Interlude - Making a Move

President Warner raptly watched the recorded video. He maintained his composure despite the words of the obnoxious teenager. “I want to show the world that I’m not some warmonger who’s going to take over factions left and right. Trust me, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, and we’ll be more than ready for them.”

When the recording of Blake’s council meeting ended, Scott Peters leaned forward. “Now you understand why we needed to keep the asset in place. This kind of intel is too important to give up for a quick PR gain.”

Screw you, you smug bastard!

Despite his barely concealed rage, President Warner kept his expression amiable and replied, “Of course I do. Keeping the mole hidden was a good decision.”

Scott smiled. “I’m glad you understand.”

I understand your head will look good when it’s cut from your head.

To calm himself, he once again checked his status.

Baron Richard Warner

Combat Classification - Level 3

Chi - 72%

Psi - 14%

Race - Tier 1

Attributes - Increased by 10%

Physical Power - 11

Physical Stamina - 11

Physical Resistance - 44

Magic Power - 4.4

Magic Stamina - 5.5

Magic Resistance - 6.6

Achievements -

General Skills -

Analyze I - 1%

Unarmed Combat Mastery I - 0%

Spells - 

Chi - 

Regeneration - 1%

Hardened Shell - 0%

Cure Poison - 0%

Psi - 

Read Thoughts - 4%

Soothe - 1%

Remote View - 2%

Nano - 92,250,000 

It’s a start.

The moment he realized Scott Peters was a traitor, he immediately threw himself into research. He took advantage of the Summers kid’s stupidity, and pored over the guide feverishly. No longer would he rely on summaries provided by his advisors, they could not be trusted.

Richard Warner could only rely on himself.

Unfortunately, he quickly realized that even limited Mind Control would not become available until he passed through the first threshold at level ten. Only after that would he gain access to advanced level spells, with a limited form of Mind Control. 

Until that point, he was limited to basic spells. While some were very useful, especially Read Thoughts and Remote View, none would extract him from the extortion. Because of this, he found himself in a tight spot. 

Technically, Richard had access to almost unlimited amounts of nanomachines to upgrade himself. Unfortunately, if he transferred enough to reach level nine immediately, the move would be noticed, and his plan would be revealed to his enemies. If the act were discovered, his reputation would take an even greater hit. To counteract this, he needed the transfer to remain hidden.

President Warner approached his chancellor, his old Chief of Staff, Greg. The man had been with the president long before he ever met Scott, and had been reliable during the decades of Warner’s political climb. While it was possible that the CIA man was extorting his long-time associate, Greg had no loyalty to Scott, and would be unlikely to tattle.

Especially when he benefited so much from his silence. In exchange for the transfer of two billion nano, Greg would receive a billion himself as long as he kept quiet. His chancellor leaped at the chance to enrich himself.

However, despite the mutually beneficial trade, Richard still held out fear that he would be betrayed. Because of this, he stayed holed up in a private conference room with Greg for over an hour after the transfer. Once he finally reached level one, he immediately learned Read Thoughts, and probed his chancellor’s mind.

Only then did he relax. 

Richard had no desire to murder his old acquaintance. However, if the man had planned to reveal the transfer, he would have without compunction.

It’s good to know not everyone is compromised. You don’t have nearly as much control as you believe. 

Despite his malicious thoughts, President Warner kept up his amenable facade. He had no doubt the CIA man saw through the charade, but there was no reason to antagonize him. Richard would remain cordial with Scott right up until he gutted him.

I just wish I could use Read Thoughts over holo-chat.

He was not certain if Scott Peters always used the interface to communicate due to its convenience, or if he was concerned about retaliation. Either way, until Warner was in a room with the traitor, he had no way to read the man’s mind.

Warner would proceed carefully and conservatively until he learned where things stood. That was why he focused so hard on Physical Resistance. With the attribute at forty-four, he was essentially invulnerable to bullets, bombs, and poison. He would no longer need to be concerned about an assassin.

Unless they use pure magic.

Currently, that was his only weakness. 

Initially, he intended to split his attribute upgrades between both magic and physical resistance. However, after he learned the difference between the two, he reconsidered. Very few spells were purely magical in nature, most created or altered physical reality to achieve their results. 

For instance, he was surprised to learn that a fireball did entirely physical damage, not magical. It was conjured with mana, and the form was maintained with magic, but its damage was entirely physical. Extreme heat melted skin, no matter its source. Magic Resistance did provide protection from certain spells, such as Read Thoughts, Mind Blast, or Slow, but those would not kill him.

In another few weeks, he could once again siphon nanomachines from his treasury and remain undetected. At that point, he would be sure to shore up the weakness. Only after that would he focus on the other attributes.

He was not sure how long it would take for one of his faction’s alchemists to produce a threshold elixir. Until that time, no matter how much he chafed, Richard would continue to play the extorted victim.

***

 Rajesh peered through his binoculars to study the distant fortification. 

Not many outside.

Only ten guards stood atop the ten-foot wall which surrounded Mayor Rico’s faction town. Like Rajesh, the mayor of Phoenix had used a large building as the core of his town, City Hall. The twenty-story structure was situated downtown and surrounded by equally tall high-rises. 

The Collective backed wall surrounded not just City Hall, but the adjacent buildings as well. The fortification wrapped around multiple blocks and was centered in the middle of the city streets.

From his perch, high atop a neighboring skyscraper, Rajesh could scan the majority of his target’s external forces. Unfortunately, those he could see outside were likely only a small portion of the enemy force. 

He could only imagine how many remained concealed within City Hall and the surrounding buildings. The unrelenting, summer sun reflected off the mirror-like windows and hid everything beyond. Of course, Rajesh took advantage of this phenomenon himself, and fearlessly observed his enemy, confident he remained hidden.

Rajesh had hoped that a larger portion of the Mayor’s forces would be visible from his sniper’s perch. Regardless, he would proceed with his plan. 

First, he would eliminate the outside forces from afar. Once the alarm was raised, and they fortified the doors of City Hall, he would descend to ground level, abandon his sniper rifle, and utilize the explosives he had raided from the nearby national guard armory. 

After all, there was no reason to waste energy.

Rajesh centered the eight times magnification scope on a guard and gently began to squeeze the trigger when a notification interrupted him.

Damnit!

He relaxed his finger and checked the message, concerned that it was from his new leadership. With his new spell, Read Thoughts, there was no concern that they would betray him. Instead, he was afraid there was an emergency they would not be able to handle. The transition from the older, traitorous lieutenants to the new, loyalists was not easy, and there were many details Rajesh needed to handle personally.

Surprisingly, the message was not from his own faction. 

Blake Summers? What does he want?

Rajesh briefly considered disregarding the holo-chat request, but almost immediately dismissed the thought. Blake was too dangerous to ignore.

No, best to see what he wants before I begin a war.

“What do you want?” Rajesh asked the moment the call connected. He was careful to keep the holo-chat feed centered on his face, where very little detail would show in the background.

Blake snorted and shook his head in amusement. “I see your manners haven’t changed.”

We are not friends nor allies, why would I waste the time?

“Get to the point. I am extremely busy.”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Fine. Were you able to find those scientists I asked you to look after?”

“I saved every researcher I could find, as well as their graduate assistants. However, unless you can narrow down who specifically you are concerned about, I can not verify that I am in possession of the scientists you desire. Is there anything you can tell me to help identify them?”

Blake scratched his temple. “No, sorry. I suppose we’ll just have to hope that you got them all.”

Hmm. Did he actually learn from his mistakes? Perhaps I did not give him enough credit.

Rajesh had hoped to discover why the researchers were so important to Blake. Unfortunately, he seemed to have finally learned discretion. 

No matter. He will be forced to confide in me eventually.

“Is that all?”

Blake shook his head and sighed. “No. Tomorrow, our portal room will be completed. We’re going to start recruiting from further out. Since we’re going to send a team to Phoenix, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t stepping on your toes. You know, keep things cordial between our factions”

Unacceptable. Phoenix is mine.

“Your assistance is unnecessary. The people of Phoenix will find safety within my faction.”

Blake frowned. “It’s not like I’m expanding to Phoenix or poaching your faction members. There’s literally hundreds of thousands of desperate people who still need to be rescued. Unless I’m mistaken, your faction hall is still level three. Your faction is limited to only five thousand people.”

For now. 

“They do not need to reside within my faction to be of use.” Rajesh replied.

Especially when I can invite them, take their two and a half million nano directive reward, and immediately kick them out.

Blake narrowed his eyes. “Okay, fine. I was trying to be nice, but I see that was a mistake. This is what’s going to happen. Tomorrow, I’m going to send a combat team down to the Phoenix area. They are going to gather anyone who wants into my faction, and teleport them to Pinetop. If you attack my people in any way, I’ll do the same thing to you that I did to the leader of the Black Diamonds. Consider this your only warning”

Suddenly, the holo-chat feed was cut, and he once again found himself alone within the skyscraper.

Rajesh seethed at the demand. He wished to lash out and destroy Blake immediately. However, he knew that was foolish. Blake currently held too many advantages. His achievements boosted his attributes to insane levels, while a decade of experience in combat assured he used them efficiently.

No, not yet.

Rajesh had seen first hand how dangerous Blake was. There was no way he would cross Blake until victory was assured. Luckily, the idiot seemed determined to handicap himself and refused to use his faction’s treasury as a resource.

Fool.

With Blake’s current power, he understood the Scion’s reasoning for keeping taxes light. It would accelerate his faction’s economic growth as well as aid in recruitment. That path to prosperity was unfortunately unavailable to Rajesh. 

He needed power now.

Rajesh had great plans for his Sonoran Empire, he intended to control the entire continent. However, that would take years, if not decades. His first step was to conquer and control all of greater Phoenix, and then consolidate his power. If he moved quickly, before his opponents had a chance to raise a proper defense, he could accomplish that goal within weeks.

That was why he took every bit of nano from his subjects. That was why he forcibly recruited new members into his faction. He needed a very large amount of power now, before the other factions had a chance to raise a true defense. 

Once his enemies constructed a shield generator, his work would become far more difficult. He needed to attack his competition before that was possible, which put him on a timer.

It’s time to begin.

Rajesh breathed out and centered the sniper rifle’s crosshairs on a guard’s torso. Then, he slowly squeezed the trigger.

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