"...We are coming for you next."

Gemma turned off the television and sprang up from the couch in Eva's living room. None of them had slept since the news about the invasion of Line tower had been broadcasted last night.

She had sent Rozwel in a hurry to go and pick up the Nortans and to bring them back to Eva's place. And now all of them had been in the big living room, staring at the television for constant updates on the Last Hand.

The latest one had been the most ominous one. After turning off the television, Gemma stood at the center of the living room and looked at everyone. It was close to afternoon now. "Change of plans," she said. "We are leaving Ardvenia."

Eva rolled her eyes, groaning. "Have a nice journey then. Ugh." She got up to go back upstairs.

"You are coming with us, Eva."

Her cousin frowned at her. "What gives you the idea?"

"We are gonna need you," Gemma said. "We'll have to fly to Moudrin. And we'll have to talk to someone very important there. Only you can help in this one and only if you are there in person."

"Who are you gonna go and talk to in Moudrin?"

"President Leo Albrecht himself."

Eva paused, stared at her cousin and then she said, "Have you lost it?"

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Eva said, groaning as she looked out the window of the private jet. The announcement to put on their seatbelts came on.

Eva was in the seat facing Gemma. Rozwel sat opposite Brendan behind them. The Nortan couple sat facing each other on the opposite side to Gemma and Eva.

As the seat belt sign blinked off, Eva breathed a sigh of relief and waved at Rozwel. "Can you get me a stiff whiskey? Fill the glass up to four fingers."

Rozwel nodded and got up to bring her drink. Gemma was smirking at her cousin. "You're still afraid of flying, Eva?"

Eva just huffed and crossed her arms. "I get nauseated easily. So what?"

"Don't worry, there's also an EMT in our crew. Plus, to keep yourself distracted, we've also got a gameroom in the next cabin."

Eva narrowed her eyes. "Dear Gemma, you think I'm some child who is gonna get distracted–"

"There's also a fuss-ball table."

Eva paused for a second, blushed a bit and then glared at her. "Stop it, Gemma! I'm not five anymore!"

Gemma giggled.

Rozwel arrived with Eva's drink. "Thank you." She took her glass of whiskey from the tray and downed a big gulp. She looked a bit less nervous. She looked at Gemma again. "I don't get it, why did we leave Ardvenia in such a hurry?"

"Because Erik has arrived."

"Wait, he is alive?"

Gemma scoffed. "He is gonna outlast us all, take my word for it."

"So now, cousin Erik is a revolutionary? Interesting." Eva took another sip of her drink. "Still, doesn't explain why you had to go off running like the sky was about to collapse."

"You don't get it, Eva." Gemma shook her head. "Now that he is here, it means, he is about to end his grand plan for his revolution. I can tell he is about to spark off a civil war with what he has done."

Eva nodded. "His plan does seem rock solid. They invaded Line Tower, captured the High House of Justice, the National News Channel building. I can already imagine hundreds of steel heads getting ready to attack him. Heck, they're probably gonna deploy the army too."

Gemma leaned her head back against her seat. "That's why I wanna talk to president Leo myself."

"What do you even plan on telling him?" Eva narrowed her eyes again, but this time more curiously. "We've been at war with their country for about a decade."

"I know, I'm trying to think of something." Gemma closed her eyes.

Eva gawked at her. "You are thinking of something now?!"

Gemma grimaced but kept her eyes closed. "Let me think, cousin. A moment of silence, please?"

Eva was still gaping at her. She drained the rest of her drink and put it on the table between them. "I'm going to the game room." She rose to her feet. "Call me up when you'll have your pitch ready."

Gemma just flashed her a thumbs-up. But she didn't get much time to sort her thoughts since Brendan came and sat across from her right away.

"We're really gonna talk to the president of Moudrin himself?" he asked.

Germaine opened her eyes. She realized she wasn't quite irritated by Brendan's curious interruption. She nodded at him with a slight smile. "That's the plan, at least."

"I'm guessing you are gonna ask him to join the International Peace Forum." He looked out the window and down at the clouds. "But I'm not sure if the IPF's involvement will make things better."

"You're quite perceptive." Gemma smiled.

Brendan shrugged. "That was just a guess. But I believe it will be quite a feat to convince the man."

"Don't you trust me to turn things around, Brendan?" She leaned ahead.

He kept gazing out the window. "I do but I don't know what you are gonna sacrifice this time." He brought his eyebrows together. "I know you have already traded something very important with Eva just to get her on board with our plan. What did you even write on that piece of paper you have her?"

Gemma looked out the window too. She was quiet for a long time before she said, "Half of my inheritance and seventy percent of my stake in papa's businesses."

Brendan's eyes widened. "B-But–"

"I don't need it, Brendan." She shook her head. "I've spent close to a decade without any of it. Plus, is there any point in me holding on to all that wealth if giving it up might mean that I get to stop this damn war?"

Brendan's jaw was slack. He found himself incapable of forming any words.

Gemma leaned her head back on her seat and closed her eyes again. "Now let me think of something I can use to trade with president Leo."

#

The garnet black truck was roaring down the streets of Kraunberg. The vehicle kept flooring the gas as it closed in on the symbol of Ardvenia's supremacy–the Seat of Authority.

The truck slammed into the big wrought iron gates, shattering open its iron bolt. The truck rolled down the gravel pathway up to the main building, crushing all the rare and delicate flowers blooming in its vast garden. A minivan of the same garnet black metal followed the vehicle.

The truck came to a skidding halt in front of the main door to the building. Armed men in kevlar armor burst out of the mini-van. Not all of these were operatives. Some of them were also the rebels from the Last Hand.

They shot down the front door and charged inside the Seat of Authority.

#

Erik, Cathy and Lisa waited and watched from inside the truck while the rebels and operatives cleared up the building.

Neither of them said anything. All three pairs of eyes remained intent on the main building.

That's when Lisa noticed something in the gyrocam feedback. She zoomed in on the image. She frowned. "Erik," she said. "Why weren't there any guards at the main gate?"

Erik and Cathy both looked up at the feedback on the monitor. Indeed, the guard's hut by the main gate seemed empty. And besides that there weren't even any steel heads rushing out to apprehend them.

Then Erik got out of the truck. Cathy followed. He pointed at the Seat of Authority. "Other than the initial gunshots, I hear no firing coming from within."

Now Cathy was frowning too. That's when the walkie-talkie on her hip hissed with static. "We are in the First Leader's cabin."

Cathy unstrapped the device from her hip. "And what's the status?"

"It's empty."

Cathy frowned deeper. "What do you mean 'empty'?"

"I mean there's no one. Not in the office, not in the living quarters, not in the bedrooms. It's all empty!"

"What about any secret routes or–"

"No." Erik shook his head. "It's no use. He saw what we did at the Line yesterday. And he ran off." He glared at the tall spires of the Seat of Authority. "Son of a bitch really ran off."

#

So they changed tactics. The rebels and the operatives ransacked the place. They turned every stone and piece of furniture to uncover some secret that might give them a clue.

The hunt went on while Erik called the Watcher and informed him about the new development. "Give me a second to try something myself," Watcher had said and hung up.

He called Erik after another ten minutes. "I'm afraid it didn't work," Watcher said. "I tried calling Eli Hodges. But his phone seems off the coverage area."

Erik thanked him for trying and hung up. There was still no clue to where the First Leader might've gone off. It had been thirty minutes since they broke into the Seat of Authority.

So the next person he called was Luce who was still in Kingsville. "You have captured the Council Or Firsts. Ask them if there is some kinda safe house the First Leader might've run off to. And be quick, Luce. Time is of essence."

Luce called him back in just five minutes. Apparently, none from the Council showed any resistance to questioning. "It's an island named S-1. Fifty kilometers east from the shoreline of Kraunberg."

"Good job, Luce." Erik hung up. He turned to Cathy. "Tell the others to set up the plastic explosive. We are done here. Blow up the place."

#

(Command was on the news again. On the screen behind her, a pile of rubble slowly disappeared in a glaring fire and clouds of smoke. And a few feet ahead of the burning heap of stones and heaps is the fluttering flag of LAST HAND.)

"That is the Seat of Authority. The castle of vanity is down. The fire is just gonna keep rising. And soon enough it is going to reach the First Leader himself. This is another message for you: You can't keep running forever."

(to be continued...)