When they arrived at the next suspected location, there were a flood of messages waiting for them on the Reaver vessels servers. [Terminus Trading Company, the home Galaxy is under heavy attack, all Reavers not engaged in active combat within the Anomaly Region are being recalled to the Alliance Region war zone effective immediately. Additional details are available from Reaver Command through secured channels.]
[Commander, we have encountered hostile homing devices planted by visiting vessels which have led to a Cathedral Fleet invasion.
Absolution is holding strong, estimated time to victory 71 hours.
-Felicity]
Variations of that message, and the request to come assist in the defence of Absolution, had been sent ten times in the last three minutes.
[All hands, prepare for emergency transfer. Absolution is under attack.]
Max informed the rest of the crew and then input the coordinates for Sylvie.
"You need to get us there as fast as possible with our shields up and the entire crew readied for an emergency combat deployment." He instructed Sylvie.
"Understood Commander."
The World Ship slipped smoothly in between layers, and it was sliding through the Anomaly within seconds, where a portal flared open and Absolution came into sight.
"It's beautiful. Is that Absolution? There's another AI on board." Sylvie asked as soon as the portal began to form.
"It is. Coordinate the Android Army with Felicity, the AI on board Absolution. I will be headed out now." Max replied.
"Wait, bring a transmitter with you, in case I need to contact you." Sylvie informed him, then tossed the small cube his way.
Max secured it in the leg pocket of his pants and jumped across the bay to the door of his Mecha, taking full advantage of having superhuman strength. Half a second later, he was strapped in and headed for the exit door, right behind Nico and the Androids, which had already launched.
[Commander, it's good to see you. What did you find out there? It's beautiful.] Felicity greeted them.
[That is the World Ship Creeping Darkness, with its AI Sylvie. Get her up to date on the situation, and anything else she needs to know. Where is the next anticipated stress point?] Max replied, as he realized that the whole area was surrounded by the Great Enemy, and that all the construction vessels were in combat as well.
Max turned the Mecha toward the indicated point, and fired off a barrage of Mass Driver rounds with Warp Fields activated and a light coating of the energy from his upgraded body. The rounds seemed to melt through the Void Shields, which flickered with the first two impacts before the third round hit the Destroyer square in the nose, sending a shockwave down the length of the slender and ornate vessel.
Secondary explosions rippled through the Cathedral Ship, while Max's mind filled with the joy of the defenders.
They had started the battle with over fifty Titan Class Mecha, of the previous generation's design, but they didn't have any qualified Pilots for them, so the majority of the Mecha combat was being done by Felicity and the Androids.
Max was about to turn his fury on another Destroyer when the world around him filled with pale light, and gravity seemed to spin, requiring constant input to keep himself somewhat stable.
[Commander, there is a thing happening.] Felicity reported.
[Define Thing.]
[The whole battle has been engulfed in a portal.]
That did not sound logical or plausible. The battlefield was ten thousand kilometres across, and nothing that Max knew of could create a Portal that large. Even when the Greater Energy Beings got involved, they couldn't make one that large, much less in under a second.
Then Max's feet landed in soft dirt, sinking half a metre before the gravity compensation and thrusters of the Titan Class Mecha could adjust far enough to stop their momentum.
This place was familiar. Max knew that he had been here before, but it was only when he saw the toothy form of one of the Myceloids pet dog equivalent beasts that he realized what had happened.
[Everyone report. Are we all on the Myceloid God's combat planet?] Max asked.
[Confirmed. Absolution and Creeping Darkness are both present and accounted for. Propulsion systems are online but ineffective. We have a geolocation, we are in the expanse, the region in between the Alliance Territories and the Anomaly Region, near where the Great Enemy had staged for the first battle.
Initial scans suggest that this planet is not natural. Gravity is at two point five times standard, but the overall surface area appears to six hundred thousand times that of a Kepler Class planet.] Felicity reported.
"Yeah, what she said." Sylvie agreed from beside him after activating her mobile holographic core.
"It looks like this is your moment to shine. Make as many Androids as are necessary to pilot all the Mecha that you created and prepare to deploy them. We're fighting on a planetary surface for now." Max informed her with a gentle pat to the head.
Their sensors flared with data as an increasing number of military forces were brought to the surface of the planet, preparing it for the grand battle that the Myceloid God had in mind.
Nothing was spared, but it looked like there were at least teams being formed. The Alliance arrivals were dropping close to his location, while the Great Enemy were appearing further away.
Max ignored the questions about what had happened, or what could have the power to do this, and took stock of their capabilities in the region.
Between Absolution, Creeping Darkness, and the other Reaver vessels in the area, they had just over a million Mecha armed and ready.
It looked like their drone fighters and bombers were functional, as were the light attack craft, but there was an energy barrier over the atmosphere that would prevent them from going to space.
The Myceloid God's amusement was faint, as if it was watching from a great distance, too far for Max to question it, and he suspected that was intentional. He only had one question anyhow. "How did you get the power to do this?" and it was a question that the God was unlikely to answer.
