Foreword: Hello all! What you see before you is the Prologue for Event Horizon: Storm Of Magic, my entire series of stories set in the same universe: one where Middle Earth, Westeros, and Warhammer Fantasy are all set on planets within the same star system … and one day, all three worlds are forever changed when into this star system arrives a space explorers and colonizers from a 22nd century Earth. So brace yourselves, and read on!
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank everyone at AlternateHistory dot com, the original home of this story, for their inspiration, feedback, and input of ideas that have helped make this story what it is today. I strongly encourage everyone here at to check out the "Alien Space Bats" board over at AlternateHistory, including this story's original post (which includes pictures and maps as well!).
Disclaimer 1: this is a noncommercial fan work meant as a light-hearted parody and transformative work of the original source material, and thus falling within the perimeters of current United States Fair Use Doctrine. Any other new characters or places are my own creation.
Disclaimer 2: in order for this story to work, it is helpful to assume that none of the original works upon which these fictional worlds are based exists on Earth in this alternate timeline.
United Nations Space Vessel U.N.S.V. Belo Horizonte ("Beautiful Horizon") ISXCT-138
Epsilon Eridani System
10.5 lightyears from Sol
October 1, 2154 C.E.
"Attention all personnel!" came the monotone voice of the ship's resident A.I. 'Skippy', thundering throughout the decks and cavernous halls of the Belo Horizonte.
"Attention all personnel!" it boomed again, just in case the first one hadn't been enough to shake up the crew from their slumber. "We are beginning our final stage of deceleration to Epsilon Eridani Target Vector 886374. ETA: 33 hours and 17 minutes. You have been in suspended animation for exactly 179 days, 8 hours, and 12 minutes. Some of you may be experiencing dizziness, lethargy, disorientation, headaches, cramping, loss of motor skills, nausea, loss of control of lower abdominal bodily functions, and so on. Do not panic – these symptoms are normal for extended periods of hyper-sleep, and are only temporary. Medical staff and proper facilities will be provided to you shortly. If symptoms persist 24 hours from now, please report to the infirmary level immediately. Otherwise, all personnel report to your stations in t-minus 30 minutes. Welcome to Epsilon Eridani."
Shit, thought Jonathan Teller, Colonial Director and Chief Representative of The Company's interests on this mission, as he struggled out of his cryo-pod and reached for a nearby disposable sickness bag. Even with the latest Hyperion-class Tachyon Shunt Trans-Light Drive, the voyage between Earth and Epsilon Eridani still took over six months – with the crew put into suspended animation for much of it. Now, cryo-sleep itself was pretty okay – it was the wakeup at the end that always sucked. For this reason, The Company always had its crew awakened from cryo at least a day prior to arrival. That way, the crew had time to recover from "The TiLTS" (Trans-Light Travel Sickness), as they called it.
As Teller finished wretching up the last of the bile that had been sitting frozen in his stomach for the last six months, he heard the message alert on his holoscreen ringing.
"What is it?" he snapped, answering the call, "can't you see I'm busy?"
"Sir!" came the voice of Angela Cheong, Teller's personal secretary, as her face appeared on the holoscreen. She didn't look much better than he did coming out of cryo, but the look on her face was enough to tell him it was important. "We're receiving a transmission from Earth", she continued. "Highest priority."
Well ... shit, he thought. If the board is trying to reach me before UN mission control does, then it must have been something damn important. "Patch them through", Teller commanded. He took a drink from his rehydration pack, and then quickly tried to compose himself as best he could in the minute or so it took to establish a working connection.
Being virtually mass-less, electromagnetic waves were far, far easier to transmit over the light-speed barrier than solid objects like the Belo Horizonte – with the result that communications could be transmitted almost instantaneously over distances that would have taken years for even the fastest ships in the star fleet to traverse. While the crew had been in cryo en route to Epsilon Eridani, mission control back on Earth had continued to monitor their progress, as well as the live feed from the remote deep space probes sent well ahead of the ship.
"We're getting some strong EM interference from one of the worlds", remarked Angela, "but otherwise we're 97% clear."
"97's good enough. You sure no one's listening in?"
"Signal is through The Company's encrypted channels", she reassured him. "Trust me, the only ones listening in right now are you and I."
Teller's personal holoscreen flashed up with The Company's golden spiral galaxy logo, followed by a view of a well-lit and well-polished corporate boardroom back on Earth. And seated at the head of the table was a familiar face whom Teller had learned to loathe with a passion for the last few years that he had been with The Company.
"Good morning, Director Jonathan P. Teller", came the stern, cold voice of Mr. D. E. Belleville, Executive Director of The Company's space exploration and colonization branch. "We trust you slept well?"
"Good morning … sir. Been better." Now that was putting it mildly.
"We'll need you on your feet for what you're about to hear", said Belleville, brushing away the formalities to cut to the chase. "Anything we discuss in the next few minutes is strictly confidential, highest level. There's been an unexpected development in our plans. While you and your crew were in cryo, the drones reported back to us with … well, you'll see it for yourself".
Teller's personal holoscreen flashed to a 3D interactive map of the Epsilon Eridani System, complete with the Belo Horizonte's current location highlighted, created with the latest real-time feeds from the forward recon probes. The screen immediately zoomed in on the area in question, the fabled "Goldilocks Zone", the area around the star where temperatures were just right ("not too hot, but not too cold either") for sustaining life.
Yep, they were there all right. Three habitable worlds – two roughly "Earth-sized" worlds, and one "super Earth", though all three exhibited gravitic and atmospheric conditions almost identical to Earth's. And at the far side of the star lay a fourth planet, also within the Goldilocks Zone, that might also support life too. The scientists had been at a total loss to explain it – a "one-in-a-trillion-cubed chance" of such a thing, they had said. And yet here they were, as clear as day – three brilliant blue orbs, floating in the vastness of space, no more than a mere 80 million km away from one another, and all ripe for the taking.
The Company had been damn lucky to have earned the exclusive rights to them. The United Nations Administration of Space Exploration and Colonization (UNASEC), who were funding half of this mission, would of course manage scientific endeavors, claim these worlds as "mandates" under their protection, collect taxes from any trade within the system, and all that jazz. But The Company, who were funding the other half, would hold the sole colonization, mineral extraction, and trading rights within the system, at least for the next three decades. As long as they remembered to pay their taxes, let the UN eggheads do their thing (and maybe bribe a UN inspector every now and then to mind his own business), The Company could do as they bloody well pleased for the next 30 years. And if they did well enough until then, the UN might even consider extending that license.
The holoscreen zoomed in onto one of the planets, displaying a table with some basic data about it – diameter, gravity, atmospheric pressure, average temperatures, day lengths, and what not. Apart from the one planet that gave off those bizarre EM readings around its poles, they otherwise all looked pretty normal. Now, what was it The Company needed to discuss so badly, and in private? Could it not have waited 'til the main briefing?
Teller was about to find out. The screen zoomed in onto the planet, through the atmosphere, down to what to a human observer would have seemed like just a couple klicks or so above the ground – even a seasoned "business traveler" like Teller never ceased to be impressed with the spectacular image quality offered up by the latest magnifying lens models made by The Company's optics division. The image on the holoscreen seemed normal enough at first – a forest, some mountains in the background … The Company had discovered and colonized similar worlds before in the neighboring systems, so the vista presented before Teller's eyes didn't impress him too much at first.
And then he saw it. From a distance, he'd mistaken it for another rocky outcropping. But as the viewfinder drew closer, he realized just what it was he was looking at. A series of circular towers rising out of the ground, a great wall between them – a castle, like something out of a damn fantasy novel. And judging from the colorful banners fluttering in the breeze, and the wisps of white smoke rising from the chimney, it clearly wasn't a millennia-old ruin, either. It was inhabited.
"Shit!" remarked Teller. "Does this mean the UN's gonna yank our colonization rights again? Like they almost did back on Alpha Centauri? Now what was that all about, 'Xeno rights' or something?"
"Mr. Teller", Belleville cut him off, "I'm afraid you're looking at just the tip of the iceberg". With that, he sent the viewfinder right down to just above street level.
Perhaps it was still the side effects of waking up from cryo-sleep that were getting to him. But Teller nearly threw up again from the shock of what he was seeing.
As the viewfinder zoomed in onto the castle's courtyard, Teller saw that it was populated by none other than … than … walking, talking human beings! Goddamn Homo sapiens! People! People everywhere! There were Humans standing guard on the walls, clad in armor and swords like something out of a fairy tale. There were humans toiling away out in the fields. There were Humans milling about inside, peddling wares, haggling over prices. There were Humans riding horses or practicing archery, and all clad in costume that wouldn't have looked out-of-place at a damn Renaissance faire.
Teller was left speechless. What the hell was going on?! Was this a bloody dream? Was he still in cryo? Was this the cryo-drugs acting up again? How was this even possible?! Convergent evolution? Aliens abducting people from Earth in the distant past? Or had Humans come to Earth from here? Too many possibilities flooded into Teller's mind!
Whatever it was, he knew that his job had just taken a nosedive from the cliffs of sanity, down into the murky depths of the bizarre. "Who..." he stammered, "... who else knows about this?"
"Well, thanks to the information socialists over at the UN, everyone."
"Well … fuck! That complicates things."
"We figured as much", replied Mr. Belleville. "Can you imagine the shitstorm the media caused here on Earth? We're now getting all kinds of activists and pressure groups demanding that the UN revoke our exclusive rights to the system! They keep moaning about 'non-interference in native affairs', and how we should leave these Medieval savages to carry on wallowing in their own filth in peace. Oh, and apparently, 'it's morally wrong for us to monopolize and control all contact with our fellow Human beings'. Give me a break! Fucking tree huggers – I wouldn't be surprised if half of these so-called 'social justice warriors' are on our corporate rivals' paycheck."
Teller couldn't think of something to say to remedy the situation, so his boss continued uninterrupted: "Anyway, the UN will be contacting your ship in exactly 23 minutes to break the news to the crew, but I needed to reach you first because I don't want anyone doing or saying anything stupid and compromising the mission. Whatever happens, whatever they say, you are following The Company's directives, not the UN's! Understood? If they ask, just humor them, and reassure them that you've got everything under control and that you've got a plan on how to address these natives. Which you do, by the way, am I correct?"
"What? Uh … I mean, yes, sir! Absolutely!"
"Good. Because what happens next is critical, got that? Thanks to all the media buzz, the UN is now preparing a second mission to follow up with you guys, complete with anthropologists and, get this, a documentary film crew. If they don't like what they see when they get there, they're probably going to pull the plug on our little venture – and not to mention auction our rights off to Nova Corp or Atlas or Yutani, or, worse, close the whole place off to everyone! Good news, though, is we have time. The U.N.S.V. Joseph Conrad departs Earth in three months. That gives you about 283 days before they arrive to get us well established in the system. Do what you need to do. I gave you the best, so use them, God dammit! But be careful who you trust, and keep an eye on the troops – I don't want to hear of anyone 'going native' or anything." He sighed. "This system is a one-in-a-quintillion God-given opportunity for The Company. Do. Not. Fuck. It. Up! And if you're not up to task, I'll make sure to find someone who is. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, sir!" said Teller.
"Good!" replied Belleville. "I'm wiring to you an information packet with all we know so far, plus specific objectives we need to achieve and a timeline for the next 90 days before the Conrad takes off. Focus on doing your job right, and I'll take care of the PR back on Earth. Just don't throw me any curveballs and we'll do fine. And who knows, we pull this off, I might even put in a good word for you with The CEO when you get back. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Are you an effective team?"
"One-hundred-and-one percent, sir!"
"Good. Now go clean yourself up before the UN calls – honestly speaking, you look like shit right now. Over and out". With that, the much-maligned face of Mr. D. E. Belleville thankfully disappeared, replaced once again with The Company logo. Teller still needed a couple minutes though to pull himself together.
"Angela?" he called out at last, "Call Django, Fred, Saito, and anyone else with a Level 5 clearance to my office, right now. I ... I need to speak to them before the briefing."
"I'll get on it right away", she replied over the intercom. "Mission briefing is in 18 minutes in the comm room, by the way. Is there anything else I can do?"
"Uh … yes. If it's not too much to ask for, I need a freakin' drink right now. Anything, as long as it's at least 10% alc/vol. Preferably more. Thanks."
With that, Teller sat back down and just stared ahead. God, he thought, just what have we gotten ourselves into this time?
Somewhere else entirely … another dimension? Another universe? Who knows?
For millennia beyond count, the entity had presided over its world, bound to it, staring only with envy at the other worlds that lay just beyond, tantalizingly just out of its reach.
Until now. As it lay there, continuing to scheme and plot and toy away with the lives of billions of mere mortals, as it had done so for most of its eternal life, it had suddenly become vaguely aware of something moving through the Warp. Something feint and distant, but something new. Something that was not just there, but also getting closer and closer with each passing minute – slowly but surely, sailing across the vast dark aether like a little silver ship upon a black tide of infinite chaos.
The entity stretched out a feeler across the delicate boundary that separated its universe from ours. It could only pick up tiny traces of whatever forces were emanating from this vessel – but so far, it had decided that it really liked whatever it was seeing and hearing and feeling.
It was a living creature all right, and like all living creatures, it too could express desire, greed, ambition, lust, anger, pride, fear, hope … the kinds of weak mortal emotions that this entity and others like it nourished themselves on, and manipulated for their own vile and ruinous purposes. Ah, the list of possibilities was as endless as the black void from whence it came!
Whether friend or foe, this … vessel was about to shake the very core of this world and many others like it, in ways that even the entity, for all of its might and power and influence over the vicissitudes of fate, could not possibly predict.
For better or for worse, change – glorious, wonderful, and, above all, completely chaotic and unpredictable change – had come to its universe. The entity sat back and relished the thought of just how … interesting things were about to get - for this world, for its neighbors, and beyond...