Belvera maintained telepathic communication with every leader of the New Earth Territories, closely monitoring their activity out of concern that they would begin abusing their new home. The first troubling signs appeared upon almost immediately after their takeover. Only the Xiliens showed any interest in sustainability, having seized India's agricultural territories and coerced its people into showing them their farming methods.

The Mysterians, during their many years in space, had constructed a massive dome which they now erected near Mount Fuji. This dome maintained atmospheric conditions in which they could live without the need for their life support suits; specifically, they needed warm, humid air. Maintaining these conditions content required drawing nearly all of the water vapor from the air around the dome. At the current rate of absorption, the region's water cycle would be severely disrupted within months, and the entire ecosystem of Japan would be in a dire state within only a few years.

The Garoga took Opono Island for their own. They set right to pillaging the waters around the island, reaping aquatic plants and hunting sea creatures en masse. These aliens were voracious and relentless, taking what they wanted today with no thought for tomorrow. It was only a matter of time before they would need to expand their hunting grounds and prey on all life in the Pacific Ocean.

The Bilusaludo wanted not merely to farm but to do so with livestock and crops similar to those they had on their homeworld. In particular, they were fond of rapidly-growing Filius weed and draconic animals called Servum, both of which they preferred to raise free range in the vast expanses of Russia's boreal forests. These invasive species posed a massive threat to the country's already fragile natural resources; all other plants and wildlife would either become prey or be driven out.

After hunting down all of the giant monsters they could find, the Dianii wanted access to new hunting grounds. They came to Belvera, who had taken up residence on Oshima Island, to make their request what to them seemed a simple request, but which she did not take lightly.

"The Adonas?!" Belvera shouted in disbelief. "Absolutely not! That is the one place you must not touch!"

Captain Stroid nonchalantly removed his one prosthetic eye from its socket and began fidgeting with its electronics. Despite being twenty meters tall and therefore far more massive compared to Belvera than humans already were, the alien hunter knew better than to anger her; his tone was therefore measured, neither pleading nor demanding. "Come now, dark one. You did not reject any of the others' requests for territory. Why, the Bilusaludo have taken half a continent for themselves! Surely-"

"The Adonas are off limits! Those islands are too important to this planet for me to permit you to treat them like a private game reserve."

"Why do I get the feeling that there's just a particularly enticing trophy there that you don't want to share with us?"

Belvera fired a bolt from her staff that disintegrated Stroid's false eye just as he was starting to reinsert it. The Dianii captain's two most experienced hunters, Bowmaster and Trapmaster, had been watching nearby when, seeing this, they moved as though to rush the dark fairy. However, when she snapped her fingers, a purple light flashed across the sky and Battra appeared overhead, stopping the aliens in their tracks with a cold glare.

"Make no mistake," said Belvera, sounding calmer, "you are but temporary guests here. You said yourself that you came here only to hunt game. I won't let you jeopardize my planet for your own amusement."

Stroid sneered. "So be it. Just one more request, then: where is this 'king of monsters' we've heard so much about?"

"Who?"

"The people of this planet speak of a king among monsters. I think they call him...God-o-saurus?"

"Ah! That would be Godzilla. He certainly lives up to the title. Unfortunately, I don't know where exactly he has gone to recently. Maybe you could put those hunting skills to the test tracking him down? I can't guarantee how long this new situation can last if he remains unaccounted for."

Captain Stroid produced another prosthetic eye from a pouch on his belt and inserted it into the vacant eye socket. "It would be our pleasure. Back to the ship, men!"

The Dianii were unaware as they departed that the Garoga Emperor had been listening in on their conversation by means of a microscopic drone. When their homeworld began to crumble, the Emperor ordered Castle Terror, his personal fortress, to be transported in its entirety within their starship, and its preservation over the near millennium they had been spacebound had been costly but successful. Garoga were functionally immortal and virtually unkillable, hence their disregard for other life, and it was therefore the same Emperor who now sat on the throne of Castle Terror, newly erected on Opono Island, and let out a deep, malicious laugh as he heard the end of Stroid and Belvera's conversation. "If those brutes really want a challenge," he said, continuing to chuckle, "they need only ask us, and we will unleash our Terror Beasts against them!"

Again the Emperor laughed ferociously, accompanied obediently this time by a dozen gold-masked Garoga Barons. The Barons shared the Emperor's bloodlust but also feared it, for he had been known to disintegrate his subordinates on a whim if they displeased him.

The Emperor stopped laughing and raised up a fist, securing silence from the room. "This Godzilla sounds like a worthy opponent for our Terror Beasts. The Dianii could not hope to kill it with their primitive hunting tools, but they might weaken it first and thus make it too easy for our Terror Beasts to defeat, so we must find Godzilla first!"

The Barons nodded and grumbled in vague agreement. At some level, they knew that the Emperor's claim that the Dianii would "weaken" their kill was only a cover for concern that the hunters really could rob them of their kill, but they suppressed those thoughts. It did not do well do point out the insecurities of such a powerful and violent leader.

They were joined a moment later by a Garoga scientist in a white mask and yellow cape. "My lord," he said upon entering the control room, bowing his head toward the emperor, "repairs to our new Terror Beast have been completed. Shall we deploy him to hunt for Godzilla?"

The Emperor chuckled and shook his head. "Let him save his strength. When Godzilla is located, then we will grant him the revenge he seeks."

Mister Arkoff had never been a particularly patriotic man, so when the Bilusaludo began eliminating the USSR's leaders in order to take over the region, he was content to survive by capitulating to the demands of the aliens. In exchange for facilitating the transition and providing valuable intel to the invaders, he was offered greater power and a share in the spoils.

The day after the invasion, Arkoff stood with Bilusaludo Chief Koru-el Numo-ra overseeing the deployment of troops in powered armor Vulture Suits against one of the few remaining pockets of resistance in Russia. The resistance soldiers had gathered in an abandoned base in the far eastern region, established years before specifically for countermeasures against then-frequent raids by Meganula swarms. As the Bilusaludo force began their offensive, soldiers came pouring out from the base, but most of them were rapidly cut down by energy beams emitted from the Vultures.

Numo-ra watched the fight while puffing on a long cigar, a pleasure to which Arkoff had introduced him. "I must say, Mister Arkoff, these 'smokes' are a delight! There's something poetic about smoke, isn't there? It is a sign of change. Fire wipes away the old, but it rises in the smoke and joins the air. The past is destroyed, but it never dies; it lives on, even if we don't clearly see it."

As the battle died down, smoke billowed out from the burning base, darkening the bright noon sky.

Numo-ra gestured toward the dark caustic cloud. "Think of it this way, inventor: your world hasn't been destroyed, merely converted."

The exo-suited Bilusaludo warriors dragged a uniformed officer in shackles from the wreckage and dropped them down on their knees at Numo-ra and Arkoff's feet. The prisoner glared up at his fellow earthling, eyes burning with hatred. "Arkoff, you bastard! You sold us out!"

Arkoff smirked. "General Tcherepnin! You seem surprised - almost as surprised as I was when you reached out to me for help after trying to have me locked up." He turned his face to Numo-ra. "May I do the honors?"

The alien chief chuckled and handed Arkoff his sidearm. Arkoff took aim and fired a single shot into Tcherepnin's chest. There was a short crackling noise, almost like corn popping, and Tcherepnin collapsed silently onto his side, smoke billowing from his nose and mouth as his internal organs burned.

Arkoff handed Numo-ra his weapon back with a chuckle. "If you'll forgive me for saying so, sometimes smoke really does just mean death."

Numo-ra said nothing, nor did he holster his gun. Another armored soldier approached carrying a limp figure, which Arkoff recognized at once as Professor Fang. Numo-ra pointed. "Is that her?"

"Yes. If I recall, Tcherepnin said she came to him looking to form an alliance with the remains of the Garuda forces."

The soldier lowered Fang to the ground. It was clear at once that she was dead. Her eyes were wide open, lulling lifelessly around, and a copious amount of blood had trickled down her chin. Arkoff recognized the effects of a suicide capsule. The fear of being captured and enslaved by the invaders had apparently been too much.

Numo-ra shook his head, showing only the most mild disappointment. "Pity. The Controller had wanted so badly to get his hands on her. I suppose I'll just have to inform him that we were too late."

"Still," said Arkoff, "I'd call this a good day's work. Where to now?"

"Depends," said Numo-ra. "Do you know the location of any other resistance fighters?"

"Me? No. And I doubt that any others will reach out to me after Tcherepnin's fate."

"Good point. And those archives you mentioned, how much of your research did you say was preserved there?"

"They are quite comprehensive. You will find records there for all of my projects."

"Perfect. That will do, then, Mister Arkoff."

"Hmm? What do you-?"

Arkoff had failed to notice Numo-ra's grip tighten on his sidearm. Another shot rang out, and the inventor doubled up in pain, wheezing and spitting blood while his clothes began to burn.

"Now that I've gotten what I need from you, I see no reason to keep a pathetic earthling in my company, especially one with such a long history of being a turncoat," Numo-ra explained. He watched Arkoff writhing on the ground and smirked. "It's an interesting effect, isn't it? The superheated energy bolts cause instant death if they strike the brain or heart, but if they enter the body anywhere else, they sort of cook you gradually from the inside out. Your lungs, of course, burst almost immediately, hence why you can't even scream."

Numo-ra continued to watch until Arkoff's movements had ceased before finally holstering his sidearm and calling on his troops to pull out, taking no prisoners and leaving no survivors.

After receiving the update from Numo-ra, the Controller called a meeting of his subordinates.

The Xiliens were transitioning from their living quarters aboard the starship XJ65 to permanent dwellings on the ground. The Controller's eight top officers met in the control room, situated around a circular table. At its center sat one of the computers which telepathically controlled the minds of the Xiliens; however, this computer had malfunctioned shortly after takeoff, leaving it barely functional and unable to lead the refugees. Across the hundreds of generations that had lived on the XJ65 since, dwindling in number from over 50,000 to just under 5,000, the Xilien chain of command had been determined via an algorithm generated by the computer, the only significant function it could still perform.

The Controller, serial number T-2791, addressed his eight immediate subordinates in a gravelly but monotone voice. "My fellow refugees of Planet X, I regret to inform you that the Earth scientist Fang, whose innovative and experimental techniques we had hoped could be used to restore our minds to their former strength, has ceased to exist."

The eight subordinates nodded silently and expressionlessly. The suppression of the Xiliens' personality by the computers had remained with them over the generations in space, and manifested most overtly in a flat affect and apparent lack of emotional intelligence. They recognized the loss of an opportunity for healing and understood what that loss meant, but they did not feel the loss.

Controller T-2791 continued, "Due to the loss of this most important asset, we once again find ourselves without a means of restoring our full psychological functioning. It seems increasingly unlikely that we will achieve this goal within any of our lifetimes."

Again they all nodded in a way that an outsider might perceive as nonchalant, as though their grim fate was a minor inconvenience. The meeting continued in this way for only a few minutes before the Controller dispatched his subordinates to inform their respective divisions of the news.

The Xiliens were divided into eight labor classes: engineering, medical, sanitation, military, navigation, research, gathering and cultivation. The former of these last two specialized in obtaining matter from nebulae or space rocks which the latter would then convert into edible matter; after arriving on Earth, gatherers became overseers of the farms they had appropriated, while cultivators studied the produces with the goal of making it more fitting to their own nutritional requirements.

Research, meanwhile, collaborated with medical on repairing the Xiliens' psychology. Countless interventions and medicinal approaches had been considered, but after thousands of years, negligible progress has been made. Under the leadership of current head researcher Z-3865, they had come close to a breakthrough several times, but never close enough. However, unbeknownst to Z-3865, the experience of these near successes had begun to reawaken something in her which the Xiliens long thought they had lost altogether: empathy.

The Mysterians were in an even worse state. As their leader had said to Belvera, they barely remembered their own history; part of this was because they had been drifting through space for so long, but their minds had also significantly deteriorated. They had, in fact, lost their homeworld after decades of chemical warfare; the resulting pollution was so severe that the environment itself rebelled against them, turning the air into unbreathable smog and the water into undrinkable sludge. By the time a few thousand survivors evacuated, it was too late for them; the poisons were in their blood and would be passed down to each successive generation, causing deformity and sickness throughout the entire population.

This was why the Mysterians erected a dome rather than attempting to live in Earth's atmosphere. Continuing genetic deterioration had left most of them unable to thermoregulate, barely able to breathe, and immunocompromised to the point that any pathogen could be fatal. They could therefore survive only within an extremely narrow range of conditions, necessitating that they maintain rigid control of their environment via the done. Inside, they could exist without their life support suits, but their breathing was so labored that they could do little more than sit and languish in silence; guards on duty who needed to be able to speak had to keep their suits on.

The Mysterians were humanoid and seemingly mammalian, but it was hard to be sure from looking at them; their pallid skin was twisted by deformity and scarred from chronic ulceration. Their minds were similarly ill: poor memory, stifled emotions, no creativity. They had exactly enough awareness to take action to preserve themselves but also to know that they were dying - not just individually, but as a race. Each generation was more sickly than the last, more likely to be stillborn, to die before reaching sexual maturity, or to even then be found sterile. In short, they were hurtling inexorably toward extinction, and even with the discovery of this new world, it may well have already been too late for them.

The Commandant had his own private chamber in which to rest, and he refused to remove his suit outside of it for fear of letting others see what had become of him. The strain of leading his people had taken a dire toll on his already sickly body; he was old before his time and getting worse every day. He knew without needing to be tested that he was among the majority of males born sterile, a fact which he guarded out of shame. There was a difference between living and surviving, a difference which the Commandant was constantly aware of. He could survive on this new planet, perhaps, but it was no way to live.

In Seatopia, Queen Salno had just summoned her advisers for a meeting when Honda, Nelliyattu, Coogler and Keiko stormed into the council chamber. Keiko appeared anxious, but the rest wore looks of stone-faced resolve. "Your majesty," Honda said curtly, "you must listen and assist us in repelling the invaders!"

The queen's usually benevolent expression was replaced with one of quiet anger, and her words, although spoken with a calm tone, were almost startling in their bluntness. "This is my kingdom and I am your host. Make no mistake, outsiders: my graciousness toward you up to now notwithstanding, I would cast you out in an instant if I thought you were issuing orders to me. As I surely must have misheard you just now," she continued with a note of mirthless sarcasm, "I will permit you to make your case again."

To Honda's surprise, it was Coogler who spoke up in a calm and reasonable voice after taking a deep, relaxing breath. "Your highness, we can't…I mean, my friends and I can't continue to stand by while our world above is destroyed. We're going up there to put an end to this. Will you help us? Please!"

Salno sighed, seeming equal parts resigned and irritated. "I'm afraid there is nothing I nor any of you can do now. The war is over. The best we can do is to remain on guard lest the invaders attempt to find their way down here."

Nelliyattu joined in. "But surely it's only a matter of time until they do." She took a step closer to the queen's chair, arms outstretched plaintively. "Queen Salno, we beg of you! If you will not act on our behalf, then please think of what is best for your own people and your kingdom."

Salno bristled. "Again," she said, her voice low and stern, "I must ask that you not pretend to speak for Seatopia."

"Then may I?"

All heads turned to the far entrance to the council chamber. Suton had arrived, looking unusually informal in a plain blue-grey robe with her curly hair unstyled. Salno surveyed her in surprise. "Suton! You look…well... "

"Tired, my queen. Tired of all the fear and anguish. I have felt every moment of it." Honda noticed that Suton's eyes were bloodshot and crusty. "This can't go on. We cannot stand by in silence this time." Suton took a breath so deep that her entire body moved with the rise and fall of her chest. "Queen Salno, I present a motion that we should take immediate action to help the surface dwellers."

After she spoke, an apprehensive silence hung over the room for a few moments. Honda and her fellow surface dwellers were surprised and grateful to Suton, but Salno's visage displayed shock and uncertainty.

Then there came a noise - a rhythmic noise which Honda suddenly realized was the slow, sarcastic clapping of Malmez, who had entered from behind them. "A bold gesture, Suton!" he said snidely, making his way to the table and standing by the queen's side. "But, I do fear, a fruitless one. As the queen said, the war for the surface world has already ended."

As he spoke, Malmez waved a finger toward the crystal stalactite above, conjuring up images of demolished monuments. The Taj Mahal had been obliterated and its remains scattered down the entire length of the reflective pool. Osaka Castle had been set afire and was crumbling away one tier at a time. The Statue of Liberty had been melted by laserfire into a misshapen mass, solidifying again in a heap that was unrecognizable save for the hand holding the torch, just barely sticking out from the rest.

"See the remains of your precious civilization. Your symbols of government and culture, with which you endeavored to immortalize the false ideals of your hubristic and unjust world, have been laid low." He turned to Nelliyattu, who was standing nearest, and remarked with an exaggerated (and disingenuous) look of sympathy. "I am sorry. Truly I am." The hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. "Your civilization is no more."

Coogler took a step closer, fists held tightly at his sides; though his voice remained calm, it was clear that he was just barely holding back righteous indignation at Malmez's derisive tone. "We don't care. This isn't about national pride or monuments or government. None of that matters now. What matters is the people who are dying. It's not too late to save them!"

Malmez let a sneer flicker briefly across his face before returning to a look of stoic indifference. "In that case, recall that it was people who blackened the skies, the forests, and the oceans. Such a people do not deserve our help."

Keiko had remained silent up until then, holding back tears of rage, but now she let all the anger come pouring out. "And what about your blackened hearts? You think you're so high and mighty, but it's an act! You're just trying to excuse yourself from helping others!"

Malmez glared at her. "Mind your tongue, little girl! You're lucky to have been granted shelter here. I personally was against it; I can't abide having your kind corrupt this sacred place."

Keiko stretched out an accusing finger, hissing through her teeth, "You are the one who's corrupt, refusing to help those in need and mocking their pain! You're an evil bastard, Malmez! Worse than any of the people you look down on!"

Now it was Malmez who let his anger show. He stomped across the room toward Keiko, glowing red and roaring, "Insolent child! How dare you!"

He raised a hand up as if to strike her across the face, but he was abruptly thrown backwards onto his rear. Keiko and Honda had used telekinesis together to push Malmez away. All eyes in the room trained apprehensively on Keiko. Then Queen Salno stood up slowly and stepped forward, looking profoundly displeased. Honda's throat went dry as she suspected that she and Keiko had played directly into Malmez's hands.

Her fears seemed confirmed when Malmez rose to his feet again with a defiant chuckle. "You see?" he said, regaining his composure and nonchalantly brushing himself off. "Such a penchant for violence and rebellion, just as I have been saying. My queen, I suggest we banish these troublemakers from our midst immediately!"

A delicate hand was placed on Malmez's shoulder. He turned his head to see Salno looking at him in disgust. With the same soft yet scornful voice she had use with Honda, she said now to Malmez, "I think it is time for you to leave."

The queen's words took a moment to sink in. Malmez stared back at her for a moment. Then, with a contemptuous grunt, he pushed her hand aside and stomped out of the council chamber without another glance at anyone else.

Salno looked around at Suton and their guests before focusing her attention on Keiko. "I am sorry," she said sincerely. "You are my guest, and for one of my advisers to behave in such a barbaric way toward you reflects poorly on my own decorum as sovereign. Please forgive me."

Honda was taken aback by this apology. She had expected for a moment that the queen would either grant Malmez's request or have them all imprisoned. Instead, witnessing Malmez's cowardice and cruelty - antagonizing the royal guests, making a physical threat against them, and then trying to get them punished for defending themselves - had brought about a noticeable change in her demeanor. Even more surprising to Honda was the grace with which Keiko responded to the apology. The young psychic bowed her head slowly and said, her voice no longer quavering, "Thank you, your majesty."

Salno, equally impressed, continued. "I am still unsure of what I or my kingdom should do. However, the fire I see in you tells me that, regardless of what we do, the four of you are determined to return and fight the good fight."

Fight the good fight. Those words rang loud and true in Honda's ears. The queen was really listening now, acknowledging the validity of their views and goals. It marked a turning point in the discussion. It was entirely possible that they could win Salno over to their side and secure the means to victory. Someone just needed to plead their case and plead it well.

Someone.

Honda realized that all eyes were on her now. She had been taken as the de facto leader of the surface dwellers, so it was her they all looked to for an answer. "Yes," she said timidly. Knowing that was not convincing enough, she cleared her throat and said more authoritatively, "Yes. We belong to the surface world. The people suffering include our loved ones and compatriots. There is no choice for us. We will go and fight. Yes, alone…if we must."

Salno's face softened. She shook her head slowly. "I should have seen it before. It is no foolhardy courage that drives you, but love. That, I cannot impede. I dare not."

Honda said nothing but awaited the queen's next words with bated breath.

Salno closed her eyes, clearly debating the question with herself intently. Nearly a minute had passed before she opened them again. "Very well," she said calmly. "The time has come. After a thousand generations of peace, Seatopia will hold its first war council."

Coogler could restrain himself no longer and whooped with excitement. Nelliyattu reverently bowed on both knees. Keiko suddenly threw her arms around Honda with a cry of joy. Honda was not sure how to feel. The mere act of holding a war council did not guarantee anything; the other leaders might be just as stubborn and petty as Malmez. Even if they could convince Seatopia to join the fight…what if it really was too late, after all?

Malmez's private quarters were not far from the council chamber. Upon returning there, he observed the rest of the exchange through a Gem of Sight. He yelled and swore when he heard the outcome but quickly calmed himself again and sat down before the Gem of Sight, peering deeper into it. His clairvoyant powers showed him that if Salno, Suton, and Honda continued on their present course, Seatopia would go to war.

He would not let that happen. Rising from before the Gem of Sight, Malmez walked to a corner of his room that was hidden from the doorway and reached into a concealed crevice. He pulled forth a small, jagged chunk of glowing gemstone he had stashed there. It was not tangerine in color like Muite, but instead the deep, vivid purple of Batorite.