“Wow, these Legion of Man are causing serious destruction,” Alan said, looking up to see Icewolf staring at him intently.

“Yes they are,” Icewolf said slowly. “However, their attacks may be warranted.”

“What?” Alan said.

“Look, remain calm, what I’m about to tell you is something the United World Government is trying to keep under wraps as best they can. They can try to spin it any way want, but it's clear. They’ve fucked up,” Icewolf said with dead certainty, his eyes locked onto Alan’s. A weighty gravitas filled his words.

“When the Haxlards first came to Earth, with the Enforcers and Administrators, they offered what seemed to be lucrative deals, access to technology, infrastructure, and weapons that would take us years to create. So, of course, the United World Government readily signed contracts, under the assumption that the services and technology they bought could be paid for with resources found on Earth and within the solar system. What they have been trying to hide is that they do not have the full authority to the resources they thought they had. It gets a bit complicated, so please ask me if anything doesn’t make sense.

“Due to the nature of the Game, and the fact that a faction in control of a certain sector of space may not have that sector’s best interests at heart, any faction is limited in the amount of real world resources they are allowed to mine, a yearly quota that is strictly monitored by the Enforcer fleet. Of course, the Administrators wouldn’t allow a completely one-sided contract to be signed, but as a neutral party they couldn’t point out the United World Government’s flawed assumptions. For they are unable to use Earth’s resources to the degree they wish to, and have made a number of other flawed judgments.

“A large part of any faction's income is taxes, and they hoped to tax all of humanity as more people joined the Game. What they failed to take into account is the fact that they are only able to tax those who join the United World Government within the Game. For instance, just because you and I technically live on Earth, in San Francisco, does not mean that we are required to pay the United World Government anything. They have tried to draft laws that circumvent this in the real world, but every time they have been struck down by the Administrators. People are individual entities within the Game with their own rights, their real life situation does not matter.

“Another large issue is that the cream of the crop, the elite of the elite, are all joining other factions. Like you, for instance! Any reasonably intelligent person can clearly see the advantages to joining a well established faction like the Black Rose guild as opposed to a weak, unstable government still in its infancy. The politicians are still living in the past, and have yet to adopt new ways of thinking. They have allied themselves with the Haxlards, without realizing that as soon as they are unable to pay off the interest on the loans and debts, a bankruptcy will be declared, and as the debt holders, the Haxlards will be able to slowly buy up Earth!”