[1]

Doctor Zero is watching one of the holovisions, and looking both concerned and annoyed. She's squinting at it as if this were some trick of the light that will go away if she can just clear her vision.

On the holovis, a middle aged man with a large mustache and a pickelhaube is addressing the press, accompanied by several other men in equally ridiculous uniforms: the leaders of Destroit, Montrail, Hellywood, Armordillo, Boss-ton, Boltedmore, Arkhangel, Distrito Militar and our old friend, Mayor Quinn B. of Springwheeled, whose town seems to have been expanding itself, as has his gut.

"...and makes it necessary for freedom loving men to band togezher for ze purposes of forming associations of mutual defense. And so, today, my friends, I announce ze formation of ze Traktionstadsgesselschaft. Ve are dedicated to ze preservation of ze ideals of Municipal Darvinism, against ze depredations all who would keep us static, especially ze terrorists known as "Ze Green Storm"."

The speaker was immediately bombarded with questions, many asking if this formation was motivated by the recent death of The Stalker Fang, but Doctor Zero wasn't listening.

[2]

A piece of mail arrived, stamped with the simple authorization and plain letters of ordinary military correspondence. Oenone folded the letter open (even envelopes were reused in The Green Storm and it made monitoring the grunts' mail easier for Intelligence) expecting ordinary orders.

Instead, letters glued to the paper: YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING HER ALEUTIAN WITCH YOUR LYING TONGUE WILL BE PULLED FROM YOUR MOUTH AND CUT OFF.

Her heart pounded against her ribcage as if it wanted to break free and go bouncing down the hallway and her eyes went wide with shock. But carefully, she began to refold the letter.

Someone had sent that from Rogue's Roost, and they had allies.

Now that White Chalice is flying over the ruined landscape of North America again, Doctor Zero senses some good to be done. Despite, or perhaps because of her killing The Stalker Fang (a fact which General Naga has committed an unknown number of brutal acts to suppress getting out, without her knowledge) she's still loyal to the Green Storm.

Here, perched on a rocky outcrop in the painted ochre of the Mojave Desert, where pebbles of glass that were once cities crunch under your feet, she's set up a little observation post with some equipment, her Stalkers, a high powered observation telescope, and some sandwiches and tea in a thermos. Most of her birds are wheeling around overhead nearby and she periodically dons a strange, helmet-like device to look through their eyes.

It's not strictly necessary though because what she's observing is visible to the naked eye: A larger traction city chasing a smaller one. Kicking up great plumes of dust in the distance, the behemoths wheel while their airships do battle in the skies above them. Soon the smaller city is herded towards some mountains, where it's trapped. The larger one release grappling hooks to hold its prey in place and the 'jaws' of the city are brought out, closing around it the smaller. The great metal teeth pierce floor plates that are meters deep. No doubt the snout gun of the larger city, trained on its prey, is enough to convince whoever's in charge that further resistance is a bad idea.

The scene should be a familiar one to anyone who's ever watched a nature documentary.

[1]

She speaks into a portable callbox.

"Fulfill The Vision Of The Wind Flower airbase, this is Chalice Death's Head. I am observing one large mobile city hunting another in the Mojave desert. Appears to be...Amadillo hunting RumbleTexas."

"Ryokai, Surgeon-Mechanic. Continue to observe but do not approach."

You don't have to tell her twice. She's content to remain there. But while the landscape is pretty in a desolate way, the work's monotonous.

[2]

Sometime after the newly fattened city has rumbled off, leaving behind the skeletal remains of its prey, and night spread its dark blanket, pricked by hundreds of small holes of light, Oeneone's watching the sky, leaning against the legs of one of the Stalkers.

She starts to doze off before too long.

[3]

The next morning, she awakes to find Chalice has left her behind and inwardly berates herself. She opens up a comm channel to the ship.

"Th-This is Doctor Oenone Zero. I'm very sorry about this but I d-dozed off. Can anyone come and p-pick me up? I'd ride on my Stalkers but i'm afraid of what that could do t-to the equipment. Thank you very much and i'm sorry again."