“You did well,” Yen Ching strode into Mai’s chamber, a broad smile on his face. “And Lord Monkey played his part well.”

“As you said he would. So, you promised, why’s he called Lord Monkey?” Mai shook Yen Ching’s hand, surprised to feel callouses. She’d thought he’d have grown soft, but it was clear he was a man who liked to get his hands dirty. “I was particularly impressed with how red you managed to make your face.”

Yen Ching chuckled, “I was feeling the pressure, plus shouting always makes me go red.”

“Wait? You planned that?” Dakota stepped up to the two of them. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because we thought that if anything went wrong, you wouldn’t be clued in. Any reaction you made would be completely natural. As it was, Lord Monkey played his part, I played mine, Mai played hers, and we now have the backing of the council to go back into the city,” Yen Ching laid his hand on Dakota’s shoulder.

She gave a slight shake of her head and wagged a finger at Mai.

“I’ll bite, why’s he called Lord Monkey?” asked Mai.

“From the stories of old, just like our names. He liked the stories of the Monkey God. Started acting like him. Then, when things started to get bad and the Emperor’s people started hunting us down, he took the name and it stuck,” Yen Ching lowered himself slowly onto a chair.

“How long until we get out of here and back into the city?” Dakota sat next to him, passing him a cup of green tea.

“Ask, and you shall receive,” Yen Ching slapped his thigh and laughed. It was a strange laugh high, and yipping, but brought a smile to Mai and her people. “We’ve had word that the cullers have another supply drop coming.”

“How did you get word?” Mai narrowed her eyes, not sure if she could trust what she was hearing. The last time she’d spoken at a meeting, things hadn’t gone well for neither her nor Anna, the former leader of what were now her rebels. Whilst she’d been happy to help Yen Ching, she was still uncertain as to just how much she could trust him. Or any of the rebels that weren’t her people.

“We have a comms pipe which allows us to watch the culling proceedings. There are also people sympathetic to our cause in the upper city,” his words were clipped, it was clear he resented being trapped away from his supporters. Face screwed up as if he’d sucked on a lemon, he took another sip of his tea.

“Can we count on those people for their support?” Dakota passed Mai a cup of tea as she spoke. Mai’s brow furrowed as she couldn’t see any way that her friend was producing the tea. It was a question for another time.

“No. They’re eyes and ears only. Some are even older than I. The others are their children, and they barely understand the rebellion. They don’t have the hunger for freedom, nor the hatred of the Celestial Court that we do.”

“We were always taught that the War of Traitors was caused by people who were jealous of our Benevolent Emperor and the Celestial Court. What was the real reason?” Dakota had magicked up a plate of steamed pork buns and was happily handing them around to the growing crowd of rebels.

“The victors always change history as they see fit. The victors write the history books as they say,” Yen Chin’s face drooped, and his eyes glazed as he stared into the past. Mai and the others stood silent, happy to let him have his memories. He gave himself a shake. “There was a culling. As there’s always a culling. Only this one was different. One hundred ascended. But this time they ascended because they had worked together.”

“Worked together? Like a few teamed up with each other?” asked a rebel, Crofton from his name glyph.

“Worked together as in they formed what they called the Everlasting Guild of Cullers. A clear mockery of one of the Emperor’s hallowed titles. How they managed it I don’t know. But they banded together and took on all comers. If one of them was culled, they invited their culler to join their ranks. No-one was able to stand against them. None were able to get a team sizable enough or form an alliance which lasted.”

Dakota looked over at Mai and winked. She was glad that her friendship with the ganger had lasted. One reason was because she liked the woman so much. The other was because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to take her, even with the skills she’d gained. And she trusted her. Implicitly. Not that she knew why, she just did.

“Can’t think the Celestial Court was impressed with that,” Mai took a bite of the bun. Looking at the plate Dakota was holding she saw that it had been refilled. The bun was delicious, the pork soft and the sauce just sweet enough.

“Indeed they weren’t. But there was nothing they could do. The Cullers had won according to the rules. They were the last survivors. But it galled the Court. They felt threatened. People believe that the Celestial Court is united behind the Emperor in all things, but they aren’t. Their lives are filled with bitter fights for power and influence.”

“Oh no, poor dears living in luxury, worrying about getting votes, or influence, or more power,” joked Dakota.

“Don’t mock girl!” Yen Ching snapped, his voice taking on a tone of iron. It was a voice used to command and used to being obeyed. Dakota snapped straight up in her chair before she even realised what she was doing. “They scheme and kill each other. Imagine living in a world where you can never be sure if a member of your family, a loved one, is going to kill you. Or if your best friend will betray you.”

Dakota raised her hands in surrender. One of which was holding a spring roll.

“Sorry, I’ve just got to ask, where the hells are you getting this food?” Mai asked, accepting a spring roll.

“The table. It’s programmable. Never seen one like it. You just say what you want, and it’s made,” Dakota grinned as she spoke and chewed. It was both cute and somewhat stomach turning.

“Can I finish my story?” grumbled Yen Ching. His eyes bore into Mai’s and she saw the warrior he had been decades before. At her jerky nod he sighed. “As I was saying, you’ve never known a darker, less trustworthy place than the Celestial Court. And they were threatened. One hundred blooded cullers united by the suffering and struggles they had gone through. People who had fought to the death whilst working together with others. An alliance forged in blood, and one which appeared to be unbreakable.”

“They were viewed as a threat to the status quo, the one thing that would unite the Celestial Court?” Mai looked around the room, every one of her rebels was gathered around them, some even standing on the tables to be able to hear.

“Exactly, the greatest Houses in the city formed an alliance. Its sole purpose was to remove the cullers from the Celestial Court permanently. It was subtle at first. They tried to use scandals, blackmail, and petty power moves. Every single one, countered by the Everlasting Guild of Cullers. And then they tried assassination. It worked.”

Yen Ching paused, taking a sip of his tea. It was clear he was enjoying the telling of the tale, the room was silent, every rebel hanging on each word.

“They killed three of the cullers. Messy affairs. Collateral damage. Entire families gone. And so the cullers fought back. They avenged their lost friends. And a cycle of violence ensued. The cullers couldn’t let the alliance get away with such actions, nor could the Houses let the cullers get away with their retribution. Three of the Great Houses were completely wiped out in what was first known as the War of the Shadows. Every single person with their DNA was killed by a tailored virus.”

Yen Ching paused to look around at his captivated audience. “Thousands. Tens of thousands of people were killed. As it escalated, it became the War of the Long Nights. No-one was safe. And when one of the Emperor’s favourites was killed, he brought the full force of his power down onto the cullers, and their allies. Thus, the War of Traitors.”

No-one stirred as he sighed, wiping a lone tear from his cheek.

“We lost many good friends. Tried to save them, but we couldn’t. And it got worse. Nanite bombs which rendered their victims into their individual molecules, atomics which killed hundreds of thousands at a time, pitched battles raging over miles of levels. Countless innocents murdered by both sides as they were caught in the crossfire. It’s no wonder that they still fear and loathe us. No wonder that the books hold us as the enemies of the people. Only we weren’t, we played the game by their rules. We just wanted to be left alone.”

Mai felt her mouth drop open as she realised that Yen Ching wasn’t just a member of the rebel army who had fallen into a position of power, he was one of the Ascended. A culler.

“How many of the one hundred survived?” she sat next to him as she asked the question, bumping Dakota along the bench with her hip.

“Once we got here, there were only thirty-three, very few of our supporters were able to escape. Time has taken its toll. Now we’re only eight.”

“Eight? How were you unable to save them?” Dakota gasped.

“We didn’t have the resources. We were only able to stop the imperial forces from following us by threatening to detonate more atomics and nanite bombs, claiming we’d hidden them where no-one would be able to find them. I think too, that the Court was tired of the war. Tired of the cost, both monetary and in lost influence. Everyone was losing. It was a war of attrition neither could afford to keep going.”

“Did you really have the bombs?” Mai’s mind raced as she thought about the potential devastation such weapons could cause if they ever fell into the wrong hands.

“We did. We do,” he waved a hand in irritation. “Some we do. Some we lost, as those that planted them were killed. We had divided up into cells by that time, the Guild completely shattered. It was harder and harder to communicate. Knowledge was lost.”

“You lost atomics and nanite bombs?”

Yen Ching buried his face in his hands, scrubbing hard as he nodded.

“Well, one thing at a time. Let’s go and get the supplies first. If you’ll excuse us, we’ll get to planning. We’ll be gone within the hour.”

Mai didn’t wait for Yen Ching to respond. Pointing at Dakota, Chan, Hind, Jock and Biyu she led them to a separate part of their barrack.

“Right people, one hour. We need a plan. What have you got?”