Hermitcraft/Empires SMP/Third Life/Afterlife Randomness

Letting Down Our Guard

"Anything, you say?" Ren asked, his voice friendly, but it quickly grew cold. "How about this: you can die."

Martyn took his axe, the same one Ren had given him, and swung it without hesitation, once, twice, and then the message popped up in chat as Impulse exploded into items.

>ImpulseSV was slain by InTheLittleWood<

"NO!" Bdubs screamed, struggling as he and Cleo were dragged away by Etho and Bigb. Bigb looked nauseous. Etho's face was a mask of calm... that was covered by another mask. Bdubs looked traumatized. Cleo seemed to regret agreeing to surrender.

We have Bdubs and Cleo as well, Ren typed in chat. We can kill them if you don't turn up.

Grian: SCAR NO.

GoodTimeWithScar: lol

Smajor1995: liar

Skizzleman: we do

Smallishbeans: u smelly short army people

Etho: we do!

Bdoubleo100: THEY DO COME KILL THEM

Ren laughed as he immediately heard Skiz's voice from the basement: "Shut up, Bdubs!"

This was oddly satisfying.

-

It was two days after Impulse's execution, and Martyn still hadn't returned.

After two more days with no word (he had gone out to see if he could find the hidden enemies), Ren decided to take Skiz out to help. He left Bigb and Etho to guard Cleo and Bdubs. And then he grabbed his shield, his axe, and some food and went out to find the Hand.

They did find Martyn. He was near the wool fortress in the north, figuring out a series of code words that Scar, Grian, and Scott had been using. It turned out Scar had burned down the wool fortress again. So they knew he had been there.

The king, his Hand, and his most trusted soldier went to the desert next, then the hobbit holes, then the Crastle. All were deserted, as well as Skizzle Point, Bigb's cobblestone house, and the wool fortress. The fugitives didn't seem to be anywhere.

Ren could only conclude that they had a secret base underground somewhere.

Maybe Tango's old cow farm... but that was empty as well.

Speaking of Tango, where was he? And Joel was missing as well.

Ren didn't know if they was still working with the desert hippies or if he was doing his own thing. Ren was content to leave him alone for now. It was Scar who he was after.

They scanned the ground for names and looked for signs of people there. But this world had been lived in for so long already that any half-mined trees or random cobblestone towers would be easily overlooked.

Ren avoided using chat. He didn't want to give the enemy any hint that he was hunting them.

FInally, they heard voices; faint, but present. Immediately, Ren, Martyn, and Skiz fell silent in their own conversation and listened. Ren couldn't tell what they were saying. But once, he saw the slightest glimpse of a name before whoever it belonged to crouched again.

They were where the dark forest used to be, before Scar and Grian tore it down in an attempt at monopoly. Ren whispered to his subjects to keep walking, maybe they could take the group by surprise.

The voices went quiet.

"This looks like a good place to start mining," Ren said loudly. "I doubt anyone thought to go down here."