Reticence Saga: The Aliens Within

by Cydra

The journey of the crew has gone rather far astray. 6 years astray to be precise, due to an ancient device that could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. And claiming it before anyone else does will not be a straight and simple matter. The crew shall have to deal with more worries than what has changed in 6 years. There are older forces that are soon to come into play.

1. Ghosts of Times Yet to Come

Reticence Saga

The Aliens Within

Chapter 1: Ghosts of Times Yet To Come

The vastness of multiversal space cannot be overstated. Even with the most advanced of ships, there are some distances that are simply too far apart to reach by conventional methods. As such, some ships are equipped with alternate means of crossing the immense distances. That often meant different accommodations for the crew.

However, some things were too dangerous, which was why most ships had stasis decks, perfect for the radiation barrier one such ship was being forced to traverse, fatal to any living creature not in a booth. Aria was one such creature, wandering the decks and amusing herself by checking field reports or messing with enviromentals. "Urgh...8 more days of this crap...the sooner everyone's awake, the better," she said to herself, checking another day's worth of scans .

The greatest drawback to being an AI was that boredom was harder to deal with. AI lack the biological functions that organic beings had to preoccupy them and they had to stay active to maintain the ship.

There was also the problem of computer senility. AIs ran the risk of literally going mad from boredom which was why Aria was happy the end was in sight. She'd already had to quarantine several subroutines when they began to show signs...
"Warning...Tech alert. Hostile technology detected...analyzing signal and plotting intercept course," said the computer at that .

"Estimate deviation from original course," said Aria, sounding really annoyed.

"92.7 degrees starboard...undocumented wormhole...classification: rifter," said the computer before it added, "Analysis...tech estimated as class 12...immediate intervention required under the NSC Sy-Yong act."

"We're not NSC anymore. Stay on course," said Aria.

"Unable to comply...your projected course would bypass the alert...Assuming control under category 12 of the Sy-Yong act," said the computer.

Aria managed, "You son of a-" before she powered down. The computer beeped contently to itself before making the required corrections and preparing a briefing for the crew...

---

Plumber HQ, Earth.

Normally, the Plumbers only dealt with matters within their current star system. But several Plumber outposts had been sending reports of a large unidentified ship that had been plowing through everything in its way.

"Magister Tennyson. We got another report. An Incursean fleet just tried to ambush...whatever that is. From this report, they didn't last long but they're saying it was a NSC ship, older Infinity model," said a Plumber at the controls, a starmap showing a red dot slowly moving along, several x's marking where ships ranging from pirated to PDF ships trying to chase it away had tried and failed to engage the behemoth .

"I want the NSC representative in here now," demanded Max.

An image was immediately called up, an aged Neilson yawning. "Oh, what the smeg? Do you know what time it is here on Central?" he snapped .

"No and I don't care," said Max, "What I do care about is why one of your ships has been plowing a trail through one eighth of the Milky Way."

"Are you joking? The fleets have their hands full with what's left of the Dark Queen's empire. The closest ship's 3 months away, one of the reasons we objected to your boss kicking our bases out," snapped Neilson .

"Then can you offer a better explanation for this?" asked Max before sending Neilson data about the ship.

"Home in on the registry and nameplate," said Neilson to someone off-screen, immediately all business before he said, "It's clearly a fake. The Novus Star's on Avalar undertaking an extensive refit. I should know because I spoke to the commander last night. It's his anniversary and the last person to try and crash that ended up in a regen booth for 3 months," he said calmly .

"Seems unlikely that someone could make an exact replica of that ship just to blast everything in its way," said Max.

"Of course not. The Infinity series was discontinued when the civil war broke out. Only three were made and they're all accounted for," said Neilson, before the feed began to flicker. "The heck...Control, lock down that..." he began before every screen except Neilson's became a red backgrounded rotating symbol of the NSC.

"This is a general broadcast from the Nullspace Security Coalition. A hostile technology of class 12 has been identified on a planet at coordinated Zeta 414 dash 5. This technology, if prematurely activated could cause significant loss of life and materials and as a result, a force has been dispatched to contain and neutralize the effect. Any attempt to breach the quarantine perimeter or interfere with the operations will be met with lethal force. This message will broadcast to any ship entering the 2 lightyear buffer zone and will repeat...This is a general-" said a calm and polite female voice before Neilson apparently muted it.

"Probably DARKRIFT. I'd listen if I were you. Those guys eat demons for breakfast," he said, suddenly all calm, like he knew something .

"DARKRIFT or not, I want to know why they're heading for the Anur System," said Max, having already figured out the ship's trajectory.

"DARKRIFT ops are classified way above my paygrade but let me put it this way, until now, the Sy-Yong scale only went to 8," said Neilson, before terminating the link

"There is only one Plumber posted in that system," said Molly Gunther, "It shouldn't be a concern to us."

"When something blows up an entire fleet, especially an Incursean fleet to get somewhere, I think it's everyone's concern," said Max.

"Magister, we can't get through to the Plumber stationed on Anur. We just get that voice message," said another Plumber concerned .

"Scout could be in over his head with this," said Max, "We better send backup." Max, however, had called up the specs on the so-called Infinity. Nicknamed 'fleet in a box' due to the fact it was so large that it had several destroyers and cruisers docked with it. Above Max, the same message repeated, emphasizing the 'lethal force' part. "We're going to need someone who's extremely experienced with slipping under the radar," said Max.

---

"I can't believe we're going back to Anur Transyl. I hope the locals are friendlier then last time," said Ben, sitting back in his of the time ship.

"Perhaps they will be more welcoming if you do not try to label and antagonize them again," said Rook.

"What? They're actual monsters. I was just calling them what they were," said Ben, "Besides, I saved them Transyl and Zs'Skayr so they know they owe me."

Rook, however, was suddenly looking ahead to where a cluster of asteroids were sitting. "That is strange. These asteroids were not here on our last trip," he said concerned, before the com auto-activated.

"Unidentified vessel. You are approaching a quarantined system. Please alter your heading to leave this zone or state a valid NSC security ident code," said a calm female voice.

"You got a working code?" asked Ben dryly.

"I do not," said Rook, "I suspect that these asteroids are more than they appear."

"What gives you that idea?" asked Ben.

"The fact that they are targeting us with auto-turrets," said Rook.

"This is your second warning. Please state a valid ident code or your ship will be flagged as hostile," said the voice a tone of warning in it now as several of the 'asteroids' shed their covering to show floating quad cannons.

"Ben, perhaps we should try a different approach," said Rook.

"Yeah, we'll just time travel back to before they get here and slip in before they set up their defenses," said Ben.

"For once, a useful idea," said Skurd dryly.

"Your time has expired. Kill your engines. You are under arrest," said the voice, sounding angry now before several rapid clunks were heard, the projectiles bouncing off their ship and the clanks getting louder as the turrets began to up the calibers.

"Activate the Time Cycles' temporal drive on my mark," said Rook.

"MARK!" shouted Ben as he hit his button, Rook barely hitting his in time.

However, at that moment, a deafening bang was heard as one turret's computer noticed the energy burst and decided it was a priority target, firing its main cannon and scoring a direct hit. However, by then, the ship was past them. "All point alert...a ship has breached perimeter line 1...scramble all sabres. Target is to be disabled," it announced .

"Rook, a time jump would come in handy right now," said Ben.

"The temporal drive is offline. We shall have to sausage it from here," said Rook.

"That's 'hotdog it'," said Ben before they made their ship zoom forward.

The ship immediately dived into the mess of webbing that connected the various planetary bodies in the Anur System, easily weaving through them before several tracers shot by, followed by several fighters. "Unidentified ship. We have you tagged. Follow us on heading 4 dash 9. If you deviate we will destroy you. Do you copy?" said an American-accented voice, though with a hint of reptilian hissing.

"What way is that anyways?" asked Ben.

A second hail of gunfire however indicated the pilots had lost patience, and their burst firing indicating they weren't going to fall for the 'trick em into flying into a rock' form of trick flying. "If you're going to fly somewhere, I suggest doing it now," said Skurd.

As if the universe was listening, the last of the webbing cleared to show a small armada sitting in orbit, a huge vessel easily 2 miles long commanding the sight, a hail of heavy rounds of both solid and energy filling the sky and the Plumber scanner picking up a storm of chatter.

"Uh, Rook, did we ever get around to putting in that cloaking shield?" asked Ben.

"No, you have repeatedly said that a time machine does not require a cloaking shield as they can disappear literally before anyone can notice them," said Rook.

Another hit was felt at that, the controls sparking. "Prepare for crash landing," said Rook as he tried to stabilize the Time Cycles' descent.

---

Blackstar 9 was one of the more extreme marine teams on tech search when they got the call that some ship was breaching containment. "Heh, how far do you think it'll get? The frogs barely made it past he auto turrets," said one.

"You sure it's the frogs?" asked another, "I'm picking up temporal energy from that ship."

"Don't matter. I hear the boss has done his share of time travel. Have the computer...there we go. Turret swatted their time drive. Let's see em try anything else...oh they got to the fighter picket, 50 creds say they make it to the fleet," said a fourth marine cheerfully .

"Oh, there they go already," said the third marine.

"All ground teams, be prepared. Bogey is headed planetside. Arrest all survivors. That is an order. Commander is en route to oversee," said a voice from control, causing the marines to groan and head for the several scorpion tanks that was their transport.

---

The ship had crashed not too far from one of the 'stitches' that covered the planet. As such, the ground was a tiny bit unstable.

"Ok marines, take up positions!" yelled a captain, his squad jumping from their vehicles and taking cover, a couple hefting twin barreled rocket launchers.

"You are surrounded. Come out with your appendages visible and held above your head!" called a trooper as the scorpion tanks aimed .

One of the cockpits opened and an alien wearing blue armor stepped out with his hands up. "Weird, scanners say he's a Revonnahgander, didn't think they ever leave Revonnah," said one of the marines. "Ok, that's clearly a two-person craft, where's your co-pilot?" demanded another marine.

"He is very, very close," said the Revonnahgander. Just then, the ground beneath them started shaking quite violently.

"Seismic, seismic, everyone get clear!" yelled an anthro cat marine, the group scattering as Armordrillo surfaced and was immediately peppered with useless machinegun fire as the other marines opened fire

"Well, that certainly made new friends," said Skurd dryly.

"Just give me something to blast them with," said Armordrillo. Skurd extended his slime down Armordrillo's arms and over his hands which changed into Water Hazard's. "That'll do," said Armordrillo before hosing down the marines.

A second later, something whizzed past his head and caused a rock tower to explode to dust, Armordrillo turning to see the scorpion tank correcting its aim to fire again, which it did so . "Better take that out," said Armordrillo before pounding the ground and causing a fissure to open up under the tank.

The crew were obviously smart as they were already jumping out, just before the tank tipped into the new void, getting stuck half way. A second later, several missiles slammed into him, the marines switching to their rocket launchers.

"Ow, ok, time to change players," said Armordrillo before slapping the Omnitrix. With a burst of green light, he was now Gravattack.

However, the marines seemed to be falling back, as if making room for something. "Oi...you got a receipt for that?" said a mechanical distorted voice.

Gravattack turned to see someone who was wearing what looked like heavy armor that was shaped a lot like an anthro dragon. "You some guy the Forever Knights kicked out or something?" asked Gravattack.

"Those jokers can't afford me," said the figure smugly, raising his arm so the top of the wrist was pointed, a small gun barrel visible before it raised its other and aimed at Rook. "Don't even think about it," it said calmly .

Gravattack quickly raised an arm and started massively increasing the armored guy's pull of gravity. The figure smirked before firing, the shot not enough to hurt but enough to daze before it leapt off its perch and delivered a double kick to Gravattack's chest with some impressive power behind it, backflipping to land in a crouch .

"Ok, you're strong enough to fight with increased weight," said Gravattack, "But how about without weight?" With that, Gravattack reversed his power, causing the figure to float upwards uncontrollably. The figure seemed to struggle for a minute before two plumes of blue flame ignited and he flew back, firing as he did

Gravattack floated upwards as he shifted to his planet form, redirecting his gravity powers to pull this guy into orbit. The figure just continued to fire before letting himself drop onto Gravattack and dropping a blue orb. "Have a tazer bomb, good for whatever tech ails you," he sneered, taking off again .

The figure didn't get very far before suddenly Gravattack's orbit grabbed him and spun him around before throwing him into the ground. He quickly threw away the tazer bomb into the upper atmosphere before activating the Omnitrix. Rath landed on top of the figure and shouted, "Déjame decirte algo, tipo que dice ser demasiado caro para los Caballeros Eternos! Rath va a libra esa armadura de los suyos hasta que lo que hay dentro se expulse de manera que Rath puede hacer aún más golpes!"
The figure cocked his head before clicking its neck, swapping the translator to the correct language. "Say again?" it asked calmly .

Rath growled and snapped, "Skurd, Rath sigue hablando español! ¿Cómo puede alguien entender insultos y remontadas increíbles de Rath, cuando nadie puede entender Rath? Fijar ahora!"

"Uno momento," said Skurd before there was a beep and he said, "You're free to mangle the English vocabulary again."

"Finally! Now as Rath was saying-" started Rath.

A second later, Rath was sent flying as the figure fired both blasts into his chest. "Ok...that was new. Oh well, let's see how strong this armor really is," muttered the figure before it heard a click behind him.

"Surrender now and I shall be forced to fire," said Rook behind the figure, holding his Proto-Tool to the figure's back.

"Oh, a plasma blaster, you sure that's a good move?" said the figure, before hearing a beeping from Rath and he turned back into Ben, seemingly surprising the figure. "Hey, don't I know you?" it said .

"A lot of people know me," said Ben, "I am pretty famous."

"Ben, I do not think now is the time for boasting," said Rook.

"His name's Ben?" said the figure, before using the distraction to spin and grab the Proto-Tool. "No guns today," it said, the helmet hissing before splitting into segments. The segments separated to reveal a face Ben hadn't seen for quite some time.

"Matt? What are you doing here?" asked Ben.

"Finding an evil doomsday weapon on a planet full of b-movie monsters and Loboans. Why are you ruining the only missions that's gone for me without a hitch?" said Matt, glaring pointedly.

"Well, when it looks like someone's doing an invasion with a copy of one of the biggest ships in the multiverse, some people might object," said Ben.

Matt glared equally. "Other people shouldn't keep universe destroying doomsday weapons on a planet that looks like it's held together with glue and duct tape," he snapped .

"I believe you are mistaken," said Rook, "On our last visit of Anur Transyl, we detected no doomsday-type weaponry upon this planet."

"Did your ship have scanners capable of reading a newspaper on Earth from the dimension next door? Also, who the hell are you?" said Matt .

"I am Rook Blonko, Plumber officer and assigned partner to Ben Tennyson," said Rook, "And if I'm not mistaken, are you not Admiral Matthew J. Lynch of the Avalarian Alliance?"

"Admiral? As in mainstream? A desk job? I've shot people for suggesting less. Come to think of it, you're both under arrest till I find the doomsday thingy and throw it in the nearest black hole," snapped Matt as his men approached.

"Nuh uh, you're under arrest for blowing up every ship you came across getting here," said Ben.

"I've got the army and the machineguns and I know your little toy takes ten minutes to recharge. Also the ones that exploded were all assholes who tried to shoot us first," snapped Matt .

"So far our scans have shown that only Incursean ships tried to oppose their progress," said Rook.

"Rook, we're supposed to be supporting our side," said Ben.

"Look, can you just stop it? It's bad enough the locals are so twitchy. We've kept scans to the unbuilt areas but we've ran out of those...whatever's setting off the alarm bells is in the town or the surrounding settlements," snapped Matt loudly .

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" asked Ben, "For all we know, you're another evil Matt from another alternate dimension or something."

"Not met one yet. But let me be clear. If one of you so much as dented any of my team's equipment, I'll make you wish I'd never been bor-" he began before seeing the tank. "Heh...ehehehehe...AHAHAHAH...AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he said, his laugh getting steadily more manic .

"Ok, no one else laughs like that, he's definitely Matt," said Ben.

"YOU'RE DEAD TENNYSON!" screamed Matt, lunging at Ben.

---

"Ok, now then, Matt..." said Kala.

Matt, sporting a black eye and several scratches, muttered, "Sorry I tried to vaporize you."

"And Ben..." prompted Kala.

"Rath is sorry for pummeling you, even though you really deserved it," said Rath stubbornly.

"That's good. If either of you behave like children again, I'll get out Mr. Roasty again," Kala said.

"I still do not see why Mrs. Lynch is using a flamethrower," said Rook, "I have heard that her pyrokinesis is proficient enough to compare to a Pyronite's."

"That's not my sister. She's far more violent." said Matt, with a hint of pride

"I was not referring to Chloe Lynch. I was referring to Kala Lynch nee Triseptus," said Rook, looking at his Proto-Tool's computer with some confusion.

Matt paused before asking politely, "Can I see that computer please?"

"As you wish," said Rook, handing the Proto-Tool over.

Matt looked at it before nodding and taking another look. "6 years...we went forward 6 years..." he said in a shaking voice before saying something in Splitter into his earpiece that quickly descended into a rather angry shouting match that ended with his earpiece tazering him for some reason.

"Well that explains a lot," said Ben.

"Indeed," said Rook, "However, one must look on the bright side. Since there are documents pertaining to events involving Captain Lynch that cover the last 6 years, it is a sure indication that he and his crew are to return to their proper time."

"Yes, Aria, you blanket jam all infonet connections, NO SPOILERS!" Matt snapped, his years of being fried by lightning meaning he'd already recovered .

"Ok, well, now that the awkward part's done, mind giving us a better explanation about what kind of doomsday weapon you're after? It couldn't be worse than the Anilyog."

"The Anihilaarg," corrected Rook.

"That? Nah, that recreates the universe once it's done, barely class 3. This is doomsday stuff. Remember Tuatara?" said Matt darkly .

"Vividly," said Ben.

"He was made by a class 8 tech pathogen, this thing was apparently class 12," said Matt calmly .

"Can pathogenic technology really advance that high?" asked Rook.

"I have the scars on my shoulder to prove it. We don't know what this class 12 is. Could be anything: a bomb, leftover terraforming tech from the Atlantean era, or something else. That is why my men are turning the planet upside down. These things don't come with a manual usually meaning we need to find it and smash it," said Matt .

"Well, I suppose I can help with this one," said Ben, "I mean, I'm pretty good at finding long lost artifacts."

"Since when have you ever found any artifacts on your own?" asked Rook.

"SILENCE!" yelled Matt, before his comm beeped.

"Commander, this is search six. We got a potential mob on our hands. We need backup," said a desperate voice .

Matt gave an annoyed sigh before saying, "I'll be right there."

"You know, it'd be easier for you if you had a friend on this planet," said Ben, "Like a local Plumber who's the only representative posted in this system."

"Fine, just the times on the Rustbucket. Aria, those people who came in on the ship, add em to the spiderbot IFF," Matt said with a sigh.

---

A marine peered out before tapping the side of his helmet to turn on his megaphone. "This is your last warning. This search is mandatory. The tech that is in this settlement is extremely hostile. A cash reward will be-" he said before being forced to duck as a rock flew past his head, the squad holding energy shields in front of themselves.

The locals were not welcoming of the newcomers. They had alien versions of torches and pitchforks, as well as picket signs that translated to such things as 'No More Monsters!' and 'Go Away Monsters!'

"This is your last warning. You are interfering in a NSC military operation. Lethal force will be employed in-ouch!" yelled the same marine before a well-thrown piece of fruit knocked him backwards

As the rotten produce continued to fly, one of the troopers said to another, "Am I the only one who's thinking this is extremely ironic?"

---

Matt watched from between the fingers of the hand on his face as his men were pelted by what seemed like the cast of the Addams family. "It was going so well," he moaned, he, Rook and Ben watching from an alley

"Seriously, do we look anywhere near monstrous?" asked Ben.

"Ben, the standards are different here," said Rook, "We are the monsters on this planet."

"All units, hold positions," said Matt, folding his helmet back into position before walking into view, firing a wrist shot into the air to get the mob's attention. "Ladies, gentlemen, and miscellaneous other, can I have your attention please?" he called, his suit magnifying the noise . There were more than a few growls and grumbles, particularly from the Loboans.

"My men are here to make sure your world doesn't end up consigned to history. I've seen firsthand what happens when people find ancient tech and press the wrong button. They're usually found on ruins in asteroid belts. The last thing I want is to see that happen here. We are not invaders and as soon as we find the tech, we are out of your lives forever," Matt called .

There was more growling from the mob before a voice said, "This alien speaks the truth!" Everyone turned to see a Loboan wearing a Plumber's uniform. "These aliens may appear hideous and aggressive, but have they ever did anything to hurt us?" called the Loboan, "Must we always lash out against outsiders just because of what they look like? We should judge people on their actions, not their appearances, no matter how ugly they appear to us."

Matt looked up, his armor supplying a few names, though it seemed to say this Loboan was still a cadet...and at the academy still. "Stupid time difference. I give my personal assurance that if any of my men cause trouble before them that I will come down like a ton of bricks on them but we have to check buildings and the caves underneath. If you've found anything unusual we will buy the item from you for a fair price," he said .

"How much could you pay?" called a Transylian.

"For a class 12 hostile tech, standard bounty is...20 million NSC credits," said Matt, more or less on automatic. The locals didn't seem impressed until Matt sighed and withdrew some credits from his account to show them. They probably didn't know how much it was worth, but they knew gold when they saw it.

"This is a standard NSC credit. Probably worth about...20,000 universal creds here and..." began Matt before the mob lunged at him, most of them holding junk .

"This is gonna take all day," moaned Ben.

---

"No, for the 400th time, we are not looking for a picture that ages instead of our real selves," said Matt in a dark mood . The good news was that the locals no longer feared and despised the visitors. The bad news was now they were trying to hock basically anything they can find, including a couple of kitchen sinks. Matt, in true merc style, had, as usual, spread the misery around and had gotten Ben and Rook to take his place on the search teams.

---

"Ok, this castle's the last place. Drone got a good read from here, probably some cavern the damn thing was built on. Locals said some creep used to live here so watch for booby traps," said the team captain, ignoring the three Plumbers.

"Do you think that Zs'Skayr has already reconstituted himself yet?" asked Rook.

"Hard to say," said Ben, "Not sure how fast he can piece himself back together on his own and Dr. Viktor might still be mad about the whole Transyl thing."

"Wait...that death trap's occupied?" said the team captain, looking at the doorway, which swung open to reveal the aforementioned Dr. Viktor.

"Hey, Viktor, buddy..." started Ben.

"Just because I aided you against ze Vladat does not mean ve are 'buddies'," said Viktor in a cold Austrian accent.

"Dr. Viktor...you're the owner?" said the team captain, pushing past Ben .

"Ze steward," corrected Viktor, "As soon as the master revives, ze castle vill be his again."

"By order of the NSC tech recovery division, we have to search the premises and the caverns below for a possible class 12 technological artifact," said the captain, holding up a data pad.

"I do not care who you say you are," said Viktor, "I vill not be having strangers burglarizing the master's castle."

"If you don't let us in, there might not be a castle, or a planet the castle's supposed to be on," snapped the captain .

"Do you really think zat Zs'Skayr vould know of such a thing in his castle and not have some means of securing it?" said Viktor scoffing, "Be gone or I vill have ze pumpkins force you off the premises."

"You mean the pumpkins Lt Kala's napalming with Mr. Roasty?" said another marine, stepping aside to see a pumpkin fleeing from the giggling Kala.

"Odd, ze pumpkins should be absorbing the flames," said Viktor.

"There is a limit to how much they can handle," said Rook.

"Guys, let me handle this," said Ben, "If he's waiting for Ghostfreak, I'll give him Ghostfreak." He activated the Omnitrix and in a flash, he was suddenly a small fairylike alien.

"Yeah, real impressive. Sir, if you don't let us into the castle, I have a feeling the commander will just order us to drop damn nuke on you and check the crater. He's in a real bad mood," said the captain .

"I think you have outstayed your velcome," said Viktor as his lightning rods started charging up.

"I got this one," chirped Pesky Dust, "Dr. Viktor's had such a busy night. He really need to catch some z's." He tossed a handful of green dust into Viktor's face, which made immediately fall over and start snoring.

"Nice work, peewee. Team one, sweep the first floor. Demo, blow a hole in their basement so we can get into the caverns. Team three and you Plumbers...with me, we'll check the upper floors," ordered the captain, his teams running inside .

"I got a quicker way to find it," said Pesky Dusk before he head his hands over Viktor's head and they started glowing.

Viktor fretted in his sleep and muttered, "You vill not have my brain, Xarion."

After a few seconds, Pesky Dust turned back into Ben and said, "We need to head to the dungeon, bottom level."

"All squads, head to dungeon, bottom floor. Containment teams, pull out of the town. Tell the boss we got this thing," said the captain with a smirk.

---

"Man, whoever owned this place went all out with this dungeon," said Matt. They had passed several alien versions of medieval torture equipment as well stuff that looked much more modern, "Who was this Zs'Skayr guy anyways?"

"Oh, that's Ghostfreak, the evil version that is," said Ben, "Turns out he had his own name."

"Oh, that's nice. I'll update my 'people to obliterate' list when I go back to my time," said Matt cheerfully, looking as his team were scanning around before focusing on a section of the floor.

"It's here," one marine said, slamming a disc on the floor.

"Oh boy...run away!" yelped Matt, running out the room with the others before the disc charge obliterated the floor and revealed a huge cavern below.

The team dropped down and shined their lights around. "I believe I have found something," said Rook, his light falling upon what looked like a coffin leaned against the wall.

"Oh boy, nothing good could be in that," said Ben.

"Still, we have to check and see, against my better judgment," said Matt.
What looked like a robotic skeleton kicked the lid off its hinges proceeded to knock the head off one of the marines before looking around with red optics. "Intruders detected...obliterating."

"Come on, Omnitrix, don't fail me now," said Ben as he selected an alien and pushed the core down. In a flash, he was a small gremlin-like alien in an aviator's outfit.

"Yes, yes, Jury Rigg!" he said excitedly.

The creature's head whipped around from choking another marine to spot him. "Scanning...target: Devimachina. Threat to Gaia Mirror: extreme. Conclusion: obliterate," it said in a dark tone, throwing the coughing marine back and advancing .

"Not good, not good," said Jury Rigg, "Skurd, need a weapon quick."

"Coming right up," said Skurd as slime covered one of Jury Rigg's arm and changed it into what looked like a gun made out of Legos.

"Bloxx-lobber, yes!" said Jury Rigg excitedly before shooting explosive blocks at the robot.

The bot cocked its head before seemingly teleporting, though a storm of dust indicated it had moved conventionally. "Threat level: rising. Unidentified parasite confirmed," it said in the same tone, claws crackling with energy sprouting from its fingers .

"Oh dear, I think we need to gain some distance," said Skurd before making Astrodactyl's jetpack appear on Jury Rigg's back.

The bot moved again, jumping up and grabbing Jury Rigg's leg and pulling down before throwing him at a wall. "Target...neutralized...removing," it said darkly before turning to face a muzzle.

"Boo," said Matt before blowing the bot's head off, a fountain of oil-like liquid coming out before the bot fell sideways .

Ben changed back and said, "Ok, that's the only line of defense, right?"

"I hope so..." said Matt, looking around as the team medics saw to the injured before spotting that the coffin didn't have a back panel. "After you," he said, gesturing .

As they walked through, they soon found themselves passing several preserved heads, presumably from less fortunate trespassers. Even the Thep Khufan heads looked decidedly dead. As they were passing the final head, it suddenly sang out, "I ain't got no body and no body cares for me!" There was some universal screaming before the 'head' re-constituted as NegaMorph. "Your faces...priceless…" he laughed .

Matt's eye twitched as he said, "NegaMorph, just because I can't manipulate plasma anymore doesn't mean I won't inflict heavy pain on you if you don't explain how you got here."

"I got in through a crack in the wall," said NegaMorph, "But when that goon noticed me, I played dead. Good thing it doesn't know how to scan plasma-based beings."

Matt however was looking at a bat-like skeleton on the floor. "Revenites...dead ones. Looks like they've been here centuries...and look, terminals. This was some kind of lab," he said, gesturing to several apparent stones with symbols arranged in keyboard fashion .

"Revenites? Those like Vladats?" asked Ben.

"Never heard of Vladats. Revenites were some kinda evil alien vampires. Before me and my sis ever got to Nullspace, Combine and NSC teamed up to eradicate them," said Matt, wiping dust off the keyboard and causing them to light up, strips lighting up along the walls, illuminating a ship in the distance, heavily damage and useless and another sealed door.

"Kr'ka no din zak vor," said a voice.

"What did it say?" asked Rook.

"Not a clue," said Matt, the voice repeating the same words .

"Skurd, mind switching on the translator?" asked Ben.

"It is on," said Skurd, "This language simply predates translator technology."

"Or it isn't equipped to handle language from another part of the multiverse," said Matt.

"Translation complete...awaiting orders," said the voice at that .

"Oh, that's convenient," said Matt, "I suppose I should be used to that by now. Computer, run data logs."

"Error...this facility answers only to researcher Archon Azedor," said the computer .

"Who's that?" asked Ben.

"Presumably Slim down there," said NegaMorph, pointing at the skeleton.

"Computer, is there any non-classified intelligence?" asked Matt.

The computer seemed to wait before saying, "This facility is an observation laboratory used for production of new terraforming technology. The Gaia Mirror was the result."

"Mirror? What mirror?" asked Ben.

"Information restricted," said the computer before a marine called out "What about this freaky thing?"

The guys went over to look and found themselves starting at a tall wall mirror. However, instead of their normal reflections, they had monstrous reflections that resembled the natives. Matt and Rook's reflections looked like Loboans while Ben's looked like a zombified version of him. "Scans indicate this thing's the tech we've been looking for," said a marine.

"You're kidding," said NegaMorph, "All this brouhaha over a dumb funhouse mirror?" He walked up to the mirror and looked at his reflection. It was no surprise that his appearance was unaltered. It was a surprise when the reflection screamed and ran through a door reflected in the mirror.

"Nah, look at this, emitters. This thing must send out a pulse of something...nasty," said another marine .

"Zs'Skayr had a mirror like this upstairs," said Ben, "It created evil monster reflections that came out and attack you."

"Musta been a knock off," said Matt, tapping the mirror which rippled like liquid before he slapped his hands together, "Well, least we got it. Captain, get an engineering team down here. I want this mirror in a Pelican in ten minutes and in the sun in half an hour."

"You're just gonna toss it in the sun?" asked Ben.

"It might look like a party trick, but it's a doomsday device," said Matt, "Don't know how it is, but we're not taking chances."

"Sir, we got a problem. Auto-turrets in quadrant 6 just all went dark at the same time," said a voice in Matt's ear at that

"Now what?" groaned Matt.

"Hold on...sir, we have sensor silhouettes approaching from quadrant 6. Multiple Incursean warships in attack formation," said the voice .

"Not them again," groaned Ben, "I hope Attea's not with them."

"Ok, I think our stay's over. I'll stay and make sure the mirrors moved. Aria, get the ship to code red. Those Incursean idiots do not set one foot on this planet," snapped Matt.

---

On the Incursean command ship, the leader of the Incurseans was being addressed. "Lord Empress Attea, light of the Incursean Empire, destroy of galaxies, keeper of-"

"Get to the point already, Raff!" snapped Attea.

"We're almost on top of the ship that blew up our border patrols. Looks like it's parked on top of Anur Transyl. Must be in pretty bad shape, sensors say it's breaking up," said Raff, looking at a sensor feed.

Attea took one look at the feed and snapped, "That's a fleet deployment, you dolt! Scramble the armada!"

On cue, several shots flew out of the storm of webs, several striking destroyers, sending them out of control or blowing them apart. A line of ships could be seen hovering in place before a hologram appeared on the ship's viewscreen. "Have I got your attention?" said Aria .

"What are you humans doin' out here?" demanded Attea.

"Sightseeing. I don't believe the NSC's business is any of yours," sneered Aria .

"This ain't the NSC's turf," snapped Attea.

"Neither is it the Incurseans'," replied Aria. Aria seemed to pause before saying darkly, "Is it a game of firepower? I believe we trump you there by a few centuries."

"You got no idea what the Incursean Armada is capable of," said Attea.

"Oh yes, is that why we blew away 4 of your precious destroyers in one volley?" sneered Aria .

"Listen Missy, you don't want me to come over there. If you got something worth nabbin', I'm takin' it," said Attea.

"I have better things to do than listen to the baseless posturing of a spoiled brat," said Aria, "So if you're going to do something, get it over with already."

Attea looked furious at that as the signal went dead. "What are you waitin' for? Start firin'!" she snapped .

"Uh, Empress, should we not determine a weakspot to-" started Raff before he had to hop back to avoid getting shot.

"I said start firin'!" snapped Attea.

---

The battle meanwhile was definitely getting noticed, the sky filled with explosions as the Novus Star's fleet went to town on the Incursean fleet. Needless to say there was panic...and in all this Matt was having a nervous breakdown as yet another supposedly easy mission circled into the drain of 'smeg' again .

"We weren't even supposed to be here. We weren't even supposed to be in this time!" snapped Matt. Rook and Scout were naturally puzzled as to why Matt was choosing this moment to have a full-on freak out, but for Ben, this was just bringing back memories.

Just then, an Incursean fighter ship pulled up beside them. "Halt, hand over the weapon or face annihilation," said one of the soldiers on the ship.

The reply was Matt firing a rather accurate blast into the fighter's engine sending it into the ground, its crew staggering out and meeting a ballistic Matt coming the other way. Needless to say, even NegaMorph winced a bit before he said over the clonking noises, "The NSC still has that 'reading rights' rule right? He's really reading them."

"Matt mellows out later," said Ben before reconsidering his words and saying, "Well, a bit more. Ok, he at least doesn't go berserk every time."

NegaMorph nodded before sidestepping as an Incursean trooper was sent flying to land in a dazed heap, Matt bashing the other one repeatedly against his fighter snapping "STOP HITTING YOUR SHIP!" over and over .

"So, Matt and Kala eventually tie the knot?" asked NegaMorph.

"Yeah, but I probably shouldn't talk a lot about that," said Ben.

Matt finally let go of the pilot, the luckless Incursean making dazed burblings before sliding down. "Stupid gits!" he snapped before the first pilot fired at him, the laser bouncing off the armor and into the mirror which began to ripple more, several crystals in the frame lighting up before the Incursean's reflection, that of a Thep Khufan and which was the only visible whole one, turned to look at him, turned into light and shot at him. The Incursean yelped and tried to avoid the beam, but it hit him anyways.

When the light cleared, a confused looking Thep Khufan with green coloring was looking around before spotting the group, screaming 'MONSTERS' and running away. "Oh...that's why it's class 12," said Matt cheerfully .

"Huh, wonder what it would do for me," said NegaMorph, looking at the mirror. His reflection was hiding behind a seat and only stole brief glances at NegaMorph.

"Clearly your DNA is too warped to have an Anur equivalent," said Rook, "Which makes me wonder why it would be set to Anurians in the first place."

"Terraformer, what if it was intended to turn people into revenites? If it decided the Anurs had superior DNA…" said Matt darkly .

"Revenites were basically alien doppelgangers, weren't they?" asked NegaMorph, "I mean, that had that whole bloodsucking, UV intolerance thing, but they were closer to chameleons than vampires, weren't they?"

"Yeah, no wonder their terraformer decided to ignore them," said Matt darkly .

"Seems pretty small scale for a terraformer," said Ben.

"You saw what one laser bolt did. Imagine if you fed a reactor to it," said Matt, the image already in his mind, a wall of energy terraforming everything it touched without mercy, changing the compatible and reducing the incompatible to DNA sludge.

"In that case, would not throwing it into the sun have that effect?" asked Rook.

"Fine, black hole it is. Or we have the spiderbots dismantle it," said Matt casually, the group ducking for a second as an Incursean fighter went overhead, chased by two Broadswords from the Novus Star.

"Shouldn't we wrap this thing or something?" asked Ben, getting a healthy distance between him and the mirror.

"Well, we shone lights on it...must need a certain amount of energy. WHERE THE HECK'S THAT PELICAN?" said Matt, snapping the last part, the aforementioned Pelican flying into view

"Was not that model recalled for terrible flight performance?" asked Rook.

"It's a brand new...I hate time travel," snapped Matt, the back opening up and two engineers running out.

"To be honest, these things drop like pine cones," said NegaMorph.

Matt glared and threw NegaMorph into the mirror at that. NegaMorph vanished through the surface and did not come out the other side. The engineers turned the mirror around, but NegaMorph didn't appear in any angle. "Should we not be concerned by that?" asked Rook.

"He'll be fine. He's been killed once before. Didn't even stop him," said Matt cheerfully, helping push the mirror in. "TO THE NEAREST BLACK HOLE!" he called cheerfully, spoilt slightly as the engineer dropped the mirror frame on his foot just as the Pelican's bay door closed

"I'm thinking we'd be better off with some other ship," said Skurd.

---

However, it wasn't just the Incurseans watching. On Luna Lobo, a single ship that would have looked familiar to the people who found the mirror was watching. "Research Archon...the mirror has been removed from containment. The security drone is not responding...orders?" asked the computer calmly to a shadowy shape .

"The mirror must not leave this system," said the shadowy figure, "Prepare anti-aircraft guns."

"Confirmed...target traced to NSC transport vessel. Alert...an NSC tech retrieval fleet is in-system," said the computer .

"Really? You don't say," said the figure sarcastically.

"Firing would cause a 92% probability that our position would be detected and a hostile response would occur," said the computer.

The figure paused. "Wait till those Incursean ships get close, then fire. It'll look like they did it," he said calmly .

"Confirmed," said the computer.

"Ok...FIRE!" snapped the figure.

---

Three plasma bursts shot out as a Pelican dived through the atmosphere to try and lose two Incursean fighters. The first took the Pelican's left wing off, sending it into a tailspin while the other two blew the fighters to shreds.

---

"Targets neutralized...alert, survivors detected...scans also indicate the explosion as partially activated the mirror," said the computer, the shape sighing.

"Open the airlock, I'll get the mirror personally."

---

While the new armor did protect Matt from most damage, it didn't protect him from all damage. Namely from cushioning big falls. He settled for groaning, his whole body aching, except for his foot that felt ice cold. He managed to raise his head to see that said foot was up to the knee in the mirror. "Oh...smeg," he moaned, jumping as he heard a begging voice cut off by an energy blast before something tore the bay doors off their hinges.

"Well...the great admiral... No...no, it's not you is it...well not yet," said a calm cultured voice .

"If you're gonna try and finish me off, you're going to be asking for more trouble than you can pay," said Matt with more bravado than he felt.

"Really? I can see from my scanner that four of your ribs are broke, one of your lungs is punctured and you have concussion. You won't be able to drink a cup of tea, let alone fire a gun, you idiot. I could kill you now or, even better, leave you for the feral Loboans," laughed the figure .

"I've handled savage werewolves before and those were the ones with bad bites," said Matt.

"It's not the Loboans' bite to be feared, it's their bark," said the figure. Matt gulped as a howl was heard, the figure looking at the mirror. "That is mine," he said angrily.

"Yeah right. The guy this belonged to has left his bones on the floor of the room we found it in," said Matt.

"No, that was my assistant, poor fool. The war caste wanted my creation. We objected," said the figure angrily before aiming a remote at the mirror.

"Override accepted...activating slow burn," said a voice.

The figure then stepped aside to let several more drones in who carefully lifted up the mirror and carried it out, another carefully removing Matt's leg from it. "Enjoy, a little present for a graverobber," sneered the figure.

"Hey, get back here," said Matt weakly before what sounded like a wolf pack howling was heard.

"Oh, you should fit right in if you get upset enough," laughed the Archon, vanishing like mist.

"Oh, this is gonna suck," groaned Matt before jumping as the sound of plasma fire was heard and a drop trooper peered in. "We got him, get the medics in here," he called .

---

Fortunately, the Incurseans were not too hard to force into retreat. Which was just about the brightest point of an otherwise failure of a mission.

Chloe, to the surprise of some of the crew, wasn't the pit of incomprehensible fury they expected when Matt was brought into the medical bay...however Kala happily took up that role and then some. She might not have the incredible pyrokinetic power she had previously, but at least had her old experiment power of throwing fiery plasma orbs which she was doing with great fury.

Luckily, given the size of the Novus Star, that meant that she got the medical bay to herself and the crew were taking bets on when she calmed down. "This is actually a usual day," explained Wilson to the three Plumber agents.

"I rather pity Matt for having her for a future wife," said Skurd.

"I'm not surprised they tie the knot. They're crazy for each other," said Techo, before saying, "Matt said some creep who said he was that Archon took the mirror...and given he had those drones with him and our track record, I believe him."

"But Matt said the Revenites have been extinct for centuries," said Rook.

"We've found a few exceptions," said Aria.

"Yeah, one of those freaks got aboard the ship while most of us were in stasis," said a marine, adding, "Why do you think we're following the nutter?"

"Yeah, but I'm still not crazy about hunting for him on one of the most dangerous worlds in the Anur system," said Ben.

"Actually, considering the radioactive desert of Anur Khufos, unfathomable swamps and oceans of Anur Milligan, the shrouded mysteries of Anur Phaetos , and the death world that was once Anur Vladias, I would say that Luna Lobo is not the most dangerous world," said Rook.

"Fine, the most dangerous moon in the Anur system," said Ben.

"It doesn't matter. Unless an Incursean pilot got really lost in the retreat, there was a jump point going in the opposite direction. Whoever took the mirror left the system," said Aria calmly .

"Well, let's get moving then," snapped Kala, "I want to rip out this bastard's ribs!"

"That's the trouble. It passed through Sol but we lost it from there...maybe SECT spotted something?" said Chris faintly, wilting as Kala increased her glare with each word .

"Let's just follow him until the trail warms up," said Ben.

Scout nodded. "Your computer knocked out all the communications as well. I'll need to deliver my report to the Magister personally," he said pointedly, the words 'Consider it payment for wrecking said comms' all but unspoken.

"Alright, fine, full speed ahead," snapped Kala.

---

"Still nothing, Magister. The jamming's ceased but we still can't reach Anur," said a technician .

"Keep calling. I want to know what's going on over there," said Max.

"Yes, Magis...Magister. Something's decelerating from hyperspace just outside lunar orbit...it's big," the tech said, horrified before an incoming transmission was detected. "Orbital control, this is NSS Novus star, requesting orbital trajectory."

"Sir, isn't the Novus Star supposed be stationed in the Andromeda Galaxy?" asked Jerry.

"Apparently it still is," said Max, "Patch them through."

The com flickered before showing a busy video and a full-masked individual looking like a crystal version of an anthro red dragoness. "Tell me where the Archon creep went now!" snapped the figure before the feed cut off and the image of an African American woman replaced it.

"Forgive Ms. Triseptus, she is not in a reasonable mood right now," said Aria., "I am Aria, currently in charge because A: Miss Triseptus here is in what can only be described as a bad mood and B: the commander's in the medical bay speed healer for multiple broken bones. We have several of your people on board who interfered with a tech recovery operation."

Max sighed and said, "And I suppose you're not just here to drop off Ben and Rook."

"I will require a wireless access to your sensor net and all files. Our quarry passed through here and might even still be landed," said Aria before she looked off-screen and Max saw Matt walk into view, looking worse than when he'd gone a round with Tuatara.

"Maxwell," said Matt.

"If you're going after this guy because of what he did to you, I wouldn't recommend it," said Max, "Revenge can make a fellow really ugly."

"Oh, I'm not wanting payback, ok, maybe a little," said Matt, "It's mostly Kala who wants payback. We're just trying to keep him from getting away from a terraforming device of doomsday proportions."

Aria nodded. "The computer actually updated our dangerous tech rating by 4 levels to accommodate it. If someone activates it, and we've seen what it does, Anur will have a brand new colony," she said darkly .

"Is it corrodium-based? It usually leaves a strong signature," said Max.

"No, we suspect it belongs to a race called revenites, extinct 1154 years ago when the NSC and Combine leadership took punitive action," said Aria .

Max turned to Patelliday and asked, "Can you call up all the interstellar traffic within the last hour?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," said Patelliday.

"I have something," said another tech, a view appearing from an orbital satellite, an arrow-shaped ship appearing the satellite zooming in and trying to compare it to known ships before a red beam lanced out, peeling up and reducing the view to static .

"Any other suspicious activity?" asked Max.

"No, there was a few sightings of the same ship before it seemed to blank out all the scans," said the tech.

Matt nodded. "EMR bomb, we use the same tech to insert teams. You won't find footage, though that means he's on world somewhere," he said .

"Hang on, I just picked up a subspace rip," said Patelliday, "It's fairly fresh, can't quite make out where the other end of it is."

"Nah...too obvious," said Matt calmly.

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say this fella's left that rip open so he can make a quick getaway," said Patelliday.

"Yeah, no plasma signature, he just opened it and left it. Guy must be planetside," said a Novus tech .

"Where precisely?" demanded Matt.

"No way, too many ships on Earth coming and going. Needle in a haystack," said a crewmember .

"Well, if he's looking for something on Earth, there's only one-stop place that he'd go," said Max.

---

"An entire alien colony?" said Matt, the group staring down Undertown's street. Chloe however looked extremely pleased. "All these alien races...all these potential target practice people," she thought happily as Matt asked. "So...where's Gwen?"

"She's at college with Kevin," said Ben.

"Oh, Kevin's out of lockup, good for him. After he helped clean up that NYC outbreak, nice to know it got him parole," said Matt cheerfully .

"Uh...it's a long story," said Ben, "Probably shouldn't spoil it too much."

Matt nodded, looking up before glaring at a silhouette on an orange-armored truck. "That little porcupine..." he snapped.

"Let me guess, Argit cut you a bad deal once or something," said Ben.

"Nope, helped a Class Z almost dehydrate India," said Matt simply before his head whipped round like a hawk acquiring lunch. "Oh, speak of the laser target...OI, YOU!" he yelled, spotting the target of his rage .

"No refunds," said Argit automatically.

"Nah, this is more of a return. I'm returning a plasma magnum clip's contents TO YOUR FACE YOU DEMON-HELPING NUTBALL!" screamed Matt, Kala and Chloe trying to grab him .

"What's with this guy?" asked Argit.

"I honestly don't know this time," said Ben, "He's a time traveler so things might not make much sense around him."

Matt glared before pointing his plasma pistol up Argit's nose. "Captain Lynch, does Delhi ring a bell?" said Matt insanely .

"Uh...no, not really," said Argit.

Matt glared before pressing a button on his wrist comp, a shot of a rooftop appearing. "Explain this, rodent. Make it good and I'll only shoot your kneecap off," he said manically .

Argit peered at and said, "Oh wait, yeah, I told some crazy mutant lady some bogus rumor about something and she ended up dragging me along on her revenge thing. The only thing worth remembering from that is I owed the Vreedles more money."

"Ok, I understand it's probably been half a decade since then soooo...I'll give you a ten second head start," said Matt grinning a little manically.

"He's not serious, right?" asked Argit before Matt said happily "1...2...3..." Argit screamed and automatically shot out several quills before running.

"...4...ah smeg it...10!" screamed Matt, though luckily Rook and Kala dogpiled him before he could fire .

"Matt, we're not here to blow up Argit. We've got an evil mimic to catch, remember?" pointed out Ben.

"Can we blow the little jerk up later?" asked Matt before looking around to see Chloe and Chris snoring on the floor, the quills having hit them

"Not if you want to get on the bad side of his Techadon robots," said Ben, "Besides, he's kinda got a reputation as a 'hero' here and you'd be doing more harm than good if you blasted him without reason."
"Wait...Argit...the creep who helped a demon almost drink me...a hero...with class 6 tech at his disposal...is this an alternate timeline again?" asked Matt, looking around .

"Yeah, I know, it's weird. Personally I think the Celestialsapiens like messing with my head," said Ben.

"Urgh...ok, this is your beat. You're a scumbag alien chameleon with an ego that planets orbit. Where would you go?" said Matt .

"Hmm...I bet ChamAlien could give us some insight," said Ben as he activated the Omnitrix. However, he ended up as Wildmutt instead.

"Ugh, how repulsive," said Skurd, "Hardly my choice of aliens." Wildmutt growled at Skurd who only said, "Sorry, dear boy, bit hard to make you out."

"Ok, lead the way, doggy," said Matt, looking at Techo, "Send Chris and Chloe after us when they wake up."

Techo nodded and said, "They should wake up soon. Want me to get some boys to back you up?"
Matt thought about it before saying, "Sure, why not?"

"If we enlist too much manpower, it could alert the fugitive and allow him to slip away," said Rook, "I suggest a minimally-crewed team."

"Oh, and what makes you think you can boss me around?" asked Matt.

"My rank as Plumber Magister," said Rook.

"Fine, but I get to bring one of my guns," said Matt childishly .

Meanwhile, Wildmutt was sniffing around for a scent when he suddenly gave out a roar/bark. Matt and Rook watched as Ben headed off down the street. "I count that as yes," said Matt happily, running after him.

---

"I hear you are the one to come to if I need equipment for a ship...why are some of your quills missing...and why are you talking vial holo?" said the Archon, looking at the trio of Techadon robots in front of him .

"Let's just say I've met some bad company today," said Argit, "So, what kind of parts can Argitstix Security get for you?"

"A drix type energy crystal, four cases of grav rifles, two pounds of DRX -17 explosives and a positronic circuit board," said the Archon, his drones returning the glare of the Techadon robots, one causing Argit to gulp. Its optic was smashed revealing a reptilian eye .

"Uh, that stuff's not gonna be easy to get," said Argit.

"Why not?" demanded the Archon. "Well, most of those things are out of stock...everywhere. I might be able to that circuit board, but it's not gonna be cheap."

"Money is not an object. However, if you attempt to say, blackmail me, I will personally tear out your jugular," said the Archon icily .

"Uh, not a problem," said Argit, "I'll have that circuit for ya in a few days."

"I want it in one hour or I'll be forced to find someone who can," said the Archon personally, before pausing as one of the drones behind him slowly turned its head to peer at the door, "Alas, it appears it will have to be someone else. Drones, remove the witnesses."

---

Not completely unsurprisingly, Wildmutt's nose led them to Argit's place of business. "I knew it, the little weasel!" snapped Matt, stomping forward, only for two Techadon bots to get in his way. "Out the way, you C-3P0 rejects!" snapped Matt .

"Do you have an appointment?" asked one of them.

"There's a megalomaniac alien inside your building who's probably trying to eradicate your boss as we speak. I'd like to go in and shoot the aforementioned alien till he tells me to stop reading him his rights," said Matt in a mock cheerful voice .

"Do you have an appointment?" repeated the Techadon.

"It's an emergency. Lemme in, you jumped up toaster!" snapped Matt, kicking the bot .

The Techadon simply grabbed Matt by the head and started carrying him towards a nearby dumpster, ignoring his muffled protests. The bot simply dropped Matt inside the luckily empty dumpster and said "Please make an appointment during business hours." before the doors burst open and Argit ran out, two ghostly green orbs shooting out, one hitting a wall which rippled and fell into dust, two of the drones from Anur leaping through the doorway, surveying the crowd.

Wildmutt roared before leaping on top of one of the drones and biting it. The drone didn't even seem to flinch even as it was bit, before grabbing Wildmutt and throwing him into the dumpster next to Matt's. "New witnesses logged. Moderate damage to unit. Status: 54% battle efficient. Unlogged species. Status: Hostile witness. Action: Elimination." it said darkly, before its fellows lunged at the dumpster

Just then, the Omnitrix timed out and Ben said, "Bleh, this thing smelled bad enough as Wildmutt."

"Then how about something a bit more advanced now?" asked Matt.

"Uh, I need a minute to charge up," said Ben, "Think you can cover?"

"Error...target removed from play...re-acquiring..." said one of the drones, the two pausing before they finally realized they were being shot at, turning to see Rook and Kala firing repeatedly. "New targets aquired. Unidentified hybrid and Revonnahgander logged. Class 2 weapon technology. Threat: Moderate. Action: Elimination." before one of the drones lunged at Rook who easily dodged before it backhanded Kala into a wall while the other finally decided to continue towards Ben and Matt, who was trying to get his weapon to work .

"Ok, I'm good now," said Ben before changing into Feedback. "Ok, hit me with your best shot," said Feedback.

The drone paused, looking at feedback befo4re saying "Analysis: Energy weapons would result in mirrored attack. Conclusion: Switching to ballistic and melee weaponry," it said calmly, a clack coming from its wrist gun and its claws getting a few inches longer .

"Ok, didn't expect that," said Feedback.

"That's why you have me around," said Skurd before creating a Diamondhead sword, shield, and helmet for Feedback.

The drone tilted its head at that before aiming to shoot before a blast hit it in the side, Matt having gotten his guns working. "Error...Atlantean tech...reanalyzing..." it began before Ben brought the sword down on its shoulder. "Warning: system at 32%...23%...11%...system failure," it managed before Matt blew its head off at close range.

"All it takes is a little teamwork," said Feedback.

"Just like old times...except this time NegaMorph's a good guy," said Matt cheerfully.

---

"Surrender and destruction will be rapid," said the drone calmly, attempting to eviscerate Rook, the blows always missing by a millimeter every time. Fortunately, Rook had gotten his Proto-Tool into its shield configuration by then, though that barely helped.

The drone had finally settled back for firing rapid fire shots before pausing as it saw its fellow drones torn apart. "Alert: Combat conditions approaching uncontainable levels," it said, backing up, firing at both parties

"Ok, I think we got it on the ropes now," said Kala.

"I do not see any ropes," said Rook, sounding confused.

"Scanning...chance of capture of creator tech: 100%. Taking appropriate response," said the drone, putting its blaster under its chin and firing.

Kala blinked and said, "Ok, didn't expect that."

Matt looked around before spotting a third dumpster shaking. "Hmm…" he muttered before firing a low level tazer round at it, causing Argit to jump out of it with a yelp. "Hi, rat boy. Let's talk about the murderous robots, shall we?" said Matt cheerfully .

"They aren't mine! I swear!" yelped Argit.

"I kind of guessed that given one tried to kill us 2 days ago. Where's their owner?" snapped Kala, picking up Argit.

"He's in there!" said Argit, pointing at his building.

Matt and Kala looked at each other before running forward, Ben and Rook behind them. Matt peered round the doorway before running into the corridor, a sneering voice seemingly from everywhere saying, "Well, you seem to be looking well. NSC nanotech was always effective."

"If you knew anything about me, you'd know I'm very hard to put down," said Matt.

"Oh, I know all about you, Captain. All you have to do is let me leave and I will never trouble you or your own again. The mirror is mine. Take your punishment like, how do you say, a man? Well, while it still applies," sneered the voice

"What did you do to him, you monster?!" snapped Kala.

"Now that would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it?" said the voice.

Kala growled before tossing a fireball at the voice, the fireball illuminating a cloaked figure on a rafter holding a bulky pistol. "Hi," it sneered, firing a translucent blue ball of energy that pulverized the ground. The impact made both Matt and Kala stagger, enough time for the figure to slip away.

"Now then, what should I do with you four? Two reject Khans out of their time, a child playing with genetic technology beyond his understanding and an overevolved feline alien playing as lawgiver," sneered the voice.

"You do anything to us and the universe is doomed," said Kala.

"So? I could always find another universe to live in. Anyhow, have a little present, an overloaded gravity gun clip," laughed the figure, a small disc dropping down, beeping rapidly .

"Hang on, I got this," said Ben before changing into Gravattack.

"Skurd, need some Feedback hands," said Gravattack.

Matt nodded, running out and yelling "EVERYBODY BACK!" getting a few looks before being ignored. "You try to be sensible..." Matt muttered before firing a burst skywards .

Meanwhile, Gravattack was channeling as much gravity energy from the gun as he could, but it still looked ready to detonate. "Ok, need to get this thing out of here," said Gravattack before changing into planet form and flying off with the gun. Matt and the others dived for cover as Gravattack exited via the roof. Gravattack vanished skywards before a whomph was seen in the sky, everyone briefly going weightless for a second.

"Remember kids, gravity weapons are not a toy. Gravity shoes are," said Matt dizzily.

Kala managed to clear her head before looking up and yelping "INCOMING!" pointing to where Gravattack was headed back down.

"Oh, don't worry, he'll stop himself any second...any second now..." said Matt nervously. "Any second no-TAKE COVER!" yelped Matt, diving for cover .

Gravattack came crashing into the ground like a meteorite. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but he did crash into the front of a store. The smoke had barely drifted away before a high-pitched voice yelled, "TENNYSON!"

Matt peered out to see Ben staggering out the rubble, the impact having timed the Omnitrix out. "Nice, you survived," Matt said cheerfully .

"Oh, I've survived worse," said Ben a bit dizzily.

"I can believe that," said Matt calmly, looking at the building, "He'll be long gone. Nothing like a bomb to occupy a cop's attention."

Just then, a short alien stomped out of the building and snapped, "Tennyson! Pakmar is growing sick of you always ruining Pakmar's businesses!"

Matt turned his head at that and strolled over. "Hey, peewee. That's my buddy you're talking to," he said happily.

Pakmar took one look at Matt and yelped, "MATTHEW LYNCH?!" He then ran away screaming.

Matt blinked and asked, "Was it something I said?" Rook seemed ready to say something before Matt said, "On second thoughts, no spoilers please. I can look forward to it at a later date."

"Well, at least we know what he's after," said Kala before hoisting up Argit by his jacket collar, "Isn't that right?"

"He just wanted some parts. It wasn't even illegal," helped Argit.

Matt said, "Wrong, if it was legal, why'd he go to you?"

"He just wanted a bunch of antique parts," said Argit, "Most of them don't even exist even more."

"You said 'most', not 'all'," said Kala, "What part can still be found?"

"Uh, a positronic circuit board," said Argit, "Not that he'll be able to find one that easily."

"Hah, the only one not on my ships probably in Plumber HQ or something," sneered Matt .

"So he will be soon be assaulting one of those two places," said Rook.

Matt nodded, turning on his com and walking off. Kala however said, "No, he won't go for our ship. Fight through a whole army? Not likely."

"And let's face it, Plumber HQ doesn't have the best security," said Ben.

"But will it not be more difficult to break into a space station rather than a ground station?" asked Rook.

Kala shook her head, "Doesn't matter. The Novus isn't even able to land. The HQ's probably closer."

"We better get back there then," said Ben.

"Great. I don't have wings anymore so..." began Matt before the group vanished, leaving Argit hanging in the air for a second before he fell to the ground.

---

"...I'm a chargrilled haddock of Somalia," giggled Matt, falling over to smoke gently .

"The teleporter needs finer tuning," said Driba.

"No, it needs to be adjusted for crystalline armor," said Blukic.

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"Not it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

Matt groaned, "I'm gonna step on whoever was meant to calibrate that death trap. But first, you might have a vampiric intruder."

"You think we beat him here?" asked Ben.

"Probably not, I'm here," said Matt to himself .

"So where would a positronic circuit board be kept?" asked Kala.

"You mean the positronic circuit board on the orbital stabilizers? The only thing stopping up plummeting to Earth?" said Blukic casually.

Matt and Kala stared before saying "That's the one, yeah."

"You mean our station's orbit is hinged on one little thing that could be stolen?" asked Ben.

"I told you we should have upgraded the orbit stabilizers," said Driba.

"No you didn't," said Blukic.

"Yes I did." "No you didn't."

"SILENCE!" yelled Matt, his patience finally running out, "You two, sound the alarm or double the guard or do something. A psycho is coming to steal your circuit board and I don't think he cares where we land."

"I am on it," said Rook, as he typed on his computer.

"Fine, now then," said Kala before the lights flickered. "Erm...tell me you guys just forgot to pay your lighting bill," she said weakly as the lights began to go out

"Which way to the stabilizers?" asked Ben.

"The stabilizers are located on the lower deck," said Rook.

"TO THE LOWER DECK!" yelled Matt, running in a random direction, vanishing round a corner before Kala facepalmed and said "That's not the way, is it?"

"Nope," said both Driba and Blukic.

"Hmm, he'll be fine." said Kala finally before saying "Which way?"

---

In the lower deck, the Archon's drones were busy dismantling the stabilizer to get at what he needed.

"Hurry up!" snapped the Archon, looking around at the unconscious Plumbers and wishing he'd been given military caste backing so he could have made a few thralls.

"Positronic circuit board located," said one drone.

"Good, start removing it," snapped the Archon.

"Error...target is powering orbital stabilization system. Removal would degrade orbit to critical levels," said the drone

"Can we escape to the ship before the station enters the atmosphere?" asked the Archon unconcerned.

"Confirmed," said the drone before the Archon snapped "Then proceed."

"Acknowledged," said the drone before it started uninstalling the circuit board."

The Archon nodded before pausing as one of his remote camera bugs triggered, showing Kala, Rook and ben heading for them, a second showing Matt running towards the brig, dangerously close to where his ship was docked. "Hmm...what's the most hostile inmate aboard?" he muttered .

There was a pause as the drone searched before saying, "Currently, one criminal by the alias of 'Rojo' is incarcerated on this station."

"Unlock his cell," said the Archon .

"Actually, the criminal is female," said the drone.

"I don't care. Just do it!" snapped the Archon.

---

Matt ran round a corner, heading for the 14th door he'd so far tried. "Come ooon orbital stabilizer," he muttered, kicking the door open and groaning, back, yet again in the brig. "Who has a brig that takes up 90% of their base?" he groaned .

He was just about to leave when an alarm sounded. "Hey, I've been looking for the stabilizer for the last 10 minutes," snapped Matt.

However, the alarm announcement said, "Alert, a prisoner is escaping, detention level 11."

Matt stopped, turning slowly to see a cell just further down sliding open. "Oh poop," he muttered, activating his armor's helmet.

The woman who walked out of her cell didn't seem like a big threat. She reminded Matt more of a biker chick than an intergalactic criminal, but you never could tell these days.

"Ok, lady. I don't know your rap sheet but if these guys have you on lockdown, you're bad news. Back in the box or I put you there with some broken bones," he snapped, his wrist cannons whining threateningly as he pointed them .

The woman cricked her neck and said, "Step aside, junior. You're just gonna get bruised if you mess with me."

Matt narrowed his eyes, the optics on his helmet mirroring the expression before he fired a blast, the shot leaving a crater in the reinforced floor. "Next shot's through your chest. I'm not a Plumber so I don't sign up to their rules about prisoners," he snapped, the mouth on his suit copying.

"Cute costume, your mom made it for you for Halloween?" said Rojo.

"Nope, Atlantean weaponsmiths," said Matt icily before firing two concussion rounds, the big brothers of stunners, into her chest .

Rojo was knocked back, but still on her feet. "Oh, so you got some punch," she said with a smirk, "I've always been wondering if someone would eventually get armor to rival mine." With that, she let loose a couple of wrist missiles.

Matt yelped, before activating the suit's wings and leaping up, just before the missiles blew apart where he'd been standing. "Fine, let's play. Tag, you're it!" he snapped, firing a hail of plasma fire .

A trio of shots from her wrist blasters hit several plasma bursts, causing an explosion that blew away the rest. Matt jumped a little as his optics zoomed in, info appearing as the armor took its own look. "Warning...possible tech contamination... Chimera Sui Generis drone tech. Threat level: 9," it said, Matt gulping.

"Ok, so you've got good aim, but let's see how fast you can shoot," said Matt before setting his plasma launcher on Gatling mode. With that he opened up with a full barrage, hundreds of plasma blasts pelting Rojo .

Rojo couldn't avoid all the hits that time, but she was able to fling a grenade right into Matt's face. Matt yelped, raising his hands on reflex as a year of old dragon instincts took over for a second, so he was definitely surprised when a red version of the old plasma shield sprung up and vaporized the grenade, though a warning symbol appeared, signifying a recharge was occurring . "Note to self: read owner's manual when this is over," he muttered to himself.

He yelped however as Rojo leapt up and punched him on the helmet snout, sending him backflipping back . "Gotta admit, you've got balls, so to speak," said Matt.

"I was about to say the same about you," said Rojo.

"Ow, that was a low blow," said Matt.

He yelped in pain at that as a voice in his helmet said "Integration with damaged Khan network complete. Full armor functionality online."

Unfortunately, this distracted Matt long enough for Rojo to punch him in the gut. He doubled over before Rojo brought her knee up under his chin, a sound almost like breaking glass heard as it damaged the suit but also sadly knocking his senses back, as his hands shot up and grabbed her foot as she tried a roundhouse kick, the claws gripping painfully and Matt snarling, revealing some cybernetic fangs .

"Lady, you burn me up," growled Matt before doing what would have in his dragon form would have resulted in breathing plasma, hoping his armor can replicate that. In response, the nostrils on the helmet slid open to reveal two heavy duty-looking energy emitters, two plasma blasts hitting Rojo in the face . Fortunately, her helmet had a blast shield that came down in time, but Matt's attack still sent her flying into the wall.

Matt glared, getting steady before striding forward calmly. "You honestly have no idea who you are dealing with, punk. I face things that'd turn your hair white on a daily basis. Alien monsters? Check. Eldritch, albeit extremely incompetent undead horror? You got it. Idiots like you usually don't even get my notice," he said in a dark conversational tone.

When Rojo didn't respond, Matt checked his sensors. Rojo was still alive, but definitely down for the count. "Darn, I was building up to such a good thing too," said Matt.

"Confirmed, Khan. Accessing internal sensors...Alert: Power fluctuating in orbital stabilizers. Plotting waypoint path to epicenter and placing on H.U.D.," said the suits computer calmly .

"Oh for the love of...where the smeg is that stupid stabilizer?!" snapped Matt.

"Accessing base computer for directions," said his suit's computer.

---

"Final security countermeasures bypassed," said the drone, reaching in and removing a glowing circuit board, the lights on the stabilizer flickering and a male voice saying "Warning: Stabilizer failure. You have 20 minutes to avoid orbital failure."

"Let us be off," said the Archon calmly as if he had only taken a book from the library.

The drones slammed their fists against their chests in an anarchic salute before one of them suddenly jerked as a fireball blasted through its chest from behind. The Archon turned to see Kala, Ben, and Rook. "Drop the circuit board and I won't add 'limb removal' to the beatdown I'm going to give you," growled Kala.

The Archon raised an eyebrow. "By all means, take your best shot," he sneered, a fireball shooting at him before stopping in mid-air. "Do you know that most of my species are very accomplished psykers?" he said, adding, "Of course. My order's oaths forbid me to use them in any method other than harmless research or defensive. Drones, obliterate them." The drones dropped into a fighting stance and charging .

"Ok, time for Jury Rigg," said Ben as he slammed on the Omnitrix. As the drone charged him, there was a flash of green light and it was suddenly carrying something a lot squishier. "Upgrade? Even better," said Ben before morphing around the drone.

The other drones all turned, one with a normal looking eye that was suddenly a pinprick of incomprehensible fury, turning their blasters on Upgrade .

"My boy, I think it's time you utilize the semi-fluid viscosity your current race is known for," said Skurd.

"Say what?" asked Upgrade before the drones started blasting holes in him. He was soon reduced to a puddle of technorganic ooze, but he was far from dead.

"Ben, if I may make a suggestion, perhaps you should use your current form to upgrade the stabilizer before the station loses its orbit," said Rook.

The Archon, through all this, was watching with a calm and stern expression, Rook noticing to his surprise that the alien seemed to be taking down notes. He couldn't help but mentally compare the Archon to Master Kundo when he trained in his dojo. Of course, Kundo was a lot more hands-on than the Archon and more willing to berate.

Such thoughts were removed when a drone dropped in front of him and attempted to shoot at point blank range . Rook responded by whacking the drone in the face with his Proto-Tool's tonfa configuration. The blow was hard enough to actually knock off the drone's faceplate.

The drone turned back to reveal a grey skinned humanoid face with red reptilian eyes and what could only be described at fangs. The 'drone' hissed angrily before lunging at Rook . "Kala, I do not think these drones were made in a factory," said Rook, "I think they have been converted from some other species."

"That's not new for me," said Kala as she was blasting at her own drone.

"We had to find some use for casteless," said the Archon calmly, not looking up from his notes as another drone's missed shot at Kala killed the one attempting to maul Rook via a back impact .

"You turned your own kind into mindless drone?" asked Rook with revulsion.

"Quite easily, actually," said the Archon calmly, catching the circuit board that the drone guarding it tossed to him just before Kala's suit claws ripped him apart. "Now then, I have some parts to find and thanks to your station's wonderful contribution, my ship can generate FTL fuel again," he said .

"Ben, stop him!" yelled Rook.

"Uh, kinda busy keeping the ship from crashing," said Upgrade who had fused with the stabilizer.

"Need I point it out or should I just do it myself?" said Skurd dryly before saying, "Ok, I'll just save you the bother." With that, he spat a load of sticky Goop goo at the Archon's feet to glue him in place.
The Archon looked down and laughed. "That...to stop a transmat? Idiot," he sneered, shimmering from view.

"Skurd, next time, use Spidermonkey silk," said Upgrade.

"Oh, like that would have worked better," said Skurd.

The remaining drones all paused, looking around in confusion at the fact their master was gone. "Gee, the creepy left his flunkies behind to die in his place. How original," said Kala, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The drones looked around as Rook said calmly, "You are under arrest. If you cooperate we may be able to reverse what has been done to-" before each drone shot themselves in perfect unison.

"Clearly they've been programmed to keep their technology out of the hands of other beings at all costs," said Kala, "Just watch, they'll disintegrate any second now."

"Hey, stabilizer," reminded Ben, as the station shuddered. "Warning: stabilizer power at 60% and failing."

"I thought you had this under control," said Kala.

"Upgrade might be able to improve technology, but he can't replace missing parts," said Upgrade, "Besides, it's only a matter of time before the Omnitrix times out."

Just then, Matt ran in and said, "Finally got here, where is the creep?"

---

Once Matt had been thoroughly chewed out by Kala and brought up to speed, he'd reluctantly had the Novus Star ship over their own positronic circuit board. "You look after this, you little gremlins. It's our ticket back to our time and Nullspace," he said pointedly, the suit off but his angry look still there as he passed it to Blukic and Driba.

"Yeah, and how about we upgrade the stabilizers so that they don't require one piece to keep from crashing?" asked Ben.

"Could take time," said Driba.

"It'd be easier just to order a replacement part," said Blukic.

"No it wouldn't," said Driba.

"Yes it would," said Blukic.

"Do you guys ever agree on anything?" asked Kala exasperated.

"Yes, we do." said Blukic, Driba adding "No we don't." causing Kala's grin to freeze in place, her eye twitching.

"Yeah, they're not the brightest Galvans in the galaxy, but they're cheap," said Ben.

"So, what happens to us?" said Matt, pointedly bringing up the Vaxasaurian in the room.

"Unless Professor Paradox shows up and offers you guys a ride home, I think your best bet is waiting it out for a few weeks for a replacement part," said Ben. He looked around expectedly before shrugging and saying, "Replacement it is."

---

The Archon sat back as he watched the Plumber HQ correct its orbit over the next hour, even more so as the Novus Star pulled close and a shuttle went over. "Hmm...resourceful little pests," he muttered, the computer saying "I cannot confirm that, sir."
The Archon sighed at that. "It's rhetorical. Set a course out of system. But first, send footage of the Novus Star to the following address as well as some footage of their marine teams," he said calmly.

---

Well, here's the start of a brand new saga and it's taking place in familiar territory, in a manner of speaking. This story will be taking place just before the series finale. Considering the temporal nature of that finale, I can easily say that basically any amount of time can occur within this space, but not an extensive amount of course. This chapter is just the buildup and there's gonna be a lot more expansion with the next couple of chapters. The next chapter should be up soon so keep an eye out for it and please review.