"Haha... Hahahahahha... MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"........"

Baron Levi Ashdale stared blank-faced at the "tiny" rat-sized Ant standing on the raised platform in front of him. As it cackled madly, front two legs raised to the ceiling of his Estate cellar, several of the "normal" sized ants set down the pieces of strange equipment they were carrying and began to clatter their mandibles together.

A sound that eerily reminded the Baron of clapping.

As for this distant rumble of thunder, he couldn't make out of it was coming from the ants, if it was a symptom of his slowly growing migraine or a sign that every minute spent with this mad Entity was slowly driving him insane.

Regardless of the answer, Ashdale had to force himself to keep a straight face, reminding himself what was at stake. He still wasn't totally convinced that what he'd been shown wasn't just some elaborate Illusion. That everything wasn't just some joke or plot to take over Halirosa. Heaven knew it wouldn't have been the first. Yet, something in his Soul of Souls, at the very core of his being, urged... no... screamed at him to simply nod and do as he was told.

Unknown to all but the core family itself, the Ashdale Clan held a secret that had helped them maintain their position and power for millennia. A small but ancient line of Diviner's blood, too weak to be called a true bloodline, but powerful enough to give members of the main family a supernatural 'sense' of the true nature of things. The Ashdale clan had used this gift for countless generations, both on and off the battlefield, to expand and solidify their power and reputation. And it was this very gift that sent chills down the old Clan Leader's spine every time he looked at his newest "Guest."

What had he gotten himself into?

A week earlier

Baron Ashdale and the rest of the group silently followed the massive crab-shaped puppet through the surprisingly uniform and clean tunnels... no, not tunnels, hallways. The Ashdale clan routinely scouted the valley and mountain for signs of change, whether from bandits, powerful Spirit Beasts, or rival clans looking to sneak into their territory. It was those very scouts who had discovered their little "ant" problem to begin with. That being said, Ashdale knew one thing for sure; these tunnels had not existed during the last report.

He'd already pieced together that a particularity powerful Puppetmaster was controlling these puppets, yet to see the proof was another thing entirely. Even the Ants, master diggers that they were, wouldn't have been able to dig such a complicated network as this in such a short time frame. No, it would take someone truly powerful to perform such a feat.

As they passed the dozens of orderly rooms and hallways filled with strange devices and artifacts, moving deeper and deeper into the mountain, one thing struck him as strange. Typically, powerful cultivators had a... flare.. to them; even the most humble high-ranking cultivators preferred the finer things, whether clothing, food, or art. For that same reason, often, their dwellings were eye-catching and luxurious, with even simple-looking huts hiding grand palaces within their space expanded interiors.

In this place, however, he'd seem none of that. No decorations, no flare, no sense of design other than for absolute efficiency and value. Cold stone and shining metal, but no spark of "life" anywhere to be seen. If it weren't for the sheer value of some of the materials he'd caught a glimpse of, Ashdale would have assumed they were walking through a warehouse or factory rather than the dwelling place of a [Sky Piercer].

And the more he watched the hundreds of "ants" moving around (and above) them, carrying strange objects to and from the various rooms, Ashdale began to strongly suspect that's precisely what he was looking at. But then that begged another question.

What were they building?

And why?

A chill suddenly shot up Ashdale's spine, and he turned to see one of the puppet's strange "eyes" staring back at him, watching, even as the puppet moved ceaselessly forward through the hallways. The eye twitched, then swerved forward, as the Puppetmaster spoke through the giant crab puppet.

-

Alpha watched the group closely for any sign of hostile behavior from his guests as he led them through the base. He doubted that they would cause any trouble, given his "insurance policy," but if there was one thing the AI had learned in his long life, it was better to be safe than sorry. More so when you still didn't fully understand the other party's full abilities.

For the most part, the group seemed nervous and understandably afraid. Only the old wolfman and the strange Vidaasi seemed to have the presence of mind to take in their surroundings. Some might say it was foolish to let unknown factors see the "belly of the beast," as it were, but sometimes just the right amount of mystery mixed with awe and wonder was enough to make someone more... pliable. He had to admit his lessons with Articulate (as annoying as she could be) were bearing fruit.

Still, Alpha found he much preferred the "smash and grab" style of politics for the most part. The enemy didn't have time for pesky plots and underhanded tactics when suborbital kinetic railguns were bombarding them.

And when the enemy didn't understand the threat of a weapon?... Show them.

"You'll have to forgive me for the mess. I wasn't expecting guests so soon, so I've not gotten around to making more accommodating passages. So bear with me... ah! We're here".

The group turned a corner and stopped in front of a large blast door made of mundane steel and Armadillo alloy. At his command, the large door seal spun, and with a hiss and a clank, the door slid into the wall. He ushered the group into the large, pitch-black room, and when the last had entered, the blast door slammed shut, plunging them into total darkness.

Alpha watched with a bit of humor as groups vitals spiked at the sudden development. Even the stoic Vidaasi seemed on edge as they released a slight flare of spiritual energy, though the resulting shock only made the man grunt. Alpha let them stew a moment before giving another signal. Suddenly, the room was flooded with light as the outer walls pulled back, letting the bright sunlight flooding the room.

The group blinked, shielding their eyes from sunlight they had not seen for more than a month now, their mouth's gasping as they looked over a section of the pristine and untouched valley. Despite the name "Bloodriver Mountain," the area Alpha had settled in was, in fact, an extensive mountain range with numerous valleys and hilly dales. Alpha had stumbled on this particular valley during one of the Ant-Bot's mining expeditions, and he'd found its extended, narrow configuration was perfect for a firing range, a fact the cratered, crumbling mountain at the other end of the valley could attest to. In fact, the valley was so straight it seemed almost unnatural as if someone had clawed a chunk out of the earth and left nature to reclaim it.

Oh well, another mystery for another time.

For now, it was time to get the show on the road.

Alpha turned toward the group with a flourish (something surprisingly easy to do in the large CRAB frame...) and addressed the Baron, his voice attempting some amount of seriousness but unable to hide the child-like glee of what he was about to show them.

"Mr. Ashdale, you asked me before what makes me different? Why should you trust a stranger who appeared out of nowhere, slaughtered your attacking forces, and held you captive? I'll repeat myself; because you have no other choice. I am not speaking about just your safety or the safety of your companions. No. What is to come will come, and nothing will stop it. I am allowing you to have a hand in ensuring as little loss as possible.

Despite what others may say of me. Despite what you may come to think of me in the future when all of this is said and done, I am no Monster. Federation regulations mandate that I do my best to ensure that first contact does not involve wanton slaughter. I am not here to kill and destroy. I am simply here to make you understand your new position and prepare you all for what is to come...."

Baron Ashdale turned sharply to face the AI, a fire in his eyes;

"What are you talking about, don't thi..."

Alpha continued, heedless of the unfinished threat.

"That being said, I'm also aware that words are just words without the action to back them up. That sometimes, for someone to avoid the final nail, they must first feel the hammer. I do not hesitate to swing."

With those words, hatches opened up, and two large devices were slowly raised from the ground. The first was his newest invention. The large barreled device was more an electric catapult than a true railgun, but it served its purpose well. At its back sat two dozen head-sized orbs. They appeared to be solid balls of Armadillo alloy, but they were hollow canisters, their centers separating chambers filled with the Nitropot liquid, separated into their components for safety. The device, nicknamed the "Slingshot," could fire the capsules at a little under 200 miles an hour with surprising accuracy. The resulting impact would crumble their internal structure, mixing the Nitropot liquid and setting off an explosion with the force of several tons of TNT.

Not as impressive as some of the more advanced explosives Alpha had the blueprints for, but for what he had to work with? It would do the job.

That wasn't the coup-de-grace, however. No, not at all. The final piece of the puzzle was something he had only just discovered and only barely tested. In fact, it could be said this demonstration was a field test as well.

The second device to rise from the floor was Alpha's primary project these past few weeks; the Spiritual Cannon.

Or at least, a modified version of it. This particular model had been changed from the one powered by the Badger's Eye. Not only was the stone at its core much less powerful, but the barrel had been replaced with a steel alloy that only contained a 5% Armadillo alloy mix. The result was a far less powerful beam (testing showed it could barely punch through an inch of iron), but one that could be fired several times before the barrel started to warp from heat and alloy growth.

But for this experiment, it would work perfectly fine.

His guests stare at the weapons, unsure of what to make of them. Feeling a little giddy himself, Alpha chuckled and turned his attention to the valley.

"Now, Gentlemen, pay close attention... FIRE!"

The Slingshot whirled to life and fired a canister, quickly followed by a second and then a third, all in less than a second. The canisters soared through the air at breakneck speed, but Alpha wasn't done yet. Suddenly, the Spiritual Cannon swerved, aiming. Thin beams of spiritual energy blasted from the barrel, traveling at the speed of light, and struck each of the canisters in turn shortly before hitting the ground.

The canisters glowed like falling stars for a split second before eruption into massive fireballs. Three tiny suns were born, and the valley shook as if some giant had slammed its hammer into the mountain. Then the shockwave hit them. The wall of air slammed into the watching group at the speed of sound, knocking several off their feet and throwing them several yards back.

Alpha burst into laughter as he watched the massive fireballs slowly dwindle and die. In their place was a veritable mountain of glistening orange metal, roughly 100 meters wide and 50 meters tall, laying in a crater over 200 meters in diameter. The metal mountain was pot-marked with dozen of trees and boulders that had been pulled up during its growth, and hundreds of spiky, metal tendrils extruded from its surface, giving it the appearance of some kind of giant amoeba frozen in time.

As the fires died, the shiny metal mountain began to lose its luster, and with the screech of metal, collapsed in on itself.

The experiment had worked beautifully if he had to say so himself. Who thought things would have worked out so well? The key, it seemed, was the Armadillo alloy. This strange, semi-organic alloy behaved as if it was still alive sometimes. Hell, for all Alpha knew, maybe it was. What we DID know was that it drank up spiritual energy like a sponge and used it to proliferate itself, much like what happened to his Badger's Eye Spiritual Cannon.

Typically this rate was tiny, almost unnoticeable, as it passively absorbed spiritual energy from its surroundings. But given enough energy, it would go into hyper-drive, sucking in energy from the air until there was no more left to fuel itself, like a fire devouring all the oxygen. It was this property that allowed the living Armadillos to generate their spikes and projectiles seemingly endlessly, though much more controlled.

Unfortunately, Alpha's lesser spiritual cannons couldn't generate enough spiritual energy to trigger this reaction on their own.

That's where the Nitropots came into play. The Nitropot liquid was unique in that it didn't just generate a physical explosion but a spiritual one as well. It rapidly absorbed sources of spirit energy to trigger its explosive properties, then expelled it all in one massive burst. That was partly why such small amounts of the liquid could pack such a powerful punch (and why it was so dangerous to store).

Combining these traits, Alpha developed what he liked to think of as the ultimate one-two punch. The Spiritual Cannon would supercharge the Nitopot liquid within the Armadillo alloy, causing it to explode with far more energy than usual. This released energy would then, in turn, trigger the alloy's ability, further drawing in even more spiritual energy to fuel them both.

The resulting feedback loop was far greater than the sum of its parts.

Despite this, Alpha couldn't help but look at the crumbling mountain and sigh. Unfortunately, it seemed that this reaction was too much for the Armadillo metal itself though. It seemed to completely drain it of whatever kind of potential it might have had during the process. Not only would it drain the spiritual energy out of the area for a good while (making successive shots far less effective), but the metal that was generated was almost worthless.

Even the giant mountain of slag produced from three shots would only return a few tons of mundane copper, while the rest, a mix of unidentifiable metallic and carbon compounds, had not perceivable use to him. Almost not worth the trouble of salvaging, honestly, but who knew, maybe he would find a practical use for it later.

As his processors started churning out plans for the future, both near and distant, Alpha turned back to his "guests."

Nothing said, "Welcome to the Federation," like a bit of Shock and Awe".

-

Ashdale wasn't sure what to make of this situation. It seemed to the old Wolfkin that the more he saw and learned from this strange Cultivator, the more confused and out of his depths he felt. He, Baron Levi Ashdale, 52nd Clan Leader of the Ashdale Clan and 24th Baron of the Bloodriver Valley, felt as if he was a newborn pup being led along on a leash.

However, one thing had been made clear; their "host" was not in the area for a simple chat. They had machinations for both his captives and Halirosa as a whole. But they were sorely mistaken if this strange Puppetmaster thought that Halirosa would go down without a fight. No matter how powerful they might be, no matter how many strange puppets they might have, at the end of the day, a single Cultivator was just that. The Free City of Halirosa had fought back tides of enemies before, held off legends the likes of Medved the Conqueror even, and through it all, they had remained Free.

So when the Puppetmaster fired his weapons, Ashdale stood tall, his back straight. He would witness what power this man claimed to have, and then he would bring that information back to Halirosa. He may come for them, but they would be prepared...

Then the world turned white...