Emem jumped!

"Go away! I don't know how I got here but you creeps better get away, I have been trained by Master Ganjou!"

Another spirit in the underworld started to appear... a small man.
------------------------

Ganjou sat there

"We must go back to the palace at night to warn Khamel... but for now... tea?"

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

Tori watched

"Does it make fire?!" he asked in excitement.

Kaido and Airashii slapped their foreheads.

"Shut up Tori! What are you making though?"

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

Runton looked at Howitzer

"Good lord! Howitzer, but but but... I thought you were d-d-d- dead!"

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

The Sultan looked at this Governor

"Hmm... your plan interests me... but Panzer will be hard to make a deal with..."

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

Panzer continued to pretend he was in the right

"Some meddling peasants... I have been stuck in the desert for a year! And worse of all... I'm the only one left..."

the other spirits faded leaving just the small man

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

alrik said "i'm making a derigible. its kinda a small zeppelin. you'll see. eh, fluffy" he indicated xavier, who had beeen standing in the corner "hold this would ya" he handed him a steel rod of some kind

he pulled a lever, and the fabric began to gradually inflate. alrik grinned triumphantly

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

howitzer said "i came back. its not that hard, a lot of peopel do it these days" he walked up to runton "i have a higher master now, and he will require your help."

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

larcius shrugged "i think he'll want the same as us." he indicated the door "after you sultan"

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

spitfire smirked "if they're all dead, then what was that worm messerschmdit doing here. yes, i noticed him"

The small man walked foward, he was somewhat similar in size to Ganjou and old...

"Are you alright? Those were some malevolent spirits... but you should be safe now..."

"Who are you?"

"I'm... Eiki"

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

Runton stuttered out "I-I can't h-h-h-h-help you, I h-h-have s-s-some b-b- things to attend to!"

Runton got up and started to run.

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

Kaido put everyone onto the now floating mini zeppelin... and held onto the bottom

"Ok, I'm going to give it a boost..."

He concentrated his energy and started to run, and using his chi, he jumped up into the air, and the zepellin was now flying at a fast pace.

"Well done, dear, you can come up now..."

"Actually I'm stuck..."

Tori laughed as he was flying besides the zepelling, until he crashed into a cloud...

"Huff, huff... bleh... clouds taste vile!"

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

Panzer hadn't noticed Messerschmit, but it dawned on him... that man who was hiding! How could he be so stupid!

"That man!! I thought he was dead! He betrayed us and jumped... ARGH!!"

The Sultan walked in

"This man has a proposition for you, Panzer!"

Panzer looked at the Sultan

"What do you want?!"

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

Karham remained quiet, albeit laughed at the occasional bumbling of the others, but he remained apart from them all. He leaned against a side of the zeppelin, dangling his own head backwards over the ledge with his blond hair flapping into the direction they had come from.

"Back to home again huh?"

He asked out loud to himself with a malicious grin on his face as he could only recall his own work, but again gazing at the people he accompanied, he wondered when the beans would be spilled about hi past. Oh well, in any case he could enjoy this all while it lasted, his license to kill without any consequence's.

xavier walked across the zeppelin and stood beside kahram, also gazing behind them. he looked at kahram occasioanlly, but mostly stared into space.

alrik was sitting at the front end of the zeppelin, manipulating several levers and gears to control steam and air outlets. adressing the others, he said "i don't trust that xavier guy. he looks very suspicious to me. like one of those assassins"

genny sat in the corner, sleeping

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

howitzer let runton go. he said as he left "well, don't fear, i'll see you again later" he left the throneroom and began walking towards his zeppelin, moored on the tower roof.

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

messerschmidt was confused by ganjou. one moment, he said the world was in danger, the next he wanted tea. still, he decided ganjou was one of the few people he believed he could trust. he sat down with ganjou.

"you know, my names not winchester" he confessed "its messerschmidt. eric messerschmidt"

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

enbtering the room after the sultan, larcius said, extending his hand "larcius quintanus, representative of the giais maior empire. you must be panzer"

glaring at spitfire, he said "i've already met lady spitfire"

she glared angrily back at him "what do you want quintanus?"

"Over there! A house!" shouted Tori looking at the house on the coast.

Kaido looked down and shouted

"Are you sure that's it?"

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

Ganjou smiled

"Oh, you're the Messerschmit family, trustworthy they were... you are slightly different though..."

"And wondering about it now, where's Emem?"
------------------------

Emem looked at Eiki

"I'm stuck here, It's all because of this stupid shining piece of junk!"

Eiki looked at Emem's outstretched hands and his eyes widened in shock.

"That's Takai's!!!"

"Who?"

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

Runton was packing his bags

"Howitzer's b-back! W-w-why did I t-t-take this job!!"

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

Panzer revealed his cannon

"Don't bore me... if not you might just find a gaping wound in your chest! What do you want?"

"Panzer we have found a way to another place..."

"Home?"

"Yes, another continent!"

"But we need both of your military help!"

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

"what? already?" said alrik, shocked at the speed "that's one hell of a tailwind"

he peered over the side of the zeppelin at the town ahead. it looked a pleasant place, with lots of neat wooden houses in lines with white picket fences. horses were everywhere, the advance of technology in jerata had come slow.

several carridges were parked around the town, but a distinctive building was obviously a train station. the houses were built on a steep hill, and they all seemd to be sloping down towards the sea at the bottom.

genny wondered at the town. it was the first time she'd really been into jerata since she was born.

"ok, hold tight" said alrik, pulling a few levers and slowly gliding the zeppelin towards a large wooden clocktower, where several burly men were waiting to moor the zeppelin. like most in jerata, they wore large leather broad-rimmed hats

xavier looked over too "such a beautiful place" he mused "do you really think someone like mauser would be here?"

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

messerschmidt coughed a little at reference to his family. it was true, he was hardly like any of them. "emem" he repoeated dumly "i never met him, i dunno where he is"

as he talked, he noticed a pair of strange men walk across the grounds path. they had large square shields, painted purple with an axe emblem on them, and both carried formidable looking muskets. messerschmidt then noticed another pair on the other side. and another...

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

larcius said "panzer listen. you want to go home, the sultan wants more land, i wish to explore. we all want the same thing, but..." he said "we must work together to achieve it."

smiling, he brought out a scroll and unrolled it onto the table. looking at spitfire, he said "either you help or you leave, spitfire." smiling genially, he said "if we work togehter, i'm sure i could prepose a peace agreement to the senate. they might leave your boarders"

spitfire eventually replied "i don't trust you larcius, but..." she went to the plan "...i'll do this if you leave cumulo alone"

he smiled acceptingly, and said to them all "my plan is a large scale invasion of the other land. by sea. the ships would be provided by the sultan here, and the armies by myself and spitfire. panzer" he turned to him "can i count on your technical expertese"

continuing without waitng for a reply, he said "we of course need a way through to this other land. i believe a big enough discharge of chi would be sufficient to tear a rift large enough for us to cross into the other world. i think we all know who would do that for us"

he smiled again "my men are at this moment aprehending master ganjou"

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

howitzer reboared his zeppelin and, as it was cast off, one of his crew ask "where to now sir?"

howitzer pondered for a moment "sorces say someone staged assassinations against our old friends. we've tracked them to a certain korvak mauser. no doubt the others have already done this..."

"to jerata"

"Of course, beneath the flashy and cozy exterior lies a nest of rats, all bickering for their share of the rotting carcass and believe me what goes down in the place like, that isn`t pretty. People get beaten up, threatened, families end up getting whacked in the process and a few gang wars are thrown into the tussle. Yep, that`s home."

Karham marked with a confident tone, gazing around, in the least they had not yet manage to put up wanted posters in the city. His escape had been recent and the insane asylum was situated is a remote destination albeit quite nearby when compared to greater distances to other cities. Also in two years he had changed in appearance, his muscles and build had diminished, few strands of beard had appeared and his hair had been cut much shorter. He could not help, but smirk as he thought of the town and what had gone to pass two years ago. The streets had been awash with blood, that of smugglers and their families, no less. Having killed nine operators had made smugglers as well as officials jumpy, fearing the shadows of the night and always alert for one of them to reveal itself to be Karham `Slasher` Ulgren.

The former head of a local gang known as the wreckage, he had been a small time influence in the docks and made a small fortune in extortion, not to mention other illegal activities taking place in the docks. Until someone broke the rules, crossed a line and snapped his sanity like a twig. From that snap arose a monster, a beast, that craved for the blood of all around him, innocent or not. He had been determined to grip the town in fear, within the palm of his hand, and even now he considered returning to that life, to terrorizing the city and inflicting a new wave of deaths.

Why? It was so much fun.

Panzer grinned

"Fine... but you must give me all the materials I will need! And you must allow me to be ruler of all the continent, but most of all get revenge on those peasants! Agreed?"

The Sultan looked at Larcius

"Yes!"

"Then we shall begin!"

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

Emem was walking with Eiki

"This way is the exit,"

"So I've got to protect this bracelet from anybody, and it should give me power once I hold it!"

"Yes, now get out! You have a world to protect"

"Can't you come with me?"

"Well... being a demon... perhaps? But not from the main entrance... I've tried before..."

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

Kaido let go of the Zepellin, and Tori swooped down, they smashed through the roof and saw the guards... they grinned, Kaido grabbed a table in the room and span round, smashing three of the guards, whilst Tori sped round giving quick jabs at the guards!

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

Ganjou looked at the guards, but remained calm

"You might want to get the fire axe... it's by the fireplace... we might need to fight soon..."

He stood up and grabbed his staff

"It's been awhile..."

Using his speed chi, he charged out and managed to quickly power up his strength chi and smashed down on the roman guards!

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

Runton closed his bag, and heard something behind him...

"Oh no... my k-k-knife! It's been stolen!"

He knew someone was behind him!

alrik leapt off the zeppelin too, and fired his gun in the air to stop the fighting.

"what the hell are you doing?" he said to tori and kaido "these guys are policemen you idiots!" he helped one of the men the pair had attacked to his feet "not everyone's an enemy ye blunt twits"

the policemen gave them a wide birth as the group lentered the city. alrik had to pay them a large ammount to let them in without trouble. leading the way, he glared angrily at kaido and tori.

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

larcius leaned menacingly over at panzer "i'm gonna catch ganjou. i get half the continent or the deals off, clear"

he then said clamly again "well, i doublt ganjou will be a push over, my men will probably need help. salve" he opened the door and left, saying "have the plans ready for when i get back"

spitfire said to panzer "i don't trust larcius. his country is invading everywhere, and he's not even loyal to them." she said more quitely so only the sultan and panzer could hear "we'll need to be careful"

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

"wow, wait, you can't just..." messerschmidt stammered "argh, hell with it" he relented. he kicked a table over and ducked behind it, pulling a revolver from his jacket pocket. he looked ready for a fight

meanwhile, the giaian guards were begining to form a shield wall around ganjou and messerschmidt. they were aiming their muskets inwards, ready to shoot

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

mauser looked out of his window. he saw a zeppelin moored at the clocktower. sice they didn't et many visitors this far from the rest of the world, he felt inclined to examine.

he stood up, and, followed out by four guards, walked towards a rairity in these times. a beaten car stood outside mausers hide.

he sat in the back, whilst a guard turned the car on, and, steam bellowing from its rear, the car sped forwards

Kaido and Tori rubbed the back of their heads in a sort of anime shame. Airashii slapped the back of their heads

"Alrik's right! You were both incredibly stupid!"

"Sorry... we weren't listening..."

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

Ganjou concentrated his energy and broke pushed some of the enemies back and charged through, trying to escape, but there were quite a lot of them...

"Messerschmit, I think... we might just have to surrender..."

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

Panzer summoned some demons with his anger

"If I get my way... he won't get anything... except a slow route to death!!"

The Sultan gulped

"Panzer speaks harsh words, but we should watch him... but for now, do as he says..."

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

Emem was now out of the tunnel, and he definetely wasn't at home anymore... it looked completely different... looked like ruins of... a flying city perhaps? It was wierd in design, and almost completely destroyed...

"wow..."

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

The man attacked Runton, runton dodged the blade, and rolled onto the floor, looking for a weapon, the man struck downwards with his blade, hoping to kill him, but Runton picked up a chair and protected himself, blocking the blade and whacking the attacker on the side of the head... the attacker felt dizzy for a second, when Runton pushed the attacker through the window... the man fell, but opened his pack which revealed a glider! He floated out into the sky, and got out his holographic projector...

alrik groans at them, then walked down the clocktower.

as they got there, genny said "so, how do we find mauser?"

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

messerschmidt scoffed "ha, i never give up!" he shot at some of the guards, the ducked behind a table as a round of shotsw ripped though the air. messerschmidt then kicked a burning torch over, making the guards break thier wall to get out of the way. ducking from another gun round, he looked up as the dust cleared.

"you really thinking of giving up so soon ganjou" said larcius, entering out of the smoke. he grabbed messerschmidt and threw him to the guards, who swifly handcuffed him.

the guards then formed a circle of shileds around ganjou and larcius. an arena.

taking a staff of his own from a guard, larcius said "care to settle this now master ganjou" he didn't look like anything more than a politician, but his eyes burned with determination.

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

spitfire said "very well, i'll work with him, but not for long." she turned to panzer and the sultan "lets get to hassa. larcius can meet us there with ganjou"

Kari sighed as she decided to sit this particular fight if she could,she did have Bayonet over her shoulder's since he was still limp and freaking out,and she was getting dizzy for not taking care of the gash in her arm so she sat down as she was trying to get and control enough energy to fix her arm,which somehow wasn't working as it usually did.

Ganjou was a bit shocked at first, but his old wrinkly face smiled.

"Hmm hmm... Larcius... I'm just getting started, I can't wait to beat your juvenile untrained weak butt!" he said grinning, he was already powering up his chi, unlike Kaido, he could charge up his strength chi at a fast rate... he stood there.

"Well, you should go first, or are you going to be polite and let an old frail man strike first?"

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

Kaido thought for a second

"Well we can't go around asking,"

"Or can we, Kahram, you said you knew him right? Do you remember where he is! or some old clients?" asked Tori.

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

Emem continued walking, he was so tired... the underworld was really draining.

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

The assassin landed his glider, he was thankful his lord had given it to him, he started the hologram.

"Panzer, your order failed,"

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

Panzer picked up his hologram machine which rang.

"hang on, hologram... yes? Ah, Mu....a! It's you! What do you mean my order failed?"

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

"I said I knew of him, that was two years ago, but for what I`ve recently heard he`s got his operation running and the best place to look for rats to squeal about his work is down at the docks. Local or otherwise, smuggling is a large operation and there`s a chance you may get your hands one of the people involved.

And rats usually squeal after you`ve pounded them enough."

Karham said with a sadistic expression on his face as he clenched his fist and headed down the road, which would lead them down towards the water and the `rats`.

"frail old man huh?" said larcius, then with great speed lunged at ganjou with his staff, and began attacking with furious jabs and forceful swipes. he attacked as this, but his whole style of fighting had an element of grace in it. he didn't seem to be exerting himself much

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

alrik nodded "yeah, that seems the best option."

xavier, as usual, drifted at the back of the group, not communicating much with them. he just wanted revenge for his betrayal, then it was right back to jarl for him.

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

spitfire had now seperated from panzer and the sultan. she rode towards her own land, cumulo, to get her troops ready to invade the other continent.

luckily, cumulo was one of the contries that boardered the grand palace, and within little time she was at her castle at craggbrook. she rode inside, and was greeted by many knights bowing as she entered.

around the inner castle were many other knights, some sparing with one another, others just talking. many peasants also lined the area, selling thier wares and doing jobs.
the keep at craggbrooks centre was truely a sight to behold

caste of the whitest stone, it shone like a mirror in the midday sun. vast flags, bearing the bird emblem of cumulo (and baronia) flew in the cool zephyr. the top had three large trebuchet's standing guard in case of an attack. its colourful windows glistened with light, and, as spitfire rode up the stares, she took a moment to savour this sight. in a world of industry and technology, cumulo was a land living in the past, yet still a force to be respected.

After arriving down at the docks, Karham began to gaze around and then turned to look at the others.

"I`d suggest we spread out a bit, look for shady people, well I´ll go to a bar meanwhile.... not to drink! Eh, there`s an old friend, that might be working for Mausers organization..."

Karham reassured, but held his doubts about whether it was true yet in his clear mind he knew it was. That `friend` had bragged about getting into the man`s service about two years ago, now he ran a salty tavern by the docks and trafficked illegal items trough, using the bar`s back rooms as storage space. He had an `understanding` with the police and thus was not disturbed, but he remained the only person capable of recognizing Karham for whom he was.

Karham left the troupe and disappeared into the alleyways in order to make sure he was alone, he took various turns and finally arrived in front of a stairway leading down the side of a building to a door on the cellar level as the bar was in the basement. The rich mix of stale beer, sweat and salt invaded Karham`s nostrils making him grin. He calmly descended the floors and pushed the door open with a smirk on his face, whilst drawing his sword and spike. With weapons in both hands he stood in the doorway, smirking at a man behind the counter, whose face seemed to stretch in horror beyond compared, recognizing the arrival.

"You!"

He managed to shout and reached out for a weapon, but was caught unawares by the metal spike cast trough the air and nailing his shoulder into the wall behind him. Karham jumped to sit on the bar desk before the man and pressed the swords blade against his own neck with a thoughtful face.

"That`s no way to greet a member of the family, would you rephrase, that or shall I?"

Karham inquired as his brother, half actually, squirmed in pain as he attempted to remove the spike pinning him down to the wall. Karham kicked the pike`s end, making it sink deeper and causing Heuron Ulgren to scream in agony.

"Nope, but onto the matter at hand..." Karham said, exchanging the sword from one arm to another by tossing it. "I´ve come to see your boss, Mauser."

Karham said, but almost made his brother laugh at the idea, had he not been in pain. Heuron grinned and spat on Karham`s shoes, who responded in kind kicking Heuron in the kidneys. Heuron grinned in agony, but forced himself to stare back at Karham, who kept smirking confidently at his half-brothers agony.

"Why would he see you, an insane dog, loose and soon to be chased down?"

"Because.... he has made enemies, powerful enemies, that I consequently have become `friends` in the words worst possible meaning, which means backstabbers of course. So now then `brother`, you will give him my message, that I am willing to aid him against these enemies, these great heroes, who supposedly stopped the thirteen lords.... they are unaware of my true nature and I wish it to stay, that way, for now until I can back stab them.

Either for Mauser or for the simple pleasure of it at the opportune moment...

Also should Mauser hesitate, make him consider the fact, that two years ago was it not I, who paved the way for him in this town?"

He explained with a sadistic, even careful tone, that shone his true nature, one that his half-brother knew all too well. The only reason Heuron was still alive today was because he had always been of some use to Kahram, now and two years ago. Karham finally plunged the spike out of Heuron`s shoulder ad licked the blood staining it before making his exit trough the door, not before grabbing a bottle of wine with him tough.

Heuron grinned in pain and called for help, before sending a message to Mauser about his half-brothers return and intent.

mauser sat in the back of his car. he had nothing to fear from the autorities. he owned them. his men had been searching the moored zeppelin but had found no useful cargo of any kind.

"travelers" mauser murmured as he sat.

his train of thought was interrupted by a man running up to him. after being searched briefly, he came to mauser and whispered in his ear. after a few moments, mauser said "slasher?"

nodding, he sent the messenger to one side and thought to himself. should he leave slasher to the autorities, or take up his offer. he knew slasher well enough to know he would be trouble either way.

"tell him we meet tomorrow in ulgrens bar. midday" he sent the man away. turning to his other men, he said "i want a full description of the people from that zeppelin, and i want the newcomers found within the hour. i want to know who we're dealing with"

as the men left on various errands, mauser decided not to tell panzer. *local affairs, nothing worth bothering him about*

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

alrik said to the others "yes, i think kahram was right. we should split up." he looked around the dock, which smelled strongly of salt "i'm gonna check out the ship office. if theres any smuggling going on, thats the place to find it"

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

larcius continued to attack ganjou, swinging very precise swipes with his staff

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

spitfire walked into the keep, greeted with the sight of many more knights seated at grand tables, feasting. a mighty cheer went up as she entered. she smiled, and walked to a large throne at the end of the room.

adressing the whole room, she began "knights of cumulo, your skills are needed"

Karham leaned up against a wall in a dark alley, sipping the wine he had grabbed along the way, waiting for a return to his message. Things were about to get interesting, Mauser was no fool and like any smuggler he would be more than pleased to be rid of him, not to mention these new enemies. No doubt Karham would be betrayed sooner or later by Mauser should he take up on his offer thus he would have to start playing smart and he knew exactly how to do it.

He would have to pin the two, the heroes and Mauser against one another and watch them fight it out, not much fun when he could not be involved, but there would be a time for that. His thoughts were cut off by a punk running to him, bringing word about the meeting and he could not, but help smirk as he told, that he`d be there. The bar would be a perfect place for an ambush, but he would have to scale the prospects of Mausers actions and possibilities carefully.

Karham took another sip of the wine and smiled, guess he couldn`t keep his word after all, he was already getting drunk and he`d said that he would not drink. Well technically he had spoken about drinking in the bar so he might as well qualify this as suitable.

Things were about to get fun just like two years ago.

(fill me in quickly)

Panzer was creating some items... when the Sultan bursted into his lab.

"Good lord!" said the Sultan, coughing with the smoke and steam, "What the devil is this?"

"You're saviour... I am creating thing to help your army..."

"But our technology is fine..."

Panzer got up and went to a ballista in his room...

"This... is... fine?"

He went out into the smoke, and grabbed something, a shot was heard, and the ballista was broken in two...

"This is fine!"
---------------------------------------------

Ganjou jumped back and blocked all the hits, landing very gently on a soldier's head.

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

The bandaged man closed the hologram machine not willing to explain, it had been a while now since contact and he was walking in the desert when he saw someone calling for help... a boy? It was Emem

"Hey help! help!"

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

(all really happening is kahram went to his half bro's bar and sent a message of alliance to mauser. mausers looking for the others. they are in the city docks lolling around. larcius and ganjou fighting, and spitfire went home to get army)

larcius swatted ganjou with his staff, still seemingly finding this easy. landing a hit on ganjou, he said "having fun yet?"

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

alrik went towards the shipyard, xavier in tow. the rest had remained at the docks. he was still unsure of xavier's alligences, but he was handy in a scrap.

walking towards the yard, alrik said "you don't talk much do you?"

"no" xavier replied bluntly. his attempts at conversation scuppered, alrik shrugged and continued to walk

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

mauser gained report after report from spys. he'd attained the group was in the docks, but they were moving and kept splitting, so he was jsut waiting until they left, as he had men at all major exits. he'd also taken certain mesures in the docks themselves, in order with his instructions...

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

spitfire rode at the head of a long column of knights towards the hassan coast, where the sultans navy would be moored. she herself now carried a finely crafted longsword, inlaid with a golden pommel and a guard formed like spread eagles wings.

behind her rode a column of her contribution to panzer's plan. 500 knights in full armour, and triple that in men-at-arms. more than enough. she now just wanted revenge on those who betrayed her fellow lords

Rats, Karham knew them when saw them lurking in the shadows of the docks, eyeing every bit of movement and piece of information, that might prove vital to their own advancement in life. However as they thought wealth and survival as advancement, Karham saw it as just one big wheel turning around, over and over again. It was an endless mettle of greed, that people with their petty concerns were involved in and that meant everyone.

Except for the insane.

Karham had broken out of the wheel, he had crossed a line, jumped over a fence, that forbid such things. From the outside he had seen the pathetic squabbles of daily life, that he had been involved in and how tedious it all truly was. Yet when he was on the outside, it meant that he could attack against that big turning wheel and shake it. Once shaken the wheel would start to slow down, crumble even, if necessary forces were targeted at it. Bringing chaos to where there was order had proved to be some much fun, that Karham had sticked to it and started shaking the wheel as he pleased not as the wheel would wish to spin.

Karham finally quit hiding and approached the others, that he had left before. With a bottle in hand he made a cheerful greeting and took a sip out of the bottle.

"I`m back." He announced before coming in close and quickly delivering his news with a low tone of voice. "I`ve set up a meeting with Mauser and we are being watched by his men, keep a low profile and let`s regroup."

He commanded, intending to find a place to stay for the night and go over the plan of action.

Kadio smiled

"We'll be fine, Airashii, I want you to hide in the inn, ok?"

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

The man with bandages on his face approached Emem.

"You need help?"

"Yes!!! I'm stuck on this island in the water..."

The man grinned under his bandages and jumped in the air, landing on the island...

"Wow... you're really strong..."

"Yes, I am an enforcer... I do not hide this fact..."

"What's an enforcer?"

"You've never heard of an enforcer?"

"Well, you see... I don't actually belong here..."

"What?"

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

Tsar Owen left Takai, and continued on his way... he needed to find out the current situation. He started gliding in the air, looking for Howitzer.

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

Ganjou laughed

"It's only just begun!"

He used his chi to push Larcius back slightly and land a hit on Larcius' neck!

"How's that!"

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

alrik nodded in agreement "i used to know a fella, owned an inn in the docks. i'll see if he's still in business" he walked down the dockside

as they walked, genny noticed a strangely large ammount of barrels floating in the water, but she passed this off as coincidence

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

howitzer's zeppelin was currently gliding over the jerata desert, he was contemplating what to to toconvince the group to help owen. he figured he'd have to help them some way.

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

larcius grunted at this. he launched another furious attack, putting far more effort in this time. pushing ganjou away, he shouted something, and all the soldiers around them trained thier guns on ganjou.
smiling, larcius said "you, master ganjou, will come with me"

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

"several younger people, a migit, a man dressed in fur?" mauser qwuestioned his informat "they sound a rag-tag bunch indeed. why does slasher think we need help defeating them, or need to defeat them at all?"

seeing no action from his informat, he souted "THAT IS YOUR SIGNAL TO FIND OUT FOR ME!"

the man hurried out

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

spitfires knights were now safely aboard the sultans ships. they were ready to sail. spitfire herself went to where panzer and the sultan was "we're just waiting for that fool larcius now" she said with disgust at working with her sworn enemy

"hmm... you have a rather convincing arguement..." said Ganjou smiling hopelessly.

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

Panzer grinned.

"Before they arrive spitfire, I made something for your knights... I think you might like it... "

The sultan sighed

"He has spent almost all of my money on metal and spent a while making things!"

"But it's worth it," Panzer said. "Want to see the thing I made for your knights?"

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

The bandaged man was now walking with Emem.

"So you are from another continent..."

"Yes, I was training with Ganjou..."

"Hmm... the legendary Ganjou... yes... he's with..."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind..."

As the sun went down, Emem sat there... and he looked at the bandaged man...

"So, what do you do..."

"I work for Panzer, he was a lord... he was taken away by peasants... I am trying to help him..."

"Oh... " Emem sat there

"But then some guy came along and almost killed everyone, so I can't kill the heroes who saved us... but I have to... so I kill those minor governers in Stark..."

"Wow... can you train me?"

"What?"
Tsar Owen was now getting furious! He sent a message to Howitzer.

"Where are you?!!"

Kahram smiled inwardly, wondering whether Mauser realized what he was really up against and how unpleasant it might be to realize the odds. Kahram knew he was gambling on these heroes, but he also knew that they should not be taken lightly thus making the perfect tools for him to use either against Mauser or in the least to cause chaos.

He silently followed the others as they went about looking for a suitable inn.

alrik led them into a downbeat inn. walking up to the deserted bar, he shouted "heuron? you there?"

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

willing his answer back, howitzer said "my lord, i am over jerata. i am travlling to a small village onnits coast. i believe we shall find our new helpers there"

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

larcius smailed "good" and hit ganjou hard in the face, knocking him uncontious. "bring him. we march to hassa" he said, grabbing the chained messerschmidt as he went "you might be useful too"

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

spitfire smiled warmly at her old friend "what is it? you were always good with metal wern't you"

Karham could not, but grin as Heuron appeared with his shoulder bandaged and hand supported from a bandage around his neck. Heuron at first shocked by the arrivals, especially that his brother returned and Alrik was one of those he had spoke of. Heuron grinned slightly as he made his way behind the counter, but remained silent and did not do anything inconspicious to alert them. He finally arrived to them, with a table in between, he gazed at Alrik.

"Been a while, I see that you`ve caught up more company since your last visit..."

He said, still grinning in pain and trying hard not to throw an angry glance at Karham, but anyone could have reasoned, that it was because of the pain he was experiencing.

"Rough customer"

He explained and opened a red book with a list reservations for the rooms in the inn for that week.

"Staying I`d guess?"

He inquired.

Panzer grinned, he went inside and brought out a suit of armour... it look reasonably normal.

"This has a shield and a sword, but should you want to take people out from a distance, I have attached your armour with a pistol, or if you would like, flame thrower modification in the wrist! Meaning you can now damage from afar and fight up close with reasonable safety!"

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

"Good!!! I am getting bored and want that arm!!!" he carried on floating until he would meet Howitzer in the small village... but he sensed the prescence of two people, he would deal with them later.

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

Ganjou woke up

"Ow... my face... Messerschmit, why am I in chains?"

spitfire smiled "give them to my generals" she then turned towards the centre of the lead ship, now sailing away from hassa and into the open sea, followed by the rest of the armada.

tied to the mast were ganjou and messerschmist, surrounded by giaian guards. larcius was talking to ganjou

"you will help me" he said "you, master ganjou, will blast chi ahad of us on my command. my set up of resounders..." he pointed to a bizzare collection of pots and cymbals "...should produce the desired effect. if you resfuse..." he looked at messerschmidt "...we'll shoot your friend. understood?"

"then on my mark"

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

alrik said "yep, all of us. just one night this time" he dropped a bag of coins onto the bar "this should cover it"

Ganjou wasn't quite sure what they wanted... but he didn't want his new friend hurt!

"Alright I will do as you say" he prepared to fire the chi...

Panzer watched, he never understood chi, but did he need it, since he had many more weapons for the sultan and spitfire... some he would keep secret from Larcius...

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

Kaido picked up Arashii, and put her into her bed, he then went into his bed to fall asleep. (two singles, I am not having teen sex!!!)

Tori decided to stay awake... and think about the past.

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

Emem started training, he was a fast learner, since he had touched that arm object anyway. He was learning a lot more than from Ganjou.

The bandaged man watched him, he had finally revealed his name to Emem, his name was Luger

"Fine by me"

Heuron said, shrugging as much as he could until it hurt and bbegan writing down a short description of the party staying in the rooms he was about to lend. He placed an adaquate number of key`s on the table, enough for two people to share a room just to politely cut the costs and to make sure more than this party could stay the night at the inn. Rooms weren`t cheap and he could gain more by giving them less, for the right prize, of course.

Yet cold shivers ran down his spines as he felt alone, all alone, before the stare of his half-brother and only they knew the truth. Neither of them could tell it, not now or else everything would go array for both of them. Behind the mirror of calmness and friendliness, Heuron knew, there laid a monster in wait and graving for blood. It was enough to make him sick.

---------

It was more than enough to make him laugh inside, the position Heuron had been forced to and the co-incidence, that they would not have to even leave the bar to go to the meeting.

(skip a bit to keep things going)

xavier opened his eyes. staring though a small window, he could see the sun had only just began to rise over the sea, painting it a deep ornange. staring at alrik, who was snoring loudly, he left the room and went towards the lower part of the inn.

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

mauser walked along the road towards his meeting. he, of course, had not intention of meeting kahram in person. he would sent a representative. he would however be nearby, across the street perhaps.

also, if everything went according to plan, today was a bad day to be by the sea.

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

messerschmidt watched helplessly as ganjou was ordered about.

larcius suddenly turned to ganjou "now! the time is now!"

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

howitzer looked up out over the window of his zeppelin. throguh breaks in the clouds, he could see thier destination, the small town in jerata.

"take us down slowly" he said to the captain "lets survey the area first"

Karham was already sitting in the room, where the bar desk stood, with a thoughtful face and then frowned slightly at his own thoughts. He gazed at the arrival and greeted him a good morning.

"The meeting should be commencing soon enough, Mauser or some lackey of his should be coming by soon enough.... I did mention, that the meeting was to take place in this bar, didn`t I?"

He inquired innocently and leaned back in his chair with a confident smile on his face, everything was proceeding according to plan, whatever Mauser did it would not turn out pretty for him. Attack or defend? Things would come around awkwardly for Mauser once he realized, who he was dealing with and it might mean, that Karham`s true colors might be brought into daylight. In the end it did not matter, he simply wanted the situation to get out of hand, one way or the other.

He simply didn`t care for reason or words, he wanted chaos and blood, it would also come down to that as long as one or other side instigated an attack. If not anyone else then Karham himself would have to act, claiming betrayal on Mausers part thus evoking the wrath of his `friends`.

Kaido woke up and got ready, along with Airashii, Tori who had stayed awake all night, stood up and stretched his legs, he then went downstairs for a glass of coffee...

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

Ganjou fired his chi through the barrier, there was a bright flash, which made most of the soldiers turn away, but not Panzer, he was watching... it reminded him of two things... the power of chi, and that damn magnesium oxide...

Panzer turned

"Right, Hassa grenadier group get your grenade launchers and armour ready, and you captain get into the device in the hull of the ship!"

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

Tsar Owen carried on flying to Jerata, but he paused for a second, he sensed the object...

"The... key!!!"

He landed in the desert and sat there, concentrating his soul to get into the minds of those that held the Key.

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

as the group sat in the bar, alrik joined them from upstairs. he still seemed half asleep. "early mornings are not my thing" he explained drearily., slumping down in a chair

several more men entered the bar, dressed in typical jerata clothes. one man walked over and sat at kahram's table.

"slasher" he bagan "i believe you wanted to talk to us"

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

mauser sat in a hidden location narby, watching the conversation

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

spitfire looked ahead, and saw land. it wasn't hassa. she ordered the knights to be ready.

larcius, at the helm of the command ship, shouted "ahead lies uncharted land! as the first to set foot here, we shall defeat opposition and sieze it!"

he tuned "prepare the catapults and cannons"

"Oh yes and please it`s just Karham these days..."

Karham replied with a polite smile and waved with his hand towards a nearby free seat, offering them to sit down. Heuron watched in great anxiety at the meeting, that was about to start and wondered whether Karham would decided to turn his bar into a sight of bloodletting. Karham held all his fingers against that of a corresponding pair on the other hand and never ceased smiling, politely as he looked at the negotiators.

"So glad at least you could make it, as I seem to understand, that mister Mauser will not be here?... My how disappointing and to think we were willing to settle things nice and quiet, he goes and makes thing awkwardly complicated...

Ah yes!" He suddenly said and snapped his fingers before pointing an open palm towards his `friends`.

"These are my newly found friends, I could give you their names, but I think you might know them, if I just said they were quite closely involved in bringing down the thirteen lords. I myself was not aware of this a while back, but now I am glad I am... So... as to the negotiations...

Why did Mauser send assassins to kill them?"

He inquired, remaining politely and remaining behind his `mask`.

the negotiator coughed a little in surprise "y..you know about that then" he said. he composed himself, and said "it was a contract, higher orders. a man paid for thier assassinations" he spreak his hands "its just business"

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

mauser watched the meeting closely. a man approached him "its just been confirmed sir. several of them are the targets we had assassinated yeserday. others we can't place"

mauser smiled "good work" and resumed watching

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

the great armada neared the shore. it was still too far off to be noticed, but not for much longer....

"I told you...."

Karham mused to himself out loud about his own earlier remarks about a politician having been behind the attacks, but quickly snapped out of it and gazed at the others, as far as he was concerned they could take over. They had been the targets thus they had the right and probably the need to uncover more about this `business`, Karham himself left for the desk and whispered something to to Heuron, who nodded nervously.

Karham leaned against the desk, tapping the hilt of his sword wondering, whether he should seek a more direct course of action. This idiot was just playing time, he was a lamb brought to the slaughter as the wolf attempted to outmaneuver another hunter. Bravo Mauser, indeed, this game was getting more interesting and no doubt Mauser was stupid enough to resort to violence.

............

Actually Karham preferred violence.