It was late at night, possibly even early morning as the group of men and woman sat around a table in a small room. It belonged to Torn, one of the privileges of rising to the highest of ranks. The group formed after the war against the metal heads had become much worse and the policies that were put in place in order to compensate, it was mostly made up of the higher ranked officers fed up with their treatment, although some lower soldiers had also joined. Together they formed a small group trying to resist the Baron – later they would be known as “The Underground”. Like most meetings they were discussing the rumours and whispers that they had heard as well as actual facts and what they could to do to help.
“Eco use among new recruits is at an all time high, I blame long shifts. I worked three days, that’s morning and night before the Baron had the good will to find a relief patrol for my team, and they had worked more days then I had.”
“Don’t blame it all on the shift length that only explains blue and green. But haven’t you seen who they are recruiting?”
“Who? Eco users? That’s ridiculous.”
“So I’ve heard, for some sort of project. I overheard Errol the other night, talking to a lovely scientist about eco tolerance in the bodies.” A hurried knock at the door was heard and the conversation ended abruptly.
“It’s just Greive, wonder what kept him?” The door was opened and in stepped the last member of the group. Greive was a wastelander who had got stuck in the city when the war broke out, so he joined the KG to pass the time before he could head back out into the desert.
“Sorry I’m late, just got back in.”
“See this is what I meant about shifts, when did you leave for this lot?”
“Umm, two maybe three days, I can’t tell the eco I used to keep me and my team awake has altered my sense of time… don’t give me that look Torn, I know you hate eco use but try staying awake that long and not dying. Anyway I have important news, I ran into Errol on my way in.”
“What is that ginger freak saying now?”
“Uncalled for, my mother is a red head.” Greive waited for the argument to pass before continuing.
“We don’t have much time to act if it is true. You know where they built the new wall; they are cutting power to the old wall and plan to sacrifice it in order to help win the war. They plan to do it tomorrow at around midnight when the most people are there.” Several voices began at once it was then that Torn spoke.
“Then we go over there tomorrow and we save them, like we promised to do when we became soldiers.”


The streets were dark; the air was heavy filled with both dust and light rain although the dark clouds made it obvious a storm was coming. Torn and a few other KG soldiers were patrolling around what would later be known as Dead Town, many of the group had other work that needed doing that night. The rumour from Errol made sense, after all metal head attacks have increased and the wall shield was having further difficulty keeping up at 100% power around the area plus the new wall that had been built had power running through already. But why did Errol know when he didn’t?  The streets were empty, despite the increase in population size (due to several people becoming trapped once the Baron had finally declared war on the metal heads). They came to a gate, it was heavy, strong metal it had been tested to the newest safety standards – it would take a lot of eco to blow it open, plus adding the shield and it was nearly impossible to break through. It was all too suspicious, why had they spent all that time building a new wall when the old one needed repairing so badly? He typed in the keypad and the bolts of the door slowly slid open. In the quiet stillness of the night it seemed too loud. He wondered where the guards were, all doors were guarded to prevent unauthorised access. Greive wandered up the front.
“What are we waiting for? The door is opening right?”
“No guards, seems odd.”
“My team are the guards tonight and technically we are guarding by patrolling the area. So what are we waiting for, a plan perhaps?” They walked through the doors, the buildings in this sector were tall and built of stone, in the centre was a hut where a wise sage lived. Outside the wall was a lot of water which had begun to seep through the wall causing the ground to become swamp like and a few of the buildings had begun to sink into the swampy mud. Despite the late hour many people were still about, holding discussions at the edges of buildings, some of them even waiting in anticipation for the storm. They headed straight towards the sages hut and on the way they saw a few people trying to block the cracks in the wall.
“Samos it’s good to see you.” The sage was sitting in the middle of the hut in meditation.
“Had a feeling you’d be turning up, I suppose you’ve come to help us out tonight.”
“How did you know about that?” Samos stood up and looked out the window,
“Surely you’ve seen the eco cylinders near the wall, Jinx came by yesterday and rigged them up and gave us a warning. We aren’t idiots, but the new door has prevented us from leaving.”
“Well we can open the door, but I doubt we could lead you out. Plus I think they might notice all of you at once. You get as many people out as possible and we will stop any metal heads that decide to get in.”
“Don’t forget the other creatures that have wandered around, I’m sure dark eco has caused them to become aggressive.” Samos walked out of the hut, the group split up and began to let other people know that now was the time to leave. Torn headed over to the barrels, he didn’t know as much as Jinx did about explosives but he knew enough to realise that the explosion couldn’t be stopped. It was then he noticed the extent of the barrels, the filled corners and streets and sat by buildings, this wasn’t just to destroy the wall this was to destroy the entire sector. He walked over to the people trying to fix the wall.
“Don’t bother, just get out.” He looked through the crack, outside he could see the glint metal head gems and there were quite a few. Torn took a few paces back and ran his fingers through the dreads on his head. The standard issue guns would be useless for this; luckily quite a few of the group used their own. He glanced down at his own, it wouldn’t be as useful as he would have liked but this situation shouldn’t even be happening. He heard footsteps behind him,
“How many are out there?” Torn sat on the edge of a wall, his gun hanging from his hand between his legs.
“Too many. How many have made it out?”
“Not enough. Got a few guys helping them out, but we can only do it a family at a time. When are the bombs rigged for?”
“Too soon, I can’t stop them from blowing this place up.”
“That’s the problem with Jinx; he is too good at his job. Probably only red and yellow eco though. We’ll just get burned with a bang.” The storm clouds hadn’t passed but the storm hadn’t arrived either. “So we just wait around, try not to get hit with rubble and shoot?”
“That’s the only plan I have, we have to get as many people out as possible.”
“I’ll try my best, you realise the Baron will find out about this.”
“Of course, I doubt I’ll stay.”
“You’ll be a traitor and you won’t get any help from the KG, well maybe a few of them will help you.”
“Would you stay?”
“Not unless you told me to, I could get news plus I’m supposed to be here tonight. Any soldier who hadn’t been told about this would shoot at the metal heads and help out citizens. The Baron can’t fault me there.”
“Stay, provide me with information, I’d get you out soon enough.”
“Got a few minutes before these barrels explode, want to find a better place to stand?” Torn nodded and jumped off the wall into the muddy water below, more of the group had turned up.
“Shoot at the metal heads, avoid falling rubble and eco. Get out as soon as you can.” Overhead a low rumble of thunder was heard as a flash of lightning glowed through the clouds. The sound of guns being readied and the small splashes of water as the rain began to fall. The timer didn’t beep, perhaps so that it wouldn’t draw any attention. But everyone had seen the displays; luckily most people were gathered where there weren’t any barrels. After all why blow up the new wall and the guards on duty. The next thunder clap was accompanied by the sound of eco exploding causing metal shrapnel and rubble to fly everywhere. The swarm of metal heads was more then expected, but that didn’t stop the bullets flying. From the outside it would have looked like chaos as the rubble fell around them in a raging storm. Inside it was quite coordinated, everyone was watching their backs, dodging both the rubble and the metal heads. Injuries still occurred, but after a few waves of metal heads it quietened down for a moment.
“I don’t like this.” Torn spoke as they headed backwards over the rubble.
“I can see something glinting… I think?” Out in the distance was a faint glow of gold, a lot of metal heads or one big one it was hard to tell. Greive glanced at the gate,
“No good, we can’t leave yet. We have to stay and give them more time.” Torn moved forwards over the rubble, the gold glint in the distance was moving closer.
“We buy them as much time as we can.” The glint moved forwards and began to rise out of the water.
“Precursors help us, we are screwed, look at the size of it.”
“That’s a metal head?”
“I’ve seen big metal heads out in the wasteland but that is bigger then anything I have ever seen, I don’t have enough bullets to take that down.” Torn headed over to a few undetonated barrels,
“We won’t need bullets, we can use these.”
“There are quite a few left, just how do we get them out to it?”
“Rubble and shrapnel, we’re making a catapult and we are making it fast.” The torn fabric and rope was tied around bits of wood and metal, they could hold the barrels and hopefully would reach the beast.
“Of course we still need to shoot but only once it is closer, you do realise that Torn, nothing is going to be easy with this.” Torn was staring at the door and the people that were still waiting to leave, not many now.
“We might not have to… I need three people with me. Three people with good guns and lots of bullets, so standard issue guns don’t count. Get out, we’ll see you later.” The storm was getting worse and the wind wasn’t helping.
“Do you think we need to compensate for the wind?”
“I doubt it, it’s huge. Just shoot when Torn tells you and run when he tells you to.” The beast moved closer, Torn let the first barrel loose; the metal head recoiled at the explosion but pressed forwards.
“Keep firing the barrels, when we run out it will be close enough to shoot at.” It didn’t take long for that to happen, a quick glance at the door showed only a few people left. With guns ready and aimed they fired again as they made their way to the door.

Once on the other side they ran into the Baron and Errol plus a few KG guards.
“What are you doing here?”
“General Greive called me, after this sector exploded and became flooded with metal heads, luckily we got everyone out. Just doing my duty as a soldier sir.” Errol glanced quickly between Torn and the other three.
“Is that correct?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Well I’m glad that you got everyone out all right.” The Baron marched off with Errol.
“How the hell did they know about this?”
“But you asked General Greive to patrol the area, didn’t you tell him about your plan?”
“No, of course not, I thought he would tell Torn and rescue them. Now I have that sage loose and he knows about the boy.”
“I’m sorry, maybe you shouldn’t have picked such a good soldier…” The Baron quickly turned around and shouted over at them
“Get back as soon as possible I need to talk to you.”


The rain pelted down on the glass roof, lightning illuminating the otherwise dark room. The Baron sat on a chair high above the rest of the room where Torn and the rest of the group stood with him.
“I admire your desire to help the people of Haven survive but surely you must see that I did what I had to do in order to help us win this war. Everything I do is to help Haven survive and for that to happen sacrifices must occur. I’ll overlook this little incident because you are all excellent soldiers and I need people like you in my army.” The group exchanged glances, they had prepared for this day long ago. A few would stay in the KG to provide intelligence to the newly formed “Underground” the rest of the group would go with Torn and become fugitives in order to take down the Baron and save Haven. The few who had chosen to stay where in the group patrolling the area that night out of everyone who had been there that night; they were still the most trusted by the Baron. Greive beckoned his team members forward,
“We stand by the oaths we gave you; we will continue to serve in your army.” The Baron looked worried; surely Torn and the others would stay as well.
“Let me add this point to see if the rest of you will do the same, if you leave Torn, Errol will take your place as he has proved to be a much better leader and much better at following orders as well.” Thoughts passed through the groups minds, surely Errol would be terrible in charge, he was a really bad solider and no one really listened to him, plus he had been very eager to give them information why didn’t the Baron know this… oh that was his plan, he needed the higher position to get other KG to listen to him. Well good luck to him it wont work… but what about Greive, Errol knew that he was a member how could he prove his loyalty… it will work out.
“Let Errol be in charge then, see how that works out for you. I know the KG better then you and I know that there isn’t a single soldier who respects Errol, even the new recruits don’t. Let him be in charge if you want him to fail.” It was probably the most Torn had ever said in one go.
“As for me, I’m leaving… we all are, don’t try and stop us.” The Baron stood up,
“Arrest the traitors.” Greive and his team where the only other KG in there so that order was for them. This wasn’t part of the plan, but then plans had rarely mattered to him. “What are you waiting for, they’re getting away.” The Baron’s face was red and he was standing there gesturing wildly.
“Guess he didn’t think they’d leave, come on lets go and arrest them.” He reached Torn first and whispered,
“Trust me on this one, you’ll be out of here this evening I promise.” His gun was pointing at Torn’s head
“Any moves by any of you and I will kill Torn.” The rest of the group stood still, what was happening? Had this been part of a plan? Greive glanced up at the Baron, his face was less red now, hopefully this would prove his loyalty at least for now and he needed that especially if Errol was going to be in charge. The Baron seated himself back on the chair,
“Lock them up somewhere, somewhere they can’t get out of.”
“Yes Sir.” As they had headed through the corridors soldiers everywhere wondered what was going on, why was Torn, a man they all respected, being led off under arrest. Errol was very good at explaining the story which though whispers got larger and more exaggerated each time it was told. In the end there wasn’t a single KG solider who respected Torn, well not openly at least. Greive made it down to a damp room which had water running into it and boxes lined the floor.
“What room is this?”
“The only room with an easy way outside, the only room without any cameras. I promised you would be out by evening and you will. I’ll be back later to let you out.”

It was late and Greive headed through the corridors once more, there were more KG soldiers on patrols then had ever seen before, due to rumours he had become something of a hero, stopping Torn from whatever insane theory was being circulated. He turned the corner to see Errol standing at the top of the stairs.
“Going anywhere in particular at this time of night?”
“What does it matter to you?”
“I’m in charge now, what you do matters to me.”
“I think you’ll find the Baron is in charge and that most of the KG thinks I’m a hero due to your rumour, wouldn’t it have worked in your favour to have said that you stopped Torn.”
“I don’t think they would have believed me.”
“Just like I don’t believe that you have any power over me, let me pass and I won’t hurt you.”
“You hurt me… that’s laughable.”
“How? I’m bigger then you and I am a much better soldier, I found your training records from when you signed up, you barely passed the minimum requirements.  All you are good at doing is sucking up to the Baron and torturing citizens for some mad project. Now move.”
“Fine, but the project isn’t mad it will help us all out in the long run. Besides I’ve seen your notes you’d be a good candidate for it.”
“Like sacrificing a whole sector was to help us out in the long run?”
“Just like that.”
“You’re mad Errol, you are aware that the Baron will kill us all with is foolish schemes like that.”
“You don’t sound as loyal as you appeared earlier.”
“Neither do you, you were involved in that evening as much as the rest of us. Remember that, you are a traitor like the rest of us. No amount of sucking up is going to change that.” With that Greive pushed passed Errol and headed down the stairs. He unlocked the door, the water level had risen some more and all of the group were perching on boxes near a door in the wall.
“I know what room this is now. It is an old supply room, I used to work here when I was a new recruit.”
“So you should know how close to the outside you are, I just have to open that door and you are all off to freedom.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, Errol made me out to be a hero with his little rumour. He didn’t think anyone would believe that he could have stopped you.” Greive climbed the boxes and kicked at the wood that was blocking the door.
“Sweet freedom is yours. Torn you better work hard in getting me out of here eventually.” As was normal Torn said nothing and climbed out into the streets of Haven below.