[i]Some days I question if it was worth it. If I had made the right choice, if I could've avoided this. I already know the answer to that question, of course. I've always known it, but I find myself asking it again. The answer is always yes. [/i] -Ezkor's Journal, Entry CCLXXVI ——————————————————— Skoei was quite helpful for someone who had just tried to kill us. Well, me. Maybe Shaski, the whole issue on who was being attacked was rather unclear. After we had helped him up, he took us down to the Engine room, using maintenance tunnels that were much easier for us to climb down the walls of. The Engine room was lit by harsh blue lights, attached to the walls by crude bolts. The light didn't do much, however. The huge double engines cast most of the room in shadow, which wasn't helped by their condition. They both had been torn into, disassembled into parts and pieces. Lots of gears and connectors, wiring and chassis parts. Calling them engines was actually a bit false. They were giant pumps, fueled by their own engines, that supplied the thrusters with fuel. "You worked in here?" I asked Skoei. Looking at the giant cranks that would've swung out wildly as they moved, and the numerous vents and heat sinks on the engines. "How are you not dead?" Skoei laughed at this, an ugly croaking click, as he dug through a pile of parts. Shaski had given him a list of things we'd probably need, and Skoei had laughed at it, saying he knew how to fix a thruster. He had stated to dig into his pile of scrap, presumably looking for the components he needed. "I've worked in Ketch engines my whole life little Dreg. It takes more than some big cranks and steam to get me. No no no. Last time something even got close to killing me in here was when a cloaked Vandal snuck in and tried to stab me. I think I still have his skull somewhere in here. He replied cheerily. "You have to learn the music and dance to it." Shaski shook her head disapprovingly from her place leaning against the wall, and I was doubtful. A machine like this didn't have music. It screamed and shouted, and you certainly couldn't dance to that. "Skoei, you know these things don't sing, right? They're pumps. They sound like death." Shaski said. "There is no 'music' to them. It's just noise." "You guys can't hear it because you're, well, to be polite, idiots. It takes a tuned mind to hear it." Skoei said, slightly muffled from within the pile. "More like a cracked mind." Shaski muttered to me dryly. Skoei continues to search, sending us to retrieve pieces from other piles, until he pronounced all the parts gathered, and wrapped them up in his Cloak, placing it on his shoulders like some kind of backpack. We led the way out, climbing up the walls this time. My arm faintly hurt, but it was healing quickly. Eliksni did have remarkable immune systems. We climbed out of the Ketch into the Deep night, Skoei's helmet flashlight actually proving useful. This time, it didn't take nearly as long for someone to break the silence. In fact, Skoei broke it almost immediately. "So Ezkor, how's you survive this mess of a battle?" He said in his cheery demeanor. "I crawled into a bunker, went unconscious, woke up, saw the Ketch go down to some big beam of fire, crawled back in, and fell asleep." I said. No point elaborating on it. That's what happened. "A big beam of fire you say? Sure." Skoei looked a tad skeptical, before turning to Shaski. "How'd you survive?" "I hid behind our fallen Skiff in a pile of bodies." She replied, a little distracted. She had her fist to her chin, a thinking position of hers. "You're boring." Skoei said, a little dissapointed, before continuing on in silence. We reached the Skiff around midnight. Skoei got to work, pulling apart the thruster and re-assembling it. He did this to every thruster, taking parts from the Weapon systems when he found he didn't have something he needed. Shaski and I sat off to the side, letting him work. I started a fire, bundling and burning the grass around us. Shaski kept staring upwards into the sky. "Ezkor, you said the Ketch went down to a beam of fire, right?" "Yeah? Big cylinder of flame came right down on top of it." "Ezkor, nobody has a weapon that can do that. Not Kings, Devils, Wolves, Winter, nobody. You're sure you saw that?" I nodded. I'd seen what I'd seen. I knew that much. "Ezkor thing's aren't adding up. We both arrive with more forces than we need to secure the bunker, but not enough to overwhelm the other, and the Ketch goes down from a weapon nobody has, when everybody's almost dead. It doesn't make sense." "I don't follow you Shaski. So what a big beam of fire brought down the Ketch? It happened, let's move on." "Ezkor. I think we've been played. Someone set this up. Someone must've. This couldn't have happened by coincidence." "Sure it couldn't have, crazy person." "I'm not crazy Ezkor! Look at the evidence! It all points to- argh why am I even trying!" She said, fuming. Someone had put something sour in her Ether. Skoei yelled over at us. "Hey, I'm done with it. Let's go!" I jumped up and walked over. Finally, we could go home. I nodded to Skoei and climbed in. Shaski followed, then Skoei. Shaski hopped in the Pilot's seat, Skoei just stood against the wall while I sat down in the communication chair. She flipped switches and dials, and the craft rattled to life. The monitors blinked on, showing us the outside world as the first rays of sunlight started poking over the mountains. Shaski brought us up slowly, the craft shaking, but it didn't die or fail. I poked the radio a few times, and it turned on this time. Skoei must've re-wired the electronic systems. I tuned it around a bit as Shaski began to orient us to go to orbit. Then we saw it drop. Another Ketch fell into atmosphere in it's unique hourglass rift, it's shadow passing over us as it slowed to a stop. We craned our necks upwards at it, to see who it belonged to. Huge dark gray banners fluttered off the sides, bearing a strange interlaced diamond sigil. The bay doors opened and similarly Dark gray Skiffs began pouring out like a swarm.  One craft in particular came right over us, stopping to hover about twenty feet up. The radio buzzed and I tuned it in to the channel broadcasting at us. [i]”This is Captain Eccoi of the House of Steel. Under the Authority of the Kell Kezil, I hereby requisition this craft and it’s crew. Prepare to be boarded. Welcome to the House of Steel.”[/i] And the Drop bars on the Skiff Opened.