Chapter II: Campaigns

Foreword: The following store takes place in an alternate universe based on my scrappy knowledge of the 40k Universe. Whilst I try to source information from the Warhammer 40k Wiki, it may not entirely be accurate, therefore consider any deviation from canon to be either creative liberties to explain things not well known or the product of this AU. Or just Gaster doing Gaster stuff, whatever suits your headcanon best.

Also big thanks to

nintendoplayer96v8 for giving me all kinds of lore information. That'll really improve the quality of the story.

POV: Ray Zenji l Location: Earth, First Day, First Year of the 30th Millennium.

In his dreams, there was always darkness, even before being pulled from his reality. Though the nature of his dreams have changed slightly. Before, his dreams could sometimes be possible futures, but every single time he went to sleep since recruiting Suzumiya to the Praetorian Guard, there was an all consuming darkness. Now the darkness wasn't the end, but a shroud, preventing him from remembering something in full detail, but sometimes, he gets glimpses, vague and not in linear order at times. It didn't cause him to shout in his sleep or anything, but it did at times cause him to toss and turn.

Eventually, Ray's eyes opened and he sat up, stretching. It wasn't his old bedroom, but it was agreeable, even despite Earth's current hostile climate.

"Good morning sleepyhead!" said Chara, Ray was startled and shifted his left arm into a shadow scythe before noticing Chara standing on the right side of the bed. He sighed and restored his left arm to normality. The last three weeks, Chara had been making routine appearances, sometimes Frisk would appear as well, but Chara was consistent. Whenever these two so called guides appeared, it was always during pivotal moments, so Chara being so consistent in appearing was not a good indicator, then again, the occasion could be easily figured out. Today is the first day of the 30th millennium and also the day an envoy is due to arrive from the newly dominant faction in the east, the Imperium of Man.

The Emperor was not usually one to negotiate, though he did at times peacefully annex factions, this was different. Perhaps the US' recent achievements in Latin America had finally brought notice, though Ray also holds suspicions about a few interesting characters throughout the years he has encountered or heard of, likely agents of the Emperor keeping tabs on him. War was coming, sooner or later. Ray had his own agents and spies in the Imperium, even managing to convince a Thunder Warrior to spy for him by revealing that his own genetic code was a shoddy augmentation doomed to fail, but Ray had been tampering with DNA most of his life, given his unique state of existence as a living shadow, he could recombine himself on the atomic scale. It wasn't a subconscious process either, he had to consciously move every single atom to form every single molecule, which in turn could be combined into DNA chains, either Binary or Trinary Helix structure. This had the added effect of him being immune to virtually any disease as any foreign inclusion into his body was also his to command, allowing him to atomize viruses and bacteria or even reconfigure them to strengthen his immune system. No matter where he was, standing on the surface of a black hole, something most primitives would think impossible, or walking in a atmosphere comprised entirely of acidic gas, he could breathe and function as easily as on Earth without even changing from his human form.

"Gonna ignore me again?" said Chara with a sing-song tone of voice. Indeed, her frequent visits had become a sort of annoyance, though granted she was an interesting individual to look at, she wasn't normally this talkative. Ray sighed as he reached for a box of teabags, sighing. Chara seemed to notice this and invaded Ray's personal space, pushing him slightly back and poking the tea box with her finger, changing it to an unfamiliar brand, Golden Flower tea.

Ray didn't know how to respond at first, this was actually the first time Chara ever made physical contact with him, which meant what little chance of her being a hallucination just became zero chance.

POV Shift: Unknown

Chara gave a faint but mischievous smile. She was here to guide Ray towards a hopeful future, at least that's how Gaster put it. But she could do this job while also having fun teasing him. This human wanted peace but was willing to kill for it. If only all those manifold cycles ago, he had been a monster in Asriel's place. He would have gone through with her plan. But that was so far back, even Chara didn't pay it much mind anymore. That universe is dead and gone, all possible timelines having ended in darkness. Perhaps this experiment will yield results, or maybe like all the others before it, end like everything else does.

Consumed by the Void.

Ray sighed and said "I take it you realized I'm sick of whatever passes for tea in this era?" Chara nodded and said "Don't ever say I never did anything to help you."

Ray shrugged and replied "Thank you. You know, you could be nice more often, since I'm kind of stuck with you popping in out of thin air on a regular basis now." Chara chuckled and said "Careful what you wish for human, I might actually share my curse with you." Ray raised an eyebrow and was now inquisitive, saying "What curse would that be?".

Chara's smile never faded as she replied "Immortality." Ray shrugged and said "I don't age, so I already have that curse, or gift, depending on your point of view." Chara chuckled and said "Boy, you are barely a child compared to me, chronologically speaking that is."

Ray shrugged and began preparing the tea, after pouring the tea into a cup and taking a sip, he found it was the best tea he's ever had, and he's had quite a few types of tea from many planets.

There was an electronic buzzing sound from a communications terminal on the desk and Ray approached it, pushing a button and saying "What is it?"

"Mr. President, the envoy from the Imperium has arrived, this is your official reminder of the meeting in 30 minutes." said a female voice. Ray sipped his tea again and said "Excellent. Make sure they are treated with hospitality.".

"Of course sir." said the secretary on the other end and the line closed. Ray looked at the clock and sighed, he could of course, alter his sleep cycle so he never oversleeps again, but he didn't want to distance himself too much from humanity. Finishing the tea quickly, he rinsed the cup carefully in his kitchen and then quickly approached his dresser, before turning to face Chara and made a shooing motion with his hands. Chara scoffed and said "Please, I'm not a creep."

As soon as she finished that statement, she was no longer present. Ray sighed and quickly changed into a fitted suit befitting the office of President. An advantage of being a shapeshifting shadow is he can quickly change clothes. Technically speaking, there wasn't any need to shoo Chara away, this method of shapeshifting doesn't really expose anything, but again, there is still an issue of valued personal privacy.

Making sure his tie is fixed right, he proceeded out the door and quickly made his way to the White House lobby to await the envoy. Having a near perfect memory due to his nature meant he was able to renovate the place back to it's 21st Century standards, albeit with modern technological improvements.

And there was Chara, waving. As usual, Ray was the only one aware of her, nothing she did or said, as long as she didn't move anything, was noticed by anyone else. Ray however was a master at ignoring her, to the point where Chara often attempted to goad a response from him, though never in front of Frisk.

And Frisk made an appearance as soon as the envoy, a thunder warrior named Marcus, arrived. Official relations with the Imperium had more or less been non-existent, there wasn't war yet, nor was there exactly peace, but ignorance was also not a state of being, as both sides regularly spied on eachother. There was a reason for this visit however.

Japan.

It was no secret that the US was preparing to liberate Japan from the Pan-Pacific Empire. Whilst the Imperium was invading the Empire and at war with them, their goal was obviously the full annexation of the Empire's holdings, Japan included, this meeting was to work out an agreement.

To be fully honest, Ray's intentions were less about taking territory for holdings and more being able to search the country thoroughly to see if this Earth had a version of Suzumiya Haruhi, Ray's right hand woman so to speak following the annexation of Earth in his universe.

Shaking hands with Marcus, Ray was a bit relieved that he was finally dealing with an equitable individual, though the Thunder Warriors were techno-barbarians augmented by the Emperor, they were also taught by the Emperor, primarily for war, but a few came from somewhat civil backgrounds and quickly took to the Emperor's ideology of Imperial Truth, something that Ray did have an interest in, though believed there were many flaws regarding it's treatment of religion.

The two made there way to sit down, there were aides and security staff around should anything be required. By now, the vast radioactive deserts of Merica were receding, Ray's use of terraforming technology from his universe meant that Terra could be restored to it's former beauty without wasteful expenditure of resources, though to finish the process on a global scale would require significantly more resources, it wouldn't nearly need as much to accomplish by means of the conventional technology of the era.

After the usual pleasantries of introduction and greetings were made, Marcus was to the point and said "It should be no secret that I am here regarding Japan. The restored United States has made it no secret your intent to invade the Pan Pacific Empire's holdings in what your people call Japan. As you know, the Imperium is currently at war with the Empire and we also seek these holdings as they are of vital strategic and industrial importance to us."

Ray nodded and said "I can recognize the value the Imperium would see in Japan being part of their nation, however there are concerns the US has as well. Specifically the Imperium's treatment of religious agencies. Whilst currently it appears discouragement is the primary action, I have concerns your Emperor intends to go further, as I have heard of and studied Imperial Truth to a great extent."

Marcus nodded and then said "I see. So then you disagree with the Emperor's vision?" Ray replied "Partially. I believe logic and reason should be the forefront of human endeavors, however this is not to say that religious beliefs are inherently illogical. Man is innately curious, and that which we cannot readily explain with fact, we must theorize to achieve knowledge. Religion is nothing more than another theory on the origins and purpose of creation. I should also point out that many religious individuals spearheaded the sciences to new heights, such as the theory of evolution, many fail to grasp the fact that Darwin was in fact, a religious man and his theories were never fully discredited by the Catholic Church, caution was advised, but evolution was not considered heresy. Though the same could not be said of all religions. There are also plenty of secular examples of illogical decisions and tyranny."

Marcus seemed intrigued, though a bit offended that his Emperor's vision was being critiqued, but rational debate was emphasized as important, though Marcus could not entirely say how the Emperor would respond to such a statement. Marcus, after these thoughts, said "Interesting. Perhaps a debate for another time, we should refocus on the issue of Japan. It is my duty to inform you that the Emperor will not accept anything less than complete control over the mountain range, however the Emperor has stated some concessions are willing to be made to keep peace, as he recognizes the strength your nation currently possesses, as well as it's potential at being peacefully integrated into the Imperium."

Ray nodded while Chara made a very audible scoff, albeit one only audible to Ray. Frisk looked at Chara with concern. Ray thankfully, ignored Chara's reaction to Marcus' statements and said "Peaceful integration would require a congressional vote. I have no intention to undo the efforts towards liberty that have been made thus far. In regards to Japan, our goal is the liberation of the Japanese people from the tyranny of the Dume Dynasty in the Pan Pacific Empire, however this need not extend to full annexation. If the Emperor can guarantee the liberty of the Japanese people, we would have no qualms with Japan being integrated as a vassal, allowing it's resources and strategic value to be maintained. We do however, believe we can achieve this liberation with less bloodshed than the Imperium's armies, given our technological capability and military doctrine differ from the Imperium."

Marcus again felt insulted, though kept this to himself, the Thunder Legions were indeed mighty, and he felt his honor as a warrior was being challenged, but he also knew the wisdom of choosing when to fight your battles was just as important as how to fight them. He pondered this offer and then spoke, saying "Whilst offering to secure Japan for us is indeed generous, we need assurances you will not betray us. Perhaps a joint invasion, determining which regions our respective states will operate in, this way, the Imperium has some security and it would go a long way towards building trust between our nations."

Ray nodded and said "This is acceptable. Should we discuss the arrangements or do you need to report to your superiors for further action?" Marcus stood and said "I should report, but I see no difficulty in moving forward."

Time passed and negotiations continued, Ray managed to convince the Imperium delegation, albeit with a bit of effort, that strategically speaking, the Imperium would best be able to secure the northern areas of Japan and the US could secure the southern areas. Congress would have some questions, but this scenario was among the many discussed when Ray informed them of his intentions to liberate Japan. Given the advantages in stealth capabilities, Ray knew he could search the Imperium's area of operations as easily as he could areas in his own area of operations.

Later that night...

Ray entered his room. It had been a long day, though mostly uneventful compared to his campaigns in the centuries beforehand. From what Ray could glean from the negotiations, it would seem the Emperor currently suspects him to be a Perpeptual, albeit one he had never encountered before. Checking his room, Ray decided to prepare another cup of that tea Chara had forged.

"Well that was boring." said Chara from behind Ray. Ray was getting used to this and would have shrugged her appearance off, had she not wrapped her arms around him from behind and whispered those words in his ear.

Ray shuddered in surprise before saying "Why do I get the feeling your interest in me is more than just as a guide?" Chara chuckled and released him, saying "Don't get your hopes up. I just like to tease you."

Ray sighed and continued preparing the tea, taking a sip once it had been poured into a cup. Ray turned to look at Chara and said "So what exactly is your intention? You've already stated you're supposed to guide me, but to what end you've been coy about."

Chara smiled and said "Oh nothing special, just hopes and dreams." Ray scoffed and took another drink of the tea before saying "Figures you'd continue to be vague. At least you're not talking in riddles." Chara frowned and said "Hey, don't confuse me with those types. Believe it or not, I'm human, like you. Besides, I've had enough puzzles to last several lifetimes."

"A human that only I can see and hear, who just happens to be highly attractive to me. My nature might shield me from the chaotic forces of this universe, but that doesn't mean they can't influence others around me." replied Ray. Chara was briefly speechless at the compliment but became angered when Ray mentioned chaos influencing others, taking it as an insult of her ability and said "You're not hallucinating, I'm very real and like you, an outsider to this reality. And please, do not ever think for one minute that those moronic creatures have any control over me. I could erase them all from existence with one..." A crimson red blade of energy Ray could see and feel the energy of formed in Chara's right hand, it resembled a kitchen knife and the light around them dimmed, almost becoming a complete void. "Fell, swoop." Chara finished her statement.

Ray tensed, Chara grinned madly, the look in her eyes was similarly maddening, then almost immediately, the dagger dissipated, the light returned to normal and there was a sound that resembled a bubble popping and she closed her eyes, made her grin more normal and then opened her eyes, saying "So, what's your game plan to find your ex?"

Ray thought back to his memories of Haruhi, shrugged and then said "Ex? I mean, sure we were quite close but, she's not the type to engage in romantic entanglements and I was too nose deep in statecraft to pay attention. Though she was cute, I will admit."

"So this is what you've been doing all this time?" said Frisk, who appeared behind Chara.

Chara turned and teased her sister, saying "Jealous?"

Ray scoffed and said "It'll take more than a flirty demeanor to advance with me Chara, I don't let my emotions and physical responses dictate my actions."

Chara gave an annoyed look towards Ray and Frisk laughed. Ray finished the rest of his tea and then said "It's been a long day. Nice chatting but I'd like to get some sleep now." Frisk nodded and said "You, do know you're able to just, not need sleep, right?"

Frisk was different than Chara, curious yet restrained, whereas Chara was more proactive in her interactions, that being said, Ray did not have as much experience interacting with Frisk as he did with Chara. Ray replied "Well, I'd like to keep some parts of humanity with me. Besides, I've destroyed my subconscious once before and while it's helpful when you're an all-powerful reality warper, it's not too useful when you have limits, so I've no desire to repeat the experience."

"You didn't answer my question." said Chara.

Ray then said "Tell me about your plan to guide me and maybe I'll tell you about my plan to find Suzumiya-san." Chara shrugged and said "Fair enough. Guess I'll wait and see." She disappeared from sight. Frisk sighed and waved goodbye, disappearing as well.

March 9th, Year 1, M30 l POV: Unknown l Japanese Highlands

What came next was more fruitless searching. The Pan Pacific Empire was already in a bad situation with the Thunder Legions marching through Southeast Asia, now they had to contend with a two prong attack from the deserts that were once the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean. The US had constructed a decent number of Fleet Carriers designed for atmospheric and low-orbit operation. The F-22 Raptor and F-35 were still in use, still being modernized every now and then as Ray rolled out new technologies to the development teams of 30th Millennium America.

In the North, the Thunder Warriors ascended to Hokkaido to secure a staging ground, whilst in the South, precision airstrikes decimated the Pan Pacific Empire's armies, which whilst had some degree of organization, were unused to dealing with an enemy with Air Supremacy. Realizing the US tactics however, they began to reposition their armies in civilian residential areas, using them as human shields, the airstrikes dwindled down after that, curiously to both the Empire and the Imperium of Man, the US did not use their more powerful weapons such as nuclear ordinance or orbital bombardment, meaning the desire for collateral damage was minimal to non-existent in this war.

Then the Drona came, with their strict targeting doctrines and being in greater numbers than ever before, they took far more losses than they inflicted, but this was to preserve civilian life. It took years of close quarters combat in the megacities of Japan and the mountains, but the Pan Pacific Empire was eventually forced to abandon the region. Meanwhile, specialized units who answered only to Ray began searching Japan for signs of quantum instability, finding it aplenty but always around Psykers, making the search for Suzumiya difficult. Ray again tried to tap into his powers as a Shinjin, and surprisingly, felt something, he was able to ping the universe so to speak for other Shinjin and found two, alas, they were in two separate, distant locations in the galaxy, not in the Sol System.

He found he could ping for other Shinjin, but he could not actually manifest closed space or restructure reality. Perhaps he would explore other options later, to see what he now can and cannot do, and perhaps question Chara as to whether or not she is responsible for this.

There was tension along the US-Imperium border, but the Emperor kept his legions restrained and the Drona were incapable of firing first unless ordered to.

Eventually as the guerilla fighting from stranded Pan Pacific Forces dwindled, Ray began to have the Drona slowly withdraw from Japan as the Imperium entered. As a liberating force, the people welcomed both the US and the Imperium, there were promises that their rights would be respected, for how long was another question and for a time, both sides upheld their agreements, the Emperor focused his efforts on dealing with the remains of the Pan Pacific Empire and the US, having achieved their territorial ambitions, began to focus their resources on revitalizing their interior.

By Year 12, M30, the US began their first public elections and Ray stepped down from the office of president, having already been in office longer than the US' entire lifespan in his own universe's timeline. With his goals on Terra achieved, Ray began to focus entirely on researching spatial anomalies and pooling resources through private enterprises towards the construction of a large capital ship designed with a method of FTL that was easy to develop and utilize in Ray's universe and all experiments thus far proved it to be the case here.

It was at this time, things started to go horribly wrong.

Developers committed suicide inexplicably, irrational murders and new cults forming. Though Ray himself was deaf to the Warp, those under his command were not and the ruinous powers took notice of his efforts to bypass the warp entirely. Ray began to further distance himself from human contact, relying entirely on non-sentient automata, the Drona, to roll out his developments, which in turn began to alienate him from the government he helped create. More cults formed and eventually there was a large scale uprising across California, the US worked hard to bring it down, but the madness of the upstarts made it difficult, though the upstarts did not have the aim to win against the US, they just wanted to destroy Ray's research centre. The US Government by now had become desperate.

It was the year 37, M30. The US, realizing the threat was chaos in nature and having lost contact with Ray's research facility, found themselves in a precarious position. Ray was their leading source of new technology and as Ray discouraged the use of STCs, intact or otherwise due to the risk of corrupted data causing difficulties, they were not developing new weapons and technology. They could build and maintain the Drona, but could not improve them, wanting to deal with the problem, they requested assistance from the Emperor, who by now had increased his efforts to unify humanity manyfold to avoid falling behind the US' capabilities, though the Emperor still needed more strength to take on the US militarily, he recognized they could be taken down from within and this was a decent first step, as here was the US Government, revealing to him a likely incursion of Chaos. With the rise in Psyker populations, the Emperor began to fear the former US President perhaps had been consulting a corrupted STC for the advances made and it grew beyond his control, so the Emperor agreed to assist, personally even. It was time for the Emperor to meet his rival.

Location: Groom Lake Aerospace Testing Facility, Nevada, US, Terra. l POV: Unknown l time: July 5th, Year 37, M30.

Ray sighed as he looked at the security monitors, the Drona were holding the line but the cultists continued to assault the perimeter with no regard for self preservation. Occasional airstrikes by the US didn't really help much, the enemy's numbers were too great and this was not the only battleground. Perhaps if Ray had been in direct command of the US forces, the cultists could be brought down, but his time on Terra was coming to a close, constant searching was fruitless, he knew somehow, in his SOUL, that friends and allies were out there somewhere, just not in his birthworld.

"Man they reaallly don't want you to finish that hyperdrive do they?" said Chara, with no human staff left in the facility, Ray no longer needs to worry about someone else seeing him converse and interact with his guides, so he sighed and said "Figures, from what I've been able to learn about the Ruinous Powers, they're control freaks. Probably don't like it that someone who has no ties to the warp is making something that has no ties to the warp with the purpose of interstellar travel. At least I know the technology works, but finishing construction may be difficult. I wanted to bring a few hundred thousand with me but, it seems I won't be able to do that."

Frisk sighed and looked at the violence outside, she then said "Can't you set the robots to use stun weapons?" Ray shook his head and said "Pointless, these cultists might seem just maddened, but they've all been subtly augmented somehow, likely psychically. Knocking them unconscious would require so much power that it would kill them. Lethal action is the only possible action. Perhaps if I still had my abilities as a Shinjin, I could just simply will them sane." he looked dead at Chara who sighed and said "Again, not my doing. Despite what it seems, I'm not the strongest being playing this game. That would be Gaster."

Ray shrugged and said "Gaster... Why does that name sound familiar?". He held his head and sighed, more inaccessible memories. Then something on the security monitors garnered his attention, an aircraft sped by at high altitude, not one of the US' designs. Several men in power armor, one appearing to glow, landed harshly on the roof, well, harshly to the roof, they themselves were fine. It was at this time that the security screens flashed red on the north side, the perimeter was breached. Ray sighed and said "Well, I'd prefer to have some amenities when I travel the stars, but at this rate I'll have to scuttle the facility. I don't suppose you two are willing to help me fight these crazies?" Chara laughed and said "Oh please, that's beneath me. Not that I care about these humans mind you, but why exert the effort when they'll all be dust in a few months, if somehow they live, then in a few hundred years."

Ray sighed and said "Fine, be that way then. I'll do it myself." Chara grinned and said "Oooh, finally not going to hold back? Mr. Golden Boy might see your true nature and get the wrong idea." Ray turned his head to look at Chara, his eye irises shifting from their normal brown shade to crimson red as he said "I don't need to go full to deal with this threat, just need to tap into my Ionic powers. That would be sufficient. As long as I don't absorb any psykers, I should remain deaf to the warp." Ray walked to a locker and grabbed a longsword.

Chara nodded and said "Not that I disapprove of blades, but given your powers, why do you even need a weapon? And wouldn't a gun be more efficient?" Ray shrugged and said "True, firearms are the great equalizers between ordinary humans, but people like me prefer swords out of practicality, not fashion. With a blade, I can react in close combat more easily as it's an extension of myself, which is useful when you and your opponent can both move faster than the speed of sound. Additionally, it can function as a ranged weapon and not just by throwing it. I can channel my ionic energies through it to discharge directed energy blasts or beams at targets. The Valkyria from my universe had this power as well and used it to carve an interstellar empire that rivaled my own. Being a Shinjin though, any power I became aware of, I could just simply add to my own capability. I haven't lost what I've added, but I can't add anything new now, at least not through closed space. That being said, I added quite a bit of power, and it's useful for covert operations, as I can restrict myself to powers a society is already aware of. People can't exactly call you an alien if you only do stuff they can too." Chara chuckled and said "I find it funny how closely you worked with a woman who wanted to be anything but normal while you went out of your way to be definable as normal by anyone." Ray shrugged and said "Well, Normal is subjective. Technically speaking, nothing is normal, there is only group similarity. Especially true in a galaxy populated by quintillions of life forms. I don't know exactly how many people live in this galaxy, but I know my home galaxy was very well populated, though arguably, the Sol System was a backwater in both population and development, compared to interstellar civilizations that is." Ray said as he tied the longsword around his waist so it was resting on his left hipside and exited the door, Frisk and Chara followed, observing his actions and conversing with him.

Moving through unopposed at first, eventually cultists made their way through the facility and in a hallway leading to the facility's reactor, though getting there meant passing through the hangar. In the hallway, one of the cultists rushed at Ray with a chainsword, Ray funneled a cyanic flame around him which turned his hair grey and his crimson red eyes glowed, channeling this cobalt flame through his sword, he easily sidestepped the attacker and sliced the chainsword in five separate pieces before slashing apart the attacker into 30 separate pieces, with incredible precision and motion, so as the attacker wasn't even aware he had been cut apart until after he was dead.

Ray sighed and looked over at the other cultists, saying "Whatever powers you've been given. I've faced worse.".

From behind, Ray heard someone, male, say "I would be most interested in hearing about those encounters.", followed by a barrage of bolter rounds which decimated the cultist group easily. Ray didn't move too much other than to turn his head to face the Emperor of Mankind, who towered over the 5"2 individual while in his power armor and likely would be taller than him outside of it. Ray sighed and said "They must really be desperate to have allowed you to try and intervene here." The Emperor nodded and said "Yes. I feel it's time you and I had a conversation about the future. I do appreciate the work you've made in civilizing this part of Terra, but this government won't survive the coming storm, I recognize you may be nostalgic about the past, but we must move forward and not let it chain us. My Imperium can not only civilize humanity, but allow humanity to thrive better than they ever have before."

Ray scoffed and proceeded to walk over the corpses of the cultists, saying "I've seen governments like yours before, they rarely remain stable for long." One of the Emperor's thunder warriors tensed, but the Emperor gave a simple gaze, relaxing the Thunder Warrior as the group followed Ray. The Emperor wanted to learn more of this man and perhaps, reason with him. In the end however, humanity needed to be united.

Reaching the Hangar, Ray and his entourage surveyed the area, cultists were all over the place, smashing and destroying anything they could find.

The Emperor noted this behavior and said "Curious, they do not seek to pilfer the resources of this place for their own goals?" Ray nodded and said "Their goals are to destroy this place and all it's secrets. The technology I introduced is, how shall I put this? Not of this world. All was seemingly fine until I began developing a faster than light engine that bypasses the Warp altogether."

These words, sparked great interest in the Emperor and he looked over to Ray and said "You've achieved such a feat?" Ray nodded and said "I know not just one method, but several, each method variable in efficiency and function, all have no relation to the warp whatsoever. I know not if all these methods will function in this reality, but I know the easiest to develop will, as well as another method though that method isn't usable for the ship housed here."

Ray proceeds down the catwalks and cultists open fire, The Emperor and his forces return fire whilst Ray simply deflects bullets or steps out of the way casually from their path. A few cultists open fire with Bolters and Ray forms a barrier of cyanic fire which prematurely detonates the bolter rounds before they can harm him. Despite being fully immersed in combat, the Emperor easily takes note of Ray's abilities and finds it strange he can sense no psychic energy from him, he in fact can sense him to be a shadow in the warp, untouched by psychic energies entirely, yet here he was, using powers which would be similar to pyromancy, though interestingly the color and function of the flames differs from that of any pyromancy he's seen and done.

The Emperor then says "What is your intention? To escape this place or retrieve something? You are heading deeper into the facility and I can sense the cultists have completely surrounded this area." Ray replied "Both. Whilst I'd love to have an in depth discussion with you, right now the ruinous powers are hard at work to destroy this place and there is something I cannot allow them to destroy."

Rather than proceeding to the Reactor as was his original plan, Ray proceeded up the catwalks towards an elevator leading into the capital ship he was building, which is neither complete enough to be spaceworthy nor is it armed in any fashion, yet.

Carving through any cultist he found, the Emperor assisted, carefully observing Ray. The Emperor noted his weapon wasn't a power sword, just an ordinary longsword, though it was carved out of a material he wasn't familiar with. Upon reaching the engine room of the ship, the Emperor spoke, saying "Your weapon. What is it comprised of?" Ray replied "A metamaterial I call Durantium. From what I've been able to determine, it can exist in this universe but doesn't form naturally here, a lack of cosmic phenomenae that cause this process is likely the cause, that or it's already been used up by older civilizations. I'll know more once I travel the stars." The Emperor looked over at a cylindrical device many times his own size that Ray was staring at, Ray then operated a console to detach several locks holding the device in place. A female computer voice spoke, saying "Hyperspace Core detached. Ready for Transfer."

The Emperor then said "How do you intend to move it?" Ray grinned and said "Like this." and stretched out his hand, deforming it into a black whip which sped towards the core, quickly enveloping it and shrinking back to form his hand, the Thunder Warriors besides the Emperor aimed their weapons in fear at Ray and the Emperor himself stepped forward, saying "What exactly are you. I've not seen deformity such as this before, and I have seen much." Ray sighed and said "Deformity, right, you'd have that backwards opinion. You see, Emperor, my memories are sometimes there, sometimes not, beyond a certain point I cannot remember, but one thing I just remembered was a glimpse of your future. Your Imperium falls because, for all your pestering about wanting to save humanity, humanity is something you lack."

The Emperor sighs and says "I cannot reason with you? Can I?" Ray shook his head and said "It is possible, but my time on Terra has come to an end. I will assuage your worries and assure you I am not of Chaos nor do I intend to conspire with the ruinous powers. But I will be coming back one day Emperor, and when I do. You will either kneel, or be defeated. This is what must be done to save humanity and you are too egotistical to see it."

A wave of psychic fire erupted from the Emperor towards Ray, who quickly carved a hole in the floor beneath him and descended down the sections of the ship, reaching another computer terminal he quickly inputted a code as Chara poked his shoulder, saying "So uh, what's your plan? You just going to abandon Earth like this? What about the red, white and blue?" Ray chuckled and said "A means to an end. By restoring liberty and giving the Emperor a worthy opponent, I'll delay his expansion into the stars. Earth was perhaps once my concern, long ago, but this is not my Earth. I do intend to save it, but that cannot be done here and now, not without a battle that would destroy it. I don't know the full extent of the Emperor's power, but I've dealt with individuals who could literally punch planets into dust before, the best battleground for them is the vacuum of space or ethereal dimensions where their power can be contained." There was a sudden rise of pressure in the room as the roofing was deformed and turned aside as the Emperor landed and drew a flaming sword, Ray grinned and pressed a button, saying "You have two choices, preserve this facility by shutting down the reactor or leave before a 6 kiloton chain reaction triggers, you have about...15 minutes."

The Emperor rushed forward, only for Ray to quickly leap back and send a wave of cobalt fire to destroy the console before him, then his entire form shifted to a black mass with no resemblance of humanity whatsoever, the Emperor struct at one of the tentacles that formed, it was carved clean through and the psychic fire burned through the black tar like substance it was comprised of, the form that was Ray screeched and lurched into the air, effortlessly breaching the ship's hull and facility roof.

The Emperor was given the floor plan by the US earlier, and so strove to shut down the reactor, leading his warriors through the corridors against waves of cultists. The Emperor succeeded, but found no evidence of STCs or any logged blueprints. It would seem that Ray kept everything about his work here solely in his head.

In orbit of Terra, a black mass sped forward, opening a violet rift and disappearing, the rift closing behind him.

Location: Irrelevant l POV: Unknown l Time: Inapplicable.

Observing these events brought curiosity to Gaster as he previewed the riftgate Ray created and it's destination, Chara and Frisk then appeared next to him, Gaster sipped some tea he materialized and said "So, he's begun his journey outward. I did not expect him to abandon his nostalgic recreation of the US, but I cannot fault his reasoning, provided he truly does wish to preserve Earth."

Chara then said "He's different than I expected, which means you're hiding something from me. You clearly know his fate in his home universe and pulled a SOUL, not a body. I want to know how he died."

Gaster chuckled and said "I told you to guide him, not flirt with him." Chara stuttered a bit while saying "T-that's not an answer!" Frisk poked Chara who glared at her in response. Gaster replied "It's only natural I suppose, despite hating humanity you are still human and much of our work up to now has been rather, antagonistic, assisting a protagonist is not usually something you do, that's normally Frisk's job. So I can-" Chara interrupted, saying "Quit, dodging, the question. How did he die? You've never kept secrets from me before, why now?" Gaster sighed and said "I thought you'd have figured it out by now, having observed up to a point various aspects of his timeline and universe. He was betrayed by the woman called Suzumiya Haruhi, by teaching her to merge with her Subconscious, he unknowingly awakened memories of past lives she had experienced, he himself a Shinjin, also had past lives, of which he had no recollection of. He died never knowing why she killed him. Had I not taken his SOUL, his will to live and desire for answers would have reincarnated him elsewhere, much like your own determination did for you and Frisk in our home universe. The only difference, he would restore himself in a future point in time, rather than a previous one. Which also meant this form of revival was more stable than RESET."

Chara scoffed and said "Well that figures, he trusted the wrong person then. I can relate to that." Frisk interjected, saying "Don't blame Asriel, you pushed him too far. You asked him to kill people!" Chara replied "To save others! You know what humans are capable of. Need I remind you why you threw yourself down the hole to the underground not expecting to survive the fall?"

Frisk was silent and distressed, Gaster turned to Chara and with a bluish green left eye and a violet purple right eye, said "Apologize to your sister. You should know better than to reopen old wounds, considering the abuse she suffered, you also suffered. Or need I remind you why you ascended Mt. Ebbot in the first place?"

Chara was distressed at first, then sighed and turned to Frisk, giving her a comforting hug and saying "Sorry, I just. I just don't like remembering that life." Frisk nodded and patted Chara on the back, saying "I know, neither do I. But we did have some good times. Bad puns with San, Dating Papyrus, Tea with Undyne." Chara chuckled and said "You do realize the only reason you went out with Papyrus was because you wanted to see how he'd react." Frisk shrugged and said "197 Resets, I was bored."

Gaster sighed and said "I'm sure there are fourth wall responses criticizing you right now, but still, Chara, I find your recent uncharacteristic-"

Frisk giggled. Chara glared and Gaster made an uncomfortable facial expression upon realizing what he just did before resuming his speech.

"-actions, are puzzling to say the least. And normally I like puzzles. But this one baffles me. Are you lonely perhaps or is it just boredom." he said.

Chara shrugged and said "Maybe both. The closest I ever got to someone was Asriel, but it's probably mostly boredom, Ray is human after all, so it's not like we'd get along." Frisk sighed and Chara looked at her, saying "Oh don't make that face, you're relieved aren't you? I saw the way you looked at him." Frisk shrugged and said "I mean, sure he's nice but. Well, maybe if you paid better attention to the history of his universe, you'd understand why I don't think he's a good fit for either of us." Chara shrugged and said "What's there to pay attention to? He's stuck in a loop of his own with his crazy ex killing him over and over again because he doesn't have the guts to kill her first."

Gaster spoke, saying "I believe Frisk is actually referring to the fact that despite the two of you having lived far longer than he has, he has experienced more pain and bloodshed than you two combined. It may not initially appear to be the case, but he is on the verge of a mental breakdown, even with his current capabilities at self control."

Frisk nodded and Chara then said "So then why doesn't Frisk try to befriend him? She's been avoiding him except when necessary to guide him." Frisk sighed and said "Chara, you don't understand. I would love to be his friend, but at this point, he's been through so much, so many betrayals, even without all his memories, that befriending him at this stage would be like trying to befriend Dust!Sans." Chara shrugged and said "Huh, I always thought his high LV. was because of the wars he's fought in his timeline." Gaster shook his head and said "Whilst true, he has killed a large number of individuals, your Level of Violence is not a flat indicator, the more powerful an individual is, true, the more Execution Points they are worth, but LOVE can increase without EXP as well. We've seen this in the Glitchtale universes before. In fact, Chara herself has first hand experience with this, as technically speaking, Chara never killed anyone when she fought Sans, but was still at Level 20 despite no longer possessing Frisk."

Frisk spoke, saying "Even after all this time, I still don't get why you saved us from Sans. We couldn't beat him, no matter how hard we tried. It was like we weren't the main characters anymore." Gaster nodded and said "That's because it wasn't just you. Some instances of our multiverse are in fact, multiplayer games, in that instance, Chara and Sans were Players One and Two. Because of this, that battle would never end without my intervention, which unfortunately, resulted in the Void consuming our reality, leading to our present situation eventually."

Chara sighed and said "Dodging the question again?" Gaster turned to face the monitors, saying "Oh, it's was not for your benefit. Both of you should have noticed by now but incase you haven't I will enlighten you. Our actions are not private, there are many instances in which we are being observed."

Chara and Frisk were speechless, but after thinking about it and their past experiences, realized in fact, who their observers were.

To be continued...