"War? Which war are we talking about? Because this empire's history is just a series of wars since the First Black Crusade."

- Sharth o Tenelkan

Jane was being brought to the town's enforcer station to have somebody properly arrest her for trespassing onto the farm.

"You know in most cases like this, I'd let you go scot-free but you know. Being naked and glowing green does make you look like a heretic, so I ain't taking no chances with you." The man with the scruffy earthy hair said after prompting her to walk in front of him.

"I said I don't know how I ended up on your land,"

"We heard you the first time," the blond woman next to the man said, "That's just not a believable story is all."

"What can I do to convince you?"

"Nothing, because you have barely any clothing clinging on to you and we don't know if anything you say is a lie."

The parents left the kids alone in the house while they took Shepard along a dirt path to town. Jane saw odd planets shes never seen before and discovered weird aliens in a few minutes. One such alien was some sort of spiky reptilian that was about five meters long and had twin devil horns on his head. What was odder was that another set of the same horns were protruding out of the cheeks on the face. It seems the beast was sluggish or unaware of its environment when the eyes gazed at Jane through the tiny slits along the metal container. The metal box shook a bit as the tracked vehicle pulling it drove pass in the opposite direction to where they were walking to. Jane broke the silence during after a bit as curiosity overtook her.

"What was that?"

"A farming trackcraft hauling cargo?" The answer seemed obvious to the wife.

"No, I mean the lizard inside the box,"

"You mean the Grox?" The husband interjected.

"Yea, that! Whatever that was! Tell me what the hell was that alien,"

"It's not a xenos when it's just livestock," The woman almost laughed, "That there was a Grox, it will try to gut anything it sees with those horns on their head. But by Deus, does their meat taste scrumptious."

"I would like some Grox stake right about now," the man said while licking his lips.

"Is that why the- Grox wasn't moving at all,"

"Oh yea, if you don't sedate the breeding ones while transporting, they're likely to thrash about and kill somebody." The wife was figuring out that this foreigner was genuine in her lack of knowledge of the most basic of animals within the Imperium. It was by the tone of Jane's voice and the hesitation which was the most telling.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're telling me that you've never heard of a Grox?"

Jane only gave a blank face like that of a wondering child, "Was I supposed to?"

"Yes! Haven't you at least heard of them when you were a kid?"

"Nope,"

"Where the hell did you grow up at?"

"I guess you could say I grew up on spaceships but I also lived on Earth for a time,"

"You've been to Ancient Terra!" The husband got excited about a second there and forgot he was escorting somebody.

"Yes? But nobody calls it Terra,"

"Nonsense, other than a few scholars, everybody in the Imperium calls it Terra. Are you sure you lived on Earth before?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" It seemed so obvious to Jane that Earth was called Earth instead of Terra, which only scientists might even consider naming it.

"You know, for a voidborn, you sure have tan skin,"

Now that was something Shepard was not used to hearing at all if anything, people often comment how pale her skin is, "I wasn't actually born on a ship, I just grew up on ones."

"Oh right, forgot that. I just assumed,"

"How pale did you think I was supposed to be?"

"About as white as a sheet of script dipped in fresh snow on Fenris. Also translucent enough like a jelly worm trapped in a cave for thousands of years without a peep of sunlight,"

Most of the references went over Jane's head without pause but she got the gest of it, "Really? That white and transparent?"

"Yup."


They walked for a few more minutes before they reached their destination. When Jane arrived at the town to first notice that the buildings didn't appear to be hab modules. It looked like they had welded in places that didn't look like the walls were meant to be fused together, bolted on extra window sills or mailboxes on the outsides. There just the lack of sleek, clean, smooth architecture that she was used to. Frankly, Jane felt a bit jarring taking in what the town looked like compared to the Citadel back home. The thought brought back a ting of sadness as she suddenly was hit with home-sickness.

Then, after walking for a block or two, Jane noticed a commotion from a large building like a warehouse where a door was slammed opened to have three people being kicked out with opulent clothing on them. The simple colors of purple, pink, and black made an unnaturally alluring impression on the Spectre. That was until she noticed that several women with guns shoved the group into the wall of the structure. One man was begging for his life while a woman was cursing out the women. Jane's eyes then met with the third in the group, who was a stoic man who stood in silence. Their gaze was cut off when Shepard quickly shifted to stare at the women that were now all lining up pointing their weapons at the group.

"Ready... Aim... Fire!" was the last thing the group heard before their heads exploded from the impact of the 14mm bolter shells. The munition digging into the skull then detonating after a few milliseconds to cause those lined up against the wall to splatter into red paste.

"Holy shit!" Jane was shocked by the casualness that the couple had for the whole affair. Shepard was familiar with violence, death, and the like. Yet that didn't prepare her for the nonchalant attitude the armor-clad women had when making that gory mess. Normally, people would pay attention to something like a firing squad shooting people right next to a street. There was an urge to spit out something and she breathed in the air in an attempt to collect herself from what she just saw.

"Don't draw attention to us," the wife said the words in a hushed tone into Jane's left ear, "You don't want to mess with them."


"Sister-Superior Gella, should we investigate that," pausing to ready her bolter and make sure her eyesight wasn't failing her, "Glowing person?"

"Although I wish to Sister Mirata," the officer looking at the chrono on her wrist to check the time, "We have a tight schedule to keep. The next raid is in Little Fenris, which is on the other side of town. So, pack your bags and move your ass! We're burning daylight here!"


Jane was baffled by the disturbing demeanor that all those around her held, "Did you both see that?" Frantically asking to make sure it wasn't just a hallucination she saw.

"Yup," the woman answered.

"Was that a summary execution in broad daylight?"

"And?"

"Don't you find that a little unnerving?"

"No, why should I? I've grown up them all my life."

"A-are you going to do the same thing to me?"

"Of course not! We don't have the authority to."

Somehow, the last answer didn't seem all that assuring for Jane. "We're just taking you to the enforcers to see if you're guilty of anything worthy of an execution. So you better have the truth let loose, or else you'll meet the noose."

The husband chimed in, "Very punny, dear."

There were no words Jane could conjure to describe the strange behavior displayed here. The streets had a guard force roaming around with firing squads shooting people. What was worse for Shepard was that the local population was so desensitized from the executions that they didn't even bat an eye when it was in their peripheral vision.


The enforcer station was an intimidating thing with sharp geometric shapes symmetrically protruding out of the building. These shapes formed to have something like a lion's mane to trick those entering to think the station was bigger than it really was. Near the entrance were two muscular arms holding up the ceiling of the lobby which was chiseled into the wall facing the outside. The floor was a colorful mosaic depicting a planet that Jane didn't recognize. Everything was vibrant and alive to the touch as she assumed most of these bright materials would be exotic to the locals. These people that Shepard assumed to be the enforcers were some sort of police force by the dark blue uniforms they wore. They had on either military ski caps or helmets like those used in World War 2 which would specifically cover the neck.

All turned to stare at Jane for a few seconds before going back to their business. There was paperwork to be done and no glowing woman was going to stop the officers from doing it. One woman waved over the group to show them where to stay as to not block traffic because they were just standing there. She had jet black hair with a short round nose and green eyes. The enforcer's height was a bit shorter than Shapard coming to about 175cm compared to the 185cm spacer. Body type between the two woman was different as well, it was clear that Jane had been athletic in the military while the enforcer was not fat, she definitely not fit either. It seemed to be that she was oozing with a very bland lifestyle on this backwater world.

"Becker," nodding to the wife, "Cnut," then nodding to the husband. "What the hell happened?" putting both her hands on her hip.

"Well Officer Aydar," Cnut gave a sheepish smile to the enforcer, "We here found this trespasser in our land and brought her to you," then leaning in to whisper, "She might be a heretic or mutant".

"Ah! Thank you for your concern. But I'll take it from here,"

"Be seeing you around then," Becker said as she started to leave.

"I'll be at the harvest festival this year," waving the couple goodbye then approaching Jane.

Aydar had skin almost as pale as Shepard's but with freckles on her face and eyes that were slanted slightly downward. Jane couldn't put her finger on it but Aydar might have been either Asian or Europen descended, Shepard just can't say on which. The enforcer then got up close behind Jane to hold her arms, "Let me get you out of this rope."

Taking the combat knife out from her hip to then slice apart the rope freeing Shepard. "Thanks, it feels ni-," before finishing her sentence, however, the mag-cuffs quickly came on her hands to lock them together. "What!?" Jane was enraged at being given freedom then having it be taken away so fast.

"Doesn't look like glow-paint," Aydar said after poking Shepard's exposed arm, "Let's see if you're filled with cybernetics," then using that same knife to prick a wound on Jane's hand. To her surprise, blood started coming out instead of the more common nutrient-paste or some abnormal colored plasma in cybernetics. "Well, aren't you an odd cybrid," said Aydar as she shoved Jane into a holding cell.


Notes

For those curious, I'm using this AU from 4chan's /tg/ which can be found here: 1d4chan /wiki/Category:Nobledark_Imperium