Lilo walked up the broad main street of Myrsport having just landed his ship, the Mercury, at a small airport which held only one other ship -- a skip ship. Skip ships were large commercial helicopter based vehicles designed to launch in place and fly via jet propulsion. Fueled via the conversion of water into Hydrogen, the skip ships presented efficient transportation for intercontinental commerce. This ship in particular he knew had had a special passenger.

  Surprisingly the Consensus weren't the only one's with the skip ship technology due to years of smuggling by the organization known as the Telle. It seemed these days that as soon as the Consensus had found a new technology the rest of the world had gotten their hands on it as well.

  Divan was flying along the wide city road without any concern for any of the people coming or going along the same road. Once or twice he managed to hit the side of someones head with his metallic wing tips. Thankfully they were as soft as the real Owl feathers which he currently imitated, so the only thing those people left with from the experience with was an annoyance.

  Lilo was a tall man, as many Heralds tended to be. He wore a light black vest and a loose white shirt underneath. At 6' he made sure to use his stature to show off the fine garments that Divan was happy to provide him. He wore a pair of fitted pants that were a dark red coloring. His dual sidearms were holstered on both side of his hips and a set of 3 throwing knives could be seen on his right thigh.

  As he walked down the street he basked in the idea of the attention he got. Children gawked at him, woman giggled as he smiled back at them and men would look away when they met his gaze. Lilo didn't understand why Chen had considered this life a curse.

  Lilo entered a large Inn located directly off the street called "Elders Charge". It was one of the most famous Inn's in the city, and one of the oldest. The Inn stood 3 stories high, with a 4th floor addition that looked like it had been added recently. The roofs on the sides of the building were red brick surrounded by brick rafters. The edifice walls were a light brown color looking more like sand then wood. Six large bay windows could be seen on the first floor at the common room level. The top floors had round windows allowing light into the rooms.

  Lilo walked over to the inn keeper, a man with a large stomach and medium build that went by the name of Edgar. The inn keeper saw Lilo walking toward him and gave a slight bow and said "Lord, how may I assist you today?". Lilo smiled at the man in response.

  "I'm looking for a friend who sent me a message saying she would be staying here. Madam Malta." Lilo said in a hushed tone.

  "Ah yes, Madam Malta is in her private dining room. Follow me please." Edgar said with a smile and he turned around and walked toward the back of the large busy common room.

  They came to a hallway which lead to the door of the private dining room. Inside the room sat in the petite Madam Malta.

  Leah sat in the seat as Edgar introduced a visitor, which turned out to be Lilo, who had gotten the message she had left at the aero terminal with the steward there. Her two children read tablets by one of the large bay windows in the back of the room.

  "Leah, you shouldn't have come so far for this. I could have easily kept you up to date. The Children will be missing their lessons as well." he said as the kids had just realized who came in and were running over to him.

  "Uncle Lilo, you came!" Cindra said in a joyous shout. Andrea smiled at him as he hugged the both of them in his large arms.

  "Children your uncle and I have matters to discuss. Go with Mertid and study your books and you can have time with him before dinner." Leah said, as Mertid took the kids to the next room.

  "This is a very nice dining room Leah, are you sure you can afford to stay here while we look into this matter? It may take a few days. Actually, Never mind, Divan can cover any cost for us." Lilo said mumbling his words.

  "What was that Lilo? We've just arrived a few hours ago. I have an apartment being setup for us but alas it wont be ready for another day at the least. Tell me Lilo, have you begun the search yet?"

  "Leah, I've only just arrived myself but I have 3 scouts on their way to my ship. We will investigate the initial landing area. Although not Greens, we can rely on their loyalty."

  "Loyalty? I don't care about loyalty Lilo, I just want my Chen back. Who are these scouts that know the woods better than the Greens?" Leah said with a touch of fury in her voice.

  "They are the best scouts we have in these parts, all local boys." Lilo said with a tinge of embarrassment.

  "And what of the Rear Guard? Why haven't you recruited your own men in this matter? This smells of Divan and his smothering of truths."

  "We chose to not involve the Rear Guard. How does it already look to them that their commander has been killed and is lost to his Wisp? No, we need to do this with delicacy Leah. As for the Greens, we've put a call out for a meeting but nothing so far."

  Lilo stood with his hand in front of his body in a wait-a-minute fashion and listened attentive humming agreements to the air. Leah, knew this meant that Divan was whispering into his ear. Lilo's face reacted as if he were talking to the Wisp in person. "I see, yes that makes sense. I'll ask". Lilo said finally.

  "That was Divan, he'd like to know if we could use your skip ship to move more troops to the forest landing. 20 men instead of 4 would make the search faster he says. Makes sense." Lilo said.

  "I'm sorry Lilo, I have already leased the ship to a merchant for the next half-week to help offset the cost of this expedition. They should be leaving soon, if not already gone."

  She couldn't let Lilo know that she had liquidated all of her assets in the Last City and moved her family's belonging into the ship, just in case the Wisp Cultist tried to take advantage of her tragedy. Those belongings were still in the ship scheduled to be moved to her new apartments under the veil of night and wouldn't be ready for another day or two.

  "Fine, we'll make do Leah. I'd love to play with the kids but I should be off before it gets dark. I'll be back in about 2 days. Don't worry we will find his body, I'm sure of it." Lilo said as he made his way out of the room when Leah approached him and gave him a hug. "Thank you Lilo, you are a true friend to my husband and to me".

  Lilo left the room with a flush upon his face. The warmth of her body and the smell of her hair was intoxicating and fresh in his memory. He was happy to help just for the opportunity to experience the closeness that he had had with this lovely woman.

  Transmissions of Hope

  Later that day Leah was instructing some of her Telle officers on the matters of the day, when Mertid knocked on the door to her private office in the Elder Charge and informed her that she had a radio communication.

  Communications were rare in the dark ages but not entirely lost and the Telle had made it a priority early on to secure the ancient ways of communications. Of course satellites had long burned up but radio communication, and other forms of more terrestrial origin were still available. Radio communication was key in the growth of the Telle.

  Leah dismissed her staff and picked up the radio equipment that was in her large oak desk. She had used this same radio in the past to communicate to Chen on his away missions.

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  She placed a napkin over the microphone and spoke. "This is Hen Mother. End".

  "Hen Mother, it is a pleasure to speak to you. This is Raxen Molt of the Green. I have picked up the contract for the Consensus body from your man Chilk. I have found a reliable source that says he knows where the body is and would like to talk to you directly about compensation. End"

  The channel was noisy and popped with static but it was serviceable. Leah rolled her eyes. This man Raxen used real names and talked openly about the subject of their contract -- it was obvious he was not one of her Telle informants.

  "It is unusual to demand an audience with us for such a simple contract. Can't you pacify this request Raxen? End."

  "Seems he's insistent that he see the family who is requesting this body. He says the dead man saved his life and he feels honor-bound to, and I quote, 'ensure the safety of his saviors family'. I can try more persuasive techniques for the information if you wish. End"

  Leah knew that torture was never a good way to get information, and blackmail, although effective, grew her list of enemies. If she could get this information in an amicable way she would.

  "No, Raxen, we shall meet him. Come to the Elder Charge tomorrow at noon. There a guide will bring you to us. Hen Mother Out."

  "Understood. Raxen Out."

  "And so it is done Chen." Raxen said to a smiling Chen at his side.

  "Good we'll head out at dawn and deal with these Telle folk." Chen said handing Raxen a Calder.

  "Be sure to give that back to Gloria before we leave. I don't want those leaving this building without her approval." Chen said as he left the elf to his new toy.

  Early in the morning the next day Chen went to the common room where Jeff was all ready with the mornings breakfast. He sat down at an alcove as Jack brought over some bread, and two cups of kafe and sat opposite him.

  "Good Morning your Excellence the most Honorable Chen Noblemind." Jack said with a flair of his hand and a parody of a bow.

  "And to you Master of Commerce, Logistics and Kafe Brew, the Renowned Jeff Mikheir" Chen said as they both clinked their hot cups and laughed at the game of names that Chen had been introduced to the night before.

  "Would you like some eggs with that bread? I have bacon." Jeff said in a coy voice and a knowing wink.

  "Yes that sounds wonderful, thank you. Can you send a runner to get the others? They should be getting ready now if we are to make it to Myrsport in time."

  "Yep, I'll send Chip -- that boy you saved in the Bazaar. He's proven useful in certain aspect of our trade."

  "I wont even ask. Just be sure he is safe." Chen said.

  A few minutes later Moxley, Raven, Gloria and Joya were at the table eating their breakfast as well.

  "So Raxen, Joya and I will go to Myrsport while you deal with these Calder’s. Ensure you use the Scribes resources effectively, since each Calder holds different information." Chen said.

  "Actually I will be going with you" Moxley said. Chen looked at him and saw that there was no dissuading the man. "Ok. Raxen Joya, Moxley, and I will ..."

  "Actually, cha be going without me. Staying here to watch me loot and Lashes and all. Gloria be needing the company too me thinks." Joya said as he took a big bite of his cooked ham.

  "So, Moxley, Raxen and I -- right?" Chen asked Moxley and Raxen. "Yes, and two of my guards of course." Moxley said in between bites.

  "Right, Of course" Chen said sarcastically which Moxley chose to laugh at.

  "Chen, why do the Calder all have different sets of information on them? I mean if we use compression we could use each unit as a full library. Fifteen copies of an entire library would surely help the knowledge spread more easily, right?"

  "It's a long story Gloria, but suffice it to say that I remember Gru was in a rush to escape a lab when he realized how important it was for him to take that data. After freeing myself I... Simply put, he couldn't compress them because of temporary storage needed for compression. He held onto those for nearly 260 years after a while he was more concerned with ensuring there survival then their efficiency and usage; years have a way of changing your priorities, you know? I hand this stewardship to you now Gloria. If you think you can safely do what you say, then do so for the benefit of all."

  "Umm, ok. Thanks Chen." Gloria said in a small voice. "Did he say he escaped from a Golden Age lab?" she thought to herself but brushed it off as yet another mystery of Chen.

  "Did you say that Gru escaped from a laboratory?" Moxley asked out loud.

  Gloria rolled her eyes at Moxley and let out an audible sigh. "That man had the sensitivities of an Ox" she thought to herself.

  "Well, thats a story for later perhaps. Now we need to get going" Chen said "grab your men and lets go".

  "Women actually" a tall women in a Guards outfit said from behind Chen.

  "This is Tillexandra and her sister Millexandra, they are some of the best scouts I have and I figured speed over brawn was what was needed on this trip." Moxley said picking up his travel gear.

  "It's a pleasure, now lets go." Chen said as he took his pack and picked up his polearm on the way out.

  The High Road

  Chen and his group had been riding for about 30 minutes when Moxley trotted his horse up to his. They had been riding for about 3 hours and they were due for a rest stop.

  “I think we stop at the those trees over there and have a bite to eat and rest this sore backside of mine for a bit.” Moxley said loud enough for every one to hear. Chen nodded as they started to ride over to the copse of trees on the side of the rode.

  “Don’t look back but we are being followed.” Millexandra whispered to Moxley from behind which he simply nodded his understanding.

  “Millie why don’t you ride ahead and scout the road” Moxley shouted back to which she galloped off to down the road and over a small hill in front of them.

  The group continued to head for the respite of the copse and when they got there began to hitch their horses and unload their equipment setting up a small camp to boil some Kafe and heat up some ham they had taken for their travels.

  [ describe camp site - well used rest place in a clearing to the side of the road. Trees start to get heavy toward the back of the site toward the north and the west in an inverse L shape.]

  Fifteen minutes had passed before a rustle was heard and three horses came out of the trees with bowmen holding their cocked weapons at the three resting people.

  The leader of the group sat with a smile on his face and unlike his two comrades held a pistol in his hand.

  [describe the pistol - The pistol held three slug shots, each held in it’s own barrel which rotated as they were shot.]

  “Oi, eveyone stay where I can see them. We just want your valuables and your weapons. Noboday has to get hurt today, if you don’t want to be hurt that is.”

  Chen sat on a log well away from the small fire cooking their meat, and looked at the pistol with curiosity and said to the man in a nonchalant way “Nice gun. That thing heavy?”.

  The man smiled a bit wider as pride surged forward.

  “Ah, remarkable ain’t she me Ole Betsy? I can see you have an eye for the finer tools of our trade my friend.” he said eyeing the Kobe polearm that was leaning next to Chen. “She be a polymer that is as light as a feather but’ll give ya quite a headache if shot in anger.”

  Moxley followed Chen’s lead and looked as relaxed as the other man while he continued to tend to the ham on the roasting spit, while his hand opposite their guest slid toward his thigh dagger.

  Tillexandra sat near Chen an anxious look on her face evident that she wanted to attack the brigadier intruders, a bolt action rifle was already in her hand when they rode out, so she had already had it cocked and aimed at them. The two groups were at a stalemate.

  “She can only get one shot off of that thing before my man takes her down, maybe you get a shot off at us otherwise” he shrugged “ but the maths don’t add up if ya know what I mean. Just pass them things on over and we’ll be on our way” he said with a gleam in his eye that said something entirely different.

  Millexandra was creeping through the trees and could see the three men on horse back pointing their weapons at her comrades. She held two automatic pistols in her hands and was debating on how to tackle down the bowman when she felt a rumble in the earth and a tingle in the air.

  Vines started to wrap aound the horsemen who shot their arrows at the ground in an attempt to stop whatever was attacking them from dismounting them. A feat at which they failed as the horses reared violently on their hind legs and ran off. All three of them fell to the ground. one of them, his rib broken, got to his knees and pulled some thing from his pocket that Chen recognized as a termite grenade.

  Chen jumped up as the vines started to clear raising his polearm above his head and slamming it down a meter away from would be robbers. A rush of energy shot from the ground into the bodies of the men; echoes of agony left haunting the air. Further behind, the trees were blown into timbers and ash and if you cared to look closely, small pieces of flesh intermingled in the remaining branches.

  “What a waste of a nice gun” Chen said to himself as he took stock of the damage surrounding him.

  Moxley's face showed white. Sweat had collected on his brow. He gawked at the incredible scene before him realizing how fast Chen actually was.

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