Reminiscing on that migraine was… painful. Joy couldn’t think of anything more dreadful that she had gone through, even in torture resistance training.

Shivering, she went back to observing the battle. The leak to the Forsaken was part of her plan, but it was actually the Riders that went about orchestrating it. Mainly so the Forsaken wouldn’t attack their base while they were away. Plus, a little extra firepower never hurt anybody, right? Wrong, obviously, but they decided it was worth the risk.

Joy didn’t particularly mind, it just made her job easier, after all. Though the fact that they used an operator station to leak it made her a bit peeved. That was the way she was planning on doing it when she first thought up the whole ‘invasion’ idea, and the fact that the Riders thought of it meant that it probably wouldn’t have worked on them.

Smart bastards. Well, I guess it’s less that they're smart and more the fact that they're not dumb. Might as well be the same thing down here.

Reminder: It has been fifteen minutes since the start of the battle.

Ah, that was a test of the interface. Joy was seeing what all she could do with it, and its usefulness could not be understated. It was like those personal smart devices that existed before mana fried everything, except that only Joy, and a handful of others, had it.

After a few more minutes had passed, it was finally Joy’s time to shine. The Kings’ gates had been breached.

Running into the fight, she ghosted under and through blades and blasters. The blasters may not kill because of the cheap and effective armor everyone wore, but they could certainly annoy.

Finally, she arrived at Rorke’s side. Of course, he was near the front of the battle. Ever the chivalrous man.

“So, are you going to uphold your end of the deal?” Joy asked.

Impressively, it was only after a small jump that he said, “I don’t go back on my word. Your sister will be safe if we can get to her.”

From somewhere on the battlefield, one of the Kings shouted, “Is that Gina!? Why is she over there? Get back over here, we have your family!”

Internally, Joy did a little dance. She was right! She knew that the King’s boss was acting weird when she ‘completed’ her mission to kill Joy.

‘Your payment will arrive tomorrow, and thanks to you, it will arrive unharmed’ Is what the boss said when she arrived that day, and Joy thanked the Machine he said that, because it helped her plan along significantly. A distressed damsel is more pitiable than a random woman asking for favors you are unsure will be repaid.

Rorke looked at the random man, rage lighting up his features, and marked him for death. To those with NOD’s (Nuero-optic displays), the man would be brighter than a bonfire.

Random threat man did not last long.

That wasn’t what she was here for, though. Joy needed to inspire loyalty and make sure everyone thought she was competent, and she didn’t have much time to do it. She quickly took stock of the situation, and for the most part, the Riders were doing fine. There was a small breach in their line on their right flank, and Joy rushed over there immediately. She rushed the gap, punched a random forsaken in the throat, then disarmed him and stole his weapon. A chainsword. Hmm, a classic, but not what she was going for.

She used it to dispatch the man and then looked for another weapon to take. Oh, would you look at that, the weapons are coming to her for free! Three men rushed her, she side-stepped to the right from the overhead bash from the man in the middle of the impromptu formation, then avoided the right man’s angled slash similarly.

The man on the right had a simple oscillating short sword which would be perfect for her needs, so she sawed through his right arm and swiped it before it could hit the ground. With the significantly faster blade, she had no need for the labor-intensive chainsword, so she gently implanted it via a throw into a random King’s spine.

While she threw the sword, she dodged right from a heavy blow that came from a rider. Rorke quickly said, “The woman in the black stealth suit is on our side!”

From there, she had no trouble with the Riders. They were ever loyal to Rorke, and before the day was done, hopefully, her, too.

With her increased mobility, she was practically a whirlwind of violence as she tore through the ranks of Forsaken and Kings. It was not senseless, however. She only went for lethal blows so as to not prolong any suffering. That was the Forsaken’s thing, not hers or the Riders.

Before she was done, the black outfit that she had stolen just a week and some change prior was dyed red. Icky.

Once the right flank was clear, she ran back to Rorke near the front.

“Damn, Gina. I can see why they used a hostage to prevent you from attacking. No offense, of course, but you're scary as hell.” Rorke said, respectfully.

“Thanks.” Joy said stoically, still playing the character of a concerned sister.

Finally, they reached the front of the King’s HQ. They were about to enter it when Joy piped in with a suggestion.

“Why don’t you take half your men and go in, while me and some men hold the forsaken from entering? That gives the Rider's first share of the loot while not having to combat the Forsaken inside either.” Joy said, just as Stoic as ever.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t doubt that you are a great fighter, but can you lead men as well?”

“Better than you could believe.” She got closer and whispered in his ear, “I’m not down here for being Scorned. I’m down here for leading a minor rebellion.”

He looked at her in shock before saying, “Damn, well, far be it from me to question your ability then.”

With a final look behind him, he rushed inside towards the greedy Kings.

Now with the rest of the men looking at her for guidance, she quickly grouped them up into sections. Twenty-five people per group for a total of eight groups, or four hundred people.

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Joy directed them like she was born to, and in many ways she was. She assigned four groups near the large doors, and the two groups to the left and right flanks. They were arranged in a line at the doors, and the flanking groups were sent to stand a decent distance away and lay down. Joy knows that this strategy wouldn’t work on a competent army, but we're talking about the bloodthirsty Forsaken here. They are so far behind them right now cause they got caught up fighting themselves and small remnants of the Kings.

Once their ‘Commander’ got the Forsaken moving again, Rorke and his group were fully in the building, and Joy had everyone set up. The horde approached menacingly, or it would have been if Joy didn’t know how tragic this was going to end up going for them.

Once they saw that there were only one hundred men waiting for them, they went into a frenzy, rushing at the doors in a blood craze. About thirty seconds before they would have crashed into their line, Joy let out a sharp whistle.

By the time the Forsaken had hit them by the doors, her flanking groups had encircled them and were attacking their back line and sides. Confused by the commotion at the back, some of the Forsaken let their curiosity distract them, leading to a swift end from the front. Those in the middle thought a fight had broken out between themselves, and started fighting each other as well. It was a complete clusterfuck for the Forsaken but for the Riders? It was… easy. They were hardly losing any people at all.

Joy herself was deep in the enemy lines, a reaper of those who thought themselves to be death's agents. She killed a few dozen by the time she retreated back to the doors.

Finally, she called, “Surrender now! I know you don’t care about being killed, but think about it, is this how you want to go out? Penned in and fighting yourselves? Don’t you want to die with glory and victory? Surrender to me, and I promise you will find more violence than you know what to do with!” She called out.

This actually made the Forsaken pause. They didn’t fear death, that was for certain, but did they really want to die this pathetically? They weren’t even getting to fight back!

One by one, they sheathed their weapons. Most would have hoped for them to drop their weapons, but Joy knew that this was the best she was getting.

Finally, after an hour or so, Rorke exited the building, loot in tow, but with a severe look.

When he saw the milling mass of Forsaken, he almost jumped. No one got them to surrender, but they would never launch a surprise attack either, so he was having a confused jumble of thoughts when Joy walked up to him.

“By the look on your face, I-,” She faked a crack, “I’m guessing she’s not with us anymore, correct?” Tears swelled in her eyes as she finally looked away, pretending to not like being seen crying.

“I’m sorry, Gina. They were already- They had been… they’ve been gone for a while.” He finally got out.

After a few moments of silence, he said, “So what are you going to do now? Trust me, I know what losing everyone feels like. Please just tell me you’ll take care of yourself.”

“Well, I guess I’m looking for employment now,” she said with a dry and strained chuckle.

“With what I just saw from you, I would be a fool to not jump on hiring you immediately,” He said with a gentle smile.

Around her, more men started agreeing. “You saved a lot of us here, of course you're welcome here!” was the general sentiment

With a small smile, Joy hid her face behind her hand and flicked her pinky three times. It just looked like a strange nervous tick to most of them, if they even noticed at all.

Then Joy shouted and ran in front of Rorke.

The custom oscillating plasteel bullet went straight through her shoulder, and into Rorke’s heart.

In a panic, the Riders began to think that it was the Forsaken that did it, until Joy said, “Calm down! I saw where the shot came from, I’m going to get them for what they’ve done!”

Sprinting down to the city, where a lone watch tower stood tall, she ran up to the top of it and grabbed the pre-prepared King. He was unconscious and had been for the past 6 hours. For good measure, he was tied up, too.

She quickly untied him and brought him before the riled-up crowd, the Riders mad for obvious reasons, and the Forsaken mad at the lack of their own perverse kind of ‘honor’.

She held him up in front of the crowd and said, “This is the man, nay, the coward that killed Rorke. Not with honor, nor with reason, he killed out of revenge. Revenge for something that was their fault, no less! Is this really what this sector has come to? Is this what we want? Senseless, honorless, violence? I say no! Aren’t you tired of looking to the future with only dread? Isn’t it about time we looked to Rorke’s example, and actually fought for something worth fighting for?” She passionately asked the crowd.

“Like what! What do we have down here? There’s nothing! That’s why we're Forsaken, by the system, and by the overworlders, because we have nothing and are nothing.” A random Forsaken said.

“Did you always, though? Weren’t your ancestors equal to the overworlders just generations ago? What really changed in that time? Us? Or them. I say that we are just as valuable, just as worthy, as anyone else, and it’s time we start acting like it. We don’t get anything from the surface? SO WHAT! Let’s make it ourselves! We have the technology, the only reason we're not using it is that we’re using it for violence!”

“What’s the point? Most tech doesn’t even work any more ‘cause of mana. Only shit that does is the fully wired or implanted tech.” A grieving Rider asked.

“And you think we can’t fix that? Has anyone even tried? I don’t think you all are getting it, HAVE YOU EVEN TRIED! How are you so certain?! So what if we fail, at least we will know then that we did everything we can!”

“And you want the Forsaken in on this?” Asked another Rider

The Forsaken didn’t even look offended, they agreed with the sentiment.

“Do you think I didn’t notice how the Forsaken protected one another’s back? How they fully trusted each other to not surprise them and betray them? They may not be loyal to a person, but they are loyal to an ideal. It may sound frilly, but they are idealists to the core, and that’s not a bad thing! Their ideal is a solid one besides putting themselves down, and who doesn’t put themselves down in the Undercity!”

A few murmurs started among the crowd, she was bringing them in!

“Living down here... It practically sucks the life out of you! Why not give hope a try for once, Forsaken, and if not for that reason, how about so I can point you at our enemies? You’ll be fighting for a good cause, but nothing will effectively change. If we’re wrong? Well, you’ll still be fighting, but if we’re right? Your children won’t have to live like you! You will have truly made things better!”

The crowd now buzzed with excitement, but there was still one notable question left.

“It’s clear that you want to lead us, but what gives you the right?”

“Ah, I need to be honest with you all right now. I wasn’t always an underdweller.”

A few gasps came from the crowd, and they looked a little betrayed.

“Believe it or not, it isn’t great up there, either. People have it worse down here, sure, but they are oppressed on the surface too. The noble families rule with an iron fist, and if the system deems you a servant to one? Then you are kidnapped and never allowed to see your family again. People are put in their roles like automatons, and they never even got to fight back. They never got a modicum of freedom.”

A few people in the crowd looked skeptical, but Joy continued on, “I know this is hard to believe, but I would say that, despite the living conditions, I prefer it down here. At least here, I am free. That freedom may come with consequences, but it is worth it for every second I get to live without the nobility breathing down my neck.

You wanna know how I got down here?” She took off her mask, “I was a noble who rebelled against the system. I noticed its injustices, and I tried to take it into my own hands! And… I failed. The overworld is too far gone for one woman to save, and everyone up there is too scared to fight back. After all, they live in luxury. If they took down the nobility, all of their infrastructure would vanish, and they couldn’t imagine living like that. Living like us.”

The crowd looked to be mostly back on her side by now, so she continued, “You are not so spoiled, and I am not so naive. We are not fighting the nobility, and we are not fighting the system either. We are fighting for better living conditions so that we can fully enjoy the freedom the system has so freely given us, and I have a Power that can make that happen!”

“I know every mundane blueprint and every technology that humanity has ever developed, and I know how to teach you to make them. We will discover how to make technology reign supreme again, and we will flourish!”

Cheers met that proclamation, and joy finished with one last speech.

“Sadly, not all the other quadrants will see it that way. I hate to have to say this, but we will have to fight our brothers and sisters of the Undercity if we want to unite us. They are like you were just moments ago, so saddled with despair that they couldn’t even think of trying for more. We will convince them, and if we have to use violence, then so be it. We can’t change everything all at once.”

The crowd of a couple of thousand was in almost complete unison, and those who disagreed were drowned out by those who did.

“Now, let’s go tell everyone about the change in management, yes?”

“Don’t we need a name first?”

“How about… Riders of Revolution. In tribute to the great man that inspired us to try again!” She cheered. “Now, how about someone get me some bandages!”

The crowd laughed and cheered with her.

Omar shivered in a faraway building, rifle in hand. Joy had told him to be here a few hours before the battle, and given him an old school rifle with ‘special’ bullets. Oscillating plasteel ones. Almost completely unique, and extremely expensive, Joy would have probably killed him if he missed.

Thank the Machine, he got her signal.