"Alright everyone who remains after the six months of the terrorists Drent being at large. All the sabotage, all the murders, just thank you for sticking around. Tomorrow marks the last day of animosity being allowed a fast transfer to another base you had three months to passively transfer. And as many of you found out in the last month they are only allowed to take 800 at a time. And this has not been a good year for our missions, many deaths.
Ok today there’s 20,492 men remaining to run this base as of the reports coming to me as of 0400. 
And as of 0800 from the coroner’s office the new death toll from Drent now reaches 1004 and he has been on the loose for six months exactly. How have we not caught him yet? Shit. 
The new bounty amount is 100,400 plus 18,200 total being, 118,600 if you bring him to me dead that will bring you up to 7 ranks of points or if you are above rank 7 that’s two ranks. You bring him to me alive that’s 1,186,000 and I allow you to retire with a wife that you choose instead of us assigning you one. And as we have learned, the box does not work on him he just slithers out. 
Remember the battle buddy system I should never see a single soldier by himself again yesterday I reamed someone a new asshole for that, PFC Woods 3. Times are dangerous right now. Standard uniform is even when you are taking a shit a minimum of heat vision helmet if you so not yet have one that is waterproof please come to the armory for a new one it took about 3 months for that upgrade but they have it now because I was thinking of your safety. Keep it next to you when you sleep. If something seems suspicious investigate in a group six or more is preferred. That’s all I have for everyone."

I walk away, "Oh shit! This is a fucking nightmare. How could this possibly get worse. 
Oops forgot to turn this thing off. Forget what I just said everything is just fine." 
Right afterwards I hear from outside, "Sergeant Malone 2 requesting audience with Bōkun." 
I walk outside in only boxers, "come inside we’ll talk there." He walks inside and I put on pants, "first of all what is your job? In the last few years I’ve been trying to learn faces that way. " 
"I run the furnaces for the water heater and to keep the stream power going and on a bad day I have to find out why the nuclear reactor is too hot and fix it. And my friend here Master Sergeant Vowel maintains the cooling and heating elements of the kitchen." 
"Alright cool, so why are you here instead of going to your higher ups?" 
"We have been dealing with a problem in the last two days so unique that we think you should be aware of it. We went to our higher ups and helped us fix the problem but today told us to tell you." 
"How do you two know each other I can’t think of two jobs that are more different that still use some of the same words. And 5000 points says I’ve heard of the problem before is there a technical way of explaining it? " 
"We have been calling it Skokie. We are roommates." 
"you peaked my interest, what is Skokie? " 
"When fire breaks" 
"what the fuck do you mean fire is broken? " 
"Fire is now ice cold. " 
"Things have gotten very interesting. We aren’t the only department with this problem either. In the kitchen the freezers are producing unworldly heat. If you do go to the kitchen they are using fire to keep everything frozen and keep stuff they want cooled. About a meter away." 
Hold up then how are you heating things up that need to be heated up for your job. We put chunks of metal in the freezer for about 20-180 minutes then we take it out with large tongs because it’s too hot to touch and we have to run with it because it doesn’t stay in the tongs well, they start to melt. " 
"What are the tongs rated to?" 
"ummm roughly 1500 Celsius. " 
"how long does the heat stay in one of these blocks? " 
"about 5 minutes when we first started but things have been in rotation long enough where it’s about 2 hours. Normal is four hours." 
"so there’s hot water for my shower? " 
"yes." 
"now for the kitchen. "as I turn to the other guy. "Ok, Skokie, how else has it affected the kitchen? " 
"walk in ovens are now walk in freezers and vice versa. Heat sinks not rises and people who have been there for years keep messing up because the laws of physics have changed. The freezers have timers for days and hours not minutes, labeling for us has been critical and been a nightmare. We finally got it to where heated was numbered and cooled was lettered." 
"have either of you figured out why?" 
"we are suspecting Drent" 
"I hope not, we don’t need that man in charge of quantum physics. Well get out of here I guess, I’m aware of the problem. And yes I never heard of it so yes you will get your 5k each. Dismissed. " 
I decide to just put on my gear because I had the feeling something bad was going to happen since Drent pretty much controlled the weather. Right after I sheathed my sword the lights all across the base turn off. Secondary lights come on that are much dimmer. I go to my intercom, "I don’t know what just happened down there but if I need to come from there, y’all will be very unhappy with what the result will be. Right after the alarms for external intruder sounds. "never mind" 
I teleport to my mech and start it up right away. And start teleporting to get to the entrance to the base. At the vehicle launch. I can go full range at à time as there is no power my mech is emitting light so I can see about 15 meters in front of me. I get there and everyone is in a panic. I get fired upon immediately and I say to another mech behind some cover, "get the idiots to cease the friendly fire this is their Czar. Our enemies can’t teleport." 
In the darkness I hear maniacal laughter, as if taunting us. 
Over the intercom, "Bōkun, we have no idea what to expect" 
"if this is a full Virginia assault we stand no chance, and we’re still not running. How many companies of men are here before the elevators stopped working slowing everyone down?" 
Another voice comes in, "Bōkun, I hacked the remaining power in the destroyed power stations to have full capacity for approximately 7 minutes, tell me when to activate. " 
"that might be helpful but what about no lights except this floor and add elevators." 
I hear some clicking on the other end "can’t do the elevators, I don’t know what happened but I’m not even seeing that they exist. " 
"can you put on the ground a light for everyone to follow?" 
"are you giving me permission to hack I.A. equipment?" 
"We are under fucking siege and you are worried about permission? How about I give 4 gay guys 12 hour erections, the ability to see men they like. But take away their ability to use their hands. Then put you in the middle and see if they ask for your permission! This situation is like that, you don’t need permission just do what you have to!" 
"Don’t tempt me Czar. I’m a tease so that sounds fucking hot. I think I have a new fantasy, if I survive this, I’m going to find a way to do that! Mmmmmm, I’ll be back on your comm shortly." 
"I’m surrounded by idiots and apparently whores. How many people are here before Mr. Power-Bottom gets back on taking some stupid shit gets back on wasting my time?" 
"Approximately 40. Almost everyone got sent to the hollo-room for training today but ranks 14 and up are going to be using real vehicles for training." 
"currently there’s 6 mech, 3 helos, 4 raptors, 1 scatter and I don’t know what else, I’m in the security room, blind with confirmed 18 men under my control they were doing vehicle repairs or vehicle checks when all this happened. " 
"what rank are you soldier?" 
"you are speaking with Hero Flynn SR. Bōkun. " 
"I remember you, so sorry about your son. " 
"I can say the same thing about you. " 
I start getting fired upon again by a single rifle. "who’s firing I thought I told everyone to stop that shit!" 
"That’s not us this time. " 
I hear an engine roar like I never heard before and feel a rubble through the mech. "What is that? " 
"we can’t identify it." 
"The fuck with identifying it! Open fire in that direction! "Bullets start going in that direction only to be returned with many more at one time I knew we were badly outnumbered. Ceasefire, we won’t win this through force. 
Maniacal laughter comes from the darkness again. I turn around because it sounds like it’s behind me. I turn around again to see the frame of a luge fighter on the insides of four cogs moving 147 kph and right when I get it in my view and understand what it is. It goes sideways and starts rolling at me. I shoot at it but that doesn’t do anything it takes out the legs of my mech and rolls another 20 meters, once a mech is disabled it means little more than death. 
I teleport out of my mech. The lights turn back on and I’m still wearing the comm. "I did what I could with the power, only a quarter of the rooms have power but that will give almost half an hour of power. Does it help? " 
"well asshole, I can now see that we are outnumbered 10:1. I wish the lights were back off. " 
"Is that an order? " 
"No come to this fucking location with a rifle! " 
Again the laughter but this time I see Drent clearly about 20 meters above me. And he says, "Involved getting not I’m. Others of dreams the of instead life real in but Me entertain to something have finally I great fucking is this!" He takes out someone’s arm and a 12 pack of fuketall and takes a bite out of the arm and takes an eager shot of vodka. 
A mech slides a large metal box on the floor and there’s a 10 second timer the walls all go down to reveal women soldiers attached to the walls, ceiling and floor and 100s of women in full battle rattle release themselves from seats run past me not caring I was there just into the base. They will be slaughtered. But then I see their armor transforming as they are running picking up pieces of metal as they do to create a humanoid form that can also throw metal chunks. 
Six mech are suddenly in view. In addition to that land fighter. It’s a standoff with me in the middle. I face the mech. In my left ear I hear, there’s six mech would you like them to engage? " 
I whisper back to him, "I know your oldest son is in one, get in one of the mech and find him. Ya I know you snuck in and fucked women years before you were legally allowed. Your oldest son is about 23 now, you are turning 40 later this year so you were fucking when you were 16." 
"Am I in trouble? " 
"No, I did the same shit Drent and Dorian are 22 I turn 43 this year, I was fucking when I was 18, legal age is 19.5 because you are never supposed to be in the I.A. at the same time as your son. Anyways, I wish to talk to your son though, get him to me by any means, nonlethally." 
"Alright. " 
The ground under me trembles and I know or as that land fighter coming to me again. I teleport to it, land on it and teleport it to a mech the vehicle goes through the mech and out the other side a woman inside is dead and the vehicle stops running and explodes. 
I face the remaining mech as one explodes and I can feel the cold from the fire. I say to myself, "Fucking Skokie. " 
Dorian emerges from the fire, "Bōkun, how did you fuck things up so bad that fire is cold? Hey dad, the fire is broken, fix it!" 
I mock him and point up, "I have no idea ask your psychotic brother. " 
We both look up and Drent goes, "Is interesting what know to sooner too you’re maybe what know you. On come. Something do, on come, boring is this. "And throws both of us a small bottle of vodka. 
"Dorian drinks about half of it, "Thanks bro you rock! " 
Flynn comes in my right ear again, "I’m going to make an entrance get some cover in case they open fire." 
I teleport behind all the mech on the enemy side, they all turn to look at me. 
I watch as a mech fly’s through the air and stomps the ground loudly. And through a megaphone, "Larry Ismael Flynn! You step out of your mech this instance!" 

Next Chapter: Chapter 34: Flynn Jr. : November 19, 4997