Part Eight: Epilogue
![[Image: 8230632079_408e17598c_z.jpg]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8230632079_408e17598c_z.jpg)
Of course, the Battalion would not go quietly either. When it became clear the Barrier no longer responded to them, they attempted to do the only thing they knew how to do: conquer Earth and force the secret from its people. Their first mistake was landing an assault force in a deserted stretch of forest, where no one lived. Admirably, with only minimal casualties, they managed to overpower the enormous Thorn monsters, a full fifty feet tall and twice as powerful as their pre-Ascendant forms, that seemed to spring out from nowhere. They had significantly less success at traversing the field of defensive mitochondria that sprouted up for a mile all around them. The Will of the Earth was the immune system of the planet, and it had been supercharged by the merging with the Praetorian Will and the process of Ascension. It responded like Hamidon had never before to an unwanted infection. It set upon the Battalion with a vicious strength and unrelenting fervor not seen even at the height of the Hamidon Wars on Praetorian Earth.
The second mistake of the Battalion was thinking that Hamidon cared at all about civilian casualties. Their next assault was in the heart of a major metropolis, far from the concentration of Incarnate powers in Paragon City. Hamidon took care to single out the Battalion and avoid directly attacking the humans of the city, but it did not shy for an instant to bring the full force of the Will upon the Battalion. Civilian casualties were significant, but the toll upon the Battalion was even more severe. They were wiped out in less than an hour.
Eventually, they found a place that offered refuge. A barren stretch of desert wasteland the humans called the Sahara. Within this expanse of sand and dust, the Hamidon appeared to have no strength. What life clinged to existence here was too weak to be empowered by the Will of the Earth. The Battalion set up their camps and bases and barracks and began to strategize. This world was protected by a powerful defender, but the Battalion had waged war for uncounted centuries. There was no foe they could not eventually defeat. The humans had set them back, and this new threat was powerful, but the Battalion would be supreme. From this place, they would go forth and conquer the planet. And once the planet was under their control, they would resume their quest to escape this temporary prison. No jail lacked an exit. The Battalion would find it, and when they did the humans would suffer as no other suffered. They would pay as the Kheldian race had paid - no, they would pay a steeper price for their treachery. Mere consumption was not enough. They would be made to suffer for all eternity. And the Battalion would resume its conquest of all Incarnate power across the cosmos.
The Battalion commander was one among many within the Battalion army. He had personally led his forces to the destruction of a dozen worlds like this one. He had seen much, and would not be deterred in his duty to serve the Battalion no matter the situation. As he stepped out of his compound he gave orders to several Battalion soldiers and then gazed out upon the land they now called home. The sun was hot here, and the air dry. It had not rained in this spot in over a decade, and it had been a lifeless stretch of sand for over a millenia. Their foe was powerful, where the land hosted organic life it could bend to its will. But here, with nothing to command, the Battalion were supreme. It would take years, the Battalion commander thought to himself, but from this stronghold they would be able to reclaim the planet for the Battalion, meter by meter if necessary. They would blast the land to dust if need be, to push back their implacable foe.
There was a deep rumble off in the distance, and at first the Battalion commander thought it was the sound of artillery fire. But as he looked out to the west, he saw it was not weapons fire but thunder. Near the horizon, he could see giant thunderclouds forming, and occasional flashes of lightning brighter than the sun struck the ground off in the distance. The sound rumbled past them again, louder than before. As he stared in disbelief, the clouds appeared to roil, faster than seemed natural, and raced towards their position. As they approached, he could see the clouds tinged in eerie shades of green and blue, and surrounded by a silvery glow.
The Battalion commander reached up instinctively, touching his forehead. His hand came away wet. As he stared at it another large splash of water struck his hand, then another. Soon he could hear the patter of water striking the rooftops of their structures. Here, where less than a sprinkling of water fell in a century, it began to rain. The rain grew stronger by the minute, and the wind began to pick up.
A storm was coming. In this place, the first in a millenia. It would not be the last. It would take years, but this place, which was once a tropical rainforest a hundred centuries before, would become again a place where life would blossom. The Hamidon would see to that.
And the Battalion commander, realizing the true nature of the foe they faced for the first time, felt a shiver of fear.
...
This time, they met not in the ethereal landscape of the Dreamspace, but on a rooftop in White Plains. The Rikti were gone, driven away from this place when their mothership was destroyed. This place was now the domain of the Hamidon, the merged entity of Praetorian and Primal Earth. Soon, humanity would be gone from this place, ensconced in their new reality within Dreamspace. It would take centuries, but eventually this place would revert to its former appearance as the Palace of the Stars. But there would be no one to come and commune here. It would no longer be the Rikti War Zone, or the Crash Site, or White Plains, or Witfield, or the Palace of the Stars. It would just be another place on Earth. The Hamidon saw no need to name places, and no need to treat this place any differently than any other place. Once it was the only being left on this world, there would be no more names.
In the meantime, the Hamidon appeared to be taking no chances. It quickly gained control of White Plains, and spread its power throughout the War Wall enclosed zone. The Will of the Earth spawned Hamidon nuclei and monstrous Avatars and giant monstrous defenders throughout the zone. It wanted White Plains. And it seemed most were willing to let it have it.
"You didn't tell me you were going to bring Hamidon into this, Mender."
"If I did, would you have let me?" Silos asked.
"Do you realize the danger? You're helping a creature that hates all of humanity to Ascend" the Dream Doctor said incredulously.
"Indeed. And where will humanity be that this is a problem? Where will Hamidon be?"
"Its still insane. Rularuu escaped his dimensional prison once before, Hamidon could do likewise."
"Because Rularuu is a being that hungers for conquest and power, and seeks things beyond its current reach. Hamidon seeks only to control the Earth. It cares not for any world beyond its own, or any beings beyond its reach. It cares only to protect the home of the Will."
The Dream Doctor considered Mender Silos' words. "You still should have told me, Silos. Once again, you have done..."
"I have done what was needed." Silos interrupted. "I did what you would not do. Was this not why you came to me in the first place?"
"The Battalion Would Now Be Battling For Control Of This World" Prometheus stated. "They May Have Yet Achieved This If Not For The Mender And His Deal With The Hamidon."
The Dream Doctor wanted to continue to argue, but Silos was right: they were both right. It only made it more infuriating. This was his plan, and the first thing Prometheus and Mender Silos did apparently was deal behind his back. Exactly as he needed them to.
"Wait. How exactly did you assist the Hamidon with Ascension? A being like Hamidon should not be able to Ascend. Hamidon lacks the singular focus needed for Ascension."
"Primal Hamidon has the purity of purpose necessary to Ascend." Silos replied.
"But Primal Hamidon lacks the will, the drive to Ascend."
"Praetorian Hamidon doesn't lack the will."
"But even if they were combined - there is still something missing Mender. Tell me."
"The Dream Walker Should Know, Mender" Prometheus announced.
"He does" Silos agreed. "It would ordinarily take Hamidon years to evolve to a state where it could Ascend. Millions of years in fact."
"But isn't Hamidon Ascending now?"
"Yes, he is."
"But you said it would take millions of years."
"I have given Hamidon millions of years."
Mender Silos explained. When he went before the Praetorian Hamidon, he explained the process of Ascension. For Hamidon to Ascend, the Praetorian Hamidon would have to merge with the Primal Hamidon: the best parts of each contributing to the new whole. But this would put the Praetorian Hamidon into a similar state as the Primal Hamidon. The merged Hamidon would have to evolve to a new state in which it could use the power of the Primal Hamidon and the will of the Praetorian Hamidon simultaneously. Then, Hamidon could begin the process of Ascension. But this would take an immense amount of time.
Which was the one currency Silos had to bargain with. Silos was the leader of the Menders for one reason only. He had mastered time travel as no other, and had broken the very limits the Menders thought inviolate. He had traveled vast stretches of time thought impossible. He was not only the greatest of the Menders, he was also the only one to have knowledge of timelines beyond anything any other Mender knew. He, and he alone could break the carbon tether and travel millions of years forward and backward in time. When the two Hamidons merged at the Battle of the Coming Storm, he took a sample of the merged Will of the Earth into the vast future. With RulaCole's help, he crossed the barrier into deep time, into the far future of the Hamidon. There, he merged his sample with the evolved Will of the Earth he collected there. He then returned to the present, and returned the Will to the Earth.
The Will that was exposed to the evolved future Will quickly assimilated with the Will of the Earth in this time. It combined with the Will of the present day and accelerated the evolution of Hamidon, allowing the Hamidon to achieve Ascension. But there was a price.
"You are no longer attuned to this time, Silos" the Dream Doctor deduced immediately.
"No, I am not."
"The Mender Will Not Pass On" Prometheus added.
"But that means - you'll be trapped with Hamidon?"
"I'm not that crazy" Silos replied. "No, its been arranged. When the Barrier implodes Primal Earth will not split in two. It will split in three. The Incarnate power will flow into the Incarnate Earth. Hamidon and the Battalion will remain here on Primal Earth, trapped in the Battalion bubble. I will be propelled into another Earth, one without humanity and without Hamidon."
"You'll be alone?" Silos only smiled at the Dream Doctor.
"And what of you, Prometheus? Are you prepared for your fate?" Silos asked.
"Your Concern Is Unnecessary. I Will Do What Is Necessary As I Have Always Done."
While Silos was barred from the Incarnate Earth, for Prometheus it was the opposite. He was locked into being thrust into Incarnate Earth with humanity. But while that would mean living in a world much the same as the current one, it would mean being permanently exiled from the others of his kind. His people, his elders, lived in a dimensional plane now forever severed from Primal Earth. Incarnate Earth would have no means of reaching the former home of Prometheus. He would be with humanity, but he would also be alone. Centuries ago, Prometheus cast his lot with humanity over the objection of his masters. He would now be bound to humanity and its fate for all time.
"Don't look so glum, Doctor" Silos said. "This is how it had to be. Prometheus will be there, to guide humanity to its Destiny. And you'll be there, to ensure no threat reaches them through Dreamspace and one day, when they are ready, to emerge from it into the greater cosmos. The rest is up to them."
"And you? What of you Silos?"
"Me? I'm going to the top of that hill. I'm going to watch the sunset. And then, who knows? After all, I will have lots of time to plan my future."
Mender Silos smiled at them for the last time, and then began to walk towards the hilltop to the west.
"All the time in the world."
Of course, the Battalion would not go quietly either. When it became clear the Barrier no longer responded to them, they attempted to do the only thing they knew how to do: conquer Earth and force the secret from its people. Their first mistake was landing an assault force in a deserted stretch of forest, where no one lived. Admirably, with only minimal casualties, they managed to overpower the enormous Thorn monsters, a full fifty feet tall and twice as powerful as their pre-Ascendant forms, that seemed to spring out from nowhere. They had significantly less success at traversing the field of defensive mitochondria that sprouted up for a mile all around them. The Will of the Earth was the immune system of the planet, and it had been supercharged by the merging with the Praetorian Will and the process of Ascension. It responded like Hamidon had never before to an unwanted infection. It set upon the Battalion with a vicious strength and unrelenting fervor not seen even at the height of the Hamidon Wars on Praetorian Earth.
The second mistake of the Battalion was thinking that Hamidon cared at all about civilian casualties. Their next assault was in the heart of a major metropolis, far from the concentration of Incarnate powers in Paragon City. Hamidon took care to single out the Battalion and avoid directly attacking the humans of the city, but it did not shy for an instant to bring the full force of the Will upon the Battalion. Civilian casualties were significant, but the toll upon the Battalion was even more severe. They were wiped out in less than an hour.
Eventually, they found a place that offered refuge. A barren stretch of desert wasteland the humans called the Sahara. Within this expanse of sand and dust, the Hamidon appeared to have no strength. What life clinged to existence here was too weak to be empowered by the Will of the Earth. The Battalion set up their camps and bases and barracks and began to strategize. This world was protected by a powerful defender, but the Battalion had waged war for uncounted centuries. There was no foe they could not eventually defeat. The humans had set them back, and this new threat was powerful, but the Battalion would be supreme. From this place, they would go forth and conquer the planet. And once the planet was under their control, they would resume their quest to escape this temporary prison. No jail lacked an exit. The Battalion would find it, and when they did the humans would suffer as no other suffered. They would pay as the Kheldian race had paid - no, they would pay a steeper price for their treachery. Mere consumption was not enough. They would be made to suffer for all eternity. And the Battalion would resume its conquest of all Incarnate power across the cosmos.
The Battalion commander was one among many within the Battalion army. He had personally led his forces to the destruction of a dozen worlds like this one. He had seen much, and would not be deterred in his duty to serve the Battalion no matter the situation. As he stepped out of his compound he gave orders to several Battalion soldiers and then gazed out upon the land they now called home. The sun was hot here, and the air dry. It had not rained in this spot in over a decade, and it had been a lifeless stretch of sand for over a millenia. Their foe was powerful, where the land hosted organic life it could bend to its will. But here, with nothing to command, the Battalion were supreme. It would take years, the Battalion commander thought to himself, but from this stronghold they would be able to reclaim the planet for the Battalion, meter by meter if necessary. They would blast the land to dust if need be, to push back their implacable foe.
There was a deep rumble off in the distance, and at first the Battalion commander thought it was the sound of artillery fire. But as he looked out to the west, he saw it was not weapons fire but thunder. Near the horizon, he could see giant thunderclouds forming, and occasional flashes of lightning brighter than the sun struck the ground off in the distance. The sound rumbled past them again, louder than before. As he stared in disbelief, the clouds appeared to roil, faster than seemed natural, and raced towards their position. As they approached, he could see the clouds tinged in eerie shades of green and blue, and surrounded by a silvery glow.
The Battalion commander reached up instinctively, touching his forehead. His hand came away wet. As he stared at it another large splash of water struck his hand, then another. Soon he could hear the patter of water striking the rooftops of their structures. Here, where less than a sprinkling of water fell in a century, it began to rain. The rain grew stronger by the minute, and the wind began to pick up.
A storm was coming. In this place, the first in a millenia. It would not be the last. It would take years, but this place, which was once a tropical rainforest a hundred centuries before, would become again a place where life would blossom. The Hamidon would see to that.
And the Battalion commander, realizing the true nature of the foe they faced for the first time, felt a shiver of fear.
...
This time, they met not in the ethereal landscape of the Dreamspace, but on a rooftop in White Plains. The Rikti were gone, driven away from this place when their mothership was destroyed. This place was now the domain of the Hamidon, the merged entity of Praetorian and Primal Earth. Soon, humanity would be gone from this place, ensconced in their new reality within Dreamspace. It would take centuries, but eventually this place would revert to its former appearance as the Palace of the Stars. But there would be no one to come and commune here. It would no longer be the Rikti War Zone, or the Crash Site, or White Plains, or Witfield, or the Palace of the Stars. It would just be another place on Earth. The Hamidon saw no need to name places, and no need to treat this place any differently than any other place. Once it was the only being left on this world, there would be no more names.
In the meantime, the Hamidon appeared to be taking no chances. It quickly gained control of White Plains, and spread its power throughout the War Wall enclosed zone. The Will of the Earth spawned Hamidon nuclei and monstrous Avatars and giant monstrous defenders throughout the zone. It wanted White Plains. And it seemed most were willing to let it have it.
"You didn't tell me you were going to bring Hamidon into this, Mender."
"If I did, would you have let me?" Silos asked.
"Do you realize the danger? You're helping a creature that hates all of humanity to Ascend" the Dream Doctor said incredulously.
"Indeed. And where will humanity be that this is a problem? Where will Hamidon be?"
"Its still insane. Rularuu escaped his dimensional prison once before, Hamidon could do likewise."
"Because Rularuu is a being that hungers for conquest and power, and seeks things beyond its current reach. Hamidon seeks only to control the Earth. It cares not for any world beyond its own, or any beings beyond its reach. It cares only to protect the home of the Will."
The Dream Doctor considered Mender Silos' words. "You still should have told me, Silos. Once again, you have done..."
"I have done what was needed." Silos interrupted. "I did what you would not do. Was this not why you came to me in the first place?"
"The Battalion Would Now Be Battling For Control Of This World" Prometheus stated. "They May Have Yet Achieved This If Not For The Mender And His Deal With The Hamidon."
The Dream Doctor wanted to continue to argue, but Silos was right: they were both right. It only made it more infuriating. This was his plan, and the first thing Prometheus and Mender Silos did apparently was deal behind his back. Exactly as he needed them to.
"Wait. How exactly did you assist the Hamidon with Ascension? A being like Hamidon should not be able to Ascend. Hamidon lacks the singular focus needed for Ascension."
"Primal Hamidon has the purity of purpose necessary to Ascend." Silos replied.
"But Primal Hamidon lacks the will, the drive to Ascend."
"Praetorian Hamidon doesn't lack the will."
"But even if they were combined - there is still something missing Mender. Tell me."
"The Dream Walker Should Know, Mender" Prometheus announced.
"He does" Silos agreed. "It would ordinarily take Hamidon years to evolve to a state where it could Ascend. Millions of years in fact."
"But isn't Hamidon Ascending now?"
"Yes, he is."
"But you said it would take millions of years."
"I have given Hamidon millions of years."
Mender Silos explained. When he went before the Praetorian Hamidon, he explained the process of Ascension. For Hamidon to Ascend, the Praetorian Hamidon would have to merge with the Primal Hamidon: the best parts of each contributing to the new whole. But this would put the Praetorian Hamidon into a similar state as the Primal Hamidon. The merged Hamidon would have to evolve to a new state in which it could use the power of the Primal Hamidon and the will of the Praetorian Hamidon simultaneously. Then, Hamidon could begin the process of Ascension. But this would take an immense amount of time.
Which was the one currency Silos had to bargain with. Silos was the leader of the Menders for one reason only. He had mastered time travel as no other, and had broken the very limits the Menders thought inviolate. He had traveled vast stretches of time thought impossible. He was not only the greatest of the Menders, he was also the only one to have knowledge of timelines beyond anything any other Mender knew. He, and he alone could break the carbon tether and travel millions of years forward and backward in time. When the two Hamidons merged at the Battle of the Coming Storm, he took a sample of the merged Will of the Earth into the vast future. With RulaCole's help, he crossed the barrier into deep time, into the far future of the Hamidon. There, he merged his sample with the evolved Will of the Earth he collected there. He then returned to the present, and returned the Will to the Earth.
The Will that was exposed to the evolved future Will quickly assimilated with the Will of the Earth in this time. It combined with the Will of the present day and accelerated the evolution of Hamidon, allowing the Hamidon to achieve Ascension. But there was a price.
"You are no longer attuned to this time, Silos" the Dream Doctor deduced immediately.
"No, I am not."
"The Mender Will Not Pass On" Prometheus added.
"But that means - you'll be trapped with Hamidon?"
"I'm not that crazy" Silos replied. "No, its been arranged. When the Barrier implodes Primal Earth will not split in two. It will split in three. The Incarnate power will flow into the Incarnate Earth. Hamidon and the Battalion will remain here on Primal Earth, trapped in the Battalion bubble. I will be propelled into another Earth, one without humanity and without Hamidon."
"You'll be alone?" Silos only smiled at the Dream Doctor.
"And what of you, Prometheus? Are you prepared for your fate?" Silos asked.
"Your Concern Is Unnecessary. I Will Do What Is Necessary As I Have Always Done."
While Silos was barred from the Incarnate Earth, for Prometheus it was the opposite. He was locked into being thrust into Incarnate Earth with humanity. But while that would mean living in a world much the same as the current one, it would mean being permanently exiled from the others of his kind. His people, his elders, lived in a dimensional plane now forever severed from Primal Earth. Incarnate Earth would have no means of reaching the former home of Prometheus. He would be with humanity, but he would also be alone. Centuries ago, Prometheus cast his lot with humanity over the objection of his masters. He would now be bound to humanity and its fate for all time.
"Don't look so glum, Doctor" Silos said. "This is how it had to be. Prometheus will be there, to guide humanity to its Destiny. And you'll be there, to ensure no threat reaches them through Dreamspace and one day, when they are ready, to emerge from it into the greater cosmos. The rest is up to them."
"And you? What of you Silos?"
"Me? I'm going to the top of that hill. I'm going to watch the sunset. And then, who knows? After all, I will have lots of time to plan my future."
Mender Silos smiled at them for the last time, and then began to walk towards the hilltop to the west.
"All the time in the world."