Yes, that's right, I thought of a title and then forgot it.

Oh well.

It's definitely worth mentioning that this is the second episode of a series
whose first part I sent out last week. If anyone is confused about what the
f**k is going on, they can send me a note, and I'll send them the first ep.

'Kay?

Disclaimer:

El Hazard isn't mine. Nopenopenope. It belongs to people who are either
richer than I am (the publishers) or more talented than I am (the creators).
Don't hurt me, please, I'm just borrowing it... Honest!

+++++

      {Such a beautiful sunrise.} During the wars, he had always rather
liked waiting, it gave him time to think, and it meant he wasn't fighting
and killing.
      He had seldom seen a better place to wait, either. The Godshatter
Mountains had probably gotten their name from their jaggedness, it seemed as
though immense glass shards had been jammed into the ground.
      They glinted like glass, too, the rock must be run through with veins
of quartz. It was quite a sight, the dark gray rock, the white snow, the
blue sky and the brilliant sparkling facets of crystal, all tinted rose by
the rising sun...
      {Beautiful.}
      His eyes flicked towards one drifting mote in particular. {There.}

  * * * * * * * *

      "There." Ifurita's finger rested on the map, over a spot in the center
of a range of mountains. "The signature was in this area."
      Rune Venus absorbed her newest advisor's words with a slow nod. "And
you are certain that it was another demon-god?"
      "Yes."
      Rune looked to her left, "Londs, has anything been observed in that
area recently?"
      He nodded. "Yes, a transport disappeared on its way out of Jazeld."
      Ifurita leaned across the table and asked, "What was that transport
carrying?"
      Londs gestured for one of the servants. "Metals, mostly." He whispered
in the girl's ear, and then she left. "I have sent her to get an exact
manifest."
      They sat. They waited. Rune sipped her tea. Londs disappeared to deal
with a budding crisis in the palace kitchens. Ifurita zoned out.
      "Where did she come from?"
      Rune looked up. "Hmmm?"
      Ifurita's mind fell down to earth with an almost audible 'thud'. "This
new demon-god. Who built her, and when? What was she built to do, and most
of all, why is she active now?" She made an irritated little sound, half
sigh, half snarl. "Too many questions."
      Sip. "After the Holy Wars, many places were made taboo. Most of them
are harmless, really, but there are a few which still hold dangerous
relics." Sip.
      "Like the Forbidden Island."
      Nod. Sip. "Yes. Recently, however, the survivors of the Bugrom have
been actively seeking out these places."
      Ifurita's gaze grew sharp. "Jinnai is looking for an advantage. He
probably dug this unit up in one of these searches."
      "That is what I concluded." Sip.
      A quiet voice broke in, "My Lady?"
      Rune looked up. "Yes?"
      "The cargo list of the missing air transport, My Lady."
      "Thank you." She read the list, and sipped her tea. "Hmm. Nothing
unusual." She passed it over. "What do you make of it Ifurita?"
      She took in the information at a glance. "Several of the metals here
are vital to the construction of certain types of machinery."
      "Like what?"
      "Repulsors, energy weapons, any sort of combat unit..." Ifurita
trailed off. "If they have any sort of construction facility then we might
be having some serious problems."
      "You think that they might be able to construct more demon-gods?"
      A slow headshake. "No... Those were priority targets during the war. I
doubt any survived. But almost anything else could have. I am in poor
condition at the moment. If they know this, and use mob tactics, plus
whatever unit made this theft..."
      Sip. "I see. In that case, I will send patrol boats to check to
forbidden sites for signs of activity."
      Ifurita gave her a level gaze. "You know that they will simply kill
whoever finds them."
      Rune's eyes were unflinching, but something dark walked behind them.
"I know. But the threat is too great to do any less."
      Ifurita nodded, rose, bowed, and left.
      Rune sipped her tea and looked quietly outside.

  * * * * * * * *

      The Alliance was looking for him. Somehow, someway, Makoto had found
out what he was planning and made his Alliance puppets hunt through the
forbidden places. Probably made Rune Venus give the order.
      That didn't change the fact that, for the moment, Makoto simply had
more power than he did.
      That meant he had to hide until he had more power. Humiliating, but
not really a problem. Bugrom worked nearly as well under ground as they did
above, and there was no way to tell if they were doing so from the air.
      Still, there were some things that he just couldn't hide. Like this
factory, for instance. That meant that he had to defend them.
      Except, if he defended a site, that must mean that there was something
there worth defending. The Alliance would know that, and just look harder at
anything he defended.
      But how could they do that if he defended them all?
      He couldn't, of course. He really didn't have that many troops, after
all.
      Still...
      The more sites he defended, the more sites the Alliance would have to
work to check. The harder he defended them, the harder they would have to
work to check an individual site.
      That would take time.
      He needed time, the factory had to be retooled before it could begin
production, and that would take a couple of weeks.
      Weeks he could buy easily.
      And when they were over, that vermin Makoto would finally get his.

  * * * * * * * *

      All told, there were about a dozen different types of Bugrom. One of
them could breathe water, and were excellent swimmers. Six were
airbreathers, and walked on two legs. The Royals also had two legs, but they
really had more in common with humans than with normal Bugrom.
      And three castes could fly. There were the cat-sized scouts, the
hulking carriers, and the wasp-like fighters.
      Scouts were almost useless in a fight, so the swarm (well, not really,
more like a few dozen) buzzing around the Alliance patrol (drawn mostly from
the nation Tezen, in the Godshatter mountains) consisted mostly of the other
two types.
      The patrol was a heavy one, with enough firepower to (supposedly) deal
with anything that it might encounter. It had had six gunboats and a slim,
wickedly fast light frigate.
Three of the pot-like gunboats had been knocked out of the air in the first
few minutes of the attack, and another one fell later, when two carriers
latched onto it, their weight dragging it down as their free limbs hammered
at its armor.
      Commander Jain Targa stood on the bridge of his frigate and looked out
at the battle and realized something. [We've found them.]
      There was no other way to put it. They HAD to be here. His men had
already killed some of them, and not even the Bugrom would throw away troops
just to kill his ships, not after the way the Eye of God had smashed their
forces.
      But unless he withdrew, they WOULD kill his ships. And fighter Bugrom
were faster than his gunboats. The frigate was faster still, but that
wouldn't save its escorts.
      Not that anything _could_, but still...
      He sighed. [No way around it.] "Helmsman, withdraw. Best speed. And
open a line to the gunboats." [They deserve to know why I'm leaving them to
die.]

====================================

APPENDIX B: Demon-Gods

      The basic technologies involved in producing a demon-god worthy of the
name were first developed during the last third of the Great Holy War.
      The original demon-gods, later labeled Generation 1 units, had
intelligence in the lower third of the human range, could lower their own
weight to perform extended leaps, generate energy blasts on approximately
the same level as a front-line trooper's firearm, and were about ten times
as strong as a human. AI technology would later improve, giving them mental
parity with their human commanders and comrades.
      The Generation 2 demon-gods, introduced a century later, were a
quantum leap ahead of their predecessors. They could fly, with speed and
agility comparable to an air superiority fighter. They were ten times again
as strong as a Class 1, and their energy weapons could level a city block.
They were also durable enough to expect to survive a battle with an enemy
demon-god of the same level. They were the first group to actually be called
demon gods.
      The Generation 3 demon-gods were introduced just before the end of the
war, and were as far beyond the Gen2s as those had been beyond the Gen1s.
      The nation of A'Aann was able to shorten the development time for
their first Gen3 unit by redesigning their very successful Ifurita series.
Zelara, on the other hand, built their units using a completely new design,
the Kalia series, and lost the advantage because of it.

+++++

Be well, all.
Nathan Baxter

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kasumi is God.
Sayako is a b*tch.
Becky has MPD.
Must be Impro.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
If a woodchuck chucks wood, what does an Arbyfish do?
HI, FISH!
The lobsters are coming.
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