Ch 4
Within the upper council chamber of the fortress the three Inquisitors sat in deep debate. Only an hour ago they had been fleeing for their lives from summoning room as the creature cut the guards to pieces around them. Subduing the... thing had not been easy. Even after the initial capture it had taken seven sanctioned pykers in addition to the escort of guards and Daemonhosts not to mention Inquisitor Various himself to transport the creature to the prison that had been deemed necessary for its containment. No easy task as the thing seemed only to grow in strength the longer they struggled with it.
In the end, of the three Daemonhosts set to subdue it only one survived, the remaining two that had survived the fight in the summoning room had been required to help transport it to its new prison, literally dragging it down the halls with their chains as it shouted challenges while the pykers formed a ring around it trying to suppress its power. Near the end Various had witnessed an alarming spectacle when the creature had gotten one gauntleted hand free of its bindings and torn one of the hosts head's clean off when it moved back to restrain her properly again. No doubt about it. Had the Creature not been put down when it had been they would now be fighting a desperate battle inside their own fortress.
The Creature. After the battle in the summoning room only Various was still calling it a Daemon with a tone of certainty, a detail that infuriated him to no end. The nature of the thing that had fallen into their lap was now in doubt. He hated it. Despite everything he had warned them of the Daemon had successfully called its own nature into question in the minds of his two colleagues. Such were the beginnings of heresy and he hated it.
"Before anything however I trust that the Creature is securely contained?" Stervin asked looking at Xirith with a hint of harshness. "Your Crucible will be enough?"
"I assure you there is no better containment possible." Xirith answered. "The Crucible of Zaranchek was built by -hiiiii- by instruction of our founder himself. It is a pool of pure blessed mercury within a special -huuunnn- pressure tank set with powerful wards. With the chamber sealed, movement while inside is impossible even for daemons, and if there is any sign of -huuuuu- dis - disturbance the pressure can be increased until it crushes the subject... banishing it -hiii- instantly."
Stervin gave a nod., even Various made no complaint. He had inspected the containment personally with his most critical eye, and could find no flaw. Whatever else, at least the thing would not be escaping on its own, probably. Now all he had to do was make sure that Stervin and Xirith did not set it free willingly.
"Very good. In that case we must now discuss the subject itself."
Various and Xirith tensed. Of course it was the same things that they were all pondering.
"Gentlemen," Stervin said casting his eyes around the room at both of the other two Inquisitors. "The time has come to consider... that we are now dealing with something that perhaps defies accepted knowledge."
"As we have all seen, this Creature does not seem to function by the rules that other Daemons are governed by. It has no apparent need for a circle of power or warp rift, it is impervious to exorcism, and it bonds to its host while staying separate from it. While it is still possible that this is simply a Daemon of vast power employing trickery this, as well as many other signs do not add up."
"This is dire. If Daemons are getting the ability to move and act without hosts or circles then this could end all." Various said. "We must interrogate this one it as to the nature of its abnormality and then destroy it. Utterly!"
"Don't be so hasty!" Xirith said. "We have yet to consider the other -huuunn- possibility's."
"And what possibility is that?" Various said, ire infecting his voice.
"Indeed." Stervin said. There was a grim gleam in his eye. "I was going to go go on myself but since you obviously have your own theory please enlighten us."
Xirith paused looking at the two power armored figures that were now both staring at him.
"It... " He coughed nervously "-huuuu- is possible... probably even... that this is not a - a Daemon at all."
Various's eyes darkened.
"L-Listen!" Xirith demanded slamming his frail trembling fist on the table. "We know that in ancient times Daemons were not the only things that lay inside the warp! Why could there not be other things inside as well? Who can say what may dwell within?" Xirith was nearly shouting now. He had risen from his seat at the table and was swaying back and forth on his feet as he spoke, a strange and wild light in his eyes. "Is it not the realm of thought? Is the warp not where the pagan deity's of the Eldar once dwelt? Is it not the realm where the Star Child grows even now?"
With a explosive crash Various slammed his own fist into the table, the armored gauntlet of his massive hand making a dent in the tables steel surface.
"There is no such thing as the Star Child!" Various shouted standing up himself.
Xirith seemed to realize what he was doing and fell back into his seat wheezing with exertion.
Various glared at the old man shoot him daggers from his eyes. "So. You've come to this." He hissed. "I knew it would be something like this. The thing puts on a pretty face and you take it for some sort of divine spirit – all of it based on that heretical theory, that preposterous dream!"
Xirith finished coughing and looked back up, no longer trembling.
"That is the first time I believe that I have ever heard you speak so long without wheezing." Stervin broke in. "Am I to take it that this is something you have been wanting to say for a long while?"
Xirith gave another cough. "Its nothing." He made out though his hand. "Just a possibility I wanted to address."
"But you are eager for it to be some sort of benevolent spirit? Are you not?" Stervin insisted.
"N-naturally. -hiiiiinn- such a discovery would bring untold knowledge to the Inquisition. Why should I not entertain the prospect?" He said quickly.
"Oh, but from the beginning you have been hoping for this I think." Stervin pressed.
Xirith stared at him. Then abruptly he clutched his chest and started wheezing once more violently. Neither Stervin nor Various made any move towards him.
"F-forgive me." He made out in between loud coughs. "It -hiiiinnn -seems I must -hiiiii- report to the infirmary once -huuuuu- ag-ain."
Reaching into his robes he pressed his buzzer and waited till several attendants rose and helped him out of his seat. He left, leaning on the arms of his servants and coughing loudly all the way.
"He's faking." Various snarled as the door to the council room finally closed.
"Yes, it seems I don't even need to be a pyker to guess that much." Stervin droned. "In any case we can be certain of one thing. Xirith has been trying to make friendly contact with some form of warp entity. Probably for quite some time now."
Various shook his head. "Foolish. How could he be so foolish? Of course once he tries to summon a shade of the Emperor something like it would come out. A powerful Daemon would naturally assume the form of what he was trying to find."
Stervin was quite for a little. "Would it?" He said after a time. "What you say is certainly true but... "
"But what?"
"Perhaps... the possibility may exist that he did get what he wanted."
Various bristled looking at Stervin like he had never seen him before. "What are you suggesting? That Xirith really did summon some kind of angel?" He laughed out loud but there was no humor in it, his eyes remaining sharp.
"Oh, perhaps he may have." Stervin said lightly. Various stopped laughing instantly. "Not everything in the world is recorded you know." He went on.
"Not recorded?" Various hissed. "We are the Inquisition! We fight what we know. We don't delve into rumors spawned by Ecclesiarchs and fools!"
Stervin shook his head still speaking lightly. "It doesn't matter. Whatever it is that Xirith has called forth... its powerful." At the last word Stervins voice went ice cold. Various could actually feel Stervins psychic temperament change, shifting from an almost carefree state to dark and cold. An almost hungry feeling of dominance.
"You want the Daemon for your own." Various said feeling a rush of frustration sweep over him. This was exactly what he had been worried about. He had felt that feeling from Stervin many times. It always meant one thing. Whatever it was that Stervin directed that feeling towards always always went Stervin's way. At this point there was no stopping him. Not without a putting a bolt round in his head.
"Think of it Various. You felt its power. With that creature under our control we could field a weapon strong enough to wipe out any opposition."
Various frowned and tapped his power sword. "We already have power. We are the Inquisition, we use the Daemons strength but we do not rely upon it. There is no opposition we cannot already wipe out with the power of out authority. We gain nothing from the Daemon, we risk everything!"
Strevin turned and looked Various full in the face. His eyes were gleaming. "Oh don't you see Various? You speak of our power as if it were a certain thing. You know better than anyone what power our authority to requisition Guardsmen has when the world all around us is consumed by corruption. Power based on the strength of others is no sure power at all!" He said his voice rising majestically.
"With this we could have power! Don't you understand?" The gray haired man begun to pace around the room. "Since the day our faction begun to use Daemonhosts we have been in this predicament. We chose this path, and now we are shunned by all, left without support. The Grey Knights will not fight for us. The Space Marines despise us. The Ecclesiarchy is bent on eradicating us. Even the planetary Governors aid us only because they dare not do otherwise. Don't you see? We wouldn't have to rely upon Stormtroopers and cannon fodder. With this Creature we could have what we have never had before. A power to match the Grey Knights! A trump card of our very own!"
"How will you control it?" Various asked shaking his head.
"I don't know." Stervin said still smiling. "But I have a few ideas."
*Scene
"My lord's" The Stormtrooper Sergeant said with a bow. "The failed Host is being kept under containment and sedation as per your orders."
Various Stervin and Xirith stood looking into a dark cell. The old Inquisitor had gotten over his suposed coughing fit very quickly, the news that Stervin had decided not to terminate the Creature seeming to hearten him immensely. He was now in a very good mood as they stood there examining the previously expendable host Pyker.
The man was asleep strapped to a gurney, several tubes running into his arm and the back of his head. Next to him in the room a combat Servitor stood with its guns trained on him.
"We have been monitoring his condition carefully, however we have yet to see any signs of chaos corruption."
"What of his recovery?" Stervin inquired. "Have you detected anything relating to that?"
"The Sanctioned pyker reported sensing a abnormality within him. It seems that whatever the Daemon did to him he has made a full recovery from all surgical treatment applied to him before his selection for hostdom. As far as we can tell he is now in excellent health."
"I see." Stervin said. "Leave us for now."
The Sergeant moved off and together with the other two Stervin strode into the room, bending over the sleeping pyker in his sleep. For a while none of them said anything.
"Well?" Stervin said at last. "Is it as I suspected?"
"Yes" Various murmured, his eyes focused on the mans temples. "It seems that the Daemon is drawing all of its power from this mans mind. There is a channel of power between them, though I cant seem to touch it."
"Marvelous!" Xirith crowed. "So this is how it survives without a circle! It draws its power from a host long distance. Its as if they were the same entity sharing the same power, yet the two minds remain distinct. By maintaining itself like this it can move as though there were a warp rift present everywhere. Total freedom of movement within the Material world! " He rubbed his wrinkled hands together and licked his lips.
"It doesn't even seem to hurt the host." Various murmured. Despite himself he was intrigued.
"The Creatures existence depends entirely on the survival of this specimen. Or at least a greater part of its power does." Stervin said with a note of triumph. Reaching out he carefully took the sleeping mans hand in his gigantic armored one and held his arm up. They all looked at the strange and elegant blue design that was emblazoned there. It was a sharp design that resembled cuneiform, a far cry from the harsh and clashing forms and circles employed by Chaos.
"We will need to do some testing." Stervin went on. "But I believe that with the proper methods we will be able to control or at least check the Entity through through manipulation of this ones power."
He leaned down closer and ran one of his armored fingers gently over the three part symbol on the pykers hand.
"This is our key." He murmured. "Whoever controls this can control It."
*Scene *
In deep darkness Saber struggled to move. She was submerged, submerged and crushed from all sides by an overwhelming force, an impossible weight that stopped all motion. She had never imagined a prison like this in all her life.
Getting her inside had not been an easy task, but after her humiliating defeat at the hands of the Black Heart she had been dragged down the halls by her fiendish enemy's, fighting all the way till she was at last deposited in what she had first taken to be just another room, abet one with a strange door. She had been bound with chains and a strange breathing apparatus with a tube that went up into the ceiling attached to her face.
Then from faucets in the walls had poured Quicksilver. At first she could not believe her eyes. She had heard of the strange liquid metal before, even seen some, the bizarre element eternally pored over and treasured by alchemists. But she had never imagined that so much existed in the world had come out of the walls. While at first she was mystified she quickly realized what was going on. She was being submerged. In only a few minutes the liquid metal had completely filled the room. She fought with a compulsive sense of panic as it pooled around her ankles and then gone on up to her waist. He had never learned to swim and the feeling of it rising around her invoked her primal fear of drowning. She had struggled to maintain her composure as it rose to her neck and then finally gone over her head.
Now she knew what the breathing tube was for.
But even after that it did not stop. The heavy fluid, already weighing on her grew more and more packed till she could feel it pressing on her from all sides. It went on and on until she was forced to curl up into a ball from the huge pressure coming in from all sides. Were she a human she would have been killed instantly by the pressure. As it was she simply couldn't move. She was thankful that her wounds had at least closed, even if they still troubled her greatly.
She was entombed, buried alive and sunken neath a lake of liquid metal. It was a prison that she was afraid not even she could escape from. She wondered ironically if this must have been what it felt like for her Scabbard at the bottom if its lake when it had been cast in by her Sister. Now it was her trapped at the bottom of a lake sucking air from a tube.
How long she stayed their she could not tell. It seemed like eternity, all time vanishing within the lightness confines of the metal lake. She wished that she could astralize, and found to her surprise that she could in fact astralize but for the high density of prana that the Quicksilver all around her was saturated with.
Still, that revelation had given her something to think about. So she was dead. That raised a thousand questions, none of which she could keep her mind on for a long enough to seriously consider them.
Somehow she slept. Somehow, even entombed in darkness, metal and sorcery she found it within her to sleep.
Saber slept and dreamed troubled dreams.
There was a cacophony of noise. Something was breaking down, everything was shifting and peeling away. She was somewhere, somewhere important and it was all breaking down. Hundreds of voices, some of whom she recognized were calling out in confusion and dismay. She was fighting... something shapeless and awful... it was trying to eat her but she fought like mad against it while all reality gave way around her.
She heard a voice rise above all the others. It was the voice of a familiar Golden haired spirit, the King who had pursued her hand so relentlessly. He was shouting something. Everyone was flocking around him... she was joining them! Everyone gathered round the Golden King, the first and foremost of them no regardless of what other thought of his character.
Everyone was fighting something now. The shout of battle was deafening. She couldn't tell what was going on but when it was over everything had changed.
*Scene *
The man who knew not his own name huddled in the corner of his bare cell with his hands wrapped around his knees staring at the far wall. It was dull unmarked steel, with nothing, no dents, no markings for him to focus on or try to distract himself with, just like the rest of the room. The only break in the monotony was the Inquisitorial seal engraved over the door, the scull in the center of the I shape staring down at him, an unshakable reminder of whose captivity he was. He vaguely recalled that this was not the first time he had ever been in a room like this, though he seemed to remember the last one being slightly more furnished, intended as a holding cell, rather than a punishment.
He shuddered as he sat there. After his terrifying awakening in the chamber with the Saber creature and being knocked out he had awoken in this room alone.
With nothing else to do he had settled into one corner and hunched down. His captors plan, he suspected, was to make him bored, give him nothing to look at or do and let him terrify himself with the prospect of what might be about to happen to him and so break him down.
This would have worked save for a few things. For one he could not exactly remember what the Inquisition was (They Served the Emperor, he knew that much), and despite a lingering feeling of deep dread the edge of his fear was blunted by this.
Another thing was that with his memory's beginning to flood back into his mind he was anything but listless. While outside he huddled in the corner like any other prisoner inside his head he was sifting through what seemed to be a flood of information that was returning to his mind at random. His face, unlike the faces of so many others he had seen in a similar place, was not blank. While he sat in the corner his eyes were far away yet focused as he concentrated, the edges of his mouth twitching as he tried to piece together his fragmented recollections.
The last reason was that whatever had happen to the one named Saber the thing she had put inside him, the big clear breathtakingly bright thing was still inside him.
Whatever he feared from the Inquisition (and as he sifted through his returning memory's that was becoming more and more) he still had that brightness inside him. He could feel it. Like a golden mist or a pure warming candle it resided inside him, coursing through his body keeping him secure against anything.
It was a very comforting presence, and it made him feel almost as though he were not alone.
Reaching into himself with his mind he gave the presence a little nudge and smiled a small crooked smile as he felt it nudge back. It was his gift from the Saber creature, the thing that had healed him... he shook his head, he had already run over the events of his awakening a thousand times, dwelling especially on his rescuer, her face and eyes, her elegant silver armor...
Huddling up closer into the corner he turned his thoughts back to the shifting disorganized mess that was his memory's. He had already spent more time than he thought he should have going over that, now he had to focus. In any case it wasn't as though she hadn't taken something from him in return. When he had awoken he had suffered quite a shock when he realized that his mental power was being heavily taxed. At first he couldn't pinpoint where the strain was coming from but in the end it was not hard to guess. Saber was somehow draining him.
Under any other circumstance he would have panicked over this, however it had been he who had agreed to the contract in the first place, and after looking back he recalled that she had warned him that this wold happen in the first place. It was going to be hard to adjust to though, no mater what he had agreed upon..
Shaking his head he turned back to trying to recover his memory.
That istself wasn't going to be easy. His brain, just recovered from regrowing a large part of itself was aperantly not putting much thought to getting everything back in its right place. Everything seemed like a jumble. He could remember many thing, but they were all mixed together, memory's of places, names, faces concepts, events and simple everyday how-to's becoming a mash of colors and concepts that baffled him.
He let out a breath and twitched again, picking at a little wart on the side of his thumb. Somewhere in there, among all the other half formed memory's was his name.
He closed his eyes and tried to find it, trying to dig up anything that felt like it belonged to him.
Names began to drift into his mind, none of which he felt any connection to.
He paused briefly on a name that seemed familiar but then passed it up. Though it rung a bell he was somehow quite certain that his name was not Ciaphas Cain.
Straining his memory he tried to think back. His name, if it was still there, should feel special, should be the most special thing held in his memory. Shouldn't it?
No. A little part of him said. There are more special things. Like faith in the god Emperor.
He nodded slightly to himself. Of course of course, even if he had forgotten most everything he hadn't forgotten that.
Idly he shifted through his mind for a while wondering vaguely at some of the things he pulled up. It was strange, it was as if he was a blank slate, and as he retrieved each memory a part of himself would fill in... A firing squad gunning down a line of men... a horde of rioters screaming and throwing stones and pipes... a robed figure standing on a platform before a kneeling crowd speaking in a grand voice about the justice of the Emperor... A vision of a figure clad all in dark armor looming over him beating him with a metal club (Arbites his mind whispered)... At first the details of the memory would seem strange, alarming or brutal, but only a few minutes later he couldn't help but regard it as natural, and wondered at how he had found it strange before. It was only natural that such things would happen after all.
Feeling back he twitched suddenly as a new memory came back to his mind. A huge black ship, so big that is seemed to fill all of space loomed in his minds eye. He was looking at it from out of a window on some smaller shuttle...
A real shiver of dread crawled up his spine and for a moment the chill drowned out the warm flame inside him. He shuddered.
Still picking at his wart his thumb slipped and he cut himself on his jagged nail making him wince and suck his hand. As he pulled it out again he stilled looking at it intently. The cut was closing before his eyes.
Before he had time to contemplate this the door burst open making him start violently.
Into the room filed a line of guards, outfitted in black armored uniforms with face concealing masks they marched in a pulled him roughly to his feet tying a blindfold around his eyes as they did. He reconsigned the presence of another pyker nearby, serving the same purpose as the blindfold did for his mental senses.
He was handcuffed, ushered out and marched down the hall. With the blindfold on and his mental powers being kept in check he found himself terrified that something might trip him. Even with the guards directing him and the hall perfectly smooth he couldn't suppress this instinct.
Finally after walking for what seemed like a long time they stopped . He heard a heavy door opening and the next moment the pushed him forward again.
Whatever room he had been brought to was warmer than the hall, and smelled pungently of chemicals making his nose wrinkle. He was lead in a ways and then his blindfold was pulled away from his eyes making him blink in the light.
The room he was in was unlike any he had ever remembered seeing so far. In contrast to the bare halls and cells this room was cramped, and full of a mixture of strange machinery and what looked to be tables full of reagents similar to the ones in the room where he had first regained his sanity.
On the walls were tanks of steel and glass full of strange fluids with pipes running to and from them, twisting along the walls and floor in a maze of steel pipes. Here and there in the room tables lay about, books and jars staked up on top of them. Thought the room several servitors made their way to and fro clanking and humming softly as they did.
It was to the human figures in the room however that his eyes were first drawn. Standing in the center of the room was a collection of people that struck him with dread. Two figures, huge and wearing power armor, one a cold faced man with dark hair that was cropped close to his scalp who he recalled from before, and the other an older looking gray haired man who as looking at him with an oddly satisfied expression. Inquisitors his mind whispered as his eyes strayed to the 'I' symbols displayed on their armor. Alongside them were several others that drew his nervous eye as well. A big bulky red robed man, with so many cybernetic add on's that for a moment he almost took him for another Servitor. The strange clog like symbol on his robe rung a bell with him though. Beside the strangely robotic man was something he reconsigned immediately. A pyker like himself, this one dressed in brown robes and wearing a curious metal helmet that doubled as a face shield. He could feel his power, both the pykers and the dark haired inquisitor.
He shivered. If he had to guess he was stronger than the pyker, but the Inquisitor carried with his minds feel a cold indomitable weight that felt like it could crush him in a second if it so chose. Who was he kidding? It already had back in the summoning room. It was this man who had nearly forced him to hold his tongue when he had tried to accept Sabers contract.
Al this flashed through his mind in a moment however. He didn't have time to stare as the guards on either side of him led him further into the room. He turned his head away from the small crowd of figure watching him and then looked forward. What he saw made him blanch and for a moment his steps faltered.
It was an operating table.
One of the guards shove him roughly from behind forcing him to keep going. He was trembling uncontrollably all of the sudden. A rush of memory returned to him and he felt his stomach twist. Lights were shining in his eyes, he was being prodded with cold metal instruments, his mind was being cut away! They were breaking him...
He returned to the present, and started struggling, a surge of panic flooding his mind, he didn't want to go back to being like that. Anything but that.
The guards grabbed him and one of them punched him in the stomach making him keel over but he kept fighting, thrashing his body around when he found he couldn't slip his cuffs.
Just as he was sure the guards were about to lay into him with everything they had he froze. The guards did to.
"Enough of your struggles Pyker ." Came a voice he instantly knew belonged to the dark haired Inquisitor.
"While you deserve nothing better we are not here to lobotomize you. The Inquisition has a larger purpose for you as of now."
He felt his mind relax he slightest bit. As long as they were not going to break his mind again he could live...
The guards stirred to action once more and shoved him onto the table where he lay still. His stomach was killing him now that he was not struggling anymore.
"Welcome back to the world of the sane." A smooth voice said. He could hear a clanking coming nearer. One of the Armored Inquisitors must be walking across the metal floor. "I am Inquisitor Stervin." The voice went on still drawing nearer. "And until not but a few days ago you were no one of importance."
The footsteps stopped. He strained his head trying to look up and see the face of the one who was speaking to him, but a light was being shined into his eyes and he couldn't bend his neck far enough.
"But for now, however briefly, I must also welcome you to the rather small, fickle world of unexpendability."
He gulped. He was not sure what the stuff the man was saying meant exactly.
"Tell me. Can you remember your name?"
"No." He said slowly wondering at the question. Did they know his name?
"That is good. You will have no need for such a thing. Before your experience with the Subject your identity designation was Beta E 5485. From this point forward your designation will be Kelter 2.
"Kelter...2" He said trying it out. It did not feel like a name.
"You will answer to Kelter 2 or K2 at all times. This is your new identity, any attempts to change this or invent an alternate identity for yourself will be met with discipline. Speak it."
For a split second he considered saying no, telling them that he didn't want to be called something like Kelter 2 but the next moment he felt the cold weight of the other Inquisitors mind bearing down on him.
"K-Kelter 2." He said quickly.
"Say: My name is Kelter 2." Stervin demanded.
"My name is Kelter 2."
"Very good."
"What are you going to do?" He blurted out, feeling like he had just lost something.
"That is irrelevant, as for your currant situation, as you are aware you returned unexpectedly and unwelcomely back to sanity a few days ago. After you did this your first act as a sentient being was to form a willing contract with a warp entity of unknown origin. This in itself is more than enough to warrant your immediate termination without chance of redemption."
The man who was now being called Kelter 2 swallowed, his mind racing back to the moment when Saber had first told him that he must become her Master. He had felt something then, something that had told him he should be wary of something that was not human but he had brushed it aside. Now it seemed he had indeed been doing something very wrong...
"However as things stand you are not entirely beyond hope... yet."
The voice that was talking to him paused and he could sense that the Inquisitor was standing very close to him. So close that he was sure he would be able to see him were it not for the light that was shining in his eyes from above.
"So... your not going to... execute me?" He said slowly, not sure what answer he was hoping for.
"It has been decided to postpone justice upon you due to the nature of your connection with the entity. Rejoice Kelter 2, for you have been given a chance at redemption by the Emperor, cooperate with us and you may yet redeem yourself from your crimes."
"I-I see... what do you want me to do then?"
"We are going put a psychic inhibitor on your mind. It will supress much of your natural power but will fluctuate in degree at our command. You are not to attempt to modify it, or alter it in any way. You will report any feelings, suggestions or whispers that you believe you are receiving from the warp entity. Beware, for it may attempt to pollute your mind against us or the Emperor. You will report all mental contact with the entity and above all, you will comply with us in every way. Do this and prove your loyalty to the Emperor, or be terminated and damned."
Kelter two blinked and stirred on the table. His stomach was still killing him and he felt nauseous. Was what he had done really so terrible? Something in him felt like protesting loudly against all of this, but how could he know that was right? How could he know what was right or wrong when he could not even remember his name? These men seemed to know, much better than he did, and they used the name of the Emperor, so they must be right but...was it all really that bad? He wished suddenly more than anything that he was not alone and could remember. At least know what was behind all this... But he could not. He was alone. The one who had pulled him out of his misty pit of Lobotomy was not here and he could feel in his bones that the men standing around him would not be denied.
"I- I will." He said in a small voice.
"Swear it."
"I... I swear to do as you said."
"And cooperate with us in every way."
"And I swear to cooperate with the Inquisition in every way."
"Very good Kelter 2. Your path to redemption has begun."
With that there was a steady clanking noise as he felt Inquisitor Stervin walk away from him. More clanking signaled that others were coming to take his place. A whole group of people descended on him but all he could make out were their arms, Several of them mechanical. He shivered as a syringe was stuck into his arm. It was anesthetics, something he recognized as a luxury even with his memory's not yet returned. He supposed he should be grateful, but even pain killers could not dull the horrible sensation as they preformed surgery on his mind.
*Scene *
Saber awoke when she felt the pressure in her submerged prison lessen suddenly. With merciful release the weight bearing on her from all sides lessened and slowly the Mercury began to drain away.
As it did Saber began to take serious stock of herself once more. She was shocked when suddenly it hit her. She was starved of prana again! Saber fought another jolt of panic as she realized that impossibly, sometime during her sleep her flow of prana had been nearly completely cut off, leaving only a trickle of power for her to subside on. Her armor was still present but apart from that she was dangerously low. What was going on?
Saber stretched and shook herself as the last of the quicksilver drained away. Had her master died? No she would know if that was the case, whatever happened she could still feel her Masters presence through their link. It was only his flow of power that had been nearly strangled.
Wringing out her arms after what felt like days in their cramped position she looked around the chamber. Her eyes narrowed as the door swung open and two more of the vile chained un-men floated in followed by a long line of masked guards. Last in line was the Black Heart, once more carrying with him the abominable sword.
She straightened up and composed her face, fixing him with a contemptuous glare. He gave her the same as the two beasts seized her by the upper arms and lifted her off her feet, carrying her with them. She gave a sharp shrug with her shoulder and found that she was indeed weak again. Weaker almost than she was before. The grips of the two monsters felt like steel to her vastly diminished strength.
Down the cold metal hallway they carried her, bound in chains and with the slick of quicksilver still clinging to her in places she tired hard to hold on to what dignity she could, holding her head high and her eyes sharp even as they carted her along.
It was bad, but it was not the first time she had been imprisoned. Her mind flew back to the time long ago when she had been a prisoner in the dungeons of a neighboring king. There however she had had the body of a mortal, and her pains were worse on that occasion than here. Then again, there she had had friends and allies who were seeking her. Here she had only herself and another man she did not know, no doubt imprisoned as she was. She had to admit the situation was the bleakest she had ever seen. Even when she had gone to face Gilgamesh at least she had had freedom of movement and Shirou by her side.
The trip took about ten minutes, the grim parade turning corner after corner, all of them dull lifeless steel corridors that looked identical. Finally they brought her to a door, passing through it she found herself in a large hall like room, longer than it was wide. At the end of the room was a table behind which sat two very familiar figures. The gray haired armored giant and the old man. The old man was watching her intently while the other regarded her with a pleasant little smile.
The two monster men set her down before the table and continued to stand on either side of her, two massive sentry's guarding a small chained prisoner in a very rumpled armor/dress combo. She wished she had taken time to repair the dents and holes in her armor beforehand but there was nothing for it now. Just keeping it materialized was a hassle at the moment, abet one she was willing to go through for the sake of her pride.
The Black Heart left the group of guards and took his place behind the table beside the other two, turning his cold eyes on her once more as he sat down.
For a while the two party's just stared at each other.
In the silence Saber idly flexed her hands against the chains binding them. Even at this drained level she could definitely break them she decided. Though she wouldn't be able to make it out of this room alive. Not if her last fight was any evidence.
It was the Grey haired one who broke the deafening silence. "Greetings once more... Saber."
Saber raised one of her eyebrows, that was the first time they had referred to her as anything other than Daemon. Despite his obvious ulterior motives for doing so Saber tacked it up as a good omen.
"I am Inquisitor Stervin of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition. It has come to our attention hat perhaps we have come into conflict prematurely-"
"Do not mock me." Saber barked sharply in a voice like ice. The one named Stervin paused with an almost polite air. "From the moment I was called forth you have made your temperament plain. There can be no parley between us, no reconciliation until every one of your vile ilk lies dead at my feet and the prisoners of your dungeon breath the free air."
"You are angry Saber, and understandably so however you will find that we will are not about to depart soon. Our original conflict was unfortunate. We understand that you were offended with our offering of a lobotomized subject?
She clenched her fists. "Your abuse of that unfortunate wretch was only my breaking point." She snarled. "Your villainy was clear from the moment you came before me. You cannot claim to be in ignorance of your evil when every one of you reeks of foul sorcery, and in order to save you own rotten flesh you leave your own followers to their doom!"
"I see." Stervin said in a tone of supreme interest. "So, you were offended by our affiliation with the Ruinous Powers? And the suffering of men angers you? "
Saber blinked. The question was posed with an air of uncertainty as if they were actually not sure what her answer would be.
"Do not play with me! I know what you think I am. A Daemon?" She shouted. "Is that what you called for? I am a KNIGHT! I am the worst thing men such as you could ever dream of! An upholder of chivalry! Everything the foul and the depraved stand for I am totally against! If I ever get free I will utterly destroy you! I'll blot your name out from the face of the earth! Do you understand? There can be no concord betwixt us!"
The Inquisitors were silent. The old man looked frighted, but to her dismay Stervin did not look unsettled. A gleam was forming in his eye. A gleam that reminded her of the expression that Gilgamesh perpetually wore.
"So. You consider yourself to be an upholder of justice? A benefactor of man? Tell me." He said suddenly sounding curious. "Are you familiar... with the Ruinous Powers?"
Saber crinkled her eyes. It was the second time they had used that term. "I know nothing of any force by that name."
They went silent once again. Stervins eyes were gleaming once more with something like wonder. The Black Heart was looking at her with disbelief clear on his face while the old mans expression she could not read.
"Tell me..." He said after a little. "Are you familiar with the Inquisition?"
"How should I be familiar with it?" Saber answered sharply.
"I see... and tell me... Saber." He said once again running a bemused eye over her armor. "Are you not familiar with... the Imperium of Man?"
"I know nothing of any nation that calls itself such." Saber said. "No such thing as any of these existed in my time."
"...Your time?"
Saber didn't answer. Let them puzzle over that for a while she figured.
They whispered together urgently for a time and then got up and left the room, exiting through a small door in the back and taking almost fifteen minutes before they returned, siting down with an air of peaked interest.
Contrary to what she had expected they did not grill her on what she meant by her claim of being from the past but seemed to ignore it completely.
"Tell me, Saber." Inquisitor Stervin started. You claim to be a benefactor of mankind, and I see that you hold us in low regard for now. But what would you do if I told you that there was an evil against which we fight?An evil worse than us"
"I would not believe you."
The inquisitor frowned. "I see. Tell me who do think we are?"
"Sorcerers, snakes and filth."
"We are the Emperors shadow, many have not heard of us, we are Xanathists. A branch of the Inquisition... a rather special organization that works for the good of man, We are a branch that specializes in turning the weapons of Chaos against itself. While we may come closer to the enemy than our puritan brothers we are no more aligned towards Chaos than they. As such we do not appreciate the title of Sorcerers."
Saber felt her mouth twitch. "You claim to use this... Chaos against itself? Yet you are wreathed in it. You're guards are Demons." She said gesturing to the two unmen still standing on either side of her.
"Our Daemon hosts are minions of Chaos that we have forced to our own purposes. They are not our guards but our slaves. By using them we turn Chaos against itself. Some may find it... distasteful... but our methods have been proved time and time again."
"Those who would use such vile creatures and abandon their own men to death can make no claim to fighting for the right."
"That is for us to decide. What is important for you to understand however is that there is a greater enemy against which we fight. An enemy against who all methods of sacrifice and dark deeds are justified."
"That is the excuse of every villain in history." Saber spat.
"Really? The Ruinous Power's of Chaos are no excuse. Look to either side of you. These beasts that we have subdued and bent to our will are nothing. There exist a million like them, uncontrolled by anything, willing to kill and corrupt all of humanity. We are the ones who fight them. The Ordo Malleus is our name, the Daemonhunters. What you have see of us so far is our laboratory where we search for new ways to combat the Daemons that prey upon all mankind."
Saber stood there silent. The inquisitor had finished his little speech on a note so hard that it made the air in the room ring. For a moment she considered. How much did she really know about what was going on in the world? If what this man said were true...
"What are these... Ruinous Powers you speak of?" She said at last, a sliver of doubt entering her mind.
The Gray Haired Inquisitor stood up. She had, she realized, just asked a question of critical importance, perhaps one that would finally yield some answers.
"You ask what the Ruinous Powers are, but you do not know what any of this is do you? Heroic Spirit Saber."
Saber flinched and glared at him. "So, I see you have been torturing my Master for information. I would expect no less of you."
"On the contrary your host is a loyal Servant to our cause, what we ask of him he gives us freely. We have no reason to torture him. Yet."
He ignored the wave of killing intent that Saber tried to send his way and gestured over to a figure in the corner. Saber started as it drew near, she must have missed it when it first came in. It was a a man, or something that once was a man but was now so covered in what looked like steel and complicated machinery that it only barely resembled a human form any longer. It had many extra limbs, and its head was encased in metal, staring out into the world through one dull eye, the other replaced by what she recognized as a camera lens.
"What is your will my Lord?" It intoned in a voice so mechanical and monotone that it made Saber start.
"Project prepared listing 6." Stervin ordered. A moment later something on the machine man clicked and quite suddenly a huge symbol of what looked like an eagle with two heads appeared before her.
"Whenever and wherever you are from, if you are indeed what you told your host you were, it is sufficient to know that the world is a much larger place than you previously knew. I assume that you spent your... previous life on a single planet yes?"
"What?" Saber blurted, completely wrong footed by the unexpected question.
"I see. You spent your life on a single world. What you do not know is that there is a world outside of the tiny globe that made up your universe till now. There are many planets upon which mankind has settled, in the long years of our existence we have spread from star to star across the entire galaxy."
"W-What!" She made out, slipping on her own tongue. "What are you saying?"
"I am saying that there are other worlds than the one you knew. Many worlds like the one you lived on, also with their own people."
Saber felt like she couldn't be hearing right, yet she knew she had. What did he mean? Other planets? What did...
The image being projected into the air changed suddenly, becoming a large round circular globe that she recognized as a model of the world, but this one was different somehow. All the landmasses were wrong, the seas and lands being aligned in shapes that were completely alien to her eye.
"What... is... that?" She choked staring at the strange planet.
"It is a planet, one where people live much as they lived on yours. There are countless like it."
The image changed once again becoming a completely different globe with completely different configurations of land. It was even a different color and size... The image changed again to another... and then another
Saber felt her mind reeling as she took it in. It was impossible, it was inconceivable, she had never dreamed of anything like this... She steadied herself as she found the strength threatening to go out of her legs.
"Each of these planets you see, and many many more are united together under a single man. The god Emperor of Mankind who rules from the Golden Throne on Holy Terra. All together mankind exists under a single banner." The projection switched back to the symbol of the double headed eagle. "The Impirium of Man." Stervin said with a sweeping gesture.
Saber heard herself swallow audibly. Her eyes were wind in her sockets and she found that her legs were trembling slightly. She found herself thankful that she was not the type to faint at sudden shocks.
"I... I cant believe it." She made out. "What trickery... What proof do you have of this? " She said, her voice going hard once more. "Apart from your illusions I see nothing that lends you any credence."
"That is easy." Stervin said. "I have but to take you outside for a moment to prove what I say is the truth. If you were to journey but a few hundred yards upward from here then you would find yourself on the planet Surface and you would see that this is indeed another world."
"We, We are on another world right now?" Saber gasped feeling dizzy. Despite her stated doubt only a moment earlier she some part of her sensed that it was true. The revelation was to huge, to far away from anything she had expected or anything that could be used against her to be some sort of lie.
"Indeed. The planet we are on right now is called Sordeth Three." He paused for a moment as if trying to decide something and then looked her up and down again. "We could show you. If you wished."
Saber felt her eye twitch slightly at the offer.
The journey up to the surface of the planet took a while. Saber was blindfolded and transported much as she had been before, with the two monster guards on either side of her as she walked along. It took half an hour to get there, the party of Inquisitor's, numerous guards and the single prisoner going through what must have been more than 50 corridors and three lifts before they stopped. The blindfold was removed from Sabers head and she found herself looking at a large steel door with no visible hinges, the space around it was painted with black and yellow stripes.
At some sort of unseen command the two great doors jolted suddenly, and with the sound of grinding gears they slowly parted.
Saber felt the color drain out of her face as she looked out on a barren world.
Slowly she stepped forward. The her two monster guards moved with her but otherwise made no gesture to prevent her. The ground crunched as she stepped on it, making her look down quickly. It was made of some sort of strange red gravel that compacted softly as she put her feet down.
All around her for as far as the eye could see was red. She looked out on the world from what seemed to be some sort of mountain or rise, and below them was a vast plain. It stretched on for miles and miles before her, till in the distance mountains reared up, shear and terrible and red, far larger than any mountains she had ever seen in her life.
Her eye followed them up to their impossibly bitter points till they met the sky. It was where the mountains met the sky that finally broke her out of her trance. Her knees gave way and she fell forward onto them staring up at the sky. It was inky dark blue almost black, the color of some foul and lonely pool at night, even as her eye caught the sun siting solemnly in the sky declaring it to be sometime just past midday.
Like everything else, it also was the wrong shape and hue.
"Oh no.." She breathed. "Lord, my Father in heaven this cannot be real!"
"Now you see." Stervin said coming up behind her. "The Inquisition tells no lies."
Saber said nothing, only staring up helplessly at the infinite void above her. Deep inside her something broke forever. The conception that earth was the only world peeled away and evaporated from her perception like morning mist.
*Scene *
"What are these... Ruinous powers?" Saber asked, speaking slowly.
They had returned from the Surface several hours before, and had had one of the strangest conversations that she could remember in her life. The Inquisitor Stervin told her of the Emperor, the man who had supposedly united all mankind underneath his single banner and was now being worshiped as some sort of deified monarch to whom all humanity gave praise.
They had gone over countless other things, strange vessels that men had developed in order to travel between the stars, powerful men who governed whole worlds, and above all the Inquisition. The mysterious organization to which her captors belonged. It was to them, he said, that the duty of watching over this massive kingdom lay. They were the hands and eyes of the Emperor, he had said. Devoted to protecting humanity from its many many enemy's. And foremost among these were...
"The Ruinous Powers are an enemy unlike any other." Stervin said. "They are Daemons. Creatures from the Warp much like yourself, but twisted and bent of destruction and defilement of all they see."
"They are like me you say?" Saber said. "But I do not come from any place called the Warp. As a Heroic Spirit I am from the Throne of Hero's."
Stervin gave her a speculative look that she could not read. She was not sure if he believed her or not.
"Whatever you are, and whatever your origins you are made of the same stuff as they. When you first appeared we did not consider that you might be anything other than a Deamon attempting to beguile us."
Saber blinked. If what they had said was true then it explanation a lot. It might even justify some of what they did. Some of it. Her rage at her captors still fresh in her mind however it was not something she wanted to consider at the moment.
"Daemons are creatures of Chaos. A twisting void beyond this reality that frays at the minds of men and drives them to insanity. They are a monstrous host from the realms beyond that prey on the human spirit and seek to plunge all reality under their sway. When they gather in great numbers, summoned by depraved men who seek power and favor with them, the can engulf entire worlds and plunge them into a living hell."
"I see... And why would you ever consort with such creatures?" Saber demanded.
"We are the Inquisition. We are above the taint of Chaos enough to take such risks as these. Our arts have yielded us many powerful tools with which to fight for humanity. The guards you see to either side of you are one. Without such things as these or powerful help from the Emperor combating Chaos is nigh impossible for mere men to fight."
"So, in order to fight the enemy you become like them." Saber spat.
"We have little choice." Stervin said. "The forces of Chaos are powerful, and to defeat them all methods must be considered, not simply the safe ones. But that is not for now." He said looking down on her. The light was back in his eyes now.
"Now you are here." He said slowly. "While we did not mean to ever call up something like you, by the grace of the Emperor you are here."
Sabers eyes narrowed again.
"Your Host said something interesting when he recalled his meeting with you. When you emerged you styled yourself as "Servant" did you not?"
"I am a Servant to my Master and my Master only." Saber said quickly.
"And you so called Master is a Servant of us." Stervin said without missing a beat. "You claim to be a Servant then. And Servant of the Sword whats more, which makes you a weapon. As we have all seen you are a powerful combatant. Even your name means weapon."
"Now hear me Saber. You were called into this world with a purpose. It was by the Emperors will that you were called here. To serve as a weapon, a weapon against the Emperors foes."
For what felt like the hundredth time that day the room rung with deafening silence as the hulking armored man finished his speech to his tiny audience.
"...If you want me to fight those who would prey upon the weak... then I am ready." She said slowly, weighing every word as it came out. "But I will not fight for you." She went on with resolve. "I will not raise my sword alongside those of evil bent."
"You would throw away your chance to protect humanity over something so trivial?" Stervin demanded.
"Surly you are not the only fighters in this Emperors cause?" Saber said. "If I were to draw my sword I would march alongside warriors who fight as I seek to fight. With honor and dignity! In all these planets there must be some force, some warriors who go to battle with valor?"
Stervin was frowning. "If there is any such force it is irrelevant." He said firmly. "The Inquisition is the only force that would allow you to fight, any others would brand you a Daemon and seek to eradicate you as one of the enemy. In the Inquisition you could do the most good, we are the eyes and ears of the Emperor, it is we who know where you should be best placed. Furthermore we alone hold the tradition of harnessing creatures of uncertain origin like yourself, only with us would you be able to operate."
"I am not accustom to the traditions of your 'Inquisition.' What I have see of them so far is nothing more than a pathetic band of cowards and blackguards!" Saber snarled. Contempt dripped from her voice like venom as she spoke, her fury breaking lose upon them. "A coven of treacherous bastards who use demons to do their fighting and leave their own comrades to die!"
"It does not matter. You will fight for us." He said his voice carrying the weight of absolute certainty. "Nothing denies the Inquisition. You cannot be turned over to any other force. You will fight with us and defend humanity as you should... or you will be returned to your containment cell for as long as we have use for you as an experimental subject."
"There is no middle ground in this for you. I hope you consider those worlds which may hang in the balance of your decision."
Saber stood there staring up at him, her eyes two blazing orbs of rage and indignation. Her hands trembled and she found that she was biting her lip so hard she was bleeding. With a snap one of the links on the chains binding her wrists broke.
"I swear." She intoned as her hands shook with rage. "After this Chaos is defeated I will return to bring your deaths."
Stervin smiled serenely back at her.
*Scene *
Author notes:
Well sorry for the long wait. As for the long update time inspiration for this story comes in waves. I could update more regularly... but then it would suck. I think.
For any of you don't know the Star Child is a fragment of the Emperor that resides within the warp. It is something of a symbol of hope within the Warhammer verse. Its existence is not universally accepted and its a highly controversial subject within the Inquisition.
Mercury prison. Now that is how I think you would contain a Heroic Spirit. Or Superman. Not Magneto though. Encasing him in solid metal might work less well on him.
For anyone who cares Beta E (Sabers Master's original classification) stands for: Beta (Level Pyker) Expendable. Their new Designation: Kelter means Crown. A cooky to anyone who knows where I stole that title from.
Well, most important question I have. Did Sabers agreement to work for the Radical inquisitors come off as realistic?
Does Stervin come off as someone who is good at cohering people or dis the whole Saber vs Inquisition debate round 1 come off as forced in order to get Saber working for them.
I tried to keep it as true to the different parties as possible, and in the end I figured that the only way Saber would ever agree to fighting for them is if she believed that a lot of innocent people might die if she did not. Also this Saber/ Inquisition relationship is definitely going to shift and evolve as Saber learns more about the world she is now in. Or at least I will try to make that happen