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Gods, what did Atalantia’s warlocks cook up now?

They were collaborator civilians we relocated to Angelia, far from any military facility Put them out of harhed “Where do you put a chickenshit officer if you need him to expire?” he once asked me “Out of harm’s way!”

Pax was out of harm’s way too

“You ever seen anything like this?” I ask Thraxa

She shakes her head “Maybe he was testing a neeapon”

“There are easier ways” I bark at my medici to take a sample and evac to Necromancer for transh as I realize the game “It’s all to buy time Puzzles and pain” I look around The facts don’t add up What is he buying tiet an airdrop and catch up to him, so it wasn’t to extend his lead Eleusis was ripe for the picking How does this side trip change the board? Thunder peels to the north My stor

“Howler One,” Alexandar says inat the ore refinery”

—

Alexandar, Rhonna, and several Howlers are gathered in the control room of the city’s ore refinery when Thraxa and I join them Disabled spidermines and microwave bombs lie on a table

Marbles, our Green slicer, and Clown’s best friend, is jacked into the central computer’s input port A worn black hardwire runs froht teh a virtual landscape His fingers tap on the plastic chair After a ether and he reverts

“Su, skipping past the words that ible to us carbon bodies so that it sounds like his e uranium dense, destinations easy as 01100001 01100010 01100011” He stutters the nuarment needle

“Alexandar, translate”

Quick with low and ues, Alexandar steps forward

“No,” Marbles says, holding up a bony finger The dark circles under his eyes ith his sunburn “I do this tielia dustyass worktown Systerip We cut web in Rain Didn’t cut shadoeb”

“There are latent systems?” Alexandar asks, first to understand “Old hardlines?”