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Description
VRMetal
Issue 1: Initialize
Written by M.R.Maloney

Page 1:
Panel 1: We see two planets from a distance out in space, with an armada of ships near each, and a third planet in the center that appears to be mostly covered in dark clouds with bright flashes from explosions visible even from outer space. Each of the two armadas are drastically different, the one on the left primarily being visibly armed to the teeth, and the one on the right being sleek and maneuverable but not as visibly armed. Between the two armadas on the top and bottom of the planet is a battle in space with rockets, lasers, particle cannons, explosions in space (mostly circular), etc. There is no SFX at all, only the narration.

Narr.: "Planet Kathos VII"

Narr.: "Eternal battleground between Garne (Kathos VI) and Yot (Kathos VIII) and the predominant species of each."

Panel 2: 1/4th height, full width panel. We see a thin male reptilian humanoid (a Tilna named Webik) with a helmet and a lot of cybernetics sticking out of his skull and neck partially camouflaged against a building with broken glass windows that are boarded up. There is a cable running from the window to large satellite dish at the top of the building. The reptilian humanoid has spliced a new attachment onto the wire and has a cord running from his neck to this attachment, his eyes glazed. Through part of the window we can see a female feline humanoid (a Keshan named Pranda) standing with the same glazed look, a cord running from their neck to something below the bottom of the window.

Narr.: "The merciless Keshan and the cunning Tilna."

Panel 3: The Keshan is visible in the building with several others running out the door, as seen from inside at a slightly elevated position. One of the Keshan is waving a hand in front of the face of the one interfaced to a box on a desk, but another it tugging that individual away.

Keshan Private: ""

Keshan Private 2: ""

Keshan Private 3: ""

Keshan Captain: ""

Page 2:
Panel 1: The Keshan outside, running away from the building. The private is pointing back at the male reptilian humanoid, swinging their gun around at him as they notice him outside.

Keshan Private: ""

Keshan Captain: ""

Keshan Captain 2: ""

Panel 2: We see a split screen of the Keshan and Tilna's respective devices and their eyes, a glyph glowing from them and their devices.

Panel 3: The Keshan and Tilna as seen from the window seeing both, a bright light coming from above, but the glyph is in the air where they were and their bodies are both gone.

Panel 4: The same panel, only the glyph is gone and the building is being wiped out by a nuclear fire.

Page 3:
Panel 1: We see a large futuristic metropolis at night with all its glowing neon lights and a steady downpour of rain. Flying cars are moving all over the place, but two have a green and purple light on their sides flashing like a police car siren that are in the midground, firing energy blasts at a figure on a hover-cycle that is flying toward the readers. The driver's head is slightly turned back to look at the shots being fired as she dodges and weaves the oncoming fire. The driver has a singular black orb for an eye, round nubs for teeth which she is grinding, a pale blue color on their back and sides with a black band and then white in the center of her body. Her body seems to be a mixture of electric eels, squids, humans, and primarily the Glaucus Atlanticus sea slug with a bit of insectoid exoskeleton on the four arms, ribs, waist and legs. Her hair is black and spiking up on top behind a ridge on the forehead and then goes downward in dreadlocks. Her back has several tentacles hanging off of the back of the rib cage halfway down the spine as well, and almost feathery extensions coming off her shoulders that are black tipped and somewhat resemble the Glaucus Atlanticus's fringes. She clearly has a cord running into her hover-cycle and there is a face similar to hers flickering up as a hologram above her control console. 2/3rd height, full width panel.

Narr.: "Planet Jain"

Narr. 2: "Metroplex 78"

Narr. 3: "A peaceful place to live."

SFX: "PHTOOOM!"

SFX 2: "PHTOOOM!"

SFX 3: "PHTOOOM!"

Aliye (the driver): ""

Aliye 2: ""

Narr. 4: "If you stay on the right side of the law."

Panel 2: The face flickering out and being replaced by a colorless human feminine face, with the glyph in front of its head. Aliye is glancing down at the console. Up ahead we see the same face flickering on a hover-truck with advertising trying to come back through the interference to its screen.

Jinx: ""

Aliye: ""

Aliye 2: ""

Panel 3: Aliye vanished with the hover-cycle still moving on its own as it crashes into the hover-truck and utterly shatters the image which has switched back to what it was supposed to be instead of the face. The console has switched back to Jenx's face which looks surprised.

SFX (coming from console): "KRRSSSHH!"

SFX (same) 2: ""

SFX (Coming from the impact of the hover-vehicles): "SMASH!"

Panel 4: The hover-cycle exploding, the pursuing hover-vehicles turning to the side to avoid crashing as well.

SFX: "KABOOM!"

Page 4:
Panel 1: We see several lifeboats and people on debris trying to get away from the sinking RMS Titanic.

Narr.: "Planet Earth"

Narr. 2: "North Atlantic Ocea"

Narr. 3: "April 15th, 1912"

Panel 2: We see one of the restrooms with a Chinese man wearing a sailor uniform trapped inside with everything under water, trying to kick at the door but his leg hitting a light.

Panel 3: The man glowing faintly as the glyph appears in the water next to him.

Panel 4: The man vanished as well as the glyph, everything otherwise the same.

Page 5:
Panel 1: The man from the Titanic (Len Lam) is collapsed on the ground completely drenched and a lot of water around him. We're down a meter or two above his body looking down at him from a slight angle instead of straight down, and all around him we see various humans and aliens fighting with each other. Every one of them is on a large plateau with a shifting purple liquid at the bottom of it, and most are running past Len toward the top of the panel beyond where the border cuts off the camera. Aliye is walking up to Len, though we can't see her full body yet.

Panel 2: Len coughing up water, Aliye crouched over him now, looking around and offering him a clawed hand.

Len: "Kohf!"

Len 2: "Haaaaaaaaaaaahhn!"

Panel 3: Len seeing a blur and grasping the hand, Aliye's face away from him.

Len: "W-Where...?

Len 2: "How...?"

Panel 4: Everything clear now, Aliye's face looking at him with a bright smile (but somewhat startling since she isn't human).

Aliye: "How you survived when you should be dead?"

Aliye 2: "No idea."

Aliye 3: "I think we're all in the same boat."

Len: "Aaahhgh!"

Len 2: "Demon!"

Page 6:
Panel 1: Len's eyes wide as Aliye holds his shoulders to keep him pinned down.

Aliye: "Stop that."

Aliye 2: "My name is Aliye Sehn."

Aliye 3: "What's your name?"

Len: "L-Len Lam."

Panel 2: Aliye having let go of Len, still crouching next to him as he sits up, shivering. Aliye is smiling again, but not as broadly.

Aliye: "Len, I probably have the same, well, maybe even more questions than you right now, but one is the most important right now:"

Aliye 2: "How well can you fight?"

Panel 3: Len looking where Aliye is looking, seeing a bunch of the fighting aliens scrambling around a tall pillar that seems to be high enough for one to jump to another tall pillar along a series of five of them.

Page 7:
Panel 1: In the midst of the fight near the edge closest to Len and Aliye we see Pranda and Webik back to back fighting while arguing with each other.

Pranda: "I will quench my thirst with your blood once we have vanquished these fools, Tilna."

Webik: "I'd say right back at you, but I think you shriveled up a decade ago."

Pranda 2: "Ha!"

Panel 2: Pranda and Webik punching the same individual while she forcefully kisses him.

Pranda: "I like your ire, Tilna."

Panel 3: Webik blinking and elbowing someone trying to sneak up on him in the face without even looking back.

Webik: "Huh."

Webik 2: "Guess there's no pretense now that we're out of that war-zone..."

Panel 4: Pranda smirking and sweeping her legs to knock someone else's out from under them while Webik slams a fist in their face.

Pranda: "And into another one where we aren't interfacing with a machine between us."

Pranda 2: "True."

Pranda 3: "But keep it up."

Page 8:
Panel 1: Pranda with an amused sultry glance to Webik, throwing a fist at Len who blocks it and has his other hand up to show he isn't attacking. Aliye is next to him shoving someone else away with a look of concentration on her face.

Pranda: "It is enticing."

Len: "Truce!"

Panel 2: The four of them standing in a row making a path together through the mob as they keep shoving, punching and kicking various individuals into each other so that someone else starts fighting them. Webik is smirking, and Len is snagging a rope off of someone's shoulder and putting it around his.

Aliye: "Paired together in order to increase odds of reaching the pillar."

Aliye 2: "Great minds think alike it seems."

Webik: "Oh, is that what we're doing now?"

Webik 2: "I thought we were just enjoying a good brawl."

Aliye 3: "..."

Panel 3: The four at the pillar, Len being thrown in the air by all four of Aliye's arms while Pranda and Webik fight the people trying to get to her back.

Len: "If I can get a boost then-"

Len 2: "Whoa!"

Aliye: "Yes, yes, quickly please."

Panel 4: Len holding the rope and grunting at the top of the pillar as Pranda starts going up.

Page 9:
Panel 1: Len and Pranda tugging as Aliye starts climbing up and uses two of her arms to help Webik up.

Panel 2: The four at the top of the pillar, Len panting, Pranda throwing the rope back off the pillar at those below (though we can't see them in the panel, just the main characters and the rope falling).

Webik: "Hey!"

Aliye: "It is not prudent to give those we just fought to get up here a speedier path to reach us."

Panel 3: Pranda leaping from the pillar to the next one, Webik preparing to as well.

Len: "It was honorable."

Pranda: "Precisely."

Webik: "Honor, schmonor."

Panel 4: The four leaping from pillar to pillar.

Panel 5: More of them leaping, Aliye helping Len up one of them as he's hanging over the edge of it.

Panel 6: Pranda and Len at the bottom of the last pillar, Webik just leaping off and Aliye lowering herself slowly.

Page 10:
Panel 1: Full page, showing a vast city in the far distance across a great sea of melted and warped glass and metal with fiber-optics running underneath it. About two hundred meters away is a temple of sorts seemingly made of circuit-boards and glass. Beyond the city we can see a growing storm clouds that are coursing with internal lightning. In the immediate foreground we see the backs and shadows of our protagonists.

Aliye: We should take shelter."

Aliye 2: "Strange desert or not, I'd rather be completely under a glass box than near exposed metal."

Len, Prada and Webik: "Agreed."

Page 11:
Panel 1: The four are walking down a flight of stairs in the strange temple, lights on the stairs starting to illuminate a few steps in front of them.

Len: "The only reasons I know I'm not dreaming this is that none of my dreams have ever been this vivid, nor have I ever seen anything like any of you..."

Webik: "Right back atcha."

Panel 2: Aliye rubbing her chin as they keep descending, seen from in front of her.

Aliye: "Yes..."

Aliye 2: "curious."

Aliye 3: "And that we all understand each other's language is a mystery."

Panel 3: The four looking on at a cluster of people in the main hall area of the temple, each standing in front of a metal pillar that rises from the floor. Webik is getting into a fighting stance but a hologram of a Tilna hand wagging its index finger at him.

Pillar (robotic): "Please insert a hand each into the receptacle to have the first stage reward bestowed upon you."

Panel 4: Len looking at Aliye with a raised eyebrow and she is just shrugging, putting her hand into a hole in the pillar.

Page 12:
Panel 1: The four all have their hands in the cylinder, Len wincing. A glow the same color as the glyphs earlier is coming out of the holes.

Panel 2: The four looking at each other and their own arms, seeing that each one that was put in now has a metal band filled with circuitry lines on it with three large buttons sticking out of them. The cylinder retracting now. Far behind them we see other groups starting to disappear.

Pillar (robotic): "Enjoy your reward, and best of luck to you."

Panel 3: The four are looking confused at each other, Len looking at the pillar's previous position as the glyph appears again and they start to vanish.

Len: "Wait, what?"

Panel 4: The four falling from a height in the air into a sea of energy.

Page 13:
Panel 1: We see a nearby shore on the sea of energy close to where they fell in, a large splash visible despite the waves.

Panel 2: The four are crawling out of the sea of energy onto the shore and we can see that the arm bands are spreading across their bodies, forming a layer of armor.

Panel 3: The four looking at their new armor as the helmets start to form around their heads. Each suit is sized to them specifically as hard-suits that each have a unique design. Len's is designed for speed, endurance and precision control and will have multiple spheroid weapons in the gauntlets and on his back. Aliye's suit uses long tendril whips to attack from a distance with slashing strikes or wrapping her opponent in place, and due to the pneumatic coils in the suit it has twice the speed of the suits the others have as well as hacking abilities but at a loss of strength, defense and having very sharp handling. Webik's suit has cloaking technologies even more advanced than his natural ability as well as small laser bursts and blinding light beams. Pranda's suit has morphing technology to let it form almost any weapon if it has the right objects to use as raw materials. It has a lot of upper body strength and a strong kick, as well as being strong for headbutts, but is a bit slow at blocking.

Wesbik: "♪"

Aliye: "Fascinating..."

SFX (coming from further on the shore): "GROOOOAAAANNGKK!"

Page 14:
Panel 1: The four looking at a charging medium polygon T-Rex that has a laser cannon on its back as well charging up and about to fire at them.

Page 15:
Panel 1: The Uushar Numina pantheon gathered in a room with hundreds of windows open showing various individuals throughout The Silicon Fields, the realm the story is taking place in. The majority are focused on the recent additions, including the four. Bobh is wearing a visor and fedora. and looking like a portly shopkeeper. Ves stands next to him, appearing as a female biker with a human skull painted on her closed helmet and a crow skull hanging from a necklace, and is flipping around a butterfly knife. The Weeping Woman looks like a burn victim wearing bandages from head to toe except in a gap between the bridge of her nose and her neck, and we can see her tears rolling down her cheeks. Above the bandages is only a trench-coat. Wenba appears to be a woman with massive pixelation and degradation of her image. Unate appears to be a woman made completely of silver with thin lines of circuitry separating joints and segments. Najon seems to be a tattooed man with a myriad of questions on his body and a simple pair of black shorts on with nothing else. Byn has the appearance of a crackling purple energy in a female form wearing light armor. Hexen has the appearance of a surfer with a cyborg arm and trident strapped to his back.

Bobh: "Well, I'd say the first stage went rather well."

Byn (crackling font and bubble): "Far too much cooperation, many more to be weeded out before our champions reveal themselves."

Unate: "Indeed, though there is some potential.

Najon: "I still say not giving them a single clue is unfair to those from times The Silicon Fields were still inaccessible without our intervention."

Wenba: "Neither mortal or immortal lives are fair, Najon."

Hexen: "Do my ears deceive me?"

Hexen 2: "Truth from the queen of corruption?"

Page 16:
Panel 1: Wenba giving a pixelated smile with a finger in front of it as if to shush Hexen.

Panel 2: Ves stabbing the monitor showing Len. It is cracked now but still clear his face was on it, as well as having sparks coming from around the blade's point.

Ves: "I agreed to letting those who would leave little to no remains in their own homelands be taken for these tests..."

Ves 2: "But every last one will die by my hand if they should receive aid from any of you in the challenge to follow."

Panel 3: Len's eyes wide in fear seen partially through the helmet of his armor as he's chased by the polygon T-Rex.

Ves: "All your attempts to craft this new realm will be for naught if not one single outsider is able to meet its darkest challenges and survive."

Description
VRMetal
Issue 1: Initialize
Written by M.R.Maloney

Page 1:
Panel 1: We see two planets from a distance out in space, with an armada of ships near each, and a third planet in the center that appears to be mostly covered in dark clouds with bright flashes from explosions visible even from outer space. Each of the two armadas are drastically different, the one on the left primarily being visibly armed to the teeth, and the one on the right being sleek and maneuverable but not as visibly armed. Between the two armadas on the top and bottom of the planet is a battle in space with rockets, lasers, particle cannons, explosions in space (mostly circular), etc. There is no SFX at all, only the narration.

Narr.: "Planet Kathos VII"

Narr.: "Eternal battleground between Garne (Kathos VI) and Yot (Kathos VIII) and the predominant species of each."

Panel 2: 1/4th height, full width panel. We see a thin male reptilian humanoid (a Tilna named Webik) with a helmet and a lot of cybernetics sticking out of his skull and neck partially camouflaged against a building with broken glass windows that are boarded up. There is a cable running from the window to large satellite dish at the top of the building. The reptilian humanoid has spliced a new attachment onto the wire and has a cord running from his neck to this attachment, his eyes glazed. Through part of the window we can see a female feline humanoid (a Keshan named Pranda) standing with the same glazed look, a cord running from their neck to something below the bottom of the window.

Narr.: "The merciless Keshan and the cunning Tilna."

Panel 3: The Keshan is visible in the building with several others running out the door, as seen from inside at a slightly elevated position. One of the Keshan is waving a hand in front of the face of the one interfaced to a box on a desk, but another it tugging that individual away.

Keshan Private: ""

Keshan Private 2: ""

Keshan Private 3: ""

Keshan Captain: ""

Page 2:
Panel 1: The Keshan outside, running away from the building. The private is pointing back at the male reptilian humanoid, swinging their gun around at him as they notice him outside.

Keshan Private: ""

Keshan Captain: ""

Keshan Captain 2: ""

Panel 2: We see a split screen of the Keshan and Tilna's respective devices and their eyes, a glyph glowing from them and their devices.

Panel 3: The Keshan and Tilna as seen from the window seeing both, a bright light coming from above, but the glyph is in the air where they were and their bodies are both gone.

Panel 4: The same panel, only the glyph is gone and the building is being wiped out by a nuclear fire.

Page 3:
Panel 1: We see a large futuristic metropolis at night with all its glowing neon lights and a steady downpour of rain. Flying cars are moving all over the place, but two have a green and purple light on their sides flashing like a police car siren that are in the midground, firing energy blasts at a figure on a hover-cycle that is flying toward the readers. The driver's head is slightly turned back to look at the shots being fired as she dodges and weaves the oncoming fire. The driver has a singular black orb for an eye, round nubs for teeth which she is grinding, a pale blue color on their back and sides with a black band and then white in the center of her body. Her body seems to be a mixture of electric eels, squids, humans, and primarily the Glaucus Atlanticus sea slug with a bit of insectoid exoskeleton on the four arms, ribs, waist and legs. Her hair is black and spiking up on top behind a ridge on the forehead and then goes downward in dreadlocks. Her back has several tentacles hanging off of the back of the rib cage halfway down the spine as well, and almost feathery extensions coming off her shoulders that are black tipped and somewhat resemble the Glaucus Atlanticus's fringes. She clearly has a cord running into her hover-cycle and there is a face similar to hers flickering up as a hologram above her control console. 2/3rd height, full width panel.

Narr.: "Planet Jain"

Narr. 2: "Metroplex 78"

Narr. 3: "A peaceful place to live."

SFX: "PHTOOOM!"

SFX 2: "PHTOOOM!"

SFX 3: "PHTOOOM!"

Aliye (the driver): ""

Aliye 2: ""

Narr. 4: "If you stay on the right side of the law."

Panel 2: The face flickering out and being replaced by a colorless human feminine face, with the glyph in front of its head. Aliye is glancing down at the console. Up ahead we see the same face flickering on a hover-truck with advertising trying to come back through the interference to its screen.

Jinx: ""

Aliye: ""

Aliye 2: ""

Panel 3: Aliye vanished with the hover-cycle still moving on its own as it crashes into the hover-truck and utterly shatters the image which has switched back to what it was supposed to be instead of the face. The console has switched back to Jenx's face which looks surprised.

SFX (coming from console): "KRRSSSHH!"

SFX (same) 2: ""

SFX (Coming from the impact of the hover-vehicles): "SMASH!"

Panel 4: The hover-cycle exploding, the pursuing hover-vehicles turning to the side to avoid crashing as well.

SFX: "KABOOM!"

Page 4:
Panel 1: We see several lifeboats and people on debris trying to get away from the sinking RMS Titanic.

Narr.: "Planet Earth"

Narr. 2: "North Atlantic Ocea"

Narr. 3: "April 15th, 1912"

Panel 2: We see one of the restrooms with a Chinese man wearing a sailor uniform trapped inside with everything under water, trying to kick at the door but his leg hitting a light.

Panel 3: The man glowing faintly as the glyph appears in the water next to him.

Panel 4: The man vanished as well as the glyph, everything otherwise the same.

Page 5:
Panel 1: The man from the Titanic (Len Lam) is collapsed on the ground completely drenched and a lot of water around him. We're down a meter or two above his body looking down at him from a slight angle instead of straight down, and all around him we see various humans and aliens fighting with each other. Every one of them is on a large plateau with a shifting purple liquid at the bottom of it, and most are running past Len toward the top of the panel beyond where the border cuts off the camera. Aliye is walking up to Len, though we can't see her full body yet.

Panel 2: Len coughing up water, Aliye crouched over him now, looking around and offering him a clawed hand.

Len: "Kohf!"

Len 2: "Haaaaaaaaaaaahhn!"

Panel 3: Len seeing a blur and grasping the hand, Aliye's face away from him.

Len: "W-Where...?

Len 2: "How...?"

Panel 4: Everything clear now, Aliye's face looking at him with a bright smile (but somewhat startling since she isn't human).

Aliye: "How you survived when you should be dead?"

Aliye 2: "No idea."

Aliye 3: "I think we're all in the same boat."

Len: "Aaahhgh!"

Len 2: "Demon!"

Page 6:
Panel 1: Len's eyes wide as Aliye holds his shoulders to keep him pinned down.

Aliye: "Stop that."

Aliye 2: "My name is Aliye Sehn."

Aliye 3: "What's your name?"

Len: "L-Len Lam."

Panel 2: Aliye having let go of Len, still crouching next to him as he sits up, shivering. Aliye is smiling again, but not as broadly.

Aliye: "Len, I probably have the same, well, maybe even more questions than you right now, but one is the most important right now:"

Aliye 2: "How well can you fight?"

Panel 3: Len looking where Aliye is looking, seeing a bunch of the fighting aliens scrambling around a tall pillar that seems to be high enough for one to jump to another tall pillar along a series of five of them.

Page 7:
Panel 1: In the midst of the fight near the edge closest to Len and Aliye we see Pranda and Webik back to back fighting while arguing with each other.

Pranda: "I will quench my thirst with your blood once we have vanquished these fools, Tilna."

Webik: "I'd say right back at you, but I think you shriveled up a decade ago."

Pranda 2: "Ha!"

Panel 2: Pranda and Webik punching the same individual while she forcefully kisses him.

Pranda: "I like your ire, Tilna."

Panel 3: Webik blinking and elbowing someone trying to sneak up on him in the face without even looking back.

Webik: "Huh."

Webik 2: "Guess there's no pretense now that we're out of that war-zone..."

Panel 4: Pranda smirking and sweeping her legs to knock someone else's out from under them while Webik slams a fist in their face.

Pranda: "And into another one where we aren't interfacing with a machine between us."

Pranda 2: "True."

Pranda 3: "But keep it up."

Page 8:
Panel 1: Pranda with an amused sultry glance to Webik, throwing a fist at Len who blocks it and has his other hand up to show he isn't attacking. Aliye is next to him shoving someone else away with a look of concentration on her face.

Pranda: "It is enticing."

Len: "Truce!"

Panel 2: The four of them standing in a row making a path together through the mob as they keep shoving, punching and kicking various individuals into each other so that someone else starts fighting them. Webik is smirking, and Len is snagging a rope off of someone's shoulder and putting it around his.

Aliye: "Paired together in order to increase odds of reaching the pillar."

Aliye 2: "Great minds think alike it seems."

Webik: "Oh, is that what we're doing now?"

Webik 2: "I thought we were just enjoying a good brawl."

Aliye 3: "..."

Panel 3: The four at the pillar, Len being thrown in the air by all four of Aliye's arms while Pranda and Webik fight the people trying to get to her back.

Len: "If I can get a boost then-"

Len 2: "Whoa!"

Aliye: "Yes, yes, quickly please."

Panel 4: Len holding the rope and grunting at the top of the pillar as Pranda starts going up.

Page 9:
Panel 1: Len and Pranda tugging as Aliye starts climbing up and uses two of her arms to help Webik up.

Panel 2: The four at the top of the pillar, Len panting, Pranda throwing the rope back off the pillar at those below (though we can't see them in the panel, just the main characters and the rope falling).

Webik: "Hey!"

Aliye: "It is not prudent to give those we just fought to get up here a speedier path to reach us."

Panel 3: Pranda leaping from the pillar to the next one, Webik preparing to as well.

Len: "It was honorable."

Pranda: "Precisely."

Webik: "Honor, schmonor."

Panel 4: The four leaping from pillar to pillar.

Panel 5: More of them leaping, Aliye helping Len up one of them as he's hanging over the edge of it.

Panel 6: Pranda and Len at the bottom of the last pillar, Webik just leaping off and Aliye lowering herself slowly.

Page 10:
Panel 1: Full page, showing a vast city in the far distance across a great sea of melted and warped glass and metal with fiber-optics running underneath it. About two hundred meters away is a temple of sorts seemingly made of circuit-boards and glass. Beyond the city we can see a growing storm clouds that are coursing with internal lightning. In the immediate foreground we see the backs and shadows of our protagonists.

Aliye: We should take shelter."

Aliye 2: "Strange desert or not, I'd rather be completely under a glass box than near exposed metal."

Len, Prada and Webik: "Agreed."

Page 11:
Panel 1: The four are walking down a flight of stairs in the strange temple, lights on the stairs starting to illuminate a few steps in front of them.

Len: "The only reasons I know I'm not dreaming this is that none of my dreams have ever been this vivid, nor have I ever seen anything like any of you..."

Webik: "Right back atcha."

Panel 2: Aliye rubbing her chin as they keep descending, seen from in front of her.

Aliye: "Yes..."

Aliye 2: "curious."

Aliye 3: "And that we all understand each other's language is a mystery."

Panel 3: The four looking on at a cluster of people in the main hall area of the temple, each standing in front of a metal pillar that rises from the floor. Webik is getting into a fighting stance but a hologram of a Tilna hand wagging its index finger at him.

Pillar (robotic): "Please insert a hand each into the receptacle to have the first stage reward bestowed upon you."

Panel 4: Len looking at Aliye with a raised eyebrow and she is just shrugging, putting her hand into a hole in the pillar.

Page 12:
Panel 1: The four all have their hands in the cylinder, Len wincing. A glow the same color as the glyphs earlier is coming out of the holes.

Panel 2: The four looking at each other and their own arms, seeing that each one that was put in now has a metal band filled with circuitry lines on it with three large buttons sticking out of them. The cylinder retracting now. Far behind them we see other groups starting to disappear.

Pillar (robotic): "Enjoy your reward, and best of luck to you."

Panel 3: The four are looking confused at each other, Len looking at the pillar's previous position as the glyph appears again and they start to vanish.

Len: "Wait, what?"

Panel 4: The four falling from a height in the air into a sea of energy.

Page 13:
Panel 1: We see a nearby shore on the sea of energy close to where they fell in, a large splash visible despite the waves.

Panel 2: The four are crawling out of the sea of energy onto the shore and we can see that the arm bands are spreading across their bodies, forming a layer of armor.

Panel 3: The four looking at their new armor as the helmets start to form around their heads. Each suit is sized to them specifically as hard-suits that each have a unique design. Len's is designed for speed, endurance and precision control and will have multiple spheroid weapons in the gauntlets and on his back. Aliye's suit uses long tendril whips to attack from a distance with slashing strikes or wrapping her opponent in place, and due to the pneumatic coils in the suit it has twice the speed of the suits the others have as well as hacking abilities but at a loss of strength, defense and having very sharp handling. Webik's suit has cloaking technologies even more advanced than his natural ability as well as small laser bursts and blinding light beams. Pranda's suit has morphing technology to let it form almost any weapon if it has the right objects to use as raw materials. It has a lot of upper body strength and a strong kick, as well as being strong for headbutts, but is a bit slow at blocking.

Wesbik: "♪"

Aliye: "Fascinating..."

SFX (coming from further on the shore): "GROOOOAAAANNGKK!"

Page 14:
Panel 1: The four looking at a charging medium polygon T-Rex that has a laser cannon on its back as well charging up and about to fire at them.

Page 15:
Panel 1: The Uushar Numina pantheon gathered in a room with hundreds of windows open showing various individuals throughout The Silicon Fields, the realm the story is taking place in. The majority are focused on the recent additions, including the four. Bobh is wearing a visor and fedora. and looking like a portly shopkeeper. Ves stands next to him, appearing as a female biker with a human skull painted on her closed helmet and a crow skull hanging from a necklace, and is flipping around a butterfly knife. The Weeping Woman looks like a burn victim wearing bandages from head to toe except in a gap between the bridge of her nose and her neck, and we can see her tears rolling down her cheeks. Above the bandages is only a trench-coat. Wenba appears to be a woman with massive pixelation and degradation of her image. Unate appears to be a woman made completely of silver with thin lines of circuitry separating joints and segments. Najon seems to be a tattooed man with a myriad of questions on his body and a simple pair of black shorts on with nothing else. Byn has the appearance of a crackling purple energy in a female form wearing light armor. Hexen has the appearance of a surfer with a cyborg arm and trident strapped to his back.

Bobh: "Well, I'd say the first stage went rather well."

Byn (crackling font and bubble): "Far too much cooperation, many more to be weeded out before our champions reveal themselves."

Unate: "Indeed, though there is some potential.

Najon: "I still say not giving them a single clue is unfair to those from times The Silicon Fields were still inaccessible without our intervention."

Wenba: "Neither mortal or immortal lives are fair, Najon."

Hexen: "Do my ears deceive me?"

Hexen 2: "Truth from the queen of corruption?"

Page 16:
Panel 1: Wenba giving a pixelated smile with a finger in front of it as if to shush Hexen.

Panel 2: Ves stabbing the monitor showing Len. It is cracked now but still clear his face was on it, as well as having sparks coming from around the blade's point.

Ves: "I agreed to letting those who would leave little to no remains in their own homelands be taken for these tests..."

Ves 2: "But every last one will die by my hand if they should receive aid from any of you in the challenge to follow."

Panel 3: Len's eyes wide in fear seen partially through the helmet of his armor as he's chased by the polygon T-Rex.

Ves: "All your attempts to craft this new realm will be for naught if not one single outsider is able to meet its darkest challenges and survive."