tale. M'Kama's general idea of the affair was that it was fairly likely that both committed atrocities, given it was a war. But that opinion, while not uncommon failed to gain much traction in the tales. Hatred often overruns reason after all, and both tribes of the Tubal had a hatred that ran deep.

Upon noticing one another, the general idea was to lol one another on site, but these days things were different. The Yyban had arrived two weeks ago, bearing flags emblazoned with the emblems of their once united tribes. They spoke of another was that would sweep the sands. It would not be an epic as in the ancient past, but a great battle nonetheless, that would change the tides of the Rock forever. And once it was over, the Yyban and Yybal would unite once more.

M'Kama had his doubts, however. What would a united Yyb look like at this point even? He wasn't certain...the current King of the Yyban was sickly...on his last legs some said, but his mind remained sharp. He did not always see eye to eye with the new head priest of the Yybal, but they were on the same page enough to agree to this truce. To aid the Sudeans in their campaign. But such an alliance would not last.I

Things would be different should Punarja take the crown. She was more open to a United Yyb than any Yyban M'Kama had ever met. Although most of them had tried to kill him, including Punarja herself. She still might attempt to do so, M'Kama wagered. She had a reputation for not being particularly well acquainted with the concept of mercy. Enough to make M'Kama reconsider his stance on whether the Yyban committed the most atrocities or not, if any of the previous royals were of a similar disposition to her.

But her plans for the Rock, her grand plans, interested him. They were grandiose and she was driven. And when M'Kama had first looked into her eyes, he had mistaken her passion for madness...or perhaps his eyes were simply clouded now by all that had happened between such long stares.

They shared such a state now as M'Kama had been escorted to the cliffside by Punarja's guard, a smile on the prince's lips that made M'Kama feel at once on edge and elated. His hand would be honestly dirty d towards his blade had he not been in the company of multiple armor clad thugs whirlwind not hesitate to cut him down.

Almost as if sending this, Punarja's turned away, to look ahead. They were almost at their designated stop at the cliffsides. Her eyes briefly drifted towards a long jagged knife lying between the belt strap of the guard in front of her. It was now M'Kama's turn to smile. Whatever game she was playing, he couldn't deny the fun was in the danger that it tended to bring along with it.

As M'kama turned to leave a familiar sound was heard- the sound of a unsheathing pistol. "Give me the papers, M'kama," The Longbaon commented, his actions freezing them in the street beside the collapsed husk of his car. Whistling could be heard from down the alley they'd emerged, the Horenor Militia gaining on the criminals. They hadn't a second to lose.

***

"Well, we have the boy," Qunith said, shifting their weight. "While we were captured I'd overheard his connections with the war lord Big Noose. Might I suggest we split up, one group heading west to forge an alliance with Noose whilst the other heads east to either overthrow or..." Qunith paused. "Figure out an agreement with Lemon Cruise."

***

Qunith's grip shifted from Seru's shoulders to her arms, the muscle-bound limbs spasming slightly as the Sudean worked their thumb through the knots. "You are a child of Gawal. Since you were born. Since before the snake." Seru inhaled, and it was if she was breathing sound- sounds of the past. "I want you to go back to the first moments you can remember. Gawal was there. In the fires of war."

***

"Papa?" The sound came from a doorway. Mohan turned to see doorway a child's head emerged, dark hair fluffing up as though they'd just awoken.

"A moment," Mohan said, glancing to Ash before turning to the child- maybe four or five. "Gooo back to beeed.... Where is your brother, at this hour of the night?"

"That sounds like a good plan," Seru nodded.

***

The little girl ran up to Mohan and latched onto his leg, curious eyes wide and staring a Ash, "Where were you, papa? Who is this?"

Mohan looked down at the girl and gave a regretful smile. "Errandssss for the lady of the desert," He explained vaguely before raising his eyes to lock on Ash. "He is... a visitor. An ally, we hope. Against the Sudeans."

***

"Great," Qunith replied.

They all just stood there.

"Whose going where?"

Ash rose his hand to call for a moment of quiet. "Hold on a moment, Big Noose? You recommend we ally with him? Don't you think he's a little... Conservative? And I thought he's been proclaiming the government of The Horenor as 'illegitimate'. That puts us at odds with Horenor. Can we really get ourselves involved in that conflict right now? Can we even trust Big Noose to have the same values as us?"

He gave a nod to Seru. "I think you're short selling the mercenaries and needy people of The Rock, but you make some important points. We do need loyalty, and if we don't have that yet, we likely will need to find mutual enemies of Theory. I'm just not sure Big Noose is the most reliable."

Price cleared his throat. "I have another option that may be worth consideration as well. At least in the case of Theory, I am of the mind that perhaps the best army we could muster against him is actually inside the walls of forts; the thralls." He looked over to Eimln for a moment, as if to get her input before he continued his train of thought.

"This may be a rather bold endeavor, but I see a possibility where the Lord's of Rock attack Theory's fort from the outside, and give the braver thralls a chance to attack from the inside. If a small group of Dwards were to sneak inside during, or shortly before the battle, and arm the thralls with small weapons like daggers, then the thralls could raid Theory's armory, and turn his own guns against him." There was a small smirk on his face. "A war on two fronts is hard to win, especially when the second front is inside your own walls."

"But we would still need an army." Ash spoke matter-of-factly. "Attacking his walls requires we still have much more firepower than we do right now."

"This is true, but for what it's worth, some of the manpower gap could potentially be bridged with other strategies. Another bold one, but I've considered the possibility of using War-Anteaters from Sudea for a siege."

The Captain fell quiet for a moment, looking a little confused by the suggestion. "That seems a little far fetched... I mean is the plan to knock down the walls or something?"

"Perhaps. They would certainly draw a lot of attention that way, get Theory and his men rushing to defend the walls, focusing their firepower in one place, not paying attention to the thralls..." He chuckled.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Past:

Ash was surprised to see a little girl bound into the room. Mohan's child? Strange... The man seemed a little too rough to have a family, seemed more the menacing, likely murderous type. Perhaps he'd misjudged him though. The Captain smiled at the little girl, but remained silent while Mohan tended to his family needs.

"What d'you think of this?" Seru asked Syra, "You were once one of Theory's thralls, would they attack if we did?"

***

Young Seru glanced down and swung her legs as she held on to her father's leg, "So you're leavin' again?"

"If we infiltrated his fortress- then went undercover and organized the thralls inside, perhaps?" Qunith proposed, looking to Syra.

Syra looked from person to person as they spoke of infiltrating Theory's fortress. Building an "army" of Thralls to help them attack from the inside sounded wonderful and suicidal. Sure, there were many who would rather fight and gain their freedom, but they were simply outmatched. Simply holding a gun and knowing how to use it were two very different things. They didn't understand Theory's fortress, and she wasn't even sure she would recognize it now.

"The Thralls are in charge of cleaning and maintaining the armory, of course, while under constant surveillance. Some Thralls were once soldiers, but have been so broken, and are beaten daily, fingers were broken to function as "claws' they can hold something but the dexterity they'd need to fire a gun or wield a blade is long gone. Many would-be willing to die if it meant seeing their masters suffer but many more find their life of servitude no different than their life before Theory took over their lands. In fact, they gained protection from those who'd raid their farms and steal their mounts," she chuckled coldly, for all the pain and misery she suffered at the hands of Theory and his men, so many more were treated fairly and simply absorbed into the fold of the Remnants.

"The best option would be to rally the survivors of Schittle, and get them on our side, Theory taking over their territory likely hasn't set well with them, and knowing the level at which Theory taxes those he conquers, I can say they are suffering, and losing more and more every day. Many will become Thralls because of what they owe, but many more will be left to die in the streets, and once the bodies are moved, it'll be as if they never existed. Human capital is both a renewable and disposal resource for Theory." She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them into herself. "If you're useful, he'll keep you alive even if just barely, but if you offer nothing unique or of value, he throws you to the side and lets his people decide what to do with you."

She shuttered at the memories, "In other words, a Thrall uprising isn't likely, I'm not saying impossible, but unlikely. Those that do fight won't get us much time, you have to remember, Theory's Remnants are what remained after the war. Those who couldn't adapt to civilian life, or who grew tired of their governments treating them as if they were disposable tools and no the irony isn't lost on me in how they treat the people they conquer. I mean hell, I was a soldier, a guerrilla fighter sure, but they didn't add me to their ranks did they? No, I was used as a toy for Theory and his people, passed around to whomever Theory said, point being, the Remnants break you, some people never recover, and others trick themselves into believing their life is just fine and that Theory saved them. I got lucky, if we hadn't all met at that crashed ship that day, I'd still be behind his walls, I was only saved because of the chaos on that battlefield and luckily found you all and not one of Theory's generals first, and of course, you were willing to protect me instead of treating me as a Remnant."

She sighed, her mind catching up to her rambling, "To get the Thralls on our side, you'd have to convince them that life with the Remnants isn't the best for them, but convincing them would take so much time and wouldn't go unnoticed, someone would talk, tell of someone talking about an uprising and questioning their way of life, it'd fall apart. The people of Schittle are the best we can do to gain quick allies, aside from joining with another warlord, but untangling ourselves from a warlord after Theory is gone won't be easy, and we can't forget the power vacuum we will create by using a warlord to take down the Remnants, we could just be handing territory to another warlord who will then use that territory to turn on us. Theory is a problem, but he isn't the only one, and I want him gone more than anyone of you here, but I've had to force myself to look at the big picture and think about what it would mean if we took him out. We would need to defend those places, absorb those innocents into our sphere of influence, leaving them to the wills of another warlord defeats the entire purpose of attacking Theory, and very few people will go after Theroy simply because they want him gone, no they want him gone so they can expand their own territories and influences."

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's my view and insight on this. We aren't ready by any means, but the "quick way" will only cause us more headaches. Allying ourselves with a warlord will only undermine our reasons for holding the Sceptre, it will undermine what I feel we are trying to build here, a haven for those sick of warlords, if we can gather those people, like-minded individuals from various warlord territories, we'd have our army. Perhaps we send a message, discreetly about what we are doing here, and those that can will join our ranks we build an army of those sick of living at the whim of someone who's deemed themselves more important and become a champion for the average person just trying to live their life."

The room was quiet a few moments as the Lords of Rock carefully considered Syra's words. The simple truth of the matter here was that Syra probably knew Theory better than anyone else, and her word was going to matter when it came to making decisions about how to deal with him. Even now the resident expert on this particular warlord was cementing herself as an essential piece in the puzzle. Ash was bothered by what she said, not being able to deny any of the points she brought up, realizing this battle was going to be all the harder for it.

"Well liberating Schittle was already an important goal to reach. Not only would it weaken Theory's army, it would deal a morale blow to him, and boost morale and public perception of the Lords of Rock." He smiled softly, giving a polite nod to Syra as he turned to look at the other Lords, settling his eyes on Ash finally.

"I suppose this is the best that can be done for now? Liberating Schittle and... Well, either reaching out to Lemon Cruise, or to Big Noose." Ash took a moment to puff at his pipe, letting out a few gentle puffs of smoke. "Assuming we're successful in all that, we may have an army. Perhaps even the Dwards will assist. We do this, take out Theory, and potentially we'll have an influx of newly loyal soldiers or laborers. Assuming they choose to join up with us."

"And if they do, they'll be all the more loyal for it. A sense of autonomy, mixed with the confidence of being kept safe and well looked after, does a lot for endearment. And as it seems you're all already aware of, the process of changing The Rock doesn't stop with Theory. Each thrall, Dward, downtrodden, immiserated, abused person that you rescue is one more ally. If I may be so bold, with loyalists like that behind you, you're on track to have the biggest military this planet has probably ever seen."

The Captain chewed gently on the stem of his pipe, his fingers gently pattered along the surface of his table, an attempt to contain his anxiety. The odds were fairly ambiguous right now, not easy to determine, and that didn't offer any comfort. If they could beat Theory, that could turn things around for the Lords of Rock, but that was assuming they could form an army capable of taking him out, and quickly enough. Ash surrendered himself to the fact that he likely would not find comfort for a while to come.

"Well then let's decide how to proceed. What should we do, and who should be doing it? Personally, I'm partial to considering approaching this Lemon Cruise, at least to open up trade. I don't trust him, by any means, but nor do I trust Big Noose, and last I heard Big Noose had a considerable force under his leadership. As for Schittle, I think it's worth at least scouting it out, and retaking it from Theory if we're able to."

Price remained silent as he listened to Ash speak, and waited for the others to give their input. He notably abstained from adding any opinion of his own at this moment, as these decisions belonged to the Lords of Rock alone to make.

Qunith cracked their back in their chair. "If we go together we can hit Schittle, liberate it- then Talideth and I can guide you through the Kajo Narrows towards Lemon Cruise..." Qunith looked at the other jerkoffs in the room. "And from there: Theory."

M'Kama shrugged. "I honestly don't have your papers, Kilakanji. But have read them. I would assume you already know what they say, but if not it's not me you'll have to question but your superiors."

he turns to look at Falcon. "I don't suppose you can make a quick getaway, can you?" He asked. "...but not for us."

Kilakanji looked over his shoulder at the whistling of the guards around the corner. "What did they say?" Kilakanji demanded, grabbing M'kama by the arms.

"You don't know? The Matran thinking both a danger that's what," M'Kama spoke sloely, his normally lax demeanor fading as his arm was grabbed. " They wanted you to have power, but not too much. Promises to keep you in check but they didn't want you to have real power. Perhaps we're all in trouble now....and it's all due to that same gun. Now... " M'Kama grabbed Kilakanji's wrist to yank it from his arm. "Kindly let us go."

Kilakanji paused before releasing M'kama. "Get out of my city," He warned before marching passed the Yyb. From the alleyway the Horenor Militia emerged, dung-beetles on leashes guiding them forward toward the criminals. Kilakanji rose his hands in the air as the guards swarmed him, more pursuing M'kama and co.

Mohan let out a long sigh and placed his hand together, not turning to face his daughter. "Soon. Perhaps."

The little girl held on to her fathers leg, staring down at the ground solemnly. She uttered a simple, quiet, "Naw."

***

Two days passed. Ants scuttled across the landscape, kicking up dust and sand in a cloud around the Lords of Rock as they traveled toward the town called Termite. However, they quickly found that Big Noose's troops were currently occupying the town and after a short discussion decided to continue north, toward Schittle - where this whole thing had started. That night they slept under the stars surrounding a large campfire that fought to keep each of them warm. Seru struggled to sleep, plagued by vague memories of her childhood. She avoided Qunith and Talideth.

The group got back on their ants during the day making quick and uneventful time toward the dunes near Schittle. In the distance they could see the giant hole where part of Schittle's town used to be. It looked mostly deserted. Seru shivered despite the heat and took off the bandana and googles keeping the sand away from her face. She felt good being back on an ant again - a familiar and natural feeling. The pack-ant beside her reered it's slick head impatiently.

"We should get on boats 'ere," the woman looked at the rest of them, particularly to Ash. Beside them a was a river leading up to the Kajo Narrows. Their path to Lemon Cruise's farm.

M'Kama said no further and began to flee the Horenor in the night. He whistled and the air was suddenly cut though with the ground of rapid buzzing. M'Kama's bee swooped down and ducked under him, picking the Yyb up as he and Falcon took to the air.

And Trelloni too! If the old man was two n I'm for questioning, there's no telling what would occur if he were left for questioning. "Our next destination..." M'Kama began, turning towards Falcon. "As I recall, the decision is yours."

Otis looked over his shoulder, even though the fields of High Rise Puddle had long since been lost to sight, swallowed by the hard dirt that formed the foundation of the Hollow Barrens. Unlike the Great Wastes, the sand here was heavy, and although the winds blew steadily, the dirt hardly shifted. The descent from High Rise Puddle into the Barrens had not been that difficult, but Otis had seen once they reached the bottom that the gradual slope they had used turned into sharp cliffs further to the north and south.

Now, though, Otis looked back in reflection. Cruise, the supposed drug lord of the Rock, was not the heartless crime boss Otis had thought him to be. No, Cruise was something else. He was sympathetic, strangely, to the Rockians, even though he was not from this world. His empathy extended even to the dwards, who he steadily provided crops and supplies to in return for mined ore and other materials that he used to further refine and increase the farmer's fields he kept charge of.

Otis had found himself in a conundrum. Cruise sold drugs, he made no secret of it, but he also provided so much more. Did the bad outweigh the good? Or was it the other way around? Otis didn't like dealing in grey areas of morality. He liked clean breaks, well defined lines that he could stand behind.

Regardless, Otis thought, turning forward again and grimacing, the antennae will not work unless we can get those supplies from the dwards.

The damage to the antennae was more extensive than Cruise had wanted to let on, which is why he had avoided allowing Tackel and White Hat access to it. It seemed that one of his farmers had sabotaged the device. Cruise had dealt with the betrayal, but he needed a specific ore from the dwards - one they seemed reluctant to part with. Thus, Otis' journey to the dward stronghold in the Barrens had two goals: first, to discover the truth behind Eimln's cryptic promises, and two, to secure the mineral needed to repair the antennae.

In front of him, Tackel, White Hat, and Girthfield strode, following the map that the mute Voll had drawn them. On each of their backs was water and food, hopefully enough to make the journey. Otis felt a pang of guilt looking at Tackel. The former deputy lawman of Schittle was carrying as much food and water as the rest of them combined, and then some.

"Yo, Girth guy," Tackel spoke, snapping Otis out of his reverie. "You said look for that sharp pointy rock thing, yeah? I think I see it."

Tackel pointed, hardly sweating in the intense heat, and Otis shielded his eyes as he saw what might have been the rock formation Voll had drawn on the map.

***

Falcon had them travel west. For two days, they flew straight west. Every so often, Falcon would stop, close her eyes as if meditating. Each time, she would open her eyes and shake her head, and continue flying.

On the third day, she opened her eyes and smiled, then floated to the ground.

"We're here," Falcon said, gazing around at the sand dunes that looked nearly identical to the millions of dunes they had passed over prior to this.

Thellani huffed as he held onto the bee's ass for dear life. The creature lowered at Falcon's command, but as it did he spotted something. "Down there, in the dunes... is that... Lucky?'

Riding a beetle on the dark night-time dunes Lucky did indeed follow them, their armour clinking as they rode...

***

Mohan's hand went to his chin. "Sometimes a man's gotta go out and do the work that's right, Ru. Sometimes he's gotta fight. One day you'll know. There's a world ahead for this planet... without... without the war, the pillaging... the bad stuff." Mohan's hand went to Seru's hair and ruffled it. He gave a smile. A sad one. "You kids are gonna be there, seeing it all."

***

A beige coat of cow-hide hung to Qunith's feet, and on their head was a wide-brimmed pointed hat. Their clothing beneath was also Skylander, as there were not many Sudean outposts along the road: trouser's and a red flannel buttoned up. Qunith's hand went to their hips and turned to Talideth, who had also adorned a new outfit in their travels. The chain that connected the two came out from the flap of Qunith's coat into Talideths.

"It's a town called Schittle," Qunith said at last, turning back to the party with a frown as they overlooked the damaged town where the adventure started. "I... conveniently missed that name when mother brought us here."

***

Girthfield frowned. The sun had burnt his pale skin and his beard had brown curly and unkempt. He turned to Tackel. "What do you see?" He muttered, looking where the large man pointed. After a moment he pulled out his spyglass. And indeed, it did spot the rock formation the mute Voll had drawn.

"You see our goddamn ore?" White Hat spat as he moseyed up to the two.

"Something promising, at least," Girthfield replied.

"If we're where we need to be...this is where we part ways," M'Kama nodded to Thellani. "Nukibi will take you to that village we spotted seats back. They one with the tangelo trees," M'Kama smiled at the insect , patting it on the head. "It will be much safer there than it is here...or the Horenor right now, for that matter."

In the distance, M'Kama spotted Lucky, the guard. "Hmm, so it seems our armored friend has escaped the chaos of that night.." He commented. "Time will tell if Lucky has returned to offer assistance or administer the Horenor's justice. Not that the latter will matter much where I presume we're going. "

"M'kama, what the hell have you done?!" Lucky exclaimed as the beetle approached the trio. On the back of the beetle were bags of food and supplies. "The entire Horenor is on high alert, Kilakanji has been arrested."

"How did you keep up with us?" Falcon asked Lucky, frowning. "And why?"

"Ah...well, fuck," M'Kama shrugged.