The cities of Shelter, Haven, and Refuge all considered themselves separate from the other even though the three had grown so large they almost overlapped. Each had been started at the beginning of the apocalypse on different sides of lake Stonak. Over time, residents built on or over the lake as it made for a more defensible position. Now the three cities sat practically on top of each other in the center. Now everyone just called the area Three Cities and treated the old names as districts.

It was easy to tell which resident belonged to which area. Shelter was known as the cultivator city. Older refugees were all ethereally pretty, like elves. Each also practiced a martial art of some sort, the constant training infusing their bodies with ki. Haven was the city of skills, people with a system that gained experience and classes lived there. Many had the sort of rugged look adventuring gives you. Finally, Refuge was the city of powers. People living there were given supernatural abilities that enhanced or altered their bodies.

Shelter had grown to include a sort of alchemy that supplemented their cultivation training as well as a form of magic that used the same ki their martial arts utilized. Haven had similarly grown a vast crafting business that supported the skill users. Refuge collected power users with instinctive knowledge in the sciences and created technology that only existed in science fiction. Many of the crafters in Three Cities worked with each other and created new and sometimes outright insane combinations with the use of their respective powers. Soon the center of the city was known as the Forge district and anyone who crafted was called a forger.

Caleb and the others made their way towards Three Cities. Alex had asked her pets to run as fast as they could. Something was giving her a bad feeling. The feeling only grew stronger as they reached the outskirts of the city. Flat buildings of wood and stone rested on lake Stonak. The sun had dropped low now, enough that stars winked in and out overhead.

They all saw the boomerang-shaped spaceship hovering over the city. Jim-Jam and Rocket bounded through the streets as a disk separated from the ship and slowly lowered down.

"That's at the town hall," June said.

Caleb frowned, face turning serious. "Can you take us over there?" He asked Alex.

"Was going to anyways," She answered, still staring up at the ship. All her senses were screaming that something wasn't right. "Let's hurry Jim-Jam, Rocket."

The two cats meowed and jumped to the roofs, leaping across the gaps. The disk had landed by the time they arrived. Standing next to the disk were two uniformed soldiers. They were dressed similar to the alien in the sky, a form-fitting shirt that enhanced their square bodies and what looked like khakis. However, instead of the steel grey of the commander, these two wore light tan. In their hands were two tubes that resembled guns. Each was long, about the length of a rifle. One end, the end pointing away from the soldiers, was distinctly gun-shaped. The inside of the tube was hollow. But the other end looked nothing like a stock and trigger. The other end bent sharply and looked more like the hilt of a sword.

June noticed as they landed that the two aliens also had what looked to be a sword strapped to their belts. Both trained their weapons on the four as they arrived. Alex could tell they were afraid of her pets. Which was nonsense, none of her cuties would harm a fly if she didn't want them to.

Caleb jumped off his ride and landed in a stumbling jog. He didn't stop and full out sprinted past the two guards and up the steps of the town hall. Both guards shouted but neither reacted in time. Caleb took the steps two at a time and pushed through the door. Inside, he made a beeline to his destination.

The other three were warily staring at the guards. "Should we go in too?" Alex asked.

"I would say yes but I'm seeing a sort of barrier around the building," Nathan replied.

"Probably the power of someone inside. Keeping out any unwanted visitors." June commented.

"But Caleb walked in…" Alex trailed off.

"Shit," June said.

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Caleb pushed past the secretaries and aides as he rushed through town hall. He rounded a corner and stopped at his destination. The sign read, "Hailey Fisher, councilwoman." Past the doors were the sounds of conversation. Caleb spent a second to catch his breath, he couldn't all-out sprint since his body wasn't exactly in shape. Once recovered, he opened the door and looked at the two talking.

"Heya Sis." He said, waving at the woman sitting behind the desk.

She was young, definitely not more than twenty-five. She shared the same hair color as Caleb, a dirty blond. She looked over at him with her mint-colored eyes. "Caleb, not now."

Caleb looked over at the other in the room. It was one of the aliens. This one looked the same as the commander, down to the light blue beard, at least in Caleb's eyes. It was dressed in a sort of robed tuxedo.

Caleb could tell this wasn't the same alien that shouted over the screen. That alien was a soldier, he exuded the sort of discipline all soldiers held. This alien looked like a politician, all smiles and soft gestures. It stood and walked over to Caleb, extending a hand. "Greetings, my name is Sorossa of the Valaross Empire. I have been sent to garner peaceful relations during these times of stress."

"Right, by joining under your banner," Caleb said bitingly.

"I was just discussing the terms with Hailey here." Sorossa smiled.

Caleb frowned and looked at his sister. "You really gonna go with this?"

She looked over at him. "I'm hearing him out. And I can't do that with you here."

"What about the other councilmembers?" Caleb shot back.

"I found it would be best if we all met in a one on one capacity," Sorossa interjected.

"I wasn't talking to you," Caleb said dismissively.

The smile on Sorossa's face fell a millimeter. He turned to Hailey. "Miss Fisher, how about we convene at a later time? I can come back once you've had your conversation with your sibling."

Caleb leaned against the door, blocking the exit. "I'm only here because you are. So get on with your utopian spiel already so we can reject it."

Hailey stared daggers at her brother. "Caleb!"

"I'm not leaving my little sister alone with some guy." Caleb kept a steady gaze on Sorossa.

Hailey groaned. "You are not doing this right now."

"Oh I am. Listen buster, if you have the guts to go after my little sister you gotta go through me first!" Caleb barked at the alien.

The alien turned from Caleb to Hailey, and back again. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Oh playing dumb are we? You think I don't know that you came all the way down here for Hailey? For my little sister?" Caleb stomped over to Sorossa. "I know your type."

Genuinely confused, the emissary turned to Hailey with a pleading look.

"He says you're trying to court me, date me, whatever it is you call it," Hailey answered. "But he should really be leaving!"

Sorossa turned back to Caleb, who was trying to look as intimidating as possible. "Sir I assure you my intentions are only--"

"Intentions!" Caleb interrupted. "The only 'intentions' I want from you are intentions to leave!" He pushed at the alien.

Sorossa's smile was faltering. "Please, there is no need for violence."

"Oh I think there's plenty need for violence," Caleb said, cracking his knuckles.

"Caleb! Stop!" Hailey stood up and walked over, trying to drag her brother away.

"Please! There is no need for this!" Sorossa was trying to back away from Caleb, but hit the chair he stood from and fell back in. "I only want to request you join under the banner of the Varnoss Empire!"

"Oh you sick fuck." Caleb spat. "You're telling me you want to 'join with her'? That a euphemism for something? Huh buddy?!"

"Caleb enough!" Hailey yelled. In anger, she wound up and socked Caleb in the jaw. Caleb turned to stare at Hailey.

"You hit me." He said.

"I'll do it again if you don't stop." Hailey threatened.

Caleb looked between Sorossa and Hailey. "Alright fine. I'll leave." Sorossa breathed in relief. "Just let me do one thing," Caleb said.

He turned back to Sorossa and before Hailey could act threw a punch right at the emissary's face. Shocked, Sorossa didn't even think to dodge before the punch connected, throwing his head back and bumping the head of the armchair he was on. Caleb followed up with a second punch just to be sure.

The one-two combo went straight to the alien's head, bypassing all his skills and defenses and knocking him out. He turned away from the unconscious alien and back to his sister, who was staring at her hand.

"I hit you." She said.

"Yep," Caleb replied.

"How could you tell?" Hailey asked.

"That you were affected by something? I didn't know at first. But an empire comes in right after I help clean up the last of those hive mind's wandering around? Too much of a coincidence. And then I saw you were talking alone with that guy without the other councilmembers." Caleb looked back to the alien.

"So you did the overprotective brother act," Hailey said. "I didn't even notice it. Jesus." Suddenly tired, Hailey walked over to her desk and fell onto the chair.

"Yeah, I kept trying to see if you'd remember the code word but when you hit me I knew. Also, you should probably call some people." Caleb searched through the alien's robes for anything hidden. He found only a small dagger. "Confident bastard."

Hailey picked up the phone, dialing security. The forgers had done an amazing job of recreating technology without all the precious metals required. Security entered and cuffed the emissary.

"What are you going to do about the two guards outside?" Caleb asked, munching on a cookie that was on the table.

"Oh, I've got an idea." Hailey smiled.