by John R. Robey

Chief Steward Haru of the Ambara Down Prefect's Office hires hoverskiff Captain Rory to pilot herself and Prefect Durgavati as well as some guards to a summit taking place in High Empyros to formalize the creation of the "Grand Reclamation Project".

Despite taking a roundabout course through unoccupied desert, they are ambushed by wastelander bandits flying the flag of desert warlord Tsaibei Hrotan and their skiff is wrecked. Their guards and escorts are killed, and Rory is left for dead; Haru and Durgavati are captured, but the wastelander skiff carrying Haru breaks down in the desert after hitting a Sandsquid.

Rory, who had been following on foot despite her wounds from the crash (including a broken arm in a regeneration brace), undoes Haru's bonds and steals a hoverbike while Haru distracts and then attacks her guards. The two of them escape together, then follow the wastelanders to Hrotan's massive double-towered hovering fortress.

Haru and Rory infiltrate the fortress, but Rory is captured after bungling an attempt to deceive a guard. Haru is distracted from rescuing Rory by catching Durgavati's scent, which she follows to the heart of the fortress. From hiding Haru witnesses a confrontation between Durgavati and Tsaibei Hrotan, during which the warlord seems to be arguing with a presence only he can see and hear, leading Durgavati to speculate that Hrotan may have gone mad.

Haru flees her hiding spot when Hrotan orders search parties to scour the fortress. In a hidden chamber she is contacted by Pax Machina, which reveals that it has been assisting Tsaibei Hrotan but wishes to establish a mental link with Durgavati, which Hrotan has refused to do. Pax Machina offers to help Haru escape in exchange for her putting a “contact chip” onto the Prefect to create the mental link. Haru refuses, causing Pax Machina to threaten to set off alarms. In a desperation move, Haru puts the contact chip herself to become “a registered user” and therefore able to issue commands to the A.I.

Pax Machina leads Haru to Rory and the Prefect's cells, biding its time. Haru frees Rory, telling her to get to pleasure yacht on the fortress landing platforms, but can't get past the guards between her and Prefect Durgavati without raising an alarm. Pax Machina informs Haru that it can prevent the alarms from being raised if Haru has “Administrator II privileges,” but refuses to give her those unless she promises to put the contact chip on Durgavati. With no other visible course of action, Haru makes the promise and, with Durgavati's help, kills the guards and the two of them go to make their escape. Haru also orders Pax Machina to send the flying fortress to high altitude, to separate them from ground reinforcements.

Pax Machina, enraged at Haru's refusal to honor her promise, begins setting off alarms and the fortress becomes a mass of confusion. Haru and Durgavati get outside, where Rory attempts to pick them up with the yacht. Durgavati leaps onto it, but Haru cannot make the leap. While they try to arrange a way for Haru to be picked up, Tsaibei Hrotan attacks Haru, enraged at her having turned Pax Machina against him. Just as she's about to pass out she orders Pax Machina to deactivate the fortress's grav units in order to ensure Durgavati and Rory's escape—but the pilot and prefect swoop in on a daring rescue to grab her as the fortress plummets to the earth.

Tsaibei Hrotan's death is described to be a destabilizing factor in Dark Garden Lake. Although Durgavati's arrival at the summit was presumably delayed, there's no indication that the talks were negatively impacted.

Author's Note: This story was intended to be an introduction to the major elements of the setting, political climate, and general “tone” of the series. Pax Machina was created by Graveyard Greg, and Lt. Premanayanat was created by Matt Trepal.

• Chief Steward Haru
• Derrez
• Pax Machina 2250 Cyberlink Chip
• Piece of Mind
• Prefect Durgavati
• Rory
• Sandsquid
• Stun Baton
• Tsaibei Hrotan