Hello everybody! Bazerkerking here with another addition to the gamer effect! I would like to take the time right now to thank each ad every one of you who have helped this story grow, and for how much effort you have put into this. Thank you, and I hope that this story will continue to grow and expand like it had for a long time.


Nura. Once a prosperous system in the Aethon Cluster and home to a Turian colony, now balancing on the edge of an abyss. The Aru system was already lost, and now Reaper forces were sweeping in by the thousands, determined to exterminate all life in the Cluster. Defense fleets were swatted aside like mosquitos, and research facilities were obliterated without mercy. Now only Oma Ker still held out against the Reaper onslaught, yet even they were fighting a losing battle. Outmanned and outgunned, the proud Turian defenders could do nothing but retreat further and further back.

Distress calls for help had been sent out, but no response had been forthcoming. To the best of the defenders knowledge, they were alone. And their already limited time left in this world was about to grow even shorter, for the Reapers were now done with sweeping the rest of the system clean and were converging all their forces on Oma Ker. Staring defeat in the face, the Turians were determined to sell their lives dearly.

But then, something happened. The Reaper fleet stopped their advance on Oma Ker. Their scouts patrolling the edges of the system had just been destroyed. No confirmation on what destroyed them, but the Reapers were not about to leave their rear exposed. Leaving the invasion force already on Oma Ker to finish the Turians off, the remainder of the fleet turned around and made ready to greet whoever was foolish enough to challenge them.

Then they came. Hundreds of ships, many of such size that they dwarfed even the Reapers, and all armed with weaponry unlike anything they had ever seen. The Stormlord's fleet had finally committed itself against the Reapers. Like all space battles, the first minutes were spent deploying in formations and launching fighters, then both sides accelerated towards one another. The Necrons struck first, as they unleashed a powerful volley of Particle Whips. Destroyers were obliterated and Capital Ships were badly damaged, but the Reapers refused to stop.

Undaunted by the display of firepower, they gave back as good as they got, magnetohydrodynamic cannons firing their streams of molten metal. Shroud Class Cruisers stood no chance and vanished in fiery explosion and Scythe Class Ships received deep wounds in their hulls. The Tomb Ships at the center of the fleet however were all but unharmed. It would take more than that to bring them down.

Tiny explosions began to blossom by the hundreds in the space between the two approaching fleets. Their fighters had engaged one another in fierce dogfights. Leaving the fighters to do their business, the fleets continued to ferociously exchange fire with one another. The Reapers lost more ships, but they had plenty to spare. Concentrated fire from Reaper Capital Ships began to slowly bring the Scythe Class Ships down one by one, and even damaged the gargantuan Tomb Ships. But the Necrons gave as good as they got, taking two Reapers down for every one of their ships.

And yet, it was not enough, the Reapers were just too many. And even now, more Reapers were streaming in to reinforce their kin. That was when the Stormlord revealed his hand. The fleets were only a few kilometers away from one another now, and the Necron ships unleashed their Lighting Arcs. Like forests of living energy tendrils, these waves of electricity passed right through the swarms of fighters battling it out and struck the Reaper fleet. They ensnared the Reapers ships like squids caught in a net, probing their forms for weaknesses and then tearing them open to wreak havoc on the inside. Destroyers died in droves, and dozens of Capital Ships were either crippled or destroyed.

Not even their fighters had been spared from this weapon, as thousands of them had been ripped apart like cheap confetti. But the Necron fighters had been completely unharmed by the Arc, and now began to overwhelm the Reaper's fighter protection. Then the next phase of the Stormlord's plan was carried out. Thousands of Jackal Class Raiders jumped in through FTL on both flanks of the Reaper fleet. Though their small forms lacked the armor and armaments to go head-to-head with Reapers, Their numbers and maneuverability made them a threat the Reapers just could not ignore.

Like a swarm of locusts, they struck the exposed flanks of the Reaper fleet, dancing around the slow moving Capital Ships. Destroyers were deployed to drive these pests off, blowing dozens of them away with their powerful weaponry. But the Reapers took casualties themselves trying to ward of this swarm of fast moving ships. And worse, it opened up gaps in their lines, which had been the Stormlord's plan all along. Phase three was implemented as hundreds of Night Shroud Bombers were launched from the Necron fleet and made a beeline towards the Reaper Capital Ships.

But the Reapers saw what they were about to do, and scrambled whatever drones and fighters they had left to stop them. In response, the Necron fighters formed protective lines around the bomber squadrons. Reaper fighters tried to break through, but the Necrons would not allow it, sometimes even going so far as to ram enemy fighters to stop them. As the bombers slipped through the Reaper lines, point defense systems sprang to life, destroying dozens of bombers.

But more than enough made through and dropped their payloads on the Capital Ships. The effects were devastating, for these were not regular bombs implemented by other races or commanders. No, these were spheres containing a sliver of anti-matter, kept out of phase with the rest of reality until detonation. The Capital Ships were thus ripped apart by explosions of blinding light.

And it was now that the Stormlord laid out his last card on the table, and sent in his reserves. Jumping out of FTL, they swiftly linked up with the battered Necron fleet and surged towards the Reaper fleet. The Reapers blew more Necron ships to smithereens, but the Necrons began to steadily overwhelm the Reapers. It became worse when Scythe Class and Shroud Class ships appeared behind the Reapers, trapping them in a pincer maneuver.

Realizing that the battle was lost, the Reapers left a handful of ships behind to delay the main Necron fleet while they took the bulk of their fleet and struck the outflankers. The Reaper push came down like a hammer on the Necrons, and the ships that were supposed to contain the Reapers were obliterated. With the way clear, the battered remnants of the Reaper fleet withdrew towards Oma Ker to regroup and lick their wounds.

Most would have thought that the Stormlord would have led the attack personally, but the truth was that he had not even been in the Aethon Cluster at the time. There was too much work for him at the moment to be at the frontlines. He was in fact back on his home planet in the Ghost Zone, organizing his vast territory in preparation for war against the Reapers.

Though at this very moment, he was observing the battle in the Nura system thanks to highly advanced holographic technology. And while directing the ebb and flow of the battle, he had taken to enjoy a fine meal of entrecote with French fries and a nice chanterelle sauce, all washed own with a glass of red wine. He did not require substance like this, but he enjoyed it for the taste.

"These Reapers appear to be more formidable than I had first anticipated," the Stormlord commented to himself as he took a sip of his wine. His original plan had been to crush the Reaper fleet, and then swoop in to grind their ground units on Oma Ker to dust. Unfortunately, while he won the battle, his own fleet was too battered to push on at the moment. He would need to send in reinforcements and consolidate his hold before pushing on.

"What is our status in Esori?" he inquired while observing his fleet falling back to a more defensible position and awaited reinforcements.

"Far better. Reaper presence is not as strong there as in Nura, and our forces have already secured half the system," Trazyn reported.

"Have our forces in Esori halt their advance for the moment and transfer some of their forces to Nura," the Stormlord instantly ordered. Esori was secondary objective now, the real battle would be fought in Nura. The Void Cloak had isolated the Reapers in the Aethon Cluster, but it would not be long before they sent messengers back through the Mass Relays and requested reinforcements. The Stormlord needed to bolster his own forces before that happened. Already he was working on creating even deadlier and more powerful Necron units to be used in the coming war.

These so-called Reapers may have proven tougher than first anticipated, but they would still fall before the might of his legions. Of that, he was sure.

"My Lord, urgent message from the forum, posted by the General," Trazyn suddenly reported.

"Show it to me," the Stormlord requested uncaringly, not seeing what the fuss could be about. He quickly changed his tune when the words "Icarus Fallen" appeared before him. Having just been in the midst of swallowing his food, he ended up choking on it before he managed to cough it back up.

"What the hell?" he burst out in shock. Icarus had fallen? But how?

"Trazyn, bring up all the information we have about the General's territory!" he ordered as he stood up from his seat. Instantly, a map of the General's territories appeared before him. What he saw was something he would have never suspected. The Reapers had invaded and destroyed the planet. At first, there was naught but silence in the Stormlord's dining room, as he tried to just grasp what had transpired.

"It seems like these Reapers are an even greater threat than anticipated," he murmured to himself, right before he donned his skull-shaped helmet and grabbed his staff.

"Recall all expansion fleets in the Championship, set our production to maximum capacity and reroute all available reserves to the Aethon Cluster immediately," even as he issued those orders, the Stormlord was calculating every possible strategy available to him. He would not share the General's fate, not as long as he had an ounce of strength left.

"At once, my lord," Trazyn intoned as he set to work carrying out his lord's will.

"What is the status of our new units?" the Stormlord demanded, knowing full well that Trazyn was capable of receiving further orders even when working on existing ones.

"The new Vanguards are ready to deploy whenever you desire, my lord," Trazyn replied as a holographic image of said units appeared. With a body as bulky as a Krogan and the head mounted inside its chest, these machines stood over two feet tall and were armed with a gauss cannon mounted in its right arm, a flamethrower in the left and personal shielding. These things were built to take an enormous beating while dishing out as good as they got.

"What about our Obliterator Class Dreadnoughts?" the Stormlord asked.

"Still in production, my lord. It will take some time before they will be serviceable," Trazyn reported, receiving a short nod from the Stormlord. But there was still one project he needed an update on.

"Contact Illuminor Szeras," he ordered. There was no verbal answer this time, but the schematics of the Vanguard disappeared and were replaced by the hologram of the one he requested to talk with. Walking on four spindly legs and observing his lord with a single cyclopean eye, Szeras was the Stormlord's chief scientist and weapon manufacturer. He was designed after the infamous Cryptek by the same name from the Warhammer 40k lore, with a bit of Frankenstein thrown into his programming for good measure.

"My lord," he greeted with a formal bow.

"Szeras, what is the status of Project Evolution?" the Stormlord inquired as he leaned forward in anticipation.

"Proceeding on schedule, my lord. The biotics you have supplied me with have proven to be of great usage in my experiments. I will have the first unit combat ready within a week's time," Szeras reported, causing the Stormlord to frown behind his helmet.

"Unfortunately, that is not good enough anymore. I am forced to accelerate my plans now, and so I need Project Evolution to bear fruits faster," he ordered with a tone that left on room to argue. Szeras was silent at first, obviously mulling the information over in his head before he spoke again.

"With more resources, I am sure I can produce results faster," he put out tentatively. The Stormlord's answer came immediately.

"Whatever you need, you'll have it. I don't care how many hundreds of test subjects you have to burn through, I want my soldiers," he stated fiercely. If Szeras had possessed the ability to smile in joy, he would have done so at that moment.

"Thank you, my lord. I shall get to work on it immediately," after giving another formal bow, his hologram faded away, leaving the Stormlord alone in his chambers.

"So much to do, so little time to do it," the Stormlord murmured to himself as he strode out of his chambers, his half eaten food lying forgotten on the table.