"Come in," Minister Olmos called, hearing a knock at his office door.

The door opened, and a soldier stepped into the room.

"Well?" Olmos prompted.

"Sir, the Myrrhauder has returned," the soldier stated. "It has just landed in the field."

"I thought I heard a bit of ruckus outside. Well go and welcome Hamilton in," Olmos ordered.

The soldier left the room, and Minister Olmos returned to his work. A few minutes later, the soldier returned.

"Sir, I present to you Captains Shara Nemora and Ren Doyle. Hamilton was not among the ship's company," the soldier noted.

"Yes, yes, show them in already!" Olmos instructed.

The soldier left the room, and Shara and Ren entered.

"Minister Olmos, Sir!" Shara greeted.

"Captain Shara, Captain Ren! Nice to see you. Although I'm curious to know where Hamilton is. Was he not with you on the Myrrhauder?" Olmos asked.

"He was, Sir. He is still off chasing after his brother. He asked us to deliver the myrrh to Sumira and then to return to Torenada to give report to General Richter. Is the General around?" Shara inquired.

"Sorry, Captain, but General Richter is at the airship plant. Our third airship is almost complete. You are welcome to give the report to me, and I can pass it along to the General," Olmos shared.

"As you wish, Minister. I hope you don't mind if Captain Ren takes his leave to see to the Myrrhauder?" Shara said.

"Not at all. Thank you, Captain Ren. You are a great asset to our fleet," Olmos praised.

"Thank you, Sir!" Ren replied before leaving the room.

"Have a seat, Captain Nemora," Olmos offered.

"Thank you, Sir," Shara replied.

"So what's been going on over on the other side of the world?" Olmos inquired.

"Nothing of major interest, Sir. Myrrh collection continues as scheduled. Neil Senna ran into some trouble near Costa Mira...resistance forces apparently...nothing he couldn't handle though. The myrrh cannon appears to be working quite well," Shara related.

"Ah, good news indeed. There is hope for us yet," Olmos said cheerfully.

"Sir, do you really think we can destroy the meteor with the myrrh cannon?" Shara asked.

"I'm not sure, but Richter said it would work," Olmos said.

"But we don't even know where the meteor is," Shara noted.

"Ah, but we do, my good Captain! We do! On an island to the north. It's only a matter of time now," Olmos disclosed.

"Really? I hadn't heard that. I hope you are right, Sir," Shara said. "This blight has gone on long enough."

"That it has, Captain...that it has," Olmos agreed.

Suddenly, yelling could be heard coming from the hall.

"What is the meaning of all that noise?" Olmos wondered aloud.

"I don't know, Sir. Let me check it out. Stay there," Shara instructed as she got up and walked to the door.

Shara opened the door slowly and peeked out into the hallway.

"Nothing to worry about, Sir. It's only my comrades," Shara said as she opened the door wide.

"Oh, thank goodness," Olmos sighed.

No sooner had Minister Olmos relaxed back into his chair then Curt, Autumn, Mark, Paul, Melly, and Fenrir entered the office.

"Good day, Minister Olmos," Curt greeted.

"Who are you, sir? Captain Shara, what is the meaning of this?! What is that huge wolf doing in my office?!" Olmos asked.

"We'll be asking all the questions, Minister," Mark interrupted.

"He already spilled some of the beans," Shara said. "The meteor is on an island to the north."

"Guards!" Olmos called.

"Don't bother. We already took care of 'em," Melly said.

"Are you all part of the resistance or something? What do you want?" Olmos asked.

"Now that is a question I'm willing to answer," Mark said with a smile. "We want to know what you all plan to do with the myrrh cannon. The whole village of Kalmora was wiped out by Neil Senna. Surely you plan on doing more than just destroying the meteor. And what's with this myrrh collection service. Sounds to me like one big ruse to gain control over people."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything about Kalmora. If Captain Neil did that, I'm sure he had a good reason to do so," Olmos said.

"You're a pretty trusting man, aren't you?" Mark quipped.

"General Richter and Captain Neil are good men. They have done so much to help Torenada and our world," Olmos countered.

"If you say so. Lately, I haven't seen any good come from them," Mark said.

"Harsh words coming from someone who turned down an offer of my good will," came a voice from behind.

Everyone turned to see Richter and Neil standing in the doorway. Mark, Curt, and Paul immediately drew their weapons. Fenrir began to growl. Autumn suddenly gasped and took a step forward as a look of shock fell upon her face.

"Father! Is...is that you?" Autumn stammered.

For a brief moment, a look of sad recognition passed over Richter's face, but it was quickly replaced with a cold smile.

"I'm sorry, my dear. You must be mistaken. I am father to no one. However, my quarrel is not with you. You are free to leave if you so desire," Richter stated.

"I thought you were dead. Father...it's me...Autumn," Autumn insisted.

"Child, do not try my patience. Will you deny my mercy like that petty brute who denied my offer of esteem?" Richter replied, pointing at Mark.

"These are my friends, father. I cannot deny them anymore than I can deny you. You are the one denying me. Why?" Autumn asked, a tear falling down her cheek. "Why are you doing all this?"

"You ask questions the answers to which you will never understand. If you choose to stand with this rabble, you will die with them," Richter threatened.

"I choose to stand with them and with what is right and good, but know that I still love you," Autumn said sadly.

"Very well. You have made your choice. Minister Olmos, are you coming?" Richter said calmly.

Minister Olmos rose from his chair and cautiously walked around the edge of the room to where Richter stood.

"It's a good thing you came when you did, General," Olmos said.

"Yes, it's a good thing I did. Otherwise I would have missed hearing you squeal like a fat pig," Richter said, nodding to Neil. "Pathetic petty puppet."

Neil quickly drew his knife and slit the Minister's throat. Minister Olmos fell to the ground gasping and clutching at his throat.

"You all will suffer a much grander fate. Resistance forces and traitorous spies kill Minister Olmos and attempt to destroy the palace. The military is forced to take action and eliminates the threat with the new myrrh cannon. The story will go something like that I think," Richter mused.

"Then we were right to resist you," Curt returned.

"Whatever makes you happy. Neil, order the men to seal the door. Keep the perimeter secure. No one leaves this room alive," Richter instructed.

"Yes, Sir!" Neil replied.

"Now I bid you all...farewell!" Richter chimed as he turned to leave the room.

Suddenly, everyone was thrown to the ground as the building was rocked by a violent explosion. Debris went flying across the room as the western wall was torn to shreds. Smoke began to fill the office as flames grew where the wall once stood.

"What the hell was that?" Mark asked after regaining his composure. "Everyone ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Paul replied.

"All body parts accounted for," Shara joked.

"Fenrir and I are ready to rock," Melly called.

"Autumn and I are ok," Curt answered. "I don't see Neil or Richter. They must have run off."

"We need to get out of this room. Any soldiers out there, Melly?" Mark asked.

"I can only see a few. Nothing we can't handle," Melly replied.

"That's what I like to hear. Let's go!" Mark said.

As the seven friends made their way out of the room, they felt the building shake as the sound of another explosion erupted in the distance.

"Seems to be hitting the west side of the building. Let's deal with this riffraff and head out the east side," Mark noted.

Three soldiers were guarding the hallway, but when they saw Fenrir begin to charge toward them with the others running behind, they fled in fear.

"That was easy. Stay on guard though," Mark cautioned.

The friends continued to make their way through the halls toward the eastern side of the palace. A few moments later, Curt heard someone calling his name.

"That sounds like Jimmy!" Curt said. "Jimmy, is that you?"

Seconds later, Jimmy appeared from around a corner.

"Curt! Oh, thank goodness you guys are alive! Follow me. I gotta get you back to him or else he'll skin me alive!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"Who? Captain Ren? He could never do something like that!" Curt joked.

"No, not Captain...Hamilton!" Jimmy explained as he led everyone through the palace. "Hamilton showed up while you all were in there. Captain Ren told him what was going on...how we saw Richter and Neil sneak in. He thought you guys were in big trouble, so he got in Neil's airship with Captain and started shooting up the place with the myrrh cannon. He sent me and a few others in here to look for you. He's nuts, that Hamilton!"

"You don't even know the half of it!" Mark and Shara said in unison.

Everyone laughed.

A few minutes later, they all emerged from the palace to find Hamilton running toward them. Off in the distance, they could see the Myrrhauder flying north.

"Thank goodness you all are safe!" Hamilton said.

"Thanks to you. Although you nearly killed us with that initial blast!" Mark returned.

"Sorry. I've never used the damn thing before. I didn't realize the blast radius was so large," Hamilton explained.

"Thank you, John. Somehow I knew you'd come through in the end," Mark said.

"You were right, Mark. I guess I always knew that...I was just too proud to admit it...I saw mom and dad...I stopped in Fillmore on the way back...I needed that. I needed to remember my roots...I'm sorry, brother. Can you forgive me?" Hamilton asked.

"I forgave you long ago, brother," Mark replied.

"Then will you allow me to fight alongside you one last time?" Hamilton asked.

"It would be an honor," Mark said as he embraced his brother.

"So where are we headed?" Jimmy asked.

"North...to the meteor," Curt answered.