Gamers on the Multiverse...WTF!
Chapter 6
Lord-of-Change
Hello everybody! welcome back to Gamers in the Multiverse! This chapter was brought to us by Lord of Change, an author who I really respect and am completely surprised ever decided that my story was interesting enough to join in, Once again i would like to thank each and every one of you for helping this community-borne story grow as fast as it has. Thank you so much. Please enjoy!
(Insert Star Wars The Clone Wars Opening Theme)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The most dangerous threat, is the one you don't see coming
(Music at 00:16)
"Dark tidings in the air! As the Clone Wars continues its relentless march across the galaxy, more and more systems are forced into the conflict, siding with either the Republic or the Separatists. Armies of clones and droids clash with one another all over the galaxy, vying for control over important systems. In this rapidly growing frontline, Republic forces are stretched to their limits with protecting Republic space from nefarious foes like Count Dooku and General Grievous. With casualties mounting for both the clones and the Jedi, all available reserves are rushed to the frontlines. And with the Senate convinced that the greatest threat lies in the Separatists, many systems on the edges of the known galaxy are dismissed as unimportant to the war effort and are thus deprived of a Republic presence to be properly monitored, leaving vast swathes of space empty for new foes to grow and flourish in. Following a vision granted by the Force, Grand Master Yoda of the Jedi Council, has called a meeting of grave importance with the rest of his fellow council members, to discuss the possibility of a new threat growing out in deep space. One that may secretly conspire the downfall of the Republic, and bring about the destruction of everything in the galaxy,"
(End music here)
The mood in the Council chamber could at best be described as somber, as they sat and pondered Yoda's words. Then again, the mood in the Council had been somber ever since the Clone Wars began.
"Are you certain of this?" Mace Windu finally asked, eyes locked onto the diminutive Jedi Master, who for his part looked like all of his years of living had finally caught up with him.
"Certain of this, I am. Warning me, the Force is. In grave danger, we all are," he answered as he let his ancient eyes wander over each member of the Council, even those who were only present via holographic images.
"This bode ill for us all. Most of our forces are already tied down in heavy fighting throughout the galaxy, and we have already lost many of our fellow Jedi," Jedi Master Plo Koon spoke as he leaned forward in his seat hands folded before his face as a sign of deep thinking.
"Nevertheless, we should take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves. If this new threat is as dangerous as Master Yoda says it is, then we can ill afford to waste time," the elderly Ki-Adi-Mundi, or at least the holographic image of Ki-Adi-Mundi, stated with concern. Understandable, as he was currently tied down in heavy fighting with Separatist forces in the Outer Rim. He had already lost many good men, he was not interested in losing more.
"Then our first priority should be to convince the Senate about the seriousness of this," another Council member, Jedi Master Adi Gallia, declared. But her words was met with a tired sigh from Obi-Wan Kenobi's hologram.
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid. The Senate is completely single-minded in their determination to destroy the Separatists. They won't waste time and resources on an unknown enemy without solid proof," he revealed while rubbing his forehead in annoyance, clearly tired of politicians and their games.
"Agreed. Without proof, the Senate won't act against this threat, especially since we don't even know where it will come from," Windu added gravelly, eyebrows furrowed as he no doubt pondered what could be done in their situation.
"Should we not at least bring our concerns to the Chancellor? Even if the Senate won't act, it would still be best to bring this to their attention, as I'm sure there'll be at least a few willing to listen" the aquatic alien Kit Fisto pointed out calmly, earning many nods of agreement from his fellow council members.
"Cautiously, we must treat this," Grand Master Yoda suddenly spoke up again, drawing everyone's attention. "What we face, no one knows. Where they are, no one knows. A mystery, this new foe is. Believe us, few will. Help us, even fewer will," a short pause followed as Yoda closed his eyes in contemplation before resuming. "Alert the Chancellor, we should. Notify other Jedi, we must as well. But keep details to ourselves, for the best it is I believe. Until proof of this menace we have, a quiet affair we should keep it," once he was finished speaking, silence fell over the Council Chamber, with each member thinking over Yoda's words.
"I agree with this plan," Plo Koon finally broke the silence with his declaration, and he was swiftly followed by others.
"As do I," was Obi-Wan's response.
"And I," Windu concurred.
"I as well," Kit Fisto added. And so, one by one, each Council member gave their consent with Yoda's suggestion, until they had come to a unanimous decision.
"Then it is decided," Windu announced. "Yoda and I shall speak with the Chancellor about this matter, while it falls to the rest of you to inform those Jedi knights you feel need to know about this. May the Force be with us all,"
….
There were plenty of things in life that could annoy the Stormlord. There were some things that could anger him. There were a handful of things that could make him livid. But there were rarely anything that could make the Stormlord absolutely ignited with rage and anger, to make him curse and dream up such diabolical means of torture that it would make a Slaaneshi daemon whimper in fear and a Dark Eldar green with envy. In he span of a few hours, Bazerker had managed to climb his way to the top of this very small and privileged list. As the Stormlord sat upon hs throne, fuming in pure rage while waiting for news, all he could think about was what he would do with that degenerate fool once he got his hands on him. His end would be the stuff of nightmares, the Stormlord would see to it personally.
"My lord, I believe I have found out exactly where we are now," Trazyn suddenly reported in, bringing a small ray of sunshine to the Stormlord's so far dark day. 'Finally, now we can at last make some progress again,' the Stormlord thought to himself in satisfaction.
"Very good. So where are we then?" he asked, already planning his next move against Bazerker. 'Just you wait, you gold-skinned maniac, you'll regret the day you tried to stop me,' he thought to himself gleefully, already envisioning the destruction he would wreak on the fool.
"It appears we are in the Hoth System, located in the Outer Rim territories," and those news stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Hoth System? Outer Rim? There are no such places in the Milky Way galaxy," he commented to himself in confusion. Rightly so, for the Stormlord had spent years extensively studying each and every map of the galaxy, and never once had he come across those names. And yet… those names still sounded eerily familiar to him, like he had read about them somewhere. But if they were not part of the Milky Way, then where did he…
It suddenly struck him with the swiftness and force of a thunderbolt.
"Trazyn, where exactly did you find this information?" he found himself asking, already anticipating the answer but still desiring a confirmation that he was not simply coming to foolhardy conclusions.
"I compiled all the information gathered from our scouts and compared them with every piece of archive information, and found a 100 % match with our compiled information on Star Wars lore," Trazyn answered. A deathly silence fell over the bridge, broken only by the Necron automatons tirelessly working at their posts.
"Star Wars," the Stormlord finally spoke again, slowly while pronouncing each syllable loudly and clearly. "We are in the Star Wars galaxy," even as he said it out loud, he still could not believe it. It was absurd, it was preposterous, it was not possible. But it was the truth it seemed.
"Yes, my lord," Trazyn answered yet again, but the Stormlord was barely hearing him, too deep in his own thoughts. How was this possible? The Star Wars universe was supposed to be simple fiction, created by humans centuries ago to entertain the masses. It should not be an entire galaxy of species and governments. Yet as the Stormlord reviewed the data personally, he found the evidence to be irrefutable. He was stranded in what was supposed to be a fictitious galaxy. As the truth finally sunk in, the Stormlord could not help but laugh mirthlessly at his situation.
"An immortal warlord that has recreated the Necron armies from Warhammer 40k suddenly finds himself dumped into the Star Wars galaxy with his entire army. Sounds like the cheap plot of a fanfiction story written by a geek with too much free time," he commented to himself as he smiled humorlessly beneath his helmet. But even as he laughed the absurd nature of his situation, he could not help but wonder what he was supposed to do now. He had not found any other commanders yet, so for the moment he had to assume that he was alone. What was there for him to do then? Conquer the galaxy? What would be the point, what with no Championship?
The only reason he even started his mass crusade across the Milky Way galaxy was to become #1 in the Championship. Now that it was gone, he really had no purpose to continue his war. He supposed he could conquer for the sake of power, of ruling a vast empire. But even that sounded pointless to him. What use could he have of an empire to rule, what with his nano technology able to supply him with whatever he desired? He could get more subjects to rule over, but why bother with pitiful organics when he had his army of machines? Mayhaps he could start some ideological or maybe even religious crusade across the galaxy, but why would he care what the lesser beings believed in? There was also the possibility of waging war simply for the sake of waging war, to kill and destroy for no other purpose than to amuse him. Yet even that sounded pointless. Why waste time destroying the galaxy if there was no one else left afterwards to recognize his achievement?
In the end, the Stormlord came to a startling realization. He was lost. Not in the physical sense, but in the mental one. He no longer had a purpose, no competition to match himself against, no achievements to measure himself against, no overreaching goal to strive for. Simply put, he no longer had a reason to go on. It was a humbling feeling, to say the absolute least, to come to the realization that your life was now completely pointless.
"What am I to do now?" he asked out loud, the faintest hint of despair coloring his words as his empty eyes gazed ahead.
"My lord?" Trazyn asked in concern, worried for the state of his master.
"All my ambitions, all my goals, all my dreams, all has been taken from me. I'm truly lost now, Trazyn, and I don't know how to find my way again," the Stormlord spoke with a hollow tone, losing hope with each second that past. Maybe he should delete himself from the respawn system and give himself a permanent death? It did not sound appealing i the least, but what else was there for him now?
"My lord, there's an urgent message from Illuminor Szeras," Trazyn suddenly announced, snapping the Stormlord out of his suicidal thoughts.
"Patch it through then," he ordered. Seconds later, the holographic image of his chief scientist appeared before him.
"My lord, it is a great relief to hear from you again. When Bazerker's weapon struck us, I feared the worst," the cyclopean machine spoke as he bowed as deeply as his spindly legs allowed him. The Stormlord just waved away his words irritably.
"Spare me the formalities. You had something important to tell me, so spill it now," he commanded, not being in the mood for drawn out discussion.
"But of course, my lord. My fleet is currently in orbit above the planet called Hoth, and I'm already working on establishing an underground base on the planet," Szeras reported.
"Is that all you had to say? Hardly enough to waste my time with," the Stormlord stated in annoyance, causing Szeras to bow his head in subservience.
"Of course not, master. I would never dream of wasting your time with such trivial matters. No, the reason I contacted you is because I have picked up some interesting readings deep beneath the ice," he was quick to reveal, piquing the Stormlord's interest.
"What kind of readings?" he inquired, receiving a shake of the head in response.
"I do not yet know, master. I have never before encountered these kinds of readings. I already have swarms of Canoptek Scarabs digging towards the source, but I thought you might desire to see it with your own eyes," Szeras answered. He quickly recieved an answer from the Stormlord.
"Very well, I will head there with all haste. Whatever it is, wait for my arrival before fully investigating," he ordered, earning himself yet another bow from Szeras.
"As you command, my lord," he said before the hologram was turned off, at which point the Stormlord swiftly began handing out orders to his trusted A.I. advisor ad aide.
"Trazyn, set a course for the planet Hoth, and alert all of our fleets still trying to find their way back to rendezvous with us above the planet. Also, transfer all the data we have on the Star Wars galaxy to every fleet. Have them try to determine during which age we've appeared in, but they're to avoid any and all contact with the locals, I don't want to reveal our presence just yet,"
"As you command, my lord," Trazyn answered before he set about carrying out his lord's will. As the World Engine and its escort fleet entered FTL, the Stormlord leaned back in his throne, a sense of anticipation coursing through him. 'Perhaps I may yet still find a purpose to my existence in this new galaxy,'