[b]PROLOGUE[/b] Thirteen vehicles were standing in a circle in a clearing in Brecon Beacons. They were oldtimers of British make. Altough the cars were, thus, rather old, age has treated them quite well: none of them suffered from any mechanical damage. Their bodywork is still in pristine shape, aside from a few scratches and dents. The most important looking one was a silver Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost. He gave off a royal aura, as if he was the king of these vehicles. He coughed mechanically, his bumper rattling as he does. The others directed their headlights to him. They were of great variety, a collection of Britain's greatest hits almost: A Jaguar E-Type, black as the night. An Aston Martin DB5, straight out of a spy movie. A Land Rover Series I, hardened by the Great War. A Reliant Regal, effortlessly keeping its balance. A Lotus Europa, elegant as always. An Austin Loadstar, the main bulk of the group. A Jensen Interceptor, coloured in a speedy red. A Morgan 4-4 Series I, dark blue like the ocean. A Triumph Spitfire, half as fast as the plane but with twice the charm. A Rover JET1, likely escaped from a scientific museum. A Bentley 4 1/2 Litre, the racing veteran amongst them. A TVR Grantura Series II, yellow like the sun. Once the Rolls has gotten their attention, he spoke. "Knights, we have a problem." "There are... tensions between the Aeravians and the Bargish." "As you know, they have been competing for market share for quite a while now. The Bargish, however, are slowly growing more and more popular and the Aeravians do not accept that. I am sure you heard the stories." The Interceptor responded to him. "Yes, King Argent. Just recently, a barge got attacked by a Cessna. It was truly a tragedy. Two crew members got killed." The Land Rover added to this. "Frankly, the humans are gettin' quite pissed about the whole situation. This is not doin' the image of the Aeravians any good, but people are startin' to get afraid of usin' Bargish." "Right, and there's also the matter of Lorramals gettin' hit by them, not to mention the various tons of damaged Aplantiances-" The Bentley interrupted him. "The Aplantiances are the least of our concerns, they are-" The Morgan quickly joined the discussion. "Sir Blower, what do you mean with 'least of our concerns'? The Aplantiances are our food, and-" The Bentley was fast to counter. "Sir Coventry, the death of a few Aplantiances is nothing when compared to the death of-" Soon, it was every Knight for himself and opinions flew everywhere until the King spoke again. "Knights." "KNIGHTS!" The clearing turned dead silent again. "This is a serious matter. The humans are not taking this any longer. We need a neutral party to negotiate between the Bargish and the Aeravians to make sure this does not accelerate any further." The Aston spoke. "I assume [i]we[/i] will be this neutral party, King Argent?" The King responded to him. "Yes, Sir Spectre. So far, the Carthropods have remained unaffected by these events. It is only natural that we will negotiate, especially because we are the most common machine race- aside from the Aplantiances- and also the most powerful one." "Who shall you choose, O King Argent?", responded the Austin truck. The King remained silent for a few moments. "Sir Swallow, for he has accomplished numerous missions with shine." The E-Type lowers his front suspension to bow to his King. "I'm honoured, O King Argent." "Now, go. Succeed, Sir Swallow." The E-Type converts into a mantis-like form. His hood detached to become a head, various suspension parts gather around to form the thorax and the back of the car forms the abdomen. Four large legs extended from underneath it, and two blade-like arms were formed from the front suspension. It turns around to leave for the nearest road. --------------- Hours later, Sir Malcolm Swallow has not reached the road yet. "How... quaint. I have not arrived at the road yet." "Is it just me, or is the forest... different, as if I am in another place?" "...Troubling."