After an hour or two on the black paved road the MobilBlade turns a corner from behind a large pile of rocks to find themselves only a few hundred yards away from the capitol city of Boneham. The city is one of five in the country of Lysts. The cities where the Governors live and maintain the laws of each province, Boneham is at the crossroads of the Trade city of Barter, the Academic city of Terrigas, and the State Prison city of Hardack. From here, people can travel the Palace Road to the Palace City of Lysts. The laws are made at the Palace City but are enforced in the five capitols. It is also here where a Blade named the BoltBlade makes a regular stop. The BoltBlade travels from the Palace City to each of the five capitols and to the Lysts Government Prison/Seaport city of Hellion.

From a window, a blonde-haired woman watches the MobilBlade enter the city and make its way to the Blade Port. “They are here,” said Arian to her master who is sitting at a desk piled with parchment and old books. “What took them long? They should have been here minutes ago,” said the Mysterious Master from behind his thick copperplate mask. “Want me to go get Stanza?” asked Arian. “No need to,” said a large booming voice at the door. General Carcass without his helmet and gauntlets stood at the door. “My dear Carcass, what do you have to report?” asked the Mysterious Master. General Carcass enters the room, walks to the Mysterious Master and bows down on one knee and puts his head down, “My Master, I was victorious at the Tagi Challenge.” “Excellent, my General, you may not see the reason why right now, but it will become clear to you in time,” said the Mysterious Master. “Master,” said General Carcass, “I found someone who was planning on ambushing the twins before they entered the city.” “Bring this person in,” ordered the Mysterious Master.

General Carcass stood up and turned to the door to give a soldier standing at the door a hand signal. The soldier then turned and repeated the hand signal to be seen by other soldiers. “I used my Hyper Velocity Cannon on him,” explained General Carcass, “If he had been human, he would have burned from the inside out. However this one is a C’Tan. They are beings of energy that inhabit machines. My pulse only overloaded him and caused him to pass out.” Soldiers enter the room with the C’Tan, stripped down without his weapons and in chains with a yellow stone tied to his head. “The stone is keeping him trapped in his body, sir!” said the soldiers. “Speak C’Tan!” ordered General Carcass. “If you knew who I am, then you wouldn’t treat me this way.” said the C’Tan. The Mysterious Master stands up and walks around his desk. “Then by all means, tell us who you are and what your business is with the Gemini twin HexBlade Masters?” asked the Mysterious Master as he stood in front of his desk. “I am the one you will call Death! Death travels with the twins, and once I kill him and take his scythe, I will have all the power I want!” said the C’Tan. “I see, in that case, we can help each other,” said the Mysterious Master, “Release this C’Tan. We have things to talk about.” “You don’t have anything I want,” said the C’Tan as the soldiers removed the chains and untied the stone. “By simply ambushing them and killing Death’s physical body, the steps necessary to become Death are far more astronomical then that. However, I know of a way you can become Death in only a few easy steps,” said the Mysterious Master.

“I suppose I will have to help you,” said the C’Tan. “What award comes without work?” asked the Mysterious Master, “I have something that will help out our little partnership. That is if you agree with my deal. Arian, go get the quarterstaff you just completed.” “And what is this deal?” asked the C’Tan. “If you help me gain the power I seek, I will give you the power you want,” said the Mysterious Master. “And if I decide to take this power you want and use it myself to gain what I want?” asked the C’Tan.” “I invite you to try, however you will find that only one may have this power and any other who tries will simply be destroyed by it,” said the Mysterious Master. Arian reenters the room holding a black quarterstaff and says, “The MimicBlade my master.” “This Blade was made by our own Arian and it is one of a kind. This Blade will be yours to use,” said the Mysterious Master. “The MimicBlade can become and act just like any nearby weapon,” said Arian as she hands the Blade to the C’Tan. In the hands of the C’Tan, the Blades transforms into his Staff of Light. “So, what do you need me to do?” asked the C’Tan.

The MobilBlade travels down the street between the tall buildings of the city. “So what is this BoltBlade you mentioned?” asked Zealot. “You will see when we arrive.” said Salem. “You think the MobilBlade is the biggest Blade you have seen?” asked Selene. The MobilBlade passes the Capital Building where a large group of mostly women were in front with large hand painted signs. “Birthing Termination is murder! Birthing Termination is murder!” chanted the group. “Ever notice the only women you see at Birthing Termination protests are too old or very homely looking? What man would want to have sex with them?” asked Salem as she rested her chin on the pane of a window. “I bet if they had a very attractive daughter who kept getting pregnant, they would not be asking to outlaw Birthing Termination,” said Christina. What is wrong with allowing a baby to be born? If you do not want it, just give it to a family who can not have one of their own,” said Wayne. Salem, Selene, Christina, and Vivien give Wayne an evil look. “What did I say wrong?” asked Wayne. “You try squeezing a baby out of your groin then give it away to someone who did not have to go through the pain,” said Salem.

The MobilBlade arrives at the Blade port and the Blade Masters gathered at the steps leaving Mal on the driver’s seat. A man comes down from the Blade Port building to meet the Blade Masters. “Hello there! Welcome everyone. Wow, real Blade Masters,” said the uniformed man. The group stood at the bottom of the steps for awhile until Selene said, “You came down here to tell us something, Mr…” “Oh sorry, my name’s Tom Roland. I’m the director of the Boneham Blade Port. The BoltBlade will be here shortly. We’ve been expecting you.” said Mr. Roland. The group starts to walk up the steps. “OH!! Tell your carriage driver to take your carriage around the back following the yellow arrows,” said Mr. Roland. Mal had heard him and started to follow the arrows with the MobilBlade. Under the MobilBlade, Sturmer could almost be seen still building and repairing the tank tracks that fold out when the MobilBlade goes into its battle mode. The group arrives at the top of the steps and enters the building.

There was a vast lobby with seats and a high ceiling. The floor was so shiny, it was reflective. “Fuck!” yelled Jarody. “What’s wrong?” asked Zealot. “Here is a great floor but none of the girls are wearing dresses,” said Jarody. The large windows on the other side showed some kind of long waterway with no water in it and blue sky. “Pixie is delivering more prisoners to Hellion,” said Mr. Roland. “When was this place built, last time we were here there was just a small ticket booth and a bench,” said Salem. “We are expanding our operations,” said Mr. Roland. Suddenly, where was a strange sound growing louder and louder, outside around the concrete waterway, red lights begin to flash and an alarm was sounding. “Ah! Here she comes now,” said Mr. Roland as some long black object with a gold trim arrives in the dry waterway and slows to a complete stop. A strange sound of what could only be the object locking itself into place was heard them the alarms turned off. “It’s now safe to enter the boarding area,” said Mr. Roland. The Blade Masters exit the building onto the boarding area where the large vehicle was. “My friends, this is the BoltBlade,” said Salem.

“The BoltBlade is a Tech Blade class Accessory Blade in the form of a segmented staff. Its length, width, and height in meters, front and back section: 28.0 x 2.90 x 3.32, middle car: 21.6 x 2.90 x 3.32, giving it a total length of 77.90 meters. The BoltBlade uses electromagnetic propulsion to travel at speeds of more than 310 miles per hour or 500 Kilometers per hour as it levitates nearly 4 inches or 10 centimeters above a guideway track,” informed Selene as the Blade Masters jaws dropped as they looked at the long black Blade. “A thing that long would have to be black,” said Jarody, “I know what this is! This is a Maglev! Other worlds are trying to improve the technology to make these things and here is a working one on this back water of a planet!” “Blades are a technology that is far beyond our own, Jarody, you know that,” said Salem. “I know, I just thought it had to be said,” replied Jarody. A door on the side of the front of the BoltBlade opened up and out came a woman covered from head to toe in a gold and black skintight uniform and a very bright pink scarf. “Selene! And Salem,” said the woman. “You cannot still be angry Pixie,” said Salem “That sandwich was mine and you knew it!” yelled Pixie as she turned to look at the others. “Oh my Gin,” said Pixie when she saw Christina, “Do me a favor and warn me if you’re going to turn, I don’t want to be knocked off of my feet by your chest.” Salem taps Pixie on the shoulder, “Pixie, we are in a hurry, can you…” “Get going? Yes we should, why is everyone still standing here? Get in!” said Pixie. At the back of the BoltBlade, a large hatch had opened and a ramp came out to allow Mal to drive the MobilBlade into a storage bay inside the BoltBlade. As soon as the MobilBlade was inside, straps started to come from the walls and automatically secure the MobilBlade and horses. Mal jumped down and followed painted arrows into a door leading to the passenger compartment.

The Blade Masters enter into the passenger compartment. Two rows of a pair of very comfortable looking chairs were waiting for them. As the group took their seats, Selene stood at the door. Selene blows her whistle and kept looking around in the sky. “What are you doing?” asked Zealot as he took his seat. Rook will not be able to keep up with the BoltBlade, so I am calling him so he can ride with us. There he comes,” said Selene. Rook landed on Selene’s arm. Selene turned from the door and the GullBlade enters the door and lands on the headrest over Christina. Selene takes a seat next to Zealot, Salem is sitting with Christina, Emhril sits with his daughter Haiku as the HealthBlade starts to climb allover the ceiling of the compartment, Jarody and Vivien go all the way to the back and take a seat, Wayne sits with Mal. Pixie’s voice could be heard through a speaker, “Welcome aboard BoltBlade One. I’m your pilot, Pixie Dust. We will be traveling at 300 miles per hour and arrive at the Palace City of Lysts in thirty-two minutes.” “Wait! We are supposed to go to Hellion!” said Selene. The BoltBlade’s safety locks unlock, freeing the BoltBlade from the boarding platform. The alarms begin to sound again as the platform is cleared from all personnel. The BoltBlade begins to roll slowly then with a BOOM, the BoltBlade takes off from the platform and starts building speed. After a minute, the BoltBlade reaches 80 miles per hour and begins to lift into the air. After the BoltBlade had left the ground, it begins to speed even faster. An indicator on the wall is showing the Blade Masters the speed. Christina reads the indicator, “100, 105, 115, 130, 150, 175, 210, 250, and there is 300.” Everyone else just looks out the windows at the fast moving ground under them and they are all amazed into silence.