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((Killer Sumo's av has been chosen to play out the remaining Ymiristani characters))

The walls of the Yaits Corp HQ main conference room had been paneled with wood sheets over dry wall to disguise the metalic structure of the building. There was a conference table and twelve chairs in the center, only four of which were occupied. A cloaked apparation stood in front of a projector that directed its image onto a blank large screen moniter built into the wall. The man was ghastly thin, his eyes glowing a slight red through the darkness of his worn hood. The others who were seated, were the 'big players' of Ymiristan now that Yaits was out of the picture. The first was General Bakkar, who had been summoned from the Barthovos Defense perimeter to meet with this creature. The preacher sat across from the general, sweating profusely and nervously avoiding any glance from the thing standing at the front of the room. At the back of the table, sitting on a large high sofa, devouring a huge tray of complimentary grub, was KillerSumo. The hired mercenary, for some reason a favorite of Yaits, drew disgusted looks from Bakkar. The final man sat calmly, scribbling formula's in a little notepad he examined through dark glasses. A young man, yet thin, his hair was prematurely gray. It was Dr. Iskagawa himself, the chief of all the experiments. When orders came down to destroy much of his precious work, he had simply delayed and waited it out, figuring the situation would change soon. It did, Melissa Faulkner had been put into her misery by the master, so his work was safe, for now. Once the master had merged with her soul, they would have no choice but to prepare for full scale invasion, for once a real chance to test his work. Dr. Iskagawa and the thing were the only ones there who knew completely what Yaits was, and what was happening to Melissa.

The thing took a series of long thin films out of stomach, though it looked as if it was pulling them out of its trench coat. He placed the first, it was the picture of the slugs attacking Lament. Then there was a picture of the old man, actually Yaits, attempting to attack the city walls.

"What is this about," the preacher asked, "How does the undead attack on Lament concern us, besides our mission to help those in need?"

"Silence nit," the creature said, "It was your master who was behind the entire attack, and as the the transmitters were left as evidence, it won't be long until the entire world know's who is responsible. Why do you think the master exhausted himself desperately, he couldn't risk the transmitters being discovered. But now that we have failed the master, we are all in this "hot water" together. Including you."

Bakkar stood, the preacher put his hands to his face and wailed, "How can this be, it simply can't be," he repeated softly, going into a nervous breakdown of sorts.

"Wait a minute," the general protested, "I had no knowledge of that situation, there is no way you can implicate me........"

"Fool..." the creature and Dr. Iskugawa snapped together, the thing left the doctor continue calmly.

"Yaits is gone, Melissa Faulkner is merely an innocent little girl. The world will require many to hang for this, if Ymiristan is disbanded. Everyone in this room will be hunted mercilessly if Ymiristan is defeated, and then you will be sumarily executed, possibly after a most humiliating trial. Do you think they will even care for your excuses?"

"You son of a b***h," General Bakkar said, pulling out his combat knife against Dr. Iskugawa, "you're the one who should be executed."

The creature's arm extended like a tentacle, wrapping around General Bakkar's neck and thrusting him against the wall. While the General held the knife, he could feel his neck being arched, and feared it being broken.

"Ishu is my father," it said, "I suggest you treat him with respect."

"A moment of anger," the Dr. explained calmly, scribbling notes, "Let him go now, I'm sure he knows there is only one path to follow by now."

"So what do I do now?" Bakkar asked, feeling the red marks around his neck.

"You will continue to serve as Ymiristan's top military officer, but you will remain here in Yaits city, to assist with the production of munitions. There will be world war once Ymiristan is identified as the culprit behind the Lament attack, we must not be defeated, at any cost. I've created a variety of new, weapons, ready for full scale production, as there will be no need to keep them hidden any longer."

I have to keep a close eye on you two, the doctor thought concerning Bakkar and the preacher, Master, why did you pick that little slut, we could have made a perfect combination together, why did you chose her? She doesn't even want your power.

"Let us discuss some of the specifics,"

~~~~~

"Take him through," one of the gaurds said, "Orders from Dr. I,"

"Sir, a VIP transport convoy will arrive shortly to take you to Yaits Corporate HQ."

A Giat APC VIP transport pulled up to the security checkpoint. The back hatch opened into a ramp that allowed easy access into an interior which was decorated much like a plush sitting room. Inside was sattelite television, radio, a small fridge and min-bar, all carpeted. This Giat version even had high grade shock absorbers. Of course, this baby was not only fitted with luxeries for the VIP, it was also equipped with the finest scanning equipment money could by. The guest would be X-rayed, filmed, subject to infrared scanning, heat scanning, rune and magic energy flux recordings, and auditory recordings for any suspicious sounds. But first, the guards wanted to show guest that they weren't too welcoming. A portable metal detecter was set up by two guards in red and white uniforms, a small stand held a foldable tray.

"Sir, please remove all loose articles of clothing so we may perform a search," The guard said, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is standard precaution. Place any loose items you may have in the tray."

"I hope you don't mind, sir," said the guard, "But the other items are considered a security risk have to stay here under containment, you'll receive everything back upon leaving the country."

If he didn't mind, the items would be placed in a secure vault underneith the checkpoint, and would be returned when he left. That was, if he didn't have any objections.

"Pretty statue, seems harmless enough," said the guard, feeling the tiny rune with his thumb, "I suppose you can have the ring back as well, no need to deprive you of your ornaments. However, everything else has to remain here for the time being or you can't even enter the city, much less the HQ."

If he didn't agree, Chaszmyr would be sent home with his gifts.

If he agreed, he would be allowed to board the luxury APC plushy enough to be a mobile honeymoon suite on route for Ymiristan HQ. The APC would pass through all the checkpoints, being stopped briefly only once as it rode into the underground parking lot through what appeared to be a cement tunnel. Once he arrived he would be escorted through the main lobby of what was once the corporate HQ, the place would be a hive of human activity, indicating that something big was going down here. Chaszmyr would be led to a private reception room, where he would find General Bakkar sitting at a desk smoking a big cigar, his legs propped up. Killer Sumo was standing behind him, eating from a huge box of fried chicken nuggets.

Bakkar didn't like being put in this situation, he felt like a fool for believing in Ymir's promises now. But if he stuck around, maybe he could consolidate his power and call the shots in Ymiristan, which was no worse off militarily now that Yaits was dead. The alternative was surrendor, and spending the rest of his life in a military prison for true complicity in Aekea and implied connections to Lament.

"I take it the alliance is over," Bakkar said bluntly, "Yaits is dead, he made the biggest mistake a commander could make on the battle field, over-confidence, and he paid with his life. The Doctor is a fool who thinks you can be trusted, he asked me to show you a few things. Let's skip that, because in all honesty, we both know that Ymiristan and Undead Freakistan are not allies, but rivals."

Melissa Faulkner was secured in her private room, tied down in a straight jacket, and while her physical agression had subsided, her struggle continued nonetheless. She hadn't eaten anything for more twenty four hours. An I.V. had been hooked to her wrist to keep her hydrated, as she was perspiring profusely and losing precious fluid and electrolytes. Her jaket was sooaked, even the ties that kept her bound to the be were moist. She wide awake, her eyes wide open, every now and then she'd squint, clenching her teeth. Dr. Iskugawa stood over her, laying his thin hand over her jaundiced, clammy forehead. She wasn't allowing her soul to be fused Ymir, his spirit was poisoning her. The doctor pulled a needly from his coat, filling it with a black liquid with a slight violet glow.

"This should help smooth out the process,"

The liquid difused into her I.V., becoming clear. Within a few minutes her pupils dilated, she began hyperventilating, and the screaming resumed. It was a scratchy scream from worn vocal cords, but loud and intensely shrill nonetheless, the scream of child suffering intense pain. She was determined not to give in, wishing for a quick death.

The thing put the cloth bag with the dragon thing in his stomach and disapeared, where he had been ordered to take the gift would remain a mystery, but the Doctor had been given advanced notice of its arrival and had extremely specific orders to his pet concerning its custody.

Dr. Iskagawa enetered the room casually, with a pleasant smile that indicated amusement with himself. He pushed his gold rimmed glasses, darkly tinted, up the bridge of his nose. His dress was typical, a clean white lab coat, gray slacks, white collar shirt with pocket protector. His clothes were ussually more stained, but he had just changed into a fresh set. Oddly enough, the one known as the preacher stood behind the doctor, their legs bound together by a long silver shackle. The preacher seemed browbeaten and shamed into some sort of service for the doctor.

"Well," Iskagawa said, "Shall we go see the heavy artilary? Not exactly mobile suits, but I think you'll be pleased with my design."