The book is now available on gumroad and amazon for presale. Use code “presale” on gumroad for 50% off! 0.1.15 They made camp where they parked. With a remarkable levity, the colony leaders embraced in the center of the circle and forgave their tresspasses for the moment in the name of a larger cause. The hybrid colony leaders had seen many battles, more than was reasonable in a single lifetime. It made them both harsh, and gentle. At dusk they gathered in Soraiya’s tent. It was filled with plush cushions and oddly shaped chairs to accommodate the variances in comfortable sitting positions for hybrids. It was difficult indeed to sit in a regular chair with giant metal wings surgically bolted to your bones. The dusty leaders came in and brought with them the gravity of their past, and the torments they endured as imperial slaves and science experiments. Though there was animosity between the colonies, there was also respect. Each of the leaders and all of their constituents came into the world harshly, even without the small comforts available to the worst off like love, affection, gentleness. But it was precisely because of this that the Sikkas had involuntarily created a powerful adversary.