A western coalition of nations had decided it was in their best interest to investigate what was going on with the Akim deposits on the New Continent. With resources and focus to spare during this new found time of peace being observed between the last waring nations of Kanis and Berous, attentions could be turned elsewhere. The final war had been quieted. The larger nations whom had been using these two infant countries as proxies to establish their interests in the New Continent had grown weary of this war adn even worse, they had grown bored. The truce had been arranged. Clandestine missions took the place of skirmishes and battles. Agents were being hired by special interest groups to explore and exploit the New Continent. Berous supplied Zerbra fighters, bought and paid for by the United Free Estates, for such missions. These high speed stealth aircraft were nearly undetectable and boated the miracle of a smooth vertical landing. Very few could pilot such aircraft and few were made. During the fighting it had given Berous an edge over Kanis but now they would be used by their true owners. The first of these clandestine operations would be done by Agent Three. His skills were bought and paid for by the Coalistion which removed him from the Multinational Securty Brigade. The objective given to him was to investigate and take samples from the recently depleted Akim deposits that were beginning to litter the New Continent. They were not forthcoming with details but he knew the job and he would perform it to the best of his ability.

Unbeknownst to Agent Three, and the countries who had bought his services, a concerned group of Eurasian organizations had already sent an Agent to vaporize the depleted deposits. When Agent Three arrived above the first objective he did not even have to land his Zebra to see that the area had been melted. The warehouse at the center and the few surrounding buildings were . He landed and disembarked from his Zebra to take a sample of the area. From this sample the Coalition would be able to tell the origin of the device used. To his eyes it was something new, this kind of destruction. The next deposit he was supposed to investigate was a great distance away from this. They were all far apart. Randomly found far away from one another with no apparent pattern. Even at top speed he did not arrive at the next deposit until the sun had set and the two moons were beginning to crest the horizon. He landed the zebra a safe distance away and rested a short time. After waking he packed his utility belt and hiked through the rocky landscape until arriving at the town. Each of these dig sights was covered by a warehouse which would serve as the center of a shanty town, hastily constructed to meet the needs of the workers required. These town would rise up and be abandoned once the deposit had been thoroughly depleted of usable Akim material. Most of these towns would not be more than a few dozen shacks but occasionally one would rise up in a particularly well located place and stay there even after the deposit had been used. The capital city of Kanis was one such case.

This abandoned deposit had been emptied fairly recently and the shacks had not yet begun to deteriorate. Recently all deposits had been found in the neutral zone between Kanis and Berous. Both countries having emptied all deposits within their own borders years ago, save the large one under Kanis’ capital city. All of the towns surrounding a deposit had a similar set up. The shacks would spring up around the main work site. Packing and shipping stations would be set up near the warehouse over the work site. The raw materials would be taken away in processed by whichever county had sponsored that particular site. The governments of each country would process the materials themselves. Agent Three walked through narrow streets of the abandoned town and saw the remnants of those who had worked and lived in this place. The larger shacks had signs on them in three languages identifying their purposes. Store, Saloon, Restaurant, Brothel, Workshop, Doctor, Temple. Every deposit had a temple and most had a graveyard. The digs were dangerous places to work and training was quick. The pay was good enough that many people felt the risk was worth the reward. Six months of transient deposit work could let you live comfortably in Kanis for a year. The Agent walked through the graveyard. Stout sandstone markers coated in a sealant marked the graves of several men who had died working here. The warehouse was not far ahead. It’s high roof and stark wars looked like a great monolith over the whole shanty town. It was made of a different material than the surrounding shacks.

The main gate would be welded shut. The Agent walked around until he saw that an access door had been blown open. The other agent may have beaten him here. They may be inside of the building. This complicated his mission but was an easy enough adaption to make. He drew his weapon from its holster and entered the warehouse. The hallway inside was lit by the emergency lights. He had been briefed on how the warehouses would be designed. A square hallway following the outer wall around the dig site with an occasional door leading to smaller rooms. On each side of the warehouse a large door would allow access to the excavation site. He followed the hallway. Pipes lined the several meter high ceiling and the slowly flashing red lights made them look alive. Several of the smaller doors were opened and he checked each room carefully clearing it before moving along down the hallway. Break rooms, storage closest, and a small office all furnished with cheap plastic furniture that had been left behind. Occasionally he would make out the booted footprint of the other agent in the thin layer of dust that had begun to coat everything. He moved quiet and careful with his weapon pointed ahead. The large heavy door leading to the excavation site had been opened. The lock melted. The other agent was inside. Agent Three stepped through the door and out onto the walk way above the excavation site. Piles of rock and dirt created a chaotic topography across the large enclosed space.

The excavation site was both inside and outside. The ceiling was a one way shielded window letting the night sky show. The red emergency lights lined the walls illuminating the space and casting chaotic shadows from all angles. Descending into the space down a ladder, Agent Three started checking behind every rock and pile. Trying to avoid casting long shadows as best he could. The silence was occasionally broken by a tumbling rock or the scurry of a rodent. Abandoned excavation sites were known to attract vermin. A rock exploded to his left and he heard a gun fire. Diving forcover he fired off two round in the direction which the initial shot had come from, where the other agent would be. The goal was to push the other agent behind cover. Giving him time to plan his next move. The chaotic terrain paired with the slowly flashing emergency light made memorizing the terrain nearly impossible. The goal now would be to incapacitate the other agent, question them severely, and then execute them.

Another round landed in the pile of dirt and rocks he was hiding behind but this time it was to his right. The other agent had kept moving. He started running between pile of debris. creating a random pattern. Casting logic aside for instinct. It was now a fight in motion. In the distance he saw a dark and slight figure dashing along the edge of the main pit. He fired two shots passed the other agent blowing out the lights on the wall. The shadows became fewer. He hoped that the sparking light would startle the other agent enough that he would be able to move behind them. Moving quickly Agent Three judged where the other agent would be and set himself on a collision course. His weapon drawn in front of him, finger tight on the trigger. His left leg suddenly blew out from under him and he felt his knees burn as if on fire. The ground came up on him hard and he tumbled. The shot rang in his ears, amplified by the pain. He pulled himself behind a pile of rock. In a desperate action he locked the trigger of his weapon and set it to automatic. Tossing it away as it fired wildly. It exploded in the distance, overheated. This may pull the other agent away. His wounded leg was bleeding heavily. From his utility belt he pulled a bandage and a syringe. He took the inject and tie the bandage tightly on the wound. He cut the bandage and kept the knife out. Suddenly time became very slow and the flashing of the red emergency lights felt very fast. A rock tumbled from the pile above where he hid. The other agent was above him framed in red light. He tossed his knife expertly, aided by the injection, but only succeeded in cutting open her over shirt. The knife glanced off of her protective body suit. She jumped down and landed in front of him smoothly, only a few meters away. Her gun aimed directly between his eyes.

“I am going to ask you a few questions. Please tell me only truths. You will die no matter what. This may make your soul lighter as you ascend bbeyond this place.” The collar of her over shirt obscured her mouth as she spoke. Her eyes were intense, weary, and bright. He could not identify her accent, he may have been able too under less pressing circumstances. “I will, but please allow me one question as well.” “Seems fair.” She took two steps forward and crouched closer to him. Her gun remained pointed at his head. “Who sent you here?” “I was paid and instructed through the usual channels of control, faceless men from secret places. I can assume they were from the Americas.” He kept his focus passed the gun and on her face. “What were the instructions?” “To investigate the abandoned Akim deposits and give a detailed report with material samples.” “Would you like to be more specific?” “I would but I can not. The only thing I can give you is my assumption that something is wrong about these empty deposits. Is that why you are melting them?” “Is that your questions?” “No, it is not. Sorry. Continue.” His vision was beginning to blur around the edges, the bandage was not holding back the blood. “And how did you get here?” “I flew a Zebra. It is hidden half a kilometer form here. You can have it if you like. Overlord controls are removed. It’s untraceable.” “Thank you. Now, ask your question.” She politely lowered the gun. Noticing the pool of blood forming by his let and the way his eyes were not holding focused. “Tell me who you are. Why are you here. Do you know the truth about the Akim? I will take your secrets with me beyond here.” “I suppose, since you so kindly gave me your Zebra. My name is K. A coalition of eastern, to you at least, organizations paid me a lot of money to destroy a list of specific Akim deposits. I am assuming my list will match your list. They did not give many details either but I can assume they want whatever you are looking for to remind hidden. So far all of these deposits were left with the core at the bottom of the excavation sight. It is not refinable but can be destroyed with a special device. They gave me this device.” She had become a dark blur in his eyes, a black silhouette in a sea of red. “Thank you for your honesty.” “You are welcome.” “You can finish killing me now.” The lifted her gun and quickly fired a round through his forehead. His brain came out the back of his skull a pulpy liquid and splattered against the rocks.

She had already placed the conductors in the pit and around the deposit before he had shown up. All she had to do was activate them. It took her a few minutes to find the Zebra. She removed the navigational equipment and destroyed it as well as disabling anything that could trace or broadcast. Every building and tool melted. Even the grave markers quickly became rubble. Agent K flew off into the sky, the moons would guide her flight.