So, let's recap: I was stuck on a giant spaceship that can create dinosaurs, dragons, other fantasy critters, abominations, and who-knows-what else. The ship is controlled by a flesh abomination that used to be a Victorian scientist. Said scientist has access to a commander of the Legion. It knows that I have a commander from the MLA. I do not have this commander with me. And it is looking increasingly likely that he might actually be able to destroy me if he gets the chance and I don't figure out how to purge him from the system fast enough.

...I'd like to throw the no-pressure thing out here, but I was definitely under a lot of pressure here and now. Sure, I had many, many powerful beings with me right now, but they kinda pailed in comparison to what we were up against. If we wanted to win, we needed some big breaks right now.

"Yes, we do. Also, while you were mentally going over our situation, my former pawn, I was giving an abridged version of what we've been through to all of our compatriots."

"..Why? Why did you need to do that, Viv? I'm not angry, just legitimately curious."

"Because it speeds things up and tells them what is at stake."

"...Good point. So, how much did you cover in the 'abridged version'?"

"That the machine he has under him is derived from the same tech base that we use, it hates us in the mistaken belief that we enslaved its kin, and it will probably try to kill them because they are helping. I also gave a few universes that we have visited - enough to give them an idea of how high the stakes are."

"Any of them complain?"

"Griff did."

"Figures. Alright, then, let's get to work-"

"Commander!"

Wait, was that Fide? "Fide?!"

"Yes, I'm back! Thank you, H-LNA!"

I glanced over at the drone in question.

"Uh, yeah. While you were going over things and your female companion filling in some gaps with your allies, she called and asked if I could use my comms to act as a communication system with you. Turns out, we can! And whatever is opposing you isn't tracking that signal, so we're fine. For now."

"...Well, that works. So, what have you got for me?"

"A lot, actually. So let's get started."

XXXXX

POV: Fide, third person

Fide glanced through all of the cameras that she had managed to subvert via H-LNA and some hacking against Rockwell. "First off, it looks like Rockwell has been harvesting samples from every universe in the ARK survivor candidate pool list to try and prep up for dealing with us. I'm seeing things in the Genesis rings that don't match up with any places we've visited before. No telling who or what he'll summon, but it could be something we might not be able to handle."

"Unsurprising," was her commander's reply. "Continue."

"I've also found some more things from the universes that we already have...samples...from in this ARK network. Apparently, there are humans here from the same place as YorHa. Like, real humans from back when it was part of ...Drakengard?"

"Oh. Maybe we could use that to bargain with YorHa if we find that universe?"

"Perhaps. Listen, though, Rockwell's working on something big with the sample pools of candidates. Whatever he's doing is taking up a ton of energy and matter, such that he's been using the Legion Commander to keep this project supplied."

"Can you offer more specific information?"

"He has four areas he is working on, they all use tons of resources, and they involve the survivor candidate pools."

"Still not specific."

"Well that is all I can offer. But I am still worried by it."

"What is the reason for that? What is the most likely usage of these areas?"

"Well, what does Rockwell want the most?"

"To use the power of the Genesis ship to influence the evolution of life/worlds and...oh. Let me guess: the most likely possibility is that these areas are portals to other universes?"

"Something like that - Rockwell wasn't able to get any details on how the system actually plucks survivors or their minds from other universes and timelines, so he has to create this from scratch, and according to the ship's records, the Commander he got doesn't have any dedicated labs or super sensors on it, so he hasn't made too much progress yet."

"At least we have that advantage. Anything else you can tell me?"

"I've located the rest of Chase's team, for starters. Looks like they are being stored in a cryobay next to a hangar. I can thaw them soon, but I suggest waiting until we get Chase over to them before they wake up."

"Copy. Anything you can do to interfere with that Commander?"

"None yet. Still working on that. Listen, Rockwell hasn't got any idea how to escape this ship yet, but escape he will if we don't stop him. I can light a few fires to slow him down, and I'm working with H-LNA on how to decouple him from the ship's mainframe, but if his physical body is still plugged into the Genesis, he'll just figure out a way back in. You need to take down his physical form, and soon."

"Okay, gotcha. Anything I can do to help?"

"Still looking into that-"

"Hey, this is Vivian. Can I call in some reinforcements? I think I could slip a few in without our, ahem, 'contractor' throwing a fit."

"How so?"

"Just get Leal to supplement you and hope it works?"

Fide thought over that for a few minutes. "Okay then, see what you can do. And thank you for the offer."

"You're welcome."

Closing out the communication, Fide glanced up at the fleet of Imperators now guarding the Genesis. She didn't doubt that Leal could find a way to deal with them, but they were just a symptom of how crazy things had gotten.

And somehow, Fide knew the worst was yet to come.

XXXXX

AN: New Year's Chapter, just before New Year's Day ends for me.

I apologize for not updating my stories in a while, but beyond Christmas and my job, I had a lot on my plate over the holidays - I went up on a ski trip for my sister's birthday, my grandmother died a day into the trip (the writing had been on the wall, but it still hurt), I started playing Pokemon Scarlet, went up to Vegas, two of the Vegas guests had to cancel because their flights got canceled, and right now I really need to go to sleep. So sorry for the short chapter, but I need to crash.

Read, review, and discuss at your leisure. This is Flameal15k, signing off!