Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.
AN: Ok, so, I got back into doing some writing. I'll admit that I might have gotten a bit carried away with this chapter because it is one hell of a long one. However, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did while I wrote it.
As for some of the questions in the reviews: First of all, I haven't mentioned any STC designs for the simple reason that most of the tech he has picked up could be called STC technology. Along with that, the Tyranids were, actually, around well before it became know they were a species, the Imperium just figured the Genestealers were a race of Spacehulk-hopping Xenos and left it at that.
There you have it, hope you enjoy!
XXX
Snap-Hiss!
And that was the last of the Orks, it actually said something that, in the course of falling down a fucking deep hole, that I had the time to shoot and kill over a few hundred Orks dead before I even reached the bottom of said hole. Now I was looking at around 349 corpses that are all falling at terminal velocity as I'm looking up at the damned things, then again, some are falling faster than others due to the Ork Waaagh! field that is one of the only non-Warp methods of getting Reality to fuck off and telling the laws of Physics to go to the corner, raise its ass then take one hell of a butty call. The others included Necron Bullshit and Orange Magical Space Monkeys.
I roll my eyes at that those thoughts, mostly because they were rather accurate, all things considered, though, I could have done without the distraction as I jinked to the left, dodging another corpse that was falling a significant amount faster than I was, even though I had already reached terminal velocity. Spreading my limbs, I did my best to slow myself down as I twirled around, dodging more Ork corpses as I disassembled the Las turret on my back, returning it to component parts before reforming them into something else. A dozen designs float through my mind before one appears in the forefront, a simple, effective and reliable design for a cross between a Jetpack and a Grav-chute that I was hoping would ensure that I wasn't reduced to only so much meat on the ground. Flaring a bit of power, I felt the metal shift as I suddenly found myself with two thrusters mounted on pylons coming from my shoulders, angled backwards like short, stubby wings. I was half tempted to make them the same wings as those on Gundam Bael, but decided against it, I neither had the materials, nor the inclination, to do that at the moment, not to mention the fact that I didn't know what to expect down at the bottom of this damned hole.
Of course, that was when my armor suddenly alerted me to what was ahead, just as I cleared the last of the Ork corpses as I suddenly found myself approaching the ground, and fast!
"Shit!" I cursed vehemently as I rolled back, kicking my feet up as I turned, my new thrusters aiming downwards before firing them at full thrust. It worked, slowing down my speed, but my velocity was still uncomfortably high, I was still travelling at speeds that would kill me when I made contact with the rather solid looking ground and piles of green corpses.
Had I been a regular Human, that is.
Instead of being reduced to a smear of bone, blood and pulped organs, I landed with a mighty thump, the ground shaking and cracking slightly under my feet as I landed, my feet and boots digging into the stone as a small crater formed around me. Landing in a crouch also helped in that regard, along with the changes I had made to my legs to ensure that I could outrun those Orks, though, it did mean that I was looking at a serious amount of torn ligaments and muscle anchors. Hell, my legs were practically torn in half inside my own skin, the only reason I was even able to force myself up to stand was thanks to the myomers and servos inside my armor, though, I did pause long enough to fix the damage that had been caused to my legs, if only to ensure that I wasn't slowed down by any form of injury.
Looking around as I stood up, I switched vision modes on my helmet, changing to a custom vision mode that used a complex mix of Lidar, echo-location, Thermal, Infrared, Ultraviolet and Motion sensors to build a picture of the world around me. It mostly came back to me as a dark blue coloured wireframe image that seemed to be just this side of freezing, honestly, I figured it would have probably been warmer to stand in the middle of the North Pole in the middle of Winter than it was to stand where I was.
Then again, I had my doubts about if someone would have made it down from the fall I had just survived. A quick check showed that I had been falling for the better part of a few minutes, considering the lesser amount of gravity, that, I assumed, meant that it would have taken me longer to reach terminal velocity. If you also included the fact that I had been falling for the better part of eight minutes, I was going to take a rough guess and say that I had been fallen about six hundred kilometres. I had travelled deeper with my Rexus, but that was besides the point.
"Hummm... Not bad." I muttered to myself as I glanced around, picking a direction and heading in that particular direction even as I checked my suit for damage before continuing onwards. Cautiously, I moved onwards, lifting both arms as I moved with Las-Talons at the ready as I moved, I followed what looked like a path in the rocks, well, not really a path, but it certainly wasn't a dead-end based on the mapping systems in my armor. I frowned slightly as I moved ahead, getting further down the path I had chosen as I turned a corner and saw a light in the distance.
That... Was not something you would expect about a thousand, or so, kilometres below the surface of a planet, let alone this piece of shit of a planet.
It was also rather unnerving as I felt a very cold chill running down my spine.
Feeling that, I got curious as I took a knee and zoomed in on the source of the light. I didn't see the source it, but I certainly saw what was hanging around it.
Daemons. A fucking shit ton of Daemons.
And it rapidly became apparent that, even at over five kilometres away, they could still see me rather well.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" Well... That answered the question of which aspect these Daemons came from.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire...
XXX
My first instinct, when fasted with Daemons, mainly Bloodletters and a few other things, was to run like hell and not look back until either one of two things happened: Either the Demons finally ran out of steam and faded back to the Warp, or I finally figured out a way to kill the fucking things. I grimaced at that, I knew that outrunning a band of blood-crazed Demons was nearly impossible, especially this close to the Warp rift that I could now feel, having not bothered to check my senses as I was too busy thinking of getting back to my base came to notice anything.
A stupid mistake, one I should have already learned from given the dozens of close encounters I had had with the Orks.
Regardless, I didn't see any way to get out of this situation other than a single one, an option that I didn't particularly enjoy the prospect of, if only because I was still rather untested in terms of martial combat: Advance and seal the rift.
Taking a calming breath, I glanced around for raw materials, anything of use as, while I could transmute one material into another, I found it easier to work with stuff that was already prepared for me. However, in this case, it seemed that Murphy had decided to grant me some kind of boon to face the challenges ahead. Scattered along the path, jutting out of the walls, I saw dozens of Warship hulls, ancient Human designs from what I guessed was either the late stages of the Iron War, or early Imperial designs from the start of the Great Crusade. The Warp rift, if I had to guess, was on the remains of one such Imperial design, though, I could understand the logic in that, Iron War-era Human vessels all had their Hulls insulated with Phase Iron after the mass deployment of Vortex weapons for the first time, offering some measure of protection against the energies of the Warp, Daemons included, it seemed.
I smirked at that, it gave me more than a few options to work with. Rushing over to the closest Hull, I placed a hand on it before I got to work. Drawing Phase Iron from the hull, I started forming them into a shell around a Adamantium core from those same hulls, an explosive warhead was also added as I rapidly built what could only be considered as the unholy bastard child of a Storm Bolter and a Assault Bolter on steroids, firing 1.20 calibur bullets at, frankly, insane speeds as I mounted it on my gauntlet, having the grip in my hand even as the thing locked into place, a feeding mechanism connected to a massive cylinder on my back that contained my ammo, all five thousand shots worth of the stuff, as I moved my Las-Talons to a pair of shoulder mounted turrets, upgrading them so that each shot hit with the power of a Lascannon. In my off-hand, I decided to go for something more... Direct. A quick bit of work and I suddenly found myself carrying a pseudo-Thunder hammer with a head as big as the engine block of a small car and a haft almost two metres long, about 1.9 metres in total. The entire thing was almost as tall as I was, cracking with both a molecular disruption field and an idle Gravimetric impactor, this thing could overturn a tank while reducing at least half of said tank to pulp, it even had a series of Warp-reactive components in it to allow me to channel my power into it, technically making it a Force weapon.
And I could use it with one. Damned. Hand!
I grinned viciously inside my helmet, even as I finished off creating the last of my ammo, inserting another shell type every second shell, empty things that were filled with an explosive warhead inside of a shell of Warp-reactive material that I filled with my own energy. I figured that, if Big E's power was like liquid death to these fuckers, then what I did to them might have been like pouring molten brass down their throats while kicking them hard enough that they learn how to wear their asses as hats.
There was only one way to find out.
Marching forwards, I slowly advanced at first even as more armor and muscles were layered on to my armor, increasing my bulk, but serving to make it much easier to move even as I picked up speed. After a few steps, I was doing a very good imitation of Diesel-powered Freight train, only in Human form as I thundered across the cavern at a pace that most people would put somewhere on par with a racing car. The effect was only amplified as one considered that my two, or so, ton bulk was encased in another four tons of armor and weapons.
The first Daemon I ran into found that out the hard way as I shoulder cheeked the fucker, he ended up getting a Lascannon to the face as the physical force behind my strike reduced it to a paste of impossible organs and hissing blood. The blood splattered across my armor even as Gellar Fields kicked in and ensured the Warp stuff found no purchase. Spare materials were used to rapidly build another few, just to be safe, while I continued onwards, my mind turning its technical aspect towards a more immediate need.
Battle.
My mind, which had only been used to plot escape routes and analysis complex machines, suddenly kicked into overdrive as dozens of plans of attack suddenly sprang into view. I could envision each one, how they would work out, weighing the probabilities of success and the cost to gain ratios of each plan before I moved onwards. With my mind set, it was time for my body to begin.
My next step resulted in the death of no less than twelve more Daemons, my Hammer crashing down between them and the waves of energy sprang forth from my Hammer, battering all of them with enough force and energy to utterly crush them as my other arm went to work. My Bolt cannon sprang to life, lifting up as I pulled the trigger, sweeping my fire as I ensured that two bolts went into each target, the first being the Phase Iron Bolts, they ripped into the Immaterial substance of the Daemons, wounding them, taking limbs and forcing them to expend energy to try and regain them, weakening them further as the next Bolt came. The detonation of the Warp reactive materials, charged with my power and exploding right in the face of these weakened Daemons, worked especially well. The damage done to their bodies was immense, working to force them back to the Warp, screaming in a mixture of pain and outrage as I advanced.
Sweeps and slams of my Hammer reduced the rocky ground to a cratered surface as the unreal remains slowly faded back to the Warp while I advanced, my Las-Talon cannons also helping as they, themselves, cut a bloody swathe through the Daemons as they worked effectively. I made a mental note of that, mainly because it seemed that most weapons could kill a Daemon, it was just a matter of applying enough power to the weapon to ensure that it happened.
My head jerked to the left, a Hellblade passing harmlessly over my shoulder as I used my cashe of spare materials to form a trio of Powered bayonets on the front of my Bolter cannon, slashing into the Daemon as I advanced, not glancing back as I cut into yet another Daemon that had gotten to close. Moving forwards, I fought silently as my mind worked away, thinking, planning and considering, the Daemons were the complete opposite at that, throwing themselves at me with reckless abandon, screaming for blood and skulls. I guessed the saying was true, Khorne really didn't give a damn where the blood and skulls came from, so long as they came, well, he was probably getting his fair share of the damned things right now.
Slowly, I advanced, my armor getting damaged then repaired, my weapons being damaged then repaired, my ammo running low before being replenished. Eventually, I stood within reach of the Warp rift, the massive tear in reality looking like a pink disco ball that had been flattened and stuck between two pylons of twisted, corrupted metal as I saw unnatural growths of flesh climbing along the floor. It hurt my eyes to even look at while I saw crawling script of a thousand colours climbing along the pylons. I detected a slight drain coming from the Psi-Jammers, telling me everything I needed to know as I picked up the pace of things, I exchanged my ability to remain untouched for speed, my armor took more hits, my weapons took more damage, but I was moving through the ever-flowing mob of Daemons much faster than I previously was.
As I approached, I lost half my Bolt cannon to a swipe from Bloodletter, I repaid that with a Hammer strike to the face before calling on what little material I had left to reconstruct my Bolt cannon, adding a Melta underneath the barrel which I then used to spray down a host of Furies and Flesh hounds that had just come diving out of the portal. My Las-Talons were still working, though I had to replace them multiple times by this point, but it was worth it.
Reaching the portal, I planted my Hammer as I set my turrets to handle the Daemons, they fired rapidly, killing Daemons almost as quickly as they came out of the damned thing. However, it wasn't quick enough, I knew, since I could see the Lesser Daemons being used as cannon fodder by something big. I paid it no mind, for the moment, as I worked to create another Gellar Field system, but, unlike my other ones, this one was different. It was in a cylinder about as big as a Melta bomb with a oversized projector, a timer and what looked like a large core of Warp-reactive materials.
In short, it was a Gellar Field Bomb. My understanding of the Gellar Fields being that they projected a field of reality around a ship while it was in the Warp, what I was doing was overpowering the damned thing with miniature, single use capacitor strong enough to have been in one of my grenades. I even attached my unused Dual Plasma-Fusion charge to the thing, a timer connected to it so that it would go off just seconds later. The entire thing was finished inside of a few moments as I looked back up and attached it to my waist, grabbing my Hammer as I prepared to move closer to plant the device.
I looked up just in time to see a car sized fist hit my right in the face.
It hurt like hell, but I managed. my armor cracked, multiple systems reported that they were fucked. A quick check told me that one of the three miniature Fusion power plants I was using was now fucked, having shut down, all the Psi-jammers were little more than scrap, most of my Shields were gone, and at least a full third of the armor plating on the front of my armor was now cracked and had fallen to the ground after I had landed. On the upside, I still had about three thousand rounds of Bolts, I still had my Hammer, the Gellar charge, my Combi-Bolt cannon/Melta, one of my Las-Talon cannons, and all sixteen of my Plasma-Fusion Grenades.
What? It pays to be prepared, especially in this hell hole...
After checking myself over, I looked up to see my attacker before my heart immediately decided to jump down the rapidly deepening hole of despair in my gut. Standing in front of the portal was a Bloodthirster, a massive Greater Daemon that easily stood over me, it still wasn't nearly as tall as the chamber, but the damned thing was standing over me like a champ with brass armor glinting in the light of the portal and a massive Axe in one hand. I frowned slightly as I stood back up, my previous despair gone as I only felt anger at the Daemon, soon that changed to an apathy even as I started walking towards the damned thing, as I did so, I couldn't help but hear a whisper in the back of my mind.
"You have fought well, Champion, but you will not survive. You are strong, but can be made stronger. Bend the knee, and swear yourself to the God of Blood, and he shall reward you plentifully for the great number of Skulls you have added to his chair and for the plentiful flow of blood. He shall-" The whispers were, thankfully, cut off as I rebuilt the Psi-Jammers from scrap, cutting off those whispers as I made yet another mental note to look into increasing the strength of my mental shields. I'd have to find more methods than simply will power alone, though, those could wait until after I kicked this fucker's ass.
Advancing on the creature, I looked it straight in the eye as I uttered my next words.
"That... Was a cheap shot, you chicken-shit." I said in a flat, almost tranquil, tone of voice as I saw the think flinch back before it's fists tightened and it grit it's teeth in rage. I watched as it let out a roar that shook the entire chamber, causing loose rocks to fall from the ceiling. My guess? The damned thing knew I had just called it a coward, then again, that was kind of my goal as I looked at the thing for a moment.
And then all hell broke loose.
XXX
I will happily admit that pissing off a Daemon of Khorne by calling it a coward was probably not the best of ideas.
Frankly, I just ran out of shits to give as I ducked a horizontal swing of the damned things Axe before retaliating with a Melta blast to the face followed by a stream of Bolter shells that smashed into its nose. The unnatural flesh of the demon was pulled back, showing brass-like bones and razor sharp teeth previously hidden by lips, but the flesh of the Neverborn quickly healed it, it's essence being stronger than the Lesser Daemons, making it more capable of withstanding what I was throwing at it. It tried to stomp on me as I rushed it, moving under its feet as a Brass-clad hooves came down behind me, I spun around, my Hammer already prepared and my grip down at the end of the shaft.
The Hammer slammed into the ankle of the creature, the resulting wave of destruction completely shattering the joint as I watched the creature wail in pain and rage before trying to turn to me, hoping to kill me as soon as possible, probably though as violent, painful and graphic a method as possible. Naturally, I didn't like that idea, so I jumped at the knee of its other leg, Hammer swinging already as it slammed into the knee with enough force to tear through the Neverborn flesh and separate the leg at the knee. I glanced back to see that the ankle had only been half regrown, but that didn't matter as I sprinted off the giant creature just as it collapsed to the ground, injured and in pain, this was now the most dangerous kind of animal, but it was one I could deal with.
Smirking to myself, I off loaded a few dozen more shells into the massive creature before sprinting passed it, a Melta lance hitting it in the face twice, burning out an eye and its nose while I marched back over to the portal. I didn't waste any time as I dropped the Gellar Charge and then started to run, setting the thing for a ten second countdown, mostly to get rid of the damned Neverborn as quickly as possible. Another reason for the countdown was because I was doubtful of whether or not I'd be able to survive the blast if I was at ground zero.
I preferred not to take the risks.
I sprinted away from the portal, offering a few parting shots at the Bloodthirster before diving behind the cover of a chunk of ship hull armor that had come loose.
And not a moment too soon, as while the Bloodthrister was trying to get up, the charge went off.
I felt what happened next in more ways than one; I felt the sudden storm within the Warp, the breach in reality suddenly snap shut as a bubble of reality suddenly extended outwards, enforcing the Laws of Reality as the unreality of the Warp was forced out, it was a rather nice thing to see as the Daemons suddenly found their entry way sealed shut in their faces, some even being caught in the Gellar blast, causing them to fizzle out of reality and force them back into the Warp. Many of the stragglers from my battle were taken out in that single moment, the occasional Fury with more Flesh hounds and even a Juggernauts that had, somehow, escaped getting a Hammer to the face. The Bloodthirster somehow managed to endure the blast, if only for a moment as I saw it's form waver slightly as I looked over my cover with a periscope-like camera that was recording these moments. I saw the Greater Daemon snarl at me as I smirked, the damned thing was pissed that I hadn't fought fairly? Well tough shit.
Then, as I saw the thing trying to stand, gripping it's Axe in an attempt to strike me before it died, the Plasma-Fusion charge went off.
Suddenly, a pair of miniature stars were born into the chamber as I felt the heat and expanding blast wave from the sudden creation before they expanded rapidly, melting everything in their path as I felt the heat growing closer and closer. My cover behind a slab of rock didn't work as well as I hoped, but that was fine, it's job was to offer me some minor protection from the blast wave along with make sure I don't take all of the heat from the blast. It worked, but I still ended up being thrown back into a pylon of stone that rose from the ground, the impact garring me as a few systems reported damage in my armor, I paid them little mind as I dropped to the ground. I landed on my knees, breathing heavily after the fact that I had just been fighting for what felt like hours, a quick check of my clock, matched to the day and night of this Spacehulk, told me that it had, in fact, been hours since I had started my marry chase with the Orks. I snarled at that, if only because this had been one hell of a long ass day.
Climbing back up from the ground, my legs were shaky as I planted one foot then the other, before standing tall to inspect the damage to both my suit and the surrounding area.
For my suit, plates of armor were melted from the heat along with some having been shattered, the layers having been cracked open to reveal the next layer of armor underneath. One section of my armor, near my left side of my lower torso, had actually been melted to expose three layers while the forth had only just held, though the fifth layer did report some excess heat having bleed through the armor. Most of my Shield generators had been melted from the energy they had tried to stop, only one out of ten Psi-Jammers were working and the massive ammo container on my back had been dented rather heavily, causing more than a few jams for ammo to the feed-belt. Then again, I figured that it hardly mattered since my Combi-Bolt cannon/Melta had been reduced to slag while I only had a single turret on my left shoulder remaining. And, to add to the long list of damages, the artificial muscle myomers had been damaged in a few different areas, resulting in a lesser load capacity for myself as I was forced to Finally, my helmet was cracked over one optic, said optic was melted and half the sensors on that side of the head were pretty much gone, forcing me to resort to backups until I got around to fixing the damned things.
Still, if my armor was in bad shape, then the cave itself was even worse.
The charge had utterly crippled the cave, more than a dozen cracks extended out from a massive hole in the ground by the edge of the wreck the portal had been built on, said hole went on to reveal that, yes, there was yet another massive drop below the cavern, one that only seemed to drop into further darkness. From the molten edge of the crater, I saw a dozen lines of fractures that looked to only be surface deep, not all the way through, something I was thankful for since my Transhuman mind happily informed me that, if those fractures had gone all the way through, then I would be looking at one hell of a long drop... Again. Sighing in relief as I let myself down, taking a seat as I took a breather, not that tired physically, but the day had been mentally exhausting.
Leaning against the stone pylon, I breathed in and out as I calmed myself down, drawing on my abilities to quickly fix my armor, cannibalizing the ammo storage unit on my back to rebuild and repair my systems, rebuilding my other Las-Talon cannon turret while also putting weapons back in the arms as I looked around and saw my Hammer resting under a small pile of rocks. Standing up, my armor repaired itself as plates flowed back into place and molten tears sealed themselves shut. My arms shifted as I rebuilt my left arm with a twin-linked Las-Talon while my right arm gained two weapons, a Melta gun and a retractable power blade, about as long as my forearm and mounted on the side with a three-edged blade.
"Glad that's fucking over with..." I mutter as I start moving, keeping an eye on my armor and my surroundings as systems slowly came back online, fixing themselves before returning to how they were before the colossal cluster fuck that I had just run through. Walking over to my Hammer, I picked it up without a thought.
That turned out to be a mistake.
Suddenly, I heard it. The cracking that echoed throughout the chamber, filling me with a mixture of despair and resignation as I slowly turned to look down at the ground below me, cracks having spread out so that one of them was directly below each foot.
"I hate you, Murphy." I said calmly aloud, not even bothering to consider the fact that I was talking to myself.
I didn't even consider it as I suddenly found myself in free fall once more, my only consolation being that I was no longer having to fight a mid-air battle with Orks as I fell deeper into Junkheap.
XXX
Eight... Nine... Ten... Eleven... Twelve... Thirteen... Fourteen... Fifteen... Sixteen... Seventeen...
Suddenly, my mental count of the minutes was brought to a halt as sensors in my armor kindly informed me that I was approaching the ground, or whatever I could consider as the 'ground' when one is inside a massive, semi-Zero-G environment. Directions could be rather easily confused, especially since up and down were rather relative, especially on the outer edges of the damned thing. Hell, I was pretty damned sure that I could have left the gravity well of Junkheap with a powerful enough jump, it was entirely possible since I could augment myself enough to pull that off.
Regardless, I pushed those thoughts to one side as I flipped over, my body straightening up and then activating my Grav-Shute/Jetpack hybrid built into my back as I suddenly came smashing to the ground. This time, however, my senses were open and I was looking around for anything, searching for any kind of danger as I didn't want to be caught out by any kind of sudden attack, especially after, literally, wandering into a Warp portal that lead straight to the realm of Brass. Personally, I'd rather not have been caught off guard like that again, but I had my doubts that the universe, or Murphy, would be nearly as accommodating to me, the former because it just likes shitting on people and the latter because he was a dick of legendary proportions.
Still, building a set of lights into the chest plate and helmet of my armor, allowing me to see things beyond the wire frame vision I had been using until this point, I looked around the cavern I had landed in with some apprehension, my Hammer in both hands as each turret on my shoulders were out and scanning for threats. I didn't feel like waiting for something to appear before me since I started walking.
Strangely enough, my Magpie radar was going off, pinging a particularly large Treasure point ahead of me as I tilted my head in confusion and surprise.
"That hadn't been there a second ago..." I muttered as I moved forwards to investigate, cautious steps and my eyes darting from shadow to shadow as I kept my vision spit with my eyes working well enough while my sensors were feeding me the other vision modes through my DNI. I saw nothing for the moment, but I didn't relax, doing constant system checks every step of the way as I scanned for threats, hell, even if nothing showed on any of the sensors, or even the Mk.2 Eyeballs, I still would have remained on guard, if only because I felt like I was being watched.
The fact that the hairs on the back of my neck were sticking up without assistance said as much.
XXX
It had to admit, the being that it had felt was a lot more capable than it had first realised. It had watched as being had been chased by the Orks before stumbling into the lair of those Warp Predators, unknown to it as it's memories contained nothing of the likeness of what this being had faced. Though, just because it had never faced these particular creatures, did not mean that this being had the same lack of experience, as it saw when the being had engaged. In moments, drawing upon both the Warp and spare materials, it had watched as it reconfigured it's armor and weapons for much heavier fighting, clad in materials designed to insulate against the powers of the Great Ocean while dozens of systems worked to ensure that the corrupting influence of these Warp Predators did not affect the being in either mind, body or soul. The systems themselves were rather... Primitive, but they showed a rather impressive knack for innovation and combat-focused thinking as the armor had been repurposed within moments of entering the chamber. It had then watched it fight its way through the horde of Predators before emerging victorious, damaged, battered, but the victor none-the-less.
However, it seemed that this being had the most awful luck, if only because it seemed that it was not going to be getting a break any time this cycle, as discovered when the being had suddenly entered an uncontrolled decent into the depths of the massive collection of shipwrecks and rocks. It still tried to figure out how it had gotten to this place, it's last memories being of a great battle between itself and the Scourge as they fought a combined fleet of its Kin and the Old Ones. Something had happened, but even given the construction that had gone into the ship, it was nearly impossible to get the exact details, however, it was possible to learn that it had been asleep for a long time, a very long time.
Little data was present beyond that, but it also meant that it had no idea of what awaited it outside the safety of its home, then again, it did not matter.
It was time to make contact.
"Greetings, Warrior. I wish to speak with you, please know that I mean you now harm."
XXX
"Greetings, Warrior. I wish to speak with you, please know that I mean you now harm."
I jumped as I heard that voice whisper into the back of my mind, a female voice with a musical tone that seemed to be wrapped in silk and kindness. Naturally, I distrusted it on sheer principle since I spun around, looking for the source of that voice. A part of me already knew it was Telepathic in origin, but that still didn't stop me from looking as I cast myself into the Sea of Souls as my physical body looked around for any sign of the being speaking, who I guessed must have been that Eldar. Saying nothing, I continued looking around as I turned off the lights on my armor, they were no longer needed.
A moment later, I clicked my teeth in annoyance as I found nothing, mentally wondering just where the hell that Eldar signature had disappeared to when I wasn't looking. Of course, to add to things, I heard a chuckle sounding in my ear, making it feel as though someone was right behind me. Instincts took over as I spun around, my Melta already warmed up as it fired, a stream of focused-Fusion energy blasting one rock formation or another as I felt another chuckle, this one a bit more distant, but, surprisingly, not carrying an undertone of smug amusement, more an honest enjoyment of a good joke.
"Peace, Warrior, I do not come to harm you, merely to seek your aid in these trying times." I felt an eyebrow rise at that, still not believing a word of what I had just heard as I mentally considered increasing the power to my anti-Warp systems, but decided against it, it was a waste of resources since I already had ten Psi-Jammers working and was wrapped in a layer of Phase Iron. If this female Eldar could talk to me through all that, then I had my doubts that anything I did would even be able to stop her from reaching me.
"... You will have to forgive me, Eldar, but the idea of one of your kind seeking to have a 'peaceful' conversation with one of mine is as laughable as it is foolish. Cease this ruse and show yourself, or I will hunt you down." I replied simply, my tone flat and unaffected by the supposedly sweet tone of the being that was talking to me. I trusted an Eldar to only do one thing: To use me as a tool to complete their plans before discarding me, probably leaving me to die in some great threat of one kind or another. The only question that came to mind now was this: What threat was approaching that needed them to make contact with me. Within the Warp, I felt the Eldar seemingly recoil in surprise at the tone I spoke in, along with the words that came from my mouth. I paid them no attention as I continued looking for the source of the telepathy.
"What do you mean, Warrior? What has happened to my people that you would believe me to be without either personal honor or principles?" The voice asked, seemingly sad, confused and surprised as she was. I gave it no mind as I pushed onwards. As I picked up my pace, moving at a jog, I snarled as a dozen memories filled my mind, of Dark Eldar raiders upon a dozen freighters that lay around the surface layers of Junkheap, of Eldar Corsairs attacking military patrols and even Eldar Warhosts attacking a dozen heavy vessels just to ensure that they were unable to reach an important battlefield. Preventing those same men and women from being of use in a critical battle, slowing down the rate of advance beyond that world by decades.
"Do not play games with me, Farseer!" I snarled as I turned a corner, looking around as I listened to the ripples within the Warp as it remained silent. I felt the echoes of shock, horror, disgust, sadness and pity, though none but the last were directed at me, I felt offended slightly by those while I continued onwards.
"I am sorry for the things you must have experienced due to those Fools, Warrior, however, I must apologies for what I must do. Much seems to have changed, and I need to know where I shall stand with this." I was about to open my mouth, wanting to demand what the hell she was blathering about when she struck. Suddenly, I was thrown to the stone wall as my Hammer was wrenched out of my grip and my limbs pressed against the stone, it was not crushing, but it certainly was strong enough that I couldn't move a muscle as I tried to get back to the ground.
It had little effect.
"Forgive me, for this might become rather painful, Warrior, but I must know what has happened to my Kin." The Eldar said before it came. It felt like a thousand molten needles ripping into my skull, tearing through my, admittedly weakened, mental barriers as though they weren't there before they started moving through my mind. I felt tendrils of cold ice drifting through my mind as I tried to force them out, failing miserably in my attempts as they kept searching for information. I felt apprehension, determination and hesitation from those tendrils, emotions that were leaking through from the Eldar as I absently wondered what that was about before the Eldar found what she was looking for. Suddenly, I was rewatching a few dozen memories as she looked through them with a mixture of surprise, horror, shock and growing hatred. These feelings only grew as she watched Eldar Warhosts and Corsairs butcher Human crews for their cargo, watched Dark Eldar Slaving raids upon the few passenger ships that wandered the Warp.
However, if she was pissed off at those, then what was coming through the connection when she saw the boarding actions of the Eldar before the birth of the Slaanesh only caused her to go nearly apocalyptic with rage. I'm talking levels where even Khorne would be telling her to take a fucking chill pill.
Eldar Raids back then, back during the Iron War, were fast, brutal butcheries of Humans as the Eldar laughed as they happily tortured the crew of these ships, slaughtered them like animals even as the Void Marines onboard tried to force them back and get the crew to safety. It rarely worked out since a single Void Marine didn't even have a hope in hell of matching up to a pre-Birth Eldar in a one on one fight, hell even an entire squad of ten against one Eldar warrior was a hell of a mismatch, usually only winning through sheer volume of fire.
"... So far... We were the brightest of the Old One's children... Yet to fall so far..." I heard in a whisper as I snarled through the pain.
"The Higher the podium, the greater the fall, Witch." I cursed her as I felt her attention turn to me, I felt acknowledgement, sadness, disgust and even what felt like remorse, that last one threw me for a loop as I had never thought Eldar were even capable of feeling that.
"There is more truth in that statement then you will ever know." I felt her turn her attention back to the memories for a moment, the image of an Eldar warrior using a whip to strangle a Human child while dangling her over a pack of war beasts. It was something that the Dark Eldar would have done on a good day, this one had done it because he was bored. "This is not how things should have been. This... This decadence! How! How did they fall so far to their base desires and perverse pleasures to become like this!?"
I grunted at that, not offering an answer as I still looked for a way out of my bonds, examining the strength that held me and looking for a weak point in the telekinetic field that held me against the wall. I found none, but that didn't stop me from trying even as I grit my teeth in frustration, even as a slight amusement came through the connection.
"You won't find a weak point in my technique, a millennia of practice fighting the Necrons has done me well in ensuring that my abilities are without equal, even among my Kin from that time before... This." She said as I suddenly stopped, a part of that suddenly clicking into place as my mind suddenly brought up accounts of stolen records during the Iron War, taken during counter raids against the Eldar to rescue what few Humans survived their tender mercies for more than a week.
"The War in Heaven..." I muttered for a moment, thinking about it before pushing the records towards the Eldar. "Are you saying you are a veteran of the War in Heaven?" I asked, confusion followed as she seemed to look at the records, they were brief, with little in the way of a description, merely mentioning that it had happened and that it had been fought by the Eldar and Krorks on the side of the Old Ones, with the Necrons on the opposite side with the C'tan.
"Is that what it was being called? Then yes, I can say that I was active during that conflict and fought on the frontlines against the things they had become... Humm... This document is not very detailed, merely stating that the war took place and who fought on either side. Do you have any others?" She asked as I glared at the presence within my mind.
"Why ask? It's not like your aren't already in my mind, capable of routing through it to your heart's content and read it like an open book." I spat with as much venom as I could muster, I felt a pressure on my neck increase as I felt the Eldar's anger.
"I would not have resorted to such measures had you been cooperative in the first place!" She screamed in my mind, causing pain to flare in my body as she triggered nerves and set them to agonizing for a moment. I took it with just a gritting of my teeth as I snarled back in turn.
"And you already saw what trusting Xenos has gotten my race, Witch, do you truly believe that I would gladly allow one to enter my mind!? No! Instead, you forced your way into it, proving yourself little better than the Xenos of this era!" I growled at her before the feeling of pain let up, only sadness, despair and remorse remained as the Eldar pulled back, realising that she had committed the very act that she was despairing over by violating another's mind. A moment later, the field holding my body dropped as she pulled back, only maintaining the thinnest of connections to speak through as I hit the ground, I stumbled slightly as my nerves repaired themselves, having been burned out slightly by what she did.
"... I am sorry... It is just... This is too much! It feels like only last cycle that I was in a battle between my Kin and the Nercons, facing them in a fleet battle as I stood on the Command bridge of my vessel. This... This change is difficult to take in..." She said, sounding as though she was falling to despair.
"Sixty million years, by the best guess of my people before the Birth of the Forth." I stated, regaining her attention as she stopped dead upon hearing those words. "The War in Heaven, from what my people had learned, happened that long ago, what few records that were captured hinted at it being a long conflict, but they were vague and what translations that they could make were inaccurate, at best, due to the Eldar never bothering to say anything but curses and insults at us."
Slowly, I stood as I glanced up, feeling the Eldar moving through the Warp, only to see my Hammer floating before me, held within a telekinetic grip as I grabbed it, the grip disappearing moments later.
"... I see... The it seems that the people I fought for are truly gone, replaced with those stupid enough to follow the orders of the Farseers, those blind enough to isolate themselves on the Maiden Worlds, and those insane enough to continue their sixty million years of decadence... This... This was not the way it should have been! We were the children of the Old Ones, Tasked with defending the young against the Necrons and guiding them into the stars! Just... Just why!? How!?" I heard the Eldar raging through the connection as I frowned slightly, rather curious about what the differences were if she was this disgusted and angry at the changes, I would have thought that the Craftworld Eldar would have been the closest to being similar to the Pre-Fall Eldar, but it seemed I was wrong. The Eldar seemed to pick up on that thought, if her hollow chuckle was anything to go by.
"They are fools thinking they can restore that which they lost the right to long, long ago. The Eldar Empire is dead, it has been for sixty million years and it will remain as such." She turned her attention back to me for a moment. "If you wish to know the differences, then let me show you."
A moment later, the connection widened as memories came pouring through, scenes of massive cities of Wraithbone without compare, vessels of gleaming colours dancing in the void, of a united people standing as a candle in the darkness. I would admit, some of the things I saw were beautiful beyond compare, but others were battlefields without equal, even in the 41st millennia. I saw Necrons fighting the Eldar on plants across the Galaxy and even in the void of space, heavily armored Eldar warriors, even more heavily armored than the Aspect warriors of this era, even more heavily armored than some of their tanks, stood against the advancing Necrons and fought. It was impressive to see, if only to show that the Eldar had fallen a lot further, and in more ways than one, than I had originally thought.
"... And now you see, Warrior, how total our fall really was..." The Eldar spoke with calm empathy as we both lapsed into silence for a moment, no longer was it as filled with tension, but it was not comfortable either. I stayed silent for a long time, not wishing to say the next words as I was too busy going over the new information in my mind, too interested in seeing the utter disparity between then and now. However, I was brought from my thoughts once more when the Eldar spoke.
"... Warrior, I know that I have wronged you greatly with what I have done, even with my ignorance of the current state of this reality, but I know that can hardly make I can hardly make it up to you with words alone, I doubt any action I take will ever truly atone for such a thing, but I wish to try. For that reason, I would ask you for a boon?" She asked, surprising me as I thought about the request for a moment. I'll happily admit that I'm not the most xenophobic of people, I didn't particularly trust anyone due to this reality I'm in on general principles, but I've only really encountered the Orks and Daemons, both of which I've developed a rather distinct loathing for, but the Eldar were still rather nebulous since I had yet to encounter them beyond memories of ships they had attacked. My general opinion, thus far, of them was not to trust them and wait to be betrayed. However, this Eldar was a bit different, well, a lot different, then it's current kin.
"Ask. I make no promise of granting it." I said simply as I took a seat on a rock as I felt happiness radiate from the connection before she spoke once more.
"Thank you, Warrior. Then I ask you for this boon; Allow me to serve you as both warrior-servant and teacher to make up for my actions and I will do so to the best of my abilities." She said as I stopped at what she was asking, unsure of how to take this as I didn't understand the why behind the request.
"Why ask me for such a thing? Why ask to be willingly enslaved to another for no other reason than your own actions?" I asked, growing more and more curious with each thing said. Sadness came through the bond a moment later, followed by acceptance of her fate.
"My people have fallen far, their mistakes are now mine as I am the last of the True Eldar, therefore it falls to me to make up for their failings, as is what is demanded by my duty, if only so that the name of Eldar is not forever tainted with shame, betrayal and sadistic pleasure... Please, allow me this single boon." She asked, sounding desperate as the feelings radiated through the connection. Honestly speaking, I would have thought she might commit suicide if I refused, then again, that was based on Human psychology, Eldar psychology might have been a bit different, especially since they felt emotions a lot deeper than Humans, not to mention the fact that I still knew very little about this Eldar beside impersonal memories about locations and events with no emotions attached. Sighing, I nodded once.
"Very well, I will grant you this boon." I said simply, sheer practicality winning over my reservations as I knew that having a teacher for my Psyker abilities would be of great use while having someone to aid me in battle would be even more useful, especially with the Orks. I felt happiness and gratitude surge through the connection, so much so that I flinched back from it since it was off the damned chart levels of the emotion. Along with this, I felt a presence wrapping around me, almost like a hug, that smothered every muscles, every bone and every nerve in my body before it disappeared, like it took a step back.
Suddenly, my eyes went wide as I felt the Eldar's presence again, no longer hidden within the Warp as I turned around to see something that surprised me. For floating behind me was not an Eldar, but a Spirit Stone, glowing with cyan light while, around it, a ghostly, faded image of an Eldar remained.
The ghost showed itself to be female, standing tall, around 2.75 metres tall, a bit over my head as she wore heavy armor that, while thick, didn't take anything away from her curves and showed that she was, indeed, a woman. The armor itself looked like a thicker version of the stuff worn by the Striking Scorpions mixed with that of the Fire Dragons and Dark reapers, thick plates, stiffening spikes and dozens of pouches covering it while the helmet was nowhere to be seen. The only sigh of the helmet was the section of material that came up her neck and over the bottom of her lower jaw while her left shoulder plate was enlarged and covered most of her bicep, along with extending upwards to be able to cover her head with a narrow slit for her to see through, not to mention the three red jewels present on the black, grey and white armor. Looking up from the armor, I saw her face morphed into a beaming smile as she looked at me with gratitude and happiness. Her skin was a healthy cream colour with full lips, lacking any real imperfection yet staying out of the uncanny valley as large, emerald eyes took in details with a small, button nose between them. Her cheekbones were high, but not so much so that she gave off an air of cool superiority that the Eldar of the current era had, giving her features a softness one wouldn't expect to see on an Eldar, and would be more likely to see on a Human. Finally, her hair was a sheet of black with a single streak of bright red running through it on the left side of her fringe, all tied back into a ponytail that went down to the middle of her back.
The only reason I knew that was due to her own translucent nature, something that made it rather more difficult to understand since I thought that the Spirit Stones were a relatively new thing caused by the creation of the Eye of Terror. I cupped my chin through my helmet, lost in thought for a moment before being dragged back for the dozenth time by the voice of the Eldar spirit before me.
"I thank you for this boon, Warrior, and I shall carry out these new duties to the best of my abilities." She said, her mouth moving, but her voice only being heard within my mind as she bowed deeply. "I am Taenera Maelara, The Last Autarch of the True Eldar Empire. Might I ask what the name of the one I shall serve is?"
I stopped, frowning slightly at that thought. In the last two years, I had yet to actually come up with a name for myself, preferring to focus on more important things, such as survival and trying to come to terms with my new existence, trying to rationalize that which was impossible to rationalize before, finally failing, giving up and accepting that I was here. With a mental shrug, I turned towards the Eldar, who was looking at me with interest undisguised in her eyes.
"I thank you for this, Taenera Maelara. AS for who I am, my name is..."