<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;"><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Under Sovereign, Under the Sun</span></strong></span></div><br/><div class="floatright">(http://images.free-extras.com/pics/d/desert-1213.jpg)</div><div class="floatleft"><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 40pt;">T</span></span></strong></div><br/>here isn't anything quite so deadly as being out under the hot sun. This world is a graveyard, there just aren't any markers. The sands have swallowed whole cities, most which are long forgotten, or the homes of other creatures now. In good weather, a body will disappear under the sand in under a week. In a storm, whatever is left of the skeleton will disappear in hours.<br/><br/>From Korvus city you can see the moutains, just barely, to the north. The sun is hot overhead, but inside, it seems almost as though the desert is just a view, nothing more than image outside of the windows. There are a lot of windows, so much natural light streaming in, and yet, inside the city, it is a cool room temperature day, the sun muted by the reactivity of the window panels. Korvus city, what is left of it, is a set of towers, just three, though inside, they seem monolithic, more than enough space for its 300,000 residents. Somewhere between the sun, and the sand, in the sky, Sovereign is watching. To the people inside the city, Sovereign seems like a friend, an old comforting acquaintance, providing law, order, and making sure that their society runs smoothly, which in turn ensures that the barriers around the city are powered, and everyone can eat, drink, and be happy. They rarely notice the tenuos position they actually exist in. The city below the towers is long since lost to the sand, too many collapsed tunnels, and rubble to connect the factory, the source of all of the production to maintain the city, with the towers. Now, the automated trucks come once every two days, along the lonely road that seems to cut straight out into the desert. Of course, the trucks haven't come in a week, and you can't ask your old friend in the sky, because Sovereign doesn't answer questions, this is a human problem, and down here, that means somebody will have to leave, head out into the desert, and probably, die. Of course, to the citizens of Korvus city, a body they'll never see, won't weigh on their minds much, if the trucks start coming again. Nor will it concern them that the they'll keep sending people until the problem is fixed.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Near the Desert-Gate, the police headquarters sat on the ground-floor of Koruvs City. So far down, and with the Mid-day sun overhead, it was cool, and dimly lit, artificial light not providing much in the way of general illumination, lights needed power, and the Justices didn't spend much time on the ground level, so, better that the lower levels be a strain on the eyes than have the upper floors experience a power disruption.<br/><br/>The police headquarters was a large space, walls onto the main entry corridor all glass, with a few posters hung here and there. It lit part of the corridor, they wouldn't work in the dark, and the glow gave a sort of strange translucent quality to the posters. Some of them were bounties, though they didn't bear the "Dead or Alive" notice that was the Bounty Killer's bread and butter, no, these were local criminals, those with sentances againstt them, or who were wanted for questioning. Even in Korvus city, it was easy to lose a person, and with only 200 police, and a dozen justices, there just wasn't the time to go looking in the nooks and crannies.<br/><br/>The only poster worth considering, for anyone looking to make money, or anyone who cared, was also the largest, fixed to the clear panel of the automatic sliding door.<br/><br/>It read, "Maintenance Contract: All applications accepted for team to diagnose and repair factory malfunction. Details inside. Reward: 10,000 C)"<br/><br/>It didn't take an genius to figure out what the "10,000 C" as a reward meant. It was dangerous, and if anyone who applied could have known that the poster had been there a week previous with the reward reading, "500 C" they might've wondered why it had become twenty times as lucrative in seven days. There were more than few people pausing to gaze at the large figure, but most of them wore maintenance coveralls, and didn't seem inclined to step outside the gate.<br/><br/>In the entry hall, there was a sand-truck, with three pairs of massive wheels, which looked like it had seen better days. Aside from the one vehicle however, it didn't look as though Korvus city had seen much traffic in a while. The Desert-Gate was closed, just another clear set of three-foot thick sliding doors. The area might have been busier, it was a delivery day. But the loading docks, beyond the police station, didn't have any workers, and the ground level seemed almost abandoned.<br/><br/>Inside the station, at the active-duty desk, sat Police Veteran Morland, or so his nametag said. His flat black uniform wasn't much of an attention getter, and he couldn't have been more than thirty. The station wasn't busy either, most of the desks inside empty, only a few officers mulling around. As there were only three police ranks in Korvus city, Recruit, Veteran, and Commander, it seemed that it was a slow day.