The leader of the Lizardman cult heaved a sigh as he patrolled through the empty catacombs, double checking the magic absorption runes. Once upon a time he had acolytes upon acolytes to conduct this work. Now it was but a bare handful.

At first, the cult had rejoiced as the world was bathed in atomic fire, safe behind the ancient spells in their hallowed halls. As their great teacher had predicted, a disaster had befell humanity, one of its own making. Humanity’s extinction was all but assured, and every believer would see the return of the true rulers of Earth with their own eyes. Their ascension was nigh.

But it was not to be. Humanity proved far more resilient than expected. They not only survived, they adapted. Some were even empowered by the disaster, growing stronger than ever. And that ever ambitious Concordat finally rose from the shadows, building a new nation behind the might of their metal legions.

His Great Master had declared that the time was not yet ripe. He would wait for humanity to finish one another off, for the Concordat and the Atomic Cult to meet their end at each other’s hands, and for the poisoned ground to heal. And so he returned to his hibernation, waiting for the prime moment to strike.

And then the Atomic Cult took over their little town. For a time, the believers stayed true, even as their bodies were twisted and warped. They hid in plain sight, greeting their foes with smiles on their faces.

But in time, the faith started to waver.

For what had they joined but the promise of ascension? To rise above the shackles of their mortal flesh, to be granted a new form and great power, and to rule the Earth at the right hand of its rightful king. Long had they waited for that day, generations upon generations enduring off but small morsels of prehistoric knowledge and the promise of a glorious future.

So what happened when they discovered the Atomic Herald’s Sacred Light could transform them, lifting them above the shackles of their mortal flesh, granting them new forms and great power, to rule the Earth beside the Herald himself?

And so one by one, the faithful were seduced.

Eventually the leader was forced to seal off the catacombs, with what few followers stayed true.

Which has led to the current moment, where he himself now had to take care of the acolyte’s duties.

But he was not troubled by these things.

No, he was enlightened. Ascension was not for the weak-hearted, those who could be seduced by the quick and easy path. Ascension was for the patient, those with the will and devotion to endure. After all, did not their Great Master wait for millions of years for his moment? How then, could they doubt due to the mere delay of a few years? Even the entire lifetime of a man was but an instant. If they wished to become like the Great Master, then they must learn to endure as he had.

And the time was fast approaching. The infamous Eternal Night Sect was destroyed; no cultivator had managed to take its place and now none would have the chance again. The Order of Harmony was gone, betrayed by the very thing they swore to protect. And the ever ambitious Concordat of Sorrow, the ones the Great Master had watched and subtly manipulated for millenia, had made their final play. They had stepped out from the safety of the dark into the dangerous light.

Their fire would burn bright, and then go out.

And once the Concordat and the Atomic Cult had destroyed one another…then who would be left? Who could possibly oppose them?

The time of the lizard would come again!

His eyes widened. He saw it now, the wisdom of his Great Master. Had they risen as the unfaithful had demanded, it would be them in the crosshairs, them on the chopping block of history. But since they had waited, it would be them who survived in the end.

All as his Great Master had predicted.

All according to his great plan.

It was then that a flash of light lit up the room.

The leader blinked.

A group of twelve children stood before him, led by a red-haired girl with a huge grin on her face.

“Hello jerks, I’m back!”

Her grin grew wider as she laid eyes on him. Her eyes narrowed.

“Just who I wanted to see.”

She thrust her hand forward. The leader found his arms and legs covered with red wind. He was lifted into the air and pulled in front of the girl.

“I know you won’t talk so let’s skip to the torture part!”

A little girl took a step forward.

“I can just read his mind, though?”

“Aw. Will you make it painful at least?”

“Yes.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as she raised her hand.

“Excruciating.”

And so the team got to work. Elise had recorded the ritual formation in full detail, not to mention Bob’s own notes on the subject, and so was able to recreate it, sans the subtle, genocide-focused hypnosis parts. Meanwhile Nana drew some seals around the formation, the same ones she had used previously to modify the ritual. Original timeline Saydaa frowned as she watched them work.

“Could we, um, put in some safeguards to make it less painful than last time?”

“Negative Response: Nemesis already did that last time, though. This unit recommends against additional modifications in order to recreate the original phenomena as closely as possible. This unit has full faith that friendly Saydaa can handle it, as she has already done so previously.”

“Screw you, killer robot girl! It really hurt!”

Kiyosuke patted her shoulder.

“I believe in you. You can do it.”

“I don’t want to hear that now, you jerk! Go convince killer robot girl to make it easier instead!”

Alternate Saydaa placed her hands behind her head and leaned back.

“Eh? What’s this? Here I thought you said you were ‘Saydaa Alpha’. Surely you can handle a little pain, right? Or like, maybe you were boasting cause you were actually insecure about it? I heard that’s a thing, right? People who talk the loudest are actually the most timid or something? Maybe you should be the one called Baby Saydaa?”

She stood up, crossing her arms and smirking.

“But don’t worry, the real Saydaa Alpha is here! And I know I ain’t afraid of a little pain! Tell you what, I’ll take care of this for you, if you agree that I’m Saydaa Alpha and you’re Saydaa Beta. Or Baby Saydaa, I’ll let you pick.”

“Screw you, other me! You’re only talking cause you have no idea what’s about to happen! Come here, let me show you what it felt like!”

“Now now, don’t lash out at me just because you’re afraid.”

And so Saydaa chased alternate Saydaa around the room, trying to tap her forehead. Elise held out a hand and caught them both with an anti-grav field, and then deposited them on the far side of the room.

“Irritated Command: Friendly Kiyosuke, please manage the Saydaas. This unit doesn’t mind if they fight but would prefer for them not to run all over the ritual formation in progress.”

He just sighed but walked over. And actually managed to put a stop to their fight.

Mostly by dumping oil on the fire and then unintentionally getting them to unite against him.

As two Saydaas cackled and held a trembling ninja upside down in the air, Wonder Knight and Arvid walked into the room, carrying a large red gem. Roxanne and the rest of Aurora Legion followed suit.

“We found it!”

“Encouraging Compliment: Excellent work. The final piece is ready then. Please place the Dragon Heart in the center of that chandelier, and we’ll be ready to begin.”

With that, the team hooked up the Dragon Heart and completed the finishing touches on the ritual.

Saydaa stood in the center of the formation, directly under the Dragon Heart.

“Whoo. Ok. Here goes. You can do this.”

She took a deep breath.

“...let’s get this over with.”

“Profile Loaded: Lizardman.”

Elise triggered the ritual.

The formation began to light up…

And then…

Saydaa screamed as she was drowned in a torrent of blazing power.

Aurora Legion jumped and ran as close to the ritual as they could get.

“Saydaa are you alright?!”

“Saydaa, can you hear us?!”

Pink Star turned to Nemesis.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?!”

Kiyosuke smirked.

“Cheer her on.”

Aurora Legion looked at each other and then turned to Saydaa.

“Let’s go, Saydaa!”

“You got this!”

“Just think happy thoughts!”

Saydaa just grit her teeth, glaring at Kiyosuke.

“Dead! You’re all dead after this!”

In truth, unlike the first time, Saydaa was in no danger at all. Going through the first ritual had already expanded her capacity for magical power by a great deal, not to mention later feats in the Battle for Earth and resisting the time reset. She could handle this ritual fairly easily now, even before Nana’s seals were taken into account.

It was still excruciatingly painful, though.

And Aurora Legion’s innocent attempts to encourage her did not help whatsoever.

Finally, the flow of power stopped. The Dragon Heart shattered and the light of the magic circle dimmed. Saydaa was glowing, surrounded by an ethereal red blaze.

She tilted her head and held up a hand, looking at her palm.

“Huh, it’s not that bad this time, actually.”

She swung her hands forward, spinning them around to create dozens of magic circles.

This time she shouted, something deep and powerful echoing her voice.

“Ok then, come and get me you jerks! And no more stupid lizardmen, while we’re at it!”

Saydaa does not easily forget a grudge, it seems…

And so a massive wave of red light surged from the room…

20NS fell to the ground, lightning arcing over all his circuits, his body no longer responding to his commands.

The Electron Pirate stood before him.

He closed his eyes, about to apologize for the last in a life full of failures…

And then a message appeared in front of his view.

“Mission Report: This is Elise. I am happy to inform you all that the operation was a success. I couldn’t have done it without you. You all have my deepest gratitude. The universe will be saved, thanks to you. Thank you, for everything.”

After which a massive wave of red light surged past him.

He smiled.

He guessed…he wasn’t such a failure in the end.

And so he thought back on his life.

He grinned.

“Resolute Statement: How about one last ride for Captain Hot Devil?”

The Electron Pirate grabbed him by the neck and lifted him high.

“Arrr….looks like ye be disabled, ye scallywag. We shall have a long conversation about what sort o booty ye was looking for, aye?”

Captain Hot Devil grit his teeth, pain searing through his head as he tried to command his body through his own mind once more.

He lifted a shaky hand.

He placed it on his own core.

And then blasted it with all the power he could muster, detonating both the core and his own powers.

And as his vision went white…

He smiled.

“Timothy…Samantha…Eleanor…I’ll see you soon.”

52NS and 77NS lay on the ground, sparks coming from their metal implants while blood poured out of the wounds on their bodies. Nukemaker lay across from them, staring forward with unclosing eyes. The cyborgs were surrounded by an angry mob of townsfolk, who were bombarding the cyborgs with energy rays.

And then they received a single message.

They smiled at each other. They mouthed the words they could no longer speak.

“For the Liberator…”

A scene that repeated with NS units across the Alps…

All across the Alps, sparking autonomous NSLICE warbots began to die down, the light in their eyes and cores fading.

And then they all received a message.

And as they all fell silent for good, they each sent one status report, the last entry in their logs.

Primary directive…achieved.

Elise stood silently as Saydaa finished her ritual, still glowing slightly. Nemesis and Aurora Legion gathered around the girl, checking her for wounds. She laughed and started playing around with the remaining power….mostly to have her revenge upon Kiyosuke for his cheering prank.

But Elise wasn’t watching them, her robotic eye flickering as she stared blankly forward.

They had succeeded.

They had won.

But all she felt…was regret.

The cult base had been almost completely empty…and almost completely isolated from the outside world.

They could have teleported straight there and pulled off the ritual with no one the wiser.

They didn’t need to infiltrate the Atomic Cult.

They didn’t need to go through the town.

They didn’t need to distract the cult.

They didn’t need to sacrifice the NSLICE units at all.

If it had been Commander Bob…

He would have infiltrated the cult from the start, determining their state and maximizing the effectiveness and minimizing the cost of the plan.

Or he would have scouted out the town, identified the alternate Saydaa’s presence and any other potential problems.

Or he would have predicted that the catacombs would be sealed off to survive the nuclear apocalypse, and thus the cult wouldn’t have noticed the ritual in progress at all.

Or countless other possibilities and variables she hadn’t considered…

Above all…

He wouldn’t have let the NSLICE units die needlessly.

Elise closed her eyes.

She still had a lot to learn, it seemed.

A single tear fell from her human eye.

She whispered to herself.

“...that’s why I need you back, Dad.”

And then it was done.

She wiped the tear away, her face returning to normal. She stood up, and walked over to the group to congratulate Saydaa.

And in her heart, she swore once more.

She would never forget the NSLICE units who died today.

They had all sacrificed themselves for her, willingly and joyfully.

So she would make their sacrifice worthwhile.

She would bring him back.

She would bring them all back.

She would make this mission a success.

Whatever it takes.