((OOC:  Hey guys, just letting you all know that I am going to be away on a short vacation until Sunday night-ish, so I won't be posting until Monday, probably.))<br/><br/>In the throne room of Fort Blotar, now ransacked and littered with torn draperies, trash, and smatterings of blood, the human called Shark sat smugly in the late Baron's throne, his hands rubbing his massive, gurgling gut.  The Baron's jeweled necklace hung loosely about his thick neck, and his strong chest heaved in breaths of sated pleasure.<br/><br/>His most trusted men were having their way with the Baroness and her two oldest daughters in the adjacent room.  He had spared the other two daughters, aged 8 and 13, to instead massage his bloated gut.  Soon they would join their father in his gurgling grave, as would the Baroness and the two others, but Shark wanted to savor his conquest for a long time.  He wanted to consume the whole of House Blotar.<br/><br/>The weeping little calves weren't putting their backs into it.  He ordered them away, and a man dragged them, kicking, to the dungeon to be locked up.  Shark gave the order to begin enforcing his rule over the realm - all surviving furs were to be shackled and imprisoned.  Any who resisted would be killed.   As the orders were passed, Shark asked for his copy of the Divine Writings and began to read it, belching loudly in contentment.  The furs would be made into slaves later.  In time, he would have to begin parceling land up among his followers.  And he would have to make a show of strength to the surrounding Resistance cells, lest they try to enforce their own laws on him.<br/><br/>All in due time, of course.<br/><br/>Sherra, Kitten, Feldana, and Dreamer were heading away from the Fort eastwards through the ruins of Kree.  Fires were still burning in many places, though a few of the gutted structures had begun to collapse in upon themselves and smolder.  Smoke lined the air, carrying with it scents of ash, blood, and cooked meat.  Those buildings that had not been set ablaze were usually of random nature - it seemed as though the pillagers had not cared much about Kree Central Hospital, razing it to the ground but leaving the nearby "Andro's Tavern" unharmed.  The streets of Kree were host to burning or battered vehicles, most of which were immovable due to slashed tires or destroyed engines.  Once in a while a lone vehicle would pick its way among the rubble - likely survivors from other towns that had fled to Kree in search of safety and were now confronting the destroyed capital during the lull in the mayhem.<br/><br/>No vehicles would stop or even notice the four travelers, but soon they came upon a small, three-level parking garage not too far from the main downtown strip.  With luck and patience, it was likely a usable vehicle could be found there.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Baz's comments filtered into the garbage truck's back section.  Halvorson trusted that Baz wouldn't talk to them when anyone else was around who would notice, but he was anxious about the noise.  Instead of replying vocally he just tapped twice on the dividing wall to show he had heard.<br/><br/>O'Toole was huddled in a corner, barely visible in the dimness.  Her eyes were closed and she clutched her weapons tightly, either asleep like Chiro or going through a sort of meditation to keep herself calm.  Sweat beads shone faintly on her forehead.  The medic named Brown sat silently against a side wall, trying to check his medical supplies in the faint light.<br/><br/>The truck finally broke free of the congesting traffic and was approaching the major turn it would have to make onto Orewind Avenue, a major north-south route through the city that intersected Shenzai Square, but also led to the roads that crossed the rivers to the far bank of Lake Kassemar, where Chiro and Arget would be dropped off.  From there, the truck would backtrack to the narrow side streets and alleys immediately around the Square, where the rest of the team would likely have to find a manhole.  Just a few more minutes...<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The First Sergeant ushered Marice, Jenten, and Emiko ahead of him with the other S.E.M. members into the apartment building.  "I'm not so sure we'll be out of the fighting," he said quietly to Marice.  "Probably just in a better position for it."  He didn't know what made him say that - it could easily cause panic among the S.E.M. people if they heard - but the First Sergeant felt the need to placate Marice, and he wondered why.<br/><br/>Janus looked wide-eyed at Heretic as they both crouched in the alley.  It was clear what the anthro-fox had said unnerved him.  "Uh... I was just going to say it sounds like your 'friends,' the cult people, are coming..." he trailed off, looking behind him at the defensive positions Merelli's men were quickly setting up.  "We... well, I... was ordered to hold this position here and fall back if I need to.  I just sort of brought you with.  If you want to go somewhere else, you could..."  He gripped the handgun he had acquired tightly.<br/><br/>Merelli looked around the park from the gazebo, calling out last-minute position adjustments to his men.  Then the noise came.  Screams and sporadic gunshots were echoing off the buildings a few blocks to the north, and growing louder.  Whatever was coming was very close...<br/><br/>((OOC:  See you all in a few days!  Check<a class="postlink" href="https://aryion.com/modules.php?name=Forums&amp;file=weblog_entry&amp;e=328">my latest blog entry</a>if you haven't already.))