Many days earlier

Rose MacGregor crept through the pits and craters of No Man's Land, careful to avoid having her head go above the average surface level. The whizzing bullets were still low enough to be dangerous.

"I can't believe I have to go out here," she muttered to herself, but instantly regretted it. "If it were me though, I'd want them to send someone."

She looked up at the plume of smoke that was her goal. Just a little farther.

A few more minutes of scrambling and she found it. In one of the deeper craters was the smoldering remains of a biplane. Rosey could see where its occupant had pulled himself out, crawled to the other side of the crater, and collapsed on his back.

His clothes were torn, burned, and bloodstained. He had cuts and bruises all over his face. He lay almost as still as the dirt and rocks around him. But he was still breathing.

"Blue, you're alive!" Rosey shouted in relief.

Blue Whale King cracked an eye open. "So it would seem."

Several seconds passed in silence.

"You've got to come back with me," Rosey finally said. "RUBES needs your help."

Whale sat up. "What, you want me to run out there with this primitive tech and face down the whole Black Order? I just tried that. It didn't work out." He gestured to the destroyed plane.

"You're a valuable member," said Rosey. "The Great Hero of Ship Wars 4! You can still make a difference."

"Can I? I tried to assemble a force to help you just hours ago. Not one person responded. NOT ONE! Ship Wars 4 might as well be ancient history. The time when people flock to me has passed. But I'm still a high profile target. If I go back out on the front right now, I'll get gunned down immediately, and I might lose this body. It wouldn't accomplish anything."

"You can't just give up," Rosey said. "I thought you swore you never would!"

"I didn't say I'm giving up," said Blue. "I said my time has passed, but I didn't say it wouldn't come again. I can't help you now, but I might be able to in the future." He stood up, still careful to keep his head below the level of the crater rim.

"So what will you do now?"

"I'm going to leave this planet and take a trip to the core worlds. I have other responsibilities than this war, and there are opportunities I need to take advantage of that aren't on this planet. But I'll be back fairly soon."

"Leave this planet? How?"

"I have my ways," he said, and crawled out of the crater the way Rosey had come. She watched as he made his way to the river, transformed into his full-sized form, and swam away.

Back in the present

"So who knows when we'll be seeing him again," Rosey said.

It had been a week since the fall of Ray of Sunshine. After a perilous trip searching through the battlefields, Rosey had finally made it to the new RUBES headquarters, a castle in the highlands of Guns N' Roses.

"I'm glad to know that he's alive," said Strike, "but his behavior is concerning."

"Agreed," said MacGregor Rose. "What could be happening in the core worlds that's more important than this?"

Jannis, Link, Austin, Nitesco, Armory, and several others nodded.

"If it's relevant, I'm sure we'll find out," said Peter s. Nachbar. "In the meantime, we need to find a way to stop the Black Order. In just the past few days we've lost Ray of Sunshine, Twobie, and I Drink Milk. According to Rowing's latest telegram, they're headed for Snowflake Protection next. At this rate, Guns N' Roses will be an island under siege within a few days."

"I will go fortify Snowflake Protection," said Jannis. "Its frozen tundra plains sit at the northern part of what was once White Rose. I will not abandon my homeland, even if its government is no more."

"I'll go with you," said Link. "I will not abandon my homeland either. It's my duty to go make amends."

Peter nodded. "What about the Cargo Clan?" he asked, turning to Austin.

"Muppets and obviously Feline Utopia have joined the Black Order," said Austin, "but Petal to the Metal and Armed & Ready are still on our side. And for anyone who didn't already know, we just lost I Drink Milk. Taco Lord died defending it."

"Yes, that was a tragedy," said Peter. "Like Ray of Sunshine all over again."

"That makes Go Ren the last Happiness ship," said MacGregor. "How are they holding out?"

"Fortunately, the Black Order has made no attacks against them lately," said Rosey. "They're providing much of the food and other logistical support for RUBES. It's best if we keep letting the Black Order think they're unimportant."

"They may prove crucial to our victory," said Peter. "And Alfonse is one of our best members."

"I don't deny his sincerity, dedication, and conviction," said Jannis, "but he is naive. He fails to see the necessity of ruthlessness in war."

Armory smirked, seeing an opportunity. "So ruthlessness is our key to defeating the Black Order? In that case, I say we just nuke 'em. It wouldn't be the first time for some of us." He looked at MacGregor.

MacGregor threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Oh come on, am I ever going to live that down? It was only one time. And in an Anomaly Surge! An alternate version of me!"

"Wait, I'm confused," said Cyanide Sins, who had been in charge of Guns N' Roses while Nitesco, MacGregor, and Rosey were away with other meetings and battles. "What happened?"

Armory was about to add another snarky comment, but Jannis cut him off. "During Character Survivor, MacGregor here used a nuclear weapon against my laboratory. I don't know how he got it in the city gang war setting, but I won't forget it any time soon."

MacGregor sunk lower into his chair and folded his arms. "Blue tried to nuke the whole city. If Wingnut hadn't been there to stop him, who knows what would've happened."

"This is all irrelevant," said Nitesco. "Nukes don't even work in this anomaly field, and what happened in Character Survivor isn't going to affect what's going on now."

"We'll just have to keep fighting and hope for the best," said Jannis, "until we figure out something. I'll be off to Snowflake Protection now. Hopefully I'll get there before the Black Order does." He stood up from the table. Link followed. They both looked at Armory, who rolled his eyes and made a big show of stretching out before getting up as well.

"Good luck," said Peter. "May Ruby's smile be with you."

"You as well," said Link.

"For Ruby's smile," said Jannis. "I will not fail."

"See ya, losers," said Armory.

The three of them walked out the door.

"I hope they win," said MacGregor. "We've had too many losses."

"Tell me about it," said Nitesco. He, Peter, Austin, MacGregor, Rosey, and the others continued working on their plans to defend Guns N' Roses.

At Snowflake Protection, a few hours later

Snowflake Protection was in a tundra plain in the northern region of White Rose. The growing season was very short, but in that time, they grew fibers and grazed sheep for textiles.

"Holy shit it's cold," said Armory as their vehicle approached the walled city on the snowy plain.

"That's the tenth time you've said that," said Link. "We'll be inside in a few minutes."

"We'll only have a few minutes to warm up before the Black Order gets here," said Jannis, "so you'd better make the most of it."

"I almost hope they set the city on fire," said Armory. "At least that way, we can die warm and not have our frozen corpses displayed in a museum a thousand years from now."

Jannis and Link just rolled their eyes and ignored him.

Soon, the primitive car passed the trench around the city and reached the gates of the stone-plated city wall. Upon seeing its occupants, the guards opened the gates and let them through without a word. Armory gave an envious look at the burning braziers the guards stood around.

Fortunately, it was warmer inside the wall. The city was filled with more open fires, raising the temperature to a somewhat less frigid level so that the people could go about their business and not have to stay indoors all day.

"This is much better," said Link.

Armory ran over to the nearest burning brazier and leaned over it, singing his clothes. Jannis and Link continued walking in the direction of the garrison.

"Come on, Armory," Jannis said. Armory rolled his eyes and ran back over after a few seconds.

The garrison wasn't far from the gate. It was a stone-plated tower built up against the inside of the wall, and had doors leading to the top of it. The whole city wall was built like an old medieval castle. It was mostly to keep out the cold, since such defenses were usually obsolete in an era when starships could rain plasma on cities and turn them to glass from outer space. The wall and tower had stone plating for aesthetic reasons, but the core structure consisted of reinforced concrete.

The troops stood up as Jannis, Link, and Armory entered the garrison. "What news?" asked the captain.

"The Black Order is on its way here," said Jannis. "They may already be visible from the tower. We need everyone capable of bearing arms to defend the city."

The soldiers exchanged grim looks, then saluted.

"Wait a minute, shouldn't you have known about this already?" asked Link. "Rowing sent us the message that the Black Order was on its way. He's much closer to you than to Guns N' Roses!

"We're having issues with our communications," said the captain. "It seems our telegraph wires have been severed, and our radios are damaged as well. We haven't been able to fix them yet."

"Sabotage," said Jannis, closing his fists.

"Most likely. The good news is, we suspected an attack was coming because of this. All the soldiers are combat ready, and we're already preparing the artillery. And, whoever it was left in a hurry. We didn't find them, but it seems they made a hasty exit."

"Good," said Jannis. "Carry on, then." As they spoke, soldiers were already streaming to the top of the wall and setting up machine gun turrets. Before long, they were rolling artillery pieces out the gates and setting them up on the outside of the wall, along the line of the outer trench.

"Wouldn't it be better to set up the artillery inside the wall?" Armory asked.

"We wish, but there's no room," said Jannis, gesturing behind them. Sure enough, the houses and other buildings went almost against the wall.

"It shouldn't be long now," said Link. "I'm going up to take a look."

Jannis nodded. Link saluted, and went back into the garrison and ascended the steps to the top of the tower. His heartbeat quickened in apprehension as he thought of what he might see. Everything from "nothing," to "the largest military force assembled in the sector since the for the of the for the of the , poised to wipe Snowflake Protection off the map."

At the top of the tower, several soldiers stood around. There was a machine gun turret, a radio station, a bench, and boxes under it with various supplies. There was also a binocular station.

"Can I have a look?" Link asked the soldier currently peering through them.

"Yes, sir," the soldier said. Link looked through the binoculars out onto the plain.

JMHS Rowing's ships, the modified 4-funnel ocean liner and the last surviving Guns N' Roses torpedo boat, were patrolling the river several miles away. A few miles beyond that, the Black Order forces were already visible. It wasn't the vast horizon-spanning host that Link had imagined, but it was still a formidable force consisting of thousands of troops, along with dozens of tanks and artillery pieces.

"They'll be in range of Rowing's ships in moments," said Link.

"Yes," said the soldier who was looking before. "We're trying to get the radios to work, but they've all been sabotaged."

"Let me take a look," said Link. He went to the radio station. Compared to the Anomaly Portal Connection Machine, tinkering with it was a piece of cake. The only damage was pulled wires, which Link was easily able to solder back into place.

"There," he said. "Good as new. Now if I can just find Rowing's frequency…"

He fiddled with the knobs for a minute before he finally found it. In that time, the sounds of gunfire came from over the plain.

"Come in, JMHS Rowing," Link said over the radio. "This is Link at Snowflake Protection. Are you receiving me?"

"I've been trying to contact Snowflake Protection all day!" Rowing responded. "Where have you been?"

"Black Order spies sabotaged our equipment, I just barely fixed this radio," Link said. "But never mind that. What's the situation?"

"They've sent the majority of their forces," said Rowing. "Both Feline Utopia and Unauthorized Snuggles. You should be able to see them by now, we're already engaging. Our guerrilla forces were able to slow them down, but now they've caught up to us. And it gets worse, they have a new weapon."

"What new weapon?"

Rowing wasn't able to respond, due to the noise of bullets striking the torpedo boat just outside the radio room.

"A new toxic gas," he replied when the noise died down again. "Delivered by-"

The sound of an explosion blasted over the radio, and the channel turned to static.

"Damnit!" Link shouted, and ran back down the steps to fix the other radios in the city. There wasn't much else he could do.

With JMHS Rowing and their pathetic little "fleet"

Rowing got up from the floor of the radio room, or what was left of it. A shell had hit the ceiling, blasting it open and destroying the radio. The impact of the shell had knocked Rowing off their feet before it actually exploded, so they were able to duck under a table and avoid the worst of the blast.

Still, Rowing's ears rang from the detonation, and their whole body ached after the shockwave.

Rowing stood up, pulled out a pistol, and looked around. The Black Order were continuing to fire on both vessels, though thanks to its larger size, the troop transport was doing much better.

One more major hit and the torpedo boat would sink. The 4-funnel liner modified into a troop transport would last longer, but it still didn't have a chance, especially against the Black Order's new weapon. This was likely to be Rowing's last stand.

"But I'm not going down without a fight," they muttered. Stepping over the dead and maimed bodies of the deck crew, Rowing went to operate the torpedo boat's machine gun.

"Let it never be said that JMHS Rowing died without honor! I will take as many of you with me as I can! Every one of you I kill is a life saved at RUBES!" Rowing shouted, and opened fire on the Black Order troops.

The enemy concentrated more fire on the torpedo boat, and the impact of many bullets and the shockwaves of shells exploding in the water nearby rocked it. Rowing's arms grew tired and sore from the constant recoil of the gun, and the smoke irritated their eyes and nose. Still, they fired on. A bullet hit Rowing in the shin, then another one in the arm, but still they emptied belt after belt of ammunition into the Black Order's armies.

The few surviving crew members of the torpedo boat followed Rowing's example and shot at the ever-closer Black Order forces with their own small arms. Eventually, they were all gunned down.

Rowing stood alone, the last survivor. They yelled at the top of their lungs, though had no hearing left after the explosion and firing the machine gun for so long. They had seating pains all over their body from bullet wounds, but they continued firing, even as the overheating machine gun burned their hands. It was only a few minutes, but it felt like many hours.

At last another shell struck the torpedo boat, rupturing the hull and filling Rowing's back with shrapnel. Still, they fired on, though their vision was starting to fade. At last, a bullet struck them in the forehead, and the lifeless body of JMHS Rowing fell into the water as the torpedo boat went down.

A few minutes later, the troop transport originally from Guns N' Roses was sinking as well. The last of the RUBES Navy was no more.

We'll see how much Protection a Snowflake can really give!

All the artillery was finally set up. The civilians were hidden in basements, bunkers, and other underground rooms in the innermost part of the city. The troops stood atop the wall, or in the outer trench with the artillery. All that was left to do was wait.

As the enemy neared firing range, Jannis spoke to the troops, walking along the top of the wall with a megaphone.

"The Black Order may be a deadly threat, but they are no match for us. This city has been through worse. It survived the Anti-Cargo Purges. It survived Dimension Defender's Revolution. It even survived the Dark Hive! In every case, these walls, and more importantly, the brave souls within and without, repelled the murderous attacks. The Black Order will be no different. No cult or empire, anarchist or revolutionary, homophobic bigot or Tumblr Wasp, and most of all, no Black Order, can crush the Indomitable Spirit of the North!"

The troops cheered. Moments later, the artillery on both sides started firing.

Link stood on the tower, shooting at enemy artillery operators with his sniper rifle. Several shells hit and blew craters in the wall, but Link took out those who aimed for the tower, even as it shook beneath him from the nearby blasts.

As the soldiers and tanks got within firing range, the Black Sphinx called back to Jannis with a message of his own.

"As we crushed Ray of Sunshine, so too will we destroy Snowflake Protection if you do not surrender. We are the indomitable ones. Nothing can stop the Black Order. You are only throwing your lives away."

"You should know by now that's not going to work, you filthy alley-cat," Jannis responded. "You may be a wave that has swept away all obstacles, but we are the rocks that will finally break you. Für Ruby und das Vaterland!"

"So, you speak German? Good to know."

"Oh no," Hoesack muttered. He gestured for several of the soldiers to cover their ears, while Sphinx took out a piece of paper and read from it.

"Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!"

It took Jannis a moment to process that, but once he did, he started laughing. And laughing, and laughing, and laughing, until he collapsed on the ground and was gasping for breath, and yet still couldn't stop laughing. As did all German speakers who heard what Sphinx said.

"Sir, are you okay?" asked a soldier. Jannis couldn't respond, he was still laughing, so much that he was unable to breathe. Within a minute, he was dead.

All of the soldiers (except those who had shared Jannis's fate) were shocked, but especially Armory.

If it was just in theory, or it happened to someone he didn't know, Armory would've found the situation hilarious. He didn't much care for people or politics, or anything, really. He was a nihilist who usually found meaning in life through dark humor and trolling. He only joined the former Pink Rose Gold High Council for the amusement, especially trading dark jokes with Venom Ahab.

But now, seeing one of his closest comrades and fiercest fighters he knew, dead on the ground from such an underhanded tactic before he could even fight, a war raged within Armory. On one hand, it was funny to his twisted sense of humor. But to another, it was sad. And enraging. He only now realized it, and hated to admit it, but Armory was capable of caring for others. He talked of hating himself and everyone around him, but without anyone around, his dark jokes would be pointless. And he'd grown attached to certain people's company.

Giving into his rage, unused to feeling anything so strongly, Armory pulled out his gun and fired at the Black Order troops. Many of his fellow soldiers thought him a useless bother, but now, seeing him in action, they felt guilty for ever thinking that.

At the battle raged, Armory dodged every attack, and every bullet he fired killed a Black Order soldier. Contrary to popular belief, he did have excellent combat skills.

Link watched from the tower in awe as Armory cut a swath through the enemy soldiers. His example emboldened the others, and combined with their defensive advantage, the city of Snowflake Protection was repelling the assault with ease.

"This does not look good," said the Black Sphinx. "Looks like we'll have to use our new weapon after all."

"I know," said Hoesack. "Much as I hate it."

The Black Sphinx turned around and called to their new greatest ally.

"Tsarina, fire the mustard gas!"

"With pleasure," she said in a thick Russian accent. The rearmost and largest artillery piece fired for the first time, launching a shell into the Snowflake Protection trench. The Black Order soldiers knew what this meant, and put on their gas masks. The RUBES soldiers hadn't heard Sphinx's order, and weren't so lucky.

The shell's explosion released a cloud of sickly yellow fume, turning the skin and mucus membranes of anyone who touched it into blisters. The lungs of the unfortunate RUBES soldiers were stripped raw and began filling with blood.

The other remaining Black Order artillery pieces switched to this cruel new round. Soon the whole Ray of Sunshine line was smothered with the mustard gas, a substance far worse than the Chlorine that had wiped out so many of their ships weeks earlier. Armory's blaze of glory came to an agonizing end, as did many of his fellow soldiers.

A good portion of the Ray of Sunshine troops were able to get their masks on after the initial attack, and since they were dressed for the freezing weather their skin was fairly well protected, but it was not enough. The massive casualties, disruption, and even the lack of visibility were enough to break the line. Before the survivors could regroup, the Unauthorized Snuggles and Feline Utopia troops overran the trench and breached the wall. Soon the city was filled with mustard gas, killing all civilians who were not in an air-filtered bunker, or who did not have a gas mask of their own. Few did.

Link ran down the steps of the garrison tower and fled for the back gate of the city, dodging falling rocks and chunks of concrete as artillery fire demolished the tower. The eyes of his gas mask were filling up with tears.

Even after he reached and left through the back gate, he didn't stop running. Though his legs burned and his sides felt like they had knives in them, he continues running for miles across the frozen plain, as the armies of the Black Order advanced behind him.

Snowflake Protection was gone. The fleet was gone. JMHS Rowing, Jannis T, and Armory One were dead. The Black Order was still strong, and there was nothing between them and Guns N' Roses. A nation very short on gas masks.