Prometheus looked at Neff with relief.  He had hoped the Feral would accompany him through the Badlands, and was unsure of how to ask.  Luckily for him, it seemed he didn't need to.<br/>"Yes, that sounds good Neff!"  Prometheus scrambled up Neff's arm to his shoulder top, where he planted himself firmly.  "Onward!"  Prometheus' stubby arms shot outward, pointing to the valley below, and the steep drop the group would have to descend to get there.<br/><br/>In the distance, Mt. Hephaestus roared with angry fire, spewing all nearby ground in fresh lava.  Around the mountain came the faint sounds of metal upon metal, and the howls of blood-thirsty Highbreed in the evening sky.  It was hard to make out behind the thick ash-clouds but the descending sun seemed little more than a speck in the desolate land, providing little light and giving the land a dim, twilight quality.  Prometheus would never admit it, but the land ahead scared him beyond belief.  He had never gone up against anything like that before.  With a sigh, Prometheus closed his eyes to let Neff take the lead.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Hammerlord.  Yes, that was what Crane had called him, but he was much, much more.  There in the center of a large lava lake, stood a massive robot, ten times the size of any regular Highbreed wielding... well, a hammer.  From his hidden perch, Crane noted the creatures primary function was to create obsidian out of the magma and smash it into pieces, form which a Highbreed soldier would collect to throw into the massive cauldron Crane had seen at the top of the volcano earlier.  The robot was large but less complex than a Highbreed, with only a few gears and sparks running through it's hollow carapace.<br/><br/>"Ok, Crane. You can do this thing.  This is what you were made for right?  Don't let all the other's sacrifices fall in vain."  Crane's eyes narrowed, and with a final breath, he launched himself through the smoky, hazy cavern and towards the monster, leaping off of the heads of the few Highbreed workers in the room towards the Hammerlord.  It was time to redeem himself.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/><span style="color: #404080">The only thing that remained of her land was the spire.  Her place of residence.  Even that slowly was disintegrating, bottom up.  It worried her not though because she knew her minions would pull through with ease.  What troubled her was Crane.  Like a little worm, he managed to make his way to the Hammerlord with ease, and she had no doubt he would kill it.  Reconstructing another was no issue, but the original held the Hammer of Shade inside of it, it's main hammer just a prop to be used.  If Crane did find the Hammer of Shade, he could halt production of her Highbreed instantaneously.  This would be rather annoying, as it would disrupt her flow of order.  Perhaps he wouldn't find it, and perhaps the Hammerlord could actually kill him.  <br/></span><br/><span style="color: #BF0000"><span style="font-style: italic">So what?  He can re-assemble in days!</span></span>, she thought, and it was true.  He could.  It seemed she'd have to play one of her cards earlier than she expected.  Touching a light green button on her mantle piece, a large hologram of one of her Highbreed commanders appeared ahead of her.<br/>"Drakus,"  she spoke.<br/>"Yes, My Lady?" he replied, taken aback by her beautiful appearance.<br/>"Send Rocmar after our intruder, it's important."<br/>"My lady, last time we tried to relay an order to him, he-"<br/>"I don't care, try again," she replied, annoyed by her commanders lack of interest in her orders.  He would have to go when she got back, for sure.<br/><br/>At least one thought comforted her; that Rocmar, the second one of her god children, would be able to take Crane with ease.