Death Grip

Two centuries after skydark, nine barons comprise a powerful oligarchy that all but enslaves the rest of humanity. But chaos is returning to a world that was forever changed by the nuclear holocaust of 2001. For these barons are facing extinction, the result of a struggle by a group of rebels banished to the outlands of postholocaust America.  These exiles have uncovered the dark history - and doomed destiny - of a planet whose affairs have been manipulated by a sinister force since time immemorial.

Damnation Game

The mysterious barons - either hybrids of another race or genetic evolution gone mad - are dying. Kane, once a keeper of law and order in the new America, is part of the driving machine to return power to the true inheritors of the Earth. California is the opening salvo in one baron's savage quest for immortality - and a fateful act of defiance against Earth's dangerous oppressors. Yet their sanctity is grimly uncertain as an unseen force arrives for a final confrontation with those who seek to rule, or reclaim, planet Earth.

In the Outlands, darkness and light clash with deadly intent.

First Printing: November 2000

Total Pages: 348

Written By: Mark Ellis

Pollard is leading a squad of twenty Magistrates to a small ville named Port Morninglight.  The ville is located in the territory controlled by Snakefish.  They attack and wipe out everyone except for nine people in prime physical condition. They are planning to take the 'merchandise' back to Cobalt.  Because of everything that has happened, Pollard is now the chief Magistrate. They arrived in redoubt Charlie, and he was given the destination codes where he is to send the 'merchandise'.  After the attack, he spots a single person on a rise waving a pair of fans out to sea.  His force kills the person and they check the body.  As they are watching, a fog back rolls in from the water, and he is quite certain that he sees a ship, or something coming in with it.  Fearing a reprisal from Cobalt, for taking too much time, he orders his people to move out.

It has been almost a full month since they got back from Ireland.  Kane, Grant, Domi and Brigid are heading out to the same ville that Pollard had just attacked. Bry, it turns out, discovered information on the covert operation into Snakefish's territory.  They used the same redoubt that Pollards team jumped to.  Clearly, Cobalt is violating the treaty that was set up during the unification program and they want to know why.

After a brief brush with a mutated scorpion, they trek through the wastes, getting more and more irritable as the day grows hotter.  They encounter a second mutant, this time a Fifteen foot long Copperhead.  One of the descendants of a group of mutated snakes that had been in the area for well over a century.  They slip past it without having to attack. 

A short time later they spot Magistrate tracks.  Domi is very sure that they are no more than six hours ahead.  The small group continue to follow the tracks, then Kane loses the trail.  Domi picks up the sound of the Magistrates that they were following, and they realize that they are a lot closer than they originally realized.

Using a pair of Binoculars he took from Brigid, Kane and Grant climb over a small hill and spot the group of Magistrates, as well as Pollard. 

The entire trip, Domi has been acting very strange.  The tension between her and Grant is clearly obvious.  Brigid asks her what is going on, and is very taken back when the Albino turns on her. She decides not to press the issue, for the time being. 

They are ready to attack Pollard and the other Magistrates when they are distracted by the sound of a male screaming in agony and fear.  They spot several small totems made of stone, marking some sort of holy ground, or territory controlled by a nomadic tribe.  Domi knows that they're being followed and warns Kane about it. 

Kane pushes the group forward, heading through the area marked out by the totems. While they are passing through, a huge number of mutated rattlesnakes appear and strike at the group, but they don't actually hit.  The trip through the gauntlet is exceptionally trying, but they all manage to make it out.  Domi ends up having to fight her way out.

The group is being watched by a small number of tribesmen who have been in the area for over a century. They decide they're going to attack the intruders and smoke werewolf weed to heighten their strength and dull the senses so they can attack without fear.

Pumped up on the werewolf weed, the tribesmen attack the party. Five are wiped out in a viscous fight, without using the blasters. But there are so many, that both Kane and Grant decide they have no choice but to use their weapons.  Before they can act out their plans, a man dressed like a Japanese Samurai joins the fray and kills several of the attackers, using his bow. The survivors flee.

Once the danger has passed, the Samurai approaches and to their surprise, he turns out to be a she.  She introduces herself as Shizuka.  She tells them that she is part of a force that came from Port Morninglight in order to track down and extract revenge for the destruction of the small ville, who they had been trading with for some time. 

Domi takes on an instant dislike for the Japanese woman and actually attacks her.  Shizuka disarms her effortlessly, so quickly, without harming the albino, that Domi goes for her gun.  Grant stops her right then and there.  Embarrassed and angered, Domi stalked off.

Kane asks her where she came from, and he is given a rather cryptic remark. They talk a bit more before the rest of the Samurai party arrives.  They are introduced to the lord,  a man named Kiyomasa.  The warriors are armed with bows, swords as well as world war two era rifles. They exchange their stories. 

The Samurai plan to avenge the deaths of the people of the ville, and       intend on bringing back the survivors with them to their home in New Edo. Kane is all for it, but tells them that they need to keep at least one of the Magistrates alive so they can get information.

Together, the two groups continue to pursue the Magistrate force. They eventually come across ancient ruins, and it turns out that this is the place the Magistrates stopped for the night. The Samurai are ready to attack, but Kane is able to convince Kiyomasa to spare one man. They scout out the ville.

They are able to locate all but four of the Magistrates.  Kane intends on taking Pollard alive because he would have the most information on what was happening.  The two forces spread out and prepare to attack.

Grant goes with Shizuka and several of her people. They run into a Magistrate that had been posted as a guard. He's taken down, while Grant quickly dispatches a second guard and prevents Shizuka from killing him.

The fighting is fierce and brutal, the Tigers of Heaven actually lose a man.  Grant encounters another Magistrate, one that he knew and kills him.

Kane meets Pollard and taunts the man, letting him know that he was the man who was driving the War Wag in the Darks. The enraged man attacks and the two battle it out before Kane is able to knock Pollard into the basement of one of the ruins, fatally wounding the man.

The two groups learn from Pollard about the destination codes to where they were to send the prisoners. They are unable to get as much information as they would like. Pollard, knowing that his passing was going to be hard, manages to get up and attack Kane, despite his wounds. Kiyomasa kills him.

Grant leaves the two groups and goes to free the young Magistrate he prevented the Tigers from killing.  Shizuka follows him and expresses her distaste at letting the young man go, but doesn't press the issue. Caught in the heat of the moment, they share a kiss, and it's witnessed by Domi.

Once things calmed down, Kane and Brigid speculate on what was happening with the Magistrate force and what Cobalt had in mind.  Kane tells the Tigers of Heaven that they were leaving.  Before they go, Kiyomasa gives them the co-ordinates to the location of New Edo.

Meanwhile, in Front Royal an old, crippled woman named Erica Van Sloan is waiting for the arrival of the eight surviving Barons. Her duty is simply to oversee a meeting between the barons which revolves around how they are going to survive now that the Dulce facility has been obliterated.

The barons all meet together, with Erica acting as the mediator over the proceedings. She beings by telling the barons point blank that they will all be dead within a matter of a few months time. They discuss this and bring up the fact that there may not be an actual Archon Directive, since nothing has been done by the directive since the destruction of the facility.

Cobalt boldly announces that there is no Archon Directive, and that he has found a replacement for the Dulce facility, thanks to his former aid, Lakesh. He also brings up ancient Rome, how there was a senate and a single emperor. He plans to be that emperor, or Imperator.  Then, without warning he screams and demands someone to get out of his head.

Into the room step the last Archon, Balam. With him is what appears to be a child. Balam informs the Barons that he will settle the matter once and for all.

Kane and the others have returned to Cerberus and Brigid is outside in the cold, standing over the graves of Cotta and Rouch.  She is fearing that her head injury that she had suffered is starting to affect her memory. Lakesh braves the cold and asks her to come back into the redoubt to continue with her research.

As she is working, Kane stops in and on a suggestion of his, they start to look for likely locations of the gateway that Cobalt was using.  Lakesh suddenly realizes that it has to be Area 51, or Dreamland.

Back in front Royal, Balam speaks to the gathered Barons using telepathy.  He is clearly angry with what they have done.  Cobalt attempts to defend his actions but is chided by Balam. He shows them the child that he brought with him.  The boy's name is Sam.  Cobalt is outraged that Balam chose a human child to lead the barons.  Sam forces the baron to sit, and he explains how he was born in order to restore security and order, not just to the nine baronies, but to the entire world.

Baron Cobalt can't accept it.  Sam tells the hybrid that he is either with him, or against him.  Cobalt flat out states that he is against him, then stalks out. Sam said that the baron left far too soon, that he didn't wait to see the proof of his power. He heals Erica Van Sloan, restoring her youth and vitality.

Having done this, Erica pledges to give him anything he wants.  Sam tells her that he wants her to contact Lakesh.

In Cerberus, Lakesh has gathered everyone together and discuss AREA 51.  He brings up history on the semi mythical installation, and the connections the base has to the various overproject's. 

After hearing everything, the group decide to go and recce the base.  Domi and Kane are to be the first two to head in.  Everyone goes on their own to prepare for the jump.  Grant meets with Kane and asks him straight if he had ever been with Domi. They discuss the situation and Grant explains what happened. Kane knows that there is going to be trouble from this. 

Domi and Kane arrive in the base and are shocked by the size of the control room.  They are alone and he goes to send Domi back to get the others, they realize that they can't activate the mat-trans and are trapped.  Since they have no other choice, they head into the base proper and begin to explore it. After climbing down an elevator shaft they come to a room called purity control. Here they make a horrible discovery, and the laboratory where the hybrids were initially created.  Domi tosses a grenade into the room, destroying it.

A short time later, they come across a multi level man made cavern. It's packed with goods scientific equipment. Kane's motion sensor picks up multiple targets and they are attacked by hybrids. Kane is taken set upon, and Domi manages to evade capture. She comes upon a couple of normal humans and kills them, but his also hit by a sonic attack.  Despite the attack she is able to kill the hybrid attacker.

Kane escapes his attackers and comes to a room where he sees a pair of female hybrids using soe sort of gel on a human male.  Its clear that the gel is an aphrodisiac.  One of the females is made up with thick make up and straddles him, mating. Kane leaves.  He is trying to figure out what to do next and hears a female voice calling his name.

Kane goes to investigate, fearing it was Domi, but knowing it could be a trap. An unseen sniper forces him in one direction, and he spots eight targets on his motion tracker.  Desperately, he searches for a way out of the trap and spots a flatcar.  He gets it running to cause a hell of a distraction. He continues to ride it until its about to crash.  After escaping the wreak, he comes across a human male and a hybrid female.  He shoots the man once, then realizes that the man is wearing body armor. He shoots him again, killing him. His intention was to use the female as a hostage.  Her reaction to the man's death stuns him as she is weeping over the corpse.  Before he can recover, he's attacked and incapacitated.

When he wakes, he finds himself strapped naked, in one of the breeding tables that he had seen earlier.  Baron Cobalt promises him that he won't die.  It sounds more like a threat than a promise. After gloating over his captive, Cobalt leaves and the hybrid who was weeping over the death of the male is to be his first mate.

End of Doom Dynasty