Visius' fleet arrived at Commander Sorek's armada within 4 cycles. The fleet had positioned themselves within a nearby nebula of an Aldri world.
The dust of the nebula was dense enough to hide their ships but allowed them to move about without-issue. Like a fog in the early morning, it reflected its greens and blues in the light of a nearby sun.
"Vox Commander Sorek, notify him we have arrived and that I am on the way to meet him." Vicius ordered his lieutenant who stepped up to direct the crew when Visius left and headed to his chambers to collect the psyker.
The door to his chambers slid open and he stepped in.
The psyker stood from her place in the corner, blinking a few times from the sudden light from the corridor.
"Forgive me, but I never got your name." Visius sent to her mind as he waited by the door.
The woman lowered her head at his apology, falling back on courtesy rather than fear.. "That was my fault, I am the one that should ask for forgiveness. It was rude of me to not give mine in return." She spoke out loud. "Isis."
"Well, Isis, there is someone I would like you to meet." He held his hand out to her.
Isis chewed the inside of her cheek. She really didn't have a choice and she wanted to stay on his good side for now. At least until she understood things better and had a way to get off this ship.
She stepped forward, glancing at his hand which ushered her out the door.
As Isis exited, she glanced at the creature that stood next to the door and balked. It looked as if it had once been a human. Two huge metal clawed arms were attached to a torso which had cables and hoses running up its body, some even to its head. One eye was replaced with cybernetics but what was left of its skin reminded her of zombies from movies. Its nose had long since rotten off, its skin barely there. Parts of its skull showed where pieces of metal plate didn't cover the cranium. It's lips were non-existent and its one eye was glossed over and bulging. Its legs had been removed and replaced with machinery. Its lower mechanical appendages were bent backwards where the knees should be and its feet were replaced with a tripod of thick metal which bent at the joints to accommodate its heavy load.
"Oh my God." Isis gasped, covering her mouth in horror at the undead cyborg. The cyborg moved slightly, its jaw worked and a slight noise was heard.
Isis jumped forward from the touch of something at her back, she took a few steps away quickly from the zombie before she realized it was Visius moving her along.
"What is that thing?" She was sure he picked up on her horror and shock.
Visius took the lead making sure he did not leave her behind with his larger strides. He chuckled. "It is a combat servitor."
"Is it still alive?" Isis asked, bewildered at its undead state.
"Yes. It is programmed with orders to follow, upon other things."
She kept her thoughts to herself. The servitor scared her, it was like looking at a zombie. Knowing it was once a person and now a mindless automaton made her wonder what else these people have done that she hasn't seen, which she knew was a lot.
Visius had led her to the teleporter room once again.
'So we are leaving the ship.' Isis thought to herself. She wondered where they'd be going and what purpose this 'meeting' would unfold. She did not like any of had a mission that went terribly wrong and her only desire was to find her brothers, destroy that Hell-Ship and get back home. At the moment she had no way of accomplishing any of them.
Visius motioned her to step upon the platform and he stood beside her.
Isis held her breath as the tingle sensation quickly tore her body apart, molecule by molecule to be put together in a similar room. Only this one had a different operator. She'd never get used to that.
Visius began to lead once again.
The corridors were outlandishly decorated. The people on this ship seemed to be in a hurry, almost giddy for some reason. Excitement seemed to crackle in the air as people passed by. Some, too, wore coats or robes. Few of the women and men shocked her though, they wore exposing clothing that highlighted parts of their bodies which were pierced or decorated, some to the point of mutilation.
Isis wrapped her arms around herself and quickly stepped up her pace. One had looked at her and gave her a smile laced with thoughts she dare not fathom.
They finally arrived at a large door decorated in explicit began to feel sick to her stomach at the site and looked to the edge, she flicked her only defense, just to make sure her powers were still with her. She was still depleted but her power was still there.
Visius seemed to notice her reaction and looked down at her. "Calm yourself, Isis." The thought was quiet yet commanding.
She never took kindly to being told to calm down and being drug from one place to another, not knowing why or with whom she felt the start of anger, but before that rage could light in her belly, a loud voice from behind the door boomed, drawing her attention.
Visius heard orders being given, Sorek was in a briefing.
The man was blusterous but vengeful to a fault. "Necherus, your fleet will push them to the center. From there we will box them in, cutting off all escape. That barricade will fall and the planet will be ours! I Don't want to hear excuses, I want results! I want those Spirit Stones! You are dismissed!"
The door hissed open, revealing captains and lieutenants who filed out. Isis quickly stepped beside Visius next to the wall hoping to not draw attention, or be stepped on by the heavily armored giants.
Visius smiled as he stepped in after they passed, Isis not wanting to be left in the corridor with, 'god knows what', followed.
With confidence and familiarity Visius spoke, "Greetings Commander, enjoying your Eldar slaughter?"
Commander Sorek was standing next to a large briefing table of smoothed polished steel looking over a dataslate.
His pauldrons sported ebony spikes which shimmered from the light in the room, skulls adorned those spikes with blue and green gems inlaid within the eye sockets. Spread over the rounded shoulder plates was the skinned faces of Aldari, stitched together.
"Do I look like I am?" He said loudly, the large room made his voice echo. Then he snapped his clean shaven head up at Visius and grinned, showing off teeth that were filed to razor points.
"Yes," He hissed gleefully.
"So," He tossed the dataslate onto the table, "Come," he turned to grab a pitcher with two glasses from a shelf on the side of the room and began to pour a dark red liquid into the cups. "I see you've acquired another ship." He handed Visius a glass. "I do enjoy a good tale, and I was told it was a good one." He raised a brow at the Lord Captain.
Isis' skin crawled as she looked at this...man. He was just shorter than Visius, but extruded vileness that made her gut churn. His voice made her hair stand on edge as if an instrument was off tune. She didn't want to be here nor did she want his attention on her for a moment. Her eyes roamed the room, large tapestries hung from the walls and 3 large windows graced the front of the room. But it was what hung from the ceiling that made her blood run cold. Hundreds of polished skulls, like the ones worn on this man's armor, hung from chains that sparkled as they swayed. Their gemmed eyes of the skulls sent light dancing over the room.
"We dealt a heavy blow to the Imperials. Destroyed one of their Black Ships and obtained a little more than a half dozen psykers aboard my ship. Killed a company of Sisters of Battle and two Inquisitors and yes, we took another ship for ourselves. A good haul, I would say." Visius replied, taking a long drink of the offered liquid.
"HA!" Sorek bellowed, slamming a fist on the table making the dataslate and Isis jump. "A good omen," He said cheerfully, taking a swig of his drink as well.
"I will lend a contingent of slaves to help in maintenance of your newly acquired vessel. It would be a shame to let His gift sit while His payment is due."
Visius' voice grew serious."I have a request, if I may?"
Sorek chuckled at his tone. "Ask."
"Kill the vox and power to this room. This must be said in secret." Visius said, raising an eyebrow coyly.
Sorek eyed him for a moment, then downed the rest of his glass, putting it on the table, returning with a sly smile. "This day keeps getting better and better." He walked over to a control panel and punched in a few commands. The wine of power diminished as the room was bathed in an eerie shadow. The only light source came from three windows at the front of the room. The light filtered in in different hues from the nebula outside.
"I'd like to present, Isis, an ostensible primarch." Visius stepped aside, presenting the woman.
Isis, upon hearing her name and the gaze of the unpleasant giant turning to her, she took a step back. She felt cold sweat form on her forehead.
Sorek looked at the pitiful woman for a moment, confused. He then looked back at Visius, "I'm all for a good laugh, Visius, but I'm afraid you'll have to explain."
"I felt her power in another whole sector, it was by the grace of Slaanesh that we got there quickly enough. And based off a prisoner's rather odd clinical, and what she has shown me of her past I believe she could be an actual child of the Emperor. The power that she welds over the warp is impressive enough, especially untrained. Plus not many psykers can use chronomancy."
Sorek took a deep breath and turned back to his pitcher, glancing back at Isis as he poured another glass.
"Have you ran your own tests? Those fanatic bastards could be attempting a second coming."
"Not yet," Visius stated, bowing his head in apology, "We made haste to aid you against the Eldar."
Sorek waved a hand dismissively at his apology. "We will divulge her secrets." He stepped towards Isis to observe her. As he did, Isis quickly took the equal amounts back towards the door.
Sorek let out a laugh. "She's as timid as a mouse, if she is related, she surely didn't take after Him."
Visius instantly felt the room rise in temperature. The heat source radiating from Isis. Quickly Visius grasped the pauldron of Sorek and placed a hand upon his temple, allowing him to view the warp through Visius' eyes.
They both saw the warp, like tongues of flame, rising around the woman, in her state of unease the warp grew, seeming to reach out to set ablaze anyone close enough.
Sorek watched in silence, the flames began to cool as he stopped his approach.
" I see," He finally said. Visius released him and stepped back.
Sorek continued. "I gather she does not understand our language.
First, is she aware of her possible heritage? And second, how?"
"I do not believe she knows her lineage. Some anomaly forced her through time; and I expect the unfamiliar and dated technology." Visius replied.
"Very well," Sorek walked back to the control panel. "Since it is obvious she trusts you more than most, she will be your ward till tests are conducted. We will discuss this more when we have further proof." He began punching in commands.
"And Visius, excellent work, I'll make sure your reward is suitable."
The hum of power returned and the lights illuminated the room once again in its pastels.
Visius opened his arms and bowed before turning to escort Isis back to the Icon of Sin.
Isis didn't need any prompting to leave that room and its tenant behind. She noticed Visius' pace had increased but only kept it to where she was at a brisk pace. Isis did not complain, she wanted off this ship as quickly as possible. She didn't want to go back to the other ship either, but she wasn't about to protest.
The way back to the teleporter was bustling. Squads of large armored, some mutated giants, filed past. People rushed past joined by the zombie-like cyborgs called servitors, none looked the same although each was equally horrid in their appearance.
Visius thoughts flooded her mind. "Stay close, and be alert. If anyone attempts to take or harm you, do not hesitate to unleash your full power."
Isis balked at the statement, but obeyed, keeping close to Visius. Though she trusted him about as far as she could throw him, it confirmed her theories of this ship, it was as safe as it looked.
But it did nothing to quench the other questions running through her mind.
Take... Take…Like he took her? Like the crew of the previous ship did? Or even the one before that? Why was she at risk of being taken? She wasn't the only one with powers, she knew that. It could be she was from the past but even then, she was from such a long time ago that everything she knew would be obsolete. She didn't think people would risk their lives for that.
She sent a reply. "I have several questions, may I ask them?"
"Wait until we have returned to my ship." He answered calmly. Isis kept quiet and followed.
Visius and Isis arrived back on the Icon of Sin without incident. When they returned to Visius' chambers, Isis was beginning to feel like a zoo animal. Taken out for exercise or to show off to your friends, then back to the kennel.
Visius' vox broke silence, Lieutenant Sithal spoke his voice flat, " Forgive the interruption my Lord, I have taken the liberty of preparing the ships for the upcoming battle, also there has been a pilot that went missing. On his console we found he has been sending coded messages, but to whom we have not figured out yet. I have sent search parties for him."
"Find the traitor, and make him part of the decor!" Visius snarled, the silk of his voice quickly overtaken by a low vicious tone that could kill by sound alone.
Isis quickly entered, spurred on by the intimidating tone of his voice, not sure who he was talking to.
Visius calmed himself with a breath, entered, then shut the door after himself. Walking over he took a seat on the large throne-like chair and motioned for Isis to sit on an overly large velvet cushion, one among many that surrounded the throne..
"Forgive me, the burdens of leadership. Now, ask your questions." He sent his thoughts.
Isis, not wanting to be on the receiving end of that anger took the seat tentatively.
She took a breath, trying to get her thoughts straight before sending them.
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