Forensic Data Bureau Central Campus, Shentang aka 'The Counting House' 20 days after the Uprising begins_ "I regret my failure to anticipate their strategy." said the younger man. "We all failed, you are not alone in that. It was a clever plan." Both men looked down at a spread of data as it trickled across the top of the desk. It flowed blue from Neoterra and Svalarheima to Shentang, Bourak, Earth. A tiny green stream indicated that even Dawn was connected via Damascus Station. Red rivers showing manufacturing contracts and design licenses moving from Yasuda Fabrication out to every urban settlement in the human sphere and money, so much money-- from the sale of those ridiculous 'victory bikes'--all flowing into a black hole marked 'Lunatik Datacrypt'. The older man rubbed his white mustache and opened the file. He read only until he saw a single word and then angrily waved the file closed, his open palm slicing through the air above the desk's screen. One word told him everything he needed to know. Nomads, Cossaks from Dawn, even the Caliphate, intersected in one organization; a crime family with roots that stretched back hundreds of years: Bratva. No attempt to stem the tide of cash flowing into the rebellion could succeed. In time, the upstarts would regret allying with those black-handed thieves, but not until after the money began to dry up. 'Victory bikes indeed, he thought to himself. We have been completely out maneuvered, and our enemy has far more allies than we anticipated. This is not just an uprising. We are being put on notice by the entire human sphere. But will the Emperor be able to see the signs as I do?' "We had completed preliminary analysis on the destination accounts before the unpleasantness. We were prepared to demand an investigation--" "Your family is alright?" "Yes sir. They were not with me when the Fukuro made their move." "Your son is nearly 14?" "Yes." the younger man smiled, proud that his superior remembered the age of his child. "Well if he asks for a motorcycle for his birthday you'd probably better tell him no."