"NOOOIRE!" Neptune burst into the Lastation CPU's room (startling the raven-haired girl in question), carrying what looked to be a disc.

"WHAT IS IT?" Noire yelled, irritated at the Planeptune CPU's interruption of her "relaxation time" (whatever that was)...until she saw the other CPUs, Vert and Blanc, plus the CPU candidates, Nepgear, Uni, Rom and Ram, and even IF and Compa standing at the door.

"...Why are you all here?"

"Well..." Neptune showed her the disc she was holding. "This...fell from the sky."

"...What? And you just took it with you? What if it was a monster disc or something?!" Noire questioned, snatching the disc from Neptune's hands. On the disc, written carefully in permanent marker, said,

"The Great Console War

For the CPUs of the dimension this reaches"

"...What is this?"

"Well, first of all, with writing like that, the chances of this being a monster-spawning disc are very low, so stop being paranoid, Noire." Blanc said. "Second, this thing interested Histoire, for some reason, and she insisted that we find out just what this disc contains, before going off to do goddess knows what."

"And you used that as an excuse to barge into my room like you're some special police force?" The Lastation CPU snapped.

"Oh come on, quit complaining, Noire!" Neptune said, energetic (and quite frankly, slightly annoying) as always. "You get to hang out with us!"

"Ahem."

The sound of Histoire clearing her throat spun the CPUs heads right toward the door where she stood. "Well," The Oracle began. "I've been talking to...the other versions of myself, trying to verify the origins and contents of that disc."

"So is it safe?" Neptune asked, excited.

"...Yes, but..."

Immediately eyebrows were raised and heads tilted at that last "but" Histoire had added in. "...I'm not going to stop you, but that disc is about another version of Gamindustri, a version we'll call the Gigadimension. It's...well..." She sighed. "Go ahead and watch if you want to find out, but be warned that the Gamindustri you're about to see is very different from ours and the Ultradimension, and unfortunately, not in a good way."

She left, and Noire's room was filled with silence.

Until, of course, Neptune broke it. "Well then...why don't we pop it in the player and find out just what about the Gamindustri in this disc is so dark and depressing?"

"W-wait! I did not ask to get roped into this!" Noire protested, but it was too late.

The screen flickered on, revealing three people sitting in front of the viewers - a young-looking purple-haired woman, who tied up her hair into a long ponytail, a raven-haired girl who let her own long hair down, and between the two, Histoire - or rather, their version of Histoire.

"Those two girls look a bit like Neptune and Noire..." Vert noted.

"To anyone watching right now, hello." The purple-haired woman began. "My name is Maria, and I'm the CPU of Planeptune in our dimension."

"Aww..." Neptune pouted. "I was hoping it'd be older me or something!"

"I am Kurie, CPU of our dimension's Lastastion." The black-haired girl continued.

"And I'm Histoire, the Lorekeeper of the Gigadimension's Gamindustri."

"You might be wondering right now, what the purpose of us recording this is." Maria said. "Well...perhaps, this Console War in your dimension was simply a petty conflict between four goddesses. Or, it may not even have occurred at all. You might have enjoyed peace and prosperity all the while, or perhaps the hidden threat you fought did not involve thousands of people in the battle. Ours...was nothing like that."

"We made this," Kurie continued. "As a way to document the events of our war. For although no one wants to remember it, we feel that it is necessary, so that the CPUs of other dimensions see the true consequences of large-scale conflicts like ours, and take steps to prevent their own war. No one should have to experience what we went through."

"This disc you are watching right now? What it is about to show was the Great Console War of Gamindustri." Maria went on. "This was a war that took away hundreds of thousands of people, caused unimaginable loss and destruction, and resulted in the annilhation of one of our major nations."

"This was Total War."

Spring, 0AGCW

Mainland Gamindustri was a large landmass with the 4 major nations split evenly on 4 sides: Planeptune to the East, Lastation down South, Leanbox over West, and Lowee was up North.

There was also a landmass off the north-west coast, a large, prosperous island nation known as Perocom.

But let's not bother with that right now. What matters, is that inside the Basilicom of Planeptune's capital, Sena, a very important meeting was taking place...

"First of all, let's reassess our situation and that of Gamindustri's." Maria said to the other 3 CPUs sitting around the table.

"A new faction known as the Cult of Arfoire has surfaced, worshipping the so-called goddess in their namesake. They've been extorting our shares, converting people to their cause, and even raiding some of our trade routes and settlements. Worse still, Histoire, the Lorekeeper, has informed me that they intend to summon Arfoire herself, which could spell disaster for Gamindustri if they succeed. Therefore, we should identify them as our most important threat.

Unfortunately, we can't deal with them right now. Our loss of shares have caused the public's faith in us to waver, so much that we are now seeing many, many smaller factions rising up, claiming lands and challenging our power. Our nations have been fractured.

Then there's Perocom off the north-west coast. I don't know what they're planning, but knowing them, the chances of their PC Legion invading us is uncomfortably high. Granted, they do have their own rebellions to deal with as well, but once they quell those they might set their sights on the divided mainland. We need Leanbox and Lowee to prepare their own army just in case they do indeed-"

"And that's it?!" Midori, the CPU of Leanbox stood up in outrage. "We're just supposed to take the fall trying to deal with Perocom's might while you solve your own problems and rebuild in peace? What about our own divide? Huh?"

"Look, Midori," Maria replied hastily. "We can just send reinforcements over there in case Perocom does land over here, and-"

"And how do you intend to do that?" Shiro, Lowee's CPU, interjected. "Our territories have been cut off by all these minor factions."

"You're not helping, Shiro!"

"Sorry, Mars, but even then," Kurie added. "How many reinforcements would we even send? This is a conflict we never could have seen coming. We've only just mustered up what's left of our military, and they're already stretched thin as is. None of us can afford to help each other out at this point."

Maria sighed, leaning back in her chair dejectedly. "So...what now? Do we all just fend for ourselves?"

The CPUs exchanged uncomfortable looks, before Shiro spoke up. "Yes, it would appear so. We'll have to fight."

Midori made to leave. "I have to go now. My people need me." Without another word, she left. Maria watched her leave, before turning her eyes towards Shiro.

"I'm afraid I'll have to do the same. As much as I want to keep you guys afloat, I have to protect my own nation first. Goodbye." The Lowee CPU said, leaving as well.

An uncomfortable silence filled the meeting room after that, with the two remaining participants - Maria and Kurie - staring at each other.

"Kurie..." Maria started, but the Lastation CPU cut her off.

"I'm sorry, Mars, but it's true. It's every nation for themselves now. You can't save others if you don't save yourself first. It's the truth, Mars." Kurie said sadly. "...I'll be going back to Lastation now. Goodbye."

Maria sighed, flopping herself down on her bed, oblivious to the petite purple-haired girl standing at her door a few minutes later.

"...Maria?"

"Oh!" The CPU immediately sat up upon hearing the familiar voice. At her door now stood her younger sister and Planeptune's CPU Candidate, Phoebe.

Taking note of her sister's frown, Phoebe sat down beside her. "I...heard about the meeting. What happens now?"

Silence.

"Everyone's fighting for themselves now, including us. Kurie, Midori and Shiro all have their own problems to deal with, and I've got mine." Maria explained. "Gamindustri's in chaos, Phoebe. It's...honestly all surreal."

"C-can I do anything to help?" The CPU Candidate asked meekly.

Maria sighed. "Look, Phoebe, I know you really care about Planeptune, but I can't have you out there risking your own life just yet-"

"I insist."

Slightly surprised at her younger sister's determination, Maria sighed, then stood up. "Fine, then, follow me."

Phoebe followed. "Where are we going?" She asked.

Simply put, they were going to do the only thing they could do at that point. It was something that most in Planeptune, Lastation, Leanbox, Lowee and even Perocom had to do, and would do.

They made ready for war.

Changelog 6/9/2019: Changed a part relating to nation cultures in the A/N below.

Greetings! I am IncompetentGuy, the blue-eyed Grimmbat and self-proclaimed fanfiction writer extraordinaire, at your service.

So, this was an idea I had not too long ago, when I started playing HDN. I was already a fan of Total War since then, and I actually wrote the second half of this chapter riding high off my first ever victory in Total War: Shogun 2 (Date, Normal, Long).

Things to clear out of the way first:

- Yes, I am fully aware that a "Total War series" category exists. Yes, I am aware that I did not put this fic as a crossover with that, but rather as a simple HDN fanfic. The reasons are: because while Gigadimension Neptunia: Total War takes inspiration from Total War for it's general plot and some events, that's it - not enough to warrant an actual crossover. Also because it would be more popular this way. Hey, I get to be selfish every now and then!

- As you can probably tell by the "Gigadimension" part of the name, this fic is it's own separate dimension - an AU, if you would. It's why the geography is different, the characters are different, and basically a lot of other stuff is also different.

- Perocom is basically PC Continent.

- Heads up: Gamindustri's major nations are actually based off of several different historical cultures, to each their own. Originally I meant for mainland Gamindustri to have 1 central culture and Perocom to have their own, but I found this way to be better.

Essentially, Planeptune is like a Samurai clan, Lastation is a Desert Kingdom, Leanbox is a barbarian/viking kingdom, Lowee is a medieval kingdom, and Perocom is based off the Roman empire.

The 5 major nations details, traits, major characters and opening moves will be documented in the next 3 chapters.

Stay tuned, and I hope this prologue was good enough to hype you up!