Welcome to Gaia! ::

Orion knew the hypnosis was coming and turned his gaze away, blinking and fighting off the desire to fall asleep. Boobs... think about boobs... anything... he couldn't afford to fall asleep right now! A mental vision of Tethys' assets and he regained focus to turn and smirk smugly at Izaya, although a bit groggily.

"Think ya got me all figured out do ya, smart guy?" He then grinned and lifted his arms in a shrug. "Well I hate to disappoint ya, but you're way off." And with that, he pulled out a ball and called forth a Heracross who now stood between him and Izaya. Orion also took that moment to pull out a hunting knife, seeing as the Rocket was also armed. "Megahorn 'im!" With that, the giant beetle charged down the catwalk towards Izaya and his Spiritomb.

Tethys' Gardevoir flinched, caught in Noishii's Flamethrower, but stood her ground. Meanwhile, her Gallade partner turned at his trainer's shout to see Shadow rushing at her - no time to intercept him physically. The psychic/fighting type's shadow gained a life of its own and intercepted the Shadow Punch with a Shadow Sneak attack.

The solarbeam and telekensis were enough to knock the Donphan off course and out of commission.

The Glaceon and its trainer were too focused on events on the ground to see Mairu approaching on the catwalks. By the time Glaceon spotted something moving out of the corner of its eye it was just in time to turn its head and get a faceful of sand attack. "Glace!!" It yelped, stumbling back. "Hey!! The Galactic shouted and promptly swung a kick at the purrloin.

"GLAACEEE!!" The Glaceon wailed as an unexpected Whimsicott flew up and started sucking energy from it. It turned to swing at the grass type, but blinded by Marle's sand attack, toppled off the catwalk.

On the ground the Flareon attempted to dodge Marle's retaliatory thundershock. Unfortunately electricity is a very quick thing and the dodge was in vain. "Flare!" it yelped, seizing up. Celeste's well-timed wing attack caught the Flareon off guard and it was sent skidding into a railing. Apparently this fuzzy warrior was made of stronger stuff, because it stumbled shakily to its feet and unleasehed another flamethrower, this time at Celeste.

---

Keid was late to the party. He'd been in the catwalks on the far side of the Machine when he'd heard the commander yell and the fight break out, and by the time he hurried (carefully, carefully) around the great humming multi-wired perimeter things had been well under-way for a while.

He intended to make up for it, though.

"HEY!" The Galactic dropped down from a low catwalk between the Rockets and Azelf's sphere, drawing a weapon. "YOU CAN'T-"

Ire looked between the magneton and Milotic, hackles raised, sparking with electricity. Mau hadn't given her any more orders, so instead, she turned her eyes on the weakened Milotic and lunged with a thunder fang. As long as the magneton wasn't attacking her team, it wasn't a threat. So take out weaker target.

With the walkway slicked with water from the surf, the vaporeon's natural abilities to melt into the water* took over and the blue eyed pokemon vanished into the puddles, avoiding the aura sphere. The Lucario wasn't of any concern. That damn fire moth was in the way. And with Faleen's voice in his ear, he nodded. "Aki! One more time!"

Mau heard the shots as Tethys floated above them. He was about to direct Uta to attack the woman when he heard someone fall. His next commands faltered as he saw where she had shot. "...Nyx." There was a moment where he was shell shocked. Someone had hurt NYX...

...And he couldn't get to her through the sea of Rockets. "UTA!" He snapped, ripping the other sleeve from his uniform and tossed it at the pokemon. The chimecho was about to race towards his trainer. "See to Nyx!" The pokemon was confused and caught the cloth. What? Who? AH! A damsel was in distress! This was not a time to charge into battle to be a hero, this was time to be prince charming! To save the fair- Oh. It was the fluffy lady that master liked. Orders were orders though. Uta descended on Nyx, using the sleeve to try and tie it around Nyx's leg to stop the bleeding. He lowered his tassel over Nyx's abdomen, pressing the cloth against the wound to try and stop the bleeding. There wasn't enough Uta to go around though.

Mau was seeing red at this point. Wrong place, wrong time for the poor sap who decided to oin them. Rushing towards the new arrival, Mau reached for the man's wrist, aiming for the weapon while his fist aimed for his face. The Galactics were going to pay

There was a bony-sounding crunch and the Galactic collapsed, streaming blood from his nose.

And then Keid was just late.

Mau wasn't about to let this guy interfere, he followed through by landing his knee on the grunt's chest as he shifted the gun into his own hand. Where was she? Where was the b***h that shot Nyx? His eyes scanned the area above the battle for her.

---

Tethys counted shots. Four, five, six- This was hatred, a negative emotion she usually tried to purge from herself, but for that Thing- seven, eight- that Trojan Horse in the shape of a woman that had brought the enemy into the heart of their city, her soul could afford some tarnish- nine, ten. She needed to reload.

"Down." Her Bronzong sunk obediently, taking her below the catwalks to the walkway level. Tethys reached to her belt for a fresh clip, looking over as the empty one hit the floor to see if Deimos had moved.

He hadn't, and there was a dark shape leaping for him-

"Julian! Move!"

As the commander leapt off her Pokemon, Neph landed on her coat with a sharp 'thwat!' and was bounced onto the Bronzong. The Pokemon uttered a hollow chime of alarm at the sudden display of frightening images before its eyes and retaliated with a heavy Psyshock.

With the Milotic and Lucario having been pushed back, Rockets and Pokemon passed them by, but they were soon in action again as the water subsided. Bandit jumped down from the Milotic's head, eyes narrowing as he glanced around for his master.

The water type itself became the target of a thunderfang and cried out in pain, but wasn't quite as weak as had been perceived. It retaliated by using the very attack that had been used against it, Surf. The dragon-like Pokemon gathering the water that was still around and sent it rushing towards the Rockets and Pokemon that were preoccupied with the moth, from the rear. However, SwiftWing's Fly then struck and this time the water type did faint.

Orion's attention was ripped from Izaya at Tethys' shout, and his eyes riveted towards the boss. "Bandit! Use your aura!" Leaping back from the Dark Pulse, the Lucario then whirled around and threw a ball of energy at the dark cat that was descending on Deimos.

"Julian-" Cat or no cat, Tethys grabbed Deimos by the arm to pull him away, shake him, get his attention, something. He looked like he'd been frozen in time.

Deimos stumbled as Tethys yanked him away. His brow furrowed and he stared at his second in command. He looked sad and confused.. and completely out of touch with the moment.

She wasn't looking this way. She wasn't looking at any of the rockets. From his crouching position, Mau leveled the gun and fired.

Something caught Orion's attention out of the corner of his eye. A man with a gun, and it didn't take him long to realize who he was aiming for. "s**t, no!" Orion cursed as Izaya quickly went forgotten, and as if to prove the other guy wrong, he lept over the railing to land in front of Tethys and Deimos, straight in the path of the bullet.

"Arrgh!" A sharp burning pain tore into him as the bullet hit Orion squarely in the chest. The man then fell to his knees and with a cough, tipped over sideways to hit the floor.

---

The volley of attacks made the Volcarona shudder, knocking it back several feet along the catwalk and dimming its flames - but they still blazed. The Rockets would find the walkway it had been hovering over uncomfortably hot to pass.

At the moment, the pink haired Elite was still not able to move about on her own. It was giving her time to observe, despite her own momentary weakness.

The Rockets were getting nowhere. At the moment, more and more Pokemon seemed to be flooding in for their own to fight against, and it wasn't getting anybody anywhere.

"Damn it... I don't care who, but SOMEBODY... GET TO THAT COMPUTER!"

At the moment, it was obviously not going to be her.

((Dear god let us never speak of this odyssey again. I mean.. last post of the night! You may post ONE post between now and when the raid starts up again tomorrow for the final installment.))

Megahorn - said to be one of the most powerful bug-type attacks in existence. What was more, Celty, though she wasn't particularly weak against any one type of attack due to her dual types, was still incredibly inexperienced. She took the hit hard, distracted by the ineffectiveness of her own attack and still somewhat distraught over having attacked a human directly rather than their pokemon. Izaya gaped, realizing she was his only defense at the moment besides his switchblade. And really, what good was that against a fighting bug-type and this experienced, high-ranking Galactic? He would be no match for them alone.

Faleen's warning didn't go unheeded, but there wasn't much her partner could do at the moment. He couldn't just abandon his pokemon, and from his position with the Heracross trapping them on the catwalk, he wasn't about to just hop down onto the walkway below where chaos was still at large. His side was still bleeding profusely, so he didn't trust himself to jump and land safely at such a height.

"Celty, Rest," he told her calmly; calmer than he felt. Eyes on the grinning, green-haired Galactic, Izaya returned his response with a grin of his own, pained though it was. "Actually, I was referring to your precious Deimos. You and I just met! How could you expect me to know you well on a first date?" While the Spiritomb nodded off to sleep, resting as best she could amid the discord, she still felt she could protect Izaya with her translucent body by blocking any of the Heracross attacks aimed at him. Meanwhile, her Rocket trainer glanced about, brows furrowed as he tried to think. His teammates were pretty much all on the walkway below. How could he help them from where he was?

Out the corner of his vision, he saw one of his Purrloin sand-attack a Glaceon on her own successfully before getting kicked aside by its Galactic, but not hard enough to fall off the narrow catwalk. He winced and wondered where her sister was, hoping Kururi hadn't already been kicked off. An unfamiliar name shouted urgently by an unfamiliar voice caught Izaya's attention before he could look for his darker-colored Purrloin, though. Blue hair flowed gracefully behind the Galactic commander as she leapt from her levitating Bronzong. When the informant's gaze followed the direction of the Galactic commander, he was shocked to find the little black and brown Kururi aiming to pounce on the purple-haired man called Julian.

It seemed Izaya wasn't the only one distracted by the blue-haired woman's called. The green-haired Galactic before him glanced away, calling on his Lucairo stationed below to use his aura. Kururi was soon struck by what Izaya could only think to call an Aura Sphere, but was not sure since he'd never witnessed one before. He cursed under his breath quietly, having not anticipated his youngest, newest pokemon actually getting hurt.

He'd thought they were small and nimble enough to be overlooked by most of the busy battlers, but Kururi seemed to have made the horrid mistake of going for the Galactic leader. Not that she probably even knew it, giving her temperment. Izaya sincerely hoped this was one time that curiosity had not killed his cat. "Kururi! Mairu! Back to me!" he called his injured felines, not knowing if they'd even be able to comply. He wasn't even sure what protection he could provide them. Well, at least he still had their Repeat Balls...

Everything was happening so fast. As the Rocket grunt attempted to return his Purrloin twins to their pokeballs from his position before they suffered any more damage, something else happened. It was Nyx's boyfriend. He'd fired off a gun at the blue-haired woman. Or, at least, he'd aimed at her before the green-haired adversary Izaya had been cornered by lunged toward them. He blinked, not quite sure what had just gone through the Galactic's mind.

Hadn't the man just claimed Izaya's statement about trust and affection was completely wrong at assessing him? And yet there he was, jumping in front of a bullet off a catwalk to protect his commander. Unless there was some higher sense of duty that the guy had that had caused him to want to die, Izaya concluded that humans were sadly more predictable than they believed.

By the time Celty woke, the Heracross was trainer-less and her own trainer was leaning over the railing in a daze, trying to contemplate the events occuring below. His gaze was distant, as if he himself were apart from the danger and just...observing. Celty got worried and nudged at Izaya. Kunai was prompting them again. The skinny man snapped out of his trance and turned his focus on the central computer. "Celty - think you can Shadow Sneak it?" he asked, holding his switchblade between his forefinger and thumb loosely. It was the way a professional dart or knife-thrower would hold their projectile. Celty didn't like the looks of it, but she nodded.

"Good girl," he praised her in a level tone, his crimson eyes locked on his inanimate target. He didn't know how accurate he would be at his range, but he was loosing blood fast and his sight was starting to blur. If he was going to act, it needed to be now, and he didn't trust himself to get any closer. "Go attack that computer. Give it all you've got." At that, Izaya shot his only switchblade at the computer, hoping at least to damage it slightly or maybe hit a random button so that the other pokemon closest could have a point to start from when they got there.

"Stop worrying! I'll be fine," he urged his ghost and dark type. "Go, go! Shadow Sneak, now! And don't get hit!" Of course he knew the blade might have not been strong enough or thrown hard enough to even scratch the main computer, but it was all he had and after his mistake of leaving his group of teammates, he felt he had to do what he could. Kunai and Nyx had taken bullets for them all. It was all he could do to do his own part, and there was only so much he could do at the moment.

Celty, reluctant to leave her weakened, and now defenseless trainer but ready to do as she was told, levitated down to the walkway level. Seeing the Volcarona was still a problem for her teammates, the Spiritomb attempted to use Hypnosis on the creature from behind. Yes, Izaya had said to go for the computer, but how could she when the fire moth would just come after her and probably burn her from behind? Best to take care of it first. The Volcarona was turning, but it luckily seemed to be distracted by the two flying-type circling above. It was the perfect time to attack.

Sierra glanced about, her eyes catching sight of her last two team members not far away...and having trouble. "Layla, Khalon," she called their names sharply, both Pokemon turning to her attentively. "We need to get out of here. Help Celeste and Marle with that Flareon, then all of you get back over here, got it?" The Eeveelution pair nodded curtly, no time for attitude when their teammates were in trouble, then dashed off.

Sierra turned her attentions back to Nyx and the other Rockets gathered around her. "As soon as she's stabilized--" she started to say, then cut short with a gasp of surprise. Tethys had continued to fire furiously into the Rockets, but in all the chaos, their concern for Nyx had come first. After three of the bullets had found Nyx, the rest had found their own trajectories. One had ricocheted off the walkway and just torn its way through Sierra's calf.

The Rocket Grunt let out a muted cry as the bullet passed through her leg, tearing through skin and muscle on its path. The pain was blinding, burning like white-hot knives sending shocks up through her leg and she fell to the side, unable to keep her weight on it. Layla and Khalon froze mid-stride at the sound of their human's distress and started to turn back to her.

"No!" Sierra's voice was strained and she gritted her teeth. "Get Marle and Celeste," she snapped, knowing there was nothing the Pokemon could do for her. They needed to get their team back together; get out of here. It was hard enough to focus with the blinding pain. Stay on task, Sierra. Don't give up now. No weakness...no...

The Eeveelutions looked doubtful, but soon turned to follow orders, if only so that they could all return to her sooner. They turned their attention on the Flareon attacking their teammates. Frustrated, feeling useless for being able to protect his human, Khalon's eyes glittered and he let out a snarl through his clenched jaw. His form flickered as he ran, disappearing from sight only to reappear behind the Flareon to hit it with a Faint Attack. Layla swerved around to the side, coming in with a Quick Attack on the Flareon's flank soon after.

Celeste saw the flames coming and knew she'd never get into the air in time, not in her condition. Instead, she turned, taking the flamethrower on her side and back, crying out at the intense heat. The sound seemed to stir something in Marle, who sparked like a firecracker, letting out a furious 'CHUUUUU' as she released the last of her energy in a final Thundershock aimed for the Flareon.

Red was not a wimp but the Volcarona vastly out levelled her, and the blast of fire was devastating. Screaming in pain the bird flailed burning wings, striving to get over the platform surrounding the main computer rather than to plunge down into the depths. She made it, just, but the impact with the metal was the final straw and the Pidgeot fainted.

Aulus was thrown off Red when she landed and he rolled across the ground, smacking into the railing at the edge. ...He was on fire. His brain told him this surprisingly calmly, and he reacted to the information by ripping off his burning jacket and then beating out the flames on his trousers. He was scorched but not badly enough to incapacitate him... the same could not be said for Red. He wasn't even sure that she was alive, but in the thick of things all he could do was recall her to her pokeball and send out Tortie and Char, putting Paul out would be as good as killing the little bug himself.

"Protect Hayes," he ordered the pair swiftly, "we have to succeed here!" Would they? Could they? If they did, would they even get out alive? This wasn't a thrill anymore, and his blood ran cold not hot. He and Hayes were quite clearly going for the Machine's main computer, and that surely made them high priority targets. He didn't want to die here.

Nioshii was bristling with anger. None of his attacks were working very well. This was not good.

More shots rang out, putting the Arcanine really on edge. He whirled again, in time to see a human jump in front of two others and fall, and one of his Luxury's team mates aiming the loud thing at them. Well, at least it was a shot from a Rocket, and not to a Rocket. Looking around, he saw the fluffy haired girl on the ground, bleeding, and the pink one on the walkway, her Mewtwo holding her up as she was bleeding as well. This was too much. How could humans do this too each other?

Nioshii knew they needed to get to that big thing in the middle, and that Volcarona was in the way. Embracing his Flash Fire, Nioshii let out a road and made a beeline for it, leaping over pokemon and humans as he went, teeth barred, eyes narrow slits, and a growl deep in his throat.

Chora was quite annoyed her bite missed, and she whirled on the human (Deimos) with a Scratch attack.

Luxury was shaking from nerves and anger. This was all ridiculous. How could a human being want to do so much damage? Sure, Team Rocket wasn't exactly a gang of saints, but they didn't' go around getting kicks from shooting people and destroying the world. When Shadow went boom, it was almost more than the grunt could take. She was not ready for this. She wasn't the right choice. She- ... She had an Arcanine barreling toward her. Nioshii. Yes. Right. Her pokemon never gave up, never. Neither would she. "Nioshii! Take Down (Volcarona)!" She called, and was pleased with the nod she got in return.

Neph would not have been satisfied with the unfortunately less than impressive impact of her attack had she stayed conscious long enough to know about it.
She did not, and rolled to the floor in a faint.
It was not a good place for a spider, and luckily Palu had been keeping her eye out. She swept in to retrieve the little spider and return her, and herself, to Tambrey.
The bird was still willing to fight, as tired as she still was, but that would be up to her trainer. She just had to avoid all the attacks going on until she had returned Neph and could get further instructions.

The moth was a real bother. Lasi was impressed. Delicious pokemon weren't usually quite so tough. Lasi didn't want to get close to it, but he did want to help with the various efforts to try and take the thing out.
He chose to switch from supersonic and try a leech life on the Volcarona.
Every little would help, he suspected. Besides; moth life force, yum!

Tambrey made her way along, a tad more slowly than she wanted to go, but as quickly as she could muster, toward the station she'd been headed toward for what seemed like a long time now. So many distractions and obstacles.
Still, she and Ella were actually just about there. In time to see Deimos, with attached cat, being herded by Tethys.
"Headbutt them." She told the little Aron as she, herself, got ready to jump/fall anywhere she could in case of more bullets.

The Volcarona buzzed angrily as only one of its intended targets fell. Too focused to fall prey to the Hypnosis, the attacks drove it back again. But it wasn't quite down. The angry buzzing grew louder, echoing off the concrete walls and the Machine, feeding back on itself until the sound became something close to a physical force - a Bug Buzz.

---

"<NO!>" Though singed and burned from the Flamethrower attack, Tethys' Gardevoir whirled and threw herself in front of her Gallade partner. A shimmering wall appeared before her outstretched hands, Protecting her from the brunt of Shadow's Explosion. If she stayed upright long enough..

The Gallade staggered back and fell to one knee, but had enough strength and presence of mind left to sweep an arm out in a sideway strike as Ella tried to rush by. If anything was Close Combat, this was.

---

When he stumbled, Tethys automatically steadied Deimos with both hands to keep him on his feet. "Sir, we-" Her eyes narrowed at the second Purrloin making an attempt on the Galactic boss. In a smooth, practiced movement the commander drew her second pistol and fired point-blank at Chora as she Scratched at Deimos. At this range she was more likely to defect to Team Rocket than miss.

She fought an overwhelming urge to slap him, and settled for giving his shoulders an emphatic shake as her gaze bored into his. "Julian, she led them here, do you understand! This is Cyrus all over again! She used you, she betrayed you, and now she's trying to ruin everything we ever worked for-!"

Another gunshot and Orion's heavy landing turned Tethys' head; she looked away from their leader to the slumped-over figure on the floor. For a moment she wondered why it had such familiar green hair.

With a groan, Orion rolled onto his back, his black shirt quickly becoming soaked with his own blood. Another cough, and the man spat up some blood, the crimson liquid dribbling from the corner of his mouth and down his chin. A shakey hand reached for his chest and clenched his coat. "Damn..." he muttered, knowing he was done for. However, he saw a familiar blurry image nearby and turned to look at Tethys with a weak grin. "Hey... ya'll... right?"

Bandit paused, eyes wide as he immediately sensed that something was wrong. Turning, he quickly ran to his master's side and bent down next to him. "Cario!" the Pokemon said urgently, unsure of what to do.

Someone else has a gun.

"Down!" Sacrificing gentleness for speed, the commander yanked the Galactic Boss to the floor.

Tethys knew what bullets did; she had used enough of them and seen the results not to be surprised by the nature of the wound. What she didn't seem to understand was that such a thing would be located in Orion's chest, when he was more than capable of avoiding being shot, and her brows crinkled wonderingly at the blooming stain.

"Orion..?"

"Heh... don't sound so surprised, babe, you'll hurt my feelin's."

Bandit loomed protectively over his fallen trainer, gently shaking Orion's shoulder to get his attention. "Lucario!" The man glanced at his Pokemon, his grin remaining. "You're free now, buddy. Go, be happy somewhere." The Lucario's eyes widened in terror... he couldn't mean...

But Orion's attention turned back to Tethys as black started creeping into the edges of his vision. His expression softening and voice weakening as he spoke.

"Ya know, Teresa... I'd always hoped, that if I died... it'd be for you."

The last few words spoken in a whisper as Orion's eyes glazed over. His vision continued to blur and darken, until... nothing. The last thing he saw, was the face of the woman he loved. In the next moment Scott Wilder drew his last breath, eyes closed, and his body went limp. Yet a smile remained on his face.

Bandit looked on in horror as he watched the death of his one and only friend. The Lucario cried out in anguish, paws balling into fists as tears streamed down his face.

---

"s**t-" With a defiant scream, Darwin angled away from the flames, but it was Red taking the brunt of them that left the other Pidgeot and his trainer with little more than singed feathers and hair. Hayes dismounted from Darwin when he came around in a loop and swooped onto the central computer's platform and hurried over to the large console. "Okay," the tech muttered. Forget where you are. Forget Aulus fell. Forget that all those attacks have driven that giant fire-moth close enough that your hair is starting to curl. Forget that you didn't prepare for this. Forget-

He stopped, and blinked.

"Wow."

Deimos really did go in for automated systems.

Everything was right there - and since the Galactics had been at work on the Machine when the Rockets had arrived, someone was already logged in. It was.. sort of nice not to have a challenge for once. In the absence of a big red button marked 'DO NOT PUSH - SELF DESTRUCT MECHANISM' Hayes started going through menus, looking for something along the lines of 'Emergency Shutdown.'

Or 'Drain Tank.' That'd work.

Tank Select: All..

- - -

Deimos stared in wide-eyed horror at the scene immediately in front of him. Tethys had been saying words - they were probably important words, she kept shaking him, but he didn't want to hear - and then there was a distant gunshot. He didn't even remember Orion appearing but now the green-haired Galactic was there.. on the ground.. crimson blooming over his chest. No. This wasn't happening. Deimos felt something tight in his throat. He felt like he was going to pass out.

- - -

After the attacks it had already endured, the Flareon looked to be in rough shape. Panting, it tried to keep eyes on its foes, but was caught off guard by Khalon's Faint Attack. "Flare!!" The fire pokemon yelped as it was tossed forward, only to be met by Layla's Quick Attack. Marle's Thundershock sealed the deal and the fluffy pokemon fell limp.

The distance from Izaya to the computer was on the scale of half a city block; as such, it was little surprise when his switchblade fell short far from its target and was lost in the nest of wires on the floor.


Mau didn't know who this man was, and really, he didn't care. As far as Mau was concerned, he was just an obstacle who got in his way of hurting the one who hurt Nyx. He was about to aim another shot at Tethys, but before he could, there seemed to be a swarm of pokemon rushing in to attack. "Bedan..." He hissed. Why did they all have to rush in blindly like that? Mau was about to aim anyways when the sounds of battle behind him brought him back to the mission. As much as he wanted to make that woman suffer for hurting Nyx, he did have a job to do. He glanced up at the catwalks as a man tossed down a hitmonchan. He looked for a clear shot before leveling the gun once more, took aim, and fired.


Both Hitmonchan and owner fell from their respective attacks. One would wake up after a little Revive. The other would need a lot more than the contents of a bottle.

- - -

'Warning - This Option May Result In Mechanism Malfunction and Serious Injury or Death to User. Proceed?' "Under the circumstances," Hayes muttered, "hell yes."

Whatever Hayes had done, the Machine didn't sound happy about it. The symphony of working gears and motors gave an unpleasant groan as the entire system ground to a stop. With a slowness that made it feel like a dying monster, the Machine grew quiet. Then all at once, the orbs opened. The giant glass domes hissed one by one as they released, spilling their liquid contents. The sound worked its way all around the loop of the Machine until every last orb was vacant.

Those that contained legendary pokemon deposited their prizes on their adjoining platforms with wet thuds.

- - -

When she'd first visited the completed Machine, Tethys had noticed the noise. After the third or fourth visit she'd grown used to it, and thought no more of the humming in the air than she did of her own heartbeat.

Very much like a heartbeat - you didn't take much notice of it until it stopped.

The commander pulled her eyes away from the fallen shape on the floor, dropped her hands from Deimos' shoulders and started to stand, slowly. "No.."

- - -

The collective cries of Ho-Oh, Entei and Regirock echoed around the massive chamber. They sounded very angry.

Azelf rose into the air and joined their cries with an ear-splitting Uproar attack. The little blue pokemon's high-pitched voice was deafening.

Across the room the Machine shuddered with a loud crash that sent shards of metal flying in all directions. Regirock had attacked it with Superpower.

Ho-Oh shot into the air and exploded in a Sacred Fire attack that expanded up toward the ceiling, cracking the concrete.

Entei and Suicune came into view at the same time as they jumped on top of the Machine side by side. They both started attacking the walls with a combination of Hydro Pump and Eruption.

Keldeo shot from its orb past the Galactics and into the nearest wall, where it unleashed Sacred Sword. Its long horn sank into the thick wall and a spiderweb of cracks spread out from it.

The legendaries had only been loose for a matter of seconds and already rubble was starting to fall from the large building surrounding them. Installation 01 wouldn't be able to withstand the fury of six legendary pokemon for long.

It wasn't until Keldeo galloped past him that Deimos really came back to the moment. He blinked, single eye coming into focus. The legendaries were free. Orion was dead. Nyx had betrayed him. He turned his head to look at his massive creation. It was his masterpiece. The single greatest thing he'd ever built. It was his dream realized in physical form. The Machine had been the focus of all his efforts for the last ten years. And it was being destroyed. Because of Team Rocket. All the sorrow and confusion in the little Galactic boss twisted into anger. Deimos was rarely angry. He hated being angry. It went against every aspect of his nature. But he was angry now. His face tightened and his hands closed into fists. "Andre." He looked at the Rockets, furious tears welling up in his eyes, "Stop them."

"SHAY!" About time! Bristling with tiny green rage, Andre leaped off Deimos' shoulder and charged into the fight. Ignoring the fury of his fellow legendaries (they were all traitors as far as the hedgehog was concerned) he jumped off the platform and disappeared into the tangle of cables spread over the floor, using them as concealment as he approached his targets.