"You think the Combine are responsible for this?" I asked, a hint of worry in my voice.

"No - the anomaly you have mentioned does not match any recorded Universal Union attempt to tunnel into another universe," was celm's reply. "No does it match any I have received from my spy drones in their universes."

Given that Celm had experience fighting the Combine, I felt it appropriate to try and ask him for advice, lest I walk into a mess I could not hope to clean.

"Then do you have any idea what's going on here?"

"Given what I know about the multiverse, it is likely you simply had the bad luck to arrive at a universe that is undergoing a natural convergence event. It happens from time to time - two universes near each other to a point where their barriers break down and creatures from one enter the other. You appear to have come up the example of a universe where multiple merges happen simultaneously."

"Well, that sucks."

"Yeah. Listen, be careful - you've already found evidence for at least four different universes merging with this one. There's no telling how many more could also be joined."

"Fair enough," replied Vivian, "so let's just teleport back and-"

"Don't. Doing so when universes are merging can have negative effects on the merge. You'll be fine, but you could potentially allow something much larger and meaner to get through to the Zero Dawn universe than would normally be able to come through. Or send a Metal Devil into a different universe."

"...So we need to make our way back to Meridian on foot?"

"Yep. Sorry."

Viv let out an overly dramatic sigh at the apology. "Well, come on then - let's get moving."

As we prepared to leave, though, another rift suddenly opened above our head. Emerging from it was a helicopter, which flew some distance away before crashing. For a moment, we only stared at the smoke, confused, before my sensors suddenly picked something up.

"Command, this is KR 215, does anyone copy?...Say again, this is KR 215, does anyone copy?...THIS IS KR 215, DOES ANYONE COPY?!...Shit, looks like whatever that was knocked out our comms too. We're on our own here."

"Think its a new UIR weapon?"

"Doubt it - too advanced for them."

"Whose our new arrivals?" questioned Vivian, unaware of who had just dropped in.

"Cogs from the Gears of War universe. From the transmission were getting, these guys are from before E-Day."

"Ok. Are they in any danger right now?"

"Doesn't look like it-"

"Commander, this is Fide, we have a problem."

What? "Define problem? Is something wrong at the Hub, Meridian, Astera, or elsewhere?"

"Elsewhere. Specifically, where you are right now."

Oh. "Does it involve the anomaly?"

"Yes. We're detecting more that are opening in the area, and...well, a lot more Combine forces are spilling out of it."

"How do you know that they are Combine? And how do you even know what the Combine are?"

"Celm called and told me about them. I think he did it at the same time he answered some question for you."

Figures - omnipotent beings are alwasy good at multitasking. "Alright, keep me posted."

"More bad guys?" asked Viv.

"What do you think?"

"No need to be rude. Also, the guys in the King Raven are mostly holed up around their copter. Pilot's got a broken leg."

Well, at least they would stay put, then. "Fide, are there any forces nearby that match those belonging to the Union of Independent Republics?"

"...Yes, and not too far away from the Gears, actually. However, neither group has noticed the other, and since the UIR APC is currently overturned from however it arrived, it is unlikely either group will move far from their vehicles unless external pressure forces them to."

"Understood. Tell me if any Locust show up."

"Affirmative."

As I cut the transmission, I suddenly felt nervous, like something wa about to attack me. Without hesitation, I drew my blade and slashed behind me. A moment later, the centipede's head fell over, with the rest of its body soon following suite.

I heard Viv whistle as I sheathed my balde. "Nice kill."

"Eh, I could do better If I'd sensed it earlier."

"No need to brag. Now let's get movnig."

XXXXXXXX

Catiously, we made our way toward the humans form Sera. This wasn't easy by any means, especially since more portals kept opening from time to time. Out came all kinds of things - creatures from Xen, Dragomon, additional beasties from the Monster Hunter and Witcher worlds, and even a few dinosaurs from Warhammer - Lustria, to be exact. Celm informed me that arrivals form the Warhammer world and Lustria were neither rare nor common - the warp and the realms of chaos often threw stuff into other universes due to the fickle gods that ruled it getting bored. So far, though, no sentient beings from those worlds had shown up, nor had there been any indications of demons arriving.

Eventually, we were in sight of the King Raven. Just a little bit longer and we'd be able to rescue the trapped gears-

Without warning, my vision went dark as something wet and slimy grabbed my head. A quick swing of my blade ended the beast's life, but that didn't stop me from having a panic attack. Viv had to slap me to prevent the corpse form being rendered unrecognizable.

"Keep it together! Also, was that a Carnictis worm?"

"...No, the ones from Skull Island look different."

"I see. This thing familiar to you?"

"Yes, but I can't remember where it's from, and-"

The sound of gunfire interrutped my answer. Turning toward it, I found that the COG had just engaged...some weird looking humanoids wielding weapons with glowing yellow parts. What were these again?

"Commander, it appears the COG have engaged a newly arrived group of sentients. Going b the list of games you've allowed Synais to play for 'research' purposes, they appear to be Chimera."

Great, aliens that actively turned humans into more of them. "What about the UIR?"

"Another Chimera force is engaging htem. Both groups should be able to repel the Chimera with minimal casualties, as the arrival to this unvierse has damaged the Hybrids' cooling units. However, the gunfire will likely attract the attention of the Combine patrols. Also, a wild carnosaur just got into a fight with a strider."

"I copy. Can you send in some CNDR bots for me to help relieve the humans on the ground?"

"How? Teleporters are inadvisable, given what Celm-"

"Just link me to the nearest orbital fabber, okay?"

"..Um, sure."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once the connection was established, I began hastily moved a squad of CNDRs into one of the specialized...well, let's call them 'roots' I'd added to my advanced orbital fabbers. Said roots were actually cannons, and within them, my secret weapon - drop pods. The Grinner had managed to make a variety that, while crude, ultimately proved effective in achieving my goals. Within moments, the bots were loaded and being sent down to the surface.

As for Viv and myself, well, we decided to test out our tenno training. The two of us used bullet jumps and slides to rapidly make our way toward the gears, culminating in Vivian knocking a longleg out of the sky via collision with herself. Not even missing a beat, Viv opened fire upon the remaining Chimera. Within moments, all but three were dead, which was quickly rectified via a slam attack form my blade.

Seriously, warframe melle training is OP. Plz don't nerf this.

At first, the gears were dumbstruck by this, but they recovered soon enough. It was the pilot, of all people, who manged to speak up first. "Um, thanks for the assist...are you COG?"

"No, and we're not UIR."

"Right...Where are we?"

"Long story. Now, do you need any assistance?"

Before the COG could get a reply, the sounds of gunfire flared up once more, alongside lots of screaming and swearing. It was followed by my CNDRs cresting the hill, alongside several UIR soliders and...oh crap.

Leaping into battle was a Chimera Stalker, which promptly began opening fire on, well, everyone. Fortunately, we were able to get everyone to cover, but the machine simply responded by trying to hop toward us, aiming to crush us. Given how hard our cover was, it didn't quite succeed.

"Is this thing your's COG?" questioned the UIR squad leader, obviously assuming their long-lasting enemies were behind the stalker's appearance.

"You think we'd be hiding here if that was the case?"

"...point taken."

"So, how do we kill that-"

Groaning, Viv walked up to the king raven and kicked it toward the stalker, pancaking the machine in an instant.

"-thing...What the hell?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you how I got that strong," was my former ROB's answer.

"..Fair enough. Now then..."

For a moment, I expected the UIR and COG to turn on one another. Then another stalker jumped into the fray. This time, though, it was attacked by a pair of tripod machines vaguely resembling a combine strider - Hunter Synths, I realized.

"...Run?" questioned the King Raven Pilot.

The UIR leader looked at the battle for a moment, where a strider had emerged to assist the hunters, before turning to the COG soldiers and nodding, somehow conveying a sense of shell-shock despite wearing a face-covering helmet.

Without another word, we retreated from the field.

"Commander, another anomaly just opened."

Oh, WHAT NOW?!

I got my answer when a juvenile corpser from the Gears' universe emerged right in front of me...only to get batted aside by a gigantic mole-like machine. A rockbreaker, to be specific.

The gears and UIR fell back in surprise at this, but when the machine left the battle, they promptly began to continue their advance. I took a moment to lob a grenade inside the tunnel before joining them - no need to get attacked by locust just yet.

Overhead, a screaming filled the air as another aircraft came crashing down - an Imperial Guard Valkyrie, to be exact.

Would this day ever end?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!