MM: Chapter 58

Vērmane Garden had originally been a truly green space. The first public park in Riga, Vērmane Garden had originally been constructed in the days of the Russian Empire, in the aftermath of Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia and his subsequent Exile to the Isle of Elba. It had weathered the brutalism of both world wars, Soviet occupation, and post-Cold War ethnic strife intact. It had even been enhanced, adorned with new monuments and endowed with larger tracts of land. I had only seen pictures before this, but those pictures had been remarkably beautiful for a place like Slorenia, which always seemed to be dealing with conflict or repression by turns.

That was no longer the case. Ultron had little use for organic materials like grass or flowers, and his only use for wood was as ash to use as a cheap cement for temporary buildings until he could construct more proper ones. Accordingly, Vērmane Garden and its once lush greenery had now been reduced to a barren, brutalist hellscape. The flowers and grass had been burned up, the monuments broken down to be repurposed for materials, and the trees cut down, burned to ash, and mixed into cement. What was left was effectively something that reminded me very much of a prefabricated military outpost in the middle of a barren field that had been scorched black as if a massive flame had washed across the land.

I frowned, viewing the whole thing from the shattered husk of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ that had, until recently, bordered a lush public park. Myself, Niko, and Anna had taken up residence here as a command post to help coordinate the upcoming strike, though we had been largely relying on Runners to send messages. The Cathedral was the highest point still standing in this part of the city, which was saying something, though I wasn't quite sure what that could be. After all, there was a Big G God in this Multiverse, but it wasn't Yahweh, it was Jack Kirby, and sometimes Stan Lee, depending on the Writer. It couldn't have been divine intervention, because the remnants of the murals and frescoes that still existed in here had a distinct lack of Kirby Crackles or schlubby Jewish Guys depicted.

Whatever the reason had been, the Cathedral had stayed at least partially standing through the mechanical onslaught that had swept through Riga. We were posted up in the half-shell that remained of the Dome of the Cathedral, relying largely on my Holomancy to remain undetected by the swarm of Ultron Drones and Combat Platforms that bustled just across the shattered street in what had formerly been a green and lush public park. And what a swarm it was, too.

"That's a lot more than a platoon of tanks and a company of drones, Boss. Looks like closer to an Integrated Battalion. Sounds like the Mūkēļi Pizār Colonel couldn't be fucked to confirm what reports he'd been getting." Spat Niko, gazing at the swarm of Ultron Combat Robots through a pair of cracked binoculars he had acquired.

The word he used, Mūkēļi Pizār, didn't have a direct translation into English. Foreign Leech was the closest, but didn't translate the right cultural connotations. After all, the Dudeks had arrived in Slorenia first, before the Slavs and Curonians had shown up, back in Antiquity. The Curonians arrived later, a combination of Germanic Tribes fleeing the advancing Hunnic Empire of Attila, and the Slorenes were a West Slavic People who arrived another three-hundred-some-odd years after that to initiate a three-way struggle for dominance. To the Dudeks, both the Curonians and the Slorenes were foreigners, but only the Slorenes managed to earn enough Dudek Enmity to be called a Foreign Leech. Either way, Anna seemed to agree with the assessment.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him." Scowled Anna.

She spat on the floor as she said that, clearly showing her disdain for Colonel Kisziel and his men. I, on the other hand, wasn't quite so certain that we'd been doublecrossed or even become victims of incompetence. It took me a moment to parse exactly what I was seeing to think that, but when I finally did, I pointed it out to the others.

"The amount of airpower's still the same, though. And look, the other three Companies in the battalion aren't plated in Vibranium outside a rare handful of cases. I think these are new construction." I informed.

"And? It's still more metal than we were told to expect. You have to agree, it's a tall order for us, even if it isn't deliberate, yes?" Questioned Niko.

"Yes, how do you propose we take on an entire battalion with an integrated tank component with just the thirty fighters we've brought to this?" Queried Anna.

I frowned at that. They were right about that much. The plan we'd had going into this was no longer feasible. We were supposed to hit them hard and fast from multiple angles, using my Holomancy to disguise our numbers and give Ultron false data to process so he would make a mistake based on misinformation, and I could deploy overwhelming mystical might at that time to punish him for it at a crucial juncture. The plan had already relied a lot on various factors to work, but with the extra numbers, it had become downright untenable.

"I'm calling an audible." I remarked, much to my Companion's confusion.

"Is that an American euphemism?" Asked Anna.

"Because if it is, it isn't one we understand." Added Niko.

That was the thing about relying on translation spells. They translated the language perfectly, but if the text of an idiom was different than what you were used to, it wouldn't come through. A perfect example would be the phrase 'You can't have your cake and eat it too.' which in Italian used a completely different sentence, 'You cannot have a full wine barrel and a drunk wife at the same time.' to convey the same meaning. In this case, the American Football Idiom didn't translate, and I was forced to clarify.

"It means I'm improvising a new plan. Here." I mused, reaching into my Bag of Holding and pulling out a pen and paper, scribbling down an update and fresh suggestions to our allies in Colonel Kisziel's Group before handing it to Niko.

"Another dispatch?" Questioned Niko.

"Send that by runner to Colonel Kisziel's group. If he's smart, he'll follow the new plan." I intoned.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Queried Anna.

"Well, that large building in the center of the barracks has to be where they're keeping the Jammer. If I get the Battalion's attention, do you think you and the men can sneak in through the side and blow it to bits?" I asked.

"We should be able to." Nodded Niko.

"What about you? It's an entire battalion. Surely you're not planning to fight them all by yourself?" Questioned Anna.

"I'll do what I always do." I shrugged.

"Which is?" Queried Niko.

"The best I can." I answered.

"And if that isn't enough?" Asked Anna.

"Then I'd best hope Colonel Kisziel decides to follow my new tactical plan, because if he doesn't, things are going to get very dicey, very fast for me." I shrugged.

"Fine. When do we go?" Questioned Anna, rolling her eyes.

"As soon as our courier makes it back from Colonel Kisziel's position with confirmation that the Colonel received the message." I insisted.

"What if he doesn't make it back?" Queried Niko.

"He will. I'll use Holomancy to make sure the Drones can't see him." I pressed.

"Then I suppose that's all that needs to be said." Shrugged Anna.

"I'll go and scare us up a runner, then, shall I?" Asked Niko.

"I think you'd better." I confirmed.

And with that, the final countdown to the green light for the alterations I had made to the plan began. It was only broken up by a brief bit of spellcasting, as I cast a Holomantic spell on the Runner, a Young Dudek Girl of thirteen named Vasara. Then she took off with the message for Colonel Kisziel's position. He had been posted on the shattered remains of the Building of the Riga Slorene Society, a cultural hall dating back to the eighteen-seventies. All that remained of the once proud facade of the building now was a row of shattered shopfronts, the basement, a wrecked lobby, and part of the second floor. It was still plenty large enough to hold the hundred-twenty men that Colonel Kisziel had with him. I wasn't sure if that was an endorsement of the Slorene Architects who had designed and built the place back in the day or a condemnation of the size of our resistance group, though.

Either way, we wound up getting confirmation back around twenty minutes later. Colonel Kisziel would follow my lead, deferring to the expert on the matter of Ultron, or at least, the closest thing we had to an expert, anyway. Niko and Anna had the men go through final equipment checks, having already briefed them earlier during the wait. Then, roughly thirty minutes after beginning the observation period, I began the attack, launching myself out of cover and across the street toward Vērmane Garden and the Ultron Base there. My first set of targets was already in sight, and I angled my leap toward the grounded Squadron of Aerial Assault Platforms, a priority target if ever there was one.

As I did so, an amber spear formed in one hand that I flung at a grounded Ultron Assault Platform, punching through the reactor and causing an explosion that took out two other nearby Assault Platforms. A Chain reaction ensued that managed to scrap the majority of the Aerial Assault Platforms as those two had their reactors cook off, and so on, and so on. It also took out a squad of Combat Drones too. I landed in a crouch, explosions going off behind me. Only three Aerial Assault Platforms managed to lift off, one of which I managed to crash with a Ferromantic Curse that short-circuited its engines, slamming into a squad of Ultron Drones manning some sort of plasma howitzer, sending them all up in a ball of flames. Another raced up into the sky, trying to flag down the Massive Flying Fortress that was still hovering above Riga Castle. The last bore down on me, strafing me with pulse laser turrets and forcing me to put up a shield with a mystic gesture and incantation.

It was a Hell of an Entrance, if I said so myself. Unfortunately, it seemed the entire base had now come alive and was about to fall on me like Mjolnir after Thor had been pranked by Loki one too many times. I frowned, keeping my shield up as best I could, reaching out with a wordless, wandless, Banishing Charm to banish a nearby unexploded plasma munition into the last Aerial Assault Platform. It went up in a ball of high-energy flames, and I took a moment to grin at how my alpha strike had effectively stripped the Drones in the Base of their Air Support. Then one of the Ultron Tanks fired its main gun into my shield, high-energy plasma impacting my shield, exploding on contact, and shattering my mystic barrier while sending me hurtling to the ground.

As I rolled to my feet, a quartet of Ultron Drones surged forward, firing pulse laser rifles at me as they went, forcing me to think quickly, as if I just put up another shield, I would just get pelted with more Plasma from Ultron Tanks to blow them down. Instead, I reached out with one of my seldom-used magical abilities, Sand Control, as a veritable torrent of white sand erupted from my bag of holding. I accelerated the eruption using Force-based Telekinesis, and soon, the Quartet were being pelted with grains of sand moving quickly enough to act as a blade that sheared their arms off. One of them managed to get off a plasma grenade, though, and flash-fried my Sand, scorching my back and shoulders through the pauldrons of my Aregentum Armor as well.

I was forced to apparate away and use Alkahestry to soothe the burns and keep fighting through the pain. Of course, Ultron wasn't going to just let me rest up so I could stay in the fight. I found myself having to use Amestrian Alchemy to create a massive pit in the ground as two Ultron Tanks lumbered out from behind a nearby building. My Tank Trap bought me the time I needed to get one of them with an Electromantic Bolt that fried its magnetic bottling generator for its main gun just as it fired a ball of high-density plasma up at me. The resulting uncontrolled plasma explosion took out both Ultron Tanks and turned the walls and floor of my pit into glass.

Almost immediately, I came under fire from Plasma Mortars from halfway across Vērmane Garden, though, forcing me to Apparate away again, the Force screaming in warning to flee. Some of the residual explosions still seared through my Argentum Armor and tore into me with molten shrapnel, though, forcing me to expend one of my precious few remaining healing potions to get back into the fight. As the slightly sweet liquid poured down my gullet, and my right side knitted itself back together, I only had one thing on my mind.

Colonel Kisziel better not have been lying to me about following my plan, or this was going to be one hell of a short offensive. . .

XXXX

Niko Mickelpoy was not a man who was prone to prayers. He had seen and suffered too much at the hands of the Slorenes to truly believe in Jesus or anything like that. However, his parents had been devout enough to raise him to be so as well. It hadn't stopped the Targoth from descending on their village while he had been attempting to make a name for himself in Riga as a musician, though. Still, as their small band of thirty Mixed Curonian Hunters and Dudek Freedom Fighters began their final approach to the building housing the Communications Jammer, a prayer slipped out nonetheless.

"Oh Lord God, Grant me, I beseech thee, thy divine helping grace, and endow me with patience and strength to endure my tribulations." Whispered Niko as their group made the final approach.

It probably wasn't proper, of course. Niko hadn't seen the inside of a church in over a decade now. If anything, he should probably be doing some sort of penance for the lapse before asking for a blessing or anything. Still, he said the words, much to Anna's amusement. As they paused at the entrance to the building that housed the Jammer, she rolled her eyes at his praying.

"What? It just slipped out. Are you going to say you've never prayed in a moment of weakness?" Questioned Niko softly.

"You've been hanging around Riga for so long, I sometimes forget what a Country Bumpkin you are." Smirked Anna, quietly.

"There's nothing wrong with Prayer, Niko. Though I would have used a proper Lutheran one." Mused a nearby Fighter in a hushed tone.

Conrad Wowereit was a Curonian. He was from a long line of Beekeepers, who had kept bees for first the Local Teutonic Estates as Esquires, then the Kettler Dukes of Courland as Vassals, before having their small feif dispossessed by Russian Boyars and becoming peasants, though not serfs, on an estate belonging to a cousin of the Tsars, followed by the Soviets as managers in the State-Run Honey Industry, and then the Slorenes as basically slave labor. Conrad had joined up with the group of rabble-rousers that Niko and Anna had run with years ago and become a permanent fixture. He was also originally from the countryside, much like Niko, though his parents had raised him as a devout Lutheran.

"I know, Conrad." Murmured Niko in reply.

"Still, do you really both believe in God after all this?" Queried Anna in a low voice.

"Stranger things have happened, Anna. The Pagan God of Thunder is one of our new Boss's teammates, after all. Who is to say that Jesus isn't also real and simply waiting to return on judgment day as promised?" Asked Conrad in a whisper.

"Quiet down. We have a job to do." Insisted Niko under his breath.

Honestly, it was a miracle that they hadn't been spotted yet, though given the entrance the Boss had made, it was easy enough to see why. That ruckus was still ongoing, and it was probably the only reason they had made it as far as they had undetected. All the Killer Robots had been drawn to the Boss. Shaking his head, Niko placed the alchemically doped breaching charges the Boss had rigged up for the mission and triggered the detonator. The controlled explosive literally cut through the advanced alloy of the door as if it were thermite being used against a normal tempered steel blast door. Moments later, the door fell in on its hinges, and the small task force was in.

What they found was not entirely what they had been expecting. Oh, certainly, the Jamming Device was there, but they had pictured something more akin to an army barracks, just one meant for Robots instead of people, maybe with charging stations instead of beds or something. This wasn't that. It was a miniaturized factory. Automated arms used processing beams of some sort to render down rubble into component elements, where they were shipped down gravity-assisted conveyor belts toward assemblers for assembly into more Ultron Drones, Plasma Mortars, and Pulse Laser Rifles. There was even a small Assembler Bay where a pair of Ultron Tanks lay partially assembled as robotic arms placed components and assembled armor. True, none of these drones had the Vibranium Plating, but that wouldn't matter if they were allowed to keep building up.

"No wonder the Garrison was four times bigger than we were expecting. This place can assemble more Drones and Tanks." Breathed Anna.

"It looks like they're converting building chunks, junked cars, and whatever rubble they can grab into more of these things." Mused Conrad.

"If Ultron manages to process the entire city, he'll be practically unstoppable. We have to shut this place down." Intoned Niko.

"That's what we're here to do." Affirmed Anna.

"Though he probably has a dozen other facilities just like this one in other parts of Riga." Warned Conrad.

"That doesn't mean we don't blow this one to high Hell. Take the group and cover Anna and I while we place the charges." Ordered Niko.

"Right, you lot heard the man. Heads on swivels." Commanded Conrad.

As the group fanned out, Niko and Anna took half of the charges in the satchel each and moved to begin placing them. The Boss had told them exactly where to set charges for the most bang. Mainframes, Reactors, and the Jammer. Anything that looked like it could cause a chain reaction or feedback loop was also something to look out for. As Niko approached what seemed to be a large computer mainframe, Anna moved to rig charges up to the reactors powering the facility. As he began to attach the charges to the mainframe, Niko spotted an attachment plugged into a slot in the console of the mainframe. It was a cube of advanced alloy with an antenna sticking out of the top and the sides glowing red like the eyes of the Killer Robots. That had to be the Jammer. He placed a charge on top of it just in case.

No sooner had they finished rigging their charges, however, than the latest batch of Ultron Combat Drones coming off the line powered up and grabbed Pulse Laser Rifles before immediately turning to fire at the Group. It appeared they'd been rumbled. It was too late now, though. They were almost finished rigging the charges. Still, Niko worked furiously, hooking up detonators and priming charges, eager to get this over with and bug out. He knew Anna would be looking to do the same. Their time here was almost up.

As he thought that, however, a laser cannon folded out of the ceiling, tracking Niko and firing. The swift-firing turreted cannon blasted his enchanted vest to smithereens, stripping Niko of his only real defense against the Laser Weaponry of the Combat Drones and blasting him back into the Wall. He smashed the back of his head against the alloy wall, busting his scalp open, though he managed to get a burst off with his Mystical Submachine Gun that shredded into the Laser Cannon, chewing through the alloy casing in an extended burst and causing an explosion that blasted the turret to bits. As he stood up, Niko's vision swam slightly. He had a concussion, it seemed.

"Niko! We need to go! Conrad won't be able to hold them much longer! It's taking most of a magazine from our guns to reliably down these things!" Called out Anna.

"One second!" Insisted Niko, his vision swimming.

He didn't know why, but as his gaze landed on the Alloy Cube with the explosive charge attached to it, Niko swore the red light on the side of it looked more like an eye than before. That wasn't good. Of course, if it was an eye, it was looking right at him. He suddenly had a gut feeling that the Cube needed to go now, detonator be damned. Well, he knew that the guns worked, even if it took most of a magazine to do so. Why not try it now on the cube? Decision made, Niko replaced the magazine in his Mystic MP-Forty, raised the weapon, and fired.

An extended burst from Niko's magazine shredded into the Cube, chewing through the Alloy Casing. Niko emptied two of his three remaining magazines into the Cube, which caused a digital screeching noise to echo throughout the Factory Command Complex. The red light died in a shower of sparks, which then caused the power to flicker and the Drones to stall out for a few crucial moments. Niko wasn't exactly sure how he knew to do that, but he wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth. They had to use this reprieve to retreat.

As they fled from the Factory Command Complex to a minimum safe distance, Niko realized they were leaving five of their own dead back in the building. They also had wounded three more of their number, including Conrad, whose shoulder sported a charred laser burn from a glancing shot. Fortunately, they had managed to complete their mission with only eight casualties, largely thanks to the Boss's distraction and the enchanted gear they had. When Niko blew the Factory Command Complex once they reached cover, he couldn't help but grin.

It had been the most satisfying thing he'd done in a while, after all. . .

XXXX

I groaned, beginning to lag under pressure from a full battalion of Mechanized Ultron Killbots. Destroyed Drones and twisted wreckage lay strewn across half of Vērmane Garden, the remains of two and a half companies of Ultron Drones. However, it wasn't enough, there were still more. Unfortunately, I had run out of healing potions and had been relying largely on the Force and Alkahestry to keep myself in the fight. The problem was the damned Tanks and Plasma Mortars. I could take on Ultron Drones all day long, but the Tanks and Plasma Mortars were a different story. Ultron was proving why there were advantages to being an AI without a real body. He could coordinate far more effectively than we could.

After all, the second I began to focus on the Plasma Mortars, the Tanks would roll up in force and begin hammering away with their main guns. As soon as I switched focus to the Tanks, the Plasma Mortars would launch a barrage and force me to give ground with Apparition. Unfortunately, that could only work for so long. The moment you slipped up, you were in for pain, and I had been hit with that a couple of times already. Furthermore, I was on a timer. The one Aerial Assault Platform that had escaped my Alpha Strike had managed to rendezvous with the Flying Fortress, and the giant mothership was closing in on the battlefield from above. I could keep giving ground, but if I didn't hit back, and soon, Ultron would run out the clock on me and the Flying Fortress would arrive to rain down death from above on us all. That would be all she wrote, then.

"Damn it! Where is Colonel Kisziel?" I demanded with a swear.

As I swore, I bisected a pair of Ultron Drones with a single swipe of my Wan-Shen, before launching an Amber Spear at an Ultron Tank that was rolling up from my right. The Amber Spear sank into the Tank's turret, causing a chain reaction and explosion. Unfortunately, that allowed the second Tank that had been inching forward to clear the pile of rubble to my left and strafe me with its pulse laser. Searing pain traced itself across my left side before I leaped away, using Aeromancy to boost my jump enough to clear the blast from the Tank's main cannon, high-density plasma washing across below me.

As that happened, the force screamed at me in warning, and I barely had time to apparate back and behind a pile of rubble before plasma mortar rounds began exploding around the area, barraging the grid square I was fighting in. I put up my strongest shield, even used Amestrian Alchemy to try and build myself a material shield to reinforce the mystical one, but as the rock and metal covered my mystical shield in a layer of opaque material, I knew it would only be a matter of time before my protective shell was blasted open under the weight of fire. Fortunately for me, I could finally sense dozens of new combatants entering the battlefield with the Dragon Pulse, Colonel Kisziel among them. Within a minute, the attack Colonel Kisziel mounted on the Plasma Mortars had finally silenced one of the two main threats remaining.

Immediately, I apparated back outside of my protective shell, reappearing in the air above an Ultron Tank, and plunging down to sink my Wan-Shen into it from above. The Force-Forged Valyrian Steel Blade carved into the top of the Tank, severing some vital connection. The Force blurted out at me to jump, and I kicked off the tank, boosting my jump with Aeromancy and letting the explosion take out another platoon of Ultron Drones that had been using the Tank to cover their advance. As I reached the apex of my leap, I flipped around, an Amber Spear forming in my hand that I hurled at a second Ultron Tank. It too was destroyed shortly afterward, and I righted myself as I fell just in time to carve down with my Wan-Shen and split apart an Ultron Drone that was manning a Pulse Laser emplacement and was drawing a bead on Colonel Kisziel as he led his reinforced company across the field.

"You took your sweet time!" I exclaimed as I let the Ultron Drone fall into two halves behind me.

"There were some complications. We got rumbled by a couple of platoons on district patrol. Had to silence them before moving to help you. We lost a number of good men in the skirmish." Explained Colonel Kisziel.

"Well, you're in the fight now, that's all that matters!" I grinned.

"And now we avenge our fallen comrades!" Smirked Colonel Kisziel.

The rest of the fight after that was fairly easy, just taking time and sweat, with only a few more casualties now that we could focus on the Tanks and mopping up. Unfortunately, time was a luxury we didn't have. The Flying Fortress was coming closer, which, granted, was part of the plan, but not if we hadn't finished up here first before it arrived. Unfortunately, just as we managed to take out the last of the Ultron Tanks, tricking it into an Amestrian Alchemy-created pit trap before Colonel Kisziel's men pelted it with Alchemically Doped Grenades that I provided them, the Flying Fortress arrived.

"Shit!" I swore.

"If we die, we die fighting!" Insisted Colonel Kisziel.

"Agreed." I nodded.

Fortunately, however, we wouldn't be dying today, largely thanks to Niko's group. I had a few moments as the Force practically burst my metaphysical eardrums with a warning to do something. I chose to put the strongest shield I could up around Colonel Kisziel, myself, and his remaining men. Then the large Command Complex in the middle of Vērmane Garden exploded. My shield kept us mostly safe, knocking us on our asses, cracking an arm bone or two here and there, but alive. The remaining Ultron Drones weren't so lucky, nor was the Flying Fortress. When the Command Complex went up, it took them with it, even managing to knock the engines out aboard the Flying Fortress.

As I stumbled to my feet, shoulder dislocated, back and side full of laser burns and plasma wash aftermath, I watched as the Flying Fortress headed straight for a bombed-out building. For a few moments, I allowed myself to believe that we'd actually managed to pull this off with fewer casualties than we'd all figured it was going to take. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. The Flying Fortress righted itself just before it hit the building, managing to pause its demise. Grinding my teeth in Anger, I summoned up whatever mystical power I had left in me and reached out with my strongest ferromantic spell.

In retrospect, I might have overpowered the spell a bit. The rightmost engine bank of the Flying Fortress literally exploded as something critical malfunctioned, causing a chain reaction that ripped the stern off the Flying Fortress in a display that probably could have been seen from beyond the horizon. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to begin booking it before any reinforcements could be sent our way. As soon as the light from the explosion faded, I felt a massive wave of dizziness come over me. I'd overexerted myself doing this, and now the injuries I'd sustained in battle were hitting me all at once, just as the fatigue from completely emptying my mystical reserves of power hit me as well.

I turned, took four steps toward Colonel Kisziel, then my vision went white as I pitched forward into the ashen ground, unconscious. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here's the next chapter. The mission to destroy Ultron's Signal Jammer was a success, though there were complications, and Jan had to wreck himself to get the mission done. Ultron is no joke, after all. This is the same event that pushed Thor to the breaking point against Ultron, after all. Jan isn't at that level yet. Thankfully, Niko managed to awaken his dormant X-Gene in the Factory, which allowed the Factory Command Complex Raid to be successful. That in turn managed to take out the remaining Ultron Drones in the area and temporarily disable the Flying Fortress, giving Jan and Colonel Kisziel's Group a chance to regroup to finish the fight. As for what Niko's power is, it's a sort of Psychic Intuition that can help him succeed in moments of high stress. Not the most glamorous of Mutant Powers, but it will get the job done a lot of the time.

At any rate, the next chapter will include another meeting with the Beyonder in Jan's Dreamscape while he's unconscious, and we'll see how things panned out in the aftermath of the mission as well. I'll also have a few more images out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .