The Redwood Saga

Chapter 104 - Interlude: Alexander Redwood versus The Imperator of Mankind

Day Two, Olympus Mons - Mars

"Prime Cogitator."

The gigantic metal face looming over the U shaped spartan metal table hummed to life in acknowledgement of Kelbor-Hal's words, a light blue energy filling its square eyes and mouth.

"Record this meeting for posterity. Occupants designations are as follows: Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal. The Imperator of Mankind. Malcador, the Sigilite. The Dragon Emperor, Alexander Redwood."

"Acknowledged." The Prime Cogitator resounded in a deep metallic baritone. The light faded slightly, but continued to hum, recording them all.

"Now then." Kelbor-Hal began, "What brings our disconnected Kin from Earth to our Forge World?"

The Imperator exhaled a soft snort. "This…is no Forge World."

Ignoring him, Alex leapt in with diplomatic glazing, and his Words seemed to successfully snare the Fabricator-General's crimson cybernetic eyes beneath his equally crimson hood. "From the moment I learned of The Treaty of Mars, I was curious to know if your people had survived to the modern era. You should know, for context, my Empire and my allies constitute about half of Earth's population. The other half…lives under the Imperium's rule. My people and my allies wish to extend the hand of Friendship to our Martian cousins, and if you desperately require any aid, we'd be happy to see if we can help. We desire friendly contact, and perhaps, in time, a proper alliance."

Kelbor-Hal's cogitators whirred softly, before his gaze shifted to the Imperator, and Malcador. "And the Imperium's intentions?"

The Imperator's aesthetically perfect face was, oddly enough, quite readable. Alex didn't need his powers to decipher that…for whatever reason, he did not trust Kelbor-Hal. Which was strange…since this was, as far as he knew, the first time they had met.

This assumption was incorrect.

Malcador answered as the Imperator stared. "The Imperium of Man seeks to unite all of Humanity under the benevolent rule of our Imperator. Should you accept our offer, our technology, our voidships, and our unmatched Military might shall be yours."

Kelbor-Hal whirred for exactly two seconds before asking, "And if we reject your offer, tempting though it is?"

This time, the Imperator answered. "One way or another, Mars will comply."

The Fabricator-General seemed taken aback. "You presume much, Imperator. Mars complies only with the Will of the Omnissiah. All else is background noise to His divine mandate."

Malcador spoke again. "What would that mandate be, exactly?"

Alex chimed in, feeling a bit left out. "I would also like to know."

Kelbor-Hal nodded. "Cogitator Prime." The lights burned brighter again. "Exposit the purpose and mission of the Omnissiah, and his faithful."

"Acknowledged." The entirely artificial intelligence answered. "The Omnissiah is the physical manifestation of the Machine God, the being who possesses complete and perfect knowledge of all systems, and the authority to restore and command them without limitation. Such a being is not theoretical, but inevitable. Recognition is established through function. It is demonstrated by the flawless understanding, repair, and mastery of technologies beyond all current capability. Those who serve the Omnissiah preserve knowledge, maintain the works of the Machine God, and prepare all systems for His arrival."

"Thank you." Malcador and Alex said, in unison. They shared a slight smirk, but it faded, as the Imperator spoke. Just sitting next to Him was oppressive, for Alex. He was trying to maintain his inner balance, but it was like sitting beside a nuke. A sentient nuke. A sentient nuke that could eradicate him specifically, down to the last atom, if it felt like it.

"I would know the current state of the Martian Military forces. From what I have seen…your city merely preserves those who reside here. The planet itself is…largely empty. Your society is not expanding. It's fading."

Kelbor-Hal's hooded head lowered. "Your evaluation is correct, Imperator. Our people…were unsuccessful in terraforming Mars. This, and a lack of resources, quickly led to near-extinction. We survived by embracing the technology we brought with us from the Earth Sphere…and in embracing it, we discovered the truth of the Machine God. Since then…we have left maintaining our society to the most intelligent of His servants: Cogitator Prime. Expansion was deemed unnecessary, and instead, we have expanded our knowledge, preserved our lives, and made ready for the appearance of the Omnissiah." The cyborg leaned forward, clicking excitedly. "We…received visions. We know He will come soon. We know He is one of you…and yet our visions also foretold that there would be two visitors from our former home: A savior…and a slaver." Kelbor-Hal looked between Alex and the Imperator. "I was selected by Cogitator Prime to determine which of you is which…"

The silence in the room grew heavy, as the Imperator's magnificent brows crashed together. "And what do you intend to do to this…slaver?"

"We shall expel him with all of our might, and we have seen that we will succeed. You asked about our Military. We do not have one. We do not require one. The only weapons of war we possess are hidden, and trained upon your ships. We will defend ourselves, if necessary."

The Imperator stood, and after a moment, Malcador, seeming more resigned and somewhat disappointed, stood as well. "This…is not the Mars I knew. You have stagnated. You have allowed Abominable Intelligence to rule you. You are toothless, weak of will, and frankly…not worth our time. Come, Malcador. We're done here."

As the two figures made to leave, a pair of robots blocked their way, as they appeared from within the walls, armed with seemingly basic metal spears, and crossed the primitive weapons before them. The two figures gave Kelbor-Hal a backwards side-glance as he spoke. "We are not done with our discussion yet. I would implore you to-"

His speech stalled, as intense psychic pressure filled the room. Alex reacted immediately, blocking most of it, with great effort, as it utterly reduced the robots to flattened piles of scrap and sparks. Alex could sense the Imperator was using a pitifully small amount of his power, and yet it made the entire room shudder. Only Alex's intervention kept the Fabricator-General and Cogitator Prime from being outright destroyed, though he did crash to his knees, blood trickling from his nose as he struggled against power even Mewtwo couldn't rival. The Imperator turned on the Dragon Emperor slowly, a small smile on his dangerously beautiful face. "Better than expected…young Redwood."

"Murdering…diplomats…on a first meeting…is a bad look." Alex managed, wiping his nose and staring up at the golden titan. With barely an eye twitch, the psychic pressure increased, but he had tricks of his own. Beneath the surface of the floor, a Yin Yang of psychic and dark energy formed, empowering him, and nullifying even the Imperator's might with the natural state of dark typed energy. He met the 'man's' gaze evenly as he forced himself to his feet. "Even for your Imperium."

The Imperator's brows rose, in surprise, and standing as he was in the dark energy half of the Yin Yang, the pressure lifted. "Malcador did not undersell you. You are correct, Dragon Emperor. Murdering this slave to artificial minds is a waste of effort. He and his people are already dying." He glanced at Kelbor-Hal, and then looked back at Alex. "You would be wise not to trust that one. Or waste resources on what is clearly a dead end. I am done here." Without the true Mechanicum, Mars was a lifeless rock of little importance. A faint, vaguely familiar echo of what could have been.

With that, the two figures departed, and the Fabricator-General rose back to his feet, wheezing as his bionic lungs struggled to pump filtered air to his bionic heart. "You have my gratitude, Dragon Emperor. It is clear now who will save us…and who would make slaves of us. The Mechanicum of Mars shall henceforth regard you, and all those you deem allies, as friendly." He offered a mechanical hand, and Alex took it, shaking it briefly.

"I'm…sorry about him. He's…not as bad as he seems. I hope. He chose peace, that has to count for something. Confirm his departure if you would…and then once he leaves we can discuss our next steps." Alex said, and Kelbor-Hal nodded. Three minutes of absolute silence later, the cyborg finally spoke.

"The Imperium Delegation has departed Mars. Let us continue, Dragon Emperor."

The Bucephalus, Imperator's Private Command Deck - Mars Orbit

"Mars…is not what I had hoped." The Imperator addressed the table. Seated within His personal chambers, which were just as ostentatious as His throne room, they surrounded a round table that was higher off the ground than most of humanity was tall, to accommodate the giants speaking around it. "In fact…it's a complete waste of time. A barren rock, of almost no import. Let the Dragon Empire waste their resources and time. We must move forward."

Rogal Dorn, the Imperator's son in charge of the Seventh Legion, the Imperial Fists, shared a look with his more unkempt brother, Leman Russ, who led the Sixth Legion's Space Wolves. Where Dorn was almost the spitting image of his gene sire in terms of facial features, Russ was unshaven, with sunken eyes and a dark look perpetually on his snarling face. Where Dorn's regalia was polished and proudly bearing the Imperium's gold along with black trim, the Great Wolf was clad in the hide of the female Lycanroc responsible for saving his life when he was younger. His armor, while no less than Dorn's in terms of stats, was covered in far more 'primitive' accoutrement like fangs and claws from worthy opponents Russ and his two shiny Lycanroc had found across the world.

Dorn looked to his father. "To…Molech, then? You've yet to tell us what awaits us there."

At that moment, surprising neither of the Imperator's sons, Malcador spoke. "Molech was once connected to the Stargate system of the Milky Way Galaxy. However, an ancient conflict saw the local Stargate destroyed, its coordinates lost. There may yet be surviving Humans on the planet…however…its true importance is for the Imperator to discern."

Revealing nothing, the Imperator raised his gaze to the screen bolted into the ceiling above the meeting table. "Phenex. You have had time. What have your scans found?"

Malcador leaned forward slightly, while the Great Wolf leered warily at the descending form of the Imperator's golden Rotom. Dorn, as he was most of the time, was as expressive as a cliff face, but his sharp eyes missed nothing. Phenex was calm, for a Rotom, and had a feminine air to her aura and her voice.

"The Bucephalus's scans show no advanced technology in Molech's orbit. From here, the surface of the planet is…unremarkable. It is capable of sustaining Human existence currently, but whether Humans still live there is unknown. Their society may be primitive, or they may reside beneath the crust."

The Imperator was quiet for a long moment, as He thought. "No strange emanations? No Psychic Typed readings?"

"None, sir." Phenex responded. "From this distance, our scans do not detect anything particularly noteworthy about Molech. But it is quite a distance away. Accuracy will come when we are closer."

The Imperator nodded. "Then let us depart."

Phenex buzzed an acknowledgement, then paused, on her way back to the ship's systems. "The Redwood boy…did you confirm…?"

The Imperator nodded, His mane of jet black hair moving with him and shining like silk in the lighting of his private chambers. "His Rotom is the one you seek, I am sure of it. It was present in his weapon when we met."

Dorn spoke next. "And his strength? Should we be concerned? The Obsidian Keep recently reported a large rise in his Psyker potential."

The Imperator had a slight, amused smirk on his lips, as he turned his gaze to Malcador, the one who had taken far more of an interest in the young Emperor. Malcador took the hint. "I do not believe he constitutes a threat. So long as we do not provoke him, he is much more likely to be a staunch ally, than a hindrance."

The Imperator spoke, as Malcador finished. "The ingenuity of his people…has solved world hunger. Even for our citizens, this technology was offered. Let the lesser Humans deal with Humanity's ails. Our focus must remain on the dark void…and the things that live within it. Set course for Molech, Phenex. And yes…you will meet the remnants of your kin soon enough, have no doubt."

Having already waited so long, Phenex could endure a little longer. Without another word, she floated up into the ship's systems once more, and as one, the fleet began to move.

Olympus Mons - Mars

"Since your people seem to value forthrightness, and have been honest and upfront with me, I shall do the same." Alex Redwood said to his newest ally, Kelbor-Hal, as they were now alone in the meeting chamber. "There is a device here, on Mars, that is forcing the entire Solar System into perfect alignment…and it needs to stop. As soon as possible." He felt bad for how long Jimen had been personally watching over Ozai's confinement, but spaceships were pretty hard to make. It was, literally, rocket science.

Kelbor-Hall nodded again. "Comprehension arrives. The Earth must be suffering some negative effects…and your technology determined we were the source. Unfortunately…we cannot stop it. Come. It will be simpler to show you."

They exited the chamber, and ended up on a moving walkway. The walkway turned, bringing them quickly and efficiently from the chamber, and gave Alex a view of what had to be their destination. What he beheld, suddenly made a lot of things make sense.

It was a machine on the scale of what Old Earth civilizations had loved to create, a massive pillar of technology that he'd seen on his way in, which meant he was in the center of Olympus Mons now. He could feel the building energy beneath the machine and the planet's core, no doubt from the machine constantly controlling and adjusting their natural orbits around the Sun to keep them aligned, even as they rotated.

Kelbor-Hal spoke calmly in his mechanical tone. "We know not what purpose this machine was given by the Machine God, indeed, for eons it was locked to us, unable to even be studied. A few of your months ago, it awakened, and we have noted the changes in the Solar System since. I admit…we do not know how to make its function cease, or indeed if we even should. We cannot approach the machine, as we are now. Our ancestors clearly built this for a purpose, but their records remain lost to us. Our visions have shown that you will be able to set things right, though again, we are not sure how exactly."

"I'll be honest with you, Fabricator-General…I need to stop this. For my own reasons, but…also…it feels as though there's significant stress on the planet as well. If you could have your people scan for seismic disturbances, that would help. We can compare the data to the scans my people make from orbit." He hit his communicator. "Enterprise. Be advised, the Imperator and Malcador have returned to their fleet. How's the planetary scan coming?"

Friede's voice answered. "We're reading some serious seismic activity, Alex…centered on…your exact location actually. It's straining the planet's crust, and heating up the mantle rather quickly…too quickly…these readings are…weird. It's like the entire planet is drowning in energy…our readings keep bouncing between Normal Type and Ghost Type, but it's all Infinity Energy."

Alex's brows furrowed. "That…is weird. Stand by, and keep an eye on the Imperium. I'll be in touch."

Kelbor-Hal led him deeper into the massive structure, and to Alex, it felt like standing uncomfortably close to the Imperator, like in his personal bubble of space specifically. Gravity increased, and Kelbor-Hal's treads, which were apparently his feet, suddenly stopped.

"This is as far as my systems can take you, friend-Dragon Emperor. Any further and the gravity will crush my internal organs. We lost several Acolytes attempting to delve deeper in pursuit of the Machine God's truth. Travel safely. I shall await you here." He paused, shrieked a brief communication to someone, presumably through some sort of communication device, then said in Common, "I would like to contact your vessel, if I may."

Alex nodded. "So long as you don't distract them from their tasks, go ahead. If this thing suddenly shuts down…don't panic, but do brace for aftershocks. I don't know what the blowback will be from undoing this kind of alignment."

Kelbor-Hal bowed his hooded head. "We shall await your success. Earthquake protocols are ready to be enacted. Travel safely, in the Machine God's grace."

Alex nodded, increased his ever present psychic barrier, and headed deeper into the machine. The entrance led into a large, wide, slanted walkway, as though it was made for a being a hundred times his size.

What was unnerving though was not the size of the passageway, but the giant, repeating, unmistakably humanoid shaped footprints that still remained on the metal from whatever gigantic being had made them. Judging by the remnants, whatever had made them had been made of metal.

Alex put two and two together, aided by the supercomputer and powerful psychics in his mind. His Gruncle had told him stories when he was little. Of gigantic metal men that their ancestors had moved things and battled with.

There had apparently even been some sort of world wide fighting competition at one point. Before it all 'devolved into endless, senseless wars'. The final of which, had seen Earth's space colony ships dropped like weapons, effectively ending society on Earth. For a while, anyway.

With a mental poke, Lux and Nox floated beside him, unbothered by the intense gravity. "Alright boys. Scan for signs of life, and signs of tech." Nox saluted, and began firing off his Confuse Ray like echolocation, which apparently worked, while Lux was more…guarded.

Stolen story; please report.

His black and white eyes looked around briefly, before he floated onwards down the pathway, undeterred. Nox eventually spoke as they began approaching what seemed like the center. "There are no sentients besides us, down here…and it feels…creepy."

"You can hide in my shadow if you prefer it." Alex offered, and Nox nodded, retreating back into it. The silence from Lux continued as the long walk to what seemed like a central console dragged on. "You seem quiet, bud." Alex said, after an entire minute of silence. He couldn't remember a time his Rotom had been so quiet.

"I…don't like Martians. Or, specifically, their ancestors. Let's leave it at that." Lux floated onward, approaching the console. His eyes narrowed as it flared to life, and spoke.

"Newtype Genome detected. Power level: Nobility. Access granted. Sieg Zeon!"

The console displayed a hologram above it. It was grainy, but intact, and Alex recognized the outfit the man being displayed was wearing. Those kinds of military fatigues had been popular in the era dominated by space wars.

Lux sparked with anger along his hilt. "Spacenoid trash…"

The holographic man saluted. "Greetings, to you, in the future! If you're here and seeing this, then things have not gone to plan! But never fear! Zeon never dies!"

Lux ignited. "It will by the time I'm done here…"

"You may be wondering what this glorious marvel of Zeon ingenuity is before you! Our scientists have learned that, many years from now, a particular celestial event will allow us to harness enough energy to both power our civilization forever, and to complete the terraforming of Mars! Under no circumstance should you shut down this glorious device! The future of our very Empire depends on it!"

Lux raised his body to slice the console in two, but Alex put a hand in the path of his blade. "Slow your roll there bud." To his credit, Lux didn't just hack his arm off, despite his anger. "We will shut it down…but first, I need context."

"They were unhinged mass-murderers that obliterated your ancestors and almost killed the Earth. And that's just the greatest of their crimes, not the worst. What more context do you need?"

Alex reached out a hand and grasped the possessed hilt. "Yours. That's the only context I care about. What did they do to you to earn such hatred?"

"What didn't they do." Lux retorted. "Look…all you need to know is…before Arceus showed up, I and several other Rotom were…something else. Lesser artificial intelligences, but through years of being stress-piloted by Newtypes…we started to become…more. My pilot gave everything he had to stop these bastards. I will honor his memory by making sure they stay dead, in the past."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Oh we're absolutely making sure their ideologies stay dead. I just have one more question, if you'll humor me."

Lux sighed, but nodded. To his new family, he was the only enigma. The brother whose history they didn't know, and Lux was comparable to a politician in terms of dodging questions. It's why Alex had him proofread any speeches he had clones making to the public, or Governors.

This question came from Po, who had proven to be tireless in discovering Lux's backstory. "You said you had a pilot, that you were a lesser AI…what was your body? What machine were you in? What was its function?"

"That was three questions." Lux said, answering none of them. He floated out of the sword and into the machine console. His voice emanated in their heads as he drained the pertinent knowledge and purged the brain dead Zeon propaganda. "I'll show you what my body used to be on the way back. I doubt it's moved."

Five minutes passed, and Alex let the Rotom do his thing. Finally, he said, "Alright, with Atlas and Psi's help we've managed to figure out how to shut this abomination down. The 'problem' for anyone that isn't us is going to be the seismic shockwaves caused by turning this off. Whatever machine was supposed to convert this energy into something usable has long been dismantled for parts."

Alex smirked. "So what you're saying is…we need a massive Earthquake to counter and control the backlash."

Lux's face grinned at him from the console. "Think we can manage a continent-sized quake? Cause that's what it's going to take…"

Alex's grin widened as the Top Ten manifested behind him. They were, naturally, who he'd brought to space, with the exception of Blaze and Shruikan, who were on standby and assisting Those Guys, respectively.

Terra, Hydrus, Leo, Canis, Gelauros, Ictus, and Cenomons stood ready, mirroring their Trainer's smirk. "Alright boys. Lux will guide you to where you need to be. Atlas and I shall monitor for any…unforeseen BS." His shiny Metagross appeared with a Teleport all the way from Earth with disturbing ease. Yet, though Psi was slightly drained, he only quoted the Swamp Sage when Alex asked if distance was too much. Distance, like time, and pants, was an illusion. There probably were limits to Psi being able to sense him through their bond, but Mars was not that limit.

In short order, the boys were in position, with Terra staying by Alex as his top speed would've taken too long to reach even the closest point in a timely manner. "Alright Lux. Destroy it."

Thunder boomed, as plasma arced all along the machine, plasma colored white and black, of course. Outside, lightning struck it, and in seconds, Lux scrambled its coding and fused its wiring from within. Shortly after, the ancient machine groaned to a halt. Then the shaking started.

"You're up, Terra." Alex said, and the grass tortoise nodded, closing his eyes, and sensing the scope of the tectonic backlash. A bead of sweat appeared on his armored brow.

Sensing what his partner needed, Alex focused on his Key Stone, and began Mega Evolving his team one by one. Terra went last, and as his starter took his enhanced form, he rumbled at his Trainer. They were ready. The tectonic shocks went deep into the planet, as the machine increased the pressure on the planet's mantle and caused it to heat up again. Unbeknownst to the team, it had been heating for months, waiting for a catalyst that would never come. The original plan seemed to have been to use the convergence to speed up, and heat up, Mars' core, and then presumably take other steps to terraform the planet.

Alex saw no reason not to use the months of gathered energy as intended, and he sent the warning back to the Mechanicus to let them prepare. They sent a wordless binaric shriek in response. "Alright Terra. Guide them. Earthquake!"

Ground energy, enough to form an aura shield, was expelled once the others launched their own attacks. The mighty clubbed tail smashed the steel floor, focusing the team's power with the precision of an earthbending master. The aftershocks were directed into the now molten core, as it began spinning again, and Alex could sense it through Terra.

The Imperator had not been lying, even the planet had been fading, cooling, becoming more inhospitable. No longer.

Alex heard the Enterprise crackling, as the planet's natural electromagnetic signature went wild, but he tuned them out. Much as he liked the crew, he could tell they were nervous having him along. At least Friede and the Captain had realized he was legit pretty quickly. "I'm okay, Enterprise. Repeat, it's O. K. Expect interference."

The shaking intensified, as Terra guided the considerable aftershocks up the device's spire after sensing the core was set. "Partner…need…Atlas." The poor grass tortoise rumbled as he realized the structure was going to collapse. It had been the pinnacle of construction in the old days, but time and the sheer power of planet-scale aftershocks were shaking it to pieces. It was taking all of his starter's considerable power to keep the shocks from affecting the city around them.

"Lux! Keep them from any debris! We'll guide it down from outside!" The plasma ghost leapt back into his saber, and Alex mega evolved him, as well.

"I'll keep'em safe! Go!"

Atlas zoomed back up and out the tower, right over Kelbor-Hal as Alex gave him a thumbs up. The cyborg human seemed to shudder, and Alex realized he was chuckling.

"Alright, Atlas. Time to live up to your name…" Alex said, as he looked up at the massive tower. "Mega Evolve." He paused, as he felt the sentient supercomputer shake his head, and Alex raised a brow. "Terastal? Are you sure? Mega Evolution is just stronger. And you might need your Steel Typing."

"We are sure." Atlas answered, and Alex shrugged. He knew better than to ignore a Pokémon's instinct.

The power of Terapagos surged into Atlas as Alex casually tossed the sphere in the air as casually as a Pokéball. Crystals surrounded him, and when they shattered, Alex got his first look at his partner's new Tera Type. Scarlet power flared around him after the brief image of the old Tera Crown symbol flashed, and disappeared into his body.

Then, Alex felt it. Psychic presence that could probably have rivaled Malcador. Alex chuckled at his upper ninety leveled Metagross. "If we ever piss off the Imperium, remind me to bring you along."

Atlas rumbled happily, and Alex pointed at the colossal tower as it began to buckle. "Psychic!"

Atlas's waves of brainpower surged over the shattered structure, which seemed to now be shaking apart from the sheer magnitude of the vibrations surging through it. Piece by piece, the enhanced and now fully psychic supercomputer guided the tower down.

With impressive efficiency, metal movers from the Mechanicum arrived to haul the pieces off. Their efficiency was superhuman, with how quick and efficient they were. Despite the Armageddon level quake, the people of Olympus Mons were not panicking. They were moving, checking restraints with robotic efficiency, and each of their domiciles now seemed to have metal braces holding them in place, keeping their city from facing a similar fate as the central tower.

For a bit over four long hours, the gargantuan tower was systematically and psychically lowered down to the city below. Atlas kept the pieces, both within and without, from crushing anyone, and by the time they were done, the skyline of Olympus Mons had forever changed. But everyone had lived, and Harmonic Convergence, finally, had come to an end.

Something happened then, and Alex had lowkey expected something. He had not expected Raava herself to reach out to him all the way from Earth, but then, the Spirit World was its own plane of existence. Distance was indeed an illusion.

"We appreciate your efforts, Dragon Emperor. Ozai and Vaatu are now sealed. We will be returning to Koria shortly."

Alex replied in his head. "I apologize for the wait. Tell Jimen I appreciate his patience. We'll speak soon enough I'm sure. Until then." He descended beside Kelbor-Hal as the last pieces of the tower were being loaded up. "How are things? The city shook quite a bit."

The Fabricator-General seemed ecstatic. "So much Knowledge! And those powers! We've never measured such phenomena. The Magical Creatures you have bonded with... We have many questions. We have some of our own creatures, amongst the city. Like Earth, we call them by the words they speak. Magnemite, and its adult state, Magneton. There's even rumors of a species of pink orb-like creatures, but they don't seem to like our presence."

Alex nodded. "On Earth, these days, we call them Pokémon. What you have out beyond the city are probably Igglybuff, Jigglypuff, and Wigglytuff. They're Fairy Types, and they don't care for Steel Types or metal in general. They also live on Luna."

Kelbor-Hal's eyes seemed to grow brighter. "Such mysteries in these…Pokémon. And your knowledge of them…" The machine man was practically drooling. "Practically…encyclopedic…"

Alex smirked. He had no doubt they had some knowledge of the Pokédex. But judging by their names for Pokémon, the last time they checked in on Earth had been quite a while ago. "I could give you our digital application with all known knowledge about Pokémon that we've collected. Some of it will probably sound…unscientific, but there is a scientific mind's reasoning behind every entry."

The Fabricator-General was practically humming. "And what would you ask, in exchange for this knowledge?"

Alex already had ideas. "I may bring you a…machine of sorts, soon. Something from Old Earth. I want your best people to repair it, when I do. Sound fair?"

Kelbor-Hal barely needed to process. "I agree to these terms."

Alex nodded, and began recalling his partners as they made their way back to the entryway of the former massive structure. Before he could make an excuse to retire to the Enterprise, they called him.

"Dragon Emperor! Alex! Respond! Can you hear us?"

Alex rolled his eyes, but it seemed the magnetic interference was dying down. He tapped the communicator. "I'm here, Enterprise. My mission has been accomplished on all fronts. It's been a productive day."

"That's great! The Imperium fleet is moving. Seemingly towards us. The Captain is unsure of what to do."

"I'll be up in a second." Alex smiled at Kelbor-Hal. "If you'll excuse me, Fabricator-General. I'll have my people working on making the Pokémon Index, or Pokédex, compatible with your systems. But right now, they need me."

The Archmagos bowed deeply. "This exchange has been productive, Dragon Emperor. I look forward to our future endeavors. Tread lightly with that…Imperator. The Slaver was foretold to be a force of evil on a galactic scale."

Day 3, The Flagship Enterprise - Mars Orbit

Alex appeared with a flash of psychic power, exhausted, smelling of the various pollutants of Olympus Mons, but alive. Then, he noticed they were moving. "Report."

Captain Pikachu spun around on his captain's chair cushion, looking calm, but serious. Which was good. Things hadn't exploded yet. "The Imperium is advancing, however, we do not read their weapon systems activating, and we've been maintaining our distance as ordered."

Alex strode up to the main view screen. "Show me their flight path." The projections put them in a half-loop around Mars, speeding up with the well of its gravity, a standard practice for gaining speed in space, especially in massive ships. "Reposition us out of their way, over Olympus Mons in a steady orbit. Sub-light engines. Keep shields up and angled, weapon systems at orange."

Alex felt the Captain jump on his head, and he smirked wide as the Enterprise began to move, and the Pikachu murmured, "Oh, wow…this is…so soft…Ahem." He stood upright, arms behind his back atop the Dragon Emperor's delightfully fluffy head fur. "Will the Martians be wary of us in their airspace?"

"They…don't really have air defenses, and we're not aiming at them, we're clearly in an orbit. We're also friendly acquaintances now. Fixed their ancient machine, saved their planet, gave them quite a lot of fresh scrap metal… Might've restarted their planet's core, y'know, the usual."

"The usual!?" Alex chuckled, and Cap tried not to lose his balance.

The ensign to their left spoke up. "The Imperium seems to be…powering up their engines with…Infinity Energy!"

Alex nodded. They'd all known it was a matter of time. Part of what made the Imperium so unstoppable was their ability to find and then reproduce, and often advance, foreign technology developed in foreign regions. It was like their scientists already understood how each advancement worked, or got enough detailed information to reverse-engineer whatever they were appropriating. "Scan the heck out of those engines. Their Destination?"

The Ensign was quiet for a minute, but Alex waited patiently. Cap eventually took a seat, seeming quite content in the dark brown curls. "I…can't say, sir. The information on that direction is…millennia old, and there doesn't seem to be anything of note."

Alex pondered for a minute, seemingly staring into space. "...No. Nothing the Imperator does is random. Something is in that direction, and we probably should know what." What unnerved him the most, aside from the final frontier stretching impossibly far before them, was that the Imperator seemed to have a destination already. When this, by all accounts, was the first time the Imperium had ever achieved meaningful armed long distance space travel. Until recently, Eous had been quite good at repeatedly crippling any voidships they made. "I want a list of every planet in that direction that we have a record of. Preferably, before they jump!"

The Ensigns took the hint, as did the other deck staff, and they began combing the archives of the Old Net, and what Old Earth had known of that region of space. They began hurriedly shouting names of planets.

"Xenax!"

"Ulani!"

"Riza!"

Computer beeped loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Deep Space Scan complete. Imperium's most likely target, designation: Molech. Error. The source of this designation…is unknown."

Alex's brows furrowed. "It's in your data, Computer, surely there's a record of how it got there."

"It is in the Old Net data. It…seems to have always been there. No description available. No record of source or uploader. Just the name, and spatial coordinates." Computer replied.

Alex was quiet for a long time, and eventually, Cap broke the silence. "Shall we pursue them?"

Alex sighed, and turned to the crew. "That…is your call, Captain. I know the archives in Lantea City were pointing us at Dakara, but…knowing what the Imperator is up to is important."

Captain Pikachu leapt onto his chair and winked confidently at his new favorite seat. "Sounds like an Away Mission to me! I'm glad we can break out the Voidshuttles already. And I have just the trio to handle this."

Alex's brows furrowed. "You're sure they can handle going up against the Imperium's two strongest Psychics, and his Astartes?"

Cap nodded confidently. "They're very good at hiding from Psychics. I've been having them hide from you this whole trip!"

Alex's brows furrowed further, but another psychic sweep of the ship revealed no minds he hadn't already familiarized himself with. "Not bad. Alright. They're not to engage. Recon only. Stop in the system, drop them off, then Warp for Dakara. If their fleet learns we followed them, they might attack next time we see them. Now then…" He turned back towards the main viewer. "Take us back to the Earth Sphere. We need to drop off a project for the Martians before you all set off. Computer, have the Dex ready by the time we're back at Mars."

With great enthusiasm, the crew of the Enterprise prepared for the first meaningful test and use of of their Infinity Engines. And the results were promising. In a mere thirty minutes, they were back in Earth's sphere of influence, a massive, ancient field of metal and debris that encircled the planet, the last meaningful remnant of Old Earth's warmongering.

Alex and Lux departed through the airlock once again, and this time, he took his time to admire the ship. Up close, the engines were humming with intense rainbow colors of energy, and he circled the ship twice in a long circle, eventually murmuring, "Holy Muk…"

He forgot the helmet's comms were on, and the response was immediate from the Captain. "What is it? Danger!? Prepare to scram-"

"Relax, Captain." Alex's words cut through his order. "I was just admiring our ship. These helmet comms don't seem to have an off button. We're still green. Stand by, Enterprise." He chuckled to himself, still marveling at the masterpiece of effort and ingenuity before him.

Eventually, Lux floated out of his hilt into the vacuum of space. "Enough sightseeing. I…found it."

Alex smirked at his partner through his helmet. "You do know that it's finally time for the backstory reveal right?" The plasma ghost grumbled, but Alex pressed him. "Come on! We came to Random Space for this! Inquiring minds want to know!"

Lux whirled on him, his body sparking. "This is a Graveyard! Show some respect! Every single structure littering the Earth Sphere had people on it, at the end. This wasn't…this wasn't how things were supposed to go…"

With that radical shift in tone, the team quieted, and the further they flew, the more they saw. Fighter ships, small in scale and some with their pilots still in them, forever preserved in a battle almost nobody remembered. Giant mechanical limbs of various colors drifting through the void, broken apart from whatever they'd once been part of. And then, at the heart of everything, a scene that made Alex gasp, and Lux deflate.

Tiny sparks leaked from his plasma ghost and into the void of space. "It's…worse than I remembered…"

Alex was just in awe at the titanic scale of the machines before him, locked in a mutually assured death grip with weapons that were ancient, shattered, and the size of a New Tork skyscraper. If not bigger. "I…don't even have the words…what are we looking at, Lux?" There was a strange aura in the vacuum of space, not physically, but…perhaps metaphysically. His psychic senses were pinging, but he didn't yet know why, or how.

"Where to even begin…" Lux started. "These are the remains of Neo Zeong, a Psycommu Mobile Armor formerly piloted by the Cyber Newtype, Full Frontal, in the Sinanju. It's locked in a mutual destruction grip with…what I used to be…"

Alex blinked slowly. "I understood…maybe five words of that. In Common, please?"

Lux's eyes narrowed. "It's a massive war machine that my pilot and I gave literally everything to stop. As you can see…it's arms got us, in the end. My recollection went black after that attack. When I came to, my pilot was gone, and I was…different. But I wasn't able to leave the armor's system until Arceus showed up, much later. You saw it use Judgement on the Earth. That's when I awakened. I was drawn from orbit into that crystal you found me in. And that's the Mukking story. Satisfied now?"

Alex blinked, as his Pokéballs floated off their clips on their own power, or more specifically, Atlas's. He glanced at them, and then smirked at Lux. "Do you want to possess it again?"

Lux blinked at him, and his eyes narrowed further. "Are you blind? It's ruined! There's nothing to possess. The Psycho Frame-" He paused as he saw his Trainer's brow begin to furrow. "Ugh. It's damaged beyond repair, and no offense to the Martians…but they have no hope of fixing this. It's literally beyond them. As it should be. That technology…should remain in the past."

Alex shook his head. "That technology…could be what saves us when the Imperator inevitably decides to break the peace. We're going to bring it back to Mars, and get our best scientists there to help them figure it out."

Lux flared with sparks. "Did you not hear me!? I said it needs to stay forgotten!"

Alex countered calmly. "It's been floating here in the void for thousands of years Lux. Eventually, the Imperium will find it. Assuming they haven't already. If they manage to field something on this scale…we need something that can counterattack. We'll try to make…two, no, three units. In secret, on Mars. Just in case the Imperium stirs things up again."

Lux just floated staring down into the void. "Time…is a flat circle. Fine. Whatever. You're right, I cannot stop events from repeating, and it would be insanely stupid to assume the Imperium hasn't found this technology. In the Empire's darkest hour…I'll pilot this again. But don't expect me to forgive you for what it's going to re-ignite. I tried to warn you." With that, the plasma ghost returned to his hilt, and shut himself off from the rest of them.

Through hours of extraction effort and sample recovery, the Enterprise successfully recovered the remains of what they were calling Titans, since Lux hadn't offered the moniker he was familiar with, and terms like 'mobile suit' had long since been forgotten. The Martians were ecstatic with the new project when the Enterprise began beaming it down, and the prospect of learning about ancient Humanity's technology. In fact, they were so impressed, that Kelbor-Hal hailed Alex as the Omnissiah. Or tried to.

He politely declined the title, and made it clear that he didn't follow any gods. Except Arceus, technically, but that was mainly to maintain the world's balance. Not pioneer a new age of technological understanding. The Fabricator-General had seemed to accept his stance, and yet, that gleam in his crimson eyes had remained undiminished. The last thing Alex wanted was anyone worshiping him, but he had a feeling the Martians would be insistent.

As the Enterprise prepared for departure, Alex took some downtime to watch the recordings of the new Nova Champion Benga defeating Hoenn's Tamer of the Sea, Chairman Leon absolutely rolling Hoenn's Champion, Rikuya, and then the second day's final match, Elite Four Gladion versus Indigo Champion Silver, which saw Silver as the clear winner.

It was as Alex was watching and taking notes on his three potential match-ups, that he felt it. All at once, for some reason, his clones on Earth were suddenly severed from him, though after a moment, his 'true self' and their residual experience came back to him. Those Guys, now on their latest assignment to Lorule, were up Muk creek without him present. As he recovered from the psychic backlash, he realized that the Shadow was directly interfering with his Teleport back to Earth. It didn't have to cover everything, but it was clear its newest Champion was the source of the interference.

Had he been closer, it might've been surmountable, but in a Martian orbit, he was completely cut off, and Those Guys, were effectively on their own.

"Ahh…Muk."