-Planet: Craftworld Biel-tan -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, northern fringe of Veiled region -POV: Farseer Kaedra
Anath'lan has finished preparation for his ritual, it filled Kaedra's heart with joy that her mentor no longer needed to suffer at the hands of some meaningless dream, today he will perform his ritual in front of the council consisting of exarchs and farseers.
It would be a lie if Kaedra said that she felt only joy, she was happy to see Anath get rid of the silver mask but part of her couldn't help but feel curious, curious to see the meaning behind a dream that came millennia ago that is seen only by one person.
Anath'lan was the most skilled farseer of Biel-tan, not as skilled as the famed Eldrad of ulthwe but one of the best in the aeldari race. Naturally, the seer council and exarchs were curious about the meaning of the dream that has been bothering Anath dream for 1000 years, many within the council believe that the dream has no meaning and is simply a side effect of age taking its toll on Anath, and some believed that it might be alerting them of coming of great danger to the craftworld. While the witches of the council were divided, the exarchs did not speak, they simply wished to see the ritual come to an end and see if they faced danger or not, if so what kind of danger.
Farseer Kaedra was meditating in her chambers, the ritual will begin in a few hours so she had enough time to rest, to relive the exhaustion of her last mission, the mission was to prevent the fall of a maiden world just outside the imperium's territory, fallen mon-keigh sorcerer had arrived on the planet and decided to rule the planet in the warp. many brothers and sisters were lost to fallen space marines but with their sacrifice, they saved a paradise world that will one day become home to a new aeldari empire.
Hours passed as Kaedra tended to her equipment, she cleaned her singing spear and put it in the stand nearby, she won't be in need of such a tool where she is going, Kaedra changed her clothes to new ones and let those in the path of service to take care of the old ones, Kaedra then exits her chamber and moved towards where other council members heading towards.
Not many people were present in this section of the craftworld, after all, the chambers of empty solace were preserved for the seers of the craftworld so as not to disturb them during their meditation. Traveling from one place to another within the craftworld was a tedious thing, there is a reason why they call them craft 'worlds', thanks to that reason many used hovercrafts to travel from a point to another. Fortunately for Kaedra, the council room was not far from her own quarters so she reached her destination relatively quickly.
"I believe this matter does should not concern our kin from ulthwe!" Kaedra heard one of the exarch shout, she grew curious about what the sound meant by Ulthwe, she found her answer as she entered the room.
Kaedra saw one of the exarchs in an argument with a farseer, the farseer wore black and orange robes with white symbols all over them, he carried a potent psychic staff, the top of the staff was shaped like a warlock rune, the farseer in black robes was arguing with one of the exarchs.
"You craftworld maybe famed for it seers Eldrad but that does allow you to meddle with our craftworld!" the exarch continued
'Eldrad?! Eldrad of ulthwe? why is he here?' Kaedra questioned herself, why would the most famed farseer of the Asuryans come
"Please understand, the purpose of my arrival is not to interfere with your decisions, I simply wish to witness the ritual" said Eldrad trying to calm the exarch to no avail
The exarch was trying to argue back but he was interrupted by autarch Ila shamaq "That's enough exarch!", Shamaq was a respected commander even amongst the autachs of biel-tan, she an asuryan with many admirers, unfortunately for them the autarch was too lost in the path of the warrior to care for things like family. Shamaq's physical strength was almost on par with drukhari but her soul was pure unlike the filth of commorragh, her long red hair only complimented her beauty.
Ila looked at the blacked-robed seer and asked "You are welcome to stay and witness the ritual, but answer me this question, why do you trouble yourself to come all the way here? is this ritual this important for our kin in Ulthwe?"
Eldrad focused his attention towards the autarch "Thank you for your hospitality my kindreds, and to answer your question, yes this ritual is important for me, I too have seen a vision of this enigmatic mask" Eldrad explained
This shocked Kaedra, was there someone other than her teacher who have received the same dream? then this dream is far more important than she thought and the fact that the same vision was shared with the greatest seers of her species only helped her point, Kaedra suddenly felt guilty for not believing her mentor when he told her about the importance of his vision.
Kaedra moved towards Eldrad "You have seen Anath'lan's vision? are you sure you're referring to the silver mask?" Kaedra asked
"Yes I have seen a mask in my visions as well, but it was not something important for that time in which I saw the vision, only a minor anomaly. But when I heard that one of your farseers have seen the same dream, I came here to witness the ritual, if you permit me that is" Eldrad said with a slight bow
"You are welcome Eldrad ulthran, your questions will find their answers in this room, please take a seat, both of you, Anath'lan will soon arrive" Said Shamaq as she guided them to their seats
A few minutes after everyone in the room sat in their place another farseer entered the room, he was Anath, in his left hand was the staff shadowshard and his other hand contained a rune, Anath looked around the room filled with farseers, exarchs, and autarchs, yet he did not show any sign of nervousness, he only looked confused when he saw the blacked robed farseer in the room, he then moved towards the center of the room. Anath stood before the council.
"Looks like your finally ready Anath'lan" said one of the exarchs, Kaedra looked at him with anger, the exarch was one of the people who dismissed Anath's vision as meaningless, exarch didn't notice Kaedra's angry glare and continued "There are battles to be fought and maiden worlds to protect, less time we spend on pointless dreams is more time we have for important tasks"
Exarch's words were not popular among the council, even the people who had the same opinion on Anath's dream didn't like the way he put his opinion into words, the farseers and autarchs looked glared at him before he could say anything else, Eldrad in other hand did not pay him any mind and was simply observing Anath with full attention.
Kaedra looked as Anath planted the shadowshard in the middle of the room and scattered the runes around it, he then looked to at his audience "Warlock Elranedor and farseer Linae, your help would be much appreciated" the two figures Anath called out looked at each other then moved down the stairs towards Anath, then he explained to them about his ritual, after they memorized the knowledge they moved to their positions.
Kaedra saw Anath as he connected his mind to that of the councils, this way they could see his visions and help him decipher them. Anath then started his ritual, the runes flew around him with psychic force and allowed him to see into the future more clearly, and eldritch light erupted from the staff that have been planted in the middle of the room, the warlock and farseer chosen as assistant worked to stabilize the psychic powers pouring into Anath, after a few minutes everyone in the council could see the visions Anath had.
They saw the past and futures that the farseer has witnessed during his younger years, at this time the anomaly was so faint that it almost could not be noticed. The visions moved forward like a ship sailing through an ocean of clouds, they moved through the years and observed the mask as it grew larger and larger day by day until it reached the present, they could no longer follow the tides of fate, it was blocked by the mask. The shadowshard, activated by the Anath broke through the mask, and what they saw disturbed all who were present.
They saw a craftworld of ghosts burning within the void as she who thirsts brought her fangs to claim the souls of the dead, they saw maiden worlds turn into nothing but tombs, they saw a crone with a bleeding hand, missing her fingers. The vision continued until they saw their own craftworld but then it stopped, the masked appeared and blocked them again, this time even the shadowshard could not help them.
The ritual ended as the council was pulled out of the visions and looked at each other, Anath leaned on the staff, Kaedra quickly rushed towards the exhausted farseer and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Anath are you alright? come let me help you" Kaedra offered her help, there was a worried tone in her voice
"Thank you Kaedra, do not worry I'll be better soon, first, let us not hold back the council discussion" Anath coughed, the ritual he created was experimental at best and caused him great pain
"No" said Kaedra looking at her mentor's state "At this state you're unable to even walk, you will rest first otherwise you are useless to the council" Kaedra scolded Anath
"T-this matter is *Cough* more important than me and I can sti..." Anath tried to argue but he was cut short by his student
"YOU WILL rest Farseer" Kaedra said out loud gathering the attention of people around
Anath was slightly embarrassed when people turned to look at the pair, Kaedra however did not care, Anath was far more important to her, and by Isha, she will force him to rest even if it means embarrassing him in front of the council by scolding him like a child.
"She is right farseer" A feminine voice was heard behind them, it was Shamaq who was looking at them "At this state, you will not benefit the council in any way, take a rest we will inform you of council's decision later" Shamaq suggested
Anath'lan reluctantly agreed and gestured to Kaedra, she quickly helped the old farseer towards the entrance where two guardians helped her move the farseer. Kaedra could use her psychic power to carry Anath, but her oath as a witch prevented that, they were not allowed to use their powers for menial things.
After they reached Anath's chambers, Kaedra made sure he is ok before leaving his room, she promised to visit him once her task was over, Kaedra moved towards the council, escorting Anath has taken some time, and when she returned the council was in deep discussion.
-Inquisitorial vessel Ceaseless judgment -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, north of Reductus Sector -POV: Katarinya Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus
Inquisitor Greyfax read through a series of books sent to her by her colleague 'William Husan', they were not that close to be called friends, inquisitors never have friends only assets, and inquisitor William was a fine asset indeed, he has helped her a few times during her missions that saved her life and now he wished to be repaid.
Greyfax did not mind helping him but the way he asked to be repaid bothered her, he asked her to look within a series of books written by an author she have not heard of, the books contained valuable knowledge about psychic powers which surprised her. Most of the knowledge contained within the text was already known to the imperium, the only difference was that these books contained valuable knowledge on how to train a psyker. The books describe new ways to train a psyker in every discipline and vent into more detail than the scrolls found in Astra telepathica on the same subject, she has already used some of its teachings on herself and found them functional.
Her psychic powers were more refined than before and she needed less power to cast and ability, however, the most important part which gathered her attention was new ways to fend off chaos corruption, this was the most valuable thing in the entire series of texts she has read thus far, if these teaching were to be implemented to the wider Imperium, they might even make human psyker functional.
"This is good...too good" Greyfax said to herself, after witnessing the galaxy's bleak state it was hard to believe anything good to be true, is this a gift from the emperor? or is it a devious tool to corrupt the minds and misguide servants of the throne? some part of her screamed at her to burn the text and prevent corruption before it's too late, and the other part told her not to discard such a valuable gift, regardless of her thoughts, one thing was certain, that only by seeing its source can she learn the truth behind it all.
Greyfax opened her vox "Ikimoro, can you hear me?" Inquisitor called out from her vox on her ears
"Loud and clear inquisitor" Interrogator Ikimoro answered
"Tell the navigator to set a course to Inquisitor William Husan's current location, we have suspected to question" Greyfax ordered while looking at the book in her hand
"Very well Inquisitor" The vox was cut
Inquisitor put the book with the others "The emperor's light the only light that which illuminates our path" Greyfax prayed as she exit the room.
-Planet: Craftworld Biel-tan -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, northern fringe of Veiled region -POV: Farseer Kaedra
As always the council was divided, the vision shown by Anath made this fact more obvious, seeing the destruction sustained by multiple Craftworlds including their own, made part of the council call-out on the elimination of this new threat, the other party however called for caution, they wish to observer the events unfold before taking any action. Unfortunately for the second party, they were outnumbered.
Kaedra and Shamaq chose to eliminate the threat before it could do any damage, while Eldrad advised the council for caution, his advice was ignored, he tried to convince the council members but after seeing the futility of his efforts he left the biel-tan for good, 'Good riddance Kaedra thought to herself, outsiders have no right to decide for Biel-tan, even if they are fellow aeldari.
After the decision was made in favor of the first party, new questions revealed themselves to the council, first, they needed to decipher the threat, then they must know where to find the threat or threats. Question after question, answer after answer, day after day, many weeks passed and many weeks is ahead of them, time may pass but they will find their answers in the end.
-Inquisitorial vessel Fatorum ruptor -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Gothic Sector -POV: Anon
The darkness consumed him, everywhere he look was dark, a chain connected to an eight-pointed star shackled his neck, he could not move, he could not see, yet, he knew he was not alone. The eight-pointed star shined, he could see now, all around him faceless figures stared him down as if seeing his very soul, the humanoid figures were charcoal black, their bodies were of that of a nightmare, after what seemed like an eternity the figures start to move, they opened a space between them, allowing one person to pass. Anon's mind filled with dread as he looked at the black figure, this one was different, while others lacked any features on their faces, this one had a mouth that curved into a shape of a smile that was impossible for a mortal to make.
The figure stepped closer and looked into his soul, then Anon heard a voice in his mind ~We will meet again~
Anon woke up in a large room surrounded by medical equipment and beds, he was sweating and his heart was beating like a drum, he brought of his arms, his lost arm has grown back and his neck was healed, he touched the back of his neck to confirm it. Anon breathed heavily for a few minutes until he managed to calm himself, after all losing yourself in emotions is the last thing a psyker should do, he took sighed and looked around the room, there were three others in the beds next to him but they were unconscious, after seeing people Anon panicked and put his hand against his face to hide it but his effort for pointless as he realized he still had his mask on. The masked man questioned himself if they have seen their face or not, he concentrated his powers and started to see through the minds of people around him... all of the 20000 crew of the ship.
In this reality every many psykers have unique abilities, some are naturally talented in certain disciples, some have unique abilities that others do not possess, like being anathema to chaos like the emperor or being able to do necromancy like mortarion's foster father in his home planet. Anon had non of these, he was not particularly good at any discipline nor he could do necromancy or be anathema to chaos, what he is good at however was reading thoughts, reading thoughts is not a hard skill to learn for a psyker, everyone could at least read someone's mind if they focused hard enough, for Anon however it was as easy as walking, he had an unnatural talent to read thoughts of even psykers, to such extent that most don't even realize they minds being pry open.
So Anon concentrated his power, thousands of thoughts poured into his mind, he processed all of them, he entered their minds, read their memories, and left as if nothing happened without them noticing. There was only one mind in which he found his face 'Inquisitor William husam' the name come to his mind, he relaxed as he learned that his secret was safe. Anon wished he could use his name or to show his face but he couldn't, during his studies of the books left behind by Duran he came across a passage that contained information about true names, true names are everything for powerful psykers and daemons, if someone said your true name out loud, you are no longer yourself, you will have no choice but to obey the command of the person who said your name. Anon didn't know if this was true or not, he remembered something about true names in his previous life when he read the novels, unfortunately, he only knew that they were important and nothing else, Anon cursed himself under his breath for not reading enough lore as he stood up from the bed.
As he stood up his left hand dragged him back, his hand was burning hot with pain, he turned and looked at his hand only to see serums connecting his hand to a device, the masked man pulled out the needle from his arm and moved towards the door, the wound left behind by the large needle quickly healed thanks to his perpetual nature.
"Where do you think you're going" A feminine voice was heard as he exited the medical bay, the masked man turned his head towards the voice, he saw a woman with white robes and wimple, she was carrying a bag on her hips that was filled with medical drugs, her face, unlike other sororitas, was devoid of scar and was beautiful. She looked angrily at Anon, her psyche was emanating disgust "Inquisitor managed to convince me to allow you into my hospital mutant, now that I have tainted my hospital by tending you, you wish to leave?" The women growled towards the masked man
Anon looked at the hospitaller, his face hidden behind a mask that he rarely took off, headless to her insults Anon answered in a calm tone "I wish to return to my chambers since I am not welcome here, and before that, I have to report to lord inquisitor"
"Then go" the hospitaller pointed her hand towards the corridor "I have to perform many rites of purification because of you" She moved inside the medical room with an ecclesiarchy seal in her hand, then she suddenly stopped and looked at the masked man "And wear some robes for throne's sake"
Anon looked at himself and realized that he had no shirt on and he was far away from his room so he cloaked himself and moved through the corridors filled with crew members, he may be old and not care about what people thought of him as a "Witch", they can scream all day and he wouldn't care, but he didn't like the idea of others seeing him walk around half-naked. After navigation through the 4km(2.5miles) long ship, he reached his room and grabbed his cloth, everything in his room was ordinary and his equipment was on the table, next to his plasma pistol was a bulky data tablet adorned with a skull symbol, Anon picked it up, the tablet turned on with a green screen light as it recognized his signature, he came across mostly locked information and only one that was not locked, when he clicked on it a letter showed up, the letter was for him from inquisitor, urging him to meet hi as soon as he read it.
Anon sighed, he had a lot to think about and he was hungry but right now, it was better not to keep William's waiting, he grabbed one of the ration bars that tasted like shit from the table and quickly finished it as he exited the room to report to the inquisitor "I wish I could play Skyrim right now" Anon said as he remembered the pleasant memories of his past life, a life spent with nor worries and joy, Anon smiled under his mask but it was quickly removed as he approached Inquisitor's quarters.
-Planet: Craftworld Biel-tan -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, northern fringe of Veiled region -POV: Farseer Kaedra
A little girl was waiting in front of the dock, she played with her black silky hair as she watched the docking ship with anticipation, many people were waiting around her, they too were here for the same purpose. The transport ship was filled with proud warriors of Biel-tan who risked their lives outside the craftworld fighting barbarians so that they could be safe, so that one day when the great enemy is defeated, they can have a home outside the craftworld, Kaedra's brother was also one of them.
Kaedra was very proud of her brother, he was strong, fast, big, tall, and very smart. She wished to be like her brother one day, she wanted to protect her craftworld.
The ships docked and many warriors poured out from them, they reunited with their families who were waiting for them, all around Kaedra people hugged their loved ones, smiles and kisses everywhere. The small girl stopped playing with her hair and looked at the transport, she was looking for her brother, minutes passed as transport ship's content was emptied, the people started to return to their homes, one by one families left the dock and moved towards their homes.
after 30 minutes the docking site was almost empty, Kaedra looked around to find her brother but to no avail, the transports were empty and no one was around her, she stood there watching as the last two warriors exited the transport, Kaedra observed them in anticipation as the pair moved out of the transport.
One of the figures was clad in armor as the other one wore robes, both of them looked at each other as they saw the little girl waiting at the dock alone, "Is that her?" Kaedra heard the robed figure asked the armored Eldar, the armored figure nods, Kaedra saw the robed figure walking towards her, he removed his helmet as he knelt on one knee to be face to face with the young Kaedra, he had a gentle face that did not belong to a warrior and white hair that showed wisdom.
Kaedra looked at the figure with confusion "Who are you?" the small girl asked and tilt her head in a show of confusion
The white-haired man put a gentle smile on his face and answered "I am Anath'lan little one, I'm a warlock"
The word echoed in the void of her head, Kaedra slightly jumped in confusion, she looked around, moments later she sighed as she saw Anath on his bed resting. After the final decision of the council, Kaedra went to nurse her teacher and she hasn't left ever since, Anath's condition wasn't life-threatening but still, she couldn't stop worrying, after all, he was the only family left for her. Kaedra knew it was a wrong thing for a farseer to feel like that towards someone yet...
Kaedra went into deep thought, she was reliving her memories, the warm memories of her brother, the nightmarish day when they told her about her brother's fate, the uncertainty of loneliness that followed. She lived through the eyes of a little girl, alone in the crowd of her kin she stood, suddenly the eyes of the Eldar around her wasn't familiar anymore, she was alone, her father died long before she could open her eyes to the world, her mother died when she was but a toddler and now that her brother had died who was there to hold her hand? who?
The lights in her memories started to flicker, one by one the lights were silenced until everything was dark and in the center of that darkness was a little girl. In a pit of despair, the Kaedra hugged her legs and looked down, and closed her eyes.
~Kaedra~ The little girl heard a voice, the light returned to her surroundings as she opened her eyes, she was no longer the little girl but the observer. Kaedra watched as the little girl was being trained by Anath, seeing her younger teacher put a smile on her face. She watched herself and Anath meditate for hours until their daily session was done, Anath stood followed by the little girl.
~You have done well~ Anath patted the young girl's head and smiled ~But do you really want to be here? your dedication is admirable little one but even then you are still but a child, don't you wish to enjoy your youth?~ The tall warlock looked at this little girl clutching her fist
~No~ The little girl shook her head ~I don't want to~ she looked down
Seeing her reacting warlock scratched his head ~And why is it?~ he questioned with a soft voice, making sure that she felt comfortable enough to tell him
~B~ a small voice muttered
~B?~ Anath asked rising an eyebrows
~I want to find my brother, but I'm too weak, Exarch told me outside was only allowed for warriors~ Little Kaedra looked up and met the gaze of the warlock, seeing her, warlock laughed, Kaedra's face turned red and hit Anath with her small fists that barely did anything to him
~Ok ok, I'll stop~ Said the warlock as he wiped out his tears ~Then let us not waste more time little warrior~ Anath said as he patted her head again
Suddenly, the memories stopped and Kaedra found herself in Anath's room again, he was still sleeping. Kaedra sighed, a ghost of a smile found itself on her lips as she remembered her memories.
"Is there something amusing?" Kaedra heard Anath's voice ask, she looked down at the bed in front of her, Anath was awake
"Oh, nothing really, just remembering how stupid you looked as you were running from mon-keighs when you retrieve that staff" Kaedra laughed
Anath looked at her with an old gaze "I'm not what I used to be, I was ten times faster than you when I was younger, Isha's tears young ones these days don't know how to show respect to their elders" Anath huffed which made Kaedra laugh even more
Her laughter continued for a few minutes despite Anath's annoyance "Alright alright, I apologize" She wiped out her tears "Now get some rest old farseer, we have a long day ahead"
-Inquisitorial vessel Fatorum ruptor -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Gothic Sector -POV: Anon
The masked was standing before the Inquisitor of the ordo Malleus, the room was Inquisitor's personal chamber, this room was not luxurious as most might, still, it was far better than most rooms in the ship. Anon was standing next to the door as William looked down at the planet from the window of his room, the planet that was under invasion by khornite daemons until the portal was closed and now the guard forces were cleaning up what daemons remained, thanks to the disappearance of the portal, the daemons were slowing dematerialize into the warp, the only thing remaining was to deal with the aftermath of the war.
Anon felt sadness as he knew what would happen to those who were witnesses to demonic invasions, from what he remembered from the lore, they are most likely going to die regardless of their innocence. Anon stopped thinking about their fate as he read William's mind, he was going to ask something.
"You killed an Astarte" William asked without looking back, his gaze was still fixated on the planets below
"That I did" Anon confirmed his question
"Singlehandedly"
"Yes" Anon's voice was as calm as ever
"He was a sorcerer as well" Inquisitor's voice grew cold
"Yes my lord, he was" hearing this William slowly turned around and looked at the masked man
"It is not every day that I see a mortal psyker compete with a fallen Astarte librarian and come out on top" Inquisitor looked directly at his eyes as he revealed the main reason for his concern "You have triumphant against a fallen librarian... Unharmed" Inquisitor's true nature was in full display in front of him
Anon was a perpetual, it was obvious that his wounds would heal regardless of severity, he couldn't tell William that he did in fact died. Anon did not wish to reveal his true nature to anyone, he heard enough insults on a daily basis for psyker as is, if they learn he is a perpetual as well, he couldn't tell what they'll do to him.
"Did I disappoint you, my lord?" William looked a little confused hearing Anon "Most would be delighted have a competent subordinate" Anon looked at William like a statue, unknown to Inquisitor Anon had a slightly smug smile under his mask, this is was one of the reasons he liked the mask
"Competent? yes but not to this level, I saw you use biomancy so that could explain you having no injuries aside from your..." William looked at Anon's arms, they were covered with clothing and gloves, inside the clothing, however, they were permanently burnt and could not be healed, it was the result of a mistake. When Anon used warp fire in large quantities to banish the daemon back in Thule, due to low training, the resulting warp fire burned both of his arms to his elbows, now his arms were incapable of healing even with his skills in biomancy and his perpetual nature, till this day, the pain in his arms has been a solid reminder for him to be careful of his own powers lest his arms might not be the only thing that will burn
"The burns in my arms are my own making, they are mistakes of my youth" hearing this, William felt a little curious about Anon's past but did not ask anything, he was not the type of person to ask pointless questions about people's history unless it overlapped with his duties as an Inquisitor, so long as he is willing to test himself with grey knight, William would not interrogate Anon
"Still the fact that you managed to defeat a traitor librarian remains, no mere psyker can defeat a librarian who has been honing his powers for emperor knows how long, at first I thought you to be and emperor forgive me for this, an abominable hybrid" The word 'hybrid' came out of his mouth with disgust, even thought of such heresy was pained William's mind
"So you have tested me? was I what you feared I was?" the masked man asked the Inquisitor
"No, you were not, sister Fatima and magos Vernan both confirmed that you were human with no genetic defects" William sat on a chair nearby, his hand was playing with a golden coin with emperor's face "Let me be direct with you Jermai or whatever your real name is" William's expression stiffened as he looked directly at his eyes "You are hiding something, it is clear to me that you are not a heretic lest you wouldn't agree for being tested, but that's not the point, you are hiding something else, what is it?" Answering his question was not a request, it was an ultimatum, either Anon had to answer or else
Anon could hear William's thoughts, stormtroopers were waiting outside the room, they were ready to kill him with William's orders, Anon considered his choices, he could easily kill them all and escape but that would bring imperium's wrath later on, on the other hand, he could erase their memories and replace them with false ones, it was his natural talent Afterall, the second option appealed to him but he erased the thought as he didn't know if the grey knights could sense the change or not. So Anon decided to blend in some truth with lies to get out of this situation.
"Very well" Said the Anon as he sat as he took off his mask "But remember this Inquisitor, you alone will bear the truth of my past, I do not wish to reveal my past but looks like I have no other choice" Anon located 15 stormtroopers hiding outside William's room, he used his telekinesis to throw them on top of each other, he didn't kill them, he simply knock them out, he can't afford them leaking information, he looked back at Williams who was unaware of Anon's extend of power and control, it crossed his mind that Anon could have this much control "I will enlight you to the truth Inquisitor but only on one condition"
"Do you think you have the authority to ask something?" William looked down at Anon, his eyes were filled with confidence and rightfully so, he could easily cut him in close quarters
Anon ignored William's threat and continued his proposal "I will tell you what you wish to hear, and I will serve you for the rest of your career Inquisitor, I will protect you and help you in your duties and let you contain me until you acquire the means to test me, in return I only want one thing" William nod his head signing him to continue "You will allow me to cast a ward to your mind so no one can have access to the information, and if you go to the verge of death when you death seems imminent, I will erase all of your memories" This was Anon's proposal, he designed it in such a way that it would seem entirely beneficial to William
Inquisitor William brought his hand to his chin and thought about Anon's words, a powerful mind ward could be really useful in his line of duty, daemons especially those of Tzeentch really like to read their opponent's mind, also erasing his memories before dying could prevent traitor astartes from having access to it, he could contain Anon until grey knights arrive if he deems it necessary that is, and if Anon has no relation with ruinous powers, he could recruit such talented psyker to the Inquisition. William has only seen this level of skill from eldar witch seers, although he hated to admit, having one of them as retinue could help him greatly.
"Very well, I accept your proposal but, you have to use your mind ward on my retinue as well, once I tested you that is" Inquisitor said as he relaxed a bit, his face was no longer stiff but not completely since he wasn't used to seeing Anon's face without a mask
"Then we have a deal then" Anon gave William a smile, William looked at him for a moment "Is there something wrong with my face lord?" Anon asked after seeing William's stare
"No, your face is fine, just that I realized, you can smile as well, its hard to see a human under that mask of yours" Both of them looked at each other with confusion, even with his mind-reading Anon didn't see that coming. Both of them chuckled at the thought, after all, Anon thought of William as a murderous killing machine of inquisition and William thought of him as a manipulative possible chaos cultist in disguise
After some time the laughter stopped and Anon spoked "Now that our deal is complete let me complete my part of the bargain, also I wish to apologize in advance for knocking your stormtroopers in advance" Anon's last words echoed through the silent room
"YOU DID WHAT?"
(Four days later)
The sounds of clashing swords were heard within Avina's training room, two of them have been continuing their training ever since they returned from the mission, there was almost nothing left for Avina to teach him, the only thing Anon needs now is practicing what he already learned and train his body to adjust to his fighting style.
"Your skills are improving mutant" Avian spoke to the masked figure as she dodge one of his attacks and moved to flank him and reach his exposed back, seeing this, Anon quickly turned and managed to deflect her attack in the last second, however, her blade left a painful scar on his chest, now it was his turn to attack, he leaped forward as Avina was falling back to regain her stance, when she saw he couldn't regain her stance in time she jumped backward in a great show of acrobatics, it was as if she was made for this style of fighting. seeing her get away Anon throw his blade towards her and leaped towards her at great speed, his body has been trained for combat for hundreds of years, he might not be as strong as space marines but he was damn sure faster than them.
Avina changed quickly tilted her and dodge the sword coming towards her, before she could focus on Anon again he was gone, Anon was already behind her, he grabbed the handle of the sword in the air and attacked her from behind, Avina looked back only to see Anon's blade at her throat, for the first time she had lost a duel.
"Looks like we're done for today" Said the masked man as he brought down his sword, he could feel Avina's rage at losing to him, truth be told Anon's body was in far better condition than Avina's while she was more skilled than Anon, after few hundred years of training he was like herculean of the legend, but not much of this was seen by others since he always wore cloth that completely covered his body
Avina looked at Anon while he was leaving, her cold killer persona cleared her anger and calmed her "So, you killing and Astarte was not a mistake in the reports" Avina said as she cleaned her blade from Anon's blood, Anon turned back to look at her, Avina's long black hair was loose behind her back, Anon haven't realized it till now but she looked beautiful like this despite her scars and cybernetic red eye
"Does Inquisition make mistake in reports, have Inquisitorial standards fallen this low?" Anon said
"Your sarcasm does you no good mutant" She turned her face away from her sword to look at Anon's mask "Lack of information on background, lack of emotions, skilled in combat, fast learner, and willing to wear a mask at all times" Avina was evaluating Anon "It's a shame that you have born a mutant, you could've been a good assassin" Anon slightly laughed at her words "Lack of emotion" he wasn't some sort of astarte super-soldier, he was a normal human, it's just that after living for almost thousand years only a few things could get any sort of reaction from him
"You wish me to join your death cult?" Anon asked
Avina's eyes filled with anger and disgust "Even if you kill abbadon we won't accept disgusting witch mutants like you in our holy order, know your place subhuman" Avina growled at him, Anon took that as his sign to leave and turned back to leave the room.
'Is people like her the reason people turn to chaos?' Anon thought to himself as he moved towards his room for his psychic training for the day, most of his days were spent in training and it's not like he have a hobby to waste time on, his younger self would be shocked to see him turn into a monk-like person... 'wait a minute' Anon thought to himself, magic-like powers, have spent most of his life perfecting his skills in melee and psychic powers "Have I became what a fedora-wearing neckbeard wants to become?" the words came out of his mouth and only met with sounds of plasma drive engines of the ship, he put a hand on his face, he unknowingly became the very thing he feared "I need to find a hobby" Anon talked to himself, as soon as he learned that he was in 40k Anon had abandoned everything and had focussed only on getting stronger and planing what to do with his knowledge, if he continues like this he will become an empty shell of a human being.
Anon lost himself in thoughts as he continued his walk towards his room, what hobby could he choose? in his past life, he used to play games with his friends in his free time but now, in the grim darkness of the far future, there is no video game. Now that video games are ruled out what else? he used to read novels, Anon recalled the books he has read thus far all of them were either heretical, religious, propaganda, and for military personal. Anon sighed as he realized non of his past hobbies are viable anymore "I wish I had the chance to finish my Vulkan book" Anon remembered the half-read novel he bought.
'Vulkan' Anon thought to himself, the name of one of his favorite primarchs echoed through his mind, Vulkan and ferrus manus, his favorite primarch had one thing in common "Forging" the word intrigued him, he had little to no experience with metallurgy but he could learn, after all, he had all the time in the galaxy a privilege given only to perpetual. After deciding this Anon moved towards his room again and was determined to start his new hobby in near future.
(Three days later)
Anon stood beside the Inquisitor in fool power armor, Willam had ordered all of his close retinues to prepare for possible combat, everyone was a little shocked at first, they were waiting for the arrival of loyal space marines, why should they prepare for combat? the answer was simple, the message about the world's pacification was sent a few days ago, yet, dark angels persisted on coming to the planet, worst yet they refused to answer for the reason why they were coming, this made William nervous.
Inquisitor and his retinue were waiting at the dock of the ship for space marines to arrive, more than 30 stormtroopers and hundreds of trained armsmen were waiting nearby in case that the unspeakable happen. William was looking intensely at the transport that was docking his ship, behind him were two figures Anon and Ishmael. After 10 minutes the transport docked and five armored giants exit it.
Seeing their approach Anon could feel the crew's concern, the Astartes got closer with each step until they reached only 3 meters away from William, they looked down at him and William returned their gesture in kind, the staring contest continued until Anon decided to see the purpose of their arrival, with a great effort of concentration Anon, managed to see through marine captain's mind without being noticed he may be terrible at other disciplines but at least he was talented when it comes to reading minds and changing them to his will.
"Greetings Inquisitor Husan, my name is Adamus Rogelius captain of the fifth company, dark angels chapter" The leading space marine spoke
"I believe the news of our victory has reached your ears marine, so why do you waste time coming here instead of aiding the crusading fleet against the orks?" William said with suspicion he was not amused
Hearing this their emotions showed change, Anon could not feel their emotion as he always did, he was busy trying to break into the marine captain's mind without him noticing, it was taking all of his concentration, even with his natural talent in reading minds, the mind of the captain was like a fortress, it's going to be hard to sneak into his mind without him noticing. So Anon got to work, ignoring the conversation around him, again and again he tried to see through only to retreat back so as not to alert marine's senses, minutes passed as he slowly broke through the locks and after what could be described as most tense 3 minutes of life since the last century, Anon managed to see through Captain's mind.
After only a few seconds Anon stood there in shock, the word he has seen could bring with it trouble and unnecessary bloodshed if said out loud, 'Fallen!'.
Auther here:
Reading thoughts, changing them, removing them, basically anything to do with the information, is Anon's natural talent, if I had to put it into numbers it would be like this:
biomancy level 6/10 (Capable of healing the most gruesome of wounds, and can use lightning. he is good but not the best) -Matched by space marine librarian
Telepathy 10/10 (his natural talent makes him able to read thoughts of thousands of people without effort, master of illusion and deceit, capable of turning people mad with a single look, only greatest minds can resist his influence) -Probably one of the best if not the best in the galaxy
Telekanthises 7/10 (Capable of turning himself and his allies invisible and moving large objects and high numbers with the power of his mind) -Matched only by aeldari
Pyromancy 4/10 (Terrible at pyromancy, can use flames but he is not efficient, using it too much might pose a danger to himself) -Matched by imperial mortal psykers
Divination 2/10 (The only use for this is seeing a few seconds into the future to aid him in melee) -Might be worst than some astropaths
Melee prowess 6/10 (Very agile, trained by a death cult assassin, Anon's have good physical form after hundreds of years of training) -Can take on a marine or a howling banshee one on one, and can hold his own against a few of them
Note: his powers can improve over time(Hundreds of years).