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Southern Terminating Mountains, Galar

Absolute mental rules are for unthinking people. Wooloo require fences-the mind of Man does not.

-The Rorian Whip, second revision

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Three hours later...

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The assault first came to Macro Cosmos' only military outpost.

In the far eastern bend of the mountains north of the Crown Tundra, Rose had built a training center for Galar's law enforcement and his own private army far from the public eye. The massive complex held at least ten thousand soldiers and Pokemon at a time, performing training exercises or building new weapons and gathering critical intelligence high in the peaks.

In his massive ship, Bronze watched at least a third of the thousands-strong fleet of warships sweep through the night and into Macro Cosmos-controlled airspace, overwhelming the crews of sentries around the outpost like an avalanche out of space. They had been warned that Tercano's armies were coming...but surely not this many!

Picket ships opened fire, and surprised defenders swept in to meet the approaching Rorians. Five sentry vessels fired off heavy salvos, but most of their projectiles were too inaccurate to reach the fleet. A handful of Rorian transports were damaged or destroyed in the firefight, but the last bits of defense around the outpost were annihilated in flashes of incandescent vapor.

Far away from civilization, Bronze did not have to worry about civilian casualties or imprecise usage of weaponry. He could burn the base to charred glass.

...

Istan Gloss, captain of Macro Cosmos' forces, was awoken by the alarms. Knowing the proper protocol, he slipped a Poke Ball belt on his waist, and activated his compound's ray shields. He grabbed a pellet stunner and an electrablade, and stepped out into the cold night into the airship field. Gigantic transport ships like titanic blocks were arranged in rows by the dozens, while hundreds of smaller skycopters littered the polished field.

He pinpricks of light on the horizon, followed by silence. Thousands of soldiers were assembling under their own commanders, rushing out of their compounds, hastily dressed. This was the attack we were warned about, he thought. "Prepare to fight!"

Over the mighty mountain wall, he saw a glint of steel and fire, then another, followed by hundreds upon hundreds. "God in Deep Heaven," he murmured, seeing the fleet illuminated by the base's glowglobe strobe lights. "Get everything with weapons off the ground, go!"

Skycopters took off, ready for aerial combat. One of the Rorian frigates shot a missile at an unshielded compound, the brilliant light searing through the dark sky. The explosion flattened the facility, and many more projectiles followed the first. Istan activated the ray shields for the larger pod transports with a command, hoping to ram them into the vessels. A few white beams of energy shot from the sky, Hyper Beams sent from the Association warcraft.

Istan saw smaller projectiles fall from the air, illuminated by the plasma-fueled firelight from blasts that struck the compounds. These bombs slowed as they fell, slipping through the ray shields for the massive transports. They detonated inside the shield's limits, crumpling the pods like waxworks. "They're using slow-moving Forretress to get through our shields!"

They could not escape. The bombs kept hitting the base, the training compounds, the skycopters.

Between two burning pods, Istan saw a ghoulish sight. The fleet had released hundreds of smaller vessels, containing at least two hundred Rorian soldiers within each one. Two bulbous suspensor engines were fastened to the central hull of the carryall transport, shooting to earth with the scream of burning atmosphere surrounding them. The mercenaries charged at the fanatics, knowing that they were about to make a final stand.

The Rorian craft touched down, and warriors spilled out. Istan found two in the smoke, and realized they had no Pokemon fighting for them. He neutralized one with his pellet stunner, then slammed his blade into the other's neck. The armored man screamed, fell into the melee. Istan was thankful that the Association army had not broken its own restrictions on projectile weapons. "With me, with me!"

A skycopter shot down a transport, and the impact of the vessel against the open shipyard made Istan reel. He saw more Rorians approaching, and wondered how long he could hold on.

...

By Istan's compound, an elite squadron of mercenaries had backed themselves against a flight of stairs that led up further into the mountains, where other administrative strongholds had been built. The rain of bombs had long since destroyed any valuable equipment in the peaks, but the mercenaries were prepared to die: not for Rose or Macro Cosmos as a company, but for the massive sum of insurance that would be delivered to their surviving families.

They were arrayed in a straight line of twenty-four, covered by a wall of ray shields and wielding electrablades. Four Mienshao stood in formation, seemingly undisturbed by the screams, the blasts, the heat roaring through the air.

A carryall transport landed near the fortified compound, and the Rorians were dispatched in organized columns. They chanted as they approached the mercenaries, before taking off in a run and meeting their enemies on the steps.

The Macro Cosmos soldiers gave no quarter, and the Mienshao with the aid of the ray shields allowed the mercenaries to kill or disable at least half of the Rorians, nearly unscathed themselves. The Association forces took several paces down the stairs, but not out of fear. The mercenaries followed the view of the exosuited heads of their enemy into the air, and saw a carryall sweep above them like a passing shadow.

Leaving as silently as it came, the sleek vessel vanished from sight. Eight men slowly descended through the night, hovering with the aid of suspensor belts like spirits sent from heaven above. They touched down behind the line of Mercenaries, holding electrablades and ready to attack the contingent's flank. "Commandos! Rorian Commandos!"

The mercenaries turned in shock, but they were caught in a vice. The Commandos killed them all as the assault renewed, wiping their blades on their exosuit sleeves. Twenty-eight enemies of the Grand Bashar had gone to Heol.

...

Istan knew that his mercenary fighters were doomed. Perhaps some had already escaped in the mountains, but Tercano would send assassin-robots after them. The intent of the attack was obvious: to eradicate Macro Cosmos. Not a single member was to be left unharmed.

To the surprise of the remaining soldiers, the Rorians began to retreat back to their transports.

Istan's Braviary pursued one of the fleeing vessels, and tore into a suspensor engine with its beak. The machine sputtered, fell, and blew into molten fragments. The Braviary had been taken in the blast, but Istan knew that one Pokemon in exchange for the deaths of two hundred Rorians was an acceptable price. The men cheered, but Istan assumed that the Association forces had only intended to regroup.

When Istan saw the warships angling large lasbeam cannons at the ruined stronghold, he held up his electrablade in salute to the Rorians who had fought against him. They had given their lives for what they thought was a worthy cause.

The lasbeams fired. There was no time for screaming or whimpering as the plasma covered the outpost and turned it into a smear of softly cooling magma.

...

Bronze studied the casualty reports. He had lost ten thousand men, a staggering loss for some frigates, and far above what he had expected. Sending the carryalls down was a poor choice, done only to appease his warriors. He should have destroyed the base with lasbeams as soon as he saw it. It was regrettable that so many had to die, but the Chairman was confident that what had transpired here would be the bloodiest fighting over Galar.

"Get us to Wyndon!" Bronze ordered. "I will speak to Rose myself. Rellus, sent your detachment over to Hammerlocke. The rest should sweep Galar! Find every place that Macro Cosmos has got its silver claws in...scuttle it! Leave none alive or free. Choose negotiation if it is reasonably practical. If this attack is done right, I expect no civilian casualties."

"Rose might have a doomsday plan," Tess warned. "He might use atomics or blow the Hammerlocke Plant to shreds in order to discredit you."

"He will not. Remember, his wish to help Galar is sincere, Tess. Using atomics would be most detrimental to the region. Both sides wish for negotiation, although destroying this outpost was necessary. We must watch out for what the media reports, however. Macro Cosmos still controls everything in Galar...at least until the next payday. Their assets are frozen."

And so, the fleet swept over Galar, driven by the winds of wrath.

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Wyndon, Rose Tower

Answers are a perilous grip on the universe. They can appear sensible yet explain nothing.

-Emrett Dialogues, compiled works

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Although the sun had set a good two hours ago, Wyndon seemed as bright as day. It was stunning, the cultural pinnacle of Galarian humanity. Before Rose Tower, tree-lined boulevards fanned out like spokes on a wheel away from a cluster of administrative buildings and the massive skyscraper. Men in doublet-suits and ladies with expensive ornamented dresses walked briskly around the circle of gated roads before the entrance to the tower.

Casey wrenched her neck while staring up at the hundred floors that made Rose Tower. The entrance doors had been barred for public entrance in the past day, with little explanation given to the public. "They should arrive any moment now," Piers said. "And Rose must know it. Can't you see the ray shields on the tower? They're faint, but barely visible."

It was true. Along the base of the citadel, small bits of electrical discharge appeared where the shield edges met the plazcrete. "If Magnolia wasn't in the RV with Marvin," Henry said. "I'll bet she would have had a fit about Rose Tower having military-grade ray shields."

Minutes passed, and Piers took a seat on a bench across from the Tower. The meandering pedestrians cleared away once he sent out his Obstagoon, moving swiftly away. "For their safety, and ours."

"Ours?" a familiar voice said. "Surely you mean that the people you'll be taking with you into the tower won't be Gym Challengers, Piers?"

"Ah, Opal!" Piers said, turning. "I recognized the pattern of your footsteps. Hello, Melony, Gordie, Bea, Kabu, Milo, Opal...and Allister, I suppose. Did you all come here separately, or did you all get into one transport like a big, happy family?"

Henry saw the Gym Leaders on the road, saw Bede with Opal. They exchanged a glance of mutual toleration, and Henry noticed that Raihan and Nessa were absent. "Where's the glamor boy and Nessa? Did they not get the call?"

"No," Bea said, gripping her pulsesword. "Raihan, Nessa, and Leon are staying in Hammerlocke to protect Sonia, and see if those two men are going to cause more trouble there. We all arrived separately, actually. Glad you could make it to the party, Piers. The fact is that we weren't certain if you were going to-"

"Do not say, 'the fact is that,'" Henry interrupted. "If you are so certain of something, then just say it."

"You have some cheek, Pokedex Holder," Kabu said, astonished. "Correcting the speech of a girl that is trying to be a Rorian Commando, and a Gym Leader to boot?"

"Rorian Commandos?" Piers muttered. "Well, a lot of them will be here soon. You all know about what's coming, right?"

Milo pointed into the distance, far above Wyndon from the south. "Not what's coming, Piers. They're here."

...

The sound of droning insects filled Henry's ears, and hundreds of lights began to shine in the darkness. He saw colossal forms burst through the clouds, spotlights flooding over the city. Transports sunk behind buildings and onto streets, and the noise of jackbooted marching echoed in the city. He saw people scream or flee into the buildings, which were then spared from the Rorian's wrath.

One massive frigate disgorged a smaller vessel, which floated down to the wide road where the Gym Leaders stood. Like a smooth, ominous Sword of Damocles was the private shuttle of Chairman Bronze Tercano, and rapidly approaching. Its boarlike scanners studied everyone by Rose Tower, making its scans so insultingly obvious that other warship masters, if they had been present, would have gotten into an argument over the pervasive systems.

"Whoa!" Hop said, careful to not send out his Pokemon, lest he be considered a threat. "How's the armor on that thing?"

"Looks like Tercano went for the glass cannon route," Marnie said. "No shields that I can see, strangely enough. A cloaking device, possibly?"

The vessel landed. With a chime of hissing gas, the hull opened up to reveal Bronze Tercano and his Swordmaster and Bibliolgrapher, along with a hundred Rorian Commandos. Henry felt a distinct tinge of unease, being the result of seeing such firepower before him. Really, it was a massive over-expenditure to send at least one thousand attack craft and far more Rorian soldiers to secure the city.

"And here we are," Bronze said, smiling paternalistically for Henry and Casey's benefit. "Gym Leaders, now you know what I fight against: the schemes of wicked men like Rose who seek to bring Galar to harm! I had known about his plots for some time, but Leon was kind enough to tell me that Macro Cosmos's intentions were to begin anew the Darkest Day."

"You know what it is?" Bea said. "What if Rose succeeds? How will we deal with its effects?" She turned to Jake. "Glad to see you again, Albans."

Jake grinned. "I could say the same for you. Whatever the Darkest Day holds for us, we'll stop it. Nothing can stand against the force we have assembled." He looked at the tower, brandished his pulsesword. "Rose! Come out! If you think we're gonna let you escape, you've got a head like chewed toffee!"

Following the Swordmaster's example, other Rorian Commandos began clanging their weapons together and shouting insults. "Well, Rose? Are you whining because your parents are related? Or are you busy bobbing for apples in hot chip fat? Get out and fight, with your brain full of smashed Crustle claws!"

To the amazement of everyone, a figure lurched to an open window two floors above the entrance and stuck his head out.

"If you want to do anything about it, I'll be inside," Rose yelled from above. "Since you are all a lot drunker than I am, this should be a fair fight!"

...

Several attacks from the Gym Leader's Pokemon were absorbed by the ray shields where Rose's head had been, but the Commandos were already running for the tower. Bede's Rapidash, recently evolved from Opal's training, punctured the protective barrier. The Rorians had a Pangoro tear the entrance doors off their hinges, and flooded the lobby.

Oleana and a handful of mercenaries and Pokemon were standing before the elevator that led to the upper levels. Henry noticed that the emergency stairway had been destroyed by explosives. "Well met, Tercano. Have you brought your brats for playtime?" She looked at Opal. "Ah, you! I see that Bede has come along. What do have to gain by bringing him?"

"You shouldn't ask questions you will never get the answer to," Tess said, sending out a Garchomp. "Step aside and allow yourself to be restrained, or we will kill you."

"No choice is left for me," Oleana snarled. "Rose still has things he must do before you take him away! My Pokemon, attack! Fight until the last man!"

The Gym Leaders stood in a phalanx before the bulk of the Commandos. "If that's going to be the case, then let's see how you do against all of us!"

Automated turrets sprouted from the walls, firing into the bulk of the fighters. Combat mechs rolled out of hidden compartments, activating their optic sensors and unfolding their blades. Still, the Gym Leaders and Association forces fought marvelously, with Bronze himself joining the fight. Jake swung a blade at Oleana's head, but it passed through the hologram. The woman vanished, but the surviving mercenaries began to fall back.

Piers cut through a Garbador in his path and summoned the elevator. The hypersonic transport cube reached the ground floor in less than a few seconds, coming to a smooth halt with the use of sophisticated kinetic-absorption technology. "Everyone, get in, while the elevator's still functional!"

"Let the Grand Bashar confront his mortal enemy!" a Commando shouted, hanging from a turret and stabbing its infrared receptors. "Make way for him and those he holds dear! Fall upon the infidels like a rain of ice in the high mountains peaks!"

Bronze wrestled with a mercenary, and struck him across the face with his personalized Logarian dagger. Tess and Jake followed him into the elevator, and in the chaos, Henry and Casey also threw themselves by the Association Chairman. Hop and Marnie thought that they were needed as backup, and somehow slipped under the mercenaries' guard. Bede and several Commandos simply walked through the maelstrom of chaos, holding the doors open for more trainers to enter.

A mercenary went down screaming as a Coalossal scalded his body, and drove his electrablade through the elevator controls. The doors slammed closed on a Commando's hand, making him bellow and withdraw it. The lift shot upward, leaving the Gym Leaders behind.

"They'll clear the debris from the stairs," Marnie said, feeling the elevator move at a blinding pace. "What now?"

"Rose must have more forces up in the penthouse office," Bronze said. "He could be hiding on any floor, however, and in any room. We'll need to send breaching crews with probes in if we want to find him."

"Damn you, Tercano!" Bede roared. "Now I have to contend with you while I get my revenge on that evil old Chairman! As if that hag beating Fairy-type information into my head day and night wasn't bad enough, now I have to fight with you! I should have become Champion, but now I might just have to settle for being the Gym Leader of Ballonlea!"

A Commando drew back his hand to slap Bede, but Bronze halted him. "Tyekanik, let him say what he will. His grievances, no matter how petty, must be given heed."

It seems that Tercano knows the names of all his men, Henry thought. I will never understand how he memorizes them.

"Really? Opal chose you to be her successor?" Hop said. "That's great! But even in a battle, you still complain about everything you don't like. How about a more positive outlook on life?"

"Positive?" Bede replied. "Life is inherently negative! The universe is a fundamentally evil place. Being pessimistic is just the same as being an optimist with more information available. From then on, it's a slippery slope to nihilism! And why shouldn't I complain?" He pointed at Bronze, then the Rorian Commandos. "He started the Rorian Jihad that killed my parents! Monsters like those death troopers carried out the action!"

Bronze went pale, and Henry was frightened by his sudden loss of confidence and stature. Even the flush of imminent victory left his face. "There...there were no Jihad casualties in Galar! You know that I never could have stopped it-"

"They had run away to Kanto. I don't know if they would have ever come back, but they died, like everyone on Cinnabar Island!"

A Commando flicked his blade, bringing the tip to rest at Bede's neck. "One more word, and I will drain your life's blood!"

"Stop bickering and changing death threats!" Casey shouted. "We've arrived at the penthouse!"

...

The elevator doors opened. Bronze saw that Rose was not at his desk, and that the statue of Cypress that he had shattered had been replaced by a rendered Hisuian bust of Laventon. "He isn't here!" Henry cried. "Do we have to search every floor?"

A holoprojection sprung up, covering the entirety of the backroom windows. "Actually, I am not in this tower," Rose said. "I am afraid that what you saw earlier was merely a hologram."

"The projections said he would be here," Tess mused. "But I suppose I was lacking data. Well, Rose, will you tell us where you are?"

"Truth be told," Rose said, disregarding her question. "I had wanted to wait until the day of the Champion Cup Finals, when I would have had all of Galar's attention, but the carelessness of my two subordinates has pushed up the date somewhat. For the Darkest Day, that is."

"Madman!" Bronze shouted. "You said you loved Galar, but that was just another lie. If you had never gone down this path, then maybe I wouldn't have had to take your company by force."

"I sincerely doubt that, Tercano," Rose said. "But once I solve Galar's future energy crisis, everyone will be able to continue on with their lives with peace of mind. Now, a new Jihad will begin: a heroic holy war for the safety and prosperity of Galar!"

What is he saying?

"Now, to protect the future of all, let the Darkest Day begin! Tercano, you can find me in the Energy Plant below the Hammerlocke Stadium. I'll be waiting!"

Rose vanished, and then a great rumbling began.

Outside over Wyndon's cityscape, woven strands of red light shot up, free and yet united. The building shifted under Henry's feet like the surf. The sky became darker than ordinary night, and the stars were veiled by thick clouds that had rolled in. The Earth shook more and more, rolling and roiling like an angry sea. What appeared to be a huge gasoline fire in the air caught Bronze's eye.

It was the moon. The bloodred moon.