DISCLAIMER: Overlord/オーバーロードbelongs to Kugane Maruyama, and Star Wars belongs to Disney (Unfortunately). The scenario and original characters are mine. I hope you enjoy!


Chapter III: Forest Horrors

The "Switch" + 6 (6 Days Since the "Switch")

Onboard the Imperial Super Star-Destroyer, Basilisk, Officers' Conference Room

I sat at the head of the table, Jidak on my right, as a service droid activated the holoprojector. After a moment or two, the projection of a small man wearing a dark blue jumpsuit and a black cap with glasses appeared. The man was nervously wringing his hands as the sounds of welding could be heard in the background. Birds chirped loudly above in the background as well as he removed his hat in respect.

"What's the latest report on the construction of our outpost?" I asked, looking at the man.

"Sir, the construction has ground to a halt. The forest's wildlife has been attackin' us constantly and the job has simply become too dangerous, even with the guards the General has provided us," the man, the head Foreman of the construction, reported hesitantly as he held his cap in his hands.

"Are you saying my men are insufficient?" Jidak asked darkly as he looked at the man.

"N-no sir, it ain't that your men are insufficient, it's that the wildlife is simply more vicious than we anticipated."

"Explain what you mean, please?"

"I don't know the exact reason why, but they seem focused on kickin' us out of the forest."

"You've activated the Electro Wire already?"

Electro Wire was something I had created in the game and was basically just an electrified version of barbed wire. It was mainly meant to scare animals away due to the sparking electricity, and no one wants to get stuck by electrified barbed wire. It'd be a pretty horrible way to die, after all.

"Yes sir, but the animals don't care. They just charge into it and they sometimes get through."

"Odd. Have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary?"

"No sir."

"And you haven't detected anyone using magic?"

"Again, no, sir."

"What do you think, General?"

"Maybe it's a territorial thing? Who knows with animals, after all? Perhaps we should consult the villagers?"

"That idea has some merit, General. I'll consult Henvirk, while you put together a platoon to supplement the squad already down there, just in case the attacks escalate."

"If you'll think it'd help, Grand Admiral. Just in case, though, permission to authorize the use of blasters?"

During the intervening days between Carne and now, I'd mandated that any forces going to the New World would need my authorization to use their blasters. They were allowed to bring any melee weapons we had aboard, as from a distance it wouldn't be as clear that we were more advanced than we were. For example, take a simple-minded peasant and have him witness someone using an Electro-Staff or Riot baton. From a distance, they'd simply look like enchanted weapons, though I didn't realize until later that there was more to enchanted weapons than that, and that they were hard to come by, but that was the future.

"Granted, and I'll allot you two squadrons of Stormtroopers as an extra precaution."

"Do you really think that would be necessary, sir?"

"I doubt it would cause any harm."

"It just seems to be a little much for this endeavor, sir."

"That may be so, but I'd rather overprepared rather than under."

"As you wish, sir."

"What should we do in the meantime, sirs?"

"You can stop working until we get this sorted out. Until then, you also have permission to use blasters."

"Yes sir, we'll start breakin' them out!" the Foreman replied in relief as I cut the transmission.

"I'll see about preparing my men in the meantime, if you don't need me for anything else, Taver?"

"No, go ahead and see to your men, Cyrus."

"Until later, Taver."

Jidak exited and left me alone in the room. I pulled up the projection of the village from a couple days ago and looked over the forest surrounding it to see if I could find a visual cause of what was causing the animals to act so strangely. There were few clearings within the forest, and as I looked over them, something caught my eye. I zoomed in on the spot and tried to figure out what it was exactly.

It blended in perfectly with the tree, and the only reason I'd seen it was because I managed to pick out its face. It was looking at the probe droid with such hatred. As I looked at it, I noticed several details: one, it wasn't Human; two, its eyes were glowing; three, it had bark for skin and leaves for hair; four, it was small, almost the size of a child; and finally, five, it was really close to Carne Village. Whatever that thing was, it certainly didn't look friendly.

I jumped when the message system pinged, and I was so thankful that I was alone. Suzuki had started doing this daily after Carne. When I asked him about it, he told me he felt nothing when he killed that first knight, and it took me a second to realize that I hadn't batted an eye at the deaths either. That scared the Hell out of me.

Back in the Real World, I'd become depressed whenever someone died around me. It meant one less Human in our ravaged world, and there was barely enough of us on Earth to say that we weren't an endangered species. It's as if when I became my avatar my mind had melded with his. I was thinking like a military leader, and I didn't care when someone who wasn't one of my people died. That was a very scary thought to think about, knowing that it was quite possible my old self might fade away entirely.

The other problem was that I couldn't tell anyone besides Suzuki about it. If the other Imperials found out I wasn't really a Grand Admiral, they might mutiny and throw me in the brig to rot. Suzuki said he had somewhat similar fears with his NPCs since they had free will now and were no longer bound to game routines. At least I had Suzuki to talk to about it, and he had me when he wanted to talk to about it if he needed to as well.

"Something wrong, man?" he asked after I'd calmed down a little.

"I'm fine, you just scared me. I was looking over the map of Carne from yesterday and saw something scary," I replied, rubbing my temples.

"What do you mean scary?"

"I spotted a little monster hanging out on one of the trees near the village. It's an ugly little thing…"

"Describe it, and I might be able to tell you what it is."

"Well, it has bark for skin, beady glowing eyes, and it's about the size of a child."

"Sounds a little like a Dryad, if I'm being honest."

"A Dryad? I'm not so sure about that…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Remember that whole 'scary' bit?"

"Right… maybe it's a subspecies? Dryads are the only race in YGGDRASIL that have bark for skin."

"That could be a possibility. How did you deal with them in YGGDRASIL, exactly?"

"You'd have to destroy the original tree that spawned the Dryad in the game, but I don't know if that's changed here at all."

"Another quick question about Dryads: can they control wildlife?"

"Oh yeah, totally. Dryads can command nature to do anything for them, why do you ask?"

"I'm starting to understand why the animals keep attacking my outpost. Have any of your NPCs dealt with Dryads before?"

"Aura and Mare have. Do you think you'll need a hand in taking care of the Dryad?"

"Yeah, since I've got no idea where it spawned. Aura can track things, right?"

"Yes, she can. When are you sending your people down?"

"Not really sure. I'll call you back and tell you when I have a better idea."

"Sounds good. Talk to you later, man!"

"Yeah, see you later," I replied as I shut the message off.


Carne Forest, New World, Zumen Pista (Resident of Carne Village, Imperial Worker)

"How are the wires holdin' up?" Tray, one of the Imperial Off-worlders, asked as he came up behind Zumen.

Zumen jumped before whirling on the man. He relaxed when he saw it was his friend, though he looked a little different. On the man's hip was a strange leather thing that seemed like a scabbard. Inside was a weapon the Imperials had introduced: blasters.

"They're fine, but why do ya have tha' blaster?" The younger man asked in a lilting accent.

"We got permission from the top. Since the animals out here can't seem to take a hint, we got the go ahead and we're getting a few more guards! Oh, that reminds me, I got one for you. Kynar said you can have one since you're one of us now," Tray said as he held up another blaster.

"Uh… thanks, I guess."

"Got a problem with blasters?"

"Not so much a problem as I don' know how to use the bloody things."

"Ah, that's easy! Here, take the blaster and I'll show ya how to use it."

"A-alright."

"So do you know what a crossbow is?"

"Yea, why?"

"Same basic concept, however, blasters have different settings."

"Settin's?"

"Yeah. One of the settings is for safe, and it keeps the blaster from going off at all. We usually keep blasters on these settings when they aren't being actively used. Lessens the chance for somebody gettin' themselves killed. Other settings are for kill and stun, and I think it's obvious what those do."

"True tha'. So when are the other guards supposed to arrive?"

"Next hour or so, maybe. We ain't really sure at the moment."

Zumen was about to ask another question when something snarled and started charging towards them. He fell back in fear as a large wolf ran towards them and closed his eyes. He waited for the snarling death on four legs to come but opened his eyes when he heard the creature start yelping as it got caught on the wire. It twitched and spasmed as it was fatally shocked by the wire. Tray laughed a little as he looked down at his friend.

"You alright there? Nearly had a heart attack there, huh?" Tray guffawed as he looked down at the local teen.

"Shut up and help me," Zumen said in embarrassment.

Tray helped Zumen to his feet and asked if he was hungry. Seeing this as a good opportunity to get away from the deeper forest, he said yes and the two went over to the mess tent.

The pair took a seat with their trays near the back of the tent, Tray looking resigned as Zumen tried figuring out what the goop on his tray was.

"Karking rations. Just once could we have something other than slop surprise?" Tray said in a faux melancholy tone as he picked up his fork.

"'Slop surprise'?" Zumen asked curiously as he tested the goop with his own fork. Zumen had eaten food he'd brought from home up until now, so he'd never seen Imperial military cuisine before.

"Yeah, It's basically a mishmash of unidentifiable meat, sauce, and bread bits. Supposed to be edible, or so the Empire says, anyway."

"If you know what it is, why call it 'slop surprise'?"

"Because it never tastes the same twice. Seriously, I ate this twice on one planet, six hours apart, and they tasted nothing alike. I don't why because the same guy made it."

"Tha'… you're not fuckin' wit' me, are you?"

"I swear by the Emperor I ain't."

The two quieted down after that. Zumen decided to give it a taste after watching Tray start to eat the goop and prepared for the worst. He took a small bite and chewed slowly. The goop tasted very processed and salty, though he got hints of what tasted a little like pork and chicken. While he couldn't see himself ever wanting to eat it again, he knew he probably would eat it again. That's just how life was for Zumen.

"This is probably the weirdest thing I've ever eaten," Zumen said simply after he swallowed his bite.

"Yep. So, what are you doing later?" Tray asked as he skewered a solitary chunk of meat.

"Dunno. I may head home, visit my cousins."

"Hm. Mind if I go with you? It gets real boring around here."

"Don't see the issue wit' tha'."

"Great! Thank the Empire the shift's done in a couple of hours!"

That's when someone started screaming outside.


Davin Flint (Trooper, 4th Infantry Division)

Flint was on patrol near the Electro Wire, keeping an eye on the forest with his finger on the trigger of his E-11. It had been unusually quiet the past few minutes and whenever that happened an animal would try attacking. He'd shoot them before they got too close to keep them from dying an even worse death on the Electro Wire. He fished for a cigarette after a while of staring at the forest, using the small igniter he had to light it. It ignited on the first try and he puffed out a small cloud.

Flint had recently joined up, wanting to explore the galaxy, and the Imperial Army seemed the best way to do that. He wasn't going anywhere fast on Dantooine, anyway. He'd only just completed boot camp when the 'Switch' (as the Grand Admiral called it for some reason) happened. He had wanted to see the galaxy, not get lost in space and end up on some backwater. His mood wasn't helped with this terrible assignment either. Add to that the fact that the E-11s didn't have that many power packs.

"Excuse me, sir?" a voice asked from behind him. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at the young Carne worker walking toward him.

"Something you need?" Flint asked as smoke lazily drifted from his cigarette.

"I'm looking for my brother. He was just behind me, and I can't seem to find him. You wouldn't have happened to see him? He looks just like me if slightly taller and with black hair."

"Nope. When did your brother go missing?"

"A few minutes ago. I was talking to him, and he just disappeared."

"Where were you two at when this happened?"

"Behind the tent there."

"Well, he can't have gone far. Sit tight for a sec and I'll see if I can find his footprints."

"Okay," the man replied as he looked around worriedly.

Flint started looking around the ground, trying to see if there were any tracks. It had been raining last night and the ground was still very muddy. Everyone left footprints in the sparse muddy ground. He didn't see anything and sighed. As he started heading towards another spot, he heard something thump behind him. He turned swiftly and pointed his E-11 at the slowly liquefying upper body of a man.

The other man screamed as he laid eyes upon it. Flint raised his rifle and pointed it up and into the canopy above, looking for targets. He heard people start to shout, checking if they were alright. Another soldier, Corporal Tylt, approached slowly and did the same as Flint.

"Talk to me, Flint. What the Hell just happened?" Tylt asked, giving Flint a sidelong glance.

"That guy asked me if I'd seen his brother, I started looking for tracks in the mud and then that body fell. I think something's in the tree," Flint replied, getting an annoyed look for his last statement.

"Thanks for stating the obvious."

"I try. What should we do, Corp?"

Before Tylt could answer, something rustled above them, and a massive shape quickly descended on the man looking for his brother.

"Help!" The man cried as he was yanked into the canopy above.

All that Flint saw when the large shape had gone back up was lots of legs and lots of eyes. He let loose a burst into the trees, not knowing where whatever that thing was. As he did that, another shape descended on another man, and Tylt fired at it. The shot hit the thing in the center of its back, and it squealed in pain before letting go of the man and zipping back up into the tree canopy.

"Get out from under the trees! Get in a tent or something, go!" the two Imperial soldiers called out to the stunned workers.

The group of workers scrambled and got inside the large tents around them. The tents had strong metal poles that made them keep their shape and were made of a weather-resistant material. It wasn't much protection, but it was better than nothing right now.

As the two were just about to follow their own advice, a large shape leapt down to the ground and hissed at the pair. They got a good look as the creature raised its front legs and bared its fangs. It was a spider the size of a 74-Z speeder, and it was pissed. The two raised their blasters and they started quickly backing up. The spider charged at the two as the pair let loose with their blasters.


Ivax Optir (Captain, 4th Infantry Division)

"What in the Empire is going on? Is it like this everywhere?" Optir asked his second-in-command, looking disheveled and pointing his SE-14c pistol at the ground.

"I'm getting reports of large spiders attacking all across the site, sir," Second Lieutenant Garen Akuyun replied, keeping an eye on the mess tent's entry flap with his own SE-14c. One of the spiders had tried to attack through it and got multiple bolts to the face from the gaggle of workers and soldiers who'd taken shelter. It managed to kill a couple of soldiers that had been too close, though.

The two had come in to enjoy their own lunch when the screams and shouts started. They were about to exit the tent when they were knocked back into a table by wild-eyed workers and a few terrified soldiers being chased by the spider that had tried to get in earlier. They were covered in the remains of another soldier's lunch and were understandably irritated before figuring out that they were being attacked.

"Can we contact the village or the Basilisk and get reinforcements?"

"Negative, our comms won't reach that far, and I'm not sure if the comm equipment in the Headquarters tent works yet, sir."

"Dammit. Trapped in a bloody mess tent with only a few power packs and a bunch of scared civilians armed with blasters…"

"Please don't finish that sentence, sir. Remember the old axiom of 'if you ask for trouble then it will come'?"

"Not sure that's how it goes entirely but you have a point."

"kkzztktzt-ptain? Captain, do you read me? This is Sergeant Okan, come in, over," a voice called from the helmet of one of the dead soldiers.

Something stirred outside as it heard the noise, approaching the tent. One of the closer workers, a young man who looked a little pale, crept up to the helmet and started trying to take it off. The young man cursed as a slightly older man, maybe twenty years old, came over and unhooked the strap that held the helmet to the dead man's chin. Just as they were about to start coming towards Optir, the helmet radio squawked again and the spider from earlier charged at the door flap again.

"Covering fire!" Optir cried out as the thing tried to get inside again, though this time there was an even greater threat skittering in underneath the beast.

Smaller spiders, about the size of a mouse droid, started filtering in and a few of the soldiers shifted their fire. The spiders were a little too fast, however, and while a good amount was killed, enough got through to be a threat to the soldiers. They leaped at them, their weight knocking soldiers and workers alike over to puncture their jugulars. Some spiders were successful while others were caught long enough to be thrown hard onto the ground and shot to death.

The spider at the door screeched in rage and ignored the blaster fire as it once again tried to gain entry. Half the soldiers poured fire on the spider while others took out the smaller ones among them. After another few minutes, the spider at the door bled to death from the holes punched through it.

"Here, sir," The older man said as he handed the helmet off to Optir.

"Thank you. Sergeant Okan, can you hear me, over?"

"Loud and clear sir, over."

"Good, where are you, over?"

"The HQ tent. We've been trying to use the comm equipment to contact the Basilisk for the past few minutes, but nothing's gone through, over."

"Do you have the proper codes, over?"

"Codes?"

"Yes, the comm equipment is fresh from the factory and doesn't have the right codes for our frequencies, over."

"Spast, I don't know those, sir!"

"I do, though. Here's the plan: myself, Second Lieutenant Akuyun and a few of our men and workers will make our way to you. You must hold out until we get there, is that understood, over?"

"We'll try sir, but I'd get here as soon as you can if I were you, over."

"I'll keep that in mind, out," Optir replied as he looked to his second.

"I'll get some of the men together sir," The Second Lieutenant said, answering Optir's unsaid question.

"Thank you. Let's hope that we don't get swamped when we make our run, eh?"

"Right sir."

Within an hour the group of eight soldiers and workers were assembled near the tent doorway. They readied their weapons, though some of the workers were carrying axes or tools they'd either brought from Carne or picked up from the site itself. Optir checked that his pistol had a full power pack and nodded to himself. He turned to look back at the men he was about to lead outside. He saw the fear in their eyes and felt the very same fear in the pit of his stomach, but he turned to look forward and squashed that feeling down. He had a job to do.

"On my mark, head for the headquarters tent," Optir whispered to the gathered group, who all nodded an affirmative, "Three… two… one… mark!"

The group leaped over the corpse of the spider in front of the doorway and charged through the camp. They followed after Optir, who was already firing at a charging spider to great effect. One of his shots blew through one of its eyes and out its skull, causing it to trip and fall onto the ground. Its legs began to flex into the dead pose that a spider often takes but Optir and his men were already past it. Another small group of mouse droid-sized spiders came skittering up but the few that tried to leap were quickly taken out by the axes and well-placed shots. A spider managed to tackle a soldier away just as they rounded the corner to face the headquarters tent.

The group made it inside the tent as the brunt of a small spider wave hit the door. They banged on it as the group caught their collective breath. A smiling Sergeant Tarre Okan greeted them, flanked by two soldiers, and all were covered in the blue-green blood of the spiders. One of the soldiers was smoking a cigarette.

"It's good to see you, Captain," The tall Sergeant said as he folded his arms.

"Likewise, Sergeant. Is the comm equipment set up?" Optir asked as he looked up at the Sergeant.

"Yep, it's right in the center. We'll hold the place while you go and contact the Basilisk."

"Thank you. I'll be back in a moment."


Onboard the Imperial Super-Star Destroyer, Basilisk, Bridge, Kano Varic (Communications Ensign)

"Wonder what's for lunch today?" Communications Ensign Kano Varic thought curiously as she studied her monitor.

She'd taken over for another crew member who'd called in sick. Something to do with their stomach. Kano didn't really know and was entirely sure she didn't want to know. It had been a relatively quiet day, with no real comm traffic to speak of from the planet. There were the reports of the Shadow Troopers stationed in Carne that came in earlier for the Grand Admiral, but that had been about it.

Those guys always creeped her out. She didn't know why, though, since they were usually pretty good fellas. Maybe it was the black armor or the ethereal blue glowing visors? She knew for sure it wasn't because they were Clones. Maybe it was because they could go invisible, and you'd never know they were there? Probably. As she sat and thought about it, she nearly missed the beep that meant someone was contacting the Basilisk. She turned her headset on and put it on, but she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

"Basilisk, this is the Outpost Construction Site, we're under attack by large spiders!" the voice called, and she immediately started looking for the Chief Communications Officer as she responded.

"This is the Basilisk, who is this?" She replied as she waved at the CCO to come over.

"This is Captain Ivax Optir of Imperial Army Group 18, 4th Infantry Division, 2nd Company, 1st Platoon, authorization code 084-071-088-1138. We need immediate assistance!"

"That's the correct authorization code. I'll get the Captain over here while you get details," the CCO said as he went to grab the Captain.

"You said you were 'under attack by large spiders', correct?"

"Yes dammit! We've already lost ten workers and soldiers to these things!"

"Describe the spiders, leave no details out. This is so your reinforcements won't go in blind."

"They're large, hungry, and pissed. They bypassed the Electro Wire someh- what? Alright, thank you trooper. One of my men says the spiders used the canopy to get over the wire. We're also being attacked by smaller spiders that leap and knock us down to get at our throats. Those are fast enough that we have to lead our shots."

"Put it on speaker, Ensign Varic," Her CCO said as he'd come back over, Commander Cavos in tow.


My Quarters

I was in the middle of looking over the daily reports when the desk intercom squawked.

"Sir, we have a situation at the Outpost Construction Site. The men are under attack by large spiders," Cavos stated as a description of the spiders popped up on my datapad.

"Spiders? Why did it have to be spiders?" I thought as I shivered in revulsion and fear.

I'm an arachnophobe, having seen way too many spider monsters in movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and movies like that. That was one thing I was glad about with the Real World being the way it was. Most spider species had been extinct for nearly seventy years by the time I came around, and now to find out that not only did they exist on the New World, but that they were large enough to eat Humans… yeah let's just say I was gonna have trouble sleeping tonight.

"Get Jidak and tell him he has the go ahead to send down his men. I'll be sending down two squads of Stormtroopers armed with flamethrowers as well," I replied after a moment of composing myself.

"Flamethrowers sir?"

"Yes. Gown has mentioned the presence of creatures that control wildlife within the forest, and I believe that's why our outpost has been under constant assault by the local wildlife for the past few days."

"I see. Will Gown be sending any of his own forces to help?"

"He has said that two of his servants, Aura and Mare, have dealt with these creatures before. I'll be asking him to lend them for this mission."

"Yes sir. I'll inform Jidak of your orders while you contact Gown."

"Thank you, Commander," I replied as I shut the intercom off and turned on the holoprojector. After a moment or two of waiting, a mini projection of Suzuki appeared at his own desk.

"Grand Admiral, I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

"We have a situation at the construction site, lord Gown. Our forces are under attack by large spiders, and I believe it to be the work of the Dryad that you told me about earlier."

"I see, and what do you need from me?"

"I need to borrow those two you told me about before: Aura and Mare. You said they had experience in dealing with Dryads, correct?"

"Yes, though it was one we Supreme Beings had summoned, not one that grew out in the wild."

"It will be fine, I assure you. They'll be protected by around sixty-two of the best men aboard from the Army and the Stormtroopers."

"I'm not too sure about this course of action, but I'll allow it. Do not let either of them die, or I will be most upset."

"They'll be completely fine, lord Gown. Do not worry yourself."


Basilisk Hangar Bay, Cyrus Jidak (General of Imperial Army Group 18)

Jidak watched as the rest of the 4th Division's 2nd Company boarded the Sentinel-Class Landing Craft alongside the two Stormtrooper squads with a small amount of apprehension. He didn't doubt that his men would get the job done, but this would be the first time for many of them in the field. His 4th division had been savaged by the Rebellion in the Outer Rim a few weeks prior to the 'Switch' and had just gotten replacements for the losses.

Many of these replacements were fresh out of boot camp and hadn't entirely adjusted to life in his command, Army Group 18, when they got sent to the New World. There was still that feeling of not belonging to the unit going around, and it was liable to be an issue if it wasn't sorted out fast enough. Add in the fact that many of the replacements had never worked with Clones before and the possibility for disaster doubled. The Clones could be rather intense, as any normal Stormtrooper was, but while his Army had gotten used to that intense nature, the replacements hadn't even begun yet.

"Worried about them sir?" a Clone's voice asked from his left.

He turned to look and saw Harlow standing there, helmet tucked under his arm. Harlow looked no different from his template, save for a barely visible scar on the bridge of his nose. With a small chuckle, Jidak nodded before turning back to his men.

"It's their first time down to the planet, Marshal Commander. I believe that's cause for worry enough," Jidak replied with a sigh as the Clone approached.

"Yeah, I can understand that. I wouldn't be too worried though. The Grand Admiral says he got some help from Gown. They'll be showing our men how to deal with the one controlling those forest animals."

"They?"

"Yeah, a pair of Floor Guardians called Aura and Mare."

"Hm," Jidak grunted as the two lapsed into silence.

It was another hour before the Sentinel-Class left the hangar bay and headed down to the village.


Carne Village, New World, Aura Bella Fiora (1st Floor Guardian of the 6th Floor)

"So, when were those Imperials supposed to get here again?" Aura asked Mare as she leaned back against the tree.

"Lord Ainz never said," Mare replied meekly as his sister stifled a yawn.

The two Dark Elves twins had teleported to just outside the village, near the forest entrance. They'd been waiting for the Imperials for the past several minutes, with Aura starting to wonder if they actually were going to show up. She thought about heading into the village to hang out, but honestly it was simply a boring village. Plus, if she was near the forest, she might be able to catch a beast for her collection.

"Hey, I think that's them coming down now," Mare said as he looked up at the strange sound. He'd heard a similar sound when the Grand Admiral had first come to Nazarick.

The Imperial ship came down slowly as metal feet extended out of ports underneath. Once it landed fully, a large group of men in light gray jumpsuits with chest armor and helmets came down the ramp, clutching their weapons. Aura couldn't remember what they were called exactly at the moment. After the men had gotten all way down the ramp, more of the white armored soldiers from before appeared carrying heavy-looking weapons with flames on a nozzle in front of the weapon. The two Dark Elves nodded at one another and started walking over. The Imperials noticed them immediately and waited for the pair.

"That's close enough. State your names," the lead man in white armor, one with a weird orange thing on his shoulder, said as he held a hand up.

"We're Aura and Mare, Floor Guardians of Nazarick's Sixth Floor," Aura answered, which the men in the jumpsuits looked at them skeptically.

"Right… tell me, what does lord Gown really look like?" the lead man asked, an obvious challenge to verify they were who they said they were.

"He's an Undead Overlord, but if you want specific looks, he's a skeleton in an ornate robe," Aura replied bluntly.

"So, you two are supposed to know how to kill this thing that's controlling those spiders?"

"Yep, so what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Aura started off towards the forest with her brother in tow as the rest of the Imperials watched. A few of the Imperial Army troopers gave each other a look before shrugging and following behind the Stormtroopers, who had already started following behind the two elves.


Three minutes before the "Switch" Event

Onboard an Unknown Vessel, BalancedFear

I sat motionless within the meditation chamber as my ship rocked beneath me. It was the last day for one of my favorite servers to be open and I'd wanted to spend the day playing it. I was using the Force to levitate my lightsaber, helmet, and one of my Westar-35s as I perused the skill tree. I decided to spend some of skill points I'd earned the last event to get some new skills and test them out in the training hall I'd set up.

"Let's see… do I want to buy Force Enhance or Force Protection? Screw it, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe time," I thought as I started using the nursery rhyme to decide.

I chose Force Enhance at the end of it, which could be stacked with other Force powers that enhanced the physical body, like Speed or Heal. I then tested it where I sat since there was no point to go to the training hall just yet. It was just cursory testing, after all.

I heard one of the officers on the bridge mention that we were minutes out from Mandalore. I'd been given orders to put down a Rebel uprising there and figured 'What the Hell? It's the last day, I'll do it'. I hadn't been looking at the timer as I closed the skill tree and went to stand up after putting everything back on.

00:03… 00:02… 00:01… 00:00…


The "Switch" + 00:00 (The "Switch")

In an Unknown Section of Space

00:00… 00:01… 00:02… 00:03…

I fell to the deck as I was overwhelmed by a strange new sense. I could feel the presence of the crew aboard and could also sense their thoughts. As I stood back up, the door opened behind me. A Clone Commander with a red and black paint scheme stood just outside the opened door.

"Yes, Commander Stagger?" I asked, knowing already something had fundamentally changed.

"General, we are exiting hyperspace now," Stagger said as he gestured with his thumb at nothing behind him.

"Of course, lead the way."

Stagger nodded and started walking to the elevator that would take them up to the bridge. As I moved behind him, I passed other Clones with similar armor, and they saluted as the we passed them. I saluted back, stunned. The troopers were from the 35th Nexu Legion, my personal Clone Legion, which cost a pretty penny.

As Stagger and I entered the elevator, I tried to think on what the Hell just happened. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened all day to tell me that this was going to happen. As I was mulling things over, Stagger noticed how quiet I was.

"You alright sir? You're quieter than usual."

"Just thinking some things over. It's been a long time since we last visited our home, vod," I replied, hoping he would buy it.

"True that. Add to that we're going there to put down some hut'uune Rebels, and it leaves a bitter taste, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I replied as the elevator door opened.

"Officer on deck!" a different voice called out, one of the few Imperial Mandalorians aboard.

"At ease," I stated as I walked to the viewport. I blinked underneath my Mando Executioner helmet when the sight of traveling through Hyperspace disappeared to reveal… nothing.

"I think something has gone horribly wrong," I said as I looked around at the unfamiliar, dead planets.

"I'm inclined to agree with you sir," Stagger replied, removing his helmet.

"Sir, we're getting comm traffic, but I don't know from what ship," The Clone CCO said, looking up from the main Communications terminal.

"Follow that comm traffic. Maybe it'll lead us to friendly forces, and we can get a good idea on what's going on," I replied as I looked at the CCO. He nodded and keyed for a lock on the comm traffic's trajectory.

"I really hope this works out…" I thought as I stared around the bridge.


Author's note: Cliffhanger! I also hope this is a much better intro for ComparedDread12's character to the story. Until then, please review!

I'm back in town, finally. I was gone for a little longer than planned, but the chapter should be up by Friday at the latest! (Have a dentist appointment early in the morning tomorrow, hopefully this is the last delay)

Shortened the military terms as Maxsliverfish suggested. He brought up a really good point in that the military titles were a little long.