The Kharn in the previous chapter is indeed pretty much the /tg/ version because it's funny. Enjoy this installment. And since I think I forget last time, insert the standard disclaimer about how Games Workshop owns pretty much everything except for the original characters, etc. etc.
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After a bit of discussion and the hammering out of details, Perry and the Obliterator, named Hamilcar, declared that they would see what exactly Alygias had to offer. Exiting the alleyway, they stumbled upon a common and yet incredibly strange scene. Alygias took one look at it before turning towards the bruise coloured sky and shaking his fist, crying out, "You think you're all so funny, but you're not."
Standing at the centre of a large, angry looking mob was a man most of the way between human and Space Marine, which meant that he was from the Imperium as most of the Chaos Space Marines no longer had scouts or neophytes, preferring instead to use quicker, if more unpleasant, methods. The fact that he was wearing the light armour of a Black Templars neophyte more or less cemented this impression.
While true that the man had desecrated the Imperial symbols with red paint and blood, he had conspicuously not actually removed them, rather blending the iconography of the Templars and Khorne together in a bizarre fashion. A former Imperial Marine was enough to draw the ire of many on a daemon world like Anachronous, but the fact that he seemed unrepentant of his past really annoyed the mob about him.
There was also an element of greed involved too, as the man had at his side what was clearly a potent daemon weapon, a simple looking black sword that radiated malevolence. It also appeared to be causing mutation as his skin had taken on an ashen grey pallor and his veins appeared as black cracks running beneath the surface of his face. Tiny horns were already sprouting from his forehead, and his eyes were jet black except for around the pupils where they burned like red hot coals.
What really drew the anger of the mob though was the babe snuggled up to his breastplate, and he was making cooing noses to soothe its tears in the strange place. The fact that he wasn't eating it seemed to completely infuriate all the other followers of Khorne.
The man seemed oblivious to the mob, but to veteran soldiers like Alygias, Hamilcar, and Perry, he was actively watching them all, his eyes paying careful attention to everything around him. When his path became actively blocked, he stopped well away from the offending bodies and said, "Move."
It was at about this point that the berserkers from the World Eaters showed up. There were only three of them, but that was more than enough to push a lot of the assembled mutants and beastmen over their natural fear of a Space Marine. No one dared moved before the berserkers, but they were all clearly waiting for their moment to strike.
"You dare to wear the symbols of the Blood God and act so shamelessly?" The lead berserker accuses.
Glaring at the giant, the neophyte snarls and says, "The Blood God cares not from where, how, or why the blood flows, so long as it does. When and where and for what reason I choose to fight are of no concern to you unless I happen to be adding your head to the Skull Throne."
Incensed, the berserker went to chop down this impudent runt, only to stumble and fall as his head bounced to the ground, severed at the neck by the now drawn daemon sword, the blood shed already being drawn into its blade like water being greedily sucked up by a thirsty sponge.
"Anyone else care for a go?" The neophyte asks in a seething, furious voice.
It was at this point that the mob was overwhelmed with an incredible sense of bloodlust and charged. It was also at this point that Hamilcar opened fire and proved that he was indeed a servant of Nurgle, for targets struck by his shots disintegrated into puddles of corrosive mucus and pus that infected and dissolved those standing around them, creating a chain reaction that turned an entire flank of the mob into a puddle of putrescent filth on the ground. He quickly ceased fire though for fear of hitting the neophyte.
Perry on the other hand gleefully joined the fight in full, running across the top of the mob, the talons on her feet reaching down and grabbing and slicing and crushing heads while firing her twin bolt pistols down into the crowd. When it looked like something was going to haul her down, she fired off her jump jets and took to the air with a back flip, still raining bolter shells down on the massed crowd, inflicting terrible casualties.
Alygias waved his hand and a good third of the mob fell over dead, their hearts imploded by his sorceries.
Meanwhile, with the advantage of surprise gone, the neophyte was having quite the time trying to fend off the two berserkers, his lack of experience in comparison showing as the sword was clearly doing most of the work for him. Of course, the fact that he was also defending the wailing babe in his arms was adversely affecting his ability to fight.
Shaking his head, Alygias tells Perry, "Get one of those berserkers off that young fool."
Leaping off the mutant she was slaughtering, Perry dives through the air and lands hard on the rearmost berserker, knocking him to the side and out of the current fight. Her talons only barely scraping off his armour, she immediately leaps clear as Alygias releases a barrage of lightning from his gauntleted fingertips. Striking the berserker, the bolts of energy leap off him and strike the unfortunate creatures standing about him. The crackling arcs of energy soon loop back and around and spread and by the end all that is left of the berserker and those around him are charred corpses.
With the mob now breaking away in panic at having to fight so many experienced, veteran Space Marines and with only one berserker left, the neophyte shifted much of his attention away from defending his flanks and towards attacking his foe. For just a moment it looked like the berserker had won when his chain axe buried into the neophyte's shoulder, nearly causing him to drop the child he was protecting, but he merely grunted and rammed his sword through the berserker's gut before hauling up, slicing through armour and flesh until the berserker was nearly cut in two. The neophyte finished the fight by lopping off the berserker's head.
Collapsing to the ground, he set down his sword on his lap, adjusted his hold on the child, and then pulled the still revving chain axe out of his shoulder, tossing it to the side. For a moment he rested while his flesh knitted itself, and then once his body was whole once again, he picked himself up and charged what was left of the mob still within range, not stopping until he had killed them all.
Then he turned towards the three that had helped him. Despite the Khornate bloodlust he had just demonstrated, he sheathed his sword and bowed deeply towards the strange trio and says, "I thank you for the assistance, it was appreciated."
"Wow, a follower of the Blood God that isn't a raving maniac willing to fight friend and foe alike, that's something new," Alygias notes sarcastically.
"Even you played your part sorcerer," the neophyte says dryly.
"A sense of humour too, will wonders never cease?" Alygias deadpans.
"Quite. Now I suppose I should ask why exactly you three decided join into the fray," the neophyte asks.
"Fight fun, other side have more people, thus more fun fight them," Perry chirps.
"I was intrigued by your situation," Alygias says with a shrug.
"I wanted to help protect that kid," Hamilcar admits.
"Oh, that one too!" Perry adds on eagerly after Hamilcar.
Looking at them curiously, the neophyte asks, "And none of you wanted to get a crack at claiming my sword Iniuria for your own?"
"Why in the Warp would I want a Khornate daemon weapon?" Alygias asks with rhetorical sarcasm.
"Sword pretty, but talons better," Perry says, pointing to her feet, at which point both Alygias and the neophyte note that the talons are actually power claws.
Shrugging, Hamilcar manifests one of his guns and says, "I prefer to blow away my enemies at range."
Eyeing the pile of filth that had at one point been a large chunk of the mob, Alygias asks, "Incidentally Hamilcar, how many guns do you have?"
Smiling broadly, Hamilcar replies, "More than some tanks."
"How do you not get hired?" Alygias asks incredulously.
"The occasional war band takes me in, but for the most part the squabbles I cause limit my options," Hamilcar replies with a shrug. "Most groups that don't worship Nurgle don't appreciate me turning things into piles of infectious waste. Incidentally, I might as well clean this all up."
Hamilcar then walks over to the filth and sticks a foot in the pile, causing a loud, slurping, sucking sound. Within a few seconds the area is mostly cleaned up. Noticing the funny looks he is receiving, Hamilcar shrugs and says, "There were a lot of potentially useful things in that pile, waste not, want not."
"Filth doesn't so much fall off you as get absorbed, doesn't it?" Alygias asks.
"Yeah, small mercies I suppose," Hamilcar notes.
"Excuse me, but how did this little tangent get started?" The neophyte asks while waving to draw their attention.
Shrugging, Alygias says, "I don't know really, probably because I just met this two screwballs and I'm still trying to figure them out. I was in fact going to show them my ship to discuss a new arrangement. You are invited to join us if you wish."
"I appreciate the help, but walking into a trap isn't really my idea of a good time," the neophyte replies.
"We help with mob, you help with him," Perry says, pointing to Alygias.
"As a follower of Tzeentch, god of schemes and treachery, I am insulted that you would think that I was leading you into a trap," Alygias says deadpan.
"Perry does have a point kid, I do think you owe us one," Hamilcar points out.
Frowning, the neophyte considers this for a moment before saying, "Fine. My name is Joris."
He then bends over and collects up the skulls of the two berserkers he decapitated before looking longingly at the intact power armour of the leader. Shaking his head, he looks away only to see Alygias stared at him curiously.
"You have all the implants but the Black Carapace. I can solve that little problem for you if you want," Alygias tells him.
"How?" Joris asks.
"My name is Alygias the Flesh Weaver. During the Great Crusade I served as an Apothecary-Librarian for the Thousand Sons, specializing in the creation of new Marines. I have refined my craft in the past ten thousand years and it would be trivially easy to finish what has already been started. We can bring that armour if you want," Alygias offers.
Glancing at it, Joris shakes his head and says, "No, that armour is unsatisfactory for me. I will find something more suitable elsewhere."
"Very well. Now, if you would all follow me…" Alygias offers, leading the others through the bustling daemon city towards the space port.
Settled in at dock was a smallish warship at 400 m, painted black with blue and gold trim about its ornate iconography. It was not as garish as some of the ships of Chaos, and was definitely the sort of ship Alygias would have. The words Semper Vexo were clearly visible along one side of the ship. Standing at guard were numerous well drilled soldiers in appropriately chosen camouflage gear, backed up by the silent sentinels that were the Thousand Sons Rubric Marines.
"They're all with me," Alygias says in a bored tone while idly waving off his guards.
"Yes Lord Alygias!" His guards say, snapping proudly to attention.
"Tell the Den Mother to have preparations for our little guest here," Alygias says, waving to the babe in Joris' arms, the neophyte turning away suspiciously to shelter the child.
Nodding, the guards say, "Of course lord, she will be ready for you."
Walking up the gangplank to the ship, Alygias brings them all inside before turning to Hamilcar and asking, "Incidentally, if you cause as many mechanical problems as you say…"
"I'll warn you if I see anything I might affect. I am an Obliterator… sort of… so I know my way around technology," Hamilcar says reassuringly.
The inside was clean, well lit, and well laid out for the movement of troops and equipment in peace and in battle. It still retained many of the Gothic elements common to all human designed ships, but it was obvious that Alygias was annoyed by the baroque ostentation favoured by so many other Chaos Lords.
"Huh… I was expecting something… more twisted," Joris comments.
Looking at him, Alygias raises a gauntleted hand and snaps his fingers, causing everything around them to warp and buckle, becoming a nightmare labyrinth where not even the laws of physics seemed to apply. After a moment he snapped his fingers again before saying, "I personally saw to the defences of this ship. It is studded with psychic amplifiers such that on command one of the daemons bound to the ship will project confusing illusions. Certain bulkheads can also be moved around to change the floor plan if I wish it. This is a ship that can change as needed."
"Clever," Hamilcar notes.
Following him deeper in, they come to a large lounge room with Space Marine sized chairs and couches along with ones for regular humans, and a few off to the side shaped for stranger anatomies. Except for the ones meant to be sat in by people wearing heavy armour they all looked amazingly comfortable.
Even as they entered servants began to appear out of hidden nooks and crannies to attend to their lord and his guests, offering them various things and asking what gods they followed so that they could bring them things to make them feel more comfortable. There was also a stern looking woman with a battle axe face who took one look at the babe in Joris' arms before swooping in to change, feed and set to bed the tiny girl. This was all done in plain sight of a baffled Joris who wondered what had just happened.
Gesturing kindly, Alygias says, "I would like you to meet my Den Mother, Dame Himmelfarb. She is in charge of the nursery here on the Semper Vexo sometimes, but normally she runs the crèche back at my fortress elsewhere in the Eye. As you can see, she is quite adept at dealing with children."
"How you get that?" Perry asks while perching hunched over on the back of a particularly sturdy chair.
"My Lord Alygias had me raised that way," Dame Himmelfarb replies proudly.
"I have been working with children as part of my studies and experimentations for the past three thousand years, so quite early on I chose to begin raising some of my more promising students to help with the duties of taking care of the other children," Alygias explains.
"You are very well organized and equipped… I can understand why someone with your expertise might have access to considerable wealth but this all seems…" Hamilcar begins.
"Like I couldn't really afford it considering the small scale of things? Yeah, I get that a lot. Well, it's like this: my experiments are typically non-fatal and usually produce above average individuals, if only rarely Space Marines. I typically only allow the best of the best to remain with me, but I still produce hundreds of useful servants of Chaos every year. I could quite easily expand my operations, and build up an enormous army, but I don't. I am a firm believer that we all have a part to play in the plots of Tzeentch, and mine is not to go off conquering and pirating, it is to explore the deeper secrets of the flesh and the universe. So upon graduation I will direct my students to those that can make use of their talents… for a fee from their prospective employers. I have amassed quite the fortune over the millennia just from that sort of thing, to say nothing of the times when I will deign to do contract work for a major power like Abaddon," Alygias explains.
Taking all of this in, Hamilcar nods and asks, "So that business proposal you had. You want Perry and I to help you collect more children for your works, in exchange for promising that they will be well treated and cared for."
"Yes. I could tell just by listening to you two that you have a way with children, something that most members of Chaos lack seeing as they frighten them. I am no exception to this rule, at least at first but after a couple of years most of my students come to love me, if distantly. I will show you the facilities aboard my ship, and if you wish it, we can bring your orphanage aboard where they shall be free from danger and will have a wonderful, fulfilling future lying ahead of them instead of sitting in their own squalor slowly starving to death… not that there is anything wrong with that mind you," Alygias explains before conceding the last part to Hamilcar's Nurgle proclivities.
"And live a life devoted to Tzeentch no doubt," Hamilcar says in annoyance.
Getting up, Alygias gestures off to a side door and says, "Accompany me to the chapel perhaps?"
Exiting the lounge, Joris picking up the girl from her crib despite the death glare from the Den Mother; they go through the door and travel down a short corridor before entering a large, wide open space dedicated to the gods of Chaos. All of them. To be sure Tzeentch received the lion's share of the room and attention, but there were also small niches set aside for the other gods and even one for more abstract worship of Chaos Undivided.
"Although it tends to annoy everyone else who does not share my views, I believe all things, including the servants of other gods, fit within the plots of Tzeentch, thus I feel no need to oppress them. Chaos is meant to be freedom, such as can be obtained in this blood soaked galaxy, and if one of my students becomes drawn to the other gods, including that brute Khorne or the disgusting habits of Nurgle, I see no need to oppress them. They will play their part in the things to come, who am I to interfere with the designs of Tzeentch," Alygias explains unapologetically.
"I take back some of the ill things I said towards you earlier sorcerer. You have… a vision rarely seen amongst the followers of Chaos," Hamilcar rumbles philosophically.
Swinging monkey-like from the rafters of the chapel, Perry drops down and smiles, saying, "This fun, we bring kids."
"Now, now, I haven't even shown you the nursery yet," Alygias says with a smile.