"Very good Fat Tony, the Vectorian Empire knew we could depend on your services." Arvis said, walking over and shaking Fat Tony's hand.

"And we are glad to lend our services to the Vectorian Empire." Fat Tony said with a smile. Legs held out his hand. "Anyone can have the quality service of the Pinstrip Mafia....for a price."

Arvis nodded reaching into his coat. "Of course, your payment." He handed over a large bag of platinum coins to Fat Tony. Louie reached out and took it for his boss.

"But I must admit, I would hate to see anything happen to these two, they have done so much for me in the past." Fat Tony looked across the tarmack field at the Genious James.

"Well, that is in our hands now Mister Tony." Arvis said, looking back at Warhammer behind him. "But these two are thieves in the eyes of the Vectorian Empire, they stole something us that, something we concider valuable." He said refering to the esper bodies, the fuel source of Magi-Technology or bluntly, Magitek. "You may go now."

Legs and Louie both looked at Fat Tony, waiting for a signal. No one orders their boss around. "He'll leave when he's damn well --" Legs began to say, but the bosses hand came up stopping him.

"Sleep well tonight Mister Jun." Fat Tony said, gently patting the side of Arvis' face. "Boys, lets go." He said, turning around and boarding his airship.

Arvis looked back at Warhammer. "What the hell was that?" He said and rubbed the side of his face.

"Means he's going to kill you." Warhammer growled out. He began walking towards the Genious James. The Pinstrip Mafia Highwind started up and took off. Arvis followed him and so did half the guards. The other guards had surrounded the Genious James.

"Trabane Starwind and Ackmon Hawkins, please exit your airship." Arvis yelled out. He was suprised when the hatchway on the side of the trawler opened up, the door came down, stairs built into them.

"Yeah yeah we're coming." Trabane said walking down the steps and onto the tarmack field. Ackmon was behind him. "Hey, can you point us to the airship repair shop, my friend Fat Tony played a little too rough." Trabane began to walk casually over to the airship port building. The guards blocked him. "So hey, whats up?" He said, turning towards Arvis and Warhammer.

"Mister Starwind, I doubt you have forgotten about the job we paid you to do, all that cargo we sent you to pick up....where is it?" Arvis said, walking over to him.

Trabane raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember doing any jobs for you, you sure it wasn't that other delivery group?" He said, trying to act ignorant.

Arvis walked past him and looked at the guards. He pulled out a folder and opened it. "Starwind and Hawkins Company was hired by the Vectorian Empire almost a year ago to pick up 72 crates from the Deva Borders. We know you picked up the cargo, but oddly enough it never arrived." He closed the folder.

Trabane scratched his chin. "Oh oh wait yeah, you two orders all those panseys for your male lover over there." Trabane said with a chuckle, pointing to Warhammer. He knew he wasn't going to play ignorance out of this.

"Very funny Mister Starwind, but the Vectorian Empire is not laughing at this matter. That cargo was very valuable to us, and its lost has set back plans that our great empire had." Arvis walked pass Trabane again.

"I know what was in those crates." Trabane muttered as Arvis passed.

"Oh do you now Mister Starwind, and I suppose you think they were the dead bodies of espers?" Arvis turned and looked at him. "Or maybe it was the bodies of Vectorian Soldiers."

Trabane snickered. "Yeah right, why would I be transporting dead soldier bodies from Deva?"

"Maybe the Vectorian Empire has been conducting business within the borders of Deva.." Arvis said with a sneer.

Warhammer let out a cough and glared at Arvis, his eyes saying that you've said too much you dump fucking idiot.

"Anyways Mister Trabane, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you and your ummm..." Arvis looked over at the 13 year old vampire, "Partner?" He questioned. "I'll have to ask the two of you to follow me." Arvis said and turned away from Trabane.

Trabane was suprised no one had bothered to disarm him. He reached behind him and grabbed the handle of the Buster Sword, unsheathed it and swung at Arvis.

Warhammer moved and slammed into Arvis, knocking him out of the way. In an instant his Battle Hammer was out and caught the blade of Trabane's Buster Sword. "So you want to play?" Warhammer snarled with a grin.

Trabane broke free of the hold and took two more swings at Warhammer, he deflected them off the head of his hammer. Warhammer hooked his foot under Trabane and tripped him. He fell backwards and hit the ground. SLAM, the head of Warhammer's hammer slammed into the ground an inch away from Trabane's head.

"You're not going to win boy." Warhammer growled at Trabane. Trabane jumped up and swung at Warhammer again, who jumped backwards. POP. Trabane collapsed to the ground.

Ackmon stood frozen and somewhat in shock. Never in his life had he been in such a situation, everything he and Trabane had done has been minor, dealing with thugs and regular people, not a government.

Arvis put away his blackjack. "I want him alive Warhammer." He said looking over at Warhammer. Saying nothing he put his hammer back on his belt. "You know I always found it funny your name is Warhammer, and you use....a war hammer." Arvis said with a chuckle. Once again Warhammer stood in silence, staring at Arvis. Arvis looked over at Ackmon. "So what do we do about him?"

"I'll take care of him." Warhammer said, turning towards Ackmon.

---

Card laid on his bottom bunk on top of the brown blanket. His hair was somewhat over his face, he was staring up at his postcard. He held his hand up and looked at his fathers ring. He always kept the ring facing down, he didn't understand why this ring was his father's, a Magitek Soldier. On the face of the ring the very familiar and hated symbol of the Tripower was engraved. Why did his father have a Tripower Ring, a prize from a kill maybe?

He let his hand flop back down onto his chest, his body was screaming. Double shift in the factory wasn't pleasent for man or boy, sixteen hours worth of manual labor. Working the cranes was much harder than his usual job of feeding coal into a furnace. He let out a sigh. He looked up at the postcard and pondered what 12 year olds of Torregiano were doing.

The main doors to the Workers Dormitory opened up, the Headmaster walked in. In front of him was another child. The room went silent.

Card looked up from his bed and studied the kid. About 13, grey-silvery long hair and the red eyes of a vampire. Card knew he wasn't from the City Orphanage.

"H-hey Trabane look, a new kid." That familiar voice said.

"Its nothing new Guido." Card said. "They bring in new kids all the time."

"Oh, yeah I suppose you're right." Guido said. "I wounder who he is."

Warhammer began marching the kid towards Card. The bunk above him had been empty for awhile. Warhammer approached and glared down at Guido. He looked down at the floor and scuffed his foot. Warhammer continued to glare until the child walked away.

"You'll sleep here." Warhammer snarled and motioned towards the top bunk. "This little maggot here will tell you everything you need to know." He motioned at Card, then walked out of the room.

Ackmon looked around the large hall of the Worker's Dormitory, taking note there was no adults besides Warhammer, who exited the room. Just children. "What the fuck is this place?" He said. Card turned his head to look at Ackmon, his pale blue eyes staring out from his black hair. Ackmon nodded. "Hey..." he said.

Card turned his head back towards the postcard. "Where did you come from..." Card asked.

Ackmon was trying to climb into his bunk now, he stopped. "What?"

"Where do you come from, your clothing is too nice to have come from the City Orphange...you're not from Vector." Card said.

"I'm just visiting..." Ackmon said, and got into his bunk.

Card raised an eyebrow. "Visiting? Once you're here kid, you're here forever." He said.

"Kid?" Ackmon said. "Then what is this place."

"Work Dormitory."

Ackmon scratched his head. "Work Dormitory?" He asked.

Card moved and sat up on his bunk. "See, as I said, not from around here."

"Is that unusual?" Ackmon asked.

"Very."

Ackmon looked around again at the Dormitory full of children. "Then where did everyone come from."

Card looked at his ring. "All our parents were involved in the war, died in the war, leaving us as orphans."

Ackmon sat in silence, remembering the history books he was reading about the war. "So why is this place called a work dormitory?"

"Because we all work in the factories." Card said, now looking at the callisus on his hands.

Ackmon's eyes grew large. "You mena you actually work in a factory....doing what?!" He didn't like the sound of his.

Card looked towards the bunk above him. "Making armor, weapons, machinery, melting ores..." He could go on and on. "The girls sew cloth and leather."

Ackmon looked around, he didn't notice it was just boys in here. "I'm a business man, not a laborer." He said.

Card raised his eyebrow again. "Business man...?"

"Yeah, I live with this guy and we run a business where we'll do any job for the right price, and I do mean, any job." Ackmon said, proud of his work. "We specialize in bounty hunting, but cover expenses with delivering packages." His mind woundered what had happen to the book they were delivering.

Card laid down back into this bunk, looked at the postcard again. "Must be fun...." He said. "So what do you mean, you're just visiting." He asked with his interests perked.

"Well..." Ackmon stuck his head upside down and looked down at Card. "We were delivering a package, but got caught here cause we screwed over the Vectorians this one time..." He didn't feel like going into details. "But if the Vectorian Empire thinks it can keep us trapped, its going another thing coming to it." He said with a grin and disappeared back above into his bunk.

Card looked at the postcard. If this was true, maybe he could escape this hell? "So where do you guys live?" He asked.

"Torregiano."

Card had a rare moment in his life, a small grin appeared on his face. It was perfect.

---

Trabane groaned and opened up his eyes. A very bright light was pointed right at them, and he winced, his head hurt.

"Good to see you're still alive Mister Starwind, I'm glad I didn't kill you with that blow." Arvis said, walking across the floor of his lab.

Trabane tried to move, but quickly understood he was strapped down. His eyes adjusted and he saw the interior of a lab room, windowless. All sorts of machinery, bottles, papers and well...scientitifc crap was strewn about the room. "What the fuck is going on?" Trabane muttered.

"Well, you're here to work off your debt to the Vectorian Empire." Arvis pulled out a syringe. "You're my test subject." He pushed the plunger and squirted some of the black liquid out.

Trabane looked at the syringe. "Well I like my drugs, but I don't want any of that..."

"Why not, it might make you feel...better." Arvis walked towards him.

"Buddy, black shit isn't going to make me feel better." Trabane said. "You know I have read and heard things about this black liquid, you used it on some of the Tripowerians. But you know in all the years I've heard about this, what in gods name is this liquid." Entreri Bloodstoner was said to have been injected with this liquid, when he was captured by the Vectorian Empire during the wars. Its effects are unknown.

Arvis raised an eyebrow. "Well aren't you just the curious one, I figured you'd be screaming for your life." He chuckled. "But since you seem calm, maybe I'll tell you." He moved next to Trabane.

"I'm sure you're going to say something I could pick out a plot from a cheesey novel." Trabane chuckled.

Arvis wasn't laughing. He grabbed Trabane's arm and drove the syringe needle in. "Maybe its a disease." He pushed the plunger. "Or maybe...an incrediable drug."

Trabane's pupils dialted and his head suddenly felt like it made of stone. He let his head drop back and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. It began to swirl and dance. He knew he was tripping.

"Or maybe its pure evil."

Trabane opened his eyes yet again, this time finding himself in a cold stone wall cell. He twisted his neck, trying to stretch the muscles, his body was sore as if he hadn't moved in a very long time. He got up and stretched out some more. A 9 by 9 foot cell, stone floor, stone walls, a small window covered in iron bars. A small cot with a bucket underneath, a roll of toilet paper on the handle.

"This is lovely." Trabane muttered, then remembered what had happen last. He grabbed his left arm and looked at where the syringe had gone in. Nothing but a regular needle mark. He clenched his hand and watched the veins in his arm buldge out. He didn't feel different, but fuck, he didn't expect something like that. His eyes scanned outside the cell. He realized he was in the Vectorian Jail which was well known, ancient in age and held political prisoners such as Viceroy Bloodstoner, and the Vectorians who were of the esper race. He reached for his Castor Wand, it wasn't in its holster under his arm. "Shit." He muttered, most people were too ignorant to look for such a weapon, a rare one most wouldn't knew existed. "Oh well, guess its the hard way." He whispered to himself, flexing his arms.

Trabane was of medium build, six feet tall, built but not monsterously. Yet his childhood was filled with training in hand to hand combat, understanding your physical power, and how to take the power to the maxium levels. Even to this day his shoulder armor was filled with lead, had to be at least half a ton. A device his own father designed, its weight kept your true strength at bay, while training you by moving around under such a load. Trabane reached up in and pulled the leather tassle that held it on. The shoulder guard fell to the ground with a hard thud. He reached out, grabbed the bars. "Best not over do it, else they will hear my ass." He whispered to himself. He pulled on the bars. Brick and morter exploded over his head as he ripped the bars out of the wall with too much force. The bricks around the bars began to fall and slam into the ground, a giant dust cloud formed. "Mother fucker." Trabane muttered at his mistake.

A bell began to ring within the Vectorian Jail, someone was attempting to escape. The Jail Guards scrambled and multiplied in numbers, taking their trained positions in the cell blocks, weapons drawn.

Trabane stepped out from the cloud of dust into the cell block hallway. He turned to face the guards. "What's up." He said, and raised his fists into a fighting stance. Three guards charged. Moving into action he grabbed the first guard who wielded a spear, and yanked the spear to the left. The guard caught off guard flew into his partner with great force, and let go of the spear. Trabane threw the spear into the air, catching it at mid-length, swung it around in a whirl and clocked the third guard in the jaw with the butt end. Trabane charged northwards down the hallway. Another three guards at an intersection stood in a fighting stance, Trabane turned the spear horizontally and caught all three, plowing them down. He saw stairs to the east, and changed his direction. He knocked a guard on the staircase as he ran up them, a smile crossing his face at how easy this was turning out to be. Two more guards at the top of the stairs, one was on alert and swung his sword at Trabane, who deflected with the spear. Getting inbetween the two guards he quickly yanked the spear backwards, catching the second guard in the stomach. Then he shoved it forward, ramming the sharp spear blade into the first guard, who let out a scream. He picked the guard up with the spear and swung it around, setting the guard back down in front of his partner. He pushed on the spear and pushed the two guards across the entrance hall to the Vectorian Fortress, pancaking them against the wall. The spear echoed when the blade cut into the stone wall.

Trabane scanned the area, no more guards. "Too damn easy." He whispered to himself, and took in this entrance hall. To the north was a doorway leading into the so called 'Fortress of Vector'. Once a great mountain of iron walls, Kefka had dismantled it to build a giant airship. This was the structure Trabane stood in, but for some reason everyone still called it the Fortress. He shrugged thinking about that chunk of history, and made his way out.

No guards were posted outside either, the entrance to the airship fortress was right on Main Street. Vector City was built within the old fortress, a single iron wall to the south proved it ever existed. To the west the city expanded beyond the fortress foundation and into nature. To the east was the Magitek Army Base and Airship Facility. Trabane walked across the street and sat down on a bench, picking up a newspaper that was sitting there.

He watched as two guards appeared at the entrance of the airship fortress, the two looked up and down Main Street at the people walking by, and even looked over at the man reading the newspaper. They scratched their heads and began to argue.

"We can't make a scene." The first one said.

"Then you go tell the Captain that we lost him." The second replied.

"We can't do that, it will shame the empire." The first one said.

"Empire Shempire...I got an idea." The second one said. He watched the citizens walked by, and finally spotted one in dirty rags, holding a cup. He leaned out and grabbed onto the person, and dragged him back into the fortress. "Found him." He yelled out.

Trabane snickered. "No wounder people laugh at Vectorians, they're so stupid."

Now what to do, his mind began to remind him of certain problems that he might concern himself with. His weapons were gone, espcially the Castor Wand, that weapon was worth a small fortune. Ackmon was taken away and he didn't know where. Maybe the City Orphanage? His airship had two engines destroyed, and the flight piping torn open. He assumed the ship was still at the Vectorian Port, but how in the hell would he get it out of there. First thing was first though. He reached into his cap and pulled out his pipe and bag, packed it and took a toke.