Salem far preferred to meet in her keep. But some of her… guests couldn't be so easily accommodated. So once she was certain her servants were all otherwise engaged, Salem turned her eye east and mounted a Nevermore for the journey to the sole uninhabited island left on this remnant…
Well, uninhabited as far as most of its denizens were aware, anyway. Its land was barren and desolate, with the only signs of civilization dating back millennia; a handful of columns still standing where the great hall of a proud citadel had once been erected… one of the only reminders of the civilization that preceded humanity and the Faunus, and the second-most intricate after the necropolis in the Emerald Forest.
The limited shelter was adequate for her… perhaps 'ally' was too strong a word. But he was useful, and if his plan proceeded as he promised, he'd be key in finally leading her to the consummation of a thousand years of plotting… to the moment when she finally returned this remnant to its primordial black and reigned over the darkness.
He had no such interests, but he understood the logic of paying a toll for his presence. He was an outsider to her world, and had tampered with it without her prior consent. If he wanted his prize, he had to give Salem something in return… and powerful as he was, he could not best her combined host of Grimm. He accepted the need for cooperation so he could escape with his…
She called it Dust. What had he called it? An ore?
Ore-4, specifically. He seemed content to call it 'Dust', though Salem wondered if he was simply humoring her… she could discern nothing behind that face; no intent but the most straightforward and practical solution. He acted out of raw self-interest, but to what end Salem had yet to conclude. She faintly wondered if anyone else who'd dealt with him had similar difficulty discerning his motives.
When Salem dismounted her Nevermore and walked to the center of the remaining pillars, he leaned down to address her. He placed something from his massive purple hand on the ancient stone table before her before speaking in a hollow intone: "You're late."
"My apologies, Shockwave," Salem replied, staying formal. "My… subordinates took their time in going on their missions." She considered elaborating but decided against it. There was no need to tell him about the infighting between Cinder and Watts or Tyrian's wounds.
His single eye betrayed no emotion. Salem tried to match his steely, disaffected mood.
"Very well," he agreed, removing his fingers from the stone to reveal a single pad, smaller even than the Scrolls in use throughout the world. Salem was stunned he hadn't crushed it between his fingers. "You are more punctual than the others, at least…"
From the pad a hologram sprang to life… an image fragmented and distorted, but clearly of an armored helm adorned with prevalent spikes, cast all in static eroded blue. "Where are the others?" he demanded.
Salem wasn't familiar with this one. She knew of two of the others entering this pact, but… "And this is?" she asked.
"Baron Karza, the ruler of Microspace," her towering purple ally introduced, Salem fixing her attention on the small projector. "He has offered his assistance in return for transport. After assisting in this world's conquest, he will accompany me on my return to Cybertron."
"Seems you acquired another pet," Salem mused, with just the faintest hint of mockery.
"Pet?!" Karza raged, his holographic projection flickering.
"Doom is no one's pet," came the response, as another 'ally' joined them to sit across from Salem, drawing both her and Karza's attention. Another one clad in armor, though his mask was a bit less threatening than the baron's; more practically designed and expressive. "Shockwave saw the benefit in my assistance after he used my planet for the same purpose he's used yours'."
"Oh?" Salem inquired. "And when was this?"
"10,005 years ago," Doom replied.
Assuming he wasn't lying or exaggerated, that made him older than Salem herself. He seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary human clad in silver armor and a green cloak, but she knew all too well that appearances could be deceiving. "I wasn't aware your little… project had been going on so long, Shockwave."
"Far longer," Shockwave assured. "We are near the end now. Are you prepared for the final briefing?"
"Nearly," Salem promised. "We have one more to join us…"
He sent his emissary rather than attend himself. That was likely preferable. He may well have been half a galaxy away.
Salem was fascinated by this technology that exceeded her own knowledge, but wary just the same. The only reason these assembled powers hadn't cut her out from their arrangement was her taking initiative and making an alliance with something they feared.
His emissary took the shape of a hulking brute, once a tall and powerfully built human exposed to the spore. Now his body was covered by an infestation of green and brown, his will completely subsumed to the whims of its host. If the man he'd once been still existed, he was nothing more now than the mouth of a far greater power.
"We gather on hallowed ground," it spoke in a booming voice through meager and weathered human lips, "Purpose clear and intent found. Mark the end, and pursue it."
It did have a sort of whimsical tone… no doubt a life even older than hers' had found some way to occupy its time, with designs as grand as Shockwave's. "Gentlemen, this is the voice of the Timeless One."
"Not for thousands of years," Shockwave mused. "My records refer to it instead as… Gravemind."
"The parasite?" Karza inquired. "You brought the Flood into this?!"
"A mutually beneficial alliance," Salem explained. "Just like the three of you."
"And what will this… parasite's role in events be?" Doom inquired from across the table.
"I have no need to kill all of mankind infesting this remnant," Salem explained. "When an ally requests food as payment for its services… well, I'm sure you can understand putting assets to practical use." She hoped that would shut them up and put them back on task. "Well, Shockwave we have our quorum. Shall we run through the final preparations?"
She thought returning some authority to him might ease the tension… if Shockwave felt it at all. It was still impossible for her to read him.
"Very well," Shockwave agreed. He leaned down so those gathered nearby could witness clearly as he tapped some sort of device on his left arm, creating a second holographic display of the island where they met, expanding out into a display of the entire planet, albeit from a flat, top-down view. A handful of bright spots illuminated upon it, Shockwave leaning down to point with his index finger. "These are the locations I've chosen to extract the ore from to produce the largest possible yield. However, in order to match the timetable in mind the resulting seismic activity will be easily noticed by this planet's citizens."
"That is no matter," Karza dismissed. "Not if these 'Grimm' are as powerful as you've promised."
"Salem?" Shockwave inquired, turning to address her.
"I cannot defeat all four kingdoms simultaneously, but I have more than enough to guard your mining operations," Salem assured, before turning her attention to the holographic projection of the baron. "I wasn't aware you and Shockwave had discussed this."
"The Grimm are how Baron Karza will contribute," Shockwave explained. "I will create the opening to Microspace for him and his army to enter through."
"And once we arrive, we will Enerchange into your Grimm," Karza continued. "We will bolster their defenses considerably and give your mindless beasts intelligence and direction to better serve them in battle."
Not so mindless as you think… Salem mused, but didn't reveal her hand. This wasn't working as she hoped. If Shockwave –or his allies- realized her control over the Grimm was less than total…
"Doom will be positioned here, at Vale," Shockwave continued. "In order to secure this… 'relic' you insist cannot be damaged."
"And how will he acquire it?" Salem asked. "Only a Maiden can unseal the vault."
"It matters not what paltry defense is placed before me," Doom replied. "No one on my world can outwit me, and none on this world will fare any better."
He was certainly confident. "Very well," she turned her attention to the other points, singling out Atlas. "Here is where we are most vulnerable. Shockwave, I suspect this is where you'll have to be positioned."
"As is only logical," Shockwave agreed. "The mechanical army this kingdom has in place will be malleable… easily bent. We can bolster our army further."
The others turned their attention to the emissary of the Gravemind, waiting for it to speak. Salem quickly interceded. "I will dispatch the Flood to Vacuo to rid us of any potential second wave of attack. This should also prevent interference in the other theaters."
She wasn't sure they bought it, but they feared the Flood enough not to argue. Salem was glad she could knock them out of their confidence; it made her feel better about her own tenuous grip.
She had to bury her fear… until Shockwave had his ore and left her world. Then all that would remain would be her and a parasite that could never infect her.
"Is it time, then?" Karza asked. "I am weary of waiting, Shockwave."
"As are we all," Salem agreed. "How long will you need to move into position?"
"Not long at all," Shockwave assured. "However, I will need to be present for Karza's entrance. I will need a few megacycles to align the anchors to create the entrance to Microspace." Shockwave turned his attention away from them –if he'd ever been looking at them at all. "And then we will begin."
Salem knew he would betray her… or at the very least try to. It was why she brought her insurance policy.
She turned her attention to the Gravemind's emissary. "I trust you know what to do?"
The emissary held up its mutated arm, holding a smaller infection form between its three-fingered claw. "Flood spores will not be immune, though your Grimm will sing in tune… faith be tested unaware."
That sounded… like gibberish, but so long as the Gravemind had a means of spreading its kin, that would be enough. Either it would have one meal or two.
As for Shockwave himself, well… he'd seen some of Salem's host, but not the worst of it. Not the old ones.
She'd prefer it not come to that, but Shockwave was no better than man… just as driven by his own goals and as indifferent to others'. If it benefitted him to end their alliance or take more than he claimed he'd need, he would.
Salem stepped onto the back of her Nevermore and headed west to begin the operation.
Shockwave was sincere in his promise. Salem would have her world to rule and Karza and Doom would return with him to Cybertron with a powerful source of fuel and an army of organics.
And then, as was the fate of all other Regenesis worlds, the ore he'd planted, the 'Dust' Salem called it would burn out the core of the planet and make it uninhabitable, if not destroy it entirely. Salem's reign would be brief.
And Doom and Karza would live only a bit longer. As organic beings their existence would be so fleeting…
But then, perhaps this world would be different to the others. Most of the planets he'd selected to seed with energon he'd believed to be the final resting places of the Primes, the ancient rulers of Cybertron. Thisworld was something else entirely…
In what spare time he'd had waiting to process the ore, Shockwave had taken time to learn of the customs of this remnant, and heard tell of a story of two bickering brothers who seeded the planet with life. Something in the tale intrigued him, and upon finding Salem and her Grimm, he thought he might've found his answer.
His teacher Jhiaxus dismissed legends and folklore, but as was so often the case had overlooked a small detail. At the heart of every legend was the smallest, barest thing: truth.
A god of death and destruction, who'd turned a guiding hand into a closed fist. Shockwave saw the terrible anti-life he saw in the Grimm on Cybertron, thousands of years ago in creatures spawned from the dread Titan Trypticon, spawn of Mortilus, the necessary corollary to existence.
He'd thought to find evidence of his progenitors here on this remnant. Instead he found… something truly special.
And in bringing those Grimm with him back to Cybertron, before his work was finished he'd find one more chance to indulge his curiosity and see whether gods might be remade, before he ascended to their place himself.