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.