It started with a glow upon the horizon, as if the sunset had changed where it would come from in the early morning. Then it shifted, becoming something far brighter before the noise came. A great roar like a beast, a great dragon's screech of pain and fire. And then it appeared, a great mass crashing through the air covered in flamed red and blue and green and purple. It was a misshapen thing, as if a great bird had been crippled and was soaring aflame as it passed over the mountains making all in the small mountain village of Ristbrook stare up at it in awe.

The awe then shifted to shock and horror as pieces of flaming debris came crashing down around them. Chunks of metal the size of wagons blasting into sheds, tearing through roofs and slamming into fields. And even as the debris stopped after a mere minute, the great flaming thing in the sky continued to fly downward until it disappeared behind another mountain at the other side and end of the valley.

And then there was a flash. A great ball of light that lit up the sky that was followed by the most thunderous and ear ringing blast of noise anyone had ever heard, forcing near all of the villagers to cover their ears to protect them from the cacophony.

As the noise dies down, villagers went to work dealing with the chaos, and one boy, up a hill from the village proper by his own home, stared at the mountain that the great thing had crashed behind, noticing that the mountains tip was now no longer there and its remains seemed to be ablaze.

"Bell!" The boy's grandfather called to him as he ran over in worry. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine grandpa, I just, what was that?" the young boy named Bell asked in surprise and curiosity.

"A meteor, a chunk of stone that falls rom the sky," His grandpa responded warily. "Though I have never heard nor seen of one so large or strangely shaped.

"So, it wasn't one of the gods descending?"

"No. if a god descends it is in a pillar of light, not a destructive thing as that," His grandpa explained before shaking his head and looking at the village and the ruin brought by the debris. "Come along Bell, we should head down and help deal with the damage and stop those chunks from igniting the fields!"

"R-right!" Bell responded as he ran after his grandfather down the hill toward the village, his thought lingering upon the great meteor and wondering if it was an omen of things to come.

He could not realize it was so much more than that.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that day, once the chunks of debris had been doused and the fires from them put out, repairs in the village were begun by the young and strong men, while most of the rest of the village was looking over some of the chunks of debris. They were great massive things, some of them smooth and sleek with odd colors across them while one was a strangely large cylinder in shape. A few others had broken open spilling out strange damaged crates of mechanical parts and rolls of strange dark blue fabric; while another held a few hard pink and white colored cases of a material that, no matter how hard it was struck seemed to be undamaged and would not open.

The odd cylinder, the only thing that had not landed on fire and seemed the safest, was being looked over by some of the young men, as well as Bell and his grandpa.

"So, what is it?" one of the young unmarried men named Cadmus asked as he scratched his head while his other hand held a pickaxe, ready to start breaking into it at a moments notice.

"How am I supposed to know, I don't know anything about, what were they called?" Another named Alexander asked as he looked toward Bell's grandpa.

"A meteor, though im beginning to think it wasn't one," He replied as he stepped up to the cylinder and cautiously placed a hand upon it.

"Why is that Grandpa?" Bell asked as he noticed a strange symbol on one side of it right beside what looked like a recessed area with something inside of it. It kind of looked like the lever of a well pump.

"Meteor's and chunks of rock that fall from the stars but this, is forged metal, though im not sure what kind."

"Metal, so, it could be worth something then?" Alexander asked with an odd grin,

"Perhaps," Bells grandpa said as he looked at Bell. "What did you find, Bell?"

"It looks like a pump lever," Bell said as he gripped it and pulled, only for it to not move. "It's stuck though."

"Here, let me try," Cadmus said as he walked over, Bell moving to the cylinders long side to watch as he gripped it and pulled. The first few tugs it did nothing, but then on the fourth try it suddenly let go, causing Cadmus to lose his balance and fall over after the lever shifted.

In that same instant a strange hissing began coming out of the cylinder, and before anyone could react the entire one side of the cylinder suddenly opened, letting out a strangely cold mist and making every back away in a panic.

After a few seconds the mist seemed to die down and Bell, the adventurous boy he was, was the first to run over to the cylinder and look in the now opened side. And what he saw was a person, but not a human. They looked to be a girl if her face was anything to go by, and she looked slightly shorter and younger than Bell. What was off however was that she appeared to be naked, but her flat breasts and crotch area were covered in pale purple scales, her fingertips were small claws, and her long white hair was accented by large curled dark brown horns coming out of her head. She also appeared to have a white scaled tail coming out of her back from above her butt an more scales across her body in random places.

"What, what is that?!" Cadmus asked in horror as he approached and saw the girl. "Some kind of monster?"

Bells Grandpa came over and saw the girl, and then leaned on the cylinder and very slowly moved an arm in until he could touch her cheek. He then let out a sigh that seemed kind of sad. "I don't know what she was, never seen anything like her, but she's as cold as raw iron."

It took a second for those nearby to understand what he meant, but eventually they all seemed to, alexander being the first to speak up. "So, she's dead. And this was some kind of, coffin maybe?"

"Perhaps, but I cannot be sure," Bell's Grandpa said as he noticed a glint and reached into the side of the cylinder beside the girl, pulling out what appeared to be a strange, wide bladed short sword with an odd curve, as well as some folded garments of clothing inside of clear bag of some kind that felt strange to the touch. "No, not a coffin if these are anything to go by."

"Wait, so that thing, was supposed to be alive in there?" Cadmus asked in horror.

"Maybe, we'll never know for sure. But she does deserve a proper burial," Bells Grandpa said with a huff. "Lets move this thing to the one side of the village by the forest, and we'll dig a grave tomorrow."

Most of the men just nodded or warily stared at the girl before going about moving the cylinder, and once at the edge of the village, behind a houses shed, they moved on to see what else needed to be done, leaving Bell staring at the cylinders occupant. "Grandpa, if, if that cylinder had a, person, or whatever she is inside of it, then, then what about that giant meteor itself?"

"Better not to think about that Bell," His grandpa said as he patted him on the head. "You can feel sad for this one, but the more you think about the meteor, the more you will feel guilty for something you have no control over. C'mon, there's more work to do around the village to fix all the damage."

Bell simply nodded in understanding and followed his grandfather, trying to put the cylinders occupant out of his mind as he walked.

Xxxxxxx

The rest of the day went as expected, and the night was simple if odd as a few villagers would admit to hearing odd popping noises through the night. It was the next morning however that things truly became dangerous. As with most villages, morning started early with people waking up, making breakfast, and feeding their animals; cows, chickens and the like.

Bell was no exception as he fed the few chickens he and his grandpa kept, and gathered some fresh eggs for their breakfast. And as he came out from around the back of the house he found himself standing in front of and facing a large being.

It stood easily as tall as his grandfather, covered in whitish grey full armor that looked kind of like plate armor, but it had strange glowing lines ands dots all over it, and in the place of a helmet with a visor and mouth sections was a solid sheet of black glass over a bulky helmet. In the things hands it held an oddly glossy object, and the way it continued to stare at Bell made him take a step back.

Prompting the thing in front of him to speak. "&$^%%&$%^^%%"

Bell winced at its voice, strange and warbled, and utterly incomprehensible to him. "G-grandpa!"

"Yes, what is it Bell?" Came his grandpa's voice from within their house. "Are the chickens not cooperating again?"

"No uh, there's something, here," Bell said uncertainly, his voice tinged by a bit of fear as the large thing just stood there staring at him.

"What do you-" His grandpa began saying as he stepped out of the house and immediately saw the thing standing there. He also recognized the object it wad holding as some form of weapon, maybe a crossbow, and acted accordingly. Rushing over to Bell and standing between him and the unknown. "Get away from my Grandson, ya hear?!"

" %^&E#&#" The entity spoke as it continued to stand there. Then, after a moment it seemed to hang its shoulder and leg one hand go of the odd weapon, before pulling an odd disc of some kind off of a case on its one leg. The disc then created a cone of shimmering blue light, a see through image forming in the light of the cylinder from the day before.

"You, want that cylinder?" Bells grandpa asked. The thing did not respond, but after a second the image changed, showing some of the odd cloth they had pulled from some wreckage, and then some of the odd material they had found as well.

"It, those are the things from the meteor pieces, right grandpa?" Bell asked, now standing to his grandpa's side and looking at the shimmering lights and images within it with both worry and wonder.

"They are. I think it wants them."

"Then, should we-" Bell began to say before the entity suddenly moved, making him stop.

It seems to heave a sigh and lowered its weapon, it somehow attaching to its leg and staying there, allowing it to point to the items it was showing, and then pointing down at it's feet.

"I, think its wants those things brought to it," Bell guessed nervously.

"I'd say so, but don't say a word, we are not telling whatever this thing is where they are. We are not endangering the village."

Bell nodded in understanding and simply stared at the thing before them, as did his grandpa. For many moments neither side moved until very quick let the entity heaved an audible sigh and put away the light emitting disc and lifted his weapon back up. Bells grandpa tensed, fearing the worst, but then the entirety simply turned around and began walking down the hill toward the village.

Just as a loud noise came from the village, making the entity pick up its speed into a full run.

"Bell. I'm following that thing. I cannot let it endanger the village."

"I'm coming with you!" Bell said instantly, causing his grandpa to Sigh.

"Bell, it's too—"

"That thing did not attack us. It did not even aim it's weapon at me or you," Bell said pleadingly. "I don't think it's out to hurt anyone! Just let me come with!"

Bells' grandpa sighed again. "Fine, but if it gets violent you hide immediately, c'mon!,"

Bell, with a smile on his face instantly followed as his grandpa began running after the entity.

The first thing Bell noticed as he followed his grandpa was that the entity was fast. Bell himself wasn't amazing, but he had joined villagers to go hunting, and he was pretty fast, as was his grandpa, but the entity ahead of them was already at the village edge.

The second thing he noticed was that there were more entities that looked similar to it in the village, and that many of the villagers were outside of their houses huddled together, and even at a distance they looked afraid.

The third and final thing he noticed as he and his grandpa got to the edge of the village was that the one they had encountered first seemed to be in charge, if the way it walked up to one and decked them over the head, sending them to the ground as it began yelling at the top of its lungs was anything to go by.,

"What has happened here? Is everyone alright?" Bells grandpa called as he and Bell ran over to the other villagers only getting glanced at from the armored individuals. In that moment though, Bell noticed their amours differed greatly. There were a couple in the white and black amour, two in Pink and white armor that seemed a bit small and had pointed ears atop the helmets, and another who was in Dark black and blue armor. Was it a ranking system maybe? Like how some guards had different looking armor?

"Oh, you're alright, good, one of the village women said with relief as she looked down at one of the villagers by her feet who was nursing his stomach. "These things, they came into the village and started making noise, when we came to see what was going on they began making gestures at us, but we could not understand them. Then they began forcibly breaking into our homes and dragging us out. My idiot husband here tried to fight one when it broke down the door. His sword didn't even damage those things and it punched him in the gut, but did nothing else. A bunch of those things are gathering things."

"Gathering things? What are they taking?" Bells grandpa asked as he eyed the closest armored creature, the one in black and blue amour with a strange, almost spike looking object hanging from its one arms underside.

It was at that moment another black armored one came out from a nearby house carrying a crate of dark colored cloth. "That," the woman said. "They seem to be only taking what fell from the sky, or was pulled out of those rock and metal chunks."

Bells grandpa watched the entity drop the box in the town square, where others like it had been gathered and quickly ruralize they had gathered up everything that had been found from the meteor shards and the like. In the next minute or so another three entities, two in pink armor and one in white, came out into the open, and were dragging the metal cylinder with the unknown female creature within it.

"I believe they are trying to reclaim their property," Bells grandpa said seriously, making many of the villagers look on in confusion.

Before they could speak though, the lead entity walked over to the three by the cylinder and began conversing. After a few minutes of no one being ale to understand them, the leader called out, and one of the pink armored entities walked over and pulled a case off their back, opened it, and began fiddling with some items of some kind, one of which looked like the biggest needle anyone in the village had ever seen. Then, much to their horror, it carefully stabbed the unknown girl's body with the needle.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing defacing a dead body like that?!" one of the village men called out as he tried to step away from the group, only for one of the pink armored entitled to take out a very strange looking bow and aim it at him, a dark purplish glowing arrow of energy forming on the string and making the message clear.

Another entity, in white amour this time, stepped up beside the pink one and rested and arm on its, making it lower the bow while saying something in its language. The pink one nodded and the arrow disappeared.

"They don't want to be violent," Bell said in realization.

"Really, could have, fooled me," The man on the ground grumbled in pain as he tried to sit up, "Damn monsters hit like a truck."

"Well, it didn't do anything else right?" Bell asked. "They are just grabbing what we found fell from the sky, so maybe, its theirs and their trying to reclaim it? Maybe that unknown girl is one of them and they are getting her ready for burial?"

"I think you are mostly right Bell," His grandpa said before pointing at the cylinder.

All the villagers looked over and in horror, because the girl of unknown race had her eyes open, was breathing, and was climbing out of the cylinder with the pink entities help.

"They . . . brought back the dead?" one villager stated in horror, while most others simply stared in fear.

Bell however, didn't feel afraid. Even at the distance he could see the girl looked happy but also confused, and as she was handed her clothing from inside the cylinder, he felt a bit embarrassed and averted his eyes.

Just in time to notice the leader of the entities walk over to the group of villagers.

" #$%^&&*#&*(%$ ^^" The entity spoke, its words utterly incomprehensible. Then, it reached behind and pulled a case of its back and opened it before upturning it, causing no less than five Ingots that looked to be made of solid silver to fall out onto the ground. It put the case away, then pointed at the ingot, then at the group of villagers, and with another call in its incomprehensible language, the entities all began picking up cases and items they had gathered, while the one pink entity began princess carrying the unknown race girl, and all of them simply walked away, out of the village and off into the valley.

"What, what is going on here?" Cadmus yelled in confusion. "Are we, being invaded, attacked, made to pay taxes to them or something?!"

"Those creatures took what we had found, but left these ingots of silver," Bell's grandpa said as he picked up an ingot and tested its weight, confirming it was indeed solid silver. "I believe that Bell is right. They aimed to reclaim what was theirs, but were willing to pay for its return."

"But, but what are they?" one of the village women asked nervously. "I've never heard of a race that looked like that girl, and the others, I've never seen armor like that and my cousin is a smith!"

"I know that, but," Bells grandpa paused for a moment, as if considering his options before speaking up again. "We should make sure the village is secure. I will write a letter to the guild in Orario, and we should have someone bring it directly to them asking for aid, but until the letter is sent and the aid arrives we should limit how much we do outside of the village.

Everyone seemed to like the idea and quickly got to work with whatever needed to be done, whether that was repairing their broken down doors, or heading back to do their daily work.

Unaware that what they had been witness to was but the very start of what would change the world forever.

Xxxxxx

The gods of Orario were a motley and eclectic bunch, everything from gods of Smithing and war, to fertility and harvest, and everything in between. They each ran their own Familia, caring little for the actions of others unless it affected them, yet also jabbed and prodded each other in the most mundane of ways for mere entertainment. The Denatus that occurred four times a year was one of the ways this was done, where gods voted and toyed with each other by giving their children who had leveled up embarrassing names.

Few gods met outside of the Denatus or planned parties, but now, all of them in Orario had been gathered together by none other than the guild, and for what had been insinuated was a matter of great importance.

Most were thinking it was an impending attack by Areas and his fortress city of Rakia, while other thought maybe it was a worry about a return of Evilus. Finally though, the speaker for the guild entered the room and stepped up to a podium, the room quieting surprisingly quickly.

"Gods and Goddesses, the Guild thanks you for coming to this sudden meeting. The guild finds itself in a peculiar position, and requires your thoughts, feedback, and actions to resolve this situation that I shall now present to you. Please do not interrupt until I finish, as there is much to go over. On the second day of this month, almost two weeks ago now, everyone should recall the great fireball that streaked across the skies and crashed into the northwest between the Beol and Alv mountain ranges. A letter has arrived from a god that explains it to have been more than what it seems. I shall read the letter now."

Dear Fellow Gods of Orario.

I am sending this missive to inform you that the meteor that fell days ago was no normal meteor. It has crashed in the valley of the village of Ristbrook, raining odd items and materials down from it. The next day, the village was onset by unknown entities in full armor that carried gear unlike any before seen. They gathered the dropped items, including a dead unknown race that no longer is dead, left ingots of silver behind, and then left. They speak an unknown language that humans cannot understand, but from what I heard it appears they are from some distant place, and are building a settlement at the far end of the valley. I know not their intentions, but it is clear to me that they are not of this world, and so I am now asking that the guild send emissaries to speak to these people, and that some come with them to translate, while the village of Ristbrook would like some adventurers to come and perhaps provide security for the village until the situation is more clear.

I hope you will not betray my expectations as you betrayed my familia.

Yours truly, Zeus.

The entire room was as silent as a long untouched graveyard. The Zeus and Hera Familias had been destroyed by maneuverings almost twelve years ago, and as the survivors of the Familia's had dispersed, Hera had returned to Gekai, and it had been assumed that Zees as well.

Apparently that was not the case, as was the fact he was still holding a grudge.

"Guild speaker," one small Goddess with red hair, Loki, spoke up after the silence continued to drag on a little longer than she liked. "what is the Guilds response to this?"

"The guild is prepping a team to go and meet these sudden new neighbors as was requested, but is asking for one or two deities to accompany them as translators. The guild also sees no reason not to request the support of the gods in some adventurers volunteering to help provide security for the village while this is being done, and is willing to provide substantial recompense for those Familia that have those who volunteer."

"Ristbrook, the valley between the two great ranges is a dangerous place if I, Ganesha, Recalls. Poisonous gas vents exist in the valleys depths," The God of the masses, Ganesha spoke up. "Is the Guild prepared for such danger, or will they require security as well?"

"A number of the Guilds cleaners will be escorting the meeting force as security, however any adventurers level 3 or higher would be welcome as well, and properly paid for their work," the guild woman responded.

And then, as a couple of questions had been asked, many gods began murmuring and speaking to those around them, deciding, planning. It was only a minute later when the goddess of beauty, Freya, spoke up that the room calmed somewhat.

"What is the guilds plan for Zeus?"

A number of gods glanced at Freya warily, knowing she was partly responsible for Zeus's fall, and the deaths of his many Familia members who had at that time been the greatest and strongest.

The Guild speaker however simply shrugged, unflinching under the goddesses gaze. "The Guild has no issue with the God Zeus, as the destruction of his Familia was brought about by their failure, and the machinations of other gods, not the work of the guild. If anything, the guild may wish to speak to him about the possibility of him returning, as many of his old Familia now work for the guild as cleaners and Babel Security."

"The guild does not believe he should be forced back to Tenkai?" Freya asked, clearly not liking the answer she received.

"That is a matter between the gods, not the guild."

Freya said nothing else, allowing a few gods to begin muttering again before suddenly, one particularly short goddess stood up. "I will volunteer to come as a translator."

The immediate comments from other gods were instantly derisive. Everything from she had no ability, to she was to short to be seen, even some lesser comments of she'd be mistaken for a whore. They all stopped however when a Red haired Goddess with an eyepatch stood up as well.

"As will i."

"I see, then Goddesses Hestia and Hephaistos, are volunteering to act as translators to the unknown entities. The guild thanks you both."

"Now hold on, no one will care if something happens to Hestia, but if something happens to you, Hephaistos, it could end your whole Familia and lead to a massive upheaval of a lack of smiths," A dark skinned goddess known as Ishtar spoke up.

"Then will you volunteer instead, Ishtar?" Hephaistos spoke up with a knowing smirk, causing Ishtar to lean back a bit.

"What, why would I do something so plebian as translate for creatures probably no more intelligent than feral goblins?"

"Then you hardly have a place to complain," An oriental war god, Takemikazuchi, stated strongly, making many to vocally agree with his words.

"Then there is simply the matter of adventurers to volunteer as escorts, and to protect that village," The guild woman said with a nod. "Please explain the situation to your members who you think may wish to volunteer, but do not give to many details. We will be leaving tomorrow, so please pass on who would like to volunteer by this evening at the latest," she explained before gathering her things and bowing. "Again, the guild thanks you all for appearing to this sudden meeting considering all of your very, very, busy schedules."

The guild worker moved to the door, and as soon as they were out the noise began once more. Among them Hephaistos turned to Hestia with a worried look on her face. "Are you sure about this Hestia?"

"Yes, I, haven't had any luck starting my Familia anyway, and I cannot keep mooching off of you and your children like I am," Hestia said with a nod. "At the very least the reward from the guild will help me out for a while."

Hephaistos who over the last few days considered throwing Hestia out of her place from how long she was squatting there, suddenly felt painfully bad for even considering the option. "I understand. Let's head back and prepare then."

"Of course."

Xxxxxx

Hours after the meeting of gods and the subsequent reveal that Zeus was very much still around, the Goddess Ishtar found herself in her own private quarters considering her options. Zeus still being around was a minor issue, but not one truly terrible. It still irked her however as she had never gotten along with the perverted creep. Her pride demanded he be brought low, lower than he was when his Familia fell and he was ejected from Orario even.

And in that moment she got up off of her bed and walked across the room to a large mirror, ornate in design, but strangely different than everything else she owned in its aesthetics. She touched the glass, causing it to ripple and turn white, and waited.

After five minutes the mirrors surface changed, revealing a room of white stone and trophy's, and a man with golden hair and red eyes standing before her in the mirror. "Ishtar, has something happened?"

"You could say that. How would you like to be able to capture Zeus, Hephaistos and Hestia all at once, and conquer an unknown species all at the same time, Ares?"

The man in the mirror, the God Ares, smiled. "Tell me more."

xxxxxxxxx

Authors note: so yeah, a Rimworld crossover idea. It came to mind while my computer was in for repairs so I was writing it on my phone, which is why it has taken me quite a lot of time to properly proof. No idea if I'll do more, but I figured I'd post it to see if there is interest or not anyway.

And for those curious or unaware, the armored being were humans, Nyaron and Moyo in their races power armors. At this point the rimworld races I'm using are human, Nyaron, Moyo, Drgonian.