Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia nor Mass Effect. Both belong to their respected owners.
Everyone knows the stories of how the goddesses came to rule the stars above.
Some make it out as a destiny thing while others, namely those of the basilicoms, fill it with the usual propaganda. In truth all of it started with the dreams of a few humans, but before we get to that...gotta set the background a little first. Can't have the newcomers of the Nep series all confused can we?
Though you might want to strap in folks, this is a bit of a long prologue before we get into the main story.
In the days before interstellar travel, humanity was limited to it's home world of Gamindustri. Divided into the four nations and ruled by the goddesses or Console Patron Units, aka CPUs as they are called sometimes.
There was Leanbox, the land of green pastures, ruled by CPU Green Heart, and her name was Vert. Lowee, the land of white serenity, ruled by CPU White Heart, her name was Blanc. Lastation, the land of black regality ruled by CPU Black Heart, known as Noire. And finally, Planeptune, the land of purple progress, ruled by CPU Purple Heart...Neptune.
The CPUs or goddesses had ruled their lands for hundreds of years, all from the realm of Celestia, their home. They competed with each other for shares or share energy, the source of a CPU's power. In which it can not only make the CPU powerful but also protect her people and nation from the dangers of Gamindustri. It is obtained by the very faith of the people themselves...
Simply put like this, having a CPU means you have protection from the monsters. Having humans to believe in the CPU, means that she can become powerful and govern the land. More or less a mutual beneficial relationship.
Of course that works if there was one CPU, but there were four. And none felt like sharing the shares...
Terrible pun aside, the four goddesses constantly fought each other, all for the title as the one true goddess. This era was known as the console war, a long standing war with no clear sight of a victor. Of course the CPUs weren't like forever, somewhere along the line, they had decided that the war was pointless to fight.
So they tried a different approach...instead of war with each other, they'll gain shares through influence and entertainment.
With this decision the four CPU descended from their realm of Celestia and grew the prosperity of their nations. This was the era where Gamindustri experienced not only peace but growth within technology. Technology never thought possible...
From medical and cybernetic technology that boost the human life span past a hundred years, to the latest game consoles that brought joy to people's hearts. Naturally, this boosted the CPUs shares past expected levels, so much so that something incredible happened.
The birth of the CPU candidates...
While not fully understood, it is believed as follows. Whenever there is a huge influx of shares, it somehow leads to the creation of a new CPU. To serve as a candidate in case anything were to happen to the CPU or if the CPU would choose to step down and appoint her successor.
In Planeptune, CPU Purple Heart/Neptune gained two candidates, their names were Nepgear and Plutia. Lastation's CPU Black Heart/Noire gained one candidate and her name was Uni. In Lowee, White Heart/Blanc gained two twin candidates, both were named Rom and Ram. Leanbox however, did not gain a candidate for an unknown reason. It had made Green Heart/Vert sad and a little envious, as the other CPUs had gained siblings. But that was more or less forgotten when she stared fawning over Nepgear. Much to Neptune's annoyance and jealousy...
In the era that not only peace and technology prospered. So too did knowledge and desire of the heavens above.
This is where the dreams of a few humans come in.
It all started when four young aspiring scientists and engineers met with the CPUs. Kurisu from Lastation, Winry from Leanbox, Airi from Lowee, and Shito from Planeptune. All four were united together by a single dream, for humanity to sail and live amongst the stars.
Of course such a dream was by no means an easy feat. They would require not only require vasts amounts of personal, resources and knowledge but as well as the approval of the CPUs. As they knew if they succeed they would help change the course of Gamindustri's history.
And so they met the CPUs, presenting their plan and knowledge of what they had so far that would be considered trivial now.
Such as Gamindustri being the third planet in it's solar system. The third along with eight other unnamed planets that revolve around a single star. A solar system that is one of many through out the entire cosmos.
After presenting a bunch of other facts, the four proposed the to the CPUs this. If they choose to explore the cosmos, not only new opportunities would spring up for resources and others things. But if they could find a way to settle, the possibility for shares to grow would be tremendous.
Naturally the CPUs had decided to ponder on the matter for a time.
Literally three days later, the four CPUs along with the help of Histoire an oracle of Planeptune, had made with their decision. They would help uplift humanity onto the stars.
There many questions on the possibilities of their decision, some questions even the CPUs wondered themselves. Could they still gain shares if they went into space? What is out there in the vast cosmos and was there life out there? Would they be able to survive the vacuum of space, since they weren't human? What would the future hold?
Thus began the era where humanity would leave it's cradle and set out on the galaxy.
Oh, and with the help of Histoire, the before unnamed planets where finally given names.
In the order of the solar system it goes by; Venus, Mercury, Gamindustri, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Bleuna, and finally Pluto. Histoire had once explained that she given the names based of ancient goddesses. That had once existed long before the current CPUs.
In the years that followed, countless technology had developed as well as the desire to travel the stars. From unmanned drone satellites to star ships capable of interstellar travel. These ships were developed in various ways and different technology. As each CPU decided to compete with each other to see who would have the better ships.
As one might expect, unless their new comers of course, Planeptune developed the more faster and advanced ships. Due to their edge in being the most advanced in technology. Lastation had the second advanced but have considerably better weaponry then Planeptune's. While Leanbox was the more in between of the two, considered as the balanced between the four nations. Lowee however, was not as advanced, their ships were...designed differently. While certainly durable and not likely to fall out of the sky, their designs are considered to be...basic.
To put it as one brave person dared to be blunt, 'They look like square boxes in an angle stacked together and called a ship. Not even good quality boxes...almost those ones that hold the horrible books written by Lady White hear-'
Incidentally that person ended up developing a specific phobia of people with blue hair, red eyes, who wield giant axes while screaming bloody murder.
While the designs of the ships were not well known, they set themselves apart from due to key differences. The ships are considerably tough and are not only able use magical barriers but also magic based weaponry. A difference that make the ships able to hold their own should a fight be needed.
The way these ships traveled was complex and simple, they used something called a Stein Drive. Developed by a scientist named Albert;Stein along with a colleague, a woman named MAGES., the two developed a drive that was capable of creating a portal, or wormhole for those feeling scientific, to travel through space and time.
Thus making a distance of traveling to Mars, which would have taken days when using Planeptune's fastest ship at the time, to mere hours. Though there are limitations, the Stein Drive would only work properly if it holds the exact coordinates of both point A and point B. Meaning one has to have been there and back in order to use it properly.
While it also had been considered to make random blind jumps into portals/wormholes. It was decided against due the sheer unpredictability of where a ship may end up.
Of course this was one of many advancements and incredible things to happen. But not the one of the most important...
It was the unprecedented discovery of a certain set of ruins. Ruins that were founded on Mars when the first generation star ships arrived to explore the planet.
The team that explored the ruins led by Histoire herself found something incredible. The ruins were around fifty thousand years of age, was of alien origin and seemed to be once a data archive. Unfortunately most of the data was corrupted and lost to time, only one thing was left and the name of those that built the ruins.
Protheans.
The name of a mysterious species that had existed long before the current CPU's.
The initials reactions of this discovery were mixed among the four nations. But the result was clear, it proved that there is/was life outside of Gamindustri, showing that humanity and the goddesses weren't alone in the galaxy. In the short time after discovery, volunteers began to rise in number, and desires to build colonies, bigger and better star ships followed short after.
Months had past and the most of solar system was explored and parts of it were being colonized.
The question of whether the CPUs can gain and use share energy was answered when CPU Black Heart founded a colony on Mars. Not only did she experience a growth in shares but parts of the land began to terraform itself!
The only logical and likely explanation is that the share energy from the people and Black Heart herself, began to affect the environment it was in. As share energy is the source of power for the goddesses and is capable of making new ones if there is a huge abundance of it. And it has been proven that in small cases it can affect the growth an environment.
Which explains why there are rarely ever droughts or famines in a nation, which only seem to happen when there are a steep drop of shares. It is possible that the share energy formed a kind of invisible bio-dome where life can be supported.
Of course, CPU Purple Heart/Neptune also provided an explanation that no one bothered to pay attention to. It was something that went along the lines of, 'Well guess the author wants shares to act like space magic, let's just roll with it folks!'
Regardless of reasons, it encouraged other CPUs to colonize other areas and various moons. Including that of Gamindustri's only moon, which quickly turned into a miniature garden world with it's own environment.
Another question answered is of it being possible for a CPU to survive in the harshness of space without an environmental suit. The results were a yes and no...
As it is common knowledge that there are two forms of a CPU. A normal form where they seem indistinguishable from a human, and their HDD form or Hard Drive Divinity. Where they transform into a more powerful, typically older looking form. Where their appearance changes and their eyes are the symbol of a power button.
In human form, their a bit more durable than the average human, but in HDD they become immensely stronger. In HDD they can manipulate the appearance of the appeal they where, from their standard skin tight swim suit like armor, to the fanciest of dresses for celebratory occasions. This is where the answer comes in...
In HDD they can manipulate their armor into a much more protective covering suit. One that protects the CPU from the harsh temperatures of space, solar radiation, literally almost anything that is thrown at them. Of course there is a limit to this, as they could only pull such a feet for a short amount of time.
At best, close to two hours if the CPU pushes herself, on average less than an hour. So it's wise for a CPU to not be far from a ship or a planet or moon that supports life.
Finally after more or less expanding through the solar system, the CPUs decided to rename their territories. To represent the growth and change of their proud nations.
Planeptune was renamed The Planeptune Republic, Lastation renamed itself The Allegiance of Lastation, Lowee named itself The Lowee Alliance, and finally Leanbox change to The Leanbox Federation .
Though most people simply called the four by their original names, and see the name change as a simple formality.
And finally the last event before ultimately leaving the solar system, the discovery of the mass relays.
One of Pluto's ice moon had broken apart, revealing a large structure embedded into the ice. When it was discovered and removed from the ice, it revealed a large structure that has appeared to be there for untold millennia. When teams where investigating the object, one group had done something to turn it on. The ship along with it's crew seemingly disappeared, only to have return from a portal a short time later.
It was quickly discovered that the ship had traveled to a nearby system with another relay in place. Thus the finding of a prefabricated space highway, which helped immensely with mapping out the nearby systems.
But right before the other nations received the coordinates to travel to the new system, the CPUs held an agreement. In the event that either nation were to encounter other intelligent forms of life. The four nations would ban together to form an alliance, regardless if the newly encountered life is hostile or not.
It was known as the Gamindustri Alliance Initiative, or GA initiative for short.
After that, all four nations expanded rabidly throughout the galaxy. Their territories and ship numbers grew into incredible levels.
Of course such expansion did lead into a ill-fated meeting.
For near Shanxi, a Lowee controlled planet, exploratory vessels activated a Relay by the simple name of Relay 314. It gained the attention of another race. As well as it's anger...
Though this other race went and did a much greater crime. They provoked the wrath of a CPU, and not just any CPU. One that isn't quick to forgive those that dare to harm her people or family. A mistake they'd pay dearly for...
But that...is a story for another time.
A/N: Whelp...this is a thing.
Yeah, gonna do my best to explain the birth of this fic.
It all started with a simple question, what would happen if the cast of Neptunia steps on the galactic stage?
Which somehow followed up to the question of, how would the council of mass effect react to the CPUs? It inevitably led to this rather odd crossover that defies logic.
That's one thing to expect from this fic, LOGIC for the most part would be kicked to the curb. Since it does deal with girls that transform into the personifications of consoles. Though there will be exceptions and moments...it wouldn't be fun to take out Reapers in a single shot now would it? And not to mention the occasionally fourth wall breaks, as it is a Neptunia crossover.
Though while this will mainly focus on the Neptunia cast, it will involve the cast from Mass Effect as well. Though I do wonder what a conversation between Mordin and MAGES. would be like...
And in case you haven't figured it out, or your never played the Neptunia games or seen the anime. This takes place in an alternate dimension where the Earth was replaced with Gamindustri. But the characters themselves are more or less the same...though they have greater responsibilities. Since they have planets to govern and look after...
Also this may have been short chapter, I do plan for the chapters to get longer.
Anyway, read, review, or look for or make a fic better than this one. There are a surprising number of good fics out there...
-Raiden312