Jarod walked through the halls of the craftworlds many buildings, not really paying attention to his surroundings. His thoughts were instead focused on what on Terra he was going to do, as well as venting such thoughts to Elirom.
"If I just ignore his offer, then he's liable to send daemons or Chaos space marines at me. But If I accept then who's to say he won't just turn on me and sick some greater daemon on us!? Or worse, try and kill us himself!" Jarod ranted, "And to make matters worse, his offer might actually be worth considering! We've been trying to get Michael's power unlocked for month's Elirom, Months! It's the Emperor-damned Forty-First Millenium! We don't have that kind of time! Not to mention I have just about a thousand other things to do of almost equal importance, if not greater!"
Elirom blinked, "Wait, doesn't warp travel take months, or even years?" he asked.
"Semantics!"
"Regardless, what else do you have to do? You've been doing nothing but making small warp jumps to neighboring systems for the past year," Elirom asked.
"Okay, I get that due to the fact that ever since your species created a Chaos god, you really haven't had time for politics, but you mean to tell me you have never heard of making connections, deals, and gathering favors to achieve your ends rather than relying on future sight all the time?" Jarod asked.
Elirom blinked, "What?"
Jarod sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "We may be on the fringes, but we're technically still in Imperial space. I've made a few allies among the various colonized planets, as well as a local hive world to keep us supplied with manpower, a nearby forgeworld to provide us with ammunition, weapons, and spare parts, as well as a couple of agri-worlds to provide food for my men in exchange for either favors, goods, or protection."
Elirom nodded as he listened to Jarod's explanation, "I suppose you do make a good point. One cannot rely solely on the resources at their immediate disposal after all."
Jarod sighed, "In any case, that still doesn't help us know what to do with Magnus."
"True enough. However, I must admit that I am of little use to you in that regard. The future is muddled, and though I can make out the broad strokes, I cannot make out what will happen whatever you do. I would suggest you be cautious, above all else." Elirom offered.
"It's a daemon Primarch. Of course, I'm going to be cautious. Still, I'm gonna have to talk to Michael about all of this regardless. How did his match go yesterday anyway? I haven't seen him since he left for it, I was to busy dealing with Magnus' offer to really ask him about it." Jarod asked.
Elirom hummed, "It is odd, I have been meaning to ask the Exarch about that myself. However, I have thus far been unable to locate her, and the few other Aspect Warrior's I have spoken to do not know where she is either. She's not by any of Khain's Shrines, nor is she training or in her Hab, so I have little idea where she may be. Michael, on the other hand, is probably at his hab, watching over Kiara." he explained.
Jarod nodded, "Guess I'll head over there then."
With their conversation finished, Jarod made his way to Michael's hab in hopes of finding a solution to his situation. Michael didn't think clinically like Jarod, Elirom, or Calivar, he trusted his gut more often than not. Granted that had gotten him into more than one awkward situation more than once, but it was still a good point of view to have in certain situations.
Jarod made his way through the winding halls and walkways of the craftworld, passing by the occasional Eldar who gave him a look, but had gotten used to seeing him and Michael walking amongst them, so they ignored him for the most part.
Jarod soon found himself knocking on Michael's door. He was surprised to find it wasn't Michael who answered it, but Kiara.
"Kiara? Where's Michael?" he asked.
Kiara giggled, "Dad's in the kitchen with Salah." she said.
Jarod blinked, his brain going over her the information again. The word 'dad' finally registered, and Jarod groaned in rage, "Dang it Michael you've gotten attached."
Making his way into the house, Jarod's brain - after just rebooting itself - short-circuited again when he saw Salah and Michael chatting. Now, this wasn't all that weird, save for the fact that Salah was wearing cargo pants and a loose t-shirt. And wasn't insulting Michael every two seconds.
He barely registered when they stopped talking and started staring at him.
"I can explain?" Michael said weakly.
Jarod sighed, "Nice score. Imma go get drunk now. See you in five hours."
"Wait! Hold on! Seriously, I can explain!" Michael called out.
Jarod's shoulders drooped and he turned around. Would it really be so bad if he went out and got drunk? Couldn't the galaxy last a few hours without his genius?
"And what, exactly, is there to explain?"
Michael sighed, then proceeded to explain what had happened. From winning the match, having Salah use him as a body pillow, his sort-of-official adoption of Kiara, to Salah's status as the Exarch being removed.
Jarod wanted to go get drunk. He wanted so badly to leave, drink his sorrows away, forget about the last two hours, and then experience it all over again.
"And how do you plan on explaining this to everyone?" he asked.
Michael shifted nervously, "Well… we haven't really thought that far ahead yet…"
"Personally I would speak to Elirom first. He is one of the most level-headed Aeldari on the craftworld, and would more than likely be willing to justify this to the council if nothing else." Salah explained.
Jarod sighed, "Yeah, yeah you're probably right. I guess the real issue here is what I had come here to do in the first place. You two do realize that you couldn't have had this happen at a worse time right?" he asked, pausing for a second, "Ok, there could probably be worse times, but this is kinda up there."
Michael blinked, "What? Jarod, what are you talking about?" he asked.
"Look, while two were having you're little get-together, revealing your deepest and darkest secrets to each other, I was having a conversation with a frakking Daemon Primarch!" Jarod all but yelled.
In a mere instant, the temperature in the room dropped, while Michael and Salah both straightened, "Jarod, what are you talking about?" Michael asked.
"I was in bed, almost asleep mind you when I was contacted psychically by none other than Magnus 'did nothing wrong' the Red! Where he basically offered me a contract! Oh, and he knows where we are now so there's that too!" Jarod explained.
Michael and Salah both processed the information in their own ways, trying to figure out what on Terra could be the reason for Magnus, not only knowing who Jarod was, but contacting him and offering him something, "What does he want, and what is he offering?" Michael asked.
"He mentioned that he could unlock your powers, and as for what he wants, I have no clue. He was really cryptic about it, which only heightens my suspicions might I add. See, there are only two things he could want from this; my immortal soul, or a sandwich. I'm pretty sure it's the former all things considered." Jarod said sarcastically.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Michael asked, "I mean, I don't think for a minute that you don't have some kind of plan at this point."
"We're gonna find out what he wants and if he attacks us we're going to introduce him to Humanity's best quality, which is the sheer determination to beat him up by kicking him in the balls, spitting on him while he's down, slitting his throat, tearing down everything he was ever known for, and then making a mockery of everything else." Jarod said with a sadistic smile on his face, looking content with his place in the universe for at least a second.
Salah looked at him warily, "Is he… normally like this?" she asked quietly, leaning toward Michael.
"Not really? I mean I wouldn't exactly say this is unusual per se, but it doesn't happen very often." He explained.
"Look, regardless, I need your input. What the heck am I supposed to do?" Jarod asked, ignoring their conversation.
"Well, I mean… what else are we supposed to do? We have to at least go see what he wants." Michael said with a shrug, "I mean, it's far from Ideal, but remember; you're a freaking anti-chaos bomb waiting to go off. All you have to do is go berserk and there's not much anyone can do to stop you."
Jarod held up one finger, "Keep in mind, Primarch."
"Primarch's aren't invincible."
"Only other Primarch's have killed Primarch's. Konrad doesn't count, he let himself get killed."
"Undefeatable, then. Still, this is Magnus we're talking about. If I remember correctly, he's not exactly unreasonable."
"He's also not exactly a pushover when it comes to shoving his psychic weight around, either."
While the two argued about what to do, Salah sat on the sidelines, watching with growing curiosity as they talked about subjects she barely understood. Granted it was mostly Imperial history, so that was understandable, but she felt a bit uncomfortable. It was when Jarod started ranting about the Emperor's webway project that her mind screeched to a halt.
"I mean, Magnus let freaking daemons into the Imperial Palace! You can't say that wasn't intentional on Tzeentch's part at the very least!" Jarod said.
"The Emperor wasn't even supposed to be messing with the webway, to begin with, and the fact that he didn't at least tell Magnus about it was all on him."
Salah was able to get the basic gist of their conversation, and from what she could gather, these two knew far more than they ought to. They were revealing information right in front of her that even the most knowledgeable Aeldari had been trying to figure out for millennia!
"Wait! Just Wait!" Salah called out, stepping between them, "What in Isha's name are the two of you talking about?" She asked.
Michael and Jarod both went silent, realizing that… well, talking about such things in front of someone, not in the loop was probably a bad idea…
"Look, long story short, the two of us know a heck of a lot more about the universe than most, well, anyone. There's probably only a handful that knows more than us, and even then, they're probably on the wrong side, to begin with." Jarod explained.
Salah shook her head, "What do you mean you know more than most? How could you have gained this knowledge?" she asked.
Jarod sighed, "Look. This is one of the few things that I'm not going to explain. I trust Michael not to do so either because if we told anyone about it, we'd probably end up nailed to a post and burned alive."
Salah went wide-eyed at Jarod's declaration, "What knowledge could be so dangerous? The power of chaos? The goals of she-who-thirsts? The nature of the universe itself?" She asked.
Jarod's expression remained grim, "That, and so much more."
"What? How?"
Jarod remained silent, and it was Michael who answered, "Salah, there's a lot out there in this universe. To answer your question of what we were talking about, well, we were talking about Magnus the Red, his rise to power, how he fell to Chaos, and if he might be reasoned with." he explained, "As to how we know this stuff… well… I honestly don't know if you would even want to know."
She blinked, staring at Michael, "What do you mean I wouldn't want to know? Of course, I want to know! You're speaking of things thousands of years in the past as if you were there! And I happen to know that humans don't age all that gracefully, there's no possibility you're older than thirty! How do you know all of this?" she asked.
Michael grimaced, "You don't want to know, because if you did, it would invalidate your entire existence."
"What?" Salah asked, an eerie silence falling over the room.
Michael sighed, "We know how Slaanesh was born. We know how the other three were born. We know how the Eldar race was born. We know how the Emperor of mankind was born… ish. Regardless, if you knew what we knew, and how we know it, it would make this whole universe seem… inconsequential."
Salah took the information in, and the more she thought about it, the more the thought mortified her. Morbid curiosity drew her thought on, however, and she wondered just what information they held. It was completely possible that Jarod might be lying, but Michael backing the information up made Salah question such a notion.
"So… should you reveal what you know, it would invalidate everything?" she asked.
Michael made a back and forth motion with his hand, "Not exactly. There's no problem in asking what we know, only how we know it. It'sIts the latter that's reality breaking."
Salah sighed, "If that is the case, then I suppose that is fair. Regardless, what in Isha's name are you planning?" she asked.
Jarod cleared his throat, "Well, before we got caught up in our little tangent, I was going to ask Michael what he thinks we should do, and now that you're in on it I might as well ask you the same question. Magnus the Red has offered to unlock Michael's abilities for an unknown price and has given me coordinates to a Daemon world. Should we meet him there, should we stay put, should we go in guns blazing, what?" he asked.
Salah pursed her lips in thought, considering the Implications of what Magnus had offered. She was not well versed in the ways of Chaos or its champions, but even she knew of Magnus the Red, the Crimson King. A daemon prince of Tzeentch, and a powerful foe. In her mind, to even consider trusting him was tantamount to suicide, as even the most trustworthy of Tzeentchian followers would shake your hand and stab you in the back at the same time.
"I will admit that I am not the most knowledgeable on the subject, but personally I do not believe it is worth the risk." She offered.
Jarod hummed, "Under normal circumstances, I would agree, but we have to consider the fact that Magnus could easily send a hoard of daemons or a chaos warband after us. He knows where I am, that much is for sure, and I don't think we could reliably outrun him. We have to respond somehow or risk making him angry, and personally I don't like the idea of an angry Daemon Primarch." he explained.
"Honestly, it looks like we've been backed into a corner," Michael admitted, "If we don't go, we're screwed for sure, but if we do go, then we might be able to get out. And again, you're a walking anti-chaos bomb, if anyone could slow down a Primarch, it'd be you."
Jarod sighed, "Somehow, I knew you'd say that…"
[-]
Nevha stood on the observation deck of her ship, looking down at the planet below her. The dull grey sand and mountains shot up from the planet's surface, giving it a ghostly white look from orbit. The planet itself was cold and almost barren of life, with only a few species of flora or fauna present on the planet. Of course, all of this paled in comparison to the massive hole in the planet's surface, measuring eight kilometers in diameter, and burrowing deep into the planet's surface.
It was a weapon, one that, in the right hands, could destroy entire star systems. Granted such a thing could only occur in the most specific of circumstances, but the option was there. Elsewhere on the planet, pylons dotted the landscape, towering over the empty sands and crags. These pylons naturally repelled warp energy when active, and she had tasked the Cryptek with locating and retrieving the blueprints for such devices.
She once again turned her attention to the massive weapon embedded in the planet's crust, and idly wondered if they should destroy the weapon outright. She decided against this. The planet, while technically under Imperial control, was soon to be part of her personal domain.
"Thinking of galactic domination again?" SHe heard Gaz ask from behind her.
She turned to see the man wearing a sarcastic grin on his face, his body leaning against the doorway to the observation room.
"You seem to be comfortable, especially considering you are onboard a foreign vessel." she commented.
Gaz shrugged, "It isn't really foreign is it? I mean, we bath live on the same planet, have the same enemies, and have roughly the same goals. Truth be told this ship isn't all that different from an Imperial ship, just with fewer purity seals and more glowing bits." he commented.
Nevha let out a dry chuckle, her the vibrating vocal systems making an eerie - if oddly elegant - sound. In Gaz's opinion it didn't sound human at all. Appropriate, he supposed, considering it wasn't a human the sound came from. Still, it was very clearly a laugh, a sound that Gaz was convinced was some kind of universal language.
"I see you are acclimating well. I apologize for not having your Imperial Iconography plastered all over my ship, but even I have my limits when it comes to skulls and birds." She admitted.
"Well, I suppose that's expected of you Xenos, you're very different from us humans after all." Gaz said.
"All to true. Still, I am glad that we have such an alliance. Were it not for Captain Jarod, I believe the two of us may be at each other's throats."
"No doubt about that. If he hadn't gotten there when he did, I don't think I'd be alive right now. We only had a dozen or so regiments, and you had an entire tomb world. If Jarod hadn't gotten to you first, I don't think we would have lasted very long." He admitted.
She chuckled again, "And yet here we are, standing side by side, fighting against the abominations of the ruinous powers."
[-]
AN: So I've been painting mini's… a lot, recently. I picked up a Necron army and have been building/painting it non-stop for the past couple weeks. Got some old wraiths from third edition and I absolutely love them! Kind of afraid to paint them though as they look really cool just as they are… still, love what I've been able to do with them.
Anywho, aside from that, JohnElysium/Robocop3301 (Space battles & FF respectively) is of off to college, so I don't think he'll be getting an army any time soon… eh, he'll probably still pick up guard.