Preface: This is a collection of various one-shots set in the 40K-verse. Some of these you might have seen before, and I've put them all here for posterity's sake, but there's at least one piece in here that hasn't seen FF before. So, if you've read these, then just skip ahead to the end. If not, please sit back and enjoy. Largely, the rating is T, though if things get nastier for later stories I'll leave a warning.

Mother

The compact black box was placed on the table within the cell, and the button at its top pressed.

"Recording begins. Interview with Callidus Subject 1377-Aquila. Date is 13.12.999.M41, local time thirteen forty six. Thought for the day; blessed are the ignorant. Subject 13-"

"That is not my name."

"We have been over this. You are Callidus Subject 1377-Aquila. You do not have a name."

"My name is Herena Pahrris."

"It is not. Herena Pahrris was the name of a member of the Children of the Striped Star who you killed, and whose identity you took in order to infiltrate them. You are Callidus Subject 1377-Aquila"

"I am also Herena Pahrris."

"Subject 1377, we have been over this several times now. You are not Herena Pahrris."

"I was not Herena Pahrris. Now I am."

A sigh.

"Subject 1377, perhaps we should start from the beginning of this. Could you tell me your assignment?"

"If you insist. I was sent to the hive world Akmar III, where there had been reports of the pro-democracy cult known as the Children of the Striped Star, so named after the emblem of a democratic nation of Ancient Terra, causing disturbance. I was ordered to infiltrate the cult by taking the identity of one of its middle-ranking members and using her position to gain access to the leaders, and assassinate them."

"Very good, Subject 1377; I am glad that your recall of events is still correct. Would you care to tell me about the Herena Pahrris you killed."

"She worked as a member of the Adeptus Administratum. She had two children, a ten year old boy named Almon, and a twelve year old girl named Sarsah. Her husband had been killed in an accident in a train, and she worked extra hours in order to maintain their home."

"And this individual was not you, you do realise."

"I do. What has happened to Almon and Sarsah?"

"We detained them along with you."

"Are they hurt?"

"They are unharmed."

"Good. They had nothing to do with the Striped Star; I can testify on their behalf."

"How do we know you aren't lying, Subject 1377?"

"I am still a loyal servant of the Emperor, and had they been part of it then I would condemn them. I am simply concerned for my children."

"They are not your children, Subject 1377. They are the children of Herena Pahrris. She is dead. You killed her."

"They are my children, Interrogator. I helped them with Scholam work, I held them when they had nightmares, I comforted them when they were sick or hurt. I may not have been their biological mother, but I was mother to them after she died. I looked just like her, I acted just like her, and they did not know the difference."

"Indeed. I believe they are quite upset to discover that the person who looked after them for the last six months was not, despite their beliefs to the contrary, their mother. If you wished them no harm, you would have not fostered an emotional bond at such a deep level with them."

"That was the fault of the Officio Assassinorium, Interrogator."

"Really? How?"

"After a week in their ranks, I accessed their leaders and assassinated them, as ordered, and the Adeptus Arbites dealt with the remaining members. I then called for extraction. None came."

"So you kept your cover? That's what started this off?"

"I kept my cover, yes. I looked after my children, and continued to behave as an ordinary citizen would. I waited for extraction, yet nothing happened."

"And that would be where the emotional bond started to form, of course. Yet one question remains outstanding, Subject 1377; you claim you're still loyal to the Emperor, but yet when Inquisitorial agents arrived to pick you up, you tried to evade them."

"I was worried for Almon and Sarsah; I feared you would hurt them if you found them, so I drew your men away."

"You certainly drew some suspicion; we were concerned that you had gone rogue."

"I am still loyal to the Emperor."

"So you keep saying, but a rogue Callidus Assassin is an extremely dangerous creature indeed. We were worried our hypno-briefing had failed, that somehow you had come round to the cult's beliefs, even if you had helped destroy them."

"I simply wished to keep Almon and Sarsah safe. Interrogator, my mission is complete; you can wipe the memory of them from my mind in the next hypno-briefing if you so wish, and I shall find whatever target you assign to me next and kill them."

"It is not that simple, I am afraid. The hypno-briefings do not work without the consent of the one being hypnotised; while you still have an attachment to Pahrris' children, you will not be properly indoctrinated, and may be compromised. We need you to let go of them, Subject 1377."

"I cannot do that, Interrogator."

"Indeed. You know, parental instincts are one of the hardest things to wipe from the human psyche; we brief you assassins with the Imperium's most advanced methods of brainwashing, yet here you are, forming emotional attachments to children that are not even yours."

"They are my-"

"As much as you insist they are, they are not. They never were. You were simply supposed to play the role of their mother."

"What do you want, then?"

"You to let go. You know, Subject 1377, this is not the first time you have done this."

"What?"

"You have formed emotional bonds to a child before. We wiped the incident from your memory, but clearly the problem was worse than we thought. You're becoming a liability."

"I am simply concerned for my children."

"They are not your children, Subject 1377. They never were. Let them go, or we will have to terminate you. And we will also terminate them."

"What happens to them if I forget them?"

"They will be taken in by the Schola Progenium. Trained as heroes, some of the greatest servants of the Imperium. It is what any good, Emperor fearing mother would want."

"Very well then. As long as they are safe, I will let them go."

"I am glad you saw sense, Subject 1377. We will begin the hypno-briefing for your next mission immediately."

"Thank you, Interrogator."

"A pleasure."

The button on the box was pressed, and the recording stopped. The Interrogator stood, picked it up, and left the cell, 1377 Alpha waiting inside.

"She's convinced," he said to grey-carapaced storm trooper standing outside.

"Understood. What about the children, sir?"

"Oh, them? They're no use to anyone. Have them killed."

FIN