Act 1

Part 1: "Dominion of Caine"

"Have you prepared the necessary resource allocations, Commandant?" Caine cast his gaze to the very corner of his eyes to spy his scantily clad subordinate, who stood just over his shoulder and off into his peripherals. She was pleasing to look at after all, with her long red hair and sexually appeasing lithe feminine frame, with more than well endowed breasts that further accentuated her hourglass near flawless figure.

Hugged tight to this was the woman's frame was her officers" uniform, a tasteless combination of a black leather tube top, white miniskirt, black nylon leggings and white high heeled shoes that cried the telltale signs of a dominatrix's attire. Evidently fashioned by a male mind, this not so militant uniform possessed two simple objects to makeup for its lack of a military presence.

Dark red armbands lay tight about both of her upper bare arms, displaying the crest of the Illuminate Enclave itself; a bold, white X cast upon a black solid square, while atop of her head a black military cap sat, displaying a simple X at its front.

Dazzling baby blue eyes drifted down onto the bald head of her superior, "Yes, Master Caine. Though?" She regarded the floating semi-transparent view screen that covered the majority of their view with a growing concern, and with a shaken breath, she revealed what was on her mind. "What use is there setting a foothold here, at this particular Nexus point' Scout reports indicate various organisations already present. There is no profit to be gained here."

Leaning back into his chair as she spoke, he allowed his hands to peak just before his chin, his index fingers leaning into the orderly mass of his pristinely trimmed and shaped goatee, "I have a feeling about this place."

This revelation broke the stoic female out of her stilling stance, and turned her head from the digitalized map of the realm to fully regard Caine with finely plucked and raised eyebrows, "Forgive me, Master Caine, but can I ask as to what this feeling" Is?"

Pushing up from the leather chair, he placed hands down flat onto the crescent shaped mahogany desk surrounding him, and with a push against its surface, he brought himself slowly up to his feet. "Exploitation. There are natural resources here, yet nobody seems to be utilizing them." Cold, unfeeling brown eyes raked across the holographic projection, and placed but an index finger to the northern most mountain ranges, "We will deploy a team of Engineers here, and set up a forward outpost inside one of the mountains. From here, we will drain every drop and scrap of natural resources in the surrounding area."

"What about the native population?" She had a curious mind, and being the instrument of her Master's will, she needed to know all the details. Even if at times speaking out in his presence unnerved her. The last Commandant to step out of line was given a one way trip into the incineration chambers.

Glancing to the map, she eyed several small hubs that were identified as "civilian structures."

Straightening himself, he crossed his arms over his chest and dipped his head forward, his deep brown eyes glaring a hole into the distance as he retreated back into himself. With a disinterested voice, he replied after a moments resignation with a nod of his head. "They're of no use to me. Do what you must."

Abruptly she pumped a balled fist against her chest to the point that it hurt, and used her free hand to military salute with two erect fingers in front of her forehead, "Hail Caine!"

Act 1

Part 3: "Embers"

Bathed in the green light of a glowing glassed ceiling, Caine stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glaring down and out through the window that was just inches away from the tip of his nose. He watched wordlessly as the swirling cloudy mists below joined, morphed and broke apart. It was easy to lose yourself in the beauty of the natural world, especially the spectral tranquilly of the clouds.

It was perhaps the only thing he ever appreciated truly, aside from the existence of which he was given to enjoy such spectacles. The life he led; the power he was given - it was destiny at its most cruel.

It took a madman to create a flying fortress and to rule the world, but, it took a genius to accomplish what he has done thus far; to maintain his anonymity and his place of origins, and the supremacy of which he employed. Caine grinned at his own reflection at such self satisfying thoughts, his eyes focusing upon the smirk of his ghostly, and rather handsome doppelganger.

Intelligence reached his ears that several villages were all Illuminated only late last night, before he retired to his private bedchamber. A few of the civilians were allowed to remain alive thanks to his Commandant's foresight, and were sent into the holding pens upon his flagship; a Dreadnought Class vessel that was granted the affectionate christening of: "Viki.01.'

To break through the silence of his thoughts, an angelic song huskily spoke from the green tinged bulkheads, in the guise of a female voice. "Caine. You have a call waiting from the Commandant on a secure video feed. Would you like me to patch it through directly?"

Turning from the window, the wall slowly slid back into place over the glassed portal to the outside world below, and locked away all natural light, washing everything within the room a sickly shade of darker green. Approaching the crescent shaped office desk strewn with various photographs, he sat into the high back, leather swivel chair. "Put her through, Viki." Caine replied in such a way that he practically barked the order, as if he were speaking to a disobeying subordinate.

He was annoyed that he was interrupted of his daily cloud watching. An innocent past time he rarely indulged himself in.

The computer; complying with his demands, unravelled a large holographic projection above the surface of his desk that apparently opened out from virtually nothing at all, revealing the face of his Commandant; as stoic as ever, staring right back at him with her usual semi-frown.

"Commandant Nadia" What is it' I hope it is good news, for I am in no mood to have anything but such?" He leant back into his chair and steepled his fingers below his chin, his elbows coming to lay atop of both of the armrests as he turned the chair left and right. Looking rather impatient.

"Incineration Squadron Eight has secured a fifteen kilometre radius around Indigo Sector One-Three-One. The Engineers have begun tunnelling into the base of the mountain, and have completed the four hanger complexes as ordered."

Caine finally cracked a real smile, his lips curving up the more he spoke, "Excellent work, Commandant, I hope you have yet to run into any trouble?"

Nadia shook her head, "A few minor issues with the Engineers and the mining drones, yet nothing to hinder the operation, Master Caine."

He was pleased with what he was hearing. "I will be sending you additional Engineers and supplies to aid you in your task. Once the hangers and the plasma energy chamber are fully operational, I want the control room and fortification of my terrestrial headquarters the next priority in that list." He leant forward, his eyes narrowing, his glare deepening into the stoic eyes of his underling, "I shall grant you the use of a few Arch Tanks just in case something does go wrong." He indicated his steepled fingers towards the hologram and adopted a tone of voice that masked the underlying issue of a threat, "Don't fail me, Nadia?"

"Hail Caine!" She saluted the way a militant of the Illuminate Enclave should, hardly phased by the menace to her Master's voice.

As the video feed deactivated itself, the window shrank away until nothing but the opposite wall was the only greeting his sight would get. Chuckling to himself, finding something suddenly very amusing, Caine adjusted his eyes to the photographs strewn across his desk. Picking up a pile he separated and held them out in front of his face like one would a hand of five card poker, and quickly he lost his smile. "Viki."

"Yes, Caine?"

"Submerge until you touch the seabed, and activate the stealth generators until further notice. While your at it, transfer a few of my funds into a physical property. Gold, silver and bronze coins. I have an office to purchase and jobs to advertise in the city they call Rhy"Din.?

Act 1

Part 4: "Circles"

Caine's eyes were spread across the various papers strewn out across his desk, while the sliding window behind him slipped open, spilling the green-lit room into a flood of dark blue. For beyond the window was not the usual scene of clouds, space or land, but a dark and eeriely lit oceanic seabed, flooded with a score of unusual beasts slipping by the window every so often. In fact, there was even the odd mermaid who came up to knock upon the window every now and again, but Caine mostly ignored it. Such mythical creatures, he has seen them all before in his lifetime.

Before his desk, stood his most elite of all of his minions. Naturally, the scantily clad dominatrix that was Nadia was present, but more so interested at looking at the reports Caine was reviewing than to take notice of the other two lesser figures.

One of the two was a wreck of an old man, held together by cybernetic implants and appendages, where even half of his face was nothing but a mere grotesque display of shaped metal and juttering wires. Hunched, and dressed in white robes, this man was Jyrian, Caine's R&D and Manufacture specialist.

The other was a strict, uptight looking woman within her late forties, dressed entriely in business attire, quite happy to allow her spectacles to cling to the very tip of her nose. She is Caine's voice to the civillian populace. A woman who managed everything Caine himself had little bother to take notice of, when it came to public and political sectors.

All were silent, as he read from one page to the next. Then, after coming to a particular pile of papers, he quickly skipped through them, as if he had little time to read into the details. But something did catch his eye, and slowly, he looked from the paper in quesiton, to Nadia, slipping it across his desk and towards his Second.

"Care to explain, this?" Caine's expression was narrowed. His eyes burrowing deep into her skull.

Nadia stepped closer to the desk, leaning over to spy where Caine was pointing, and quickly she frowned. "Mining was halted due to an impervious compound found in the crust. For whatever reason, even our lazer cutters were unable to break it apart. We had to work around it. Hense the figures."

"You mean to tell me, we lost time and money over some....Rock, that could not be removed?" Caine's patronizing smile grew.

The cyborg man stepped forward, his electronic voice echoing within a deep empty shell, "It seems this compound is resistant against heat, plasma, and physical forms of energy....Although a nuisance, to our mining operations, I believe, with research, we can make up the loss of time by utilizing research into this unique compound's attributes."

Caine leant back into his chair, the ire of his eyes softening, as he regarded the strict, uptight female who remained silent thus far. "The mining facility is fully operational?"

"Yes, Master Caine." The woman replied, with a bow of her head, and adjust of her glasses. "One-hundred percent capacity. With Commandant Nadia's overseeing the operation, all military and personnel activities within our terrestial Headquarters, is fully functional. I expect a growth in profit over the next few months."

"I understand that precious metals have been discovered as per Viki's initial scan of the mountain."

"That is correct," Nadia nodded slowly, "Typical metals, such as silver and gold. But I fear most of the metals found is far beyond my understanding." She glanced to Jyrian then.

"Our mining base of operations can provide the Viki.01. with four-thousand days worth of constant manufacturing capability before the supply runs dry." The electronic voice wheezed, "The gold and silver can be made into other commodities, to better suit our needs elsewhere."

"Indeed," Caine mused, not paying much attention to the lower end of the spectrum of manufacturing when it involved silver or gold. All he cared about was the ability to sustain an infinite production run of his ever-expanding war machine; and for now it seems, all is moving along as according to his design.

His smile grew as he spun around on his swivel chair, "I have little time to discuss further with you all the details. You are dismissed until tomorrow, where we will continue our evaluation of this endeavour. I expect further reports and further detail in your observations. I want a full analysis of this metal that blocks our path. If we come across it in the future, I would much rather blast through it than waste time going around it."

All three acted as one. They placed their hands to their chest, and saluted with two fingers of the other hand, close to their foreheads. "Hail Caine!"