In spite of the subsequent tension that threatened to tear the youngest generation of D?Mourirs apart for good, they recognized this opportunity spelled out their survival. In the middle of the summer of 2076, they conducted a raid into a basement R&D lab in a district that had remained under government control throughout the Civil War. Friends accompanied them; some lost their lives, others promised to follow soon after, or had to go back or chose to remain for whatever reason. It is unclear who preceded them or who followed them, but together, Jerhyn, Basil, Martyna, Ellyna, Alain and Shannon D?Mourir activated the device, stepped through the portal, and left Nouveau Bretagne behind forever.

She was almost out of breath. The bombings had started up again over three hours ago. The closer she hurried into the industrial district, the louder the blasts became. She knew that her elegant pumps would not afford her more than a quarter mile now. She had hastily stashed several important documents, money, her agenda and several clothing articles into her alligator-skin bag. Only now was she regretting her choice to lug along the cashmere; it was summer, after all.

She had the location, or more exactly, the coordinates the D'Mourir cousins had left her. More over, she knew that she did not have as much time as she would have liked. She stayed behind as long as she could, giving the last orders that would likely send the city into an irrecoverable state of disarray, and gathering the files that would possibly aid their causes... wherever they were going. Solange LeClerc was one who never surrendered, never forgot, and was never taken for a fool.

The device, she was told, was an escape. And it was a tearing choice she had to make to leave behind what was started. Yet, it was made perfectly clear after the assassination of the Lord-Elector Clarendon that her involvement in the revolution was probably discovered, and her safety compromised.

"Live to fight another day, my dear," she uttered through stained lips as she closed in on the basement of the lab. Halting, she watched the light shimmer, creating an odd doorway. Determination struck her features, it was now or never. And as the ground shook, forcing dust from the ceiling, the blasts close about her ears, she stepped forward into the doorway...

...and out into an alleyway. The smell was what hit her first. Very different from Nouveau Bretagne. It was warm and heady, and there was a far-off sharpness that curled her lips back. She looked around, hoisting the bag onto her silk-draped shoulder. Her legs, steadying now, walked her out of the alley and into the cradle of the street scene.

"So...this is home, now.." Solange LeClerc ventured forth in search of a room, a bath, and her contacts.

The chessboard was set. The pieces were aligned. Now, all that was left was for Solange to begin her game. And she would begin it today.

She returned to the quaint, if somewhat pedestrian, Inn with her first pawn's move in her eel-skin clutch. An envelope of hefty currency was presented to Alain D'Mourir. This would certainly be enough to support the six cousins for a month or two, even if Jehryn had found a way to keep up his bad habits. The money was theirs anyway; or at least it was tied to them. It was from the personal assets of the Lord-Elector Clarendon; and while he was not a blood relation, the branches of family trees are often farther-reaching and stronger than fleshly limbs.

Solange was nearly sure that the currency would do a greater good than pay their boarding. Viewing the singed and soiled appearance of Ellyna, Martyna and Alain was enough to move Solange to extend an invitation to the girls for a venture to a bathhouse and appointment at a local dressmaker. If her choices were to accrue the most impact, she would have to make sure that the D'Mourirs were seen in the best possible light. New outfits, perhaps new lodgings?

Alain, as well as Martyna and Ellyna, was seeking employment. That was fine. Let them gain knowledge of this new city from the ground up. After all, if Solange's moves were successful, the D'Mourir family would be on the top of the social and political scale before too long.