Ducky patted Pon on the back, her all-blue eyes filled with humor. "No real damage was done."

Pon frowned at the Water Witch, who pretended not to notice. It had taken him and Nix half the night to free the remaining residents from the frozen tombs that their homes had become. The old man had set fire to several buildings over the course of the evening, while Nix showed inhuman control of his flames. Had Ducky not been present with her water abilities, they might have lost those structures. "I haven't had the dread flames for long..."

Nix grinned at the old man's expression; the two of them sat at a table in the city jail. The prisoners had been set free, and the remaining guards were helping out the residents of Dharta. He checked his hud for the time and promptly stood up. "With me, old man."

Pon nodded and followed Nix through the breach he opened up. This time they breached directly into the control room of Old Verynzai. A second breach opened almost immediately as the third member of their party joined them.

/Alpha: Floyd: I'm terrified of this thing! None of my skills can be used.

Nix nodded and accepted the spectrum from the trickster. Having done it on several occasions, he quickly interfaced the new energy source with the city power grid.

/Alpha: Pon: What would have happened if you used the spectrum to revive Dharta?

/Alpha: Nix: Hard to say. The best-case scenario would be an entire city of immortals. The worst case would be the introduction of Colonials' new Overlords.

Pon shook his head slightly. "If I die, use the spectrum to bring me back."

Floyd nodded in agreement. "Same here... I'll give you a good position in the new world order."

Both Pon and Nix stared at the Naga King; the teen kept a straight face for several seconds before grinning.

"Shit..." Nix chuckled and returned to his task. "You got me."

"Same here," Pon admitted.

Nix used the Verynzai City Master Key to initiate the start-up process, pausing after he received the automated message stating that Bo'raz was being given three minutes to reply.

Pon watched as Nix worked; the Inferno Leader was an old hand at using the City interface. "Won't the current residents realize that power is being turned on?"

Nix shook his head slightly. "We're powered up, but nothing has been turned on yet. Let's take a look at the artifact."

Pon pointed out the obvious redundancy. "Shouldn't you remove the alternate sub-menu duplicates?"

[Verynzai System Operations]

1. Security

2. Power Grid

3. Transportation

4. Master Key

5. Alternate Menu

a) Artifact Control

b) Power Override

c) Shields

d) Weapon Platforms

e) Gating Platforms

"Maybe. Open Artifact Control.

[Artifact Control: Draconis Khalam Operandi]

1) Neutral Ground

2) Domain

3) Ancestral Interaction

"Display Neutral Ground."

[Neutral Ground]

1) Create Elemental Dead Zone: Fire.

Pon leaned over Nix's shoulder and read the hud. "You can remove that?"

Nix nodded but didn't take any action. "I'll do that after we steal this city."

"Is this a city heist?" Pon grinned at the Inferno Leader. "I love how you think, Punk Bastard."

[Direct Contact: Sinfaya]

Nix only had to wait a moment until a life-sized holo of Inferno's 3rd dragon resident appeared in front of him. Sinfaya's long black hair had been cut very short, leaving only an inch or so remaining. "I need to open a breach... Big enough for a dragon city to move through."

Sinfaya's serious face showed the barest hint of a smile. "Whose city are you stealing this time?"

"Khione's..." Nix paused for a moment as he considered his options. He could have asked either Deidra or Tai to open a breach, but Sinfaya specialized in spatial magic.

"Nix?" Sinfaya's holo glanced around the room. "Retreat at once! You can't be there!"

"Calm down. I need a bit of help." Nix tried to placate the spatial dragon; Sinfaya didn't have the calm demeanor of her kind.

Sinfaya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm coming there."

Nix shook his head. "No, I forbid it. You will remain in Haven."

/Alpha: Floyd: Nix is the dragon boss?

/Alpha: Pon: More like a dragon consort.

Sinfaya didn't protest further; her dark eyes studied the Inferno Leader for a long moment. "I'll need to use my rat-puppet."

Nix had banned all three dragons from leaving Haven until after Khione was dealt with. Since they still needed to monitor their respective cities, he had offered to create puppets for them. Oddly, all three of them had requested Nether Rats.

A few minutes later, Nix opened a breach from Dharta, where Sinfaya was waiting. The rat puppet scurried into the room; its sharp claws clicking on the tiled floor of the infusion chamber. "Bring up a map of the area, please."

Nix brought up his Breach Commander Interface since its mapping function was still better than the upgraded hud interface Inferno had recently acquired. He picked up the Nether Rat and sat her on the console to improve her view. "There's a White-Ice dome extending upward from the city walls."

"The moment you activate the shields, that will be destroyed." Sinfaya's dark beady eyes darted toward the infusion chamber and the recent modifications it had undergone. "Khione will probably be aware of your actions when that happens."

Nix shrugged slightly; they were already operating on borrowed time. With three of her people dead, it was only a matter of time before Khione found out. "Regardless, we have to move fast. There's something else I want you to see."

Sinfaya stood on her hind legs, her black nose twitching with curiosity. "What is it?"

Nix gestured toward the City interface and the open alternate menu. "From the name, I assume that you know what the Draconis Khalam Operandi is?"

The Nether Rat stared at the menu for a long time, her eyes glancing from the menu to Nix several times. "They're using it to create an elemental dead zone?" Sinfaya shook her rat head in disbelief. "We must do this now, Nix!"

"I think so too. Will you be able to handle the breach duties from Haven?" Nix brought up his Everspire map. He made Sinfaya travel to Dharta because his plans involved the 'Once Dead' city.

The Nether rat nodded. "This is my specialty Nix, the moment this city breaks free of the White-Ice, it will enter the breach."

Nix pointed toward an area on the map just outside of Dharta. "This site is going to be New Dharta."

The Nether Rat jumped at Nix, forcing him to catch her. A moment later, the puppet went limp in his arms. A holo of Sinfaya appeared immediately afterward.

"I only need a few moments to set up since Dragon Cities are all the same. You'll have to activate the thrusters, stabilizers, and city shields at the same time." Sinfaya was casting wards as she spoke. "What about the inhabitants?"

"They'll be locked down until after we're done. I haven't considered what to do with them yet." Nix glanced at Pon ran his wrinkled hand across his neck in a cut-throat gesture.

"Leave it to me then." Sinfaya continued working for several more seconds before stopping abruptly. "Ready, on your command, I'll activate it, and you can proceed."

Nix wanted to ask how she planned to deal with the force within the city while it was locked down, but he didn't bother. According to Tai'Qui, Sinfaya spatial abilities were awe-inspiring.

/Alpha: Nix: Brace yourselves; this might get bumpy.

/Alpha: Pon: Or blow up.

/Alpha: Floyd: Huh?

"Do it!" Nix immediately raised the shields and powered up Old Verynzai's movement controls. In an attempt to expedite their travel, he opted for full power directly upward.

Both Floyd and Pon collapsed onto the floor under the sudden strain; Nix gripped the edge of the console with both hands as the G forces pushed everything down. It seemed to last several seconds but, in reality, was much shorter. The pressure eased suddenly, and Nix immediately powered down the thrusters while the stabilizers maintained their position.

Nix already his map up by the time his companions climbed to their feet. They were in position, more than a mile above Dharta. With a few easy adjustments, he sat the city down exactly where he wanted. He powered down the movement controls and set the city for normal operations.

/Alpha: Pon: What do we do with the inhabitants?

/Alpha: Nix: Sinfaya said she was going to handle that; let's check it out before we begin the next phase.

*************

Sinfaya let out a long breath before opening two breaches inside her nursery. She only had to wait a few seconds before Deidra and Tai'Qui stepped through.

Tai exchanged surprised glances with Deidra; neither of them had been to the spatial dragon's nursery before.

Sinfaya kept her face expressionless. "Nix has the Draconis Khalam Operandi artifact."

Deidra's cold eyes stared in stunned disbelief. "That was lost during the last conflict. How could he have that?"

"He has recovered Old Verynzai from Khione's Stronghold." Sinfaya smiled suddenly as if just realizing that Nix relied on her instead of them. "It was a concerted effort, of course; I opened a breach while he moved it through."

The spatial dragon enjoyed the moment; Deidra looked visibly upset while Tai'Qui appeared more thoughtful.

"Does Nix know the significance of the artifact?" Tai spoke first, her warm voice was calm. "He should bring it to Haven as soon as possible."

Sinfaya shook her head slightly. "He only knows that it can create elemental dead spaces. I don't think he has tried to commune with it."

"Shit..." Deidra cursed suddenly, she didn't quite understand its significance, but she'd heard Nix say it when things were going badly. "I'm not sure what we can do in this instance."

"Nothing." Tai shook her head slightly before opening a breach back to her nursery. "We do nothing until he returns. You know how Nix is. If we act straightforwardly, he'll be more receptive."