Aquila reached out with her power to the new story world, gazing over its rolling hills and rivers, its cities and fortresses, and its battlefields. The she sighed and stared at the dice sitting on the kitchen table. Sitting in the other chairs around the table, illuminated by the morning sun shining through the window, Kasumi, Cap, Natsuki, Yuri, Sayori, and Yukari stared at her in expectation, Yuri holding Cap’s hand.

    “It’s no good,” she said. “It’s a war world. And there’s nothing else in the same area – the distance between the worlds is just too erratic. We’ll need to roll again.”

    “Wait a moment,” Cap said, leaning forward. “This could work for us. Can you tell how far along they are in their story?”

    Aquila reached out again. “I think it’s right at the end.”

    Beside her, Kasumi gave Cap a puzzled look.

    “Perfect,” Cap said. “Let’s use it.”

    “Cap, it’s a war world,” Kasumi said. “The level of danger we’d be walking into...we’ve been avoiding those for a reason, remember?”

    “That’s exactly why we should go there,” Cap declared. “Aquila, this Balthazar fellow got a good look at us, right? Can we assume that he’s now read all of our character descriptions?”

    Aquila nodded. “He had enough time to do that, yes.”

    “So, he knows who is in our group,” Cap stated. “He knows that we’ve got two people who can stand up and fight, and everybody else is just a former high school kid or a creator.”

    Aquila blinked. “Are you going where I think you’re going with this?”

    “We know he read your character description,” Cap said to Aquila. “And he was smart enough to figure out what we were from the evidence we were leaving behind as we travelled, and get ahead of us for that ambush. So, there’s no way he hasn’t figured out what you did when we escaped. He knows that we’re hiding out on an isolated story world of your creation, and that if we want to escape his war, we’re going to have leave at some point...and if we want to evade him, we’ll have to use the sort of random direction and distance tactic that we’re using. And he knows how far we can hop worlds at a time. So, he will have figured out our general arc and mapped out a swath of story worlds that he thinks contains our next destination. But, there will be far too many for him to watch them all, so he’ll have to concentrate on the ones he thinks we might appear in.”

    Aquila leaned back. “And he knows we’d never take a group like this into a war world.”

    Cap grinned. “We slip away, and by the time he’s figured out we’ve left, we’re in the wind.”

    “There’s still the danger factor,” Sayori pointed out. “And if Aquila uses her powers to protect us, we’re sending up a flare.”

    “I can handle protection,” Cap said. “And my powers won’t register on his radar, right?”

    Aquila nodded. “Your abilities don’t come directly from an information stream. You could toss buildings at people, and Balthazar wouldn’t notice.”

    “I’ll try to be more subtle than that,” Cap said. “What kind of war are we looking at?”

    Aquila reached out once more. “Science fiction, mechs, no magic.”

    Yukari grinned. “I’ve never seen a battle mech before. Can’t wait.”

    “They won’t let you drive one,” Sayori pointed out.

    Yukari turned to look at Sayori, her grin widening. “I can be very persuasive.”

    “We won’t have time for you to drive one,” Sayori added.

    Yukari stared at the table. “Well, there’s that.”

    “I’m not taking this group into a war world unless I’ve got unanimous consent,” Aquila said. “So let’s take a vote. All in favour?”

    Five hands were raised. Then Kasumi sighed and raised a hers as well.

    “All right,” Aquila declared. “That settles it. Grab your gear, use the bathroom, do whatever you have to. We leave in an hour. Yukari, do you want to do the honours of hitting the self-destruct on the portal right before we leave?”

    Yukari looked at her and grinned.

Aquila let go of Kasumi’s hand and took in their new surroundings. By the looks of it, the street they were on had once been one of the main streets of a medium sized town. A few of the buildings were intact, but the majority had been reduced to rubble and empty shells, their insides exposed through gaping holes. The street was covered in debris.

    “So this is a war world,” Natsuki said.

    Cap nodded. “This place was probably just liberated, based on how recent this looks.”

    “I think the word you’re looking for is ‘liquidated’,” Sayori said. “This is...I don’t know how to describe it.”

    “‘Heartbreaking’ is the word,” Cap said. “I’d hoped to never see something like this again.” Yuri gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

    Aquila took a deep breath. “In theory we’re far enough below Balthazar’s radar that we don’t have to rush, but we shouldn’t waste time either. Let’s figure out where safety is and get moving.”

    Cap cocked his head. “There might be some complications to deal with first.”

    “How many are coming?” Aquila asked.

    “At least a squad, based on what I’m hearing,” Cap replied.

    “They must have heard the sonic boom from our arrival,” Natsuki stated. “All that air being displaced at close to the speed of light...seven of us arriving at once would be pretty loud.”

    “Do we have enough time to slip away?” Aquila asked.

    Cap shook his head. “We’re better off just talking our way out of it. We’re just a group of civilians, so they’ll want to get us out of their hair.”

    “Unless they’re the bad guys of this world,” Kasumi pointed out.

    “I can take a squad of bad guys,” Cap stated.

    A group of ten men in green uniforms with combat rifles rounded the corner. Their leader’s eyes widened as he saw them. “Civilians?” he said. “What are civilians doing here?”

    “We got lost,” Cap said. “We’re just trying to get out of the combat zone.”

    The leader of the squad gave them each a hard look. “There was an explosion. Do you know anything about it?”

    Cap nodded and pointed at one of the ruins behind him. “That building there collapsed as we passed. Scared the hell out of us.”

    “We just want to get to safety,” Aquila added. “If you can point us to where the fighting isn’t, we’ll be on our way, and we won’t be any trouble.”

    The squad leader and somebody who looked like his second-in-command talked quietly for a moment. Then the leader motioned towards them.

    “You need to be processed first,” the squad leader said. “Please come with us.”

    “Is that really necessary?” Aquila asked. “We really don’t want to–”

    “It is,” the squad leader’s second-in-command said. “The colonel will want to speak to you. And don’t try anything funny with her. We call her ‘the human lie detector’ for a reason.”

    Aquila looked at Cap. Cap just met her eyes and nodded. Aquila sighed and said, “Okay, we’re following your lead.”

    “This way, please,” the squad leader said, motioning behind him.

    Aquila took a deep breath, and then took Kasumi’s hand and strode forward, the others following her. The squad leader took a position in front of them, with most of the squad behind them. After a couple of turns they came to a large plaza, ringed with battle mechs painted in a light blue camouflage pattern, each over twenty feet tall. In the centre of the plaza was a large command tent, antennas poking out from the top.

    “Those are amazingly cool!” Yukari gushed, staring at the mechs. “Look at those engines – I never imagined military grade would use those!”

    “Calm down, Yukari,” Sayori said quietly.

    Aquila didn’t take notice, however. Her eyes were fixed on the woman who had stepped out of the tent as they approached, a saber and pistol at her belt. The piercing blue eyes, the short blonde hair, the athletic build – there could be no mistake. It was the same woman she had sat down with for a cup of tea almost four years ago on Daiki Yamato’s hub world, the leader of the other side of that war between the creations. By the looks of it, this version of her was around thirty years old.

    She glanced at Aquila and her group for a moment, taking them in, and then turned to the squad leader. “Did you locate the cause of the explosion, Lieutenant?”

    The squad leader saluted. “Yes, ma’am. I found these civilians, and they said that it was a collapsing building.”

    “Did they?” She looked at them again, her eyes resting on Aquila. “What’s your name?”

    “I’m Aquila,” Aquila replied. “May I ask yours?”

    “Lieutenant-Colonel Atria Silverspear,” Atria said, “Commanding officer of the 3rd Combined Brigade under Colonel Prometheus Goldensword. Are you saboteurs or agents of the Paladin Legion?”

    Aquila shook her head. “We’re just trying to get out of danger.”

    “I’m an expert at reading people,” Atria stated. “I can always tell when somebody is lying, or concealing something from me. I also don’t forget faces, and I’ve never seen yours. So how do you know me?”

    “I don’t know you exactly,” Aquila said, swallowing hard. “You look just like somebody I do know. I had tea with her a few years ago.”

    Atria gaze remained guarded. “She must have made quite the impression. This is the last stand of the Paladin Legion, and we are using this place as the launching point for our final assault. This area was cleared of civilians three days ago. You shouldn’t be here.” She motioned to the squad leader. “Lieutenant, detail these civilians transportation to refugee camp five – there should be space for them there. Make it a priority nine.” Atria turned back to Aquila. “See to your people and make yourself comfortable. And then, once this battle is over, we’re going to have a nice, pleasant discussion about all of the things you’re concealing from me.”

    Atria turned away and began to head back to the tent. Aquila took a deep breath, and then said, “If a man shows up wanting to speak to you wearing an old-fashioned grey greatcoat, don’t talk to him. Just get away as fast as you can.”

    Atria turned and stared at her. “Why?”

    “He’ll mean you harm,” Aquila said. “And, you won’t be able to take him down, even with your mech.”

    Atria’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll take that under advisement. Lieutenant, get these civilians to the camp.” She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a small radio. “Comms, this is Silverspear. Contact Abel and tell him to finish his recon and get his ass back here. He was here for the beginning of this, and he’s not going to want to miss the end of it.”

    “We have some transportation for you back this way, miss,” the Lieutenant said, motioning towards a small bus driving along a cleared path in the rubble. “Everything will be okay now – you’ll be safe in the camp, and there will be warm food and shelter.”

    “Thank you,” Aquila said as the bus stopped nearby. She gave what she hoped was a reassuring look to Kasumi, and boarded the bus, sitting down near the back. Kasumi joined her on the seat, with Cap and Yuri sitting across the aisle. Natsuki, Sayori, and Yukari filled out the seats in front of them. Aquila gazed out of the window as the bus lurched into motion, backing up into a three point turn.

    “What do you suppose a ‘priority nine’ means?” Kasumi wondered as the bus drove through the ruined streets.

    “If I had to guess, ‘flight risk’,” Cap replied. “Lieutenant-Colonel Silverspear wants to make sure we’re still there for that discussion she’s planning on having with us.”

    “Wonderful,” Sayori declared.

    “Why did you warn her?” Kasumi asked, turning to Aquila.

    Aquila sighed. “It’s a long story. Ask me when we get to the camp and we’ve found a place to talk in private.”

    The bus drove for an hour before depositing them at a large tent city, surrounded by a chain link fence patrolled by soldiers. A polite female non-com with a red cross on a white armband took down their names, asked them if there were any requests for shared housing, and assigned them some tents on the far eastern side. Aquila suppressed a smile as Yuri asked to be assigned shared quarters with Cap.

    “Here are your food cards,” the non-com said, passing out some laminated cards. “You’re each allotted three meals per day at the cafeteria, which you can find by following those signs. Just show them the cards, and they’ll serve you. The hours will be posted at the door.”

    “And if we want to leave?” Aquila asked.

    The non-com checked her notes. “I’m afraid that your party would require the permission of Lieutenant-Colonel Atria Silverspear. So, if you want to leave the camp, talk to myself or one of the people wearing one of these armbands, and we will forward your request for departure to her. I wouldn’t recommend it right now. A pretty big battle is going to start, and there’s a very high danger of collateral damage in most of this area. It’s just not going to be safe.”

    “Thank you for your concern,” Aquila said. “And the cafeteria is that way?”

    “Yes,” the non-com replied. “Just follow those signs, and you can’t miss it.”

    Aquila looked at Kasumi and Cap and nodded. It took them five minutes to make it to the cafeteria, where they were served a steaming portion of rice, beans, and a bit of meat that was probably chicken. They ate in silence, and then made their way to their tents. By the time they got there, the sun was getting low in the sky.

    “Well, it could be worse,” Cap said, checking the number of the tent he and Yuri had been assigned against the numbers stenciled onto the door flaps. The area they had been assigned was relatively secluded, and near the fence. A fire pit had been provided, along with a small supply of wood, some matches, and some folding chairs.

    “This is horrible,” Sayori declared, sitting down in one of the chairs. “People shouldn’t have to live like this.”

    “No choice,” Cap said. “The war took all of their homes. At least it’s about to end.”

    Aquila opened up the flap to the tent she and Kasumi had been assigned. Inside was a couple of cots and a wooden box.

    “Those don’t look comfortable,” Kasumi said.

    Aquila took Kasumi’s hand and squeezed it. “I know. But, today it’s what we’ve got. Anyway, we need to figure out what we’re doing.”

    Aquila turned to find Cap and Yuri already getting a fire started in the fire pit. Natsuki and Sayori were checking out their tents, while Yukari staged some wood to the side of the fire pit.

    “Strategy meeting time,” Kasumi said, opening one of the folding chairs and sitting down. Aquila sat down next to her, staring at the fire. Across from them, Cap and Yuri sat together, Yuri leaning against him.

    “Right, so who is this Lieutenant-Colonel Atria Silverspear?” Kasumi asked. Aquila blinked. The others were all sitting by the fire, staring at her.