Chapter 1

When age fell upon the world and wonder went out of the minds of men; when grey cities reared into smoky skies with tall towers grim and ugly, in whose shadow none might dream of the sun or of spring's flowering meads; when learning stripped earth of her mantle of beauty, and poets sang no more save of twisted phantoms seen with bleared and inward-looking eyes; when these things had come to pass, and childish hopes had gone away forever, there was a man who travelled out of life on a quest into the spaces whither the world's dreams had fled. – H P Lovecraft, The Durnwich Horror.

Thunder rolled through the sky as broad and dark figure looked out from his seat in the grim shade of the musky tavern that could pass for a fine establishment of this city. Clad in a dirty white shirt with black trousers, the hems of which were painted with the smoggy muck from the city, on the seat next to him lay a sodden black trench coat, the collar of which was turned up against the wind, placing his lho stick into his mouth he gazed across the bar, his dark and firm eyes scoured every last individual in the room till finally his eyes fell upon a young man, weedy however, bearing a firm complexion of a man who had seen much, though he tried not to show it up his sleeve was a carefully concealed Las Pistol that the eyes of anyone less sharp than the figure would not have managed to notice. A short suck on the lho stick resulted in its tip shining a florescent blue for but a moment as it singed in the oxygen being sucked through it before a dark grey-blue mist is blown from his lips.

Slowly the hours ticked by and a little before midnight on the hive planet of Saricca IV the lanky man, barely much older than a boy, stood leaving behind a small amount of nickel coinage, enough Throne Gelt to pay for the small drink he'd been staring into for a few hours. As he reached the door the figure stood from behind his table, dropping his lho stick on to the steel flooring and quenching its smouldering end beneath his boot he swung his coat on before following after the young man.

Outside the bar which name was not of the least importance to the figure the rain had not let up, falling in large black globules due to the mixture of the thick levels of soot that hang in the air. Sniffing in disgust the figure followed after the lanky man who turned a corner into a back alley, sparing a moment to glance over at the figure before he disappeared. With a dissatisfied snort the figure reached to his belt thumbing the hammer on his Stubb Revolver and gently easing it part way out of its holster should he require it. He'd seen men like this before, a glance his way before disappearing down a back alley in his line of work meant only trouble.

His line of work, oh how suddenly that had come about; seventeen years before hand on the death world of Fenris he remembered the day that the black ships had arrived. The village, hauled from their homes by the local Space Marine Chapter, the mighty Vlyka Fenryka, Wolves of Fenris, The Space Wolves. With that each of them were tried for pskyic powers by representatives of the Impirium and those who were found to conceal them, were taken. To the Planet of Holy Terra he travelled for his induction into the Psykers of the Imperium. From there forth all memories of that holy place had been seared form his memory though hours of painstaking flagellation less the unlovely memories of days past resurface and proceed to drive him from the path of riotousness.

Rounding the corner he proceeded into a small shielded area that was access to several homes, all of which were quiet, dark, the inhabitants sleeping or acting upon their night shifts. He was alone as far as his eyes could see however, he could feel the presences of a large number of individuals, hiding in the shadows. Lighting a lho stick and putting it into his mouth he spoke with a voice heavy with the power of a man who walks upon the path chosen for him by the God Emperor, "I am Invictus Zane, show yourselves less the damnation of Holy Terra rain upon you all." With that, they showed themselves.