“Get behind me.” The Imperial First Class’s voice was deep and commanding. The remaining assistants followed his order without hesitation, gathering behind the enormous warrior. One of the men slipped on the dark blood now forming a grisly puddle across the floor. Von Krass easily reached out and caught the man’s arm, pulling the trembling assistant out of the way as though he were a child. On the other end of the room Nerol stood in a daze, leaning against a lab table and wheezing heavily.

Von Krass and the Felix stood before each other. Felix One was standing between them and the door, and the assistants could only shrink back and watch.

It was Von Krass that made the first move. He lunged across the laboratory and grabbed at Felix One with his gigantic hands. The Felix remained still, and as Von Krass charged toward him, the Felix lifted its hands and met grips with the giant. Von Krass’s momentum halted instantly, and the two were locked hand in hand, grappling like fighting bears. It looked bizarre; the small naked body of the Felix stood its ground with seeming ease as the Imperial First Class goliath bore down on him with gnashing teeth. Then, as fast as lightning, the Felix reversed its strength and pulled the giant’s enormous wrists toward its chest. Von Krass’s own power now met with no resistance and he stumbled forward from the momentum, doubled by the Felix’s sudden pull. At the same instant the Felix lunged forward and head butted Von Krass square in the nose. The mass of the decorated Imperial First Class soldier fell to the laboratory floor with a disturbing thud, dead.

Pral Nerol burrowed his face in his hands and shook his head in an attempt to regain his composure. After a moment of panic he leapt to the side, mashing the security alarm by the door. Instantaneously, flashing lights flooded the laboratory and an alarm boomed. Felix One turned and stepped toward the huddling assistants as the visual and audio feeds cut and the video abruptly turned to static.

The circle of councillors exploded into a storm of questions, and Emperor Faris was forced to shout for silence.

“What the hell was that? How did that man do that to Von Krass? No one could defeat him in one hit,” General Portid roared. “It’s not possible!”

“First and foremost it must be made clear to you all that the Felix One in that video was no man,” Councillor Harken called over the other voices. “Second, the video alone proves it is possible, General Portid. The implications of what you all have just seen are staggering. If that Felix could kill Von Krass with such ease, it is logical that it also could have the power to inflict the carnage we have witnessed in Municera and the Twin Cities.”

“Good lord . . .” General Barlow muttered.

“We don’t have the luxury of time to sit and discuss the plausibility of what we have seen. We believe these . . . ” Emperor Faris turned to Councillor Harken. “ . . . machines?”

Councillor Harken thought it over, obviously unsure himself. “Felixes. For simplicity’s sake, yes, I suppose we can refer to them as machines.”

“Very well,” Emperor Faris said. “These Felix machines are directly related to our assault. Although the video feed ended where you saw, the last security transmissions from the laboratory indicate the other three Felixes had all begun their activation sequences before we lost contact with Municera. It’s possible this . . . Felix One . . . initiated them himself, but equally likely that the activation sequences had already begun by the time they hit the alarms. Either way, it must be assumed the other three Felixes malfunctioned in the same manner as Felix One, and are every bit as powerful.”