Prologue
The aging lord general stood before the towering observation windows of his on-board quarters. He always marveled at the expanse of the empty void and its quiet majesty. Stars of white fire pulsed impossibly far away and celestial bodies danced their circular patterns around them. Of the near infinite number of twinkling stars there would be millions of exploitable systems. Of those, a pitiful few would harbor life. Unfortunately for the Imperium, most of those life forms hated and feared it. It was mankind's manifest destiny to conquer the galaxy, as ordained by the God-Emperor himself ten millennia ago. It was only natural for the Xeno to despise mankind, for mankind hated them more for standing in the way.
Lord General Augustus Trevin sighed deeply. His formal regalia weighed heavily on his shoulders, as well as the weariness brought on by warring against the Emperor's foes across the breadth of his domain. A century and a half of service was being celebrated this very evening, devised auspiciously by his staffers to fall on his hundred and seventy third birthday. He tugged on the heavy gold clasp of his finely woven cloak of Talarian ocean silk, taking a moment to brush the fingers of his flesh and blood hand on the heraldry of his house and home, a rearing long strider against a cross of spear and sword, and pulled the gossamer fabric from his shoulder. It was a finely sculpted clasp gifted to him by his ceremonially minded wife on his first command as brigadier general over a century ago.
Outside his private quarters another cheer sounded. Glasses rang from honored toasts and praises to his name were bellowed heartily three fold. Augustus had retired early, only 3 hours after the beginning of the celebration, while his better half entertained the gathering of guard generals, naval captains, and the planetary commander of the Regulus system. This last campaign had been a hidden blessing for the lord general. The unruly rebels had folded quickly at the might of the Imperial Guard and flew the white flag of surrender early on. The masterminds of this latest tomfoolery had not expected the strength of a million-strong army to land on their worlds. In truth, Augustus and his cohort had been on route to another engagement of a more sizable importance when the Munitorum had rerouted his forces to quickly stomp out this budding fire.
It had just been unfortunate for the secessionists and fortunate for the Imperium that the timing of their revolt coincided with the tides of the warp that brought Augustus at hand. Naturally the rebel leaders were all put to death and a quick reshuffling of power structures within the system made it unlikely a revolt would happen again. Given a century or two that would probably change but for now, Augustus and his forces could move on. After this ridiculous celebration that is.
No, tonight the lord general would pay his respects to the guardsmen who had died to make "his" victories possible. He supposed it was why he had chosen to excuse himself and call on a very special person to attend him. With the soft whirling of his augmented wrist's actuators, his mechanical digits fluidly freed the couplings from his dress shirt and the wide rimmed solid platinum catches trailing down his Persephonian blue vestments. Like the stars beyond, he chided himself for the child-like wonder he felt at his replaced limb. What secrets the Mechanicus had whispered to its machine spirit made the intricately detailed bronze segments of the appendage fluid in their motions. It was one of the rare limbs that did not pain him at the joints. Give or take a few application of sacred oils during the week.
Mankind's history was filled with wondrous creations and dark deeds. He would share many of his own tonight, for good or ill. A soft rasp informed him of the arrival of his guest and he sent his attendant to the matter before giving him leave for the night. The manservant disappeared down an arched hallway. Had the world of Regulus Hydra not spun lazily outside his viewing ports, a naval term that did the eight meter tall Gothic lancet window no credit, the lord general would have been hard pressed to remember he was aboard the massive grand cruiser Righteous Oculus, home to half a million souls and the flag ship of Lord Admiral Gregori.
The telltale pitch of a lady's stilettos stabbed the hard wood floor, which made him smile. What kind of woman would attend him, the master of world sundering armies, in such impractical footwear, he wondered? The answer came swaying out of his foyer. She wore a surprisingly flowing dress of softly overlapping shades of purples which shimmered as she rolled her hips, the fabric moving in an almost hypnotizing way. A feathery black lace covered her backside and met below the line of her waist, which was tightly cinched by a corset that made the bell like lower half of her dress puff out in sharp contrast. It also braced her humble bosom in an all too pleasant, albeit tasteful, fashion. Opera length gloves wrapped her youthful skin in tight semi-reflective fabric of matching purple which left the eyes to wander her naked shoulders and the slender curve of her collarbone.
Despite the powerful impression left by her sense of fashion, it was much to her credit that the crowning jewel of her appearance was her delicately curving pink lips, which smiled sincerely and warmly. Augustus was set immediately at ease, even before meeting her passionately shimmering violet eyes. He chastised himself for not having begun his inspection a little higher up but then his discipline had waned a bit during the long years.
'Good evening your lordship,' Serenity chirped energetically as she curtsied gracefully. No mean feat considering her petite stature probably boasted at least six inches of heels, by Augustus's appraisal.
'Good evening my dear.' The lord general bade her take a seat by his fireplace, an exceptionally rare allowance aboard a ship of any kind, as flames were the bane of any voidsmen, second only to the warp and its denizens. Serenity took a seat on the heavily cushioned state chairs. She combined a harlot's stride with a virgin's purity and left the lord general wonder what kind of rumors would surface about him tonight. he reminded himself to leave tangible proof of their transaction, least his lady wife find too many opportunities to harangue him for his impulsive last minute request for the young serenity.
He joined her by the softly crackling fire and set before the young girl a small flat box of lacquered wood. Her eyes lit up in excitement and she bit the corner of her lip. She leaned towards it to trace her gloved finger tips over the seal of the House of Trevin.
'Is this it?' she asked.
Augustus confirmed her giddy question. 'Indeed it is, from a dusty vault straight to your hands, an artifact rarely used in the last ten millennia. I trust it will buy your services until we are done with this little engagement?'
'Assuredly so my dear lord general, it will be something you will never forget. In fact, I make it my personal business to make sure no one ever does while I still draw breath.'
Augustus chuckled. 'You almost make it sound like a threat,' he said.
'I understand men of your stature know the value of leaving an imperious legacy behind.'
Augustus' eyes filled with icy cold. 'Let me be clear lady Serenity. I will not tolerate any embellishment beyond the poetic prose common to your craft. You will relay my story with clarity and respect. Truth is what I seek from you; it is why I chose you. I was led to believe you had a no none sense approach to recording information for posterity. Was I mistaken?'
'Understood your lordship,' Serenity was surprised by this change of demeanor. She had tallied up the rumors about the lord general to fawning sycophants. No man of such power could climb the ladder of imperial power with ideological notions intact. She smiled as disarmingly as she could; this assignment was proving to be something much more interesting than she had previously anticipated.
The iron in the commander instantly faded, replaced by the avuncular tenderness of a man who had seen too much pain to cause anymore then he had to. 'Opened it' Augustus offered as he waved a hand at the box between them.
Serenity's excitement bubbled back to the surface as she carefully savored the moment. She felt like a child opening a gift on Emperor's day, when families thanked the Master of Mankind for his eternal vigilance and celebrated the blessings of living safely with their loved one under his protection. He who protects against the manifold threats of within, without, and beyond.
Within the box laid the most singularly precious piece of archeotech Serenity had ever seen. A soft circlet of precious metal rested on a bed of red velvet. It looked so innocuous but to one of her profession, it was the holy grail of mnemonic rendition. She lifted the frail looking instrument and turned it reverently in her gloved hands. Unseen mechanism of such fine craftsmanship were hidden within its body, designed as a slender and unpresumptuous tiara, it would mesh with her nervous system and record her every senses. Combined with its intra-neural crystalline matrix, it could even record the input from psychic sources such a witch-sight. Though she did not have that potential herself it spoke immensely of its long lost technological secrets.
'The Remembrancers of old used them to chronicle the Emperor's great crusade,' said Augustus, interrupting Serenity's rapture. 'I was told that at one point, patterns such as the one you're holding were common place. If you can believe that, the Ecclesiarchy and the Cult Mechanicus would pay a sector governors ransom for one with an image of his majesty. Although I doubt it would be to the same ends.
Serenity shivered at the thought that a circlet like the one she held could hold the memory of witnessing the Master of Mankind before his internment in the golden throne. She placed the marvelous device on her head, slowly and as dotingly as if she were crowing herself. The old General couldn't help but grin as he leaned his head against his palm. He sometimes missed the youthful exuberance that new experiences could stir within a person's heart. He knew that if Serenity were to live as long as him, this moment, right here, would still be remembered with vivid clarity for its momentous nature. One could live a thousand lifetimes and never even see a archeo-mnemonic recorder, least of all own one. But the nature of the task set before the young girl was of grave importance to Augustus and he would only trust one who felt as passionate about the opportunity as he did.
The young scholar let out a shuddering breath as monomolecular tendrils burrowed inside her skull to mesh with her synapses. For a seemingly timeless moment, no more than a minute in reality, subtle pain snaked through her skull. It was simultaneously sharp but exquisite, and over with far too quickly. The circlet had sparked off a flurry of sensations in her body and her chest was heaving deeply as pinprick beads of sweat glittered off her face in the fire light. Her skin was flush and her heart beat a rambunctious staccato that had all the symptom of a divinely triggered climax. Serenity relaxed her limbs as she caught her breath, her fingers aching were they had gripped the chairs armrest savagely.
'That was... unexpected,' she finally managed to say as she tried to compose herself. The reflective device was poised weightless around her head and rested against the dark curtain of her hair. It was not entirely out of place, a feature Augustus mused was surely intended by its architects.
'Would you like a refreshment young lady?' offered the general.
'Yes please' she said timidly, slightly embarrassed at her instinctual response to the mnemonic device's activation. The gentlemanly officer left her to compose herself as he walked to a cabinet for refreshments. Like the rest of the large vaulted room, it was decorated in a simple yet elegant tracery of finely sculpted wood and precious metals. Its tall facing a doubled pane of glass which kept the artificial chill of its embedded contents at serving temperature. He gingerly plucked a crystal goblet and poured a measure of a soft tangerine colored liquid made from a rare citrus from Golgia. It was a preferred substance of his, with a demurred alcohol content and a sweet tang, which pleased the senses and left the mind clear despite its lightly intoxicating content. He returned to his seat with a measure of dark cherry wood bourbon for himself and handed her the citrus liquor, which Serenity took gracefully and sampled.
She murmured contently and smiled. 'Thank you, are we ready to begin?' she asked politely.
'I suppose we are,' the old man answered quietly. He stared up to the painted fresco of the vaulted ceiling and pondered where to begin. It had been so many years, yet every moment came rushing back as if his very soul eagerly wished to unburden itself in this pseudo-confessional context. Muted by the distance between them, the festivities none the less rose to a cheer as some unheard of toast was loudly offered and well received.
'To understand what I wish to convey tonight, it is important to understand where I, where we, came from.' The general's tone became solemn and nostalgic as he began to recall the founding of the Persephonian 1st.