Far removed from the events on the ARKs, Elling looked over all the mecha that Lady Vivian had collected. A great many machines stood at the ready, awaiting the signal to engage in battle. Of course, all of these machines were piloted, and meant to be used by humans/other sapient beings. That meant that not all of them could be used at once, but then, Lady Vivian liked to use them for special occasions.

Most prized of the machines was a personal gift by Celempheros - a commander of the same cloth as Lord Flame's, but at the same time different. Most of the exact nuances were lost upon Elling, except that the machine apparently belonged to a subset known as the Legion. Whatever that meant.

Oh, and it had started up on its own for some reason. It wasn't for its regular diagnostics, those were last month. Maybe some of its networking cybernetics within Lady Vivian had caused it to respond to something on the ARK network?

But if that was the case, then what was it responding to?

XXXXX

Deep within the Temple City on Origin, Ka'rapis watched as the lotus blossoms formed into patterns, pondering which forms they would take...okay, that was wrong. Truth be told, the Slann was bored. And also distressed. But definitely bored.

One of the Slann of the third spawning, yet also one of the younger ones at that, Ka'rapis had been gifted with the power of High Magic, which he wielded with great skill. But the fact was, all of that power was absolutely useless right now. The Slann had heeded the call of the Old Ones and allowed himself to be hidden in the Repository, where he waited patiently for his master's plan to reach its next phase. When the commander had arrived, Ka'rapis had taken it as a sign that they Old Ones' plan was working. It was only now that Ka'rapis realized a flaw in his reasoning - they had even less knowledge of what the next steps of the plan was than their kin had for the Great Plan. Unlike with their kin in Lustria and the Southlands, these coldbloods had still accurate instructions on what to do next, but those instructions were exceedingly open ended. They amounted, quite literally, to 'teach those who find you how to oppose the great enemy'. The problem was, how best to teach them was still in the air.

The majority of the slann who had resided in the Repository now slumbered one more, trying to meditate on how best to accomplish the open ended goal. Ka'rapis, though, remained awake, for it was clear that things here would progress too fast to allow all of the mage-priests to slumber. Several had volunteered to remain awake and direct the skinks and saurus on what to do next.

Idly, Ka'rapis noticed that the lotus blossoms had formed a new pattern. Curious, the great toad-man looked at it...and blanched.

The symbol they had taken looked a lot like a spiky wheel. But Ka'rapis knew it under another name - the eight pointed star. The symbol of the Great Adversary.

It seemed Chaos had come to this world with them. Or perhaps it had come when the portal storms had begun. Either way, things were about to get more complicated.

Hastily, Ka'rapis summoned his attendents and set about trying to understand the situation. Skinks were dispatched to search for signs of chaos taint, while a chameleon skink sought out one of the human witch hunters. For the Great Adversary to be defeated, the younger races must unite with the coldbloods to oppose them as one.

XXXXX

Ballas watched as the machines flew overhead, dropping off food caches to sustain those in the lands below. A few drones snatched up some of the supplies to bring to the Executor, which he appreciated more than he was willing to admit.

"So, how are you?"

Ballas sighed. "Quite well, actually."

Turning toward the one who had quetioned him, Ballas found that it was the birdlike sentient Erra, son of Hunhow...and his former conspirator/pawn.

"May I question how you doing?"

Erra took a moment to respond. "I'm...conflicted. On the one hand, our plan was stopped before it could even be enacted. But on the other...my people have known a time of peace and prosperity that was alien to us until now. It is...odd, to say the least."

"And what of your sister?"

"Natah? I don't know any more. She has gone back to acting as the Lotus the Tenno treat as their mother, but she no longer seems to react with discomfort if called by her real name. Have the two identities made peace? The answer to this eludes me."

"Perhaps it will elude us all for eternity."

"Perhaps. My father and mother have also been surprised by this. And I know not of what happened to the sentient Mara, who was placed in control of the bios Commander's...commander."

"Perhaps we shall learn in time. For now, though, we must soldier on, and see what the future holds."

XXXXX

Hidden away within the Void, the Man in the Wall watched as the Commander and his former handler, for lack of a better term, planned how to conquer the desert land they were in. The Indifference wondered how long it would be until the Commander came back to him to seek further power in the void - his connection to the Indifference was strong, but not yet stable.

The Lidless Eye was taken out of this pondering, however, when it sensed a strange feeling coming from the boy. Confused, the Eye examined him, unsure of what had caused the feeling, before realizing he was looking the wrong way. Turning his attention outward, the Eye found better results - the source of the disturbance was from the boy/teen/man, but not necesarily this version of him. Instead, it came from another universe - another time. A time where the boy had been kidnapped by another all-powerful being later in life.

Dimly, the Indifference wondered what he should do next, before smiling - he would ignore this interference for now. But if an opportunity to exploit him came to pass? It would be taken.

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AN: Little bit of fun to tide you over. Read, Review, and Happy New Year! This is Flameal15k, signing off!