Zander led his crew through the first-ever mecha tournament, sweeping the top spot in every event.

That catapulted Zander, his crew, and Fractured Dreams into becoming household names on MX Hub, but it also generated some bad blood with people who didn't like the way Zander did things.

It also saw the bookie, Trenton, refusing to pay them; he wasn't about to let them bankrupt him. However, Trenton made a fatal mistake when he kidnapped one of the new mecha pilots under Zander's banner, and the ensuing conflict left Trenton and his flunkies dead. Zander was arrested, but his lawyer—courtesy of Lavella—had him free in a few hours.

If that wasn't enough, the Terran delegates arrived. They met with Zander twice, and Zander wasn't buying what they wanted to sell him. His warning to them about respecting the "Cult of the Spork" fell on deaf ears. When the Terrans were accosted over their lack of respect for the Antecedents, it started a brawl. That, along with Trenton's death, turned public opinion firmly against Zander.

The bad news wasn't done there, though, as an even bigger event came to the forefront. A level-five containment breach by the Entoma had them landing behemoths on a dozen worlds, and in a few cases, two or even three behemoths were sent per world.

With Dreams out of commission because of upgrades, Zander and his pilots were given over to the Assembled Fist to help with the breach. Zander had to prove to Nato, the lead pilot of the ship, that he was the best option to lead them into what everyone saw as a death mission. After claiming the lead pilot position, Zander still had to prove himself to the captain and mecha tech, but even they eventually understood why he'd taken over.

When the mission ended, two of the thirty pilots on Assembled Fist had died; the rest were alive, making a first in Assembly history. Zander was told he'd be called in front of the Galactic Assembly to explain how he'd managed what he had, but that would come after a stop back at MX Hub.