"Where are we going?" asked Kaida.
Reptile said nothing to her; 'is he annoyed at me for giving Rubex a kiss?' she wondered, but soon determined that it was a silly thing to consider, a space marine wouldn't care about such things.
This walk seemed longer than the other walks they had taken together in the ship, like all her time on the ship had been building up to this moment. They walked until they came to a cabin door with Esskrimar standing outside it. "Why are you not enjoying the feast?" asked Reptile, "Your squad is missing your company."
"There are many feasts on this ship, Reptile, but this is going to be unique." Esskrimar replied with a smile.
"It's good to see you have your pistol," remarked Reptile, "I trust there is not too much damage."
"I applied the usual, delicacy and care that I always do, dear brother," said Esskrimar, his smile growing, Reptile smiled as well.
Reptile opened the door to the room and led Kaida inside. Inside slumped against the side of the bed was the thin naked body of a tau. It was Aun'Esa, she was covered in cuts and bruises and draped over the side of the bed like some discarded rag. Kaida covered her mouth in shock and felt a lump grow in her throat, such was the shock of seeing her immortally wise leader is such a way.
The two space marines watched on as the ethereal slowly raised her head to look at Kaida. "This is your symbol for the greater good," said Reptile, "frail and weak."
Aun'Esa took a deep breath and began to speak in tau, "These are followers of chaos; they have no honour and deserve nothing more from us than hate." Aun'Esa looked up at the marines, "The only way we can further the greater good is to kill them all."
Reptile raised his eyebrows and asked Kaida, "Do you believe her?" Reptile understood fully what the ethereal said; but he continued to speak in gothic. "Is the greater good a worthy cause for you to lay your life down? If you think so, your gun is on the bed; take it and shoot me, I am unarmoured, and would surely be killed." Kaida's gun from the battle was indeed on the bed, she had been so fixated on Aun'Esa's apparent suffering that she had failed to notice. Kaida grabbed the pulse carbine and pointed the gun directly at Reptile's chest. Teeth gritted and tears running down her face; she did not kill him.
"The greater good is a lie, can't you see." explained Reptile. "It claims to promise peace and prosperity for all who accept it; but what it offers you in reality is a bleak future of servitude and war, and all for nothing but the pride of the Ethereal Caste."
"No!" spluttered the ethereal, mustering enough strength to raise her voice. "The cause of the greater good is right and just, these marines use slaves and know nothing of justice and equality."
"Those slaves were raised in imperial hive cities; their lives are better now than they ever have been, as is everyone's life on this ship that has known a previous existence."
"Shoot them! Pathfinder," cried Aun'esa, "do not hesitate, shoot them, now!"
"That's very aggressive," commented Esskrimar, he had his hand resting on the bolt pistol by his side.
"If you shoot me now, we both die and all your greater good will have accomplished is two more corpses."
"Don't listen to the marines, pathfinder," argued the ethereal, "They are poisoning your mind. You need to kill them."
"Pathfinder?" queried Reptile, "You have great respect from your warriors, ethereal, they must be close to you," Aun'esa did not reply, she only glared at Reptile, as a hated enemy. "Why is it that you do not know their names?"
Kaida couldn't believe it, all the times Aun'Esa sent her into battle; when they were being held captive together, when she took Kaida's warmth away, never had she wanted to know Kaida's name. 'She doesn't care about me,' thought Kaida, 'she never did.'
"Shoot them! Now! I am your commander and you will obey my order!" were more painfully forced words from the ethereal; but Kaida lowered her gun. "What are you doing?" panicked the ethereal, "Do not ignore me, pathfinder!"
Kaida lifted her gun above her head and brought it slamming down on the Ethereal's broken body with a scream of rage. She could feel the crunch of bone under her gun, as Aun'Esa fell from the bed and was now sprawled on the floor. Kaida lifted her gun up and slammed it onto the ethereal's body again; a gasp of pain was heard seeping out from Aun'Esa's bloodied lips. Kaida lifted the gun once more and smashed it into the ethereal's head. There was no more movement, no more life; the pathfinder had killed the ethereal.
"What have I done?" exclaimed Kaida, trembling. The fiery rage she felt not a moment ago turned into mournful regret that built up in her throat quicker than any emotion she had ever felt before.
"You have freed yourself," claimed Reptile.
Kaida lifted her gun and pointed it at Reptile once more.
"Do not fight me, Kaida," he said with a smile. "If you come with me now you can be a part of something wonderful; you can join us and find the greatest pleasures you can imagine, even some that are beyond mortal comprehension. The ethereals used you and made you slaves to a cause you cannot hope to achieve; we have simple goals and a god who demands nothing more from us than to praise him with the wildest of excesses. Lay down your gun, do not fight me, embrace me," he dropped to one knee and held his arms out wide, "and we will embrace you as a member of our family."
Kaida, undone by tears, dropped her gun and walked arms wide into the warm embrace of the marine. "You will grow with Slaanesh," whispered Reptile, "and she will reward you with your heart's greatest desires."
Reptile then lifted Kaida in his arms and carried her to his cabin, where he set her on the bed before closing the door to leave them alone together.
"That was very brave," said Reptile, "I can only imagine what it must be like for you."
"It was horrible," whimpered Kaida, she looked up at Reptile with a nervous smile, "but it's all over now. There are no more lies."
"There will always be lies, Kaida," explained Reptile, "the galaxy is full of lies, but chaos is truth. It is the one constant that will always be a fact and will always be the outcome. It's not something to be resisted; by giving ourselves to chaos we are devoting ourselves to the one cause that will always prevail."
Kaida looked at Reptile and spoke her mind, "That's not the whole reason for your devotion to Slaanesh, is it?"
"You're right," conceded Reptile with a smile, "the personal rewards are quite exquisite."
Kaida's mind was awash with thoughts of the death of Aun'Esa, of discarding the Tau Empire completely. She felt like she had been given a new life, the ethereal was dead and she was free to strive for whatever she wanted, she was free to pursue whatever her heart desired. There was only one way to start this new life, by cementing her relationship with the one who had led the way. She began to undress for him, she pulled her boots off, then her top.
Reptile knew exactly what she was doing; he sat on the bed beside her and pulled her vest over her head. Kaida watched and felt Reptile's hands and eyes wonder all over her torso, and revelled in the moment before pulling off her trousers, then sliding her shorts down her legs for Reptile to pluck them from her foot and leave the tau totally exposed. Reptile stood up and lifted his entire robe off his body to reveal the full muscular magnificence that Kaida had seen before.
Reptile sat on the bed again, Kaida reached out to him, he took her hand, she then leapt onto him; and the pleasures of Slaanesh were felt to their fullest.
"Will you be a part of our ship and an associate of this chapter?" asked Reptile to a naked Kaida sitting on the floor.
"Yes," she panted, still getting her breath back, "with all my heart, yes."
"Will you fight with us?"
"I will," said Kaida.
Reptile sat on the floor beside her and held out his hand to reveal a small, gold trinket, a symbol of some kind made of gold and intricately detailed with patterns and tiny jewels. It was attached to a loop of silver chain so fine that Kaida felt she would break it if she was to handle it. He slipped it round her neck and told her, "This is the icon of Slaanesh, wear it always as a symbol of your devotion to him, and our chapter."
"I will," she said, she ran her fingers over the icon around her neck, the fine craftsmanship was obvious.
Kaida Gazed into Reptiles eyes, the one who opened her mind, the one who set her free and the man who saved her, "Let's go again, I want more of Slaanesh's pleasures."