The group had to wait for a while as the platform moved along the railway that it was connected to, though their patience was rewarded as they finally emerged from the depths of the Deadgrove and stopped at a platform that had a Vendor for them to use.
According to our research, you four have reached the Northern Extraterrestrial Sorting Terminal, or N.E.S.T. as they call it. Cronk stated, speaking once they were outside and happened to be purchasing the ammunition they needed for their growing arsenals, where Virtuous found that it really was a pebble in the ocean of the wealth that Autumn had gathered over their many years as heroes, We have spotted Spog a fair distance from your position, so you'll have to fight your way to his part of the station.
"Figured as much." Autumn remarked, as it was never too easy for her and the others, because they usually had to fight their way through all sorts of enemies and obstacles before reaching their destination, before the group focused on the Vendor and found that the Critter Strike, the newest Morph-o-Ray weapon, was available for purchase, along with an empowered Mr. Zurkon and a Pyro Blaster, both wonderful additions as well.
With the new weapons in hand the group made sure that everyone was ready before using the launch Swingshots to move up and out of the area that the rail platform had stopped in, even if it meant climbing the side of a rock pillar for a time so they could better see the area that they had been brought to. They also found a spot to use the Glob Lobber so they could enter yet another ruined Tharpod settlement, though this time around the group couldn't stop and help them, not like with Susie's place, so they focused on making their way to the next part of the area. Sadly Cronk and Zephyr noticed that the main path was blocked and were currently scanning for a path that they could use, though their warning not to get into trouble was unheard as they unhinged some massive boulders to uncover the main path that was heading out of the settlement. They also discovered plenty of Weevoid toxin on part of the ground, a powerful binding agent that was used to trap prey, meaning that they would likely encounter the creatures as well at some point, though Starswirl did use a bit of his magic to scatter most of the material after Autumn claimed her samples.
After being flung at the next section of their path the group found that there were a few moving rocks that turned out to be purple skinned critters that actually looked like scorpions, Weevoids as they discovered, and after taking care of them the group moved over to another area, even though the bridge behind them was broken by something after they came to a stop on the other side.
An interesting way to move forward emerged when they discovered that they had to use the bounce mushrooms to do so, to which the group used them and opened fire on minions and Weevoids alike, including pesky flying minions that looked a lot like wasps when fully revealed, so Autumn caught a few hunter minions before they wiped them out. These minions wielded lasers against them, a favorite of theirs apparently, though it wasn't long before the area was cleared and the four of them were moving on like normal, even if Qwark and Virtuous were getting used to traveling with the siblings. They also found that they were passing by some falls, allowing them to stop for some water, after Autumn made sure it was safe for them to drink, since they had no idea what other creatures might have been brought to Magnus, before pressing on so they could find Spog. Eventually they found an interesting sight, there were four wooden elevators for them to use, each of them having their own wheel attached to them, so once the enemies were taken care of they gained access to the new device and used them to reach the upper area that was above them.
Once they were done with the wooden lifts the group found themselves in yet another ruined settlement that Spog might have ordered an attack on at some point in the last few hours, or fairly recently since the minions were still attacking it, right in front of their eyes, to which the group opened fire on them as they carefully moved forward. As they did that, and tore down the attackers that happened to be in the way, the group heard a familiar voice, the AI from the training grounds that informed all of the Tharpods that this land, which they had built their latest settlement on, was now being claimed for yet another creature that would be arriving in due time. In fact she told them to collect their problems and relocate to an area she called the corner of 'We Don't Care' and 'Not Our Problem', meaning that she and Spog believed whatever their Master told them, though it also confirmed that they had to take this villain down before something terrible happened to this world. Autumn's reasoning for that was due to all of the creatures that they had seen so far, there had to be a reason for all of them to be brought to Magnus, a reason they had yet to discover, hence why she was having either warbot look into the knowledge they had access to, as there had to be a powerful creature that might explain everything.
Cronk and Zephyr, upon hearing that, decided to belay their previous recommendation and told the group to unleash all sorts of mayhem on the minions and their masters, which was what the group was doing as they pushed forward, even a whole squad of mortar minions couldn't stand before their might, not with Starswirl unleashing a blast of magic that tore all of his targets apart.
The Tharpods cheered for them as they made their way through the ruined settlement, showing their appreciation for all of the hard work that Autumn, Starswirl, Qwark, and Virtuous were doing, even pointing the way to an area that had been turned into an arena for the minions to ambush them in. Of course the group wasn't too surprised by this, rather the four of them turned the tide on all of their enemies as they tore each and every minion down, quickly clearing the area so they could make their way to Spog's portion of the area. Autumn also listened to the reports that the warbots gave them, which included one mistaking a crate facility for a rail station, meaning the geoscan of the area was either at fault or she needed to upgrade them some more, but all of it was good information for her and the others to work on. As they crossed a gap, by using some Swingshots and a rotating one, the group found a large glass facility nearby and suspected that it was the area that they had been working towards for some time, even though none of them had spotted Spog flying through the surrounding area, which made them wonder where he might be lurking.
Qwark even found some more lifts for them to use to make some progress, especially since the warbots confirmed that a power source connected the area they were in to the N.E.S.T. loading bay, meaning they might have found their ticket into the compound and used a launch platform to move forward. The platform allowed them to land right on the pipes that were the power source, which was followed by the four of them grinding along it as it brought them to their destination, only to discover Spog flying through the air. What was interesting was that his design wasn't in the Hall of Knowledge, an odd fact for sure, and while the warbots informed them that it was a violation it also meant that whoever stole the large moon station must have also build Spog as their enforcer. Fortunately it didn't seem like he had noticed them yet, since he seemed to be more interested in moving creature containers and observing the construction of the area, allowing them to reach the end of the pipe so Starswirl could hide another Vendor without their enemies noticing it hitting the area, which worked as a charm since no alarms sounded.
After making sure everything was fine the group empowered their weapons further and restocked their ammunition once more, taking all of a few seconds, before getting underway as Cronk and Zephyr kept an eye on Spog, to give them more information on his movements before the final battle.
It didn't stay that way for too long as some of the lesser minions noticed them and opened fire on the group, where they responded in kind and made sure to keep each fight as unnoticed as they possibly could, to prevent Spog or his allies from noticing that enemies had invaded their domain. Of course they had to deal with a few obstacles, like utilizing the energy beings to power bridges and close incinerator vents, while wiping out their enemies to get closer to their destination, while at the same time the two warbots whined about not being there with them, as it seemed like they preferred being part of a fight or an adventure. At least Zephyr did, as Cronk went into detail about an episode he had watched and fallen asleep to, to the point where he believed that it was he who did all of the interesting things, causing the two to bicker for a time as Autumn, Starswirl, and their friends continued to fight their way through their enemies. The interesting thing was that Spog, save for his first appearance, didn't seem to be doing much right now, rather it seemed like he was in his old age, in a sense, and might be getting ready to retire, so he might be taking things slow before he left Magnus.
After taking an elevator they were assaulted by a new type of minion, one that turned into a metallic brute, so Autumn did what she did before, capturing one of them, while the others tore the new enemies apart once she was done dealing with her chosen target. The bouncer minions were definitely tougher to take down, usually a sign that most enemies would be that way in the future, so some of their earlier weapons were less effective against them, but despite that fact the group was able to make their way around the side of the rocky spire they had been brought to and used a launcher to head even deeper into the N.E.S.T. Of course they happened to land on some platforms that were still being constructed and most of it started to collapse due to the sudden shift in weight, so the group quickly raced over to another cannon device and let it send them to another one that launched them to a higher point of the platforms surrounding the main structure. Qwark noted that the N.E.S.T. was far larger than he was expecting, despite what they had seen of Magnus and Ephemeris since their battle with the Z'Grute, but he got serious when they found more enemies and saved his opinions for later, just like what the rest of the group was doing.
There was even an odd sight, a minion who operated a shielded turret of some kind, though when it stopped firing they found a button on top of it that they could slam into from above, crushing the minion to pieces with ease, giving Autumn a chance to collect some components for later before they resumed their journey.
After that they used a carrier to get close to a large metallic door that could only be opened by supplying energy to a pair of sockets, instead of one like they were used to, but before doing so the group made a pit stop at the Vendor and quickly restocked on their ammunition before getting underway once more. It took them a few moments to figure out how to get some of the Voltergeists over to the sockets they were needed in, especially since Qwark and Virtuous dealt with a group of minions that attacked them, but Autumn and Starswirl did it without wasting too much time. Once they were done the four of them watched as the large door opened, revealing a passage to the inside of another building, discovering sentries that wanted to take them down as soon as they entered it, so Autumn snagged one before she and the others tore the rest of their foes to pieces. The fascinating and infuriating aspect of all of this was that Spog was nowhere to be seen, as if he was intentionally avoiding any active work that might stain his record if he failed, he seemed old enough to care about something like that, so while it made the infiltration aspect easier it made their true task much more difficult.
There was even a heavily plated minion that tried to stop them, like a tank of some kind, but even it's improvements stood no chance against a barrage of magical blasts, since Starswirl knew Autumn wanted a piece of it intact, allowing them to access a platform and get moving, only for the AI to detect their movements at last, which, in turn, caused Spog to zero in on their current position.
"Ah, interlopers... two of you weren't on the Master's list!" Spog stated, confirming that he and the AI were working for the villain of this adventure, which was far too easy for them to tell, even though they were amused by him fitting half of his upper body through an opening to talk to them, "The other two are weak and fragile... Steward, direct platform delta to the steam channel. We'll dispose of the trash before collecting out Master's prizes."
It wasn't hard for them to tell who their Master was interested in, as Autumn and Starswirl were the only know users of magic in the known universe, so if someone was gathering monsters, and all sorts of powerful beasts, it made sense that they would want the pair as well, but for what they had no idea. As the platform shifted, however, they also learned that the female AI was called the 'Steward', though her steam channel was far too easy to overcome and even the minions she sent at them were nothing before their great arsenal. Of course they had to get off their platform at some point, which the group did without delay, and as they made their way out of the portion of the N.E.S.T. that they were in they found a few places where new minions were being made, to which Starswirl dropped magical charges to blast the areas apart, just to slow down the production of future enemies. Spog wasn't too pleased with their survival, nor was he interested in the fact that they were here to stop the Master's plans, whatever they were since he didn't feel like sharing with them, though the humorous aspect of this was that he and the Steward were bickering with each other.
Of course Spog also tried several ideas to dispose of them, such as taking the platform out from under them so they had to glide to safety, much to his disappointment, sending minions to stop them from accessing an elevator, and even using a boss level minion to stall them, with Starswirl tearing it apart with his potent magic.
After dealing with Mr. Perkins, the boss level minion, the group stopped at the Vendor that landed nearby, where Autumn was convinced it was the same one and the warbots were just calling it up once they were done with it so they could send it to another part of Magnus, before they purchased the Darkstar Fission Tether. This weapon was supposed to electrocute the enemies that were struck by it, different from the stunning power of the Arc Lasher, and with it in hand they walked over to the platform that happened to be waiting nearby, allowing the group to progress once more. Spog, of course, continued to demand answers from them, even asking if they were working for that 'Tharpod girl', who apparently loved sticking gum in the machines, just to delay things to the best of her ability, while the Steward told him to count down to return to his sense of calm, which enraged him further since he was 'in the middle of a battle'. As the group entered the next structure the two robots continued their discussion, apparently regarding the absence of minions, where they learned that some of them were scared of the group, not that it mattered since those that appeared before them were trashed with their arsenals.
One thing the four of them discovered was that there were far more minions inside the structure they were making their way through right now, in comparison to the other buildings, all while their allies in space informed them that Spog was on top of them, meaning they might be getting closer to fighting him. As much as they wanted to take him out the group were in agreement about something, listening to Spog and the Steward argue about things was entertaining, far more than what any of them had experienced during their previous adventures, and it seemed to be the perfect distraction so they could make progress through the area they were moving through. Eventually things things as the group started to use one of the larger pipes as a grind rail, where Spog finally caught onto their presence and flew nearby as he loosed bombs at a fair portion of the track they were following, intending to either blow them up or tear their only track apart. As such they moved and dodged the projectiles and any other hazards that existed to take down people who were trying to mess with the Master's dark plans, and he even sent out saws to try and cut them down, not that it mattered since they avoided the projectiles and reached the end of the pipes without much delay.
The end happened to be right in front of a dam of some kind, at least it sure looked like that to the group, and all sorts of minions were waiting for them to arrive, likely positioned by Spog some time ago, but the four of them unleashed their arsenals on their foes without delay, blasting through the minions with ease. As they did so, however, Spog actually said something that interested them, that the Master's plan was to 'escape' and that none of them would be able to stop his 'crusade', whatever that meant, but it did tell them something, Nevo had to be a pawn. If Nevo was the Master there was no way he'd be contained to Magnus, not with Ephemeris heading off to collect all sorts of powerful creatures, meaning the 'Master' had to be some sort of being that had been sealed away in some manner, giving them an idea as to what they had to do to complete this adventure. The other interesting thing that Spog told them was that the Cragmites tired, in vain no less, to destroy him, meaning they might have found out why the Lombaxes' greatest foe were so eager to burn down the rest of the universe, or at least a potential reason anyway.
Eventually they found a large elevator that they powered up and took to the highest point it was connected to, where the siblings used some of their magic to launch any and all incoming attackers off the platform, allowing them to conserve all of their ammunition for later as the platform reached the top of the line, a tower peak.
Spog declared that, as the highest ranking warbot on site, he was going to do battle with the Master's enemies and waited for them to reach the roof of the tower before firing upon the group, where they found that one of his weapons involved turning his hands into large metallic slammers, which they avoided as everyone fired on him. He also had lasers linked to his hands as well, which happened to be easy to dodge since it involved jumping over the beams when they were used, all while he boasted that he had never lost a battle before, which meant this would be his first loss. Another thing he tried to use against them were the bombs they had seen not that long ago, where they used their Vac-U's to suck them up within seconds and fire each one back at the warbot, blasting through his metallic armor and weakening him even more, which seemed to annoy him. Whenever they did substantial amount of damage to Spog, even if his outer armor didn't show any of it, the Steward informed him that he should retreat for repairs, causing him to tell her off as he continued the fight to it's bitter end, trying not to end his service with a blemish like this, which caused the other robot to be silent.
It really didn't take them all that long to beat Spog, smashing him into the tower's roof as they beat him, though once he was on the ground he tried to talk, revealing that his voice modulator was damaged, which presented the perfect chance for them to learn a few bits of information.
"Your voice modulator is damaged, Spog, and we can repair it... if you agree to tell us how to beat Ephemeris." Autumn said, as while she knew that they could focus on the Master she suspected that bringing it up was the worst thing, so she focused on the more immediate threat, the ship that brought them here, as if they took it out or captured it they would deal a blow to the Master's plans.
Spog paused for a few seconds before nodding his head, to which Autumn and Virtuous got to work repairing the portion of his circuitry that was his voice modulator, rapidly restoring the warbot's functions to full functionality, causing them to step back as he floated and stared at them.
"I do not know how to defeat Ephemeris... only the Architect, who lives beyond the lighthouse in a forest of blue rocks, knows the answer to that question." Spog stated, informing them of what they wanted to know, even though he had next to no true information to give them, but for the group this was better than nothing, and as soon as they thanked him the warbot flew off, likely to avoid them for the rest of their adventure.
With that done the group accessed a nearby elevator and rode it down to what appeared to be another rail station that would likely take everyone in the direction of the lighthouse, which Cronk and Zephyr were searching for, though they all knew that they had to be patient before they could act on Spog's information as they sought out the Architect and learned how to bring down Ephemeris.