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Mortimer Balman      Mort's been gone for a while- no doubt the neighbors have noticed by now. The entire pokemon crew has been gone too, leaving only the (finally) fully grown Ulbrecht and the servitor Alter, who well technically belonged to Karian again but Mort still borrowed it from time to time to tend to his meat farm. As big as Ulbrecht was now it was becoming troublesome to feed the great huge beast, but thankfully the meat farm helped with that a /lot/. ANYWAY. Anyone making inquiries about Mort's whereabouts, or that of any of his crew for that matter, would simply be told by Alter that the Lord was away on business and would return when it had concluded. And then they'd probably get kisses from Ulbrecht. Mort hadn't left any letters of any kind, any forwarding address, nothing- he'd just taken off for a while, it seemed. Closest thing to notice he'd given was leaving a bag of bits for the Cakes so that Ulbrecht come trot by the Sugar Cube and be given a tray of treats every day.

     But Mort's back now. Not that he's made a big announcement of it. But the Ponyvilliens should well recognize the sound of the engines on the old badger's giant robot flying far overhead an hour or so ago, and the lights in his house are back on now, and smoke can be seen coming from the chimney, and there's several large pieces of some kind of concrete-like substance sitting in the backyard where such things had not sat before.
Twilight Sparkle      Not long after the signs of life returned to the old hobbit hole, Twilight Sparkle headed there to welcome Mortimer back. She wasn't sure where he had gone or why he had gone there, but she was glad he was alright. Spike, riding on Twilight's back as usual, peers curiously at the concrete slabs in the backyard as they approach the house. "...is he finally going to build his own Legendary temple or something?" he says as the slabs go out of sight when they near the front door. Which Twilight knocks on firmly. "Perhaps. He does take his beliefs quite seriously." Twilight says.

     As a welcome home present, Twilight has brought along a little wagon with a selection of sweet confections from Sugarcube Corner. It was the best she could come up with on short notice.
Yuna Kagurazaka Giant robots are something you tend to *notice*, especially when a certain amount of your 'work' involves being ready to fight them in kind. In fact, when Mort's mecha cruised across the Ponyville sky, Yuna's first reflex was to have Elner gather the Matrix of Light; fortunately, Elner recognized the Gelgoog (and its most-likely owner) better than Yuna herself did, so the blonde-maned unicorn was able to calm down again.

Given how long Mort had been gone, Yuna decided to go do some shopping as a 'welcome home' present for Mort; she's on her way towards his house now, the groceries and other goodies distributed between a pair of saddlebags across her back. "Hey Twilight," she greets the librarianicorn as she approaches, then glances at the slabs. ".. I wonder if he's building an addition or the like for Ulbrecht?"
Staren     Staren has, in a certain way, lived mostly in Ponyville for the past few months. Sure, technically his home is a long, long way up in the sky and sometimes flies somewhere else, but he's just a beam-down away -- even going to a warpgate means beaming down and using the local one (well, the estableshment of the teleport network makes AMATERASU and AMALGAM options too) and when it comes to shopping for groceries and the like, except for meat, well, it's all right here isn't it? Or even just going out and seeing what ponies are up to. The moonbase and the colony are more commercial, industrial, and construction projects than friendly communities.

    So it's not unusual for Staren to be in Ponyville, and when he notices smoke coming from the house, he summons his wings and flies that way, landing to walk with Twilight on the path out of Ponyville proper. "Hi guys!" Twilight gets a hug around the neck, the others get a smile and a nod. "Who knows? I just wonder where he's been... guess we'll find out soon enough!"
Mortimer Balman      The smell of machine oil and the sound of power tools can be heard coming from within. Ulbrecht has his head stuck in one of the larger side windows, tail thumping against the ground, no doubt happy that his family has returned- they don't yet have a means of taking him on long journeys through space. Working on that, though. Either way, the colossal beast is happy as a clam that they are all home.

     The front door opens to Switchbait, who seems to be sporting glasses now, clearing his throat a bit. "<Ah, young master Staren, madam Sparkle, Spike- so good to see you my boy- and madam Kagurazaka. Do come in. There will be cakes and tea waiting in the living room for you- if you care to, we would be delighted to have you over for dinner, though the Master has set himself about one of his projects so he may take some time to join us. Please, make yourselves comfortable in the living room, I shall fetch refreshments.>" His tone suggested that nothing major had happened, no intent of concern or worry behind his voice.
Staren     Staren smiles at the familiar face of Switchbait. "You don't have to call me master. 'One of his projects', huh?" he pries as he heads to the living room.
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna 'bows' to Switchbait, "As always, I'm most grateful for the hospitality of Mortimer's house and household. I brought a few things, I didn't know if you'd had the chance to restock on groceries since you got home; please feel free to make whatever use of them you can."

She's going to let Switchbait take the saddlebags from her before she goes into the living room; whoever unpacks them will probably recognize ingredients that were in use for whatever meals Yuna partook of when she was here a few months ago for Nettle's assistance. There's also whatever the Equestrian equivalent to 'devil's food cake' is - not just by flavor but by 'mythical' association - and a thank-you card, addressed to Nettle in particular and the whole of Mort's household in general.

Once the saddlebags have been removed, Yuna stretches a bit, then proceeds into the living room to find a seat. She didn't miss the smell of oil or the sound of tools being used ... but it's not really her business what Mort's up to, unless he wants to fill them in. Maybe it has something to do with those big heavy building slabs.
Twilight Sparkle      Twilight smiles as Switch opens the door. "Switchbait! It is good to have you and the others back." she says as she steps inside. Spike raises a claw to wave. "Heya Switch." the little dragon says before he hops down from Twilight and heads inside. "So, where'd you guys go, anyway?" Spike asks before taking some cake, chowing down, and tossing one to Ulbrecht. Twilight gives Staren a little nuzzle and Yuna a happy wave before they step inside. "We were kind of worried. Mortimer isn't one to leave without saying anything."

     Twilight heads over to give Ulbrecht a little attention as well, then moves to take a seat. Once she has settled down on one of the bean bags (those are still here, right?) Twilight takes a cake as well.
Mortimer Balman      Switchbait frees, "<Master Balman has, for as long as I've known him, always ensured that the larder is well if not fully stocked; but we're hardly ones to turn down free food!>" Yuna's saddlebags are lifted up by the butlerfree's mind, and he begins fluttering away back into the house. "<Do forgive the smell, the Master wished to finish one of his engraving projects before he got around to doing the next bit of stonework. I'm sure he'll be up and with us presently.>" The cakes were tasty of course- well unless you don't like coffee cakes, in which case there's some carrot cakes as well. Nettle's giggling voice came from behind Staren, materializing and settling her sock-y body upon his head. "<Of course he has to call you that, dear little Staren~ he's a butler. A butler who used to belong to the /Wellesley/ family, no less! He must always be the pinnacle of politeness and nigh-snobbish etiquette. Heehee~>"

     Falstaff was half asleep in the living room, looking ever-older and more tired than the last day. Cataracts have set into his right eye, rendering him clearly blind in it entirely, and they're starting to form in the left- but he can still recognize scent with unerring accuracy, and he follows his nose over to Twilight Sparkle and rests his graying head in her lap once she's flopped down, almost immediately falling back asleep once he's comfortable. Reder, who was sleeping atop Ulbrecht's head, opens one eye and answers Twilight's query. "<We went back to Poqmori for a while. Sarge used some of last year's income to pick up invasive prey species, then let'em loose across the homeworld. They've taken to it nicely, despite the lack of fancy powers like us Pokemon have. Sarge thinks it'll help spur growth and shit. Then we hauled some old chunks of volcanicrete home so he could make some new little monuments.>"
Staren     Staren's ears flick and he looks up when Nettle lands on his head. Oh hey, question answered: 'what do ghosts feel like?' so, that's good to know, he guesses. "I've never heard of them." he scratches an ear. "But I suppose if it makes him happy to call everyone that, it's not harming anything..." As he speaks, he reaches out to the coffee cake, the silver band on his wrist extruding a scalpel to slice it for him before he grabs a piece and pulls another bean bag over next to Twi to sit with her.

    Staren nods at the word 'Poqmori'. That does seem to mostly explain it. "So... is he back to stay for awhile? Or is he mostly going to be on Poqmori trying to... restore the ecosystem?"
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna squelches her usual fear of ghosts to bow politely to Nettle, and the idolicorn smiles as she straightens up from it. "Good evening, Nettle! I wanted to thank you properly for your help from when I came to visit previously; you *did* help me quite a bit."

She takes a seat (finally), looking at Reder. "Poqmori .. is that where you all are from?" Yes, she does have to ask, and looks appropriately sheepish about it. Not quite Mareep-level, but.
Twilight Sparkle      Twilight blinks in surprise as Falstaff comes over and settles down beside her with his head in her lap. She smiles softly down at the old dog and starts gently stroking over his head with a forehoof. "Poqmori. From what I know, it could use the infusion." she says as she pets Falstaff. "I am glad Mortimer has the resources and the strength of heart to try and revitalize his home."
Mortimer Balman      Well Falstaff isn't really a /dog/ so much as some kind of wolf-lion monstrosity with a scythe growing out of his head, with frightening magic and psychic powers, but eh he's old. The hell does he care? He makes a contented grumble sound at being given affection. Something between a wolf's growling and a huge cat's purring.

     Nettle meanwhile floats off of Staren's head and curtsies her frilly 'skirt' at Yuna. "<Oh it was no trouble at all, dear heart~ that's what my kind do, after all!~> A toothy grin, which is probably odd since she shouldn't have teeth, and then little ghostling fades from view piece by piece, her eyes fading away last. "<If you ever need my help again, don't hesitate to ask!~ Heehaheheeheaahee..~>"

     Reder hops down to stretch out, shaking his fins and them using a clawed foreleg to brush the fur a bit. "<Yeah. But apparently we unified toward the 'end' of our culture's lifespan. Civilization as we knew it lasted for about fifty thousand years- 'cause were slow as hell to get anything and everything done, but /really/ resilient against dying out, just changing steadily over time- and now the Sarge and us are.. What, fourty thousand years outta date, Switch?"> From the kitchen, Switchbait can be heard calling back, "<Give or take a few thousand years, that's about correct, yes!>" Reder yawns again, "<Time travel. S'a huge steaming load of crap, kids. Don't ever get into it, if you can help it.>" Reder seemed a tad.. Bitter for some reason or another, but anything more he had to saw was cut off by the sound of a chainsword being revved hard. A sound they should all be familiar with by now, given the Space Marine presences that have been in the village for some time.
Staren     Staren watche Nettle cheshire-cat herself away. "...So, did she just teleport, or is she watching us, invisible?"

    Staren nods at the comment about time travel, then asks, "So, your ancestors... err, I mean descendants... they never left the planet? Spread civilization to the stars? Why did they die out, then? Just... used up all the resources, or something?"
Yuna Kagurazaka "Probably invisible," Yuna answers Staren. "Nettle's really good at hiding herself when she wants to ..."

The sound of a chainsword starting up evokes a startled squeak from the blonde unicorn. Good thing she's not holding a drink, the way she flished might have meant spilling. "Time travel ... it was 'one way' for you all, though, right? If I remember Mort's stories, Mew - your world's Mew, I mean - 'put him to sleep' until he was needed or something like that ...."

It's possible that getting startled like that left Yuna talking about something she'd *normally* leave to the subject to talk about for himself.
Twilight Sparkle      Twilight isn't too concerned with how to classify Falstaff as far as species. He's an Absol. That's all the classification needed. She just keeps petting. She is mildly startled by the sudden chainsword sounds, but it only really results in her ears perking suddenly. "...I hope everything is okay." she says, looking toward the sound.

     She looks back to Reder after that. "Yes...time travel is full of danger. One mistep can trigger a cascade of events, and if you happen to try changing the past it creates a paradox that just leads to you being the one who triggered everything!" Twilight's voice gains more and more emphasis as she talks, and by the end she shakes her head and giggles a bit.
Mortimer Balman      "<Invisible is about right, yeah. Though it's more like she's incorporeal at the moment, not actually 'existing' in the same physical sense that we are.>" Reder explains, as he hops over to nab one of the coffee cakes and scarf it down, licking the crumbs off of his clawtips. "<One way? No. We went all different ways. Time ain't all just one way, not for Celebi at least. There's some fancy explanation for it but only bipeds care about that crap.>" He'd scratch at his chin a bit before flopping over by an open window and fumbling with a lighter to get a cigar lit. Terrible habit, but at least the smell didn't stick to the room- too well ventilated. "<Well bipeds and Sparklebutt, I guess.>"

     Mortimer, in his normal bipedal state, comes up through the hallway from downstairs, polishing the edges and flats of the chainsword that Karian gave him some years ago. He's been modifying it quite a bit from the standard Fenrisian pattern. There are new runes etched upon the sides- they look like Hebrew or possibly Aramaic runes, hard to translate- and are inlaid with gold, probably to protect the metal underneath. "Sleep is an inaccurate term, and no, Time is not a simple linear construct." He doesn't look up from the blade, polishing the teeth very carefully with a rag coated in oils. "Reder and I did not "sleep"- we were locked in temporal stasis. There is a form of consciousness that can persist in such, but it's very vague and hard to remember, because nothing is /moving/. Everything stops. Light, physics, particles, thought. It's almost like meditation, but.. Muted, maybe?" Mortimer looked briefly at Reder, who wobbled a claw a bit. "<Yeah, muted works.>" The chainsword was hung up on a wall, the new runes glinting a bit in the light.

     Mortimer then stretched and began wiping his hands off of the oils. "Well, it's nice to see you kids again, how are ya all doin'?"
Twilight Sparkle      "We are quite well!" Twilight answers Mortimer cheerfully. "And we are certainly happy to have you back. I know Spike and the girls have been missing you." Speaking of Spike, the little dragon is looking at that chainsword. "Wow, you get the coolest toys, Mort." he says before biting into another cake.

     Twilight blinks at the Sparklebutt comment, then huffs softly. "My hind end does not sparkle." she says flatly.
Staren     Staren glances at the runes. His muse translates them, expletive and all, but he doesn't feel a need to comment. "I think it's a reference to your QT mark." he asides to Twilight.

    "Mmh. I'm curious about how it all works, but... as you say. Time travel's not as cool as it is in the movies." He gets up from his seat to get a piece of carrot cake before sitting down again. "Hmmm. Stasis aside, how many years have you subjectively experienced, anyway?"
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna rubs the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry for getting so many of the details wrong," she apologizes. "At any rate, welcome home, Mort. It sounds like you had a successful trip ..." She looks over at the chainsword now that it's hanging on the wall. "Nice work on the engraving and inlaying ... I'm curious, does the inscription you added mean something specific? Or is it something you'd rather not mention in friendly company?"

She may as well leave him the conversational out, just in case he doesn't want to translate. For all Yuna knows, it might be a spell of some kind - not like Mort NEEDS magic, as far as she can tell; he's an organic flamethrower and he has a whole bunch of allies who potentially use elements other than fire. For now, though, she takes a piece of coffee cake for herself, eating it in modestly small bites - whether by hand or with a fork.
Staren     Staren leans towards Yuna and says, softly, "It says 'bite firmly, expletive'." Spike's in earshot, after all! So Yuna can probably fillin the blank.
Mortimer Balman      Mort chuckles a bit. "Glad t'hear it, Twilit. Well I'm home now, sorry fer takin' so long. Had to be sure the things I brought to Poqmori would /set in/, yea? Otherwise the whole thing was a wasted exercise." He'd reach down to ruffle Spike's spines a bit. "When yer old enough an' skilled enough, I may yet show yah how t'use it." He'd only shrug at Staren though. "Afraid I couldn't tell you, son. I can scarcely remember all the things I've forgotten, so I must have been alive for quite a long time now. Doesn't help that I sometimes had Celebi give me a sort of memory compression treatment when my mind got so full of memories that I started havin' thinkin' troubles.. So I couldn't tell you how long I've been alive fer. But logic dictates that in linear thinking I'm likely closer in age t'Loros than anyone else.. Only Reder's gotten to enjoy any kind of long-term linear existence, and that was by accident."

     Switchbait came back out with a tray full of soupy pasta noodles and vegetables, a few of the bowls filled with meat and veggies, and began serving them. The soupy-sauce was very cheesy, multiple kinds of cheese, none of them American types. The meat-filled bowls went to Reder, and Falstaff- whose eyes snapped open and he began slowly chomping and lapping up food- Mortimer, and some for Switchbait who was much more dainty and snobbish about the whole thing than the rest. The non-meat bowls would of course go to the ponies.

     And a special bowl had been prepared for Spike of course, which had a wide variety of crushed gem dust mixed into the sauce for his dining pleasure. Mortimer sits himself down at a chair to begin munching, nodding to what Staren said about the writing on the blade. "It's an old curse- a taunt, if you will- very rude and vulgar, in the Old Tongue. I'll not say it openly 'round Spike, Twilit would get upset. But he'll be old enough to deal with that sorta thing in a few years."
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna looks somewhat flustered at Staren's loose translation; Mort's more diplomatically-phrased elaboration upon it draws a more-composed nod from the idol singer. And then there's soup to hold Yuna's attention. Or pasta. Or ... something?

Well, it's delicious in any case; Yuna makes a mental note to inquire about the recipe - both versions of it, actually. Her own cooking skills are meager at best, but she wouldn't mind trying the meat-included version sometime when she's *not* in her unicorn form. (Maybe she could handle meat anyway in pony form, but it'd still feel kind of weird.)
Staren     Noodle soup with meat and veggies! Excellent. Staren holds the bowl while eating it. "Man, where did you learn to become such a good cook, anyway? Do you remember that?"
Twilight Sparkle      Twilight takes her bowl using her magic, and it floats nearby so she can slurp it at her leisure. Spike, upon tasting gem dust, devours his serving in a matter of seconds. "More please!" he says after he has finished his bowl. Twilight giggles a bit, then looks to Morty. "It is important to know the past, but it is more important to plan for the future." she says, smiling. "I think it is wonderful what you are doing for Poqmori. With continued efforts and a bit of luck, I am sure it can become a happy, prosperous world."

     Twilight sips her soup/pasta again, then licks her lips. "This is quite tasty. My compliments to the chef." she says, then starts petting Falstaff again.
Mortimer Balman      Mort laughs a bit. "Why thank yah, Staren lad.. Switch be a good sort, fetch the boy another bowl?" "<Of course sir, already doing so.>" He was not the most graceful of eaters, but at least he didn't wolf it down like he used to, when he first came to Equestria. "Well let's see... Back when I first joined the Corps, there was an uhh.. Incident, yeah, which saw me doin' KP duty fer the first four years of my ten year service in the War.. So. Yeah. I picked up a /lot/ of basic cookin' skills. By jarhead standards I'm a gourmet, but really Switch is a far better cook'n I am. He learned from actual gourmet chefs when he worked fer the Wellesley family." Switchbait fluttered back out, chest puffed out with a small bit of pride, and put it before Spike. "<I don't mean to toot my own horn as the saying goes but I /am/ something of a skilled chef, though I'm far from the calibre seen in the typical Contikan gourmand's fare.>"

     Mort would finish his bowl and light up his pipe, stretching his back out a bit. "Mmm.. There's only so much I can do fer the planet now. Or I should say that I /dare/ to do for it now. A few little placards an' stones placed at the right spots, and a few new things to help give the ecosystems a boostie, s'all I dare try."
Staren     Staren nods at the explanations.

    "So... what /did/ happen? I mean... it's important to know, isn't it? If they nuked themselves into oblivion, the next civilization needs to know not to repeat their mistakes... and if they used up the planet's resources, that's going to give the new civilizations some problems with technological advancement..."
Twilight Sparkle      Spike gets a second bowl! He takes more time with this one, savoring the gem-infused sauce the noodles are submerged in. Twilight gently slips off of the bean bag and gives Falstaff another pat on the head. "Well, Spike and I should get going. It is getting late." she says. She heads over to Mortimer and gives him a hug, then spares one for each pokemon in the room (who is visible). "I am glad you all returned safely." she says, smiling warmly to them.

     She also gives Staren a hug and a nuzzle. "Come along, Spike." she says. Spike looks up. "But...soup noodle stuff!" he says. Twilight giggles. "Okay, finish that, then we will leave." she says. She waits for Spike to finish, which takes the little dragon very little time at all. "Take care, everyone!" she says, then waves a forehoof before she and Spike depart. "Take care!"
Staren     Staren puts an arm around Twi and nuzzles her in return. When they turn to leave, he waves, "See you two later!"
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer and his crew all wave, except Falstaff who is suddenly woken up by the sudden lack of pony pillow, and only emits a tired grunt as they leave. He then crawls into the spot Twilight was sleeping, and curls up there to snooze some more. "So how d'yah like yer pasta stew there, Staren? Picked that one up from my old mess sergeant afore he went Article 12 on us.."
Staren     Staren sips his stew and pets Falstaff. "I like it! Thought that was obvious. I'd wonder if the vegetarian version was as good, but from the vegetarian dishes of yours I tried before, I imagine so." then his smile fades as he sighs. "You keep changing the subject, so I guess you don't want to talk about what happened. Is there something else you'd like to talk about?"
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer coughs a bit. "Well yeah, I got put on KP duty fer a very stupid mistake.. ...In my defense it was /not/ my fault I wound up in bed with the Colonel's wife." Reder begins suppressing a cackle, but his grin is almost ear to ear.
Staren     Staren narrows his eyes slightly. "I mean what happened to Poqmori." he says seriously, then sighs again before scooping a forkful of noodles into his mouth. "Honestly, I was just trying to figure out what additional challenges might present to civilization starting again."
Mortimer Balman      Mort blinks a bit. "/Oh/! That. Yeah. That." Phew, he thought Staren wanted to know the other thing. "Well the issue with Poqmori is threefold.. First an' foremost, there ain't many resources left. Precious minerals, fossil fuels, that sorta thing? Terribly scarce near the surface, you gotta dig /deep/ down. The last of the Cultured sorts replaced all the stuff they mined out with raw rock an' such. Native Steel-types might die out entirely soon.. The next big problem is the lingering effects of various genetic "improvements" and such- birth rates are terrible low. Even the most prolific species, like humans an' lopunnis an' what have you, have a hard time layin' eggs. That was done long ago fer keepin' the population from gettin' too huge, but fer the new tribals an' the now wild ferals? It could rapidly become a slow death, though if them prey species I brought in from offworld keep doin' well it ought not to be too huge a problem. The other thing is... Well.." He gestures to the windows.

     Reder tortles somberly, "<The Multiverse itself.>"
Staren     Staren listens. "Fossil fuels get used up. That can only be fixed with tens or hundreds of millions of years of, well, life, although perhaps they can be helped along if they learn to use the gates. The genetic manipulation... I guess you'd need to find someone who can change it /back/. As old as Poqmori is, though, I'd have thought evolution would have started to fix it by now, though... is there some reason they can't mutate? And how is the Multiverse a problem?"
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer nods. "The alteration stuff started over twenty thousand years ago- things meant to help control the population, make them tougher against disease. Longer lived, all that kinda stuff. They never achieved full immortality but their lifespans are three times what mine will be. An' by this point.. Well. They're not gonna just "mutate" it away because A) that's not how it bloody well works, B) our 'evolution' stuff doesn't work that way, and C) it's been part an' parcel so long that life adapted around it, they've only been like this fer.. Couple thousand years or so. Might be another ten or twenty afore they start adjusting to this stuff, if they can at all! Changing it back is an idea, but honestly I fear that might screw up the fragile balance even more- the more powerful predatory species would have too great an advantage too fast for the weaker predator and prey species to survive, oh lotsa other stuff, I think I have notes on it somewhere.." He starts fumbling through his pockets for his little dataslate, while Reder speaks up to finish the explanation.

     "<Do you remember when Lute found it, Staren? He said his original plan was to just conquer it to fuck with the Sarge and us. That's just Lute. Poqmori is an extremely isolated system far from anything but the Gate networks. Anyone who felt like crushing it probably could inside of a week- and who would step up to defend a world that has so little of value? The Union? They're not gonna waste a lot of resources to save a handful of violent savages and a world that is on the brink of extinction unless they can get something of it, there has to be some kind of value in saving something with your big-ass war-machine. Most of the warlords in the 'Feds would provide protection in exchange for subjugation or other shit we ain't gonna go for. The Syndicate would want serious payment. Sure some noble-hearted souls might go in for it to be Big Damn Heroes, but how long could they protect it from any kind of major threat on their own? What if an army of Zerg or Tyranid or a zombie plague or some other shit just /falls/ there without warning? The Multiverse is /loaded/ with shit the homeworld is ill suited to fight. Hell, look how many times it's come close to killing us- the times it /did/ kill me, the Sarge, and Switch, in Annu, even!>"
Staren     Staren sips his stew, and runs a hand through his hair. "As for the Multiverse... if the Confederacy tries something, the Union might fight them for opposition's sake. But you can't count on that. Groups that might help... the Reclaimers might see assisting with Poqmori as a valuable learning experience. And /they/ have access to some pretty heavy gear. It's no giant mecha or team of magical girls or, well, /you/, but good body armor, drones, and missiles are nothing to sneeze at. Conversely, there's the option of helping the natives to tech up. It may be that they can't afford to wait a million years to get started again, especially if the land has depleted natural resources that require good tech just to /use/. But there's a couple of things you're missing..." Staren shakes his fork for emphasis.

    "One, who's to say no local heroes will arise from Poqmori? You know as well as I do that a guy with a sword can show up and be stronger than me with my lasers and technology. And two... the Multiverse works both ways. They could go out through the gates and find a new world to colonize, with more natural resources. You could even find one and put an artificial gate on it."
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer nods, holding his hand out to accept a beer that Switchbait has held out for him. Another beer is held out for Staren to take. "No, I've counted on it, but so far I've not found any evidence of a Gate directly /on/ the planet surface- only out in space. One may yet materialize or move or whatever, but there isn't one there yet. A great hero or two may rise up, or a dozen other things might happen. ....And the Nightsea Ships are still out there- the Poqmorians who left in vast generation ships. I've been trying to find them but I've as of yet seen no signs.. Too much universe to cover, I wouldn't even know them unless I /boarded/ one. There's a lot of variables, a lot of potentialities. And.. Honestly, I don't want to intervene too much. I'm not part of that world anymore, even if I'm from it, and of it. Everything I do on planet must be very, very careful, lest I bring some sort of disease or plague or dark magic or curse or anything else with me from my travels.."

     Mortimer let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead and leaning on his knees. He looked /older/, as he did so. Hunched and exhausted. "Without the Goddesses to guide me, without the ability to find the Holy Beasts of Poqmori to offer council, anything and everything I do- even nothing- could be something that spells our homeworld's demise."
Staren     Staren shakes his head at the beer. "Well, no surface gate makes it much less likely that anyone will invade it. As for the risk of something happening... Man, there's always a risk. There's also risks of you /not/ doing anything. You just try the best you can, be careful to avoid problems, and deal with the ones that happen anyway. As for those generation ships... perhaps an expedition to find records of their launching and planned flight path? Once we know their flight path, we could chase them down with an FTL ship."
Mortimer Balman      Mort scratches his head a bit. "Records.. I guess we could try but unfortunately, my descendants did not build things to last so well as the Imperium of Man did. Thousands of years later, we'd be lucky if any of the machinery that is even remotely whole could be brought online with accessible data.." Switchbait cuts in, taking the beer back for himself. "<I'm afraid that even if we did find flight records, master Staren, it would likely be a futile errand. The very star patterns around Poqmori are now completely alien- any points of reference we did manage to find, we could no doubt extrapolate for movements of stars- but those movements would have been for a completely different star /map/. For all we know most of them have found new planets to reside upon by now thanks to the peculiarities of the Multiverse, or been destroyed, or any number of other possibilities. I mean.. To use the Master's example, imagine what would happen if a ship full of Pokemorphs and Pokemon suddenly unified in the middle of the Imperium of Man. I'd give them.. Maybe a year's time before they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, at the hands of violent racial extremists?>" Mort shrugs, "If that, I've seen what they can bring to bear, and that's just /them/, not even counting the thousands of other interstellar empires that are painfully hostile.."
Staren     Staren nods to Switchbait's point with a solemn look. "So, any sign of local heroes? And what about the option of appointing high-technology protectors or teaching the locals about technology instead of waiting for them to start from the stone age?"
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer shrugs. "Heroes? Big damn heroes? No, none yet. The tribals are all still very fierce and savage. They fight each other for mates, for territory, for bare survival. I saw two whole clans disappear in a single night as they fought over a dying oasis in Grouda- their struggle was so fierce that only a handful survived, the stay-at-homes and children and their younger ferals were forced to wander out across the sands bereft of their warriors for protection. I tried using the Gelgoog and some shipping containers to move some water to where they would find it, but they were afraid of the sudden appearance of water, and left it alone- I couldn't tell you why. The only thing I've done that seemed to stick was introducing new prey into the system, and it'll be a few years yet to see if they can become permanently settled into the ecosystem." Rubbing his forehead, Mortimer looked up. "To be dead honest, Staren? Trying to find protectors or teaching the locals was something I strongly considered, but they're still under the effects of their Luddite ancestors. They've come to outright /fear/ machinery and technology, that's why the few times I brought you lot to visit they never bothered us, things like you or Zwei or my big-arse robot inspire terror in them. As fer protectors.. I dunno. That might raise the planet's profile too high. And how would I pay them?"
Staren     Staren looks solemn again. "Well, that always leaves the possibility of kidnapping infants and raising them to understand technology, but, that's kinda terrible. On the other hand, the local culture as-is may be untenable. It may be possible to come up with a better way to teach the next generation, but it's probably gonna be a little messed-up, all the same. As for paying protectors... why, you pay them in /science/! The chance to study a planet where civilization has come and gone. The chance to study and observe the societies that have formed in its wake. Geologists, ecologists, anthropologists, there's tons of scientists that would like that opportunity, and some of them are either good with guns or have friends who are. Also, in Multiversal connections. You find some of these folk who are less familiar with the Multiverse, you can save them a lot of trouble when it comes to hooking them up with Multiversal goods or entertainment or what-have-you that they want. This has value. It'd be easier if you have a way to get the raw materials needed to build all of their tech, though. That would substancially reduce operating costs."
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer pauses for a moment. Switchbait and Reder look at each other, then at Mortimer, then at Staren, back to Mortimer. Back to me, the beer is now diamonds. I'm on a horse. NO WRONG SCENE BEGIN ANEW. "That.. Might all actually work.. Lotsa ruins to pick over fer archaeologists 'n such, lotsa things they could spend years, decades, /centuries/ studying.. Hell, maybe some of'em could find the ancient temples where demigods like Moltres reside.." He'd scratch at his jaw a bit. "Well.. We could most certainly give that a /try/, though I'd hafta vet anyone I sent out that ways first.. Might work!"
Staren     Staren smiles brightly, ears perking up. Finally, seems he had a good idea! "Alright!" He holds his bowl to his mouth, sipping out the last dregs and setting the bowl aside. "I guess it'll be quite a project... but, people have accomplished big projects before. I don't have much experience with big operations, but I'll share anything I learn from helping establish the colony on AMALGAM and you're welcome to all the open-source technology I've gathered."
Mortimer Balman      Mortimer nods, still rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah.. Alright I'll see what all we can do. I wanna be real damn careful with this, though. Last thing we wanna do is turn the populace against us. Might have to completely abandon them to their own devices, which.. ...Hell, maybe that'll turn out to be the best? I dunno. But yeah thanks fer the ideas there, Staren.. Say while yer here y'think you could help me do some stone-carvin'? I ain't that great at stuff like that, but all yer fancy techno-widgets, should make this a lot faster."
Staren     Staren shrugs. Who knows how things will turn out?

    At the request to help with the stone, he nods and stands up. "Sure, I can give it a try, though I might need to go get supplies. What have you got in mind?"
Mortimer Balman      Mort stood up, tossing his now empty beer bottle into the trash can. "Those slabs you kids saw on the way in? That's volcanicrete- it's a type of concrete that's stupid durable 'cause it uses a fancy blend'a volcanic ash from Mt. Mueana, sand from East Grouda's deserts, an' some fancy alchemical tricks. 'Bout the only thing my descendants made that WILL last endless millennia untouched and abandoned. So I wanna make a few small monuments an' slabs fer things that happened in the past.."
Staren     Staren hmms. "I'm not so sure nanotech will be able to do anything to it then, but I can give it a shot, maybe try other tools..." he follows Mort.