With the Megapod Chamber destroyed, the aliens didn't really have any way to retaliate against myself or my allies, so all that remained was destroying the Dimension Gate Generator. Once it was gone, the aliens would be permanently dealt with.

Since they didn't have any meaningful way to fight back, though, we were free to put that off until later, something all of us were willing to do. See, everyone on Earth right now was more interested in rebuilding Mega Primus, as there was still quite a bit of rebuilding left to do after the Mothership attack.

As for me, well, I had other projects I wanted to attend to.

For example, examining the Megapods.

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The Megapods are, quite simply, fascinating. Dissecting the few dead ones I had showed that they were, for the most part, stem cells, able to change based on whatever stimulus they received. As luck would have it, the brains I had acquired from the Control Chamber contained a list of stimuli that the Megapods would respond to, as well as what those stimuli would make the pods turn into. The list was surprisingly detailed, and included things that I'd never expected the aliens to have. One of the mature forms a pod could take, for example, was a zoo. I supposed the only reason I'd never seen it was because the aliens likely had no reason for one, given that they were trying to conquer the Earth.

Using these stimuli, I was able to seed several Megapods onto the world in my Hub System that I had chosen as the Alien's new home. Using the stimuli the brains had informed me of, I started by setting up several Alien Farms and Maintenance Chambers. The farms would speed up the terraforming process, as well as let me focus my attention on other areas, while the maintenance chambers ensured that the farms were constantly fueled. Normally, it would have taken a few weeks or months for the pods to grow to full size, but thanks to my visit to the Darkspore universe, that wasn't a problem. Careful analysis of Vex's temporal abilities, combined with some assistance from Crogenitor Zelem, allowed me to build a device that could alter the flow of time over a given area. As soon as it was ready for usage (which took about an hour of testing), I hooked it up to a satellite, moved it to the target world, and activated it. I'd hooked up my Megapods to a sort of IV system that would nourish them until the maintenance factories started supplying the pods with nutrients. That way, the pods wouldn't starve due to their accelerated growth rate.

It took a matter of minutes for the pods to mature fully. The giant shapes mushroomed outwards, becoming structures large enough to give football stadiums and skyscrapers pause. Once these ones finished their growth, I began to add in other structures. I didn't need to worry about the pods connecting themselves - the pods innately sought each other out, connecting root-like strucutres to each other when one found another. It seemed the process was largely automated, or instinctual, as the case may be.

Once the necessary pods were up and running, I began adding in others that would be necessary for the alien forces - spawning chambers for breeding, food chambers for sustenance, sleeping chambers for rest, and so on. As the pods were added and grown into full size, I also took pains to add in the wildlife that I had rescued from the alien dimension. At first, most were confused by the strange appearance of the world I had made for them, but soon, curiosity got the better of them, and they quickly began exploring their new home. The oceanic creatures took far less time to disperse, though I suspected that this was because they were used to larger spaces than what I'd kept them in prior until this point.

As I looked over the world and watched it come to life, I couldn't help but smile. This was what I enjoyed the most about being a Commander: making a difference in the lives of others.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With the Alien World slowly coming to life, I turned my attention towards examining a different subset of the alien technology: their disruptor weapons.

Functionally, they were particle beam weapons, firing subatomic particles at targets at mindboggling speeds. These things could shred through armor rather easily, and while my progenitor alloys were unbelievably tough, these weapons could eventually make them break. They had a functionally infinite power source, so there was that.

Examining the weapons was a rather dull affair, though how their power source worked was impressive: it teleported in special particles from the Alien Dimension that were able to induce perpetual motion on a generator of sorts within the gun. From there, it could abuse Einstein's equation to create an unlimited amount of matter, which was then fired in subatomic particles out of the main weapon. Apparently, additional perpetual motion particles were synthesized by the process that created the new particles, making the system self sustaining. Since destroying the Dimension Gate Generator in the Alien Dimension, based on what I was in the game, would take the Alien Dimension with it, this was a good thing.

It didn't take me long to integrate the weapon into my existing forces. True, I could make a new unit designed for this purpose, but I didn't really have any need to do so. What I had right now worked well enough, and if it isn't broken, then don't fix it.

Besides, I wanted to try out one of the guns for myself.

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Thwip

One target cut in half.

Thwip, thwip thwip.

Make that four.

Oh, how awesome it was to use this weapon. Hitting targets with the disruptor gun didn't just kill them (or, in this case, bore holes into them), but, in some cases, tore them in half. I was already in love with this weapon. That would pass, as it always did, but still.

Deciding to take a break from using the disruptor gun, I switched over to the devastator cannon. The results were similar, which was rather boring but it left the testing area a wreck. Maybe I could add this onto a grenadier.

Finally, I took out a dimension missile launcher. Given its nature as a rocket launcher, I only needed to fire it one to test out its effectiveness, so I loaded up one missile, pulled up ten targets, aimed, then pulled the trigger. Based on the spacing of the targets, I expected five to be taken out, three to be damaged, and two to emerge unscathed.

Thus, I was rather surprised when all of the targets were outright obliterated by the missile's blast.

Dimension missile OP, do not nerf.

Smiling at my work, I pulled up a few more targets while the destroyed ones were moved away. Best to return this place back to how it was.

BANG

I practically jumped as the sound of a gunshot resounded through the range, while one of the targets lost its head. Whirling toward the origin of the sound, I was surprised to find myself staring ath Melissa, a large pistol in her hands.

"...what?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Why are you here?!"

"Um, I was bored, I wanted to see what you were doing, and to answer your next question, we're on a firing range. I think it would be rude not to use it."

"...where'd you even get a gun? I'm not seeing anything missing from my storage supplies."

To answer this, she opened up her right hand. The pistol disintegrated into a white smoke, which promptly reformed itself into an assault rifle.

"I am a Random Omnipotent Being. I can just make weapons whenever I want."

"...True. So, what are you going to do now?"

"Maybe shoot at some targets for a little bit, blow some stuff up, things like that."

"Why do you even need to use firearms? You probably don't even need them to kill things."

"Why are you using guns even though you have a commander? That should answer your question."

"...touché. How long are you going to be here for?"

"However long I want to, my pawn."

"Ugh, fine."

Having a ROB who freeloaded off of you was worse than one who was a complete bastard.

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About an hour later, I was gearing up for the final battle at the Alien Dimension. XCOM had just about finished cleaning up the rubble from the last attack, and they, the colonists, and the Zudjari were ready to end this problem once and for all. I had hundreds of robots ready to strike and end this threat forever.

As we approached the dimension gate, though, another one opened up right next to it. Confusion settled over me: why would they open up another gate right next to an already open one?

More surprising still was when an Alien Bomber emerged form the gate. It was swiftly shot down, but the fact that it had appeared at all, even after the aliens had apparently lost the ability to make new ships, was rather worrisome.

Then a second gate opened up over the city, followed by a third. Before anyone could react, dozens of ships began to pour into the city, firing at anything they could see. Our assembled forces scattered to avoid the attack, as did the many civilians who had gathered to wish us luck. Several people, be they human, mutant, Zudjari or Synthetic, were unable to escape the devastation.

While my forces moved to engage the ships, I could only stare on and wonder what was happening. How had the aliens managed to do this? They had lost everything, yet they were still able to attack us. IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE!!!!

I swiftly turned my attention back to my forces and had some of them charge toward the alien dimension. However the aliens had manged to launch this attack didn't matter. What did matter was that we stopped it and prevented them from ever launching another one.

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AN: The weapon firing scenes were based off the weapon testing scenes from XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

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