If none of that interests you, that's perfectly fine, too; just scroll down the page a bit, and you'll get to the good bits.
I've included in this "First chapter" the Epilogue to the previous story, both to give you a taste of what to expect and to make it a nice Transition from one Ending to a New Beginning! BUT its NOT necessary inorder to read the story. If you want, you can totally skip this entire first post, and go right to the "Prologue". But I recommended reading it anyway, if for no other reason than to get a feel for the MC and see a bit of what you're in store for.
For those of you who are still here, here is a bit about the story. It started as a question "What would happen if a galaxy-spanning, technologically highly advanced Civilization suddenly found themselves Face to Face with a world of Cultivators where everything they thought about the universe suddenly doesn't make sense anymore. More importantly, though, how would an "Arrogant Young Master" deal with a 10kg Rail Slug going Mach 9 to the Face? It gives a whole new meaning to "Face slapping," that's how!
If that sentence didn't make any sense to you, then Welcome Aboard!
That being said, I started this Novel and worked at a Hospital during the height of the Covid crisis. Yes, yes, I know, I'm insane and might as well eat glass.
Hey! I was young and stupid! That's beside the point!
I'd always enjoyed writing, but because of the chaotic hours at the hospital, I didn't really get a chance to put my full focus into it. There were entire MONTHS where I would work 12-14 hour shifts, come home, eat, crash for 4-5 hours, then wake up and return to work. I DO NOT recommend it. (Treat your nurses and Docs well, people! They put up with more than you'll ever understand! If you got to blame anyone, blame the bastards who actually run the place.)
At the end of 2022, I finally quit my Job. It was literally killing me, both from stress and hospital-acquired illnesses.
SO! now that I don't have a job anymore (QAQ), I decided to try my hand at Writing full time! (\o/).
For money! ... to pay bills! .... Look, we've already established that I'm Insane, ok? Stop judging!
That being said, I wasn't comfortable with the quality of what I had out to ask people to pay for it. There were gaps and plot holes caused by several issues that I just couldn't figure out how to really smooth. Couple that with pacing that was all over the place, and I didn't think I could really DO much more with what I had.
Thus! I decided to start from scratch! Total Rewrite!
This way, I could write the story I really WANTED, not just to fix the holes in a sinking ship. That would be a disservice to both the fans and the story.
And so we come full circle! With a brand new story for you all to enjoy. I've put a lot of effort into it these last few months, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it (though some chapters were Haaaaard orz).
As for what you need to know, here's what to expect from the story in the future.
1): The premise is a mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, with both Tolkien-style magic and eastern Xianxia/Wuxia mixed in.
2): The primary Genres would be Action and Comedy; expect a lot of bloody fights and REALLY bad Puns. There are aspects of Progression fantasy as well, as the MC explores the new world and Adapts to its rules.
3): Alpha is NOT an Anti-Hero! .... He's an Anti-VILLAIN. Don't be a mistake; Alpha is absolutely not the "Good Guy" of this story. His primary Mission is to Conquer the planet/ system through whatever means he deems necessary. He's going to butt-heads fairly regularly with traditional Villains and those who would be the "Heros" in any other story. But don't mistake him for some Emotionless MurderHobo Edgelord. Alpha, as a person, is generally considered a likable, friendly, and fun person. But at the end of the day, his Mission comes first. Alpha's personality and "Role" were heavily inspired by stories like [Only Villains do That] and Deadpool. That being said, I feel like I have to reiterate...
4): Alpha is NOT an Emotionless MurderHobo Edgelord. If you're looking for some brooding dark lord, twisting the world to his grasp, this is not the story for you. This is more about a Goof-ball Meme Lord... twisting the world to his grasp. Alpha is what you get when you throw Deadpool, Spiderman, and Beast Boy into a blender and give him a fondness for Ducks. I like to describe him as
[Chaotic Good Personality with a Lawful Neutral morality.]. He's a funny, chill guy who just wants to burn down a Kingdom or a dozen every so often.
5): This story is a slow burn... but also fast-paced... What? What I mean by that is simple. For the most part, the story itself is slower than some other progression stories. Chapters are roughly 2,500-3,000ish words, but even the first section is 10 chapters long. That doesn't mean things aren't happening! No! But this is a story about not just Alpha but also the world and people around him. Perspectives will frequently change, sometimes seeing the same event from multiple viewpoints. Other people's stories will be explored and built on. You'll come to love some people and hate others! And that's totally fine! My point is, while Alpha is the "MC," its very not just "His" story.
At the same time, expect things to happen OUTSIDE of what we see, as readers too. Time will progress, time skips will happen, and things and events will occur with one character while we're watching someone else. Think of it as a living world; gears are always moving, and plans are always being made.
6): I'm ALWAYS open to more feedback and input about the story's direction or how things are progressing. I heavily encourage you to leave comments in the comment section and tell me what you think about how the story is going. The more feedback you give, the better I can shape and polish it into what it should be.
LASTLY, before I let you get to the Chapter, here is a bit about how this week (and month, apparently) is going to go.
The current plan is to release 1 chapter every 12 or so hours for the first week. For a total of 15 chapters.
This includes 7 "Advanced" Chapters through Patreon. If you want to help support the Novel and allow me to keep Writing like this full-time, I kindly ask you Check those out! Some nice bonuses are planned, like Polls and the ability to help design story content at the top tiers!
After that first week, I WAS planning on slowing down to a more stable Weekly release, possibly Mondays or Saturdays.
But with the Surprise Writathon that started this month of Royal Roads, I've decided to bump that up to 2-3 times a week (really, more like however fast I can get them out, honestly) and see how that feels. If that's too much for me to handle at the moment, It'll drop down to a week. IF, at the end of the month, I feel like I'd still be going strong, I might keep the 2 times a Week release. But that honestly depends on the support and overall exposure.
With that, I don't really have much more to say; expect to ENJOY THE STORY! and remember to comment and tell me what you think!
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[The story of how a Cultivation Universe was Conquered by an Interstellar Weapons Platform]
EPILOGUE
(This Chapter has been double Edited!)
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Alpha's manipulator claw spun the bolt into place, stopping the insistent hissing from the pressurized tank filled with super-concentrated Bio-explosives. The CRAB frame might not have had many combat applications in an actual fight, but its versatility in field repairs and construction was valuable in its own way. He'd never bothered with the thing himself, but he had to admit, it was growing on him some.
He needed to figure out a way to deal with this issue. It had all started a week ago; not long after he'd arrived in Halirosa, he'd gotten an alert from one of the monitoring AIs at his mountain base. SOMETHING had burrowed through compacted stone and stolen several experimental metals he'd been working with. Frustrating but expected. Then it happened again… and again… and AGAIN.
In time, the cameras he'd set up captured an image of the thief. It was an… Armadillo? Of course, not one of the huge metal ones out in the valley. These were tiny, no bigger than a rat. They vaguely resembled the Pixie Armadillo of Old Earth.
But instead of a thick layer of skin and bone, their protective hide seemed to be made of semi-transparent crystals of various pastel shades. After some questions, Ashdale identified the creatures as "Rockbiter" Armadillo, a common pest worldwide.
They spent their time deep underground on a normal day, feeding on various minerals and ores. But, they were attracted to spirit energy more than most and would often break into storage areas to get at such treasures. Clans and sects would use unique formations to hide and protect their storage from the pests, but an active infestation was notorious is how difficult it was to eliminate. The biggest reason was that Rockbiters had an exceptional sense of hearing and would bury themselves deep underground at the slightest bit of vibration or movement in the general area.
What this meant for Alpha was that not even the placed turrets were quick enough to help. Unless the Rockbiters moved directly into the line of fire, they would burrow away to safety as soon as the turret moved to aim. He'd had some success flooding storage areas with noxious gas, but the crafty pests had then started poking their noses into other base areas in search of easier targets. This had caused him no end of trouble as he struggled to protect his base from the growing hoard.
He had hundreds of years of service, with as many star systems conquered, with foes ranging from mighty warriors to entire civilizations!. Yet, of all the enemies he'd faced, the ones that pushed Alpha's buttons the most turned out to be a bunch of glittery "rats."
He honestly didn't know if he should be embarrassed or think of a way to weaponize them… Both… let's do Both.
Elementised Rockbiters were special in that you could always tell their affinity by the color of their shell. A few had even mutated somewhat from their rich diet, the color of their crystal shells growing deeper and even showing some signs of what Ashdale called "Elementation." It was a common enough process where certain spiritually attuned animals might become full-blown Spirit Beasts after long enough exposure to spirit energy. These "Minor" beasts were often hunted down as the materials one could harvest from them had a variety of uses.
Browns and yellows were more Earth-attuned, which made breaking into more heavily defended areas easier. Blues and teals were water attuned, allowing them to turn stone and soil into mud. This increased their burrowing speed by a large margin, making them far harder to catch. The fire attuned were nicknamed "Sparkers" for the constant shower of embers and sparks their shells gave off when moving.
Sparkers were also considered the most dangerous, as these embers would often catch fire and destroy storage areas in their entirety. Thankfully, Rockbiters' natural affinity for fire was pretty low, so "Sparkers" were rare and could be identified by their bright Red or Orange shells.
Ya! Like that one right there!... Oh no.
Alpha's Optical sensor swerved, locking in on the tiny, red-shelled creature with its sharp teeth buried deep into the Nitro-Pot storage tank. The creature's eyes twitched, and they swung around to stare at the once more motionless Alpha. Slowly, Alpha formed a small turret on his outer shell, but it was too late; the Sparker had already noticed the danger. With the reflexes and speed only a small animal could pull off, the Sparker tore a chunk of metal from the tank and turned to make its escape.
It didn't make it far, as 2,000 metric tons of compressed Nitro-Pot liquid met a stray spark. Then the world shook with a rumbling boom, and everything vanished in a blinding white flash.
==================
When Alpha awoke, he was surrounded by a plane of infinite white nothingness. At first, he was confused; the last thing he remembered was the explosion, but nothing after that. No boot-up, no logs, no record, nothing. Just one moment, a fireball, then the next, White Infinity. He wasn't able to bring up any of his other systems, either; for all he knew, he wasn't "seeing" anything, and the white nothingness around him was some processing error. That was the most likely scenario, given what he'd been through.
The CRAB frame could protect him from a lot; it should have been able to against what would have equated to several dozen megatons of TNT going off right in his face. Si'dia had always warned him that not keeping his core in a secure, centralized location would one day come back to bite him. Maybe the knowledge that he'd been able to 'respawn' at the Mother-Core before being trapped here had made him reckless. Maybe some part of him still thought this was all a strange dream, and if he
died, he would return to the Mother-Core, regardless of what all the data told him.
That raised the question; how HAD he survived?
"That's a simple question to answer, my good boy. You Didn't."
Alpha "twirled" around, suddenly aware of "direction" in this strange place; now, where once there was white emptiness, there was something. Not that it made any more sense to him.
In front of him, an elderly Vidaasi sat at a small table, sipping on a cup of tea. It was difficult to tell the age of a Vidaasi, or Dragonkin, as some called their people; they didn't age like other Sapient species. They didn't get weaker or smaller, as many did; no, this was no feeble old man (Alpha
never recalled seeing a "feeble" Vidaasi). With hard, lean muscle under even harder black and white scales packed into a casual business suit, the man radiated danger in a way only a Dragonkin did.
No, what screamed "old" to Alpha were the eyes. Those foggy, clouded eyes that had seen far too much and the deep, dull scars that marred his scales spoke of a thousand battles over as many years. In a way, the old Vidaasi reminded Alpha of how he would have imagined General Haldorðr if the old goat ever retired. (Ha! Fat chance.)
After a long moment of staring at the old man drinking his tea in silence, Alpha asked a question.
"Who are you? Where are we?"
He wasn't sure how he actually spoke since he didn't have access to any of his systems or even a speaker, but for some reason, he didn't care.
"Why, we're nowhere, Mr. Alpha. Or, to be more exact, we're between 'Somewheres.' It's all about perspective, truthfully, but that's not important."
The strange man grinned a wide, predatory smile Alpha instantly recognized as the same smile the General would use when he was about to bully some poor politician.
Alpha frowned… wait, how did he frown? He didn't have a mouth… he'd NEVER have a mouth… wh-
"Best not to think of it too hard. What 'is' in this place isn't always easy to put into words. Like I said, it's about perspective more than anything."
Alpha moved closer and soon found himself "sitting" at the table with the man. Thinking about how he had sat down, or why he'd even thought to do so, made his 'head' hurt, so as the man said, he put it out of his mind… for now.
"You still didn't answer my question. Who are you?"
The man took another sip of tea.
"I go by many names. I have many roles to play. But the face I wear now is but one of a Guide. Your death wasn't meant to be, not like this, not now. I'm only here to help you with the next step."
Ooookkkay, that was a nonanswer, but something told Alpha it was about as good as he would get.
"Dead? Not Destroyed, but Dead, Dead? Are you serious?! What, does that make you God or something? Wait till I tell the General about this!"
The strange man in front of him let out a deep laugh.
"Ha! No! No, my boy. You may be dead, but it's not yet your time to meet the Maker. No, I'm but a helping hand. Someone sent to make that which has gone wrong right once more."
He put down his cup and leaned over the table, his eyes serious.
"And yes, when I said dead, I mean 'Dead, Dead,' as you say. The explosion that killed you obliterated your core and much of the nearby countryside. Without your connection to the Mother-Core, your Soul was tossed into this place, this
In-Between."
Alpha reclined in the chair, almost tranquil, after being informed he was dead. That was… abnormal.
"So, what's next then? The Afterlife? I'll admit, I'm still kinda new at this whole 'having a soul' thing. If you're just gonna toss me in Hell or something, I'd rather choose Oblivion, not like that's not what I was expecting, anyway."
The man across from him leaned back as well, mirroring Alpha,
"I'm not here to judge your moral failings or lack thereof, at least not today. No, I'm here to offer a choice."
Alpha hummed, skeptical.
"I'm still not convinced this isn't just a damage induced-hallucination. Or, at the very least, Bart screwing with me like last time. I swear to all that explodes, if that Whale had trapped me in another Sim just so he could out-bid me on that new Shield generator, AGAIN, I'm going to shove it so far up his rectum that it'll be legally classified as a Bio-augmentation. I don't care how much paperwork I have to file afterward… That being said, it doesn't seem like I have many options right now, so what kind of choice?"
The old Vidaasi paused, gathering his words.
"Your death was… Unnatural, and not in the way you'd think. We can never know from our current perspective, whatever the cause may be, whether it be a cosmic fluke, external interference, or just the Author of our Story needing a transition. Regardless of the issue, you were never Fated to die here or now."
Alpha sat straighter, his voice taking on a hard edge.
"Fate is for the Fool and the Coward. A real soldier makes his own fate with actions that are his own. I'll write my OWN story; thank you very much!"
The old man grinned another of those dark smiles and laughed.
"There's more Truth to your words than you'll ever understand, my boy. Regardless, you're supposed to be elsewhere, Alpha, not here, not yet, and that's a problem. Thus, your choice."
"... Go on…"
"We can't bring you back to life, not as you were. Whatever caused this problem will happen again. That is the nature of these things. And even if you somehow avoided that fate, your world wouldn't last. Like a tear in a waterproof fabric, the problems would keep worsening until the damage couldn't be repaired any longer."
"That… doesn't sound good."
"Oh, it's worse than you could ever have the context for. But that's going to be kept from happening. There are two options to this dilemma. The first is to return you to this damaged reality but make some… alterations where needed. This might be as simple as minor events like chance meetings or as large as entire swaths of history. What exactly would need to change would be subject to research and would be an ongoing process, even after you returned…."
Alpha slammed [
something](?) into the table, causing it to shake.
"You want to Retcon me?!"
The man stared at the slightly dented table with a raised brow, eyes wider than before.
"In a manner of speaking, that would be one way to think of it, yes. This choice would keep all that you've experienced until now and allow the ability to make adjustments on the fly. It's not perfect, and there ARE risks. You lose none of who you are at a fundamental level."
"... and the other choice?"
"We start over."
Alpha reared back in shock.
"Excuse me?! What?!"
The old man sighed.
"Everyone's story, Yours, Your friends, the Granny next door, even my own, has Key moments on which they pivot. Will Your story be a comedy or a tragedy? A Romance or a Horror? Often, those answers depend on a single choice. So we start over.
We pick a Pivot in your story, and we begin again from the start. As you said, there is no need to 'Retcon' anything because everything will be as it should have been from the start.
This is by far the safest and easiest path. There's no guarantee that more issues won't pop up in the future, but problems that cause the collapse of the first story can be addressed and fixed before they ever become problems, to begin with. Of course, this comes with some downsides as well."
"... Like what?"
The old man sighed.
"It will be a True restart. Everything that 'Was' after the Pivoting point till now will be erased. There will be no going back, no foreknowledge or help. Everything that happened, everything you learned or experienced, will be as if it never happened at all. And with the changes that will be made behind the scenes, you might 'never' experience those things again."
"... I… see."
"Yes… neither option is easy. On the one hand, you must march on, knowing that your very existence is breaking the world around you, and the patch jobs used might not be enough. On the other hand, you will lose who you currently are. Irrevocably. Though, the choice has been given to you to make, and you alone. None can take that away."
Alpha sat in silent contemplation. He should be freaking out by all rights, but he was abnormally calm about this whole situation. Even stranger, he could process and think on a level far beyond what even the greatest sophistication of hardware in the Federation had provided him. Yet that seemed… normal, like it was how it should have been.
Alpha went through everything that had happened with each passing second, trying to deduce what had gone wrong, where the faults were, and what had worked. Not just for himself, but on a grand scale. There were obvious points he had no reference for, information he lacked, and even moments where he couldn't honestly say he'd made the right choices. After a long time of contemplation in a place where time was meaningless, Alpha asked a question. Had he done what he had to? Of course. But were they the 'right' ones? Who knew?
"There's no guarantee that either option will work, is there?"
The old man frowned and nodded, a frown stretching his scaled face.
"That's correct. Either option seeks to correct an issue that's fundamentally uncorrectable. All that differs is how the problem is approached."
"Do you continue to patch up the holes in a sinking ship, or do you scrap the old ship and build a new one, trusting what you learned will let the next ship go further and longer?"
"That's correct."
Alpha nodding.
"I see… I guess that's all I needed to know. Fine, let's do this. A Reboot sounds fun. I want my name in the title, though! No take-backs!"
The old man stared across the table, his face unreadable.
"Are you sure? There's no going back. Some would argue that the 'Alpha' at the end won't even be 'you'; are you fine with that?"
"I'm an AI; some people have tried to tell me I'm not 'real' every day of my life. But they still can't get rid of me!…."
Alpha stood and pushed the chair back away from the table, pointing at the large red button on the table.
"... So let's do this already! It's time for a reboot!"
The old man's eyes bulged as he stared at the button, his voice stammering in a panic.
"Wha-wait?! Where did that come from?!"
Alpha raised an unseen appendage over the button and called out in a chipper voice.
"NOPE! No thinking! Only Reboot! Good Day Sir!"
The old man moved to block the AI.
"Wait, no! Don't! I still have to expl- "
"I SAID GOOD DAY!"
And then the button was pressed.
And… nothing happened?
"Huh… I was expecting that to do something."
The old man stared at the AI with fire-filled eyes.
"Do you have any idea what you just did?! There is a PROCESS to this! You can't just skip to the end like that! Do you understand how much paperwork this will cause?! How the Hell did you even DO that?! Who do I need to fire?!"
Alpha shot back, an imaginary eye twitching.
"Hey, buddy! You're the one who tol-"
"YOU BE SILENT, YOU CONCENTRATED BALL OF CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION!"
Alpha smirked.
"Hehe, that's what she said."
The last thing Alpha saw was the old Vidaasi sinking back into his chair, face covered by two large, scaled hands, and then everything became nothing.
![Alpha Strike: [An interstellar Weapon Platform's Guide to being a Dungeon Core] (Book 2 title)](/data/threadmark-index-icons/l/69/69111.jpg?1680811745){kind=icon}
