Abolition (Gerosha Chronicles)

Abolition was a short story originally to be set in the Comprehensive Gerosha universe. Recycled elements of its plot would go on to form the backbone of Sodality: Augmentation. It was intended to be a massive crossover, bringing Ciem back - along with almost all the other heroes in the Gerosha universe.

Plot
Judge Terry Beliah of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in addition to under-the-table deals with Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood, had a dirty secret. He had also been dealing under the table with the Hebbleskin Gang and the FPB. But perhaps his dirtiest secret was his dealings with the Kerpher Gang.

His daughter, Camille, had been molested by him. He tried to cover up the crime by staging that she was kidnapped. In reality, he sold her as a sex slave to Asian slave traders. His hopes by selling her were that she'd never get the chance to escape and testify against him.

He then learns of a vigilante known as Extirpon, who could undo him. This being was known for using the pride of criminals to generate ways to send evidence of their crimes directly to police, leading to immediate police stings. For especially dangerous criminals, Extirpon had creatively cruel ways of disposing of them. His name, it turns out, is known throughout the world as one criminals fear.

Beliah decides to enact a very desperate measure to cover his tracks: He begins a campaign to outlaw the existence of Phexos and Marlquaanites. He also legislates from the bench to make it impossible for courtrooms to hold up as valid evidence in court any evidence acquired via Extirpon's involvement. This is put to the test when Extirpon battles a band of psychopathic criminals in Iceland.

Meanwhile, Beliah aids several criminals that were imprisoned by Emeraldon, Ciem, Extirpon, Navyrope, Pilltar, and the Gray Champion with their escape from prison. He then has them gather to forge rallies and mobs with some of his corrupt union friends. He proceeds to declare a nationwide manhunt on Extirpon, thus completely de-legitimizing him. In spite most of America protesting the judicial activism, Beliah's mobs move quickly across country to silence their opposition.

Extirpon soon realizes that the only way to humiliate the entire system is for a still-legitimate force to expose and take down Beliah. Him simply exterminating the mob would not win him the moral victory necessary. It would only lead to further disaster, regardless of how the mobs' arrogance more than gives him the power to kill them all. He therefore decides that in the mean time, he will not submit evidence to police or cooperate with authorities. He all but retreats from fighting crime entirely; and seeks shelter with whomever is sympathetic to his cause even the slightest. He does cause a minor stir when he invites himself to the McArthur family residence in Kentucky. Candi and Donte agree that they need to keep on eye on their town for any activity from anyone connected with Beliah, and to rally conservatives and libertarians across the country to counteract him and his followers with counter-demonstrations.

From there, Candi ends up battling a few out-of-control Beliah supporters. But much to Beliah's frustration, the police side with Ciem. This is because initially, only Extirpon was outlawed. Meanwhile, Beliah convinces European leaders to ban Extirpon from Belgium; and he gets hate bloggers to paint Extirpon - and anyone sympathetic toward him - as a terrorist.

Anticipating what Beliah's actions will lead to, Dolly and Lex create a new helmet with a non-possessive and non-evil AI inside; so that Dolly can resume being the Earwig. She agrees to keep it handy, in case she's called on for action; and Lex makes some upgrades to the Earwig suit so that short-range flight in it is finally possible. Dolly prepares to drop Jeraime off with Donte, Candi, Charlie, and Frank if things get especially bad. Kyle "the Meerkat" Freneti is nearly killed by FPB sympathizers in a surprise ambush, because they feared that he'd tip off police to their latest schemes. He is rescued by Navyrope, and the two gather with Charlotte "Mukade" Yamamura. They agree that they need to find Candi and join her faction.

[Seth and Stephanie establish contact with the other heroes, and state that they'd be willing to aid them if necessary. However, they wish to keep quiet about it; so that the government doesn't confiscate Pilltar. Meanwhile, Beliah takes advantage of the power he's gained to repay a favor to corrupt politicians in Massachusetts. He gets a Boston judge to declare the Gray Champion an outlaw, which leads to Hea Pang going to prison for associating with Gray. Her daughter is rescued by Gray and Navyrope, as Child Protective Services is after Tabitha in order to stick it to Gray for being a Marlquaanite. In a controversial move, Beliah decides to lobby for making all Marlquaanites be declared enemies of the state. He even pushes for outlawing all Phexos. The measure gets shot down when he adamantly refuses to add Meethexos to his list.

However, his thugs attack Jeral and Emily Cormier after breaking into their home. Since Jeral is no longer Botan, he cannot summon plant life to his aid. The two and their son barely escape from the mob, partially with Extirpon's help. However, Extirpon makes the mistake of showing up; and an army of small robots soon encircle him after the mob flees. He ends is soon suspended in an MPF. He is taken to an underground facility, and hooked up to a generator that keeps his field powered; effectively freezing him indefinitely.

Jeral begins wishing he could be Botan again, but Emily discourages him from thinking this way. Beliah's thugs attack Steve and Miriam McLaine in Alaska; and force them out of their home. This compels Miriam to resume being Sniperbadger, even though she abandoned that life to raise her daughters Marie and Trina.

Candi and Miriam set up a network for persecuted Phexos and Marlquaanites everywhere. Public sympathy begins to grow for Phexos' rights after Miriam gets help from Vienna Dockler to expose Kolumn-like persecution by Beliah's mob associates. A lawyer suing to have Beliah's law against Extirpon overturned is assassinated in the middle of a courtroom session by a sniper. Unfazed by how this makes him look, Beliah decides to let Extirpon's capture be made public knowledge. A manhunt begins to eliminate the Gray Champion and Navyrope, while Lex successfully rescues Hea from prison. Stephanie convinces Seth to give Pilltar to Lex for safekeeping, and the two of them start hiding Gray and Navyrope.

Career villains Cupric and the Sapphire King decide to join the resistance when a woman important to both of them is murdered by Beliah's allies. Cupric is soon recaptured when he tries to rescue Extirpon. Sapphire King decides to play it smart, and find Vienna. He learns that Vienna has been arrested on trumped-up charges and is being held in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison with no trial.

She gives him a lead to a resistance sympathizer that immediately gives away Valerie's secret agent status to the world, in exchange for exposing Beliah. SWAT teams raid Seth's home after a spy for Beliah at a grocery store begins to suspect that Seth has pro-resistance sympathies. Embarrassed to find nothing incriminating - since Navyrope and Gray are not in the area at that time - the teams arrest Seth and Stephanie anyway to save face.

Miriam locates Beliah's abused daughter Camille in Thailand, and the Gray Champion goes in pursuit with Mukade's help. The Sapphire King, being still a criminal at heart, reverts to his old ways and is captured. Beliah tries using him and Cupric as reasons that Phexos and Malquaanites both deserve to be killed simply for existing. He pulls together some resources from Hebbleskin Gang remnants and creates a werewolf to attack Evansville, in the hopes of finding resistance members there and making them pay. Dolly and Lex make good on their plans, with Lex piloting Pilltar and Dolly resuming her work as the Earwig to take down Beliah's creation.

Jeral Cormier tracks down his friend Triste, a Plant-Lady who is less stable than his former Botan form. She agrees to risk her life to help Vienna get out of her unlawful imprisonment. The three of them proceed to bring Vienna to the White House. The President is so disgusted, that he demands an internal investigation of the Court of Appeals. He also demands that the Supreme Court overturn the ban on Extirpon, and that the military set Extirpon free. The President then makes a speech concerning why he agreed to overturning the ban on Extirpon; but an assassin who is friends with Beliah makes an attempt on the President's life.

The would-be assassin gets away, but the murder is thwarted by a returned Gray Champion deflecting the bullet with his sword. Mob members begin a desperate attempt to kidnap Camille when she appears, knowing that her testimony is the end for them. As they do so, their friends in Kentucky start an anti-Ciem march. Camille presents damning evidence against Beliah to the Supreme Court, much of it on her own body. Beliah tries to use his mob to hide from the law after being deposed as a judge; and they begin creating riots all across the country to divert the President's attention away from Beliah and onto side issues.

The heroes all return to their homes the minute Extirpon is freed and is filled in on what has been happening in his absence. He immediately begins slaughtering hundreds of Beliah affiliates all over the country, purging plagued cities of their evil. Extirpon finishes by dropping a giant steel stake from out of nowhere on top of Beliah himself, as Beliah tries in vain to use the race card to morally disable Extirpon. However, Extirpon flashes projections in the sky of Miriam and Tiffany, just to drive home how pathetic Beliah's use of a racial argument really is. Once Beliah dies, most of the world returns to normal. Extirpon, however, remains banned in Belgium.

Development
Abolition was first seen as a way to bring together all the different storylines within the Gerosha universe, allowing heroes that previously had little if anything to do with each other to have a reason for a crossover. The draft for it was written some time in October or November of 2010, around the time that the Dozerfleet founder was beginning to prepare for closing shop in Farmington as his internship at SWOCC Studios came to an end. In late November of 2012, however, the story's plot elements and themes were recycled to make Sodality: Augmentation.