Ifrit Atundai's Story

Away from the world came a spark and shudder and a door was opened. From the door came a vessel, large and smooth, shaped like a grain of rice, if rice was to be a size like a hundred and forty meters. The vessel came to the world, straight without flight, it fell like a rock dropped to a pond. Fire burns around it as it come into the air and a sound like thunder is heard.

Beneath it is city, city and water. The vessel turns towards the water, still falling. Three wings raise from it's head and it falls slower then. It slows and then stops, and opens, and within it come three sets of three, ships like teardrops that then fall before raising wings as well, and scattering. The vessel then closes, and sinks low to the water. The bottom opens again, and spins and then water rises and swirls around the ship, before turning clear and still. The light changes, and the vessel is gone, and not seen anymore.

The tears scatter across the world, three go to the city near the water, the others fade over horizon.

High above the city, a teardrop shaped ship flew on feather wings of light. It came over horizon and began descending steeply in dive towards city center. The ship angled down towards a selected point, and like a star it falls towards the ground.

The moment the strange alien vessel emerged in the skies high above Narita, ParaSOL Command and control, situated deep within a mountain somewhere in the Shogunate got a fix, Wide-Spectrum scanner systems adjusted their fix, and zeroed in on the alien vessel.

--

Chaos, that would be the word that described the activities within the ParaSOL Command and Control as the alien vessel began it's descent. General Naoto Itoh, commander of the Shogunate's Strategic military command brought his attention to the massive screen splayed out before him. His brows furrowed before he turned.

"Ready Anti-Ship defenses, I want missiles zeroed and locked."

"Alien vessel is falling like a rock, but it's starting to show signs of slowing." One of the Tactical officers reported.

---




In the mountains surrounding the city of Narita, several Shōri missile batteries swiveled to life, moving to zero in and garner a firing solution on the now slowing craft.

Radar lock by now was achieved, but the strange alien vessel was deploying what appeared to be smaller craft.

As these events played out, General Itoh scowled. "Do we still have telemetry of the alien vessel? Shoot the damn thing down!" He shouted, while his tactical officer protested. "It's too close to the city, by the time our missiles make contact, we could endanger civilian lives."

The General scowled, before he called out. "Scramble all aircraft at Narita Regional Air Command, I want whatever those strike craft shot down!"

With an abrupt nod, the Tactical officer turned, relaying the order.

---

At Narita Regional Air Command, a wing of Type 99 Hayabusa, or Cosmo Falcons were being prepped and ready for takeoff, a squadron of planes lined up at the runway, cleared and one by one they began to take off. Each Type 99 Cosmo Falcon was a well rounded fighter plane, capable of trans-atmospheric flight. The falcons were armed with six air to air missiles on triple-racks under each wing, as well as two nuclear-capable anti-ship missiles in the fuselage bays, six 30mm Autocannons in two groups mounted inside the wing fairings, and two 12.7mm Machineguns mounted in the nose.

Engines roared to life, while Type-0 Cosmo Zeroes on patrol diverted to close in on the alien craft. While it was following a single message was broadcast to it, and the Teardrop craft that began to enter Narita's airspace.

"Unidentified Alien Ship you are in a no-fly zone, identify yourselves immediately and divert course or you will be shot down."

Two Cosmo-Zeroes began to close in from afar on the Teardrop ships approaching Narita, each fighter craft was armed with four 7.62mm Machineguns, and six anti-air missiles mounted under the wings.

"Coming up from the rear, I've got bandits on my console." A pilot radioed.

As the large alien ship sank into the water, a single Shōri type 97 Anti-Ship missile crested over the Horizon, with radar lock it careened at hypersonic velocities towards the alien ship, aiming to impact it before it disappeared.

The Vessel gave no response, in silence it sank into waters dark and deep. Faded and forgotten it would become, it's task now done.

The tears streaked across the sky, and new ships approached. The tears turned and rushed towards the new ship, darting like flies, this way and that, before a sudden pop. Then they were gone, and where they were only fizz and bubbles remained, sparks of light danced and scattered. The other tears flew out over the city, until they too find a place they pop, and sparkle.

A few more moments, and then it is gone, and all is once again as it was.

DHEED just marked down a reasonable description of the obvious weapon at least for her permit and noted a 'historical weapons' collection. It would do for any disinterested data entry or casual review of incoming paperwork. A small printer on its side emitted a few hard temporary IDs. One a 'Security Contractor' ID from its parent company that its database covered one numbered room which was a walled in archive closet. A 'Naturalized Citizen' card spat out by the civil administration from the analog integration project of 'preexisting' citizens. The civil administration computer while it worked much seemed to DHEED like it ate a deal of duct tape while it was being programmed but that seemed appropriate for the punishment the city took on the regular. The third martial weapons permit was fairly bland and extremely close to legit but the paperwork wasn't as robustly defended as the ranged weapons anyhow.

It gingerly stuffed the three laminated pieces of plastic in one of her pockets stating, "Hralenkicvisumf, I strongly suggest showing up at least once for your unpaid corporate sponsor, or the Bulwark for civil service, as to not create any more paperwork. There may be an operation going on soon for which a point guard may be needed. I suggest talking to Estevens of Bulwark if you would like to offer service immediately."

DHEED got notice of some unregistered object above the city. At the short-range bunker sensors were outsourced, but the Bitch was calling for its attention. Uninterested in attending to the object sent an message to ground defenses reporting it as 'Hostile if impactful'. If it wasn't going to hit anything anyone cared about it'd just pound one more crater into the dirt. If not well someone else shooting it down meant less paperwork on its part. Win-win.

The robot sauntered over to Juan as a man with a large black duffel bag hurried over offering a pad. The shipment had clear instructions on where to get the package and to 'shut up and give me the receiving form'. DHEED signed it both without a word the duffel bag set down on the floor by its handles. The man turned and left and DHEED ignored the bagged drone body waiting to see what Juan had in mind.

Among the stars, a door. it wide and is bright with light and fire. The Vessel falls from the door, and falls to the light below, the world. As it falls, the vessel is silent and unmoving, it gives no voice, and falls silently through the space between star filled dark and life filled air

As vessel falls, it remains silent, it's fall towards cities and homes.

Carefully maintained tunnels constructed from Genesis exploring for a way to the surface of a noisy megacity. Though neither could they open an exit into the void and the planet proved singularly difficult to push toward. An opening in proximity to the Way brought notice descending to the surface as it was. A Jinhai volunteered to ride the craft to the surface in hopes its title would survive the experience. The Jinhai leapt free from the ethereal bridge of work units into reality as Myrkul's vein could not construct a gate on such a doomed object.

A humanoid figure poured into reality as the inky cloud shot together as one clad in a black leather robe and backpack. It looked around with a pair of shining grey eyes floating in a dusty immaterial face. The leathery shroud on its 'skin' worked to shade the psionic creature's profile from the world.

Jinhai looked around to see what was inside the vessel.

Inside, the vessel is pure. Inside, it is cold. There is no life. There is no death. There is only metal.

Piping, wires, tubes, the vessel is containing something fluid, a liquid unknown. The Vessel speaks.

"Ik andu mlori vishkatu. Ik andu mlori vishkatu. Trindn mnakir ignalo al ik brun tiknalai."

The Vessel begins to shift and shake around the one who stands within. The walls slide and open and one of many steps forward. It is like to a dog, it's face a single glowing light, it's legs a fluid metal cables. it's tail is short and hard, a horn of iron. The light shines over you, the one of many inspects the forign contaminant with caution. it speaks. "Ik andu mlori vishkatu." It's voice an echo of the vessel.

The Vessel continues to fall towards the dark clay world of light.

Grey eyes regarded the cleanliness of the ship but remained largely ignorant of the cold. Though it might make a noise of breathing in air it was just motes of levitating dust that looked to see if air was there at all to hunt down errant particles of actual dust. The scan showed those wisps of soot along Jinhai's surface as an amalgam as interlinked motes of living creatures. These hardy things came from a place blasted by unlife but nature abhorred a void. Hints of the place remained in the vestiges carried with them that blackens their tolerant metabolism of raw matter.

Jinhai tilted its head from the center at the new creature, the language unknown. It wasn't human so they would not attempt to interact with its mind. However intelligent a thing the creature may be that which used words often shared an understanding of those writ from the book of light.

"I do not possess the meaning of those words so I cannot use them," said the hooded Jinhai by motes vibrating its face.

The gloved hands at its sides rose to provide a theater upon which motes could write. Thin tendrils rose to swirl in a sphere then lit seas of angled white light in imitation of city lines. They'd seen such things on many planets floating in the vast space Myrkul's sub-beings found themselves in. Defenses against the spreading Way among those lines that denied them this place came offensive structures too.

Motes lit blue in orbit all around the city sphere as it depicted this slow moving comet in a pebble of flaming red light slowly descending. Orbital blue dots fired yellow specks to the red light and the whole of it turned yellow then darkened. The snuffed lights reorganized into a small imitation of wreckage with a miniature version of Jinhai affixed to the inside.

Jinhai fully intended to ride the wreckage to the surface should whatever defenses this planet had reduce it to pieces. That this may or may not appreciate being told its corpse might be used as a landing vehicle didn't occur to Jinhai.

The Alien vessels arrival didn't go beneath the notice of the massive Imperial Taiyou Navy. The space around Niihama was crowded, claustrophobic, millions of individual star-ships moving about in organized starlanes policed by black and white ISSP Corvettes.

When the alien vessel came fourth from it's window high in the void above the ecumenopolis that was Niihama, defenses sprang to life.

Targeting solutions were gathered, thousands of individual Z-34 Anti-Orbital Cannons swiveled into position, and began tracking the descending object.



Each individual gun emplacement was massive, capable of delivering a concentrated beam of energy into orbit, with minimal loss of coherency. Each Z-34 Emplacement moved, numbering roughly one hundred dotting the planet's surface.

They did not hesitate, synchronized across the planet's massive high-speed data network, the command was given, somewhere deep in a command center controlled by the Imperial Taiyou Navy, and the installations reacted.

It was a seeming instant, first hundreds of individual beams of light could be perceived, tracking the movement of the alien vessel.

In an instant the beams intensified, to the turn of six-thousand degrees Kelvin. The beams were sustained for about thirty seconds, imparting intense thermal energy onto the surface of the alien vessel, the kind that melted hull, and tore gouges in the sides of starships.

That wasn't the only response mustered by the planet below, the ITN Yamashiro, a Fuso class Battleship began to slowly divert it's course from a nearby armament facility, it's rearward thrusters engaged, and massive 305mm Anti-ship cannons swiveled to life.

Each anti-ship cannon was loaded with a massive nuclear-tipped shell, the gun crews working tirelessly while the ship's command garnered a firing solution. They would move on an intercept course, and begin closing fast.

The Vessel shudders as heat burns and breaks it. The one of many ceases it's scan and dissolves, sparking and bubbling. The foreign entity marked, would be seen later.

The Vessel, breaking, but not stopped. It continues to fall, opening as a thousand times before, the tear drop seeds released and sent before it. The vessel then opened again, and more seeds were sent. seeds would find other vessels, would surge toward them to grow and become known.

The Vessel continues it's fall, it burns and breaks, holes in it form and are closed as the many adjust to the breaking.

Black sprays out the back of Jinhai as a sliver of hot metal rockets through the shroud. Purple light sparks as Jinhai's mass reacts to the sudden intrusion. It lost a good deal of that mass in that hit Jinhai would need to be smaller to survive this assault. Outline losing definition Jinhai's humanoid limbs pulled together sinking toward the floor it took on a hard sheen of solid hexagonal polytope sealing itself to a support structure. A thin reverberation of order exuded as Jinhai attempted to reinforce its immediate confines.

the vessel falls, and opens as it falls. tear drop shaped seeds of white released from the vessel, scatter and sprint through sky and cloud. The vessel, now empty, it's task completed, will fall and crash in the clay world with lights, shattering upon surface of earth and stone.

Seeds scatter and fly and dance in sky, searching, scanning, watching, waiting. they seek and will find, and once found they will too will be complete, and their task will be done.

A door opens in the sky above the light filled city below. A vessel falls from this door and begins a rapid descent to the surface, neither slowing nor changing in it's fall from the heavens above. the vessel is white, and oblong, shaped like an egg more perfect than any other ever lain.

Below, in the light, they would see only the flames that surround the vessel as it passes into their sky.

Throughout the streets of Wing City, soldiers wearing flak vests began marching through the streets armed with flamers. The Imperial Gaurd had located a strange vessel that was on a collision course with the city. Unfortunately no ship was nearby to blow it out of the sky, and many anti-air defense systems had yet been built.

However the soldiers had a new task, begin purging the strange seeds and prevent any from taking root on the planet. It was an alien ship, and these were alien seeds. For the religious men of the Emperor they would never allow such a thing to tarnish the planet.

The Purging was thorough, every seed was being burned. The Imperial Guard was always ready to defend Wing City from xeno hostiles.

With strange things afoot DHEED preferred to have a front row seat given the option. It wasn't terribly high confidence whether it preferred the newness of the signal or the sheer potential for suffering. No reason not to find out. It wasn't hard for DHEED to be in a lot of places at once its husks and processing nodes were sprinkled all over the city. A smattering of nihilistic droids erupted from walls, nondescript doors, and basement vaults. DHEED directed the soldiers where it had good data the projectiles had hit. Sometimes it just waited to watch the things burn. It half-hoped some would survive, and ignored a few it had evidence of but plausible deniability for, just to see what would happen. DHEED dropped down a sheer impact point into a sub-basement to look at one. He left the husk frozen in place recording into archives with a dying rat twitching over the object.

Once their task was complete, the seeds released the many into the area where they landed, each one cracking and popping as it did, the shell melting as the many took sustanance and material to multiply from it. Fire took the many by surprise, and some seeds failed in their second function. The others learned, and changed. Now the many would feed from fire, rather than Feed it.

The many were unseen by mortal eye, they existed in a fashion too small to be seen. They scattered and spun and dug into the ground, like a dust that shimmered and was gone. They were not yet ready. Soon they would grow, but they were not yet ready.

The Vessel would crash and shatter like a hollow shell, it's pieces scattered about. The many that were part of the vessel waited until all motion had stopped, and then they would break and scatter, the pieces dissolving as the many seperated from a whole and became only living ashes. Unhindered they would vanish soon and become unseen, lest those who lived in the clay light city stopped them.

"Sir! Our scanners are picking up that the seeds have adapted and burrowed into the ground. Flamethrowers are no longer working, we may have a large scale infestation unless we exterminate the area. Permission to call in orbital bombardment to level this area?" One of the Guardsman sergeants spoke into a radio once the equipment was picking up what was going on. "Negative, we have reports of a Space Marine Librarian on the way. He will deal with the seeds and the ship. Ensure nothing gets out."

Just as he finished the radio call, a massive armored figure holding a staff walked into view. The Guardsman quickly fell on their knees as sign of respect. "Greeting M'lord, you honor us with your humble presence Space Marine." The sergeant spoke. The Marine did not speak as he had no need to, he acknowledged the Guardsman with a slight nod and tuned in on this surroundings using Battle Sight, and he located every single trace of seeds down to the very last. Including the very ash in the air. Slamming his staff into the ground he sent fourth a wave of psychic energy utterly obliterating every last seed in an instant leaving no trace of it, as for the floating ash in the air he tore open a hole in reality and forced all the ash through it sending it away into the immaterial realm to which it would soon be nothing.

"Emperor watch over you Guardsman, continue with your duty. Our job here is done, no xeno trace is left. I want you to locate the source, we shall exterminate them when you do. For now I have other important business to attend to." With that the Space Marine Captain walked off.

The Many had escaped. Prime directive was achieved, and now the many would grow and continue. The many, like ashes or dust scattered in the wind, crawled across the surface of the clay light world they were now on, and moved forward in search of organic material to assimiliate and scan. Organic material was required in order to adapt and grow, to change so that the Many could take form and achieve final protocols.

The Many hunted, their form all but invisible to the naked eye, they were but a dust that moved and watched, followed and waited, searching ever for that which would make them grow, adapt, and change to achieve final protocol.

"hmmm..." The Entity mused to itself, the only sound interupting the silence of his domain. He looks upon the strands of reality with narrowed eyes, their message becoming clear to him.

"Then it must be done, but carefully." Ifrit Atundai made his decision, waving his hand before him and altering the scope. In that single motion he shifted things to the desired position, and now before him sat both the desiccated corpse of one "Holy Terra" God Emperor of Man, and the Emperors spirit. It was an act that occured both at once and never at all, a shifting of realities past, present, and future, as well as a maneuver where in entire dimensions had opened, closed, ceased existing, and never existed at all.

"You and I are long over due for a conversation. I understand you value your time but I'm afraid I must demand some of it from you. You and your people are a threat to the continued function of existence, and must be stopped. However, the extent of your influence over both your own continuum and that of several other non related scopes dictates that I cannot simply remove you from existence as I normally would. Therefore, we must come to a favorable conclusion for both our purposes."

Ifrit's attitude and tone made clear three points. First being that he obviously expected to be listened to and understood. Second being that he was assuming his sudden appearance as well as the emperors sudden imprisonment was both to be expected and accepted.

The third was that he was impatient and clearly did not understand formality or tact.

The Emperor heard the voice, a being threatened him to remove him from existence. He would have paid the strange being his full attention for such a bold statement, however he was more bust fighting the unending legions of demons led by their Chaos Gods. By his side the souls of the fallen faught by his side holding the line.

However this being, able to come into here without personally being here. It wanted something, and he was going to answer. "Make your peace then unknown being, I do not have much time to spend talking. We threaten existence you say? If that's the case why don't you talk to the Chaos Gods that want to kill all other life in this universe and destroy all of reality at that leading to eternal Chaos?" The Emperor replied as he swung his word cutting down thousands of demons at once. Greater demons and all.

It was clear he had his attention.

Ifrit rolls his eyes and waves the emperors protests away.

"These beings are only threatening this one tangent, they're of little concern overall. If you and your people were to fall, then a section of reality would fall away, but the health of the overall would be left intact." Ifrit informed the emperor. "However, your continued interaction with these shakilyu creatures have a higher than acceptable probability of resulting in ascension, and that can not be allowed. The Shakilyu are NOT worthy of this knowledge, they must not be allowed to ascend and become gods."

"You have seen their government, their culture and the arrogance that festers within it. Can you without pause or hestitation assure me that, if they were to take your place and power, that they would be as honorable and rightous as you?"

The Emperor simply cut down another horde of demons before replying. "Simple minded fool, Chaos wont stop with only us. They will expand to every corner of the universe and immaterial realms and kill everything that is in their path. If you believe that they would just stop here then that is foolish, if we fall the entirety of reality will fall. In time of course, but it will fall. You say that Chaos can ascend? They have already been able to rise to demonhood, and they cannot be made unless many emotions come together in such a massive surge."

The Emperor paused for a second as he destroyed yet another horde of demons. "I already know of this. None would be able to hold my position. Now tell me why I should continue listening to you? You say you can kill me off? By all means tell me how you would accompish such a feat that even the four Gods of Chaos have failed at. You keep on saying that anyone accending to Godhood would bring disaster, then pray tell why have you not stopped me? You keep preaching that this cannot be allowed, so why would you make me an exeption? Something as 'powerful' as you would be able to do such a thing right?"

Ifrit sighs again.

"Clearly I overestimated your understanding of your own position and intelligence. You are not a god, you are a glorified empowered being thinking they hold a power of all encompassing proportions, when in fact you access only what is a single strand of the ever growing weave of fate and destiny."

"I shall try and simplify it for you. This reality that you say the demons will consume is but one tangent of possibilities. It is not creation, it is only a single fragment of a shard of a infinitely shrinking speck of dust cast off of creation. Do you understand, has that made it clear to you? This is only one reality, there are many."

"You are the keystone in a calculation that if not changed will result in a new ascension, but not of your own people. Rather, the threat comes from the Shakilyu."

Shakes his head, growing visibly angry. "regardless, your understanding is not required. You WILL cut off your connections and reliance on the Shakilyu, and you will have your men destroy all the information they have learned from your throne bound corpse. If you do not, then I will be left with no choice but to disseminate of this tangent."

"And before you begin claiming how you will "stand against me as I have these demons" Remember that I need not affect you directly. Suffice it to say that there are possibilities that can be manipulated and set in motion. One of those is your failure."

"And if nothing else, think of your duty and your people. What I ask of you is not beyond your own reasoning is it, especially if it could better secure the future of your "holy terra""

"I will give you forty seven cycles to come to your conclusion."

And with that the connection was severed, the Emperor returned to whence he came with no evidence to suggest he had ever left, or that the conversation had just occured.

The Emperor simply sighed, he understood what he meant and he had no intention to follow him. He had already guessed whatever that was would try and alter reality and the timelines. He would have considered it...if he had not already hear that threat millions of times over and over again. It was a being that was waving around his power like a kid. He has been alive for a very long time, everyone had a chance to use time to kill him. He has seen this many times already and has stopped every last attempt.

He had no intention to follow a random xeno creature that dared thinks he controls everyones destiny. He has already seen people claiming masters of time and reality, and he himself has mastered that long ago. However he had no interest in affecting the past. One little change could destroy everything, whoever that was was waving around power, being an arrogant kid.

Forty cycles to decide? He could have told this being no already and show him that not everything goes anyones way. He learned this the hard way personally. He will never comply, and he had the power to show that creature when forty cycles came...No one had the right to control destiny, and he was no different. He was already expecting guests, and they would give him what he needed to show that thing, never mess with the past.

With that he returned to killing the endless waves of demons along with the souls of the others.