Epimenides reported that an uncharted black hole was crossing the Paradroid's return vector and advised leaving for Dha immediately. However once they left the area of the satellite network, they were tracked and overtaken by the sensor blip that they detected on their way in to this planet.

The blip turned out to be a pirate cutter and five escort corvettes, captained by Sarab Dhillon of the Dark Alliance. Captain Dhillon turned out to be quite friendly and talkative.

According to Dhillon, the Empire launched a full-scale invasion of the Guild shortly after Team Fugazi had left for Aerolk space. The House of Defiance base at Gefe was swiftly overwhelmed, and the House of Dha was utterly destroyed. Guildhome was now under seige and the survival of the Guild was in doubt.

Dhillon advised Drake that Dalla De Foure had been scouring Guildspace looking for him after failing to find him at Dha Prime. Drake was not surprised at this, and in fact seemed quite pleased.

Drake offered Dhillon both the scan-proof material that he recovered from the planet, and also the technical specifications for plasma torpedoes in return for the favour of the Council of Captains of the Dark Alliance. Dhillon replied that he cannot guarantee that the Captains won't just use the technology for their own gain, but he was grateful. Drake also provided him with a transponder code which would be identified at the 2nd Fleet base at Fravir.

After leaving the area, the Paradroid made immediately for the nearest House of Defiance base, where they resupplied and received further intelligence on the Imperial invasion. They found out that the Imperials had invaded Guildspace through the Combine, and proceeded in two forks - one made for Guildhome and the other made for Dha Prime. Dalla De Foure was in command of the Dha Prime invasion.

Simultaneously the Empire invaded the Dracan Holding, and made some gains, overwhelming several planets (including Tok's home planet Lair Urkaa), but they have paid dearly for the gains.

The House of Defiance has standing orders to cooperate fully with any remaining Dha personnel, so Drake and the team were able to requisition some new torpedoes for the Paradroid. The admiral advised them to return immediately to Dha space, as there may have been something left behind there.

On the way back, a strange brown mould was discovered inhabiting some of the metal surfaces in the Engineering deck. Sharris analysed the mould carefully, and was able to determine that it fed off a quantum electromagnetic flux that it generated on the surface of the metal. It appeared to produce nothing except a bad smell and spores, which would not be able to infect organic matter.

Sharris tried to tinker with the mould's genome to see whether he could possibly weaponise it, but found that the slightest modification of the triple-helix DNA sequence would set off a cascade of reactions, which eventually stabilised into another form. Sharris now had a sample of a green mould which could infect organic matter.

Sharris destroyed the green mould, but kept samples of the brown while Tok cleaned the mould using bleach.

When the Paradroid entered the periphery of Dha space, Epimenides received a Priority One message with maximum quantum encryption. It took him two hours to decode the message. The message was a personalised order to Team Fugazi to return to the planet Velke and make contact with the Resistance there.

Velke was under the control of Dalla De Foure and her fleet. She was apparently using it for some kind of weapons research, but details were sketchy.

Drake and the team agreed that it would be best to leave the Paradroid somewhere other than Velke, and it was decided that the Zone planet Spicer VII was a good place. The crew of the Paradroid were granted shore leave so long as they kept the Paradroid secure. Team Fugazi would proceed to Velke aboard the Iron Fist.

On the way to Spicer VII, the Paradroid's proximity sensors went off and they were forced out of hyperspace by the Sorce Moon of the Shanask. Ezreal advised that the Shanask were in hiding and that the team should continue their trip without delay.

Finally they arrived at Spicer VII and made discreet enquiries about the state of the Sphere in the face of the Imperial invasion. The Zone had not been crossed, but the Sphere was shut tight. Drake was informed that 'nothing goes in and nothing comes out'. Arthirian ships were firing without notice on anyone attempting to cross the picket.

After deciding to leave the Arthirians to their solitude, Team Fugazi boarded the Iron Fist and made their way to the familiar green planet Velke. Approaching the system under cloak and making passive scans of the system they determined the approximate number of Imperial ships in the area. The count was quite impressive, including a Slavemaster at the L1 point.

The Iron Fist made a polar insertion undetected and made scans of the planet. It appeared that the Imperials were strip-mining the planet for organic material - for what purpose was a mystery. In some places they had stripped the surface back to bedrock, leaving great gouges in the green surface of the planet. It appeared that the Imperials employed huge mobile factories, which were harvesting the rich organic crust. Periodically a ship arrived and docked with the factory, staying for a day and then leaving.

The Iron Fist was hidden in a cave system near Velke Prime and the team made their way to the domed city. The entrances to the city were under heavy Imperial guard, with guards stationed to prevent those inside from leaving as much as to prevent those outside from coming in.

Ezreal Ghost Walked through the dome and sought out Shantanu Chakraborty in his clinic, appearing to him once again in the guise of a servant of his deity Shilata. Chakraborty advised that one of his patients may have contact with members of the Resistance. This patient agreed to forge a false research order to allow the team entrance to the city. Appearing as such a kind and gentle being was very stressful for the Shanask Ezreal.

While they were waiting for the forged papers to come through, Drake and Sharris took off on Drake's hyperbike to investigate one of the giant factories. Sharris scanned the factory from a distance and the readings he had were consistent with the life signs of dreadar and horak, but the results were ultimately inconclusive. the factory appeared to manufacturing some kind of organic nutrient, but it was impossible to find out exactly what.

The week passed, and Team Fugazi was allowed into the domed city. They found accomodation in a cheap apartment block and started looking inconspicuous. Tok, who is never inconspicuous started looking for work as a bouncer at a club.

Eventually Raijon Fox of the Resistance made contact with the team and brought them by secret ways into a tunnel complex beneath the city. There they met the leader of the Resistance movement on Velke, who turned out to be none other than Allison Taylor, Drake's 'sweetheart'.