Hi everyone,
First of all i would like to say that english is not my native language so if you see any errors i'll be grateful if you could point them out to me, second is the fact that i'm fairly new to Warhammer 40k lore and that this is my first ever fanfction story so if you notice some inconsistencies with the lore please note them to me, i'll try to learn as much as possible about the lore of Warhammer 40k while i write this fanfic.
Lastly thank you for reading this and all criticisms are welcome as long as they are not disrespectful
Chapter 1
"The darkness cannot extinguish the light. It can only make it shine brighter"
Near the galactic rim, outside the reaches of the imperium there is a rogue planet, its course unknown, its name lost to time, its purpose forgotten by all but fragments in the minds of the ancients.
In the darkness a light slowly fades away, waiting for eons until the moment it will be gone forever.
After eons of endless waiting something happens, a new light appears in the darkness. Compared to this new light, the one waiting it's like a beacon in the darkness, as bright as a star, pulling the other light towards itself.
As time passes and the lights get ever closer to each other, something new awakens in the brighter one, a feeling long lost of a distant past. Hope.
Finally after what felt like millennia the lights touch. In a single moment they merge and erupt in a blinding flash that barely lasts a second, yet for the lights it felt like an infinity, locked together unable to move, failing to fully merge with each other, until a decision is made. They will throw away what little they remember so that they can escape this endless and timeless darkness.
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The being woke up and for the first time since he could remember he opened his eyes only to be greeted by darkness, he tried to get up but found that he couldn', something was holding him in place in an upright position. After trying and failing to free himself again and again he deduced that what was holding him was not chains, although he could feel the cold metal around his wrists and ankles when he tried to move there was no sound at all.
As his eyes started to adapt to the darkness he could see a few things that could explain what this place was, and maybe along the way reveal who he was.
The black and gray tile floor was shaped to look like the silhouette of a humanoid being, the floor was ancient judging by the thick layer of dust that covered it.
Looking up from the floor the being saw a huge metal door at least twenty feet tall and fourteen wide, on top of this door there was a symbol that although he did not remember stirred something inside him, it was a double headed bird of prey.
Focusing his vision he started seeing other details on the door, strange figures locked in combat with each other, on one side he could see vaguely humanoid beings covered in metal wielding swords and massive guns, on the other side he could not describe what it was seeing, it looked like a wave of teeth and razor sharp claws of varying dimension, countless eyes that seemed to stare at him instead of the battle.
The more he focused on that repulsive thing the more it looked alive, the limbs waving like they had more than two joints almost in a snake like motion, the eyes darting side to side and then focusing on him.
This was driving him mad, he blinked trying to stop all this madness. It worked surprisingly, all of a sudden a word rang inside his head carrying the weight of countless experiences - CHAOS - his sight went black and for a moment he couldn't feel anything, then as it came it went away leaving in its place the knowledge of the ruinous powers through visions.
After the sudden revelation the being felt many things for the first time, pure hatred towards the daemons, its creator and all those that decided willingly to follow them, sorrow for all those that were and will be hurt by chaos, pride that against all odds the humans fought with teeth and nails against these abominations.
Lastly he could see now what was blocking him, it was chains of impossible geometries and infinite colors ever shifting shades of it but never truly changing, the chains were connected to the floor yet they never touched it reflecting instead on the ceiling, with this view came the whispers of maddening creatures promising power and pleasure, knowledge and immortality. Focusing with all his might the being managed to shut those whispers and found himself in the hellscape that was the immaterium, looking at himself for an instant he found out that he was a human if the skin color and the fact that he had all the right appendages to look like one was anything to go by.
Returning to the materium the being was full of joy, he found out at least what he was, a human capable of interacting with the immaterium, now he just needed to free himself from those warp spawned shackles, he slowly and carefully tried to take power from the immaterium while imagining that he had tall and thick walls of metal to block everything that tried to enter his brain. This time there was no whispering so he started to examine the chains more in detail and found out that slowly but surely he could unbind himself by destroying each chain ring at a time.
After one of his arms was freed the time it took to unshackle himself was lessened, after the second arm was freed he had gotten better at what he was doing, after some time he was finally free and ready to search for answers.
After properly looking around he found that the room he was in was barren and there was nothing inside so he started to reach for the door only to stop a few inches from it, trying to see if there was some kind of trap on the door he reached for it with his mind and found another lock on the door, another annoying thing keeping him in this place, albeit this lock was less complicated than the chains, after some time he managed to undo the lock and before him the door started to open.
The view behind the huge door stunned him to say the least, huge armored human similar to the one depicted in the battle on the door lay dead on the floor, armors with no damage on it and weapon still holstered, there were no signs of battle in the hallway in front of him, it looked like they died due to age or lack of supplies, who can tell.
Looking around he saw the armored men were taller and bulkier than him by a lot, probably they surpassed him by two feet. He also notice how there were lots and lots of statues depicting armored men and women alike, some of them with wings and halos other with weird mechanical looking limbs, he stopped near the statue of one of the armored warriors that lay dead on the floor, if this was an exact replica then he was right, the armored man in front of him was taller than him by slightly less than two feet and his hands and arms were the size of his torso.
On the pedestal there was an incision, the words on the incision saying "Legiones Cataegis" , he didn't know what it meant but if he ever found some of these warriors maybe that would be a starting point in communicating with them, so he made sure to imprint those words in his mind.
As soon as he finished reading the engraving an increasing amount of warp energy was condensing all around him, thinking it an attack he set his mental walls up and reached for the first weapon he found, a cross between a chainsaw and a sword, that although what it looked like it was lighter than expected.
The attack never came and in less than a blink he was being pulled upward by an unknown force and was increasing in speed passing through walls and rocks like he had no matter to hinder the ascent. He saw the planet that was actually his former prison, he saw how it was nowhere near a star or any system in fact, it was in the middle of nothing.
He was torn away from his thoughts when he noticed that at the corner of his sight shadows were starting to emerge, he tried in any way to fight the growing tiredness but eventually succumbed to it. Before falling to the tiredness the being heard a whisper, not of tempting power and corruption, but of culling calm "As i gaze upon the stars, I realize that the universe is a cosmic symphony, with the stars as its musicians and i must listen for they sing to me their secrets", aster hearing that line he fell asleep.
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The being woke up surrounded by tall and yellow grass, getting up he found that the grass reached his hips and that it spread in all directions as far as the eye could see.
Not knowing where he was and that staying in one position for too long was never a good idea he picked the direction opposite to the sun and started walking, hours passed and still he couldn't see anything but wheat all around him, the sun was setting, but he could still go for a long time. Once darkness came he could see how beautiful the night sky was, two moons lit up the field he was in, one was small with a blue hue around it while the other was almost twice its size with an asteroid ring around it and a cyan hue.
It was another couple of hours before he could finally see something in the distance, in the plains below him, he couldn't figure out what it was but it dimly lit up the sky giving it a shallow white cast, half an hour later and he could see what was illuminating the sky, it was a gray mass that stretched for tens of miles with hundreds of tall buildings that pierced the clouds.
The city itself was far but he could make up smaller lights spread all around outside the walls of the hive-city, 'the smaller ones must be villages' he thought, he decided that he should reach one of the villages first just in case there are problems with him or the locals. He started walking towards what appeared to be the closest but by the time he could clearly see the buildings that composed the village, dawn was near and he had been walking for hours, and although he wasn't tired he was starting to feel hungry.
Once he reached the village the sun was high and he could hear people talking, at first he couldn't understand what those voices were saying but slowly he started to decipher some words. The more he heard them talk the more he understood, to him it seemed like he just forgot what these words meant and only now hearing them he could connect those words to their meaning.
He was hungry now, he didn't know how much time passed since the last time he had eaten but it was definitely not a healthy amount.
Stealthily he started to approach what looked like a warehouse looking for food, after making sure no one was around, he entered the building, after some time searching he spotted some sacks full of yellow seeds that might be edible. Taking a handful of seeds he started eating them, luckily they didn't seem poisonous so he started digging by taking handfuls and stuffing them in his mouth.
He didn't notice the presence that was behind him until it spoke, a young and feminine voice asking who he was and why was he eating those seeds, instantly turning around he saw a little girl looking warily at him, "I'm hungry, if those seeds were yours i'll find a way to repay you" he answered.
"I never saw you around. Are you the man that takes the food to the hive city?" asked the little girl.
"No. I just found myself here and I was hungry" he said, almost ashamed.
The little girl looked at him with curious eyes. "How did you get here? You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.
He hesitated for a moment before answering. "No, I don't think so. I woke up in the grasslands not too far from here. I don't remember anything before that."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "That's strange. You must have come from the void, like the ships that come to trade with us."
"The void?" he repeated, not sure what she meant.
"Yes, the vast expanse beyond our world. Sometimes ships come from there to trade with us, but they never stay for long. They say it's too dangerous to travel through the void for too long."
The being listened intently, trying to piece together this new information. "I see. So, where exactly am I?"
"You're in one of the many villages that surround the hive city. It's called Rivenhall. My name is Lila, by the way," said the girl with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Lila. My name is...I don't actually know what my name is," replied the being, feeling a sense of unease.
Lila looked at him sympathetically. "That must be tough. But don't worry, we'll help you figure things out. And as for the food, you can have it. It's not much, but it's better than nothing."
The being smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Lila. I appreciate it. And I'll find a way to repay your kindness, I promise."
As the two started walking towards the center of the village the man could hear more people speaking, as soon as they came around a corner they found themselves in the plaza and lila started running towards one of the two men who were in it while screaming "Daddy".
"Lila where the hell have you been. I told you not to wander around without someone's supervision" said the father sternly while stroking her head.
"Sorry," he said meekly, "I found a man that needs help. He doesn't know what his name is." she added while giggling.
The father then turned to him asking "Is that so?"
The man looked at the father and replied, "I don't remember anything. All I know is that I woke up in a field surrounded by tall grass. I've been wandering around for a day before I stumbled upon this village."
The father looked at the man with concern, "You must have hit your head pretty hard. Do you remember anything else? Maybe your occupation or where you're from?"
The man shook his head, "I'm sorry, I can't remember anything. But I do know that I'm hungry and I'm hoping you can help me with that."
The father nodded, "Of course, we'll give you some food and water. But we need to figure out who you are and where you're from. Maybe there are people looking for you."
"Yeah that may be the case. Is there some place where you think it might be worth looking at?" he said, 'Someone might be looking for me but I doubt it's on this planet' he thought grimly.
The father turned, "The hive city would be the ideal place to search, but we can go there tomorrow when they come to collect the food from the warehouse and bring it back to the hive city." he stopped for a moment thinking and then added, "If you are ok with it you can stay with my family for the night. My wife is at home right now and i'm sure she would love to meet someone new"
"Thanks, i'll take you up on that offer" he said smiling.
After some more talking with Lila's father he got to know that the hive city was called Alfabusa and it was in the northern hemisphere, the planet they were on was named Titricum II and it is an agri-world cultivating wheat thanks to its mild temperatures through the seasons, it also has another two hive cities in the southern hemisphere, Calum and Thiura, lastly Lila's father was called Thaddeus Hargorn.
Once they were near the house Thaddeus stopped him letting Lila go inside to warn her mother that there were guests, "I let you in because i'm a good person and i think you are one too, but if you ever try to hurt my family in anyway i'll make sure to kill you in the most painful and slow way possible. Understood?" he said, glaring at him.
"Yes" was the emotionless response he got from the man.
"Now, I think we should call you something even if it's momentarily. What'd you think of… Konis?" he said smiling.
The now named Konis was taken aback slightly by the change in the mood but did not show it, "Yeah, that sounds nice" he replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear. Lila has already warned my wife so you go in and make yourself home" Thaddeus said.
"What about you won't you come inside with us?" Konis asked.
"No. I have to work in the fields, i'll be back in the evening. Please help those two if they need help" Thaddeus replied to which Konis replied with mirth "Of course, after all what kind of guest would I be if when asked to help I'd refuse"
The day passed rather boringly while Konis helped Lila and her mother with house works and in the evening when they were done Konis played with Lila and her mother at tag.
But that night was far from peaceful for Konis, his dreams were dreadful, constant fighting, no respite, a battlefield full of bodies that writhe and twist in ways that should be impossible, with elongated limbs and razor-sharp claws that rend the very fabric of reality. Their skin is a mottled mess of leathery scales, oozing fluids and pus, and covered in eyes that flicker and dart about in every direction. Their faces are a grotesque mix of bestial features and unsettling intelligence, with mouths filled with jagged teeth that drip with venom, and eyes that seem to see into the very depths of your soul.
Konis is aware of all that is happening but can't do anything about it, his body does not move, does not respond to him, in a flash he throws himself into that mass of unreality and begins to swing right and left holding a majestic longsword. The longsword made of pure adamantium glows with an ethereal radiance, its surface shimmering with faint starlight that seems to swirl and dance like galaxies far away and its power hums with an otherworldly resonance. The sword feels almost weightless in the hand, as if it is a part of Konis very being. With each strike, a daemon is slain, but no matter how many fall, they never end, where you kill one, two more spring up and finally Konis is overwhelmed.
In an instant all the cacophony ceases, and everything darkens except a distant light that seems to call him, getting closer and closer Konis realizes that it was the weapon he was brandishing in that earlier dream.
The closer he gets to touch the weapon the louder the call seems to be, for a moment he hesitates, 'I have too many unanswered questions to stop now. I need to know who I am. I need to know what my purpose is' with that though Konis steals himself and touches the hilt of the sword.
In an instant her mind fills with fragments of memories, after the fragments came an excruciating headache ensues but he can resist the pain for now he knows that he was made as a bulwark against chaos and to safeguard mankind yet he was discarded due to some unknown flaw, but he will show his unknown creator and master that he's better than before, that he is ready to take up his duties again.
His name was revealed to him, Eremiel.
Along with his name a place was given to him, the planet called Tetranis VI located in the Obolis subsector of the Charadon sector located in Ultima Segmentum, what this planet meant was lost to him but it was important if it showed up in his memories.
As soon as the headache was gone he could feel himself slowly go back to sleep, soon darkness came and with it the quiet of a dreamless sleep.