Akfek looked out the window.  A small grin slowly spread 
across his face.  Soon.  Soon, everything he overlooked would be 
his.  However...  His ever so familiar stern expression returned to 
his face.  Things were not progressing as smoothly as he had 
hoped.  And the rumors of the Returners' new ally were not very 
reassuring.  He turned from the window, walked over to his chair, 
and sat down.  He began to contemplate current events.  Suddenly, 
one of his scientists burst into the room.

	"Akfek!"

	"What is it?"

	"Well, sir, I, being a scientist, am naturally very 
observant.  I have noticed that you seemed troubled these days.  I 
also know that we are currently winning the war but the heavy 
resistance the Empire is facing is cutting severely into its 
supplies and man-power.  Surely you have noticed this, too.  If the 
resistance gets any stronger, the war could go the other way.  If 
we had just one weapon that was strong enough to do massive damage 
and small and mobile enough to work well in battle, it could end 
the war much faster resulting in a lower cost in supplies and 
soldiers.  I have discovered just such a weapon."

	Akfek smirked.  This little scientist was always bold, 
forthright, and boastful.  However, he had the virtue of being 
right all the time.  Akfek decided that it could not hurt to listen 
to him.

	"Very well.  Tell me about it."

	"After several weeks of work, I was finally able to 
decipher Cid's personal logs and have been going over them for the 
past few hours.  I recently came across something that might be of 
interest to you."

	Akfek's smirk faded and was replaced with something 
resembling a glare.

	"Go on."

	"Have you ever heard about the Magitek cyborg experiment?"

	Akfek though for a moment.  He remembered something about 
it, but not much.

	"I had heard rumors about it a time or two.  But it was a 
total failure."

	Now the scientist began to smirk.

	"Those rumors of its failure are not exactly true."

	Afkek raised one of his eyebrows at hearing this.

	"Does the name 'Victor Kaine' sound familiar to you?"

	Akfek's eyes widened as he grew very attentive.  Akfek had 
been under General Victor's command.

	"Yes.  General Victor was one of the most brilliant 
strategists the Empire ever had."

	"Ahh, but do you know what happened to him?"

	Akfek knew all to well what happened to him.  He died 
shortly after saving Akfek's life.

***Flashback***

	Akfek was in pain.  He had been nearly killed in the 
attack.  He should have survived that explosion, and he almost 
wished he hadn't.  He just lay there, wondering how much longer he 
would live before the burning building would collapse on him.  All 
of a sudden, he felt himself being lifted up and carried out of the 
building.  He could not see who it was, and at the time, didn't 
really care.  After he was completely clear of the building, he was 
placed on the ground.  He looked at the one who had just save his 
life.  It was his commanding officer, General Victor, who was 
already running back towards the building to get any other survivors.

	"No!  General!  The building's going to collapse!"

	General Victor ignored him.  He was responsible for his 
troops and had to do everything in his power to save them, even if 
he died in the process.  He ran into the flaming building once 
more.  It was the last time he did so.  Three seconds after he 
entered, the entire building fell into itself, leaving a huge, 
burning mass or wood.

	"No!"

***End flashback***

	Akfek looked down at the floor.

	"He died in battle."

	The scientist, wearing a huge grin on his face, shook his head.

	"He didn't die.  He's still alive."

	Akfek's head popped up.  He leapt from his seat, grabbed 
the scientist's neck, and hoisted him into the air.

	"I am going to be VERY ticked if you are joking around with me."

	The scientist was barely able to breathe, but was able to 
speak in a very whispered tone.

	"If you put me down, I will tell you more."

	Akfek released his grip on the scientist, who promptly fell 
to the floor.  The scientist stood up, brushed himself off, the 
looked at Akfek, who was glaring him down like a trainer would do 
to a disobedient dog of his.

	"As I was saying, he didn't die, but was severely wounded 
in battle.  He lost his arms and legs in an explosion that occurred 
while he was rescuing some of his troops.  Cid had developed a 
technique whereby he could turn any person into a Magitek cyborg.  
General Victor was a perfect candidate for this as he would gain 
new legs and arms.  He agreed to participate in the experiment.  It 
worked, but the process was slightly flawed.  It left him mentally 
scarred and made him psychotic.  From there the logs get very 
vague, but somehow he was deactivated until a way could be found to 
perfect the process.  It never was.  However, studying Cid's notes, 
I think I can repair the damage done to his mind."

	Akfek gritted his teeth.

	"You had better hope, for your sake, that you can."

	"He would be the single most powerful weapon in your arsenal."

	"Where is he?"

	"According to Cid's notes, he's under the city of Vector, 
in a hidden lab."

	"Very well.  Get together whatever tools and manpower you 
think it would take to bring him here and re-activate him.  Then 
double it.  We leave in one hour."

	The scientist nodded, turned around, and left the room.