Hello, and welcome to my next story, a Space Engineers self-insert with some Fire Emblem insertions. Essentially, Story-Me has to work together with Fire Emblem 12 character Katarina to survive in the Space Engineers Universe. However, we do get some companions...

...In the form of Captain Shack, Valefor, and Alteran...

...Yeah...

...Well, wish Katarina and me luck! We're gonna need it with those 3...

If there's enough popular demand, I might add the LastStandGamers team in as well...*shrugs* would be fun...

Anyways, onto...

Chapter 1: Let's Break Out of this Town, Like a Renegade...


Daniel's Point of View

OW! Did somebody get the number of that truck that hit me?!

...No, seriously, a truck veered off the road and hit me, when I was on the far side of the sidewalk from the road! That bastard needs to be locked u-

...Wait...I was hit by a truck...a fricking semi-truck...and all I'm doing is complaining about a pain in the head...

Where's the detached limbs? Where's the crushed torso? Where's Heaven for pete's sake? As I tried to open my eyes, however, the answer appears...as letters and words burned into my vision for a moment.

As you know, I allow everything to happen for a purpose.

This is your's. It is not your time, not yet. There is still much for you to do.

Stay strong, keep your faith, and I am certain you can do this.

God

PS: The Pirates were NOT my doing, but your personal effects should be nearby and your stuff from your world can be found in a freighter floating near where you will end up staying.

That was...strange...Real strange...but at least I know God's involved. While God's actions seem to confuse the heck out of me, they always end up for the better, so I'll trust it...

But...where AM I?

I look around, and...I'm in a cold metal cell...a futuristic one to boot, with some kind of glass instead of bars...and I'm not alone.

I look...and I have to stifle a gasp of shock and awe.

Purple hair. Purple clothing. Short skirt. Purple knee-high boots. Maroon Scarf (or some kind of cloth, IDK) on her shoulders. Some cloth...thing attached to the back of her shirt that reaches down to her knees. I was staring at Katarina from Fire Emblem: Shin...Shin Monsho...GAH! Fire Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow. What does it matter what game? What the hell is she doing here?!

A message then flashes across my vision and imprints in my mind long enough to actually memorize the thought.

PSS: That would be Naga's doing...We talked about it and decided to send someone from her world to help you out, considering your...limitations...

Well, thanks for the heads up, God! Considering you don't actually 'mess up', you must have some kind of sense of humor.

Yes.

...Whatever...this is just so surreal.

...ANYWAYS...what am I gonna do? Apparently God sent me here to do something (And he and Naga sent Katarina to help out, apparently), but I can't do that in a prison cell. Maybe Katarina can help...I just hope it's the 'Lvl 30 Character/Lvl 20 Sage Endgame Katarina' and not a 'Lvl 10 Mage' from the boss battle...

...Whatever...let's see if she's just sleeping or she's unconscious...

"Hey...hey, are you alright? Can you hear me?" I ask quietly, not sure what's going on.

There is no movement for a few moments. I ready to inch forward, when the ex-assassin (or still-assassin, depending on when she came fro-)

PSSS: She's from a year or two after the game ends.

...Well, that would have been useful a minute or so ago. Thanks God...

...I'm certain he's just teasing me now...

...ANYWAYS, the Ex-Assassin is now stirring. She slowly opens her eyes...and then they open wide, and they dart all over the place. Ok, now she's over-rea-...no, I'd reasonably seen such cells in video games. To her, this is probably as strange as it gets.

Aaaaand, now she's looking at me. "Uhhh...hi?" I nervously say.

"Where are we?" she asks, composing herself to an extent.

"I don't have a clue, some kind of cell, at-" I look outside of the window our cell has, and past it...is another window...showing..."Holy shit, we're in outer space," I comment. Then it hit me: glass cells. Boxy rooms. That control panel sitting at the end of the hall. Outer Space..."Holy shit, we're in Space Engineers!"

"We're...what?" Katarina asks, confused.

Ah, damn it, that's right! She's from a medieval-style world with Magic. Does she even know what outer space IS?! "It doesn't matter right now. What matters now is-"

"Ok, scum! Up an' at em!"

"Space Pirates..." I groan. I look at her. Deciding to act like I don't know who she is, I ask her, "Do you...know how to fight at all?"

She shrugged. "If I had a weapon, or maybe a tome, I could...Though I might be able to fight hand-to-hand, if I have to..." she replied, "You?"

"Not really...but if I could get ahold of one of their guns, I could always go for 'spray and pray'..."

"Uhm...gun?" she questions.

I facepalm at myself. Of COURSE she doesn't know what a gun was. "It's...well...a kind of metal weapon with a lot of moving parts, using anything from refined black powder to magnets, to even pressurized air to propel metal bullets at targets."

"Ah...I think I get it. These 'bullets' are thrown with such strength as to penetrate and damage the target...must cause a lot of damage to armor, then," she comments. I smile and nod, realizing that my assumptions that Katarina must be of at least above-average intelligence was true. Hopefully, she catches on fast. She then smiles at me, saying wryly, "And considering your terminology of 'spray and pray', I take it that means a gun can fire faster than a bow can."

"Not all guns, but the guns I think these guys might be using would be of the 'automatic' variety...automatic being the term for rapid-fire guns," I comment, her nodding in understanding.

Then, a figure advances to the glass of our cell...in a pitch-black space suit. "Damn, forgot we'd need those..." I stated.

"'Those'?" Katarina questions.

"Space Suits. Without them, we're dead if we're trapped in the vacuum of space. No air. No air means..."

"I...get the picture..." Katarina states, cringing a little at the thought.

Before we could say anything else to each other, the man outside the cell opens the door, raising a rifle at us. "Alright, you two worthless piles of shit, you're coming with me."

I want so badly to tell this guy off, but I merely stay silent and shiver a little. I've...never had a gun pointed at me before...


Katarina's Point of View

The other guy is shivering. He is afraid, I can tell he never dealt with this kind of stuff before. Lucky for him, I have. Also, I've been analyzing everything since the Pirate arrived. I could see the device in the Pirate's hands, probably the 'gun' that the other guy described...I need to find out his name, I can't just keep calling him 'the other guy'...

However, with that man pointing his...'gun'...at us, I can't do much. Best to play it safe, for now...

The Pirate in the...Space Suit, I think the other guy called it...leads us up through the halls, the other guy's eyes catching on the black glass orbs on the walls, as well as devices that hung off the walls and ceiling that resembled the 'gun' the Pirate was holding. All I need to know to say that they were dangerous: the black orbs probably some device that allows them to watch us, the other devices being oversized guns of some kind.

Soon, however, in one long hallway, I hear a quiet "Pssst!". I look to the side, and see the other guy (ok, I REALLY need to have a name to attach to the guy) trying to get my attention. I look around, seeing the Pirate not turning towards us, and none of the black orbs in the hall, I turn to him again. "So...you have a plan on how to get out of here...uhm..."

He's acting as though he doesn't know something he does...but the context insinuates my name...how would this guy know my name?...You know what, I'm not going to think about it, I'm probably putting too much thought into this..."My name's Katarina," I reply.

"Mine's Daniel. Daniel Mitchell...just your average, every-day shopping cart-pusher for Wal-Mart." A...what? "...Nevermind, point is, not someone special. So...you have a plan on how to get out of here?"

"...Not really..." I reply, "...Not yet, anyways...if we can just find some weapon, or something, I ca-" Wait...in this guy's back pocket...is that...I get Daniel's attention. "In his back pocket," I indicate.

He looks to it, and seems confused for a moment...then a look of recognition. "Is that what I think it is?" he asks.

"If what you think it is, is my Nosferatu Tome," I whisper back. "If we can get it, I might be able to take him down, without damaging it too much..."

"...'It'?" he asks, confused.

I sigh and shake my head. "You're the one who said we need Space Suits..." I remind him quietly.

'Oh,' he mouths. He thinks for a moment...before suddenly advancing on the Pirate. "Say, can you at least tell us where we are?"

"Shut it, scum!" the Pirate snaps.

"Hey, I just have no idea where I am: last I know, I was about to be hit by a truck, now I'm in some kind of...prison? I just wanna know what the hell is going on!"

What is he doing? That Pirate is getting angry...and turned towards him...with his back towards me...in a hall with no watching orbs...with my Nosferatu Tome sitting right there...

...That Daniel is more clever than I initially gave him credit for...

I slowly reach forward, while Daniel tries to keep the Pirate distracted. Finally, my hand falls upon the tome...as we stop. I slowly grab the tome, and slide it out of the pocket. Once it is most of the way out, I swipe it out, and hide it. The Pirate is totally oblivious...and angry. "Alright, that's it, if you don't shut up, I'll SHUT YOU UP!" His gun is now pointed at Daniel's chest.

Daniel helped me get my tome back...only fair I help him out in return. I raise my tome, channel my power, and at the pinnacle of my power, Daniel catches it, and smirks. "I'm to the one being shut up here..."

"Nosferatu!" I incantate, the flash of light shooting at the Pirate, who is not fast enough to shoot either Daniel or myself before it slams into him, draining him of his lifeforce, as I feel my vitality, which had been exhausted for a while now, return to me. As the Pirate falls dead, I feel invigorated. I sigh in contentment at the feeling. "Finally."

"Well...that's a relief..." Daniel replies, sighing in relief at not having a weapon pointed at him.

"I know what you mean...You're quite clever," I comment.

He actually blushes a little. "I try..." Then, I guess he remembers where we are. "Right, give me a moment, I gotta get this on...Damn it, I sure hope he was fully-clothed when he wore this..."

"Right," I reply. "Now, is there...A door...says...I found an Armory!"

"Good, maybe there's another suit in there for you. Or maybe even some of your weapons...Unless you're telling me that tome is all you brought," Daniel replies.

"I did bring several weapons: in fact, I brought a Cutlass; a Levin sword; Physic, Rescue, and Warp staves; and several additional tomes: Thoron, Aura, Starlight, Imhullu-"

Daniel seems to cough and choke a moment. "Imhullu! That tome may not actually exist in my world but I sure as HELL have heard of it from stories! Where the hell did you get THAT tome?!"

"I grabbed it when a companion and I fought and defeated the Sorcerer Gharnef. Ever since, I've seemed to be the only person who can use it."

"Oooookaaayyyyy..." he says...still seeming nervous.

"...I'll just...go see if they're in there..." I reply.

"Alright. Just be careful," he says softly, nodding at me.


Daniel's Point of View

I finish putting the Space Suit on. Fortunately, the guy inside DID wear a jumpsuit under it. I also check the guy's gun. He's got...a TON of ammo for it. I hear the door to the side open, and out comes Katarina, a Purple Space Suit under one arm, and a bag in the other, as well as two swords on her belt and 3 staves strapped to her back...and in a totally different outfit: she's dressed like her Fire Emblem Awakening Artwork, with a Tactician's Cloak, short skirt, golden chestplate, and gold-plated knee-high boots.

"So...looks like they DID have your things in there, huh?" I ask.

She nods. "Also had my other outfit in there...and I found this as well." She tossed me another bag.

I look inside...and the stuff I usually carry with me: my laptop and charging cord, my tablet and charger, my smartphone and charger, my notebooks (as in actual books), my MP3 Player and Charger, my flash drives (including my recreational one and the one with all my Dungeons and Dragons PDFs), and my external hard drives are all present. "Awesome!" I yelled, as I put the items in the suit's inventory system, some kind of...I don't know, spatial compression? Digitization? Magic? Whatever...either way, it's stored in a space too small for it normally. "So...why is the suit just under your arm there?" I ask her.

"...I...couldn't figure out how to...get the space suit on..." She seems embarrassed as she mentions the second part.

"The cloak might be interfering, but you may be able to put that on top of the space suit," I say, "Other than that, you just...stick your feet into the legs of the suit and climb in..."

I spend the next 10 minutes trying to help Katarina get into the space suit. Finally, we manage to get it on, with her cloak over it, and the rest of her outfit underneath. Her swords and staves are also being held in the suit's inventory.

Anyways, she equips her Nosferatu and Imhullu Tomes, while I take the Pirate's rifle. "Well..." I begin to say, before stopping myself.

"Almost time for the hardest part to hit us..." Katarina replies.

I sigh. "I know..."

And...at that moment...the alarm goes off..."Called it..." Katarina groans.

"Don't remind me-" The station rumbles. "Huh...well, what do you know, they're under attack..." It was only a moment later I recognized the nonchalance I spoke with.

Katarina raises an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"Uh, space stations don't just rock like that. That HAD to have been an impact..."

Katarina thought for a moment. "It DID feel like something impacting a sailing ship..." she comments after a moment.

"Yeah, and it's the same concept here: something hit the station, and it's gonna give us a chance to escape."

"Escape. How?" she asks.

"Find the hangar, steal a craft, fly out...maybe find a potential ally..."

Katarina thinks for a moment, and exasperatingly shaking her head, she comments, "Well, it's as good a plan as any right now...Who flies the craft though? I doubt I'd have the skills to pilot something from this realm."

"Neither do I...but I might be able to figure something out: I've played a few flight simulator gamea, and I may be able to carry SOMETHING over...if the ship's controls are similar enough..."

Katarina sighs. "Well...it's the best we got."

"Don't worry," I state, looking at her and placing a hand on her shoulder, "We'll get out of here." Through her transparent visor, I can see her look up at me, and smile a little. I nod to her. "Alright, let's get moving!"


Daniel's Point of View (Still)

*Music Track: "Renegade" by Daughtry*

The alarm continues to blare, as Katarina and I take off running. As we come around a corner, a trio of Pirates find us and open fire. Fortunately, they are from the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy and missed us every shot.

"Thank God for bad guy clichés," I say.

"Huh?" Katarina ask.

"Nevermind!" I reply, as I turn around and return fire...and miss almost as badly. "Dammit!" We continue running, turn into a door...and come face to face with the station's reactor. "Well...this was a wrong turn: the reactor is probably near the core of this station...which means we're as far away from any hangars as we can get..."

"Well, let's try the other way..." Katarina called to me, and checked out the door.

Then...I realized something. "Although..." I mutter to myself, before going to one of the terminals. Seeing that the displays are not only written in English, but also seem to utilize a kind of future-tech Windows System, I smile devilishly. "I have an idea!" I call to Katarina, "Can you give me a few minutes?"

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Gonna see if I can pull up a map of this place!" I call back. It was a half-truth, but it's still a truth.

"Alright. Just tell me when you have it!" Katarina replies, firing at the Pirates who came running, using Imhullu. Wise choice, since Imhullu has unlimited uses...I think...

Anyways, let's see...uh-huh, security measures that spit in the face of EVERYTHING I learned in the ITT Information Systems and Cybersecurity Program. Well, it was easy to pull up and download the map, putting it in one of my external hard drives (Who knew they still used USB ports in the future? What is it at now? USB...25? It DID download very quickly...). Now, to add a little mix to the system, something I'm gonna call-

"Daniel!" Katarina calls to me.

"Alright, alright, just finishing up!" I call, adding the finishing touches to my 'going away present'. I mean, what I added, I have no qualms for: I looked it up: we're the only prisoners there. Once it was finished, I called, "Got it! Let's go!"

Katarina nodded, and fires a Thoron Blast at the enemy, before we both take off running again. We continued fleeing, until we came up to a hangar, like we were looking for...except an enemy fighter-wait, isn't that a Hornet from Star Citizen?-appeared in front of us...all guns pointed at us...

...Shit...

Fighter at one end, army of Pirates at the other..."This...is NOT good..." I say to Katarina.

"Yeah, it isn't..." she replies to me...She's shivering...quivering in fear. I'd know: so am I.

"Well...if this is it..." I begin.

"...Take some with us?" she asks me.

"...Yeah..." I reply.

I'm about to activate my comm, release my little 'present', when suddenly, the ceiling blasts open (leaving us glad we were in space suits) and...a Huggy-Bear-style Mining Ship crashes through? It was red instead of the Huggy-Bear Yellow, but the design was the same.

Whatever it was, it just crashed through the ceiling and is hurdling towards the enemy fighter. The fighter tries to maneuver but someone put too much thrust on the mining ship, which then crashes into the fighter, allowing myself and Katarina to escape. "MOVE!" I yell, and usher Katarina away from the crashing ships...just in time too, as the platform collapses around the crash site, the mining ship only barely holding on. We continue down the hangar, looking for a ship, but all of them were either damaged or single-seaters. While neither of us can pilot, we'd agreed I'd pilot the craft since I have a better chance of at least figuring SOMETHING out...

...And just as we were giving up hope was when we found one: a reconstruction of the ARC-170 Fighter. Two of them, actually...guarded by Pirates...

...Shit...

We're outnumbered 5 to one...I mean, Katarina MIGHT be able to handle those odds, but once I go down, it raises to 10 to one...and I don't think she can handle that-

GUN FIRING!

I tackle Katarina to the ground, as a gun sweeps over us and hits some of the guarding pirates. We quickly look around, and 2 humans in grey space suits, and an android with green parts charge forward, rifles in hand, firing on the Pirates. I pick up my rifle, and, foregoing spray-and-pray, just try to fire single or burst shot at the black-suited Pirates. I even manage to get a shot or two on the mark, killing a couple. The added reinforcement is what we need to turn the tide in our favor, and we finally succeed in down the pirates guarding the ARC-170s.

Finally, our rescuers approach us.

"Hey, I'm guessing you two are not pirates," said a rough male voice.

Another voice, a calmer male voice, added, "If so, you're in luck."

These voices sound familiar somehow...

"Yes, we came here looking for supplies, and instead, we found a base full of pirates." A Synthetic...of course. NOW I know where I remember these guys from! "It is not our day," says what sounds like AI-Alteran from The XP Gamers' Space Engineers Survival Series. That means...the rough-voice man is probably Valefor and the calmer one Captain Shack. But just to be sure...

"Well, that's good. I'm Daniel, and this is Katarina. We were both captured somehow and imprisoned here. We only just escaped."

"Ah, good to meet you," the guy who I guessed was Captain Shack replies, "I'm Shack. Captain Shack. The Security Guy is Valefor and the AI is Alteran."

"Please to meet you," Katarina replies.

"Hey, what's with the book, lady?" Valefor asked crudely.

Katarina's eyes narrow behind her transparent visor. "It is a Tome, not a Book…"

"Book, Tome, what's the difference?" Valefor asks.

Katarina quickly whips out her Thoron Tome. "THORON!" The lance of Lightning shoots out and causes Valefor to leap into the air.

"AH! WHAT THE SHIT?!" he shouts as he does so.

Captain Shack just laughs. "Well, I guess that answers that..."

"I suggest we hijack the Pirates' fighters and escape. These fighters should be enough to fit all 5 of us, considering they are all 3-seaters," Alteran comments.

"That's what we were going to do!" I shout, "Come on!"

Shack, Valefor, and Alteran load up in one ARC-170 and myself and Katarina load up in the other. "Ok, ok...checking readouts...Seems like a simple joystick for navigation, and...everything is labeled. That's good. You alright in the co-pilot seat, Katarina?"

"I'm alright," the tactician called back.

"Then let's LAUNCH!" I yell, as I kick off with the bottom thrusters, as the trio's ship does the same. I then say over the radio. "Just bear with me guys, this is my first time flying a ship."

"Silence over the comm...then..."And you couldn't ask one of us to pilot for you?" Captain Shack asks.

"...Dammit..." I reply, "Well...too late now, might as well just go with this for now..."

"Right, kid, just stay close, we'll get you and the girl out of here..."

"Alright!" I reply. The trio's fighter thrusts forward...us following shortly after. "By the way, I got something to leave for our 'hosts'..."

Katarina then comments, "Wait, what do you mean?"

"I did something else when I nabbed us a map," I reply.

"Well, unless it involves turning this base into fireworks, I'm not interested," Valefor replies.

"Then you will be VERY interested," I say slyly. Then I link my comms to the base allowing everyone to hear me as I say, "Execute Order 66!" I disconnect from the base, and I say to the others, "I ALWAYS wanted to order that!" I say that...as the base begins to start going up in explosions.

"Damn, kid! Whaddya do?!" Valefor asked.

"Placed a self-destruct order in their computers when I hacked in looking for a map," I reply.

"THAT'S why it took you so long?!" Katarina asks, "I almost lost my Nosferatu Tome due to overuse, and now I have to leave it to recharge for a few days because of it!"

"Well, I just wanted to make sur-wait...your tomes can recharge uses?" I ask, once realizing what she said.

"Yes, they can, as long as they remain above zero uses. You know about tomes, but not that part?" Katarina asks.

"We only have them in legends, not in real life, so we don't have all the information," I reply. Katarina just sighs and continues waiting there. Just then...

"We have enemy fighters incoming," says Alteran, who played co-pilot on the trio's ARC-170.

"I roger. Locking S-Foils in attack position!" I reply, before opening the S-Foils, then saying, "I always wanted to say that too!" Then, we fired on the fighters that charged us. Apparently, I'm better with a fighter than a gun, because I manage to score a few kills...of course, Captain Shack manages to score more than me, not to mention Valefor on the rear gun of the other fighter.

And soon...we exit the asteroid the base was hidden in, with several enemy fighters on our tail...who get engulfed as the asteroid explodes, us just barely escaping the blast.

*End Track*

Then, Alteran contacts us. "I am linking my AI to your craft now. We will take you with us to our base. It should be as good a place as any to stay until you find a place of your own."

"That'll be good, thanks Alteran," I reply, as both of our fighters jump to light speed.


Well...that's the beginning of the fanfic, let's hope this one is good. Shaky premise, maybe, but I think it's good...

Originally, the break-out and the hangar escape were going to be separate chapters, but I decided I wanted the chapter to be a bit larger, so I put them together.