(So I have reached the end of my second story, this was meant to be done sooner but sadly life has a funny way of getting in the way of writing. This one wasn't nearly as epic as my first one, but it was never meant to be as epic, it was primarily meant to be filler and setting things up for future stories, as well as fleshing out Nathaniel and his retinue. I would like to know which retinue member is your most favorite and your least favorite, and what you thought of the story overall. Warning, in this chapter fanon will be reaching new levels, you have been warned.)

That we, in our arrogance, believed that Humankind was first among the races of this galaxy will exposed as folly of the worst kind upon the awakening of these ancient beings. Any hopes, dreams or promises of salvation are naught but dust in the wind.- Excerpted from the Dogma Ommiastra

(I know technically this quote pertains to the Necrons, but really you can apply it to any ancient race.)

Many years ago on Ancient Terra, in the mountains of ancient Anatolia

For years he had wandered upon this world, his exile, his prison. He had observed as the apes of this world had stood erect and had begun understanding the fundamentals of true civilization, but they still had a long way to go. He would seek to guide them to the best of his abilities, but there was still a disconnect between them. He was an immortal being made of pure energy, they were slightly more intelligent apes with a very primitive understanding of the world around them. He wished he had brought a few Slann with him during the defeat; they had an easier time relating with younger species than he, actually being creatures of flesh and blood obviously helped in that endeavor. Perhaps what bothered him the most was loneliness, for all that he knew he was the last of his kind, with the others like him being wiped out in the chaos of the wars in heaven and the attack of the Enlsavers. His people had been destroyed from without and from within, their hubristic actions creating monsters in a realm they had foolishly believed that they had controlled completely. The ones who ascended to godhood in the warp did nothing to protect their kin from these new monsters, instead becoming drunk with the power of deitihood, and lost in their own limited mindsets brought about by the ascension. That great power had stripped them of their free will, they were now slaves to the subconscious whims of all beings connected to the warp, and could be shaped and molded accordingly to the dreams and emotions of those beings. Those responsible for Project Eldar, and who had taken the mantles of the Eldar gods had become aloof and detached from all concerns not pertaining to the race they had connected themselves too. Two of the greatest scientists of his people, were slowly degenerating into barely coherent savages due to their connection with Project Krork. Even the three Elders, the greatest of his race, were beginning to lose it. Their degeneration would take a few more millennia but in the end he could see them becoming the greatest threat to all life in the galaxy. He had always been against Project Ascension, but his warnings had been unheeded. His own wife had abandoned him for his best friend, and had taken their daughter with her as she too ascended. But he couldn't dwell on bitter memories, he had work to do. He had sensed that a being had been born on this world, a being far more advanced than his kin, who could prove instrumental to his plans. He had now traveled to the land known as Anatolia to seek this being out; in the hope that he could finally find a being he could connect with, and through him connect to the primates of this world. He felt a huge spike in power, with dozens of voices screaming out and being silenced at once, their very souls being immolated and utterly destroyed. He quickened his pace, traveling by foot as not to startle this being too much.

A few minutes later he came upon a clearing, cackling with eldritch energy. All around him he could see the bodies of grown and armed men, all with looks of abject horror on their faces. In the center of a clearing stood a boy, no more than eight years of age with bronze skin and long black hair, wearing the humble garb of a Sheppard child, looking over the body of a woman in her mid twenties with, her body bloody with stab wounds. The boy was crying over her body, he was obviously the son of the woman. Finally sensing his presence, the boy stares in his direction, his eyes two clear orbs of unbelievable power. If the two of them battled he wasn't sure if he could defeat the boy, while he had more experience and skill the level of raw power he sensed from the boy could easily overwhelm him.

"Be at peace child, a mean you no harm, I come seeking friendship."

The boy gives him another hard look, and then a look of shock comes across his face. "You are not human, are you?"

"To be fair neither are you, how can you even tell the difference?"

"Ever since I was little I could see into the souls of those around me, most humans have souls that are blue and dim, yours is bright red."

"And yours is a shining golden light, you are a very special boy."

"Not really, ever since I was young I was called a witch child, my mother took me into the mountains to escape my murderous village, she thought we would be safe up here."

"Sadly life has a way of messing with our plans and destroying our dreams."

"What are you, I know you are not human and you are definitely not like me."

"You are right, I am a being far older than your race, and my race was in fact the first sentient beings the galaxy ever saw."

"Why are you here, and what do you want with me."

"My people are dead, our empire is destroyed, and our children have become obsessed with their own affairs. I chose to hide on this world because it housed one of our last projects, your race has always been a pet project of mine, and so I decided to live among your people and help slowly guide your evolution. I came to this spot, because sometimes evolution has a habit of skipping forward and catching me by surprise. You are what your people may one day become, yet you have appeared long before you should have. Do you know why this is?"

"I have dreams sometimes, a circle of hundreds of men all chanting and killing themselves at once, their spirits joining together into a single being, I believe that I am that being."

"Interesting, so your creation was a deliberate act and not a random evolutionary leap, that's a relief, I hate it when a species is evolved too quickly, but once again, no one listened to me or my wisdom, perhaps you will be the exception to this. I can help you, teach you, and guide you; I can be father and mentor to you. Under my tutelage, your powers and abilities will grow, you will become a living God, the guardian and guide for the rest of your race. Will you join with me child?" He can barely conceal his excitement.

The boy bends over and picks up his dead mother, lifting her up. "I take it I don't have any other choice, I will become your student, but first I need your help in burying my mother. What should I call you?"

"You can call me, the Old One, but what about you, child, do you have a name?"

"My name is….."

"Master we have arrived at the outpost." Mara-Potek the Slann has awakened him from his remembrances. "We were going to get you sooner, but before we did the outpost revealed itself, trapped us in a tractor beam, and pulled us into their hanger. The Saurus are armed and armored and ready to explore this place."

"That won't' be necessary" Methuselah says, "there are no Genestealers or other foul beings here, you and I should be able to handle this just fine."

A few minutes later Methuselah and Mara-Potek are in a dark abandoned hallway, smelling of stale air.

"Hold on a moment." Methuselah pushes a panel on the wall and the hallway completely lights up in light white, it has a diamond shape to it.

"How did you know where the panel was?"

"I spent many years here; this was a favored research station of me and my colleagues."

"Why did you not return to this place sooner if you knew of it?"

"Painful memories, I have never fully recovered from the destruction of my race, coming here I believed would bring up too many painful memories for me, but now I have no other choice, I must confirm what I have long suspected."

They continue to travel down a hallway, and a white orb descends from the ceiling and scans them. The orb then begins to speak. "Welcome back Vertan Menatulishianoborealin, you have been expected."

(Vertan is a word I made up for an Old One with their equivalent of a doctorate, and the other word is Methuselah's true name.)

"You've been expecting me?" Methuselah is curious at this.

"Of course, Vertan Aunvamiaontorianso has long suspected your continual existence he had been hoping that you would return to this outpost sooner, he waited for many millennia to wait up with you once again."

Methuselah is feeling really horrible right now, his best friend had been alive this entire time and he hadn't realized it or even bothered to check. "Is Vertan Aunvamiaontorianso still here?"

"No, he is currently in the middle of Project Tau, though he told me to give you access to his lab." A panel in the wall opens up, leading to a newly lit laboratory. On the walls are tubes filled with what appear to be Tau in various stages of evolution from their four legged animal stage to the more modern variety. There is even tube filled with a large Q'orl queen. Computer screens light up all around the room filled with DNA strands and physiological diagrams of various Tau sub species, as tables descend from the ceiling filled with Old One data slates. Methuselah walks over to one and picks it up.

"Sub-Project Ethereal of Project Tau. Part 1, disguise myself as an Eldar. Part 2, travel to the Q'orl Swarmhood with Eldar Puppets. Part 3, Obtain a queen and bring it back with me. Part 4, Splice pheromone genes with Tau specimens, creating Ethereals. Part 5, Deposit Ethereals back on Tau, disguise myself as an Ethereal. Part 6, Lead Tau to glorious future." Methuselah stops to ponder this for a moment. "Well this does explain a lot and confirms what I have long feared." The room suddenly grows dark as a holographic image descends from the ceiling. Like Methuselah in his natural state, he is a vaguely humanoid figure, except he is comprised of light blue energy with white veins, opposed to Methuselah's dark red body with black veins.

"This is a recorded message. I wondered if you would ever return to this place, I am pleased that you finally have. I waited a long time for your return but you never came, millennia cooped up in here all alone, hiding from a universe that had grown hostile to our kind, it was not a fun time. I did manage to send out probes and watched as you guided your precious humans, I even saw the disaster of the Great Crusade. Once again you gave your creations too much freedom. You often spoke that freedom was the right of all sentient beings, but what good is that freedom if they destroy themselves? My Tau will not have that problem, they will have enough free will to be innovative, but under enough control to prevent any rebellion or internal dissent. My children will unite these stars, bringing back the order of our people to a cosmos engulfed in Chaos. I have a feeling that you will still oppose me, and while it saddens me that I will have to fight an old friend, I will not let you stand in my way. The future belongs to me and my children, not yours. In time, you may come to see the error of your mistakes, and when you come to me seeking forgiveness, I shall grant it to you. Until then, be well my friend, may you live long enough to see my dream come true." With that the hologram disappears.

"He always had a problem with free will, and while he shouldn't get rid of it completely, he has found a way to keep it in check."

"How close were the two of you?"

"We were friends from the start, we grew up together, we were educated together, and we rose through the ranks of academia together. We both joined the Evolutionist faction, even when we both received good offers from the Defender and Life Bringer factions, choosing to wear the blue and gold over the red and bronze and the green and brown. We collaborated on many projects; he even took my younger sister under his tutelage. When I was abandoned by Ishamauroniearia, he was there to comfort me." Methuselah is actually beginning to cry in his human body. "Come Mara-Potek, I've seen enough, I have confirmed what I have long suspected. Now we need to counter his movements."

"Sir, where is our next destination?"

Methuselah looks at her with a wry smile on his face. "Terra, my Emperor mandated report to the High Lords and the Emperor is long overdue, I should have returned there three centuries ago."

"You can talk to the Emperor on the throne?" Mara-Potek is in awe of her master, Methuselah just smiles.

"I am probably one of the only beings that can, and he needs to know about how the great plan is progressing. He doesn't have much longer to live, and everything must be in place for the plan to succeed."

"Wait, won't the High Lords kill us on sight?"

"They know about me, though they view me as the Emperor's pet/slave Xenos, if they knew the truth they would probably have a complete mental breakdown." Once again Methuselah smiles.

(This is probably going to be the most controversial chapter I've written, but I'm happy with it.)