Scrappy and Lord Mortis stood side by side, their attention focused on the hologram map hovering above the projector table. The map displayed a complex network of underground tunnels, each leading to various facilities. Scrappy pointed towards a particular entrance near the city of Mostauk.

"This entrance here, my Lord," Scrappy began, his voice filled with excitement, "seems to lead to a massive arsenal. It's a labyrinth of Pre-Withering technology, relics of a bygone era. It's a treasure trove of HiTech marvels, possibly even ancient artifacts."

Lord Mortis's masked visage betrayed a flicker of intrigue. "Tell me, Scrappy, what kind of technology are we talking about here? What makes this arsenal so significant?"

Scrappy adjusted the holographic display, highlighting the various vehicles and weaponry potentially housed within the arsenal. His voice brimmed with enthusiasm as he unveiled the secrets hidden beneath the wastelands.

"One of the notable pieces, my Lord, is a hybrid plane," Scrappy explained, his finger tracing the outline of the sleek aircraft projected in the hologram. "It's designed to function as a formidable static ground turret, and also capable of unleashing havoc at low altitudes, flying faster than the best hoverbike in the wasteland. And there's a possibility it contains morphing steel, a metal known to be exclusive to the Dust Knights and their armors."

Lord Mortis's interest intensified, his voice betraying a glimmer of anticipation.

"Morphing steel, you say? A material of such caliber should prove to be enough against the Knights. If we had better armor..."

Scrappy continued his presentation while sweat coated his face. His finger shifted to the image of several massive transports displayed on the hologram.

"And if my references are accurate, my Lord, these transports could be the first to incorporate regenerative titanium, making them virtually unstoppable. The power and resilience of these vehicles were unmatched in the First Era. Before the Withering happened!"

Lord Mortis listened intently, his mind whirling with the possibilities that lay hidden beneath the earth. However, a hint of caution crept into his voice as he interrupted Scrappy's enthusiastic display.

"Before we proceed further, Scrappy, I want you to remember one thing," Lord Mortis cautioned, his tone laced with a foreboding note. "There is always a caveat, a hidden price that comes with such extraordinary treasures. So, what is the catch?"

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"Yes-yes! The thing is..."

The hologram then displayed a robot of a human figure, armed with an advanced laser rifle.

"These things were used as cannon fodder centuries ago. I traced back any recent contacts with this kind of... things."

Scrappy moved around the table. He found a small dataslate, somewhat rusted.

"This recording shows a group of undesirables near one of those entrances. They wanted to sack the place. Ha-ha! They are morons. Well, 'were' morons."

The holograms disappeared, then a view of a group of raiders near a cave.

"I don't know who they were, who they served... The thing is, they encountered one of those things. They were called robots"

"They were powerful?"

The image of the hologram showed a robot waking up. One of the raiders pointed at it. Before they could shoot, the robot aimed his weapon and within seconds killed the group with white lasers.

"With my calculations, he murdered seventeen raiders. Their costs are low, but multiplying that with the quickness and precision, minus..."

"I don't stand your stupid mathematics. How powerful are they?"

"With ten robots you could control all the Far West"

"And what's the problem? We enter that place and take the robots"

"They used something called Artificial Intelligence, probably a truly advanced version of what we have in some HiTech computers. So they might be autonomous. So they might shoot back at us. So they might mean that all that is underground will remain untouched"

"The robots will attack us? Is there any chance to do anything about it?"

"We will need two things. First, I might be able to fabricate something to disable the robots, with enough credit units, energy, metals, materials, plasma..."

"What about the second thing?"

"Well, my Lord... We might need something resembling an army to help us get inside."

"What about the militia?"

"They are not soldiers. We need prepared people. Soldiers. With some sort of discipline."

"So you're telling me we need General Striker."

"Probably... yes."

Lord Mortis looked at the ground.

"The Far West is just a mess. General Striker has the men, but not the brains. The Myrmidons have the weapons, but not a clear objective..."

Scrappy moved his head. He knew when to say something and when not. That was a "shut up" moment.

"Scrappy, do we have anything the General might want?"

"Well, I was nervous to tell you this, but..."

Scrappy moved back to the golden Dataslate and pressed more buttons. Then, on the projector table, the hologram of a human figure is suspended in a liquid, inside a massive tube.

"Besides the robots, the ancient era used clones, like these. There is a cloning facility near the arsenal, with two hundred military-trained clones awaiting to be... 'harvested'"

"General Striker commanded clones back then when he was almost a kid"

"We can give them to Striker. Make some sort of pact."

"I don't think giving an army and weapons to a possible enemy is something wise to do."

"Striker knows that the clones need a superior mind to control them. We might do some little bit of cheating."

"How?"

"Well, we could simulate that he has control of them. But my Lord would be the only one controlling them. Fake that he is capable of having command over them. Then..."

"A mortal backstab"

"Yes-yes. That reminds me of a cocktail of Powerjuice with..."

Scrappy stopped. Lord Mortis was absent with the hologram.

"Vengeance is near."