An Alternate Star Rail
00-I: An Alternate Herta Space Station (Prolouge)
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Herta Space Station
2157 AE / Year Zero
Herta Space Station was under attack
Antimatter Legion starships entered the star system and swarmed the station like ants to an unattended piece of bread, the Heralds of Destruction relentless in their assault of the space station, completely surrounding the construct in a veritable ocean of smaller ships while their cruisers and battleships pounded the space station's shields with a storm of antimatter.
Being the main operating base of Herta and the home of the Simulated Universe Project, the space station was far from defenseless and it was a testament to its quality that it took such a large Antimatter Legion fleet to overwhelm what was a relatively small space construct and its relatively meager defense fleet. A potent shield designed by the Genius Society members that ran the place stood vigil over the Space Station and protected it from the constant bombardment, all while defensive constructs both ground and space based fired back at the Leigonnare warfleet with experimental weapons of unmatched potency, with the Legion quickly learning that Lady Herta's scrapped notes were a perfectly reasonable basis on which you could build your military technology.
Despite the advantage in quality that the defenders had, the sheer weight of numbers was beginning to take its toll. Several surrounding defense platforms had already been ripped apart by concentrated Legion firepower and the ground-based waveguns that had prevented the bigger Antimatter Legion battleships from fully entering the fray were in the process of being silenced by Voidranger strike teams. Safe to say, the situation was incredibly grim and Arlan was acutely aware of this, with Herta Space Station's head of security more than visibly uncomfortable with the fact that the chances of everything he ever held dear to him getting turned into energy soup were inching ever closer to zero.
"Brother Arlan!" one of the technicians cried "Void shields are beginning to overflux. If we don't vent it soon, were at risk of a catastrophic void shield collapse"
"Vent flux and recharge the void shields, we'll rely on the regenerative hull plating in the meantime" Arlan barked "Has anyone responded to our distress call yet?"
Another technician raised his voice to answer "We have responses from the IPC's Crisis Management Division, they say they're going to have a fleet arrive in the next few hours. Our communique to the Speranza was also received, though the response was just a chibi image of Mrs Ruan Mei giving a thumbs up. I think that's a good sign."
The Head of Security breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that maybe the space station's inhabitants would live to see another day. His sense of relief would not last for long however, with a wail from one of the technical officers informing him that their predicament was going to get worse before it got any better.
"We have confirmed hull impacts on sectors 37A, 37B and 23A! Wait... I detect the launch of boarding torpedoes!"
Arlan grit his teeth before standing up from his command chair, summoning his weapon to his side
"Get Walkures and our PDCs to shoot down as many as we can before the impact. I'll be joining our men-at-arms to repel the borders. Lanza, take command while I'm gone"
"Yes sir!"
With his sword in hand, Arlan rushed towards a battle that he knew in his heart was probably going to be his last. And while there was a tiny bit of fear in his heart for his own safety, this was overshadowed by the fear that he wouldn't be able to protect the people he had dedicated his life to serving.
Sorry Miss Asta, but I'll have to go and risk my life again
And amidst all the chaos that was happening...
"Boarding torpedoes have made impact!"
"Bayrons have shorted out our anti-teleportation countermeasures!"
"All non-combat personnel, report to Sectors 55C and 48D. I repeat..."
There was one person who seemed to be calmer than most. Even as she was acutely aware of how critical the situation was, she simply pretended to play a violin while she rode up the elevator up towards the Curio Hall. It was almost as if... she couldn't feel any fear.
An explosion rocked through the space station just as the elevator reached its destination, the lights inside turning red just as the woman heard the explosion. In response, the woman smiled, before beginning to speak.
"Seems like I came at a bad time"
A hologram appeared before her eyes, undoubtable a symbol that one of her companions was communicating with her
"No no, I think you couldn't have timed it better"
...
Kafka didn't like Herta Space Station
The environment was far too... sterile for her taste, and in her opinion it lacked elegance, it lacked opulence and it lacked grandeur. It was nothing a few classical paintings and chandeliers couldn't fix, but Herta just seemed like the type to have bad choice in decoration.
As the kids these days said, it just 'didn't hit different for her', or something along those lines. She would ask Silver Wolf if she was using those terms correctly, but the last time she referred to Claire de Lune as a 'banger', Silver Wolf spat out the soda she was drinking.
Maybe Blade was right and that she was getting old. These new-generation terms were getting rather confusing.
Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, Kafka regained focus on her situation, shooting the last of the dozen or so Antimatter Legionnaires she was fighting with a well-aimed spray of lead from her submachine gun. The Stellaron Huntress sighed in exasperation, as while fighting Leigon grunts wasn't particularly difficult, it was time consuming in a situation where time wasn't exactly at a premium.
"I have to admit Silver Wolf, you may have lured too many of the Legion to the station" Kafka sighed "If I knew that there was going to be this much, then I would have considered bringing SAM along if it weren't for the script"
"Anything less and they wouldn't have broken through the station's defenses" Silver Wolf replied, this time being physically present "And besides, there's only one Doomsday Beast here and the grunts shouldn't slow down the Express crew by all that much."
"Its not like we can do much about it now" Kafka resigned "You can take your little detour after we finish what were about to do. Just don't take too long, or were going to be 'cooked', as the kids like to say"
When Kafka looked back at her companion, she saw a face of pure horror
"What, did I use it wrong?"
"Just... no. Please don't"
...
The walk towards the monitoring stations wasn't an easy one
Both Kafka and Silver Wolf had to either dodge or take out any Antimatter Leigon troops that were boarding the station, all while having to avoid the station's own counter-boarding teams and robotic sentinels. While Silver Wolf's Aether Editing made the process infinitely more feasible, the duo still had to walk by slowly in order not to raise suspicion from the Space Station's staff who were likely watching every inch of the Space Station through the CIC.
Once they arrived at the monitoring room, they found that the place was thankfully completely devoid of people.
"Not a single soul here" Kafka mused "Impressive evacuation work. Did Herta organize this herself?"
"According to the access records, Herta hasn't logged in in over three months." Silver Wolf responded "The evacuation was lead by the acting lead researcher, a girl named Asta"
'Asta' Kafka thought to herself 'I'll keep that name in mind'
"Doesn't ring a bell" Kafka said out loud "Oh right, Elio did say that we wouldn't run into Herta. Where are the Stellarons?"
"Elio didn't mention the location of any of the Stellarons in the script" Silver Wolf pondered "Which means..."
"Elio foresees us to find the Stellaron in a non-physical way?" Kafka continued
Silver Wolf smiled
"This station is filled with extraordinary objects. I wouldn't be surprised if there was one that could make it happen"
"Hiding something extraordinary with something extraordinary... sounds like Herta alright." Kafka mused "I assume that you know what to look for, you've been !5k
"Help me investigate the terminal in this room. I think I have it all figured out"
...
After a good few minutes of investigating, they had found what they were looking for, with one of the screens opening up to reveal a tunnel through space that was hidden by a well placed Curio. Naturally, Silver Wolf had a smug smile about the whole thing, clearly proud of herself with her (perceived) victory against Herta of the Genius Society. Kafka sighed in response to her grin, gesturing the hacker to come with her and enter the portal.
And what was inside... was a room with two bright, yellow, glowing Stellarons inside.
"I guess even for Herta, Stellarons aren't an ordinary rarity" Kafka said "I wonder how she managed to get two of them"
"According to my sources, she won it from a fellow Genius Society member on a drunken bet" Silver Wolf answered "My source believes it was either Member eighty-one or eighty-two, leaning more towards eighty-two for what they says are 'obvious reasons'. Considering what the both of them are reported to have done though, I think it checks out"
'It does make sense' Kafka thought. Among all the members of the Genius Society that Herta was acquainted with, the both of them were known to do some pretty... insane things. Eighty-one was reported to collect the bodies of Abundance and Propagation emanators like the titular characters of a popular turn-based game franchise while Eighty-two turned the yet-to-be-explored Amritsar Expansion Zone into an astral navigation hazard because 'the moon was haunted'.
Two peas in a pod. No wonder the both of them travelled together.
Kafka snapped out of her thoughts, looking towards the two Stellarons that were just sitting there in all of their shining glory.
"Can you get to them?" Kafka asked
"Of course" Silver Wolf replied "It has its own security system, but even the genius Herta can't compete with me when it comes to hacking"
"Good, then I'll entrust you to prepare the receptacles" Kafka said, a clear and genuine smile appearing on her face "I'll get myself ready too"
A few button presses later, Silver Wolf spoke
"The receptacles are ready. Who wakes up first is your decision"
"Before that... how much will they remember" Kafka asked
"They'll remember you at least" Silver Wolf replied "Is that all Kafka? Are you ready?"
The Stellaron Huntress took a deep breath, before breathing out, with her heart beating in excitement. She savored the moment, knowing that was an emotion that she barely got to experience these days.
"Alright... I'm ready. Wake them both up"
The female receptacle was the one that woke up first
The receptacle's mind was in panic in the first few moments of consciousness, not knowing where she was or what she was doing before all of this. Trying to recall anything didn't really help, with the only thing that was on her mind was trashcans for some reason, with the mere thought of their grey, succulent bodies of steel greatly comforting the girl. It was this deep, comforting effect thinking of her metallic savior that allowed her to compose herself enough to not scream in sheer confusion when she finally opened her eyes.
The ashen-haired receptacle awakened to the sight of an absolutely gorgeous woman which she recognized almost instantly as Kafka, alongside a less familiar girl who still tugged on her heartstrings somewhat. Either way, the both of them felt... familiar. Just like family.
"Kaf-ka?" the girl muttered, her voice hoarse and her mind only partially aware of her surroundings
"Shhh..." Kafka hushed "Let's wait for your brother to wake up first"
Instinctively, her head bolted to her side, her eyes catching a glimpse of her fellow receptacle, still asleep.
She recognized that face
"Caelus?"
...
The male receptacle was the one who awoke next
Like his sister, he too was in panic in his first moments of consciousness, but soon calmed down as he recalled the comforting memory of well... racoons. The mere thought of their soft furs and adorable faces quickly calmed him down, allowing the male receptacle to not scream from sheer panic once he opened his eyes.
He woke up to the same scene as his sister, with a absolutely gorgeous burgundy-haired woman who he instantly recognized as Kafka, and a less familiar girl who he couldn't put a finger on who she was but still felt as if she was his little sister. Unlike his female counterpart however, the male receptacle felt the tingle of hair on his neck, which was noticeable enough for him to turn to his side and see the recognizable face of his sister looking back right at him.
"Stel-le?" the boy groaned weakly
"Cae-lus?" the girl replied "Where are..."
Before Stelle could finish what she was going to say, Kafka's sultry voice cut through the conversation.
"I know that the both of you want to talk right now, but I'm afraid we're running out of time. So since the both of you are awake..."
Kafka paused and took a deep breath, fully aware of how this 'first' conversation with both receptacles would shape their journey ahead.
"Listen to me"
Sector 37B
Herta Space Station Supply Zone
Voidrangers
The rank-and-file soldiers of the Antimatter Legion were feared across the universe as violent brutes that were perfectly forged for fulfilling the mandate of their Aeon, and for good reason. While Lord-Ravagers were renowned for their endless destructive potential that was more than capable of threatening entire star empires, compared to the seven Lord-Ravagers there were innumerable numbers of Voidrangers and they were by no means easy opponents to take down. Each Voidranger was purpose-built for the art of war, each soldier of the Legion being faster and stronger than most normal humans at the cost of flurrying into a berserker rage whenever they detected the presence of anyone not part of the Legion, though to Nanook this was less a setback and more of a neat feature.
As a result, even with the best weapons that having your head researcher be the daughter of an IPC shareholder could buy, Herta Space Station's security team had a hard time keeping up with the ever-increasing number of Antimatter Legionnaires that were entering the facility. Or at least they would have, if it wasn't for the absolute monster of a Head of Security that they had.
Everyone in Sector 37B felt the entire room fill with static electricity, with both human and Legionnaire alike seeing the Herta Space Station's head of security charge up his attack with an absolutely titanic amount of power, before unleashing it on a particularly unlucky Trampler. Swinging his sword faster than the beast could react, the Trampler felt the full force of Arlan's swing, gravely injuring the beast to where he could hit it again and again and again.
As all of this occurred, Herta Space Station's security staff eagerly kept the pressure off of Arlan, with security personnel preventing anyone from trying to sneak up on their Head of Security by either shooting at the Legionnaires with coherent plasma weapons or supporting Arlan by joining the melee brawl directly. Each element of Herta Space Station's security team worked like clockwork and despite their inferior numbers, it looked as if they could actually hold back the Legion.
Unfortunately for the Security Team however, Arlan was the lynchpin of their defense against the Legion in this sector
And he was beginning to slow down
...
Arlan was in immense pain
Every single time he called upon his element, the very power he used to protect the people around him, it hurt. Unbeknownst to all but a certain head researcher that Arlan was close with, every single time Arlan called upon his power of lightning, he felt it all. As he struck another Voidranger down with his sword, Arlan felt the electricity scorch his skin. It was a sensation that no human could ever get used to... but Arlan learned how to live with it. It was a constant reminder as to what the people in his life would experience if he ever failed.
And so... no matter the cost to himself, he had to keep going
Arlan charged up another attack, felling another Voidranger with a well timed strike to the head, before moving to block a strike from its comrade who was rushing towards him. Arlan didn't waste time locking locking blades with the monster, the Head of Security swatting its blade aside like a children's toy before stabbing it squarely in the chest.
Despite making it seem that hacking through some of the universe's bloodiest killers was easy, in reality Arlan was beginning to feel the toll that combat was placing on him. The pain and the burns were only getting worse, and while in a way that was his source of motivation in a mental sense, physically his body was not taking it well. With each and every strike Arlan dished out, his body was getting heavier and his movements more and more unresponsive.
'Crap' Arlan thought to himself as he dispatched another Legionnaire 'I might slip up'
And when that happens... no, stay focused. There's no time for doubts
Legionnaire after Legionnaire fell to Arlan's blade, but no matter how many he felled, there seemed to be more that were coming aboard like an unending tide. The Head of Security gritted his teeth, knowing full well that he was about to reach his limit soon and that without him, the rest of the Security Team in this sector was going to get wiped out if they didn't retreat.
"Fighting retreat!" Arlan's roared "Protocol three-oh-two!"
Upon hearing those words, the tactics of the security team changed significantly. Instead of trying to hold their ground against the mass of Legionnaires, they were now moving back up towards the exit, with the priority for anyone engaged in melee being to not break in the face of the Legion horde while their compatriots with ranged weapons rained down a hail of kinetics and plasma to cover their retreat.
Even as his body tired, Arlan still shoved himself into the center of the fight, cutting down any Voidranger that got too close for comfort, enduring the pain as his body recoiled after each electric shock from his own ability.
The pain kept Arlan's mind awake even as it took more and more effort to move his muscles from the sheer amount of damage that was being done to his body. Which meant that once his body slowed down to the point where he couldn't react fast enough to block several Voidrangers attacking him at once, he was fully aware of what was going to happen to him.
But even as his body weakened, he sure as hell was going to make sure that he was going to go down fighting.
The first Voidranger struck with a ferocity that was expected of a ruthless purpose made killing machine, striking at the injured Head of Security and pinning him down with strike upon strike. Arlan did his best hold put against the assault, but once his peripheral vision picked up another Voidranger teleporting behind him, he knew that it was close to being over
Arlan braced for the strike that he thought would end his life, but to the surprise of the Head of Security, the fatal blow never came. Instead, he found that both Voidrangers that were pummeling him were dead on the floor, with some sort of weaponized drone sweeping through the battlefield, taking out priority targets.
He breathed a sigh of relief
Maybe... just maybe, the defenders of the Station would live another day.
"Dan Heng! Look over here!"
March's voice rang throughout the corridors of the space station, eventually reaching the ears of Dan Heng, who was March's companion for the current mission. The both of them were tasked to look for any survivors amongst the desolate sections while Himeko and Welt fought off the boarders more directly. While it wasn't the most glorious job in the universe, it was still an important one, and given that both Welt and Himeko's abilities were more well suited to set piece battles than March or Dan Heng, it made sense to send the both of them to the task.
"Did you find anyone March?" Dan Heng rang out
"Yeah I did!" she replied "But... who would sleep in a place like this?"
Dan Heng walked up to March's location, only to see a strange sight to say the least. Two ashen-haired people (presumably twins) one boy and one girl sprawled out across the floor with smiles on their faces. While it was easy to presume the worst and assume that the both of them had been knocked out and severely injured, the both of them were still breathing and the girl was even mumbling something in her sleep, all speech being unintelligible besides the words 'Dumpster' and 'mine'.
While Dan Heng was still comprehending the scene before him, March raised her voice to speak.
"So..." she said "Should we try waking them up?"
A/N: This is the longest thing I have ever written.
If anyone of you guys read what I post regularly, then I'm sure at least some of you are aware that my chapters tend to be 1-2k words long at most. This is (almost) double that, and I'm pretty proud that I managed to finish something this long. Originally, I was planning a 10K word long giga chapter that covered the entirety of the HSS arc, but decided against that because I felt it would absolutely fuck with the pacing in ways that I wouldn't like (and also because I was honestly getting really tired writing this lol)
As you guys may have picked up, this entire concept is inspired (i.e ripped off) from W1NTERFOX's 'Prepare for Trouble and Make it Double', and was written mostly because I wanted to do my own take on it and the entirety of the Star Rail story with a few OCs sprinkled into the mix, one of which I've already hinted at (and if you read my other work, you probably know exactly who it is). I plan on some pretty major deviations from canon later on, though HSS is definitely the least divergent arc I have planned and most of the deviations are setting up for more butterflies later down the line..
Also, justice for Arlan. He's my boy and I like him. Also AstaArlan is super cute and was my favorite ship in the game for a long while. Married couple energy is strong, and its that energy that makes me like JingFu so much.
Speaking of shipping, romance isn't going to be the focus of these stories, but romantic subplots are my bread and butter after all. A lot of the ships are already set in stone, and I'm willing to bet that there are some that you won't expect to be in there, so allow me to cook.
Reviews are encouraged as always. Feel free to leave suggestions, constructive criticism and the like. Your interactions are what make me have an incredibly inconsistent update schedule rather than one that is completely barren.
Thank you for reading, and have a pleasant day ahead!
-twocubed