The smell of hay or freshly cut grass was the first thing you would notice. A scent reminiscent of summer would sting your nostrils and waft through the air with a seemingly innocuous agenda. No more than fifteen minutes later, an hour if you were lucky, and your lips would be folding out as you desperately tried to suck a single breath into your lungs. This is a silly attempt, because the muscles worked just fine and you were always still breathing as well as before you smelled the hay. Unfortunately, that innocent perfume of time spent in beneath the burning sun, that was what sealed your death. A breathdown in the air-blood barrier was all it took and the oxygen being frantically sucked into your lungs would never be enough to sustain you. Squirming and drowning, you would sink in your own sanguine liquid within 480 seconds.

Phosgene was a by-product of the production of mana energy-conductive coils that powered the beam of light often seen shooting between the Red Baron plant and the space station high in the sky. This was the blood upon Aleister Tulgey's hands. It was the blood upon the hands of anyone in this profession. And, even though the noble thing to do would be to snuff out the deadly gas with a bucket of ammonia and eat the cost of both, Mister Tulgey had a business to run. So, the gas was mixed with another chemical to make it more potent and then sold to the highest bidder, government or otherwise, for use in chemical warfare.

Issues such as this had made the Red Baron Enterprises a controversial addition to RhyDin. In return, however, it offered job stability and a new source of power for those seeking modern living. All of the corporate executives knew how to make the world spin just a little bit faster and brighter. They wanted to offer the younger generations a better life than they had experienced.

Wasn't that noble enough to redeem the sins of their mission' Only time would tell.

"Rivalry spawns competition and competition is very good for business."

This was the motto of one Kevin Keilly, the head foreman of the Red Baron plant yards. Located on the banks of the river, the power plant was able to draw most of their raw energy from the water nearby, both through steam and actual rushing force. Still, there was constant construction and maintenance needed on the boilers that were used to make the mana-conductive generators. As such, two factions of workers arose: the pipefitters and the boilermakers.

The pipefitters were overseen by a man named Russell Swanson. A time-washed man with tanned skin and a mustache that would have made the most practiced policeman gawk in shame, Russell had been in the business of pipefitting for near twenty-five years. He had a wife and three children. His trade was his passion. The thrill of scaling bare skeleton structures towards the heavens with nothing much a strap keeping you from a long fall to a sticky end....it was all Russell ever wanted in a job.

The boilermakers were overseen by a man named Barry Riedford. Without a doubt he was a good-looking little devil with a smile that could charm the panties off a nun. Like Russell, Barry was lanky, but clean-shaven and light haired. Barry also took delight in the acrobatics, but most of his work involved heavy labor with the spot welders and cranes. Barry was not married, nor did he ever plan to be.

It should be noted for the record that the pipefitters and the boilermakers did NOT get along.

At the beginning of construction the boiler would be crafted out of raw steel with an inner coating of magic-resistant solid insulation to keep the force of the mana from tearing apart the boilers where it was stored and created. Once the base is finished, the boiler is flown into place, often broken up in three to four different pieces. The pipefitters construct shells around the boilers with pipes and connectors to give the boilermakers something to climb on while they are in the midst of finishing the tower. A single boiler takes about two months to put in place and have ready for use. Because the nature of mana, as opposed to steam or other liquid forces, is so volatile the boilers are in almost constant need of replacing. Regardless, the pipefitters and boilermakers each work for independent contractors.

Barry Riedford and Russell Swanson both work for Kevin Keilly. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that Kevin Keilly is the owner of Twisted Industry Suppliers, the contractor who employs both the pipefitters and the boilermakers for Red Baron. A less known fact was that Kevin Keilly is also a silent chairman on the board of directors for Red Baron Enterprises. In fact, next to Aleister Tulgey, he is the second most share-holding member of the board.

Kevin Keilly believes in the power of competition because competition is very good for business.