….Well, that was not something I expected.
In hindsight, though, it made sense.
How did this Celm have access to a Commander or seven? He probably had it stored somewhere.
Why'd he want to 'preserve the legacy o the Progenitors'? That was his legacy.
His anger at Viv for allowing Hunhow to obtain a commander with much of its technology database intact? It was allowing an old enemy to gain a leg up on his kind.
There were other reasons, I'm sure, but those were the most obvious.
"So," I began, "you're a Progenitor."
"Indeed."
"...Did you own my Commander?"
"Own it? I built it."
Oh...
"I built all of them... well, the first few, to be precise."
Wow. That's a lot of Commanders...wait, does that mean my Commander was one of the originals?
"Yes, it is. Your mental defenses have improved, if the initial reports Omega has given were any indication, but you have a lot of learning to do."
I let my indignation at his comment flow through for a moment, then composed myself. "So, why did you leave the multiversal scene after you triumphed over everyone else? And I am refer to both you as an individual and your species."
"We did...not view our actions taken during the war as...justified."
"Understandable. Continue."
"We did not believe it was right to condemn others to die solely to make a point. We felt a line had been crossed, even if our enemies had crossed it first."
"They stole Virus Bombs from the Imperium of Man. I doubt anyone would fault you for that, even if you might have been overzealous in punishing the offenders."
Suddenly, Celm's expression turned to one of shock. "Do you honestly think the Imperium would e able to assist in such a large scale war and not crumble under the myriad other threats that oppose it?"
What did he mean-oh. "You mean you fought Dark Age humanity?"
"Well, before they defected to our side over having one of their superweapons stolen and used without their permission. Reasonable folks, they were. Far better than the modern Imperium. They even had a few ideas for how to beat up Chas...which aren't really up to date anymore, but might help with some of the current problems humanity faces."
I'd be surprised if anyone was willing to remain allies with people who did that.
"So, what happened after that, anyway?"
"Once our war was one, we retreated back to our home universe. Drifting through the currents of the Empyrean, we returned to the land of our origin."
"Empyrean? Sounds like something out of Warhammer 40,000."
"The similarities to the warp are not coincidental - the warp is a tributary to the sea's ocean, to use an analogy."
"...Seriously?"
"Oh please, why act surprised? Did you really think that such a system exists in isolation? Or that the warp represents the sphere of thought in its entirety? Surely their must be more to creation and thoughts than that cancerous growth."
...That was a good point. "Continue."
"Once our kind returned to our origin, we had a new vote to pass - another decision on an Extinction Edict - one for an old and might race, driven to extremes by conflict with others."
Another extinction edict? On whom? I mean, who would they know that deserved such a fate, who had acted so rashly during a war that...oh. "Your kind actually voted on whether or not to commit themselves to the grave?"
"Voted unanimously in favor of doing so, to be specific."
...What?
"...that's stupid," intoned Etran. "Why would anyone do that?"
"To answer that question, I need the Commander here to answer one for me: what lead the warp to become the nightmare that it is?"
"Well, the War in Heaven, and with it, the rampant use of psychic powers...and death of souled beings..."
"Exactly. And just as how death, fear, horror, range, debauchery and despair twisted the Realm of Souls into the Warp, so too can they turn the Empyrean Sea into a nightmare. Unlike the Warp, though, the sea can rid itself of this corruption."
"How?"
At this, Queeneria decided to speak. "It opens up a place in a random universe and spews out its corruption into that land, where it will break down faster than it would in the sea. I belive one such example is the Zone of Alienation. As if Chernobyl had enough issues already."
Now it was Cyreesia's turn to speak. "So why couldn't the sea just open to a universe or dozen where life never really appeared? Nothing bad would happen in that case."
"Merely asking that question provides its answer - you assume the sea can choose where it opens."
It cant?
"No, my dear Commander, it can. And let me say, the sea holds a deep dislike for those whose actions taint it."
….What? "Wait, wait, wait. You mean that the Empyrean Sea is intelligent, it can choose where to vent its corruption...and that it chose to vent it on your home universe as vengeance for causing said corruption?"
"Yes, the last especially, as my kind are native to the sea, and any actions we perform have greater ripples on it than other species...well, barring mankind, who has probed the sea enough to also draw its ire."
"So how did you try to end your kind, and why did it fail?"
"We settled on the simplest way of driving our people to Oblivion - let the corruption vented on our kind devour us. As for why it failed, well, the humans of our universe did not take kindly to our decision. The fought for us, and after a while, we joined them in defying our own judgement. We survived, so...yeah."
"...What do your kind do now?"
"For the most part? Try to fix our mess."
"What mess?"
"Well, do you really think that we were the only ones the sea wanted dead? It sent out efforts to purge the others who had fought in this conflict. It also made sure to launch all attacks simultaneously, so as to prevent any of the universes from coordinating their efforts to whether the storm. Many of those we fought...are now gone forever, only surviving in copies of their universes that avoided the worst of the sea's retribution."
"Understood. Now, I have one last question."
"Shoot."
"Why are you so opposed to Commanders? Also, and I do apologize for making my last question two questions, why did all of our previous candidates for my position fail?"
"...Ah, yes, Milsanrima told me that she ha shown you that.
"I regards to the first question...I don't like people taking my things without my permission. To use an analogy, how would you like it if someone took a car you had just bought on a joyride? Even if they returned it to you unscathed, would you still be angry with them?"
"...Good point."
"As for the second...well, you succeeded where they failed."
"...They were wiped out by the Coelohim?"
"Coelohim, Commander forces, the list goes on. Commanders are so used to curbstomping foes that facing one who can match them tends to turn out...poorly, to say the least. Additionally, the Coelohim you encountered was specifically tailored to beat Progenitor technology, normal or biological, so that it would never fall into usurpers."
"Aren't I an usurper?"
"Your 'handler' gave her permission for you to use that, as do all ROBs, and maternally, she bears the blood of my species."
"...Wait, you mean Vivienne is a Progenitor?"
"Only on her mothers side, and due to her gender, the proper term would be Xziphid, but that's hare splitting."
I think Viv had shorted out upon learning what, exactly, she was.
"...Why do you even want your technology back?" I asked, still unsure. "...Sorry for asking another question."
"Don't be, and to answer that one, I...do not like the actions other commanders who have wielded our might. They tyr ot make things better, yet they make mistakes in spite of knowing how some things would turn out. Destroying an inhabited space station to stop one world from being scorched. Allowing parasitic space worms to run rampant in a universe after killing the one person who could have stopped them due to faulty knowledge. Condemning the Imperium to destruction, though that one was more by unforeseen consequences. Creating an unstable peace treaty between a rebellion and a federation that will inevitably lead to future conflict. The list goes on. And that doesn't even include those who have gone drunk with power."
"...Okay. I'm out of questions."
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse us, I must assist my wife in shutting down some systems that you accidentally activated during your last victory."
...What?
"You slew a Coelohim, but we do not put those in isolation. Each one is tethered to a pocket universe where more of its kind can be reproduced, which is in turn linked up to several others, to make for an even deadlier force. This was our final vanguard for when we died out - a force to ensure what was left of our might never fell into the hands of those who would abuse it."
"So, what, you made it so that if one machine/creature was destroyed, the rest became active?"
"Only fi they found proof multiple commanders were working in synch to one goal, good or ill. Luckily, that is not the case with you, so shutting them down should be easy-"
"Honey, a scout on the nearest Coelohim universe just started examining something odd. It appears to be some kind of cube."
"Cube?" I asked, confused. "What does it look like?"
"Have a look."
Instantly, Milsanrima obliged. "It appears to have drifted in from another universe, which is unsurprising - multiversal junk tends to end up in these pocket dimensions.
The minutes I saw the cube, though, I broke out in a cold sweat. Something Celm and his council quickly picked up on.
Before they could even borach the question, I pulled up an image of an almost identical cube form my menories. This had been what the Tenno had given me following the mission to Uranus.
And now, it was going to cause me so much trouble.
"Why are you so worried about this?" asked Celm. "It can't be that bad-"
I immediately pulled up everything relating to what I had done with the cube. It had included a handshake protocol to ensure only those who were intended to receive it got the message.
Unfortunately, it had just been received by beings who could easily access its data, but should never have read it/
[SPOILER="The Message"]
Handshake Message: This is a final safe measure for any Commander moving towards a SpaceBattle or is moving Sufficent Velocity. Please respond. (MESSAGE REPEAT 3SECOND DELAY)
Handshake Response: #set_include(sufficient)(velocity)(space)(battles)/*combination_type = MIN-2
After Handshake Response detected, validate multi-spacial cordinates and local reference frames for contact via fabricator nanites.
Contact message after establishing fabrication firmware connection Via nanites:
"Hey. If you are reading this, you were once a human. Probably from Earth in the mid 20th century, maybe early 21st. I was one too.
As a commander in a vast and uncaring multiverse, filled with cosmic horrors and ROB's that are looking for a good story, I just want to tell you this: You are not alone.
Since I woke up in this massive robot body, I have thought about what I would want to hear out of a gift package from one commander to another. We can build anything we want given time and some knowlege. We can destroy galaxies given provocation.
And we are incredibly vulnerable, as, in most of the universes you will travel to, you will be alone.
Yes, you may have a companion. Maybe even a child that sprung from your mind like Athena from Zeus- but peers are rare for us now. We have the unique chance to actually make a difference in a vast universe, and the vaster multiverse, and yet we will either be enemies with beings on our own scale, or uneasy allies.
Do not give up! Someday, we will find our way home, or our way out of the eternal war, or finally destroy our enemies. Don't sacrifice who you are just to get an edge. Don't forget that there will be those small allies you may make along the way.
I have included a backup of all my tech that isn't directly related to inter-universe travel (although you may have or figure it out in any case, the math can be derived given time), the math behind our tech (because we may as well learn it), and two unique pieces of technology you may find incredibly useful... And one that is both derivative and way more effective than I would have expected.
First, something I call a 'Tuning Fork'. It re-enforces all the laws of the universe that are needed to make our tech work, but nothing else. It is our greatest weapon against magic, or someone with tech that can twist the laws of physics into a pretzel. Learn how it works- and it may save what counts for us as a soul.
Second, a small modification to the fabricator modules. Don't worry- this is the equivalent of a firmware update. It will allow you to work in more than three spacial dimensions for our gear. I think I was given the body of a late-series Commander, and this is a newer level of tech than even WE are used to, so think about it carefully. Space outside of the third dimension is mostly empty, but you never know- so be cautious! This upgrade will also augment your sensor packages, so be prepared for the new level of fidelity in your field and exotic detectors.
The third piece is a method for directing teleporters THROUGH teleporters. You may have noticed that the bog-standard teleporter (included in the tech backup) uses a shortest-distance method for connecting between gates, and that those gates only need two small standard generators worth of power each? Well that limit is set for a bit over a light-year. As I had no method of FTL at first, I rigged a method where these teleporters can 'cast' to a location without a receiving gate. Set up a gate there, link the two, then send through a third gate to cast farther. You can set up TITANIC teleporter chains, so that going through one gate ends up taking the shortest path to the receiver gate through a chain of other teleporters. It's a nice piece of infrastructure that can help you with any transportation needs until you work out any other form of FTL, and it can be used by client races while any bottlenecks can be fortified by you and your forces!
Anyway, you may have noticed that besides the tech backups, and this readme file, there is a massive stack of data. That's the Internet, yes, from Earth, with all Youtube Videos, and frankly everything I could get my fingers on from every website and archive humanity had created between the development of the internet as a thing to March, 2156. Yeah, I got dropped in a universe where James Cameron was either a god or one of the biological designers working for one.
REGARDLESS OF THE NAKED BLUE PEOPLE (yes, I know you would be looking at that now), I hope to meet you in person eventually... Or in giant metal robot bodies. Whichever.
Don't spend two long staring at the massive archive of porn. I just grabbed everything.
Don't give up. The Multiverse is BIG, but we can make a difference- and make the lives of so many others better... Just don't forget yourself. Even clad in metal, we are still human.
Sincerely,
Commander John Cloak"
[/SPOILER]
I watched as Celm and the other Councilors read the message. Slowly, their eyes widened, and as they examined each detail of the message, they grew more and more alarmed. When they had finished their reading, all of them looked deathly white.
"Well...fuck," spoke Celempheros.
On the other screen, the scout had finished examining the cube. All of the planet it was on, everything was going berserk.
"...Ok, ok, I can deal with this. Just let me send the stand down code and-"
On the screen featuring the scout, a 'CODE NOT ACCEPTED' line suddenly appeared...as did a 'TRANSMITTING ACITVATION SIGNAL' line.
"...What?! How the...doesn't matter. I'll just use my other powers to-ARGH!"
Celm's eyes had started to glow when he had decided to use another solution to this problem, but he didn't get far before he flinched and fell over, eyes now bleeding profusely.
"CELM!" shouted his wife, who quickly began trying to assist him, as did all of his allies, and even my forces, whilst I pulled out some bandages from storage.
As I readied t apply the covering, though, my attention turned back to the screen.
'ACTIVATOIN SIGNAL SENT. MASS ACTIVATION HAS BEGUN.'
"...The activation signal went out, didn't it?"
I was surprised that Celm was able to recover enough to talk in such a short timespan, but I confirmed his fear.
"Yes. So, how bad is it?"
"In short? There are now one million plus pocket universes that are filled with Brutally Efficient Self Replicating Engines of War that want to kill you."
"I get the feeling it's worse than that."
"They are all going to share any information the get on you with each other, so that they can develop counter measures to kill you more effectively."
"...I can take that."
"They will also expand to other universes as they hunt for you, so there could potentially be a billion universes under their control by tomorrow."
…..I think the scream that I released upon hearing that statement put Umbra's radial howl to shame.
XXXXXXXXX
AN: The message was written by Mr. Cloak on Sufficient Velocity for his Commander SI: Outside Context Problem, but was meant to be used by other SI's, albeit for positive reasons. Of course, it wasn't too hard to find a way to turn it into a Diabolus ex Machina.
Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!