Chapter One:

“May the universe forgive us, because the gods surely will not.”

    -Sir Wifrick Mayer 2045

    Crazala closed her eyes and slid into her dream space in preparation for drop. Sweet like warm bread and brown sugar. She slipped into a place far from home. Beautiful and heavy like the sunset before a rain. She heard the vibration coming back to her slow and steady and went with it into Recog. The drop trama would be less in Recog. She held the sunset and the sound and the smell of bread and sugar as she dropped into the link.

    “Scorch Team One”

    The voice played like a conductor on a train platform across her dream space and became a man a shadow figure, classic bowler hat stood on a deserted street. Cracked concrete sidewalk, the sound of wind through narrow unseen buildings.

    “Scorch Team One,” The shadowy figure spoke while a countdown drifted from some open unseen door like a forgotten jukebox. Far and away but constant as the wind.

    Carazal spoke in her mind carfull not to trigger her lips to move.

    “Crazala Present”

    Then like whispers they came. The rest of the team calling into the group uplink before the launch.

    “Rameraz Present”

    “Adrose Present”

    “Walken Prenset”

    “Quata Present”

    The four were like brothers to her. They were more than brothers they were closer to her than all others.

    The shadowy figure gave a nod. No one in the team would have spatial control before the launch, that was protical, but once airborne she would light things up in here.

    “All team members accounted for. Scorch Team One are you prepared to receive your drop coordinates and operational instructions?”

    “Yes”

    “Yes”

    “yes”

    “Yes”

    “yes”

    The five voices drifted in like like sleepy birds into and played across the dark sidewalk. The dark figure tipped his hat and then was gone. The count which had been quiet before now took on a new lowder tone.

    “Forty Seven, Forty six, Forty Five...”

    Then the gray suited man was back but this time holding a lantern witch he set at his feet off to his left so that his face shown in the light.

    “Admiral On the Slip,” Crazala called out to all present and listening.

    “At ease Team One,” said the admiral. In Slip Recog he was taller than in Spatial. “Every night there are four teams. You stand ready for the launch of our first offensive into the Northern hemisphere. This moment will last forever in history so rember it now and forever so that you may tell you children.”

    With that the admiral opened his coat and drew from some inner pocket a white glowing card so bright it hurt Crazlas eye’s to look at directly. Encrypted data.

    “This will be the drop zone.” he said and tossed the card at the dirty concrete.

The little thing hit the cement with a click and light exploded from where it touched the ground. The whole piece dissolved in one instant and bloomed out in gray waves of rippling light that slid over the concrete becoming topography. All the while the female voice counted on

    “Twenty nine, Twenty eight, Twenty seven…”

    “We are approaching the fifteen second up cycle so let us slow this down a bit,” said the adrenal.

    “Twenty fiv-”

The voice cut out mid count.

“Now North America Was hit hardest by the sesonal blooms. Due to the high volume of firearms present at the tipping point we suspect that all local populations will be armed and hostile to intrusion so minimal contact is advised at first.”

As the admiral talked he drew his hand over the landscape that had been born before him, giving everyone in the team time to take in all the data they could. Crazal was absorbing it like a hungry leech bot. Humidity, temperature, elevation profiles, know local flora and fauna prior to bloom cycles and tipping point.

“Your main objective is to develop systems operations for further Scorch teams and asses the asset priory which in this case can be seen best from our last flyby at twenty one hundred hours.” The Adrmral Waved his hand over the topogray of hills in one quic motion and the gray hills dropped away as thoug the had risen several thusand feet into the sky above the conitent.

The Northwest coast of North America. Once a colection of three three diffrent States in the United States. Now dissolved like the rest of the pre tipping world into some local and regional power system resembling extraction based anarchy.

“The biomass in this region was particularly high at during the initial bloom cycles and we have been watching this area for any signs of systemic or outlier life forms that can survive the bloom cycles. This high volume of biomass combine with the presence of contula biological mixing due to presence of extraction teams in the area has created a delicate situation on the ground. Delicate but also ecologically resilient. You are not to engage any hostiles, defensive measures permitted although highly discouraged.”

    “This chosen boys and girl is why we are deploying you,” said the Admiral with a little bit of the showman in his voice. He made a flicking motion with his hand as though he were trying to toss water droplets from his fingertips. Instead of water though tiny pearls of light shot down onto the gray topographical landscape. Each spot the hundreds of beads of light touched became awash with green till it had spread over a fair portion of the whole map.

    “Growth patterns resemble something we have seen in Africa, yet here we are dealing with much larger available biomass and base genetic strains in Pacific regions are reduced especially at elevation,” said the Admiral.

    “This concludeds formal brefing,” he finished and then went on. “Now to each of you I give the only gift I can as a one who has taken to stars, and returned from the darkness of humanity to train the next wave of light. This gift is death. You are dead to lives you knew. Dead to all thouse who would love and could love you. You may yet find that you are rebon after what is to come as I have been but know this. The dead that you are leaving behind is nothing compared to what you will become in the life that you will create. All your lives you have prepared for this day. I am telling you now that you are ready. You have come to this place out of the dreams of your own mind but your arrival here at this place to departer is was together. This moment you are a unit beyond a team, you are a Scorch Team. You have been forged into the most powerful weapons of creation and destruction the world has ever known. You are the greatest amorphous amalgam of powerful, rational, compassionate, creative minds. The force of your will and the fuel of training of life’s your will reshape the world. You will heal and cleanse the burns that have blistered our planet and sickened our skies”

    With a dramatic wave the Admiral drew all the landscape of North America into his palm as a glowing card once more. He tucked the light into a coat pocket, and darkness began to creep in to Crazala’s awareness.

    “You are all sons and daughters of humanity. Take back what is left of this scorched earth for it is yours and yours alone” With that the admiral vanished with his lantern and the cracked sidewalk was lit only by something coming down the street. The out of focus not a light source but only a hit at one.

    Crazala heard the voice dribble back into the Recog Slip slow at first then faster.

    “Ffffffiiiiffffftteeeeen, four teen, therteen…”

    Then a higher female voice chimed in.

    “All Si-op systems are active and accounted for. Scorch Team One, you have the a shiny new tube so don’t scratch her on the way out.”

    All the light had fled from left the Recog landscape but the warmth of laughter came from all around. Smiles inside the mind.

    “Engagin mag systems in T minious,” both pairs of voices matched up for the final count layering the robotic distant jukebox sound withe the lively organic flaws of the launch system commander. “Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one”

    Even through the inertial dampening gell that coated her whole body and the mental vacuum of blank Recog Slick Crazala felt the kick of the acceleration, as the drop pod in witch she and Scorch Team one sat was launched up into the night sky at nine hundred miles per hour.

    Recog flashed once a darker black as it cut the link to central launch control and spun into a local loop supported  by hardware in the drop pod.

    Cool black Slick was all that remained in her mind, and the four others.

    “Andrew do you have the count?” she asked into the blank Slick.

    “Nine and three, Nine and four, Nine and Five, nine and Six,” The clear sound of Andrew Walken popped into the black black slick of the local recog as a pulsating ball of blue light that winked slightly with each syllable.

    “Fara you have the bun sequence ready?” Crazala asked into the dark space that was vergen Recog Slick.

    In response a candle like the old kind you see in vid-feeds made from wax and tallow popped into the Slick and burned with a steady clear light.”

    “Nine and eight, nine and nine” said Andrews clear voice.

“Entiat burn sequence” said Crazala, and with that the whole candle burst into flames.

This acceleration would be a longer cycle and take them up and over the hump in the drop tragtrary. Nothing was felt inside.

“Now that thats over and done with lets liven this place up a bit,” said Crazala into the blank Slick. She focued on the burning flame and then called into here mind the flowing pattern of hills and sunlight that she always used as a Recog default. A sweep of grass and sunlight and blue sky was taken from come old image of earth that her grandmother used to always call on on the feeds, an uncommonly good still. Enchanting beufifle near dusk with the heat of day rising from the eath to warm the air. Around the flame a ring of stones formed so that the flame became a campfire and around it a pattern of four other sitting stones each flat a smooth. As Crazala dropped into the space with her Recog body life began to sprout and broil at her feet springing up about her. Little flowers sparked and shone as the poked from the thick warm grass around her bare feet.

She stepped up and into position sitting on her stone. With her mind and her Recog speech she called the rest to come join her and Fara.

“The environment is set we have about twenty standard minets to use before we need to drop back into real time for the drop to the surface. Everyone present and accounted for?” she asked into the sunny nole looking out at the sun stroked horizon.

And on her cue each of the members of the Scorch team stepped into the dream space she held had prepared in local Recog Environment. It was her dream but now that she was in environmental control they could enter and leave as there own perceived aviars.

Ondraya Crazla had always perceived her self as a human inside Recong as most people do, but Andrew, always the first to arive, had been a dragon fly as long as she had know him. Most were not a anautoanthroist, or one who is without a human self like he was. But this ment that he could always drop into any foren Recog fater than the rest of the team. Andrew would run most to the system reports when they finaly got an uplink on the grond.

Fara Quata as the fire in the ring flared slightly in greeting as Andrew buzzed a lazy circle around the fire pit before he landed on his flat stone.

Next came Drayten Ramirez, tall and lanky as in real life but wearing nothing but a loose pair of shots cut off at the knees and flip flops. He strolled in and settled on his stone next to the one Andrew had perched in his hovering dragon fly form. He glanced at Andrew who was making the colors change all over the abdomen of his giant insectoid body like a psychedelic blend of color playing out simple tesla pattern on his scales.

“Show off,” said Drayton, raising an eyebrow of distaste at this display of superior geekiness.

Memo was not last per say but he like to make an entrance all his own. He was working to spatial control inside Recog environments and so he always came in right where he needed to be. This time he materialized like a white vapor out the air coalescing into a cross legged sitting position on his flat stone around the fire dressed in a simple black loose fitting cotton martial airs ware common to nineteenth century mainland China.

All five members of Scorch Team one present and accounted for. The five of them had trained and worked alongside each other in real and Recog environments in all conditions for the last five years preparing for this moment. Memo and Fara had been in the primary system together and had been running recog sims together since the age of eight. They almost lived inside each others subconscious when in Recog environments together.

“Everyone get all the data from the breffing or do I need to jack that in for anyone to revew,” Ondraya asked them all. The negitaive came back in a sreioes of wispers.

“Time was sufficient”

“Were good”

“The old showman takes is time”

“You know, Onday, that was the easy part,” this last from Fara wispering out of his central spot in the group as the fire. “The burn cycle has twenty nine standard seconds, and it looks like your ratio is only near three to one. Do you want to slow it down for a bit so we can all catch our breath so to sppek?”

There was a series of nodding motions from all round the circle and so with a sigh assent Ondraya closed her eyes and held her hands out in front of her. A ball of glowing light appeared between her palms.

“You boys are so boring some time, we have been waiting to so long for this” she said, as she began to manipulate the globe of light spinning it so that red and blue glowing dots apred on in front of her. She pressed and tapped them using this standard interface the manually spun drown the Recog Slip to something near a twenty to one time difference ratio. Closed her palms and collapsing the ball of light she closed the interface.

“Lets be totally clear is everyone ready for this,” she asked taking on her bossy older sister tone.

“We are all a ready and as terified as you Onday,” Fara said. ”That dose not mean we are not the best we will ever be.”

“‘They have put stars in the sky tonight,’” said Memo quoting from The Book of Ash and Light.

Andrew chuckled and then added in a half mocking reverential tone that they all knew to be the best rendition of chaplain Goromez. “‘May the stars fall and Heaven be reborn, on his scorched earth.’”

There were smiles and warmth that bathed them all in the ensuing laughter.

“All lovely blasphemy and dogma aside gentlemen,” Ondraya went on. “We will be dropping thought one hundred and ten kilometers of atmosphere in just about five minutes so let us get down to business.”

“We only get dropped once, Onday let us enjoy it,” this coming from the workaholic Drayton.

Ondraya just scowled at him and smiled sweetly back at her, and she cracked.

“Ok, I’m cracked,” she yielded looked around the group. “What does everyone want?”

“All we want is a sweet kiss from you and maby some of your grandmothers cooking,” said Mamo smiling on his rock.

“I will but only if Dray starts the after drop summary so I am convinced that you all know you shit for real,” said Ondraya.
    “Because you asked with your sweet voice,” said Drayten and began at once. “According to all topo data the area has five major systems of functionality. Three are ruled out because of their proximity to the coast line and know extraction activity.”

“Witch cartels?” asked Memo.

“All of the Pacific medly have used the area as a base point for operations but RF signals have the going powers on the dirt to be a group call the Falcon Coalition in the last nine years of data we have on the area it looks like things are in constant flux between local factions and control of the coastline,” Andrew put in.

“That means,” Drayton went on obviously redirecting to conversation. “With such high volume of local extraction and dynamic on the conntal power struggles we need to have clear buffers on our the Zone expansion and cycle ranges so that we are well within safe boundaries even after we up jump our operational base from our illustrious five to a working twenty or more. Memo would that be accurate for the needs of a Hopper setup?”

“The Hopper system would work with just us five but any operation above eight will give us an increase of success up to 45%,” said Memo. “No small thing.”

“With twenty as a good goal and margin for error then,” Drayton continued. “That leaves only two set points to use. Protocol says that we drop in and set up at the first hear,” he said lighting a point on a small 3D replica of the larger topo display they had all seen moments before in launch control.

“Then we work to the second after no less than two bloom cycles, and setting up a second base of operations there,” he went on. “After which we can determine out of the two the better suited option for Hopper construction.”

Wile Drayten contued to ramble on about what systems would need be set up Ondraya worked her majic and in moments the smell of backing choclate filled the air and warm white dishes floated seaming out of nowhere to settle themselves in front of each team meber. Fara’s plate rested next to the fire and the sugary gaze that coverd the paistry began to sizzle.

“Andrew when would we have the initial test cycles completed by,” asked Drayten, taking his plate from where it hovered in front of him an eyeing the the warm chocolate filled pastrys with the eyes of a predator.

“Nine days on average given no complications with gear recovery,” Andrew replied. “Longer than three weeks if we have either damage or recovery issues.”

“Witch in all likelihood we will,” put in Ondraya while she settled her own plate in her lap and picking up the warm sticky confection that she had conjured from memories of her grandmothers kitchen. “So taking that into account how long till we have clean room systems and a fully operational Vat-to-Vat production system available, Memo?”

“Nigne-,” said Memo around a mouth full of warm pastrie before swallowing and trying again. “Nine weeks, my fair lady and no less.”

“That is well within our boundaries of systems supplies,” Drayton went on. “But we may need to call for a few drops while we are getting things set up.” a pause for more chewing and swallowing. “Tep clean tents will need a spot sight withing the next two nights but that is always plug and play simple stuff Onday. Is anything enlse the matter we have been over all this. We are all ready.”

There were silent chewing nods from around and within the fire.

“That is a given,” put in Ondraya. “But boys you know how I run a clean shop. No side systems until we have everything that we have at eighty five percent efficiency or above. Only after that can we talk about the expansion.”

In response she got a series of satisfied grunts from full mouths around the circle. The Smell of criminalizing sugar wafted from the center were Fara despite not having a mouth to eat it with in his current Recog state was enjoying his pastry just as much as everyone else.

“Now with that are we done?” Ondraya asked the group. She set down her own plate that now only carried the chocolate smear and the memories of her grandma's kitchen. The bubbling warmth that she always associated with hot cream and Matia filled her dream drunkenness of her Recog bellie.

Bringer her palms together she brought up the systems interace for there Seng-IX Drop Capsule. Her hands spun the ball flicking red and blue dots and data began to scrol past her head as she ran down the invitory of all items, checking doble checking. As she did this her fingers danced like any master pienist and sparks of data few into the air to hover aournd her displaing all the accent and drop data so everyone in the group could see it.

Date time, local to drop point, local to lanch control, Recog ratio time. Burn cycle time. All spinning down.

“Someone a little nervous?” asked Fara from the fire.

“Just docuble checking everything, hang on,” she had sworn this packet was not there before the launch sequence.

“What is it?” Andrew slight concern in his tone.

“Not sure,” she said then paused. “No way I missed this before. To lage”

“Let me see,” said Andrew.

“Guys and gal, now we kind of are running out of time here,” said Fara.

“No shit,” said Memo eyeing the count down timer for the burn cycle which was past the five second mark in real time. “Ratio deterioration Onday, twelve percent.”

She was indeed out of time, and this would have to wait but with a flick she spun the file size and data type info off the interface and let it hang there in front of the group.”

“What in all the burning centinela hells is that doing with us,” Andrew whispered.

“No time to ask questions deep questions like that my friend,” Ondraya’s voice had hardened. “Obviously the Admral sent it with us becaue he though we might need it and could’t get it thought the right channles.”

“Fucking theatrical old bastard instant he,” said Drayten shaking his head. “The dam card trick.”

“Hey man he sent that shit with us it was for a reson,” put in Fara. “And we will learn that sooner or later.”

“Ratio Deterioration close to-”

“Seventeen perchent,” Ondraya cut of Memo. “Yes I know which is why I’m shutting it down. But befor we go I want everyone to know that whatever happens when we hit the atmosphere again I know we are the best, and we will cut the crap and eat the pain to come. We will be the shining light that changes this fucked up world. You are my brothers in fire blood and together we are spice of life.”

“The spice” all the boys sad together.

“So lets get our feet hot and our ears wet and make something of this burth place”

“Hot and wet is how we like it,” They all shouted together. then “Scorch Team One!”

While there chant took hold the whole recog envroment dissolved away leaving the five of them togeter in the empty black void of Slip Recog.

Ondraya tapped one last green splot in her interface spher to initiate to the shutdown sequence. The song was an old one. Something like one hundred years or more. The words had faded away which was best for recog environments. When the sphere winked out the intro riff started from some long ago but not forgotten artest know to some in the northern hemisphere as Ozborne.

As the light went out and they all dropped out of the local Recog environment and into spatial suspension the song carried them out and it’s up tempo spun their brains and heart rates back to normal speeds.

Ondray was alone now inside her suit, the song still beating inside her head clicking the recog environment and it flood of information and data into her conscious mind as her full brain function spun back to one hundred percent. She needed to hold that while maintaining a slack systems check on her body.

Drops were like this, a balance between the razor edge of mental functionality and the loose limp body needed to role with the stress to come. ‘Let the sute do most of the work’ came the voice of her drop trainer Alexia. ‘It’s kinda like sex with a man who takes con