Key:
Normal voices - "Hello there."
Vox or robotic speakers - "FOR THE EMPEROR!" "Pathetic fleshling."
Telepathic or disembodied voice - "You foolish barbarians!"
Internal thoughts - 'What was that?'
"In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, there is ONLY War."
A malevolent being so twisted, that the mere sight of him would drive any mortal (and sometimes immortal) being insane, gazed upon the universe and the sentient specks that populated it from its domain within the Warp. Normally, when it did this, it would see near limitless potential change, whether this change is ever beneficial for anyone besides this being's enjoyment is up for debate. But now... All is saw was an almost stalemate with the fluidity of an ocean's tides. While there were great battles won and lost, planets taken or destroyed, it never went anywhere. There warring factions, including its own, still had the same level of strength of that millennial ago, or at least when compared to its foes. Sure, relics where discovered, powerhouses made their appearances, and progress was made, but at the same pace as literally everyone else.
This infuriated the being to no end. This stagnant war, this unending war. Don't get it wrong, this being loved war, not as much as some nor for simply the sake of war, but for the ends war could meet for it. But those ends, those changes, couldn't be noticed, or even matter for any case, if nothing even changed. Granted, a lot of its schemes fell through simply because of their complexity or simply just weren't meant to be. But despite all its efforts, this war never changed. Ever.
Finally, the being noticed this reoccurring complaint throughout its many streams of consciousness, deciding to do something about this bland war. But what? Nothing it could do short of manifesting itself in the Materium would cause a big enough change to alter the course of this war, let alone its style and tactics. One strain of thought snickered:
'At least, not in this time. All of these species are too 'Stuck in ruts' to do anything else.'
The other strains fell silent as the being turned its full metal power to this notion.
"Changing the course of history? Hmm... Yes, that would be a wonderful addition to my plans!"
The twisted being laughed hysterically at not only the notion itself, but the possibilities it opened.
"Well then, let's see who our 'lucky individuals' are... Kekekeke!"
That day, the Materium was ravaged by freak warp storms that consumed forces from all the factions, never to be seen again.
"This is Brother captain Lu'man, to all forces, report!"
"Brother captain, this is Lieutenant Ko'van, all of my forces seemed to have received no apparent damage."
A chorus of similar responses followed suit.
"Thank the Emperor, but now is not the time to relax, secure this area, and let us pray for his continued protection!"
"""For the Emperor!"""
"Brother! I'm picking up other Vox signals!"
Percy was exhausted as he got out of his car, even if It was only just before lunch. This was caused by his uncle, whose house he was living in, who had him pick up a package from the local hobby store, which generously specialized in models and figurines. Percy had gotten forcibly sucked into a couple of the store's employee's conversations, leaving him exhausted after the ordeal.
Percy wasn't a very big people person. Sure, he had a couple of good friends and when out of his house for nerdy events, but was still exhausted by dealing with people with high energy. It didn't help that he didn't get out very much anymore.
This was also due to his Uncle Jim suddenly stupid rich, by winning the lottery as well as bagging a sweet job as a high-level manager in Comic-con. This allowed him to buy multiple houses as well as blow money on basically anything he wanted. This being his war miniatures hobby and spoiling his fresh out of college nephew by giving him one of his houses he no longer used enough for it to be worth keeping. This came with the conditions that his Uncle is allowed to crash there whenever he wanted as well as Percy keep the house in a presentable state at any given time, in case Uncle Jim decided to 'entertain some lady friends'.
It was beyond Percy how his Uncle Jim, the weird nerd when growing up, is now stupid rich and can pick up women whenever he wants. Not that Percy cared very much, his uncle hadn't visited him once in the little over half a year he had been there, and if his last phone call he had with him was anything to go off of, wouldn't for months. Percy worked as a freelance programmer and worked from home, allowing him the invest a considerable amount of time into his own miniature collection. Granted, he had neither the time nor the considerable amount of money needed to support an extensive Warhammer 40k army he dreamed of, but he was rather proud of his personal Necron army and its diorama that he had been working on for some time.
This was until his Uncle told him he would foot any bill he had concerning the miniatures, and had shown him his massive collection of the Sci-Fi warriors in his basement. Even with the half a year he had, he only managed to build a small Tau regiment and expand his Necron army a bit, but even the smallest force under his Uncle control could steamroll his poor little armies.
Percy smiled as he thought about working on his forces, dreaming of the day when he could deck it out with his Uncle's armies and actually have a reasonable chance of winning. That was until he heard the sound of an explosion from inside his house right as he reached the door.
"Keep those Gue'la down there!"
Percy frowned with his hand hovering in front of the keyhole. He knew that he had left nothing on that morning, and didn't know of a single thing that would have made that noise. Very slowly, he turned the key, using both hands to keep the lock from clanking open, followed by the door itself. What greeted him was the sight of a small Tau Tio've, or contingent of about 60 individuals, swarming around the doorway that lead downstairs. Percy froze, peeking through a barely opened door, taking in this impossible situation.
Percy's house was three stories tall with the main entrance being on what many would consider the second floor. Percy personally considered the main entrance the first floor while the ground level floor was the basement. Upon entering the main entrance, one was graced with a hallway that lead into the main living room while on the immediate left was the doorway to the kitchen and the right was the guest bedroom. Currently the Tau where around a doorway midway down and on the right side of the hall that lead to the stair case down to the basement. While he couldn't see it himself, due to him knowing the layout of his own house and could hear the sounds of it, Percy knew they were using the landing as a staging area that was just before the stairs the were on the right side of it if one were facing the doorway.
But just before that very door, also on the right side, used to be the diorama of a Tau base that Percy constructed. While a Tau base was still there, it was no longer a diorama. Even from this distance (especially if the take the size into consideration) Percy could tell that it wasn't made of plastic anymore. The base itself was on a wheeled display platform about four feet off of the ground, the dimensions of this platform being 2'6'' X 9' (He was very proud of it) and supported all the cover and height advantage a Tau could want. But now, it was not only where the fortification he himself put in, but actual military buildings, large turrets, bunkers, and towers, with Tau scurrying all over.
While Percy started to get over his initial shock, and started to marvel at the sight before him, his awe was cut short when the sentries on the fort wall facing him started yelling and bringing their guns to bare. In hind sight, it seemed common sense that any good sentry would notice some akin to the cliff face of the Grand Canyon suddenly moving and an equally gigantic figure peering from behind it. With a freighted squeak, Percy swiftly pulled away and slammed the door shut.
He stood there with his heart pounding in his ears as he heard more explosions and yelling. A quick mental flex put a very, while normally idiotic, but now very logical, explanation to those noises.
"All the Warhammer guys have come to LIFE?!"
That meant all the massive armies that were sitting in the basement were now running around blowing things up as well as each other. While he mind tried to reject what it was being shown, a 'DIE XENO SCUM!' in a rather familiar voice pattern prevented him from doing so. He stood there for some time, trying to get his thoughts in order and praying that this was some crazy dream. But he knew that this was no dream, his morning had been to real, and a quick pinch shattered any chance of it being a dream. His panicky thoughts were broken when a heard a soft knock on the door, followed by an equally muffled male voice called through.
"Um, excuse me, I know this may be a bit forward, but might you be willing to have a diplomatic meet with the Tau empire?"
…
'WHAT?!'
But despite his shock, his polite behavior that was impressed upon him from birth, pushed him to slowly open the door again. Standing right there by the door-frame, was a XV8 Crisis Battle suit, with the stereotypical color scheme of tan with a white head. The reason it had been able to knock on the door in the first place was due to its one of its arms not sporting a weapon. It walked through the gap in the door and approached Percy in as regal a manor one can have in one of those large robot suits. It then suddenly bowed to the comparatively gigantic human before craning back to look up at him.
"Greetings from the great Tau empire! My name is Shas'o T'au Shoh, but before we begin, can you in fact understand me?"
Percy nodded dumbly, trying to keep his jaw from going slack as he knelt down to allow the Tau a more comfortable stance while making eye (even if there was mechanical optics) contact.
"Great! Now, are we correct in assuming that this structure is in fact your personal residence?"
Another nod. A wayward glance behind the polite representative revealed a handful of battle suits and support vehicles making their way over, but keeping a respective distance.
"Then allow me to apologize on behalf of our great empire for suddenly coming into your dwelling uninvited and causing such thoughtless death and destruction, but you see, we are currently facing a foe that wishes for nothing short of our extinction, so please do not hold it against us for defending ourselves."
Using his vague knowledge of Tau lore, Percy translated the individual's name to be Commander Shoh. He gulped as he realized that Shoh, and all the individuals behind him were waiting for his reply. It made sense in a way, for the person who owns the house to be mad when a bunch of weirdos just appear out of nowhere and start blowing things up. Percy realized they were trying to appease him by the Commander himself coming to speak with him in an nonthreatening manner.
"Uh, W-well, since your apologizing and explained, I guess it's alright."
Percy managed to get out, offering a small smile to the miniature commander. This seemed to be the right approach as all the individuals behind Commander Shoh visibly relaxed and when back to reinforce whatever the hell was going down in the stairwell.
"Your forgiveness in this transgression will not be forgotten. But I'm afraid I must ask for your generosity once more. Would you be willing to assist us in the name of the Greater Good of us both?"
Percy almost instantly said no, but managed to catch himself before he was caught up in the heat of the moment. Did he want to help the Tau, he knew that they weren't fighting mindless Tyranids or freaking Chaos. They were fighting, from the amount of self-righteous yelling, the Imperium. That meant there was humans, granted they were the size of his thumb, fighting and dying in his very basement. There was also the Eldar, which he could also hear if the horrifying shrieks and yells containing 'MON'KEIGH!' were anything to go off of. It seemed that the only reason that the Tau weren't being steamrolled by the massive armies downstairs was because they were too busy dealing with each other seriously mess with the Tau that had entrenched themselves at the top of the stairs.
Percy tried to push aside how weird and impossible this was, talking to aliens that don't exist, and could fit in his hand, with minimal success. He realized that if he didn't stop them, they could, and would, literally bring down the house if they so pleased, which would probably be as soon as the two great factions downstairs finish decking it out. But getting the warriors of the 41st millennium to stop fighting? They're sentient beings, a bit of 'shock and awe' might get them to stop for a moment, but what then?
"But do not feel at all obligated to get yourself involved with our struggles. If you so wish, we shall leave, hopefully drawing these barbaric fiends with us. Though I do suggest you don't let them capture you, while you might look human, I doubt they will spare you."
Commander Shoh broke Percy's musing by offering him a way out. While some might think it would be amazing to hang out with the guys from the 41st, but Percy knew how they acted in their comfortable environments, let alone one they didn't understand. The Tau were fine, but literally anyone else? You would need a very good excuse just for them not to shoot you in the face. But that was if you suddenly bumped into them, not if they were dumped into your house!
Percy realized he had neglected to ask one of the most obvious questions in situation such as this.
"But, why are you guys here?"
The commander paused before looked down and answering in a solemn tone.
"None of us really know. One moment, we were preparing our forces on a planet, and the next, the planet was being devoured by a warp storm. Somehow it wasn't hurting us or the base, and when it passed-"
He gestured to his alien surroundings.
"We were here, base and all."
Percy pondered this, not liking where this was leading, when a louder explosion followed by Tau screams rang out. Commander Shoh spun around and assessed the forces he could see before turning back.
"As much as I would like to enjoy your hospitality, I am afraid we must overcome some grievous odds. I am not sure if we, without your help, we can defeat them. If you do not wish to fight, will you at least assist with our evacuation?"
Percy thought fast. While he didn't want to deal with these warring factions, he most certainly couldn't allow them to run around causing problems in the real world. With the vaguest of plan in mind, he responded, with what he hoped was a firm tone.
"No, I wish to try something first. Tell your forces to fall back, I want to try to talk to them."
The Commander tilted his head to the side, creating a rather adorable image with the circular eyed machine, before nodding.
"Very good. I will assist you in trying to make peace rather than war, especially considering the situation we apparently all find ourselves in. "
Percy smiled at the tiny being as he called his forces to fall back and fortify the base. They had apparently been moving from it to the ground by using their dropships, so it wasn't a big problem for them to go back. After he said farewell, Commander Shoh sprinted back to his forces, overseeing them boarding their Orca Drop Ship that ferried them back up to the base. Pushing himself past his rising nervousness, Percy finally entered his house.
The fire warrior collectively paused and looked at him warily before a bark from Commander Shoh got them moving again, but Percy could still see a lot of them shooting him glance, even from Shoh himself. Percy nervously smile and offered a small wave, which, much to his surprise, was returned by quite a few of the fire warriors. Slowly, he made his way over to the doorway and looked in.
What greeted him was the sight of countless bullet holes and smoking craters to the point that the area looked more like a piece of burnt cheese than anything else. He could still hear the sounds of battle, but now that this area had fallen silent, he could hear the sound of metal and machinery slowly getting closer. It seemed the even with the fierce battle going on, there was still enough spare forces to chase the Tau.
He knew that if he just popped up on them, they would instantly shoot him, regardless if they were smart enough to realize he probably lived here. Thinking fast, he remembered that his Uncle kept a rubber mallet in one of the cupboards in the kitchen, saying 'you never know when you need to hit something hard'. He realized what he meant by that when pests kept making their way into the house, the kind that could shrug off being hit by a measly fly-swatter. He went and grabbed the roughly foot and a half long tool and returned to the doorway.
He could see the Tau watching him intently as he tried to stead his breathing. He stood there for a bit, not just to steady his raging nerves, but also come up with something intelligent to say. These aren't the kind of people that will stop fighting simply because something big tells them to stop. When a passable one came to mind, he smiled and straighten his back. He raised the hammer in his right hand to his left, before bringing it down as hard as he could against the doorframe attached to the hallow wall, creating a deep tone.
BOOOM!
The sounds in the stairway ceased, and the ones downstairs lessened to a degree. He raised it again
BOOOM!
The silence increased, while he knew they could hear him now if he yelled, he wanted to make a good first impression. He struck two more times for good measure.
BOOOM!
BOOOM!
Now, silence reigned supreme throughout the house. Percy drew his breath while he still had everyone's attention. He yelled in as deep and as demanding tone as he could, which was considerable considering he had a slightly deeper voice than most and was used to having to yell over noise.
"Attention all forces! I am the master of this dwelling! Cease your pointless struggles and return to your bases immediately! Failure to comply will result in immediate punishment!"
While he knew it wasn't the smartest thing to say, he honestly got caught up in the moment. Although, he did catch some the Tau shuddering out of the corner of his eye. He prayed that the others had the sense of mind not to piss off whatever could make such a loud noise for no reason.
"The Imperium of Man submits only to the God-Emperor! Not to any alien nor daemon! Especially one the refuses to show itself! Come out and face us with your so called 'punishment', and we shall return it tenfold!"
""""FOR THE EMPEROR!""""
A rather impressive come back with a resounding cheer resounded. Percy sighed with a 'Let me guess who that was.' and decided to continue his act. While he did see what their weapons had done to the stairway, he hoped they didn't instantly shoot him if he didn't attack.
With purposely heavy steps, he walked into the stairway, outlined by light due to the bulbs in the area being literally blown up. He struck a strong stance and layered it on thick.
"Will you now?"
There was a series of 'By the Emperor...'s as he glared down on the living toys. Assembled before him, was a massive host of the Imperium of man, probably the cause of their bravado. Forces from the Space Marine chapters Salamander, Grey Knight, and Imperial Fist were present, along with some Sisters of Battle and Imperial Guardsmen as well. But all of them seemed to step back as he appeared before them. But for all their fear, Percy could see the Space Marines and Commissars already coming to, bringing their guns to bare on the veritable titan before them. The barrels of many heavy vehicles angled up and locked onto him, causing him to start sweating him fear, but he knew he had to keep a brave face to keep them in line. He couldn't see any Eldar, but he knew where they were.
"My name is Percival Reacher, I am the caretaker of this house. Cease your foolish squabbles and return to your bases, before you incur my wrath in the name of defending my home."
To make a point, he struck a more thoroughly destroyed section of the wall, causing the outer layer to collapse to the floor.
"If you wish to speak before returning, I will hear you out. But otherwise, go back and I'll discuss matters with you in detail later. I mean you no harm, but will resort of violence if you refuse to listen to reason. Do I make myself clear?"
A Commissar popped out of a tank and glared at Percy before yelling back
"We will not be fooled by your trickery, filth! We shall pure you and these xeno s-"
Said Commissar was silenced when a Salamander Marine casually backhanded him, sending him flying. A more ornate space marine stepped forward and spoke.
"While I do not hold it against that man, his words are foolish. But I am afraid that we cannot listen to your demands while the questions of what you are and where we are remain unanswered."
While the rest of the Imperium turned and gaped at them, all of the space marines showed signs of agreement. Percy blinked at the sudden change of pace, but didn't want to push his luck. He tried to appear peaceful as he spoke.
"Well, I am a human. I-I guess from the planet Earth, which you're on right now."
A bunch of confused expressions met his statement, granted he could only barley make out the reactions on exposed guardsmen, the space marines were little better than statues.
"Sir Percival, by 'Earth' would you by chance mean Terra?"
Percy didn't know why, but the atmosphere froze. But then the answer hit him like a power fist. He struggled to keep his voice steady as he answered.
"People of the 41st millennium, welcome to the 21st century."
END OF CHAPTER 1