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Chapter Ten: Perils of the Warp
Astronomican
Asia, Holy Terra
When the Emperor united the scattered nations of Terra and the Warp storms engulfing the galaxy finally calmed, thus ending the Age of Strife, humanity turned its sights to the stars in hopes of re-uniting its scattered colonies. Even with the aid of Gellar Fields, early explorers were either ripped apart by currents and malevolent Warp entities or found themselves hopelessly lost. Only with the construction of the Astronomican and the aid of the Navigator houses could the rise of the Imperium truly begin.
Located over the former Himalayas, the modern Astronomican consumed countless thousands of Psykers' souls daily to keep the tattered Imperium together. Focused and directed by the Emperor himself, the great psychic beacon guided the remaining forces of humanity to Terra for the approaching final battle.
Screams of agony echoed throughout the Astronomican as the Emperor was freed from the Golden Throne for the first time in millennia. Without the Emperor directing the Astronomican's waning—but still powerful—light, the flow of psychic energy flooded the chamber housing the ten thousand Psykers that powered the great beacon. The adepts who survived with the initial psychic blast were confronted with the gruesome site of thousands of dying Psykers. Many simply died immediately, the psychic backlash being far too great for their bodies to handle. Others began mutating uncontrollably. Some convulsed as they bled from every orifice on their bodies. Some literally melted.
Maddening laughter filled the chamber as daemons took advantage of the weakening veil between reality and the Warp to manifest.
Black Knights Cruiser Scinfaxi
Orbit of Holy Terra
"Captain, we're detecting heavy concentrations of Warp activity centered on the Himalaya region," one of the sensor officers reported with unnerving calm.
"Scans indicate it is consistent with daemonic activity," another of the officers chimed in as if she were discussing the weather.
"Contact the Emperor's Vengeance," the Scinfaxi's captain ordered, "Lock onto those coordinates. All FLEIJA tubes stand by."
Imperial Battleship Emperor's Vengeance
Mars Orbit
"Lord Admiral Giarputto," the unlucky communications officer began, "We're receiving a transmission from a Black Knights ship around Terra."
"Well?" the Lord Admiral snapped impatiently.
"They've enclosed a large data packet. Our logic engines are attempting to decode it now…" the signals officer paled as the hololith in the center of the room lit up.
"Out of my way!" the Lord Admiral shoved the officer aside and ran up to the hololith, "Is this transmission genuine?"
"Reports are coming in from units around Terra," another communications officer began, "They corroborate the data sent by the Black Knights."
The sheer volume of communications streaming in threatened to overwhelm even the Emperor's Vengeance's extensive equipment. Thousands of ships around Holy Terra began transmitting their own sensor readings and asking for instructions.
"Lord Admiral, we've received a transmission on Astartes channels. Warriors have been dispatched, but it will take several hours for the closest group to reach Terra."
"Lord Admiral, transmission from the High Lords themselves!"
A hush fell over the Emperor's Vengeance. Confronted with orders from men as powerful as the High Lords of Terra, even the Lord Admiral was nervous.
"They've given the fleet permission to open fire on the Warp anomaly," the communications officer uneasily continued, "In addition, all units are to consider the Black Knights as operating under orders from the Emperor himself."
The communications officer choked over the last few words, trailing off as to verify that he had read the message correctly.
"Contact all ships in the vicinity of Terra," the Lord Admiral ordered, "Cleanse the area. Let nothing escape."
Astronomican
Asia, Holy Terra
From the Scinfaxi's initial report to the High Lords of Terra issuing permission to bombard Holy Terra itself, barely twenty minutes had passed. In that time, hundreds of lesser daemons were given time to manifest. They flooded the Astronomican chambers used to house the Psykers, corralled in by unimaginably strong and ancient protections. Their blasphemous litanies filled the air as they roamed the sea of bodies in search of amusement and pounded on the psychic wards that surrounded the chambers.
As the wards began cracking and larger daemons began surging through the tears in reality, the horde howled in triumph. Their celebrations were cut short as the Scinfaxi opened fire with its quad hadron cannons. The red and black beams penetrated hundreds of stories, annihilating everything in their path. The weapons fire grew in volume as the Scinfaxi's escorts joined in, carpet-bombing the Astronomican and the surrounding urban areas. Very little was left by the time the first Imperial responders began bombarding the area.
The brief but intense bombardment concluded with several volleys of FLEIJA warheads courtesy of the Scinfaxi and its support fleet. The blasts leveled the Astronomican and much of the hive structure it rested on, destroying many of the daemons' newfound bodies. The collapsing singularity that followed violently closed the Warp rift.
Several hours later, a Grey Knights containment team would arrive. Though girded up for battling a full-blown daemonic infestation, all they found were a series of craters on the ground, some many kilometers deep. So thorough was the scouring that the Grey Knights gained a newfound respect for the Black Knights that day.
When the choir of the Astronomican ceased, the remnants of the Imperium descended into chaos. Without the guiding light, the Navigators could no longer safely navigate their ships through the Immaterium. The death-screams of countless millions of souls echoed through the galaxy as ships were ripped apart by ravenous Warp-beasts and hostile currents. Some escaped the Warp only to emerge inside stars or planets. A lucky few escaped only to find themselves hopelessly lost, stranded in distant corners of the galaxy. They would search for the closest habitable worlds, hoping to spend the remainder of their lives on solid ground eking out whatever existence they could.
The removal of the Emperor from the Golden Throne and the destruction of the Astronomican accomplished what Horus and countless enemies, Chaos and xenos alike, had failed at. After desperately hanging on to life for twenty thousand years, the Imperium of Man took its final rasping breath and died.
Golden Throne, Sanctum Imperialis
Imperial Palace, Holy Terra
"Euphie?"
"Why so surprised?" Euphemia li Britannia tilted her head quizzically, "Did I not tell you we would meet again in the future?"
Suzaku's eyes widened as he made the connection.
"Now do you see what was at stake that day in the Special Administrative Zone, Suzaku?"
Nunnally shot the militia general a quizzical look. Suzaku returned a look that promised an explanation at a later time.
"What do you mean by 'this state,' Euphemia?" CC asked in her signature deadpan, having been the first to recover from the sight of seeing a long-dead woman before her.
"At the end of the Horus Heresy," Euphemia began, fingers tightening into a white-knuckled grip on her staff, "Lelouch mustered almost all of his psychic power for one final attack on Horus."
Four pairs of eyes widened as they attempted to comprehend the mind-boggling amounts of destruction such an attack could cause.
"The attack slew the fallen Primarch Horus, but he had cast aside his compassion in order to bring himself to do it. When the psychic lance impacted, he was caught in the shockwave and his soul is now scattered in thousands of fragments across the Warp."
"What are you saying?" CC urgently asked, concern and fear obvious in her voice.
"If you're worried I'm saying Lelouch is dead, don't. One of you needs to return with me to the Warp to gather up the shards of his soul before he can truly leave the Golden Throne."
"I'll go." CC stepped forward without hesitation.
The corners of Euphemia's lips curled upwards as she raised her free hand, now alight with psychic fire. The Custodians closed in, guardian spears brandished, but were waved back by CC. The pink-haired woman raised her hand above her head and slashed downwards, opening a tear in reality. Without hesitation, CC stepped through it, vanishing as she crossed the threshold. Euphemia followed moments later, the rift closing behind her.
?
?
"My lord, the procedure is complete. The technology and knowledge used was old and incomplete, but…"
The sound of a sword unsheathing echoed throughout the chamber.
"Even now, you still try my patience! I care not for a detailed explanation, only if the procedure was successful or not!"
The sword was re-sheathed.
"We cannot tell for sure until the specimen awakens," the second voice answered meekly, "but initial diagnostics are promising."
"Good. I expect updates on every new development, no matter how tiny it may seem! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, my lord."
A swish of a cloak and the sound of metallic feet clanking out of the chamber concluded the conversation.
?
The Warp
As the trainer of the Black Knights' feared Psychic Special Warfare operatives, CC lived her life constantly exposed to the perils of the Warp. On far more occasions than she cared to count, a trainee operative had hopped and bought a less-than-friendly denizen of the Warp back with them. She was still wholly unprepared for the Warp's tormented state. The torrents of raw emotion and maddening proportions of the parallel plane threatened to overwhelm even her well-defended mind.
Her vision swam as the swirling, impossible colors whirled around her at high speeds. Nausea nearly overtook her senses and she barely noticed the break in the colors. She recovered her senses just in time to see the ground spinning towards her. It took her another second to recover enough of her mental faculties to realize she was the one actually spinning. By some miracle, she regained her bearings quickly enough to crash to the ground feet-first, rolling with the fall, and winding up sprawled on her back.
CC groaned and rolled onto her stomach as Euphemia descended from above. The pink-haired woman gracefully touched down and walked up to her green-haired companion.
"Sorry about that," she scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "The landings are usually a lot smoother, but the Warp has been very turbulent lately."
"Where are we?" CC groaned, taking Euphemia's proffered hand and leaping to her feet.
"I thought you of all people would know this place," Euphemia grabbed CC by the shoulders and spun her around.
A quiet gasp passed between CC's lips as she beheld the sight before her. The floor she landed on was floating in midair, suspended over puffy grey clouds. A grand staircase lay before her, each wide step floating in place. At the midway point up the staircase, the stumps of two pillars flanked the structure. At the top, she could see an enormous temple-like structure. It had clearly seen better days: most of the Stonehenge-like structures surrounding it had collapsed or seemed about to collapse. Only a few pillars of the massive temple-like building that lay in the center still remained. Despite all the intervening millennia, recognition proved instant.
"That which you know as C's World," Euphemia chimed in, "represents one of the last stable pockets of the Warp. I have declared this area under my protection, and so none of the minions of Chaos dare tread here."
CC shot the other woman a surprised look.
"We must hurry. I can sense one of Lelouch's soul fragments nearby. Daemons dare not approach it, but it has wandered the Warp for twenty thousand years. Its defenses will not hold for very much longer."
With a wave of her staff, Euphemia dispelled the illusion of clouds surrounding C's World, revealing the maddening geometries of the Immaterium and the horde of daemons that roamed them. Any lesser human would have gone insane upon facing down so many daemons, but CC merely drew her saber. The blade began glowing with psychic power.
"No need for that," Euphemia waved CC's blade aside and raised her staff.
A blinding beacon of light shined forth. The daemons, clawing at the borders of C's World just moments ago, scattered in terror, clawing over one another in a desperate bid to reach safety. The ones unable to move out of the way in time simply vanished as the light touched them. Something told CC that the daemons caught in the beam had been utterly destroyed, rather than merely sealed away. Euphemia casually stepped through the barrier and into the Warp. CC hesitated, but re-sheathed her sword and followed a moment later.
?
2018 a.t.b
Amidst Nunnally's crying and the crowd's chanting of Zero's name, Lelouch vi Britannia, the ninety-ninth emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, known to the world as the Demon Emperor, lay dying.
Dying isn't so bad, he thought as his blood pooled around him, The pain's going away. I'm feeling lightheaded. I think I'll just close my eyes for a while. I feel so tired…
"Wake up."
When Lelouch reopened his eyes, it took him half a second to realize he was floating in empty space. A pitch black void stretched for a seemingly-infinite distance in every direction.
Ah. This must be hell, then.
"Perhaps. The ancient shamans of Earth merely knew this place as the realm of raw emotion. There was once a time souls would pass through this realm to be reborn."
Lelouch shielded his eyes as a blinding flash illuminated the surroundings. A floor suddenly appeared below his feet, and he found himself facing a silhouette. Try as he would, he could not make out any features save for the new arrival's outline.
"Who are you?" Lelouch croaked.
"I have been known by many names throughout time. However, you may refer to me as the Guardian."
"The guardian of what?" Lelouch asked almost reflexively, "And how do you know my name?
"I would be more worried if you didn't ask," the figure laughed softly, "To answer your question, I must first tell you a story."
The figure raised its staff into the air, dispelling the illusion that surrounded him. A blinding flash overwhelmed Lelouch's vision, and he slammed his eyes shut while screaming in pain. Swirls of impossible colors and hurricanes of maddening geometries filled his view when he opened his eyes again. Any mortal man would have been driven insane a thousand times over, and even Lelouch found his psyche straining.
"You are looking at the primal energies of chaos and emotion, separated from the universe you know so well by only a thin veil of reality. Ancient humanity once called this realm the Sea of Souls, but that era has long since been forgotten and the knowledge of the ancient shamans was lost with it. Only now, countless thousands of years later, have humans begun to rediscover this realm. By pure chance, humans discovered a stable pocket with this normally-chaotic dimension and began utilizing its power. I take it you are familiar with C's World?"
Lelouch's eyes widened at the revelation.
"This realm—which humanity will one day come to know as the Warp or the Immaterium—was not always like this. There was once a time when souls could pass through to be reborn. However, the thoughts and deeds of countless sentient races have given birth to four principal powers of Chaos. Souls no longer reincarnated, but were instead consumed by the now-hostile denizens of this plane."
Lelouch opened his mouth, but the Guardian continued before the question could pass between his lips.
"By the time Earth reached the medieval era, three of these Chaos Gods had reached full awareness. Khorne, the Lord of Blood. Tzeentch, the Architect of Fate. Nurgle, the Master of Pestilence. The fourth and final Chaos God—Slaanesh, the Prince of Excess—slumbers in the Warp, awaiting its birth."
A feeling of foreboding crept up Lelouch's spine.
"However, that will not happen for millennia more to come. In the meantime, humanity will develop and flourish, pushing its boundaries ever further. Spreading to every corner of the galaxy, mankind will reign almost unchallenged for almost ten thousand years. The birth of Slaanesh will mark the end of this golden age, and a million years of darkness will follow. Warp storms will engulf the galaxy, isolating the worlds of humanity from one another. Cut off from the food shipments they relied upon, countless worlds will starve. Many others will simply disappear, consumed by the Warp and becoming feeding grounds with the daemons within. Still others will descend into chaos and barbarism."
Lelouch staggered backwards as images of a strong and united humanity gave way to those of a barbaric age little better than the one he had given his life to end.
"All is not lost. The ancient shamans foresaw such a day. As the Warp consumed their souls in ever-greater numbers, the remaining shamans hatched a bold plan. Rather than reincarnate, they would pool their collective power and create a being that lived forever and thus had no reason to reincarnate. Thousands gathered and simultaneously poisoned themselves, the flood of souls into the Warp forcing past the predators within through sheer numbers."
The former Demon Emperor did not like where the Guardian's train of logic was currently heading.
"I am the guardian of this well of power. Throughout the ages, fragments of the ancients' powers have reached the mortal realm in the form of the Geass and the Code. However, the vessel the shamans wished for, one that could actually contain and control their collective powers, failed to appear for thousands of years. Lelouch vi Britannia…no, Lelouch Lamperouge, you are that vessel."
Lelouch felt a great weight settling on his shoulders, and he dropped to his knees. Clutching his head, he fell to the ground and writhed in pain. Somehow managing to stay conscious through the haze, he rolled over to see the object he knew as the collective unconsciousness of humanity hovering over him.
"With your Zero Requiem, you shouldered the weight of the world. Now, Lelouch, you must shoulder the weight of the galaxy. With your newfound powers, you can reduce those millions of years of darkness and barbarism to a mere ten thousand. Be warned: the path ahead is paved in the blood of trillions. It will be fraught with peril, and even the slightest misstep will doom humanity. Humanity may never regain the might it will hold at its height, but it might survive."
Lelouch Lamperouge screamed as millions of images flashed through his head at once. The entire width and breadth of humanity's history forced its way through his psyche. One moment, he was standing amongst thousands of shamans, poison in hand. The next, he stood over an army of thunder warriors, prepared to forcibly bring enlightenment to the barbarian tribes. Then he stood at the head of another army, bringing the truth to the galaxy. A flash, and he now stood in a room with walls covered in sanity-blasting iconography, facing down a hulking man many times his size.
"Lelouch vi Britannia died at the Zero Requiem. Lelouch Lamperouge died just now. From this point on, you will be known as the Emperor of Mankind."
Mercifully, Lelouch blacked out soon afterwards.
Lelouch vi Britannia's Tomb
?
CC would have been lying to herself if she claimed she knew why she undertook such a dangerous journey. With the Knight of Zero thought killed in battle and the Demon Emperor assassinated in front of millions, she had become the most hunted person in the world. After taking all the time and trouble to completely change her identity and effectively disappear, she risked ruining it all on little more than a whim.
Travelling slowly and often by night, CC trekked through Britannia to the hidden site of Lelouch's tomb. She was no stranger to living on the run, but the trip still pushed her to the very limits of her sanity. Every footfall was a soldier on his way to apprehend her, every stranger an informant, and every stray shadow a spy. She had experienced several close calls, escaping only through her own guile and sheer dumb luck. With every step she took, wounds she thought had already closed reopened.
Each step CC took towards the mausoleum felt heavier and heavier, and not in a completely metaphorical sense, either. By the time the simple and unassuming structure came into view, CC could only trudge slowly forward. She could feel a pressure slowly building in the back of her skull. Twenty meters away, she could no longer stand. The green-haired immortal collapsed of exhaustion a mere five meters from the tomb. Some unknown force, however, compelled her to continue despite the blinding headache she was currently suffering from. With the last of her strength, she dragged her body along the last few meters and extended her arm. Her fingertips brushed against the cold marble as she lost consciousness.
Had she looked at her reflection, she would have seen her Code glowing brightly.
CC opened her eyes to find herself floating in space. Though she saw nothing, she instinctively knew there was a floor under her, and she staggered to her feet with great effort.
"I see you chose to heed my message."
CC whirled around to see a silhouette wreathed in light. Even half-blinded by the backdrop, CC could see that the lithe figure wore a long dress and wielded a staff.
"Do not be alarmed, CC…or perhaps I should say…"
CC's eyes went wide as she heard her name for the first time since Lelouch had used it.
"Have I got your attention now?" the figure did not wait for a reply before continuing, "Good. We have much to discuss and far too little time in which to do so."
When CC awoke, she found herself in a location far from Lelouch's time and without clear recollection of the past few days. The enormous gaps in her memory, however, took second seat to the sight that confronted her. She weakly raised a hand to trace the contours of a face she had never imagined she would ever see again. In response, the face's owner leaned down to cup her face. With light touches of her pointer finger, CC traced the Code on his throat.
In a move that surprised even CC herself, the green-haired immortal grabbed the newly-resurrected Lelouch vi Britannia around the collar and pulled his face down to hers. Before the violet-eyed former royal could protest, CC crushed her lips against his.
Several days later, a hay cart was spotted leaving Britannian soil.
The Warp
017.M51
CC gasped, her back arcing as the vision receded. Her limbs, having locked themselves as soon as the images started, relaxed, and the immortal sank to her knees. Falling to all fours, she panted heavily, eyes wide.
"What was that?" CC gasped out.
"You've just run into the first of Lelouch's soul shards. Each one embodies an aspect of his being. What you just witnessed was Lelouch in flux, him changing from a mortal man into the most powerful Psyker history has ever and will ever know," the Guardian explained.
"Where is it now?" CC asked, recovering her breath and realizing that the shard's psychic pressure had disappeared.
"Inside of you," Euphemia explained nonchalantly.
CC's eyes widened.
"Do not be alarmed. The shards will not harm you. Your own powers are not insignificant: almost any other would be reduced to ashes by now. For the short period of time you will harbor them, you can safely act as the shards' vessel. Additionally, they feel an instinctive attachment to you. Look," the pink-haired woman pointed towards a spot behind CC.
CC whirled around to find a blue pinpoint of light hovering behind her. It darted to and fro, circling her. She reached out a hand to touch it, but no visions assaulted her as several willowy fingers passed through the light.
"Much less than harm you, the shards are using their powers to protect you. Now, come, we have many more shards to recover before Lelouch can awaken."
With that, Euphemia slammed her staff into the ground. The duo disappeared to further reaches of the Immaterium.
A/N: And there we go! The plot is starting to take off now, with Abaddon's fleet arriving in just a few chapters! In this current arc, we will explore the secrets of the Imperium's founding and that of the Black Knights. Humanity will not stand alone in the upcoming battle!