Disclaimer: I do not own either Percy Jackson or Warhammer 40000
In The Grim Darkness of The Far Future, There is Only War.
Date: 999.M41, Planet Adraxis: Hive World, Target: Adonis Lexicarium: Cult Leader, Assassin: Mortem of the Vindicare Temple.
The Hive world of Adraxis was one of the Imperium of Man's more volatile and unstable worlds. From corrupt Planetary Governors, to massive amounts of gangland violence, the planet was a hell hole. Which is exactly the type of place that allowed cults and organizations that would make themselves an enemy of the Imperium would dwell. It was these people, mutants, and abhumans that the Inquisition kept their eyes and ears towards. There were too many cults to crush all of them, and destroying the planet would limit the amount of income the Inquisition generated in the sector. So they only focused and removed the more dangerous of these individuals. Adonis Lexicarium was one of these individuals. While he started off in a small cabal of a cult, his influence rose at an alarming rate to the point it was almost like a church. This insult to the Emperor's name would not go unpunished and so the Inquisition deployed something thats name made even the most battle hardened and veteran of soldiers as well as the most influential and wealth nobles tremble in fear. An assassin of the Imperium. Boys and Girls taken from the Schola Progenium to become humanities most lethal weapons. The training of the assassin took 10 years and was one of the most brutal and rigorous programs in the Imperium of Man. But the outcome produced an army of one, that struck fear into the hearts of every citizen in the Imperium.
Mortem laid still amongst the various pipe and machinery on one of the massive buildings in the hive world. He had been in this spot for three days now, never moving and slowing his heart beat down to a beat per minute so that he could slow his metabolism and be in an almost hibernatory state. He had a view on the building that Adonis would conduct his heretical sermons, which was about 3 kilometers away. A very easy shot for a Vindicare. All that was needed was for the heretic to show up and subliminal triggers in Mortem's head would send him into full alert. A few hours later and the target had appeared along with his entourage of followers. Taking aim with his Exitus sniper rifle, the signature weapon of his temple, and lining up a shot onto the heretics head, Mortem waited for the opportune time to pull the trigger. When Adonis stood up onto a podium and began his foul sermon, Mortem pulled the trigger.
The round from the Exitus rifle flew through the air, across the massive, sprawling city, going in between small gaps in the building and entering through the small window of the building his target was in. The back wall of the room was splashed with blood and brain matter as a gaping hole could be seen going through Adonis' head. As his body slumped to the floor the occupants of the building went into a panic, their false prophet had been killed in the middle of delivering his word. Mortem, seeing that his target was taken care of began his descent down from the outside of the building he had taken up as a post. With inhuman acrobatics he weaved and jumped from pipe to pipe, foothold to foothold, and finally slid down a fire escape onto the streets. Letting the Cameleoline-laced materials of his synskin stealth suit refract the light around him, blending in with the environment. Finding a dark alley way Mortem ducked behind a wall and voxed his handler.
"Target down." His voice, cold, emotionless, and relatively young sounding. All assassins are taught to use as few word as possible while, not just on a mission, but when they had to make their way back across the Imperium to be debriefed. Though in this instance his handler had been stationed near by, as apparently there was a big target coming up.
"Understood. Report back immediately." An equally cold and emotionless responded. Navigating through the massive hive world while confusing for others, was a simple task for an assassin, as they had extensive study in all fields over the Imperium to ensure max effectiveness out in the field. After sneaking and lurking in the dark for several kilometers Mortem approached a run down, bullet hole filled building. The Officio Assassinorum had many safe houses across the Milky Way, this was just one. While looking useless and run down on the outside, the inside was outfitted with the standard necessities for an assassin. Weapons, blueprints, blackmail, etc. Entering the building Mortem walked down the stairs that led to the basement of the structure. Inside the basement was a figure in a dark robe looking over a com pad screen. The figure did not look up and simply motioned to what could only be called as a dentist chair from hell, as the metallic reclined chair was outfitted with various surgical equipment, sensors, and drug filled syringes. Sitting in the chair, Mortem removed his Spy Mask, and Synskin suit. The person underneath the outfit was a young man, probably around 16-17 years old, who looked very attractive despite having scars under both blue eyes, and an utterly cold and calculated expression. His shaved head had remnants of brown hair, and he was incredibly muscular for someone of that age. As he sat metal bindings clamped over his arms and legs as the hooded figure approached.
"Debriefing of Mortem, 20 minutes after successful assassination of Adonis Lexicarium. After debriefing assassin is ordered to be put through inspection, and psycho-indoctrination if needed." The figure spoke in a male voice into a recording device. For the next hour or two, Mortem was debriefed extensively on every detail of his assignment. Absolutely every detail was recorded and documented as these missions were of the utmost importance, no detail, no matter how insignificant, would be missed.
"Assassin is in good physical and mental health, no damage to cybernetic implants, and most importantly, still devote in following the God Emperor's will." The man spoke into the recorder after Mortem had the tests conducted on him. Sitting up and donning his gear he looked at his handler for the next contract. He was handed a data slate that had on it a request from the Inquisition for the use of an Execution Force against, Abaddon, the Chaos Warmaster. Staring at the data slate Mortem felt no fear or worry about the target, he would fall just like the rest. Though now he had the assistance of the other temples.
"You are being picked up tomorrow at the West Spaceport, 34th platform." His handler spoke and gestured him off. Mortem did not expect a thanks, or any sign of appreciation or concern. He was an assassin, he got no thanks and did not expect any, for he was one of the silent saviors of the Imperium.
999.M41. Enroute to the Eye of Terror, Target: Abaddon, Warmaster of Chaos. Assassin: Execution Force
Mortem sat silently as the ship traveled through the warp and the assassins were briefed. The closest one to him was a Callidus Assassin, she was older than him by 6 years and had a long blonde ponytail. She had attempted to make small talk but he promptly had ignored her. Though she was the only one to approach him as the other Vindicares went off to other parts of the room, the few Culexus Assassins stood away from everyone as, apparently the disturbed people. Mortem, didn't see why, so they have no soul, thats not the weirdest thing he has encountered. Being from a Death World, you see very strange stuff. Though he was taken away when he was 5 into the Schola Progenium. Apparently his dad was a high ranking officer in the Astra Militarium and his mom had died at birth, so he was alone. Though that never bothered him, or maybe it did at one point but then reality hit and showed that most of the kids in that place were orphans and that in this dark place, no one was an innocent.
The collection of assassins were all armed with their standard wargear as the Lord Inquisitor in charge of the mission talked about the plan of attack on Abaddon and his lieutenants. An attack that would never happen as the dangers of the Warp showed themselves in the form of a massive storm that destroyed the back half the ship. As the Warp entered the room Mortem had expected to die but was confused when the room he was in seemed to be fine, well except for everyone in the room aside from him being dead fine. The stranger thing was, this did not feel like the Warp anymore, no he had killed enough daemons and psykers to know what the Warp feels like, and this was not it. So where in the Emperor's name was he? Mortem's inner thoughts were halted when he heard, what sounded like heels walking towards his location from outside the room. Raising his Exitus pistol to the door he was ready for any creature came from behind the door. Well any creature except for a very beautiful woman wearing a pink toga, high heels, and a wreath on her head. That was a first in terms of encounterments he has had. What unnerved him though was that he was having feelings of familiarity for this woman, like he knew who she was. Now the recognizing her part may because he has seen Trillions upon Trillions of faces whilst waiting for targets so he might have seen someone with this face. No the unnerving part was that he was having a feeling. Feelings were not something he had had since his second year of training in the Assassinorum. They got rid of any feeling of guilt, happiness, pain, fear, love, hate, whatever made you slightly human and not just a weapon. And it worked. So the fact that this woman made him feel right after the ship was hit by a Warp storm threw up some red flags. What she said next did not help.
"Oh….my poor baby, I'm so sorry that I couldn't stay and take care of you, to love you, anything but….this." The woman spoke. Well shit now he was going insane because he had an entity in the Warp claiming to be his mother….who died at birth. Right as he was about to pull the trigger and blow this woman's head off she spoke once more.
"Please, hear me out." She spoke softly and somberly. Now all assassins undergo mind conditioning training against psykers so that their minds are hard to read and their bodies harder to control, this how ever was not mind control…..at least the one he was used to. He felt himself compelled to do what she said and despite every fiber in his being wanting to shoot her, he lowered the gun. She smiled sadly and walked over to him. Mortem now wanted to move much more, but could only move a few inches until he felt compelled to stop. The woman walked up to him and removed his mask. She let out an audible gasp as she stared at Mortem's face, which was now giving her a cold glare. He could see tears begin to form in her eyes as she touched the scars underneath his eyes.
"What-what happened?" She asked. Now that was a question that he had no problem answering anyways because it was only applicable to him and not the rest of the Imperium.
"My eyes were ripped out by a Chaos Space Marine after I had killed his commander and squad. He assumed that rendering me blind would give him an edge in the fight. He was wrong and now I have Bionic eyes." Mortem said coldly as the woman now actually began to cry. She embraced him in a hug which was not returned since he still couldn't move. Though he did believe that this was the first time he had ever been in a awkward moment. As the woman released the hug and looked at him she began to speak.
"I'm so sorry for everything that happened, it's just I was so weak after your birth, I had to leave. But you are probably wondering who I am huh? And why you are not dead? Well sit down and let me explain please?" The woman asked. As she gestured to a spot to sit on a crate next to the dead Callidus Assassin. He could feel that she had released her hold on him and wanted him to sit on his own. Now his first reaction was to blast the woman in the face and be done with her, but he wasn't some idiot guardsmen who acted on reaction alone. No he took into account what had just happened, where he was, and who this woman said she was. So coming to a new conclusion, he would listen, and then he would shoot. So Mortem sat down and motioned for her to speak. It was this decision that changed his life forever.
The woman told him that her name was Aphrodite, and that she was a Greek goddess, or was once. It was at this point Mortem knew he was in too deep and that this was going to be a long talk. Turns out that the Greek gods and goddesses of old Terran mythology were real, but had since been wiped out due to either the Chaos gods, or being faded. She told him how he was a demi god and that when he was born he had taken a chunk of her godly power that caused her to have to go away to recover it. She went onto talk about how she had watched him grow up in the Assassinorum and Progenium and was saddened greatly by how cold blooded and ruthless he had become. She then told him how she came up with a plan. She was going to use the last of her godly energy, and the Warp as a medium, to send him through time and space to Terra, back when it was called Earth and to a dimension where this war did not exist. When he objected to that she had commented that if she didn't cause this part of the ship to be here he would be dead, and would die if he returned, he saw the truth in that.
"Why." Was the only question he asked at the end.
"Because you are my son, my little boy who because I wasn't there was turned into some…...psychopathic killing machine all for a stupid war! This way, you can at least live a normal life, well for here anyways, demigods where I am sending you do tend to fight monsters a lot. Though none like the ones here. That and you will have family, brothers, sisters, and that dimensions me." Aphrodite spoke with heart and conviction towards her son. Mortem looked at her for a while and then stood up, opened the crate he was on and dumped it. His mother raised an eyebrow as she saw him walk around the room and take various weapons and items from the bodies on the floor. Placing them all into the crate he hoisted it up onto his shoulder and turned towards his mom.
"Okay." Was all he said as he placed his skull shaped Spy Mask on. He saw his mother begin to chant something as a light started to develop around him. He saw her dissipating into a cloud of gold dust as he was sent from his dimension into this new one. One where ideally he could still defend humanity from any and all threats. No matter what they were.
