The Compact of Magnus the Red

by Primordialtruth

The burning of Prospero was totaled, with only one survivor. In his grief, Magnus the Red, former Sorcerer King of Prospero runs away. Further, than a son of the Emperor has ever traveled before.

3. Chapter 3-8

Authors Notes:

Due to me accepting my appointment to one of the Federal Services Academies, I will be without any personal electrons to write on for the better part of a year, and with me leaving for basic at the start of next month I have posted all the completed chapters, these are unedited and are filled with errors and misspellings but better this than setting on an unused computer. Before I fly out next week I will post Chapter 9 and all snippets I have written, I hope I can complete that chapter before I leave. If anyone what's to take up the story please do so, I will not be able to be contacted so do whatever you want with it, and don't ask me, because I cannot respond.

Chapter Text

Magnus 3

Chapter 3

Magnus returned to his studies now sure that no annoying Xenos would pester him again. He returned to his calculation narrowing down the location of Prospero. He was now sure that he was most likely in another time period relative to when he left his burning home. If his calculations were correct, he had been displaced around 25 thousand years, which only made it slightly easier to find his home among the stars.

However, this time period would mean that the Dark age of Technology would start soon, and he had learned from his mistakes of the past and would be scrying for those Technologies to add to his archive. Come to think of it, with the success of his most recent Warp constructs he could set one up to do just that, and another to give him more warning about those pesky Xenos trying to Break in again, more than just the seconds warning he was given by his wards. So much work to do, so little time to do it in.

But he knew despite his most recent successes in driving the Xenos back and gathering more secrets and Lore than he could ever dream of under his Farther, that this was just another example of his arrogance, he through he could have it both ways, be a wiseman and a hermit, be left alone and not having to fight, breaking his Fathers laws and not suffer the consequences.

He was a hypocrite, he told himself and others time and time again that he had forsaken the affairs of mortals, but he just interfered with them, changing the course of this planet's history with one spell. At least now no one would seek him out, no more temptations to be what he is not. He was a scholar that is all he is, but that does not mean he cannot return to Prospero.

Magnus stood above a beautiful gem of a world filled with life, once he got the correct time dilation and calculated out the right trajectory it was not too hard to find it, but this was not the Prospero he remembered. It was not the lack of devastation, the lack of craters caused by the harness might of stars, not in the missing souls of eighty-five thousand dammed sons, nor even the clear sky around the gem that is not scared by a battle that ripped his planet apart. This was not Prospero.

Yes, this was the Forzare system it was even in the Prosperan Rift, it was even in the write place where Prospero should be, it was not even that he was thousands of years too early to see the death of his people, this place would never be Prospero, It was written in the stars themselves, spoken of in the crust and core of its imitator, echoed in the Great Ocean. This is not Prospero.

It almost brought a tear to his eye, to see the beauty that his home world had before Long Night, before the golden age, before man sought to claim the stars in our arrogance, and to know that this is not his world it is not the world he spent so much of his life on, where he raised his Thousand Sons. He wish nothing more to go back to those days, before Nikaea in that brief peace after he had reclaimed his home from the horrors that overran it but before his Farther came. Before he reached beyond his abilities where he through that he could farther a legion, rule a people, and divine the secrets that his farther held.

But those times were gone, and despite the knowledge and lore he had gathered across the untold years he had studied, cupped up like the coward he was, he knew he could not return to that time. Looking down on the world that would have been Prospero, Magnus admits to himself the true that he kept denying, he had ran away from his people, his sons, so far that he could never return.

He could not bear stepping on the surface of this place, not even in his astral form. This was a sacred place, and he was not worthy. No one was. Only the life down their native to this place and innocent of all crimes was worthy of stepping foot on that ground.

However, the system was not empty, he felt within the warp the touch of those Xenos, and he would not let this world be tainted by himself, let alone them. It would take time, but he would hide this system, seal it, with an effort of sorcery only spoken of in the old tales of that old race.

This may not be Prospero, but it is close enough. He will not repeat those same mistakes.

Adrianna Leblanc was a normal child of Rally for the most part; she went to school, lived with two parents and was curious about the world around her and has a good since of right and wrong for her age. But that is for the most part, she is too curious and has too strong sense of right and wrong. Making her question the Compact of Species when she saw the ruling races lord their status over the other children.

But she was not stupid, while she could probably take one of the Tribunes in a fight that wouldn't do anything but get her and her family in trouble. She needed someone to talk to about, and her confessor was not a great idea, since she would be reported and then they would do something, she didn't know what, but she heard rumors about people who had those thoughts.

That was the same for her family, no matter how much she loved they may do something if the current completes, she was asking them to file became anything more than that. And while she had friend, good friends at that she didn't think any of them shared the same feelings.

No, in her youth and wish for help she lacked onto a rumor treating it like truth as all of her age did. This one came from the lips of her grandfather, who after having too much to drink at a family reunion recounted to the children gather about a story his own farther told him,

"The mountain outside the city did not use to be off limits to everyone" he said taking another swig "my farther back in the day went to those mountains and met what was called the wiseman. However, the Compact didn't like us Broken getting advice from some old man on the mountain, so they quarantined it, said that there was radiation and that the man was nothing more than superstition, I don't buy it"

That was about when her mom came in to scold grandpa about putting ideas in her minds, but it was too late, the damage was already done. And now years later Adrianna was sneaking out of her house to visit the mountains.

Lady Fortune was bored; well, she was as close as a being made up of emotions and not being sentience, only existing as a manifestation of sentience being believing in it. But she was still Bored. Ever since master did his thingy which made all of those things, that looked remarkably like her, run away. How all the fun she gets to have is messing with those electoral thingies at the edge of the area master allows her to wander.

And while it was fun for a time to mess with the inside of those electoral thingies and have some of her look-a-likes come out to fix it, and even more enjoyable to reach just beyond her bonds to play jokes on them when they come to fix it. But then one of those serious sprites master created told her that those electoral thingies showed people what happened in front of them, the only the important thing one of them ever did.

So, for a time Lady Fortune entertained herself by making those electoral thingies see things that were not there, and then play pranks on those that came to take a look. But after a while they stopped coming and she was bored again.

However, her boredom was finally ended when something new came into her area.

Adrianna didn't think this through, she got to the base of the mountain using public transit, but now looking up at the mountain she was going to climb, she realized that she had never clime a mountain before. Granted it was not the tallest on Rally, but it was still a mountain, and she was just a child, but with the exuberance of youth she dismissed her worries and started the climb, ascending towards the moon.

Adrianna staired at the boundary, she didn't know how long she climb, or what time it was, but she reached the quarantine zone. Now all that stood between her and the wiseman she was seeking was a fence, dotted with signs and symbols telling of the danger what laid beyond.

However, she had not come all this way to give up because of a chain linked fences. But she was too short to climb over it, so she looked for a way through. And auspiciously she found a hole in the fence just wide enough for her to squeeze through caused by a small avalanche in the recent past.

Hesitating just for a second she crossed the boundary and broke the laws of the compact. And nothing happened, no agent or citizen cried out, no one arrested her, she was not harmed, but she was free.

Lady Fortune was SOOO excited! She could play a game, not a short-lived prank, not just a joke, but a full game! Although she had not done so in SOOO long she was ready to make this the best game ever.

She started the game by causing an avalanche yesterday so the tinny master looking thing could enter the board, but that was just the start. She raced all over the board to set up events just right for the most about of fun. A branch moved there, an insect's path changed her here, a gust of wind over there, and countless more, small insignificant changes took place over the course of the day to make it so her best game yet could be played.

Adrianna didn't believe in fate or destiny, a lifetime in the Compact drilled that into her. They called it superstitions, and primitive beliefs, but she was wondering now if that was a lie, like that they would help the Broken and not lord their power over them. Nominally even for her that would be ridiculous, believing in powers she could not see or control, but events were conspiring towards something more at play.

It started with her entrances, the fences was broken at just the right place for her to come into the quarantine zone, but it did not end there no, the coincidence only mounted after that. First when she realized that she didn't know where the entrances she was seeking was, only that it was in the quarantine zone. However, as soon as she realized that there was a sound of branches snapping. So, with the curiosity of youth she when to investigate to find a fallen branch, and then she started back looking for the wiseman, old for again a sound to interrupt her, this time a loud buzzing of insect.

And it went like this again and again, only halfway to her goal did she notice the uneasy silence of the forest. She didn't have much experience with nature but there was a clear constant between her first leg of the journey and this one.

Then she came across it, something unnatural. She stood before a cave entrance, little by glowing blue flames, and beyond images that communicated more than a simple image could, telling stories greater and greater than any she was ever told.

And again, with a second of hesitation she crossed another threshold.

Magnus was disturbed from his most recent study of Xenos of his old world to see where they are now. Reluctantly he tore his gazes away from the fledgling Aeldari empire towards his unexpected Wards alerting him to a guest. That surprised him, more so than the lack luster psychic power used by the Eldar, after that fiasco with the planetary government he considered himself to the lack of intelligence company, his spirits didn't count they were akin machine programs lacking any true thought.

But he was more the happy to entertain a guest, maybe more so than when he first arrived in this new world and did not realize he had moved so far.

So, he claimed the viewing waters he was using to see across the galaxy and headed to his meeting hall.

Adrianna approached the impossible mural, and as she did so it open and the sight took her breath away, gone where the cave wall and flicking flames beyond was a hall botted with marble pillars, reaching into the ceiling far above, far taller than any other place she had been in her short life. Around the room was pictures similar to those she first saw when she approached, each showing something different.

And there he was standing as if he knew she was coming and was prepared for her. A red giant, far taller than anyone she had ever seen, covered in so archaic clothing that she had only found refences to from her passion in history. His clothing was embroidered with golden symbols and runes that escaped her understanding. He was real, but there was never any doubt in her mind of that.

Then it spoke.

Magnus was surprised, not that someone met his requirements to entering his sanctum, those in retrospect were weak and full of loopholes, and only this retribution years ago stopped someone from entering before now.

No, he was surprised by how the requirement was meat, a child was free from anything binding them and therefore could enter, know the only question is why a child would seek him out and come so far to, after his encounter it was no easy feat to reach his sanctum but against all odds a girl travel all this way.

I the face of something some young he bound his power as much as he could without prior preparation, and spoke in his normal voices, with only the slightest touch of power, "Why do you come here daughter of mankind?"

She was in awe, of this place, and the man before he it was both more and lest real than anything she had ever seen before, but she was draw out of her childish wonder by his voice. It was powerful in a way she could not put words to, it sounded off to her young mind having a hint of something else, another sound that did not carry as well as the words she heard in the oh so familiar Compact stander.

Now that her attention was refocused on her task she once again hesitated before drawing on that same determination that carried her this far, to speak, "I want to talk, I want to talk about something that I could not talk to my family about nor my friends, and I her that there was some wiseman in these mountains and I through that you could help me…"

She rambled, with the energy of youth, he did not know how longs it had been since he had seen a child ramble like this, it remained him of his own sons when he first met each of the individually, talking about everything and nothing missing the forest for the trees. That resemblances more than any word she spoke informed his decision, "Come close child and tell me what troubles you so?"

She did so obediently and with less with less vigor answer his question, "I, I think the Compact lies."

He smiled that same smile he gave to his sons and acolyctines when they came to him with a new theory, or research or just good news. "And why is that?" he said as he beckons her into one of his lesser studies. He knew that what she said was not full true, but it was a minor deception.

"They don't do what they say they do."

"And what do they claim to do?"

"They say that they will help us, Broken, but they don't all they do is bully us."

He looked down at her, from his towering height, and she looked up meeting his eyes, a fuller smile now showed on his faces, "You are correct both in fact and you hold this true in your heart nothing I could say could convinces you of that, that is not why you are here."

She swallows, before responding, "Your, your right I don't know what I should do about it."

"Now that I can help you with" he said gesturing for her to sit on one of his mortal size chairs, "Come sit you have travel far, and time is no concern here." She did so and Magnus started to give his sage advice that he had become known for.

"Tell me child, what do you want to be in the further?"

She paused at the shift in topic but quickly bounced back, "I want to be an archeologist and tinker with my hands," she said with that same enthusiasm that had led her to him.

He smiled at that as he took his own set across from her, some eager, so similar to those better days, "And why do you want to be an archeologist?"

And boldly she answered, "I want to uncover the true."

He paused and reached deeper into the stands of fates, "The true is a dangerous thing young Adrianna."

She froze, before responding, "I cannot live without knowing."

"Can you live without acting" He rebutted.

She paused, "I don't know."

"And that is why you can to me." He sighed, looking away towards one of his memories of Prospero that dotted his walls, "I cannot make that choice for you, you must make it for yourself."

"Then what can you do." She said impetuous showing her age.

He smiled, "I can inform your decision, I know much, and through my efforts even more knowledge is held within these halls."

"So, what are my choices?"

He peered into the warp and answered, "You could do nothing," She frown and shook her head as he continues to detail her options, "Live your life in the compact grow old and live a life of peace. Or you take it up with the authorities as you are now, nothing will change, and you will live like you did nothing." She looked directly at him with rapped attention as he finished, "Finally, you could do something about it, what you do is up to you, but know that the greater the retribution the greater personal cost."

Adrianna left the cave and stepped into an alleyway not far from her home. Magnus gave her much to thing about, and a completely new perspective on how the world works. This last impossible thing cemented that in her mind, but she had choices to be made and school in the morning.

To: Minister of Information

From: [Data Expunged]

My friend in light of recent events I would like to restart the project Athame. With the information provided by Encounter WM-1 and WM-2 that the project could be reopen. I have attached a list of personal, funding and resources that the project would need. I would also like to be placed in charge of this project.

Best regards [Data Expunged]

To: [Data Expunged]

From: The desk of the Minister of Information

I agree with your judgment as always, I have approved your funding and most of your personal requests, I have also assigned several of my own staff to this project. To prevent the disaster that ended the first version of this project, the project will be based at DSRS-9-2-8.

End Chapter 3

Magnus 4

Chapter 4

Time pass, and Magnus returned to his studies of the Xenos races that lived in this new galaxy, he was currently scrying on a primitive ritual by a group of Xenos around where the realm of Ultramar would be, however he had quickly determined that this was no physic power in this ritual, so he was going to create a spirit to document their history and move on, however that was when he was interrupted.

This was not as unexpected as his last visit the only odd thing about this, he through as he left his study to greet his latest guest, was how close it was to his last one. He was not sure how much time has passed, ever since that day he stopped paying attention to time, with on one to talk to, nothing he need to do he just didn't care about time. But he knew that little has passed between the last visitor and this one.

Which once he enters his meting the reason became clear. The Blue hair girl was back, less haggard than her last visit, but it was still unexpected that someone would return let alone so soon. "Why do you return girl?"

"You said that you can teach me," She answer changing the topic.

"And?"

"I want you to teach me the things my teachers will not."

Magnus staired down at the child, this was not what he was expecting at all, he was going to shoo he way so he could get back to his studies, he them he recalled a memory one of his first in this place, 'what use was knowledge when its creators…' he squashed the rest of that thought. But the sentiment remained true, what uses was all the knowledge he had gather if he was the only one to have it, he was not one of those secretive tech-priest who hordes knowledges and only gives out crumb to outsiders. They were better than that, they where a beacon of enlightenment.

He smiled and beckoned her forward towards the other end of this hall and his great library, "Tell me child, what knowledge has been bar from you."

She followed almost bouncing, "They didn't tell me about the founding of Rally."

Adrianna was excited and anticipating todays actives with Magnus. Ever since she started studying with Magnus, she understood more about the world than ever, her grades have soar, and many of her teachers had complemented her on her work. But today was special.

Which was why see was counting down the seconds tell the end of the school day so she could met with him.

A few more minutes and she would be free.

Adrianna darted around her classmates as she made her way home, or that is what her teachers and classmates through. They through she just went home and study their, while her parents through she was part of a study group after school. Of course, both were true to some degree, she thought as she made her way down a familiar deadened alley.

She reached to grab the pendent hidden under her shirt, a simple thing that a girl her age would have. A red gem on a silver chain, with carving on the chain and a symbol center on the gem. Inconspicuous to friend and strangers a like, however what she was about to with it was nothing of the sort.

She placed the gem at the need of the alley away, then with eldritch light the wall changed, and she step through into and into Magnus' sanctum.

Magnus was there as always and beckoned her to follow him as they headed down deeper into the tower, deeper than she had ever gone, past arcana experiments, past those all to real images, and past rows and rows of books.

Until they reach an unfamiliar chamber, filled with runes glowing with power. Magnus gestured her to enter the circle, and although he had explained length weeks ago each part of the ritual, she still hesitated before taking that step.

Then he broken the quite that had filled the sanctum since she arrived, "Do you Adrianna Leblanc, swear yourself to the apprenticeship of Magnus the Red, sorcerer lord of Prospero."

"I Do," She answer, and the Runes began to glow brighter.

"Do you swear to studies diligently in all things."

"I Do," the runes began to move, from the floor and into the air around her.

"Do you swear to preserve all knowledge given."

"I do," she felt a tingle on her arms as the runes began to cover her skin.

"Do you swear to aid your master in all research."

"I Do," the runes settle on her skin, coving almost every inch of her body.

"Do you swear to continue the quest for knowledge."

"I Do," she said firmly, the Runes glow brighter than ever, before they vanish.

Magnus smile and ended the ritual, "Then I name you, Adrianna Leblanc apprentices of Magnus the Red."

She smiled and felt the minor boons the ritual gave her, "Thank you Master."

Magnus was teaching his apprentice the finer point of temporal dilation, and its many applications and pitfalls when he was interrupted by said apprentice, "Do you know where earth is?"

He knew the question would come at some point, that while her classwork and his Warpcraft would lose their interest and she would ask the real questions that lead her to him, he just didn't expect it to take this long.

He dismissed the illusion he was using to aid his lesson, and answered her question, "Yes, apprentice I know where earth is."

She seemed to have expected this answer, only needing it to get to what she really wanted, "Can you show me?"

Magnus hesitated, he knows where Terra was, but he could never bring himself to look closer than on the system level when he used it to find Prospero. He just couldn't bear to see his failure in reaching his farther, them when he found when he was, he could not bring himself to see humanity, in true he feared what he would see, but that was no excuses for limiting his apprentice's education.

That was the point, what good was all his work if he did was sit in his tower. Then a through occurred to him, drawing from his decades of teaching his sons, he knows that the best way to learn was experiences and he had all the tools he needed to teach her better than any simple information or projection of Terra.

"I can," He answered, braced himself for the many workings and power he was going to draw upon, but more so he braced himself for what he would see.

First was the precognition, he was not as talented in this field as his Farther or some of his brother, but he didn't have to be strong in this field for what he needed, just a location that would not be noticed, a small use of his might.

Then came the illusion, again his Farther and brothers would outstrip him in this, but he was a generalist, and this was simple, with the experiences he had gain from crafting his tower. Using his and his apprentice's wards to anchor this lessen the cost of this working, to an almost insignificant degree.

Then came the last working, this the essayist but most costly. Traveling through the Warp was a simple thing enter the Warp at one place, travel for a time and exit at a place further away than real space would allow. However, this was not the only way to use the Warp to travel, linking to places together was far faster than traveling any distance, but exceptionally more power intensive and easily disturbed. However, their were no other psyker of note in the galaxy and the predators that filled his own were the exception not the rule here. And for the power, it was costly for him but not prohibitively so, only his Farther and some of the oldest of the Aeldari could pay this same cost.

But that was all irrelevant to his apprentices, all she saw with his staff cutting through the air and leaving behind a rip in the materium, a portal of shimmering blue light.

"Let me show you 'Earth'" he said as he stepped through the portal and beckoning his charge to follow.

Then everything went wrong.

His own protections flare to life, warning him of the lack of oxygen, and many different forms of lethal radiation that bombarded him on the other side. His wards protected him from these threats, made redundant due to his Warp based biology. However, his apprentices would not be so protected, quickly he mortified his protections dropping his illusions to focus on the larger threat.

It took a fraction of a second to change this warding to affect the area around him rather than his person, and a few more precious seconds for the effect to propagate.

Leblanc stepped through the eye impossible portal after her teacher, and she lost her breath. She tried to breathe but their was no air to enter her lungs, she panicked. But before she could do anything air returned to her.

"My apologies, I didn't expect the lack of atmosphere." Her master said as she panted holding her knees from the shock, seeing a barren gray rock bellow her feet.

She looked up and didn't see anything like she thought the homeworld would look like. There were no ruins of a long-gone people, no dark clouds darkening the sky, no dead plant life, nothing. It was just an empty plain, dotted with craters and covered in find dust. "Wh-where are we?" she said weakly looking up towards her towering instructor.

"Terra, Earth as you call it,"

"What happen here?"

"I don't know."

Adrianna straighten up, and meet her teacher's eyes, "What do you mean you don't know" She was shocked almost as much as being exposed to vacuum, Magnus knew everything, there was never a question she asked that he couldn't answer. His admission of ignorance shock her faith in her teacher more so then the questions she never asked.

"I blinded myself to many things" he looked away towards the shattered moon above, "despite my nature and power I realized long ago that I am flawed, despite what my brother claim we are but men."

She tried to understand what he meant, he had mentioned his brothers only in passing and despite the time they had spent together he never explained what he was, other than human.

"But there are ways to find out what happened, do you remember my lectures on postcognition."

"Yes of course, you can go out a distance to…"

He smiled at her, "That is the traditional way, I am human, and this is the birthplace of humanity…" He tailed of leadingly.

Catching on she answered, "You can use the symbolic link to resonate in the Ocean to create a working."

"Of course, now let use see what calamity has befallen our race." He said as glyphs and runes appeared around him. Only half of which she knew, but those word made her think back to her classes, on the enjoyable lectures of her master but her ongoing education by the Compact, about the vague cataclysm that they said ruined earth, lies of course she know from Magnus' talk of Prospero, but what if something happened to Earth before then, to make it like this.

"Let us see," Magnus said, his mind racing about the ruins of Terra. He knows he blinded himself, but he only know realized how blind he was, he only leader of the Compact from his encounter with Greyson, what other horrors had he blinded himself to in his arrogances, in his grief questing for knowledge what had he missed, in coping with his sons lost what terrors had he missed. What duties had he shirked?

He forced himself no to think of his sons that were not on Prospero when it burned, telling himself that he could not help them, justifying to himself his inaction that they to where attacked, knowing that it was cowards.

But now on the ruins of Terra did he realized his failure, he turned back time using more power than he would like to see what happened, years flew by in seconds, then decades and finally centuries. He and his apprentice watch as the emptiness of the world was filled with ships of all kinds.

His masterful eyes honed over decades of war in the great crusade picked apart the formations and tactics used to burn earth, he calculated how long ago this was, if he could have done something to stop this. Then hesitatingly he tried to calculate how long-ago Prospero burn, it was difficult with all his meditations and unwillingness to keep track, with all the time dilations and endless research living of the Warp alone. But at last he found the answered, and his suspicious where proven.

Symbolism was a powerful thing, not just in the hearts and minds of men, but even more so in the Warp where it held real power.

He again watched a world dear to him burn, destroyed for no reason by an uncaring force. Even when they surrender, even when they plead for mercy, he could not bear to see another world burn, not when he could have done something about it.

Adrianna watched in equal parts awe and terror as her ancestral home was burned. She saw those ships, those that she had here about and saw defend what was left of her people. She knows that they lied, know that not all that they said was true, she know to distrust every word they said.

But as she saw the alien but all to familiar and human ships die to buy seconds, murdered in flame and fire. Murdered by those who claimed to save them, put to the sword for a reason she could not understand.

It did not end their no this was no simple military matter, her master had taught her of such, and this was no such campaign. If it where the horror would be limited, it would have ended with the death of the warships. The merchant would never have been butcher helpless to defend themselves. The worlds would not have been burned; the civilians killed in the millions every second.

This was no battle; it was an execution.

Leblanc could not look away from the battle, and within herself where she keeps the memories of those that harmed her family, she placed another trespass, another wrong that could not be forgiven or undone.

Their payment would come, the blood spilled on the home she never knew would be repay. Weather it be tomorrow or a millennium from now she would have them pay. Her master held secrets and powers that could bring the Compact to it knees, they would avenge Earth and its people.

Magnus was returned from his downward spiral by his apprentice's voice, "They must pay." It was a statement and promise all in one. And he agreed with the idea, that the scales needed to be balanced. But he would not be the one to do it, he had failed too many times to truest himself to… do anything beyond research in his tower.

But what could he who could not protect his own people let alone avenge them do to avenge a people not his own. No, he saw what revenge did to his own brothers, the fools it made of them. He was a scholar, he would understand the story of this humanity, and balances the scales in an unbiases way that not even his Farther could.

His apprentice turns to him looking up questioning, he knows it's about his inactions, about his silence on a topic she is so passionate about. Her confusion mounted in the warp, but he could not answer, it was not the old days anymore, he had put up the sword, forsaken all his responsibilities.

He could not do what she wanted, what the uneasy souls of Terra wanted him to do. He was a failure, to his sons, his people, and all of mankind, what was one more.

But the scale must be balanced, it was not so much a wish or ideal on his part but a rule. Every culture and species that arose from the primordial goo believed so and so it shall be. Efforted by the Warp however weak now the balanced would be reached the payment due.

The only question was the time, measure in generations or eras the scales would be balanced. Every empire that rose fell and their remnants walked the balanced. He could go on a warpath across the galaxy burning ever would, be even he in all his power could not undue the collective belief of the galaxy, hi fall would come it maybe a gentle one but it would come.

No, he would play the fool as his Farther and brothers did, not knowing the rules of reality as he in his curiosity found. However, looking down to meant the eyes of his ever faithful apprentice he saw the passion burning in her eyes and soul. She would not be detrude from her vengeances, but he would never make a choices for one of his children.

"They will pay, in time. But first let us learn of our ancestral home and what was lost." He said turning to the projection before him on the dusty and barren plains of what was once Terra. He reached into the Warp and expanded it around them, as far as her eyes could see, showing what the landscape would look like long before the world burned.

Adrianna lost her breath for a second time that day, as the empty pockmarked land around her changed. Gone was the endless plains of barren rock, replaced with lush forest, thinker than any she had even seen. Gone was the star filled sky replaced with a large blue expanse filled with white clouds. Gone was earth as it was now, in it's place an earth on living person had ever seen.

She turned to her master, knowing from some of her more abstract lessons that this could be due, but still amassed as the world shifted around her in very way. The star above, the sun as it was called, warming her. Air flowing through her hair, and the bombardment of smells, familiar in some ways, alien in others.

The Magnus spoke and the lesion began in earnest. She could not forget what she had seen about the death of her people, but she wanted to know about the past, about how her people lived. And where better to start than the beginning?

Team Transfer request

From: Researcher Umular Volason

To: Project lead [Data Expunged]

The information and theories proposed in Encounter WM-1 is ridicules and goes against everything the Compact stands for, we are here to up left other form their superstition and bring them into a more enlightened way of life, not embrace it. IAs a Thoughtful respectfully request to be reasiened to the team focused on the data from WM-2 and the other information we have on these Events.

Data Request

From: Project [Data Expunged]

To: Project Echo

This Paper is to be hand delivered to project leader of Project Echo, then burned

With the reinstatement of this project, we would like to request all Data regarding the Wounds Shock space technology. Secrecy is of the utmost importance to this project we cannot let Her know of Him. To this end all computers holding information about this project will be replaced and everyone who knows about this project will have their memories altered, under the authority of the Triarchs.

Project Update

From: Pack Leader Shengis Jaafan

To: Project lead [Data Expunged]

The subjects have been gathered as requested. We have made the proper preparations to ensure their cooperation. The training for the experiments has already begun. The only hurdle left is to create a shock drive small enough to be affected. Some of my colleagues have suggested using some obscure technology previously through to be a dead end to solve this problem, however I am unfamiliar with the tech and would like to ask an expert in this 'Shock Gate" to be transferred to the team.

End Chapter 4

Magnus 5

Chapter 5

He watched again and again as a world burned, his blue hair apprentice had left long ago, but he could not stop watching on repeat as a world burned. Even in his sanctum meant for peace, he found none. It was not the destruction of the civilian ships, innocents murder, it was not the oblivion that thousands entered as the moon shattered, it was not even the exterminatus of a priceless world.

No, it was the valiant of those fighting to the bitter end, protecting civilians with their dying breaths, I was the scholars racing to complete their final works hoping that they would turn the tide. It was the scrapes of want once was passed to those who might save it from their shared end.

It was the similarity that highlighted the difference. The world reminded him time and time again of his failure, he showed have been with them fighting to the end against those who how do them harm. He should have led their defense, prepared the ground like his brothers did, reach like those now dead did to ask why. He was curiosity, but what a poor job he did of it.

Long ago when he first relived those memories, put them to page, painted them on his wall, carved the in stone. The favored son was a traitor, and despite the hatred he held against the wolf for doing the deed he know that that was not who the deaths showed be layed at the feet of, but still even knowing that the doubt could not leave his mine, he thought that his farther loved him and his brothers but... but.

He left it playing, worlds burning, thousands die as he was lost in through, he let it play dozens of times focusing himself to watch not because of the similarities but despite them, forcing himself to face yet another failure.

Yet it never lasted this long, never did he play it till the dreadnoughts left and the other returned. Magnus watched as something else enter the system were humanity die. It was similar to the countless ships he just watched die, but it had a touch of otherness to it. Scared, wounded, it limped into a dead system. He felt the emotions pouring of the ship as it saw it the ruins of the dead world, he could not stop himself from making the comparison to the Compact ships that just left the system when they entered, lost turning to rage.

And like those that came before it, it destroyed all the enemies that stood before it, and like before the rage did not abide with the bloodshed. He knew this loss, saw it before with the Lost and knew this was the very same his sons would feel as he left them behind.

He had to know he could not leave himself in the dark like he did with his own home, doubting wondering why?

So, he followed the strains of fate, as the Farseers did, following it back, not through material causality, but through historical relations, one causing another on a galactic scale. The blood-soaked world the catalyst billions of damned souls calling out for reason, and in his pool, he saw a death that of a fleet, of a dreadnought but more so that of a leader, no a symbol.

That was why Terra burned, but why did the war start, he knew from his time teaching that the Compact held many species so why did they war with one another? He followed the strains of fate further back, searching for a historically important moment it came to him, a phase repeat millions of times "the fifth age of expansion" that was the what, but he wanted the why.

He followed it back, and there he found his answers, and wish he didn't. At the core of the idea was the protection of other claiming the galaxy to unity it against greater dangers, ending superstitions, bringing reason and logic to the galaxy, -reuniting the galaxy against the horrors of old night, bring the imperial true to those lost worlds of man- It was too similar to much of a reminder of his past life that he wished to forget.

They were the same in the end, what was the difference between The Compact of Species and the Imperium of Man, what was the difference between claiming thousands of human worlds at various stages of development and the compact claiming hundreds of smaller Xenos empires in the same state.

Despite what the crusade did, despite what he did, he didn't hate the Xenos, they were different yes, but so was he and his people. While there were many worlds where they turned against humanity during long night there were equally as many where they didn't. And so of the most enlightening discussions on the nature of the Warp came from Eldar.

The only reason he refused Geryson all those years ago was because he didn't know how far he had gone, not then anyways. But how could he judge the Compact for what they did when he would have done the same, maybe with a bit more tact but what was the difference in true.

Master was moopy, more so than normal for master that is. And she didn't like master when he was moopy, he never did anything fun like this and while the wards and her ruins prevented her from interacting with him directly that only made it more fun.

So, she reached out, a gust of wind there, a touch of magnetism here, a rough graviton hitting at just the right angle aaaanddd

A book fell of the shelf beside him, he turned at the sound breaking him out of his throughs. It was not one he had wrote personally no rather it was one written by his archival sprites, and their it was laying open on the floor for no apparent reason.

He went to take a closer look and saw what page it was opened to, "Chapter 4: the degradation of moral ideals over time" Magnus blinked in confusion, skimming through the surprisingly well written chapter before turning to the cover to see which of his sprites needed to be examined and congratulated in equal measure.

There was another surprising sight, "On the Downfall of Empires Volume one. Written by Observer Triarchies, Necrons, and Eeldari, Edited by Observer Justicars, Publication pending"

This was not what Magnus was expecting, he created the Observer sprites to do that Observer, setting one to each of the species he knows of in the galaxy to record the technology, history, and culture of their assigned race. And he through they would just do that, like the test species he created in the past, nothing more than warp servitors carrying out their functions, fueled by their assigned species curiosity.

While he had put some limitations on them making so they did not destroy themselves from overexertion, or directly interact with the materium beyond his wall he didn't think they could do anything like this. The more fool he.

As he placed the book back on the shelf, he realized that he was a father again, maybe an unaware one, but a father none the less. And that responsibility scared him, the weight of his failures of the dead sons that he carried even now, he would not fail again.

But that left him in a very odd situation, how do you raise warp spawn?

Skye Jordan was worried for her student. She always was but now more so than normal, it was not those that went of to the space force like normal, or even the less common low social assimilation that took her advanced classes.

No, it was one student that she was worried for, Adrianna Leblanc. She was a smart girl, probably the smartest in her year, no it how she seemed so disconnect with the world around her, she didn't pay attention in class, nor socialize with her classmates. But it was not that made her worried for her student, it was her disregard for the future, as her classmates make plans for the future, be that higher education, military services or entering the workforce, she did know of this, and even through her family was wealthy she could not live with them forever.

Skye recently took the effort to talk to her parents on the matter, but they seemed unconcerned but when she pushed, they revealed that she planned to join the space force. However, Skye doubted that, Adrianna didn't seem the type, and tapping into that curiosity that gave her so much trouble in her youth she began to ask questions.

After talking to the local recruits and her classmates, she found no sign of her intentions sand with graduation quickly approaching she made plans to confront the young Leblanc after school.

However, that plan fell through, evident by the emptied dead end alley she was looking down trying to understand were she could have gone

"Apprentice Adrianna Leblanc" she stepped forward into the ritual circle, runes already glowing with an otherworldly light.

Magnus smile as she looked up at him, "you have reached the 7th step of your apprenticeship, I ask you to conferment your oaths?"

She took in a breath, "I do, I swear to pursue the quest for knowledge."

The runes rose up, and with a nod from Magnus they lightly burned themselves onto her skin, even though she knew this would happen she still winced at the feeling, but more so of how hard it would be to hide this. Even if she planned to leave soon keeping it hidden was going to be a pain, without any meaningful psychic power she couldn't hid them like Magnus did when they visit other worlds, but she would make do they were only light, maybe if she got a tan they could blend in.

However, despite the inconvenience the wards they were well worth it.

She got home latter than normal due to the lengthy fieldtrip to Oaba and paused see that landspeeder parked before he home. She ducked behind a nearby tree and took a closer look at the situation. His guard was at the door, meaning that He was inside her home. Adrianna hated times like these, despite how much she would like to burn that superior grim of his warp dammed face, she couldn't not with her family around.

And that was what it always came back to, her family. That was why he hated the tribune so much because of how he treated her family, extorting them, betting them, and for what a few more credits?

No, she knew why he did it, with her lessons it didn't take much to figure it out. He enjoys it, enjoyed the power he held over the 'Broken'. And that made her sick. One day she would do something, and that day was fast approaching, but her family comes first she didn't what them in the crossfire, so she would what, but he would pay, they all will.

His apprentice enter, even through she did not tell him he know this would be her last lesson, despite the years they had spent together he know that this day would come, she couldn't stand by and do nothing. So over the last few years he had prepared her as much as he could for when she would leave, all he hoped was that he did better than with his own sons.

So, he stood dismissing the multiple observer sprites around him from their communally study of chemical base projectiles. Preparing his last lesson, hoping she would understand.

Leblanc entered the main study and to her surprise Magnus was there with a lesson already prepared, normal she would suggest the lesson and they would learn of the subject together, it was rare that Magnus taught a lesson without her input, the he spoke,

"This will be one of the most important lessons I ever teach you, this is the key to understanding my galaxy and yours" he said, finally acknowledging her long held suspicions of him not being from here.

"Our tale starts around 60 million years ago before any race we know of today had evolved beyond a single cell, in the far southern corner of the galaxy, evolved the first races of note in this galaxy, they called themselves the Necrontyr."

Before them was a map of the galaxy that zoned in on the system her master was talking about, and them beside the world a picture of a hunched diseased biped, that looked surprisingly human.

"They were masters of the galaxy, with no competition beside their own internal strife they mastered all the martial since in short order, at their height there was nothing that they could not due, they rearranged stars, created matter out of nothing, traveled through time, they believed that knowledge could solve any problem." He said with respect in his voices as projections of varied and wild feats of technology played before them.

"But," he said longingly as if sharing their pain, "they were cursed, despite all their power their was one thing that they could not do, one problem they could not solved, they were cursed by short lifespans destined to dead young by the betrayal of their bodies." He paused again longer this time looking at one of the murals on the wall.

"They tried everything they could, cloning, cryogenesis, genetic manipulation, mind uploads, nanites, nothing worked they could previse the body past the point of death but not the mind, their homeworld was bombarded with radiation causing them cancer, but even when they left, even when they were no longer flesh, they would die. Only through my unique perspective did I find the cause that they were blind to, the problem was not in the materium, but rather the immaterium. Their souls were weak coming from millennia under their baleful sun."

Images now in that familiar manner when he taught, of cities and people going about their daily lives. Normal this would be when Magnus opened a portal and they explore their homeworld blending in as tourist, to give her a better hands on experience with species and culture, but he didn't.

"This is where the story divide, between mine old and this one, so far as I can tell this is the only differences between our two realities, I my home they asked for aid from the only races older than them, in this place they did it on their own. And that was their downfall in both"

He turned to her with a forlorn smile on his face, "Pay close attention, for this lesson more than any other will aid you in the path you chose."

Turning back his project he gesture and an image of a floating reptile appeared, "They asked the old ones for help, them being immortals and the only power of note in the young galaxy, hoping they would share theirs secrets, but they did not and so united in come cause the Necrontyr wage war against the old ones, and lost. For while they were the masters of the material the old ones were masters of the Warp."

She knew from her long tutelage that the immaterium always bet the material so this was no great upset, "But they did not give up, even when forced back to their desolate homeworld their anger did not abate, so they quested searched for something to turn the tide against those how they believed took everything from them"

"And they found it" The image flicked into a that of a star, "They called the them C'tan meaning Star God, they where the equal and opposite of the old ones masters of the materium, but they were immaterial without bodies to enact their will, the Necrontyr in their arrogance give bodies to them wanting to uses them as a weapon, and how ironic the weapon they turned to was the very same that caused their short lives."

She tried to understand why someone would be so foolish, no matter how power no one can control a force beyond their understanding let alone a god. Magnus had taught her to understand everything she used, as not to be blindsided.

And she was proven right with his next words, "However the C'tan had other ideas in mind, after living among the mortals they found something more powerful than the stars they feasted on, souls, cursed as they may be the souls of mortals are powerful beyond belief and the C'tan are like any other animal, wanting to feed and breed, and lacking the latter they only wanted the former, seeking more powerful and therefore more nutritious leading them to souls. Then through deception they stole the souls of the Necrontry placing their martial mind in metal bodies."

"Then seeking more souls they waged war against the old ones bring the galaxy to it knee, the calmest parts of the warp after this war in heaven are worse than the most wild parts in this galaxy. The Orks and Aeldari that plague the galaxy just shadows of their former might from the war. The Eye of Terror all the fault of the now named Necrons fault, in their quest for vengeance."

"Then there is this galaxy, with no old ones to take their rage out on they continued to pursue solutions to their short life spans, and eventually like their counterparts they found the C'tan, but inside of using them as weapons they wanted to harness their vampiric nature to prolong their lives by feasting of stars, turn their curse around. So they gave them physical form not realizing they were sentience. They created nanites and placed them inside. And for a time it worked, those test populations lived longer than any Necrontry ever did before, but they were a divided people and when the other dynasty saw one on the verge of immortality war erupted."

"Then we one with the C'tan inside them die they tasted a soul and wanted more, turning against their creates, but the Necrontry had weapons that could hold the line for a time, while they desperately searched for something to end the madness. Like their counterparts they were forced back to their home world were they finally ended the nano-plague, turning lose their AI's empowered by chained C'tan to defeat the threat."

"But they could no longer control them and they left leaving the Necrontry on their homeworld, where they have never left since, becoming resigned to their fate."

He turned, she since that the lecture part of the day was over now it was time for the fun part "Now come apprentice mine, let us walk the streets of a once great empire,"

And with a grin on her face, she stepped through the familiar blue shimmer and into a street lit by green eldritch light.

The pair returned to the sanctum after hours of wandering the lifeless streets of the Necrontyr, she personal found it very disconcerting than they only saw one Necrontyr throughout their entire tried through their homeworld, it was unlike any of the worlds she had visited before with him, it felt more like a tomb than the capital of an empire, even the primitive worlds they visited had more going on. But her last 'field trip' was over, the stars had aligned and tomorrow blood would be on her hands.

Magnus quickly went to preserve some of the relics he had 'acquisitioned' leaving her alone in one of his many studies, this one specialized for their use.

But that didn't matter anymore so she quickly made her way through the labyrinth that was her masters library greeting the sprites as she made her way past her normal exit towards the main hall, some of the more powerful sprites even responded back.

She paused before door less ornate than the rest before enter. Magnus was their standing off to the side, looking at what little was left of her personal workshop, most of it she had removed already packed into bags and hidden within her home, one of her many preparations for tomorrow. But she still needed one thing.

She briskly walked to the main work station and snacked the last item it held, as she did so she was aware of the gazes of her teacher, almost burning a hole in her back. She walked past him again, neither saying a word they both knew what she was going to do, it was why many of the lesser sprites had gained tools over the last week as she cleared her work stations in preparation.

She wounder for how long her knew, she through that she had been subtle with her parents, classmates and teachers, but he was a powerful psyker and while the mind arts was not a subject she had studies extensively it was not out of the realm of possibility that he would know her plans.

But if he did, he said nothing.

Magnus watched his apprentices form a distance and she walked through the main hall, heading towards the entrances she found some many years ago. He wounder not for the first time where he would be if she did not reveal to him how much he had overlooked in his grief. But as with all his students their time came to move on, they, unlike he, where not satisfied by being a student forever, unlocking the secrets that governed the worlds, but even that was not always true.

Yet, despite how much he didn't want another child to leave his protection he kept his distances as he always did, letting them make mistakes, as he did with his students and sons, and as his own teachers and Father did with him.

He contented himself with the knowledge that she was prepared as best she could be, but that didn't stop him from reaching out just one more time, as his child was about to cross the threshold, "Are you prepare for the consequences of your actions?"

She paused not turning back, clutching the artifact she had crafted tightly, "Yes," she bites out.

Magnus was going to leave it at that but part of him could not let the matter go, could not see another student lost, "Violence begets violence, the path you have chosen will bring you no peace."

That clearly was not what she wanted to hear, she whirled around facing him, blue hair flying eyes blazing with the minuscule power she held, "And what would you have me do, nothing as you have done for centuries, sitting in your ivory tower doing nothing as our people are enslaved." She snapes, "All of this" gesturing around her "all you power and might and you do nothing to help our people, I will not be like you and stand by as Prospero burns, I will do something, something to help those who have been wronged."

That cut deep, deeper than she probable knew, but that was the point, she was right of course, that he had done nothing, he had 'forsaking the affairs of mortals', for generations he did nothing blinding himself to the world beyond his walls. But he could not strike against them, not when they are so close to what he was once upon a time, and he would not aid them some transgression where to great for even Sanguinius to forgive. He could not be a warrior again, he had saw what that path had done to his Brothers, what was lost to violence and vengeance, he could not walk that path.

She turned around and resumed her exit, before pausing once more just past the gates, "For how long did you know?"

But before he could answer she hurried out of the cave and into the moonlit forest, never hearing his whispered answer, "Since day one, Adrianna"

End Chapter 5

Magnus 6

Chapter 6

Adrianna Leblanc walked through the unnaturally quite forest, making her way past the trees, unbothered by the dirt that was picked up by her passing, none of it mattered, not when her plans were so close to fruition.

She had waited, waited for so long for everything to fall into place for all the variables to be accounted for, all of the months of planning, years of training all leading to this.

There was just one more preparation, just one more thing to do before the plan will be fully in motion. She finally reached the breach in the fences that she found so long ago. The tree was still there, exactly as it was years ago when she found it.

She stepped across the boundary and turned around, not to backtrack, not because she had second thoughts, no their was a reason she left through the cave. She pulled out her pocket watch, an antique to the rest of the galaxy, but it made her father so proud when he hear that she had made it herself. And now it would help her make the final preparation.

She reached through the broken fences and dropped the devices she had been holding back so closely since she left her lab. She looked down at the pocket watch, watching the seconds tick by on her gold foiled hands until…

There was no loud change, no dramatic shift, only the subtle shift of the wind signified the change.

She looked up, at a slightly different sight, the fences were whole, and she know from weeks of experimentation that the tree that would open the fences would fall something in the next hour, but that was not why she did this. No, the now glowing and fully charged item now on her side of the fences was why she did it.

While she only had a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of her teacher's power she knew ruins, and how to work with what she had.

Picking up the devices she turned around and began walking homeward. She had around six hours before sunrise, and she would make the most of it.

Everything was just right, the pair devices to what she held know was placed on that bastard Tribune's landspeeder days ago. His driver was on planned vacation for today and he never took his family anywhere, their would be no collateral damage, no one caught in the cross fire.

Her parents were out even this early in the morning for the same reason the driver was out. Today was a holiday, one celebration of the Compact 'rescuing' humanity, how ironic that her revenge would manifest on today of all days on this so called 'Thanksgivings'. She gave no thanks of course not to her oppressors, but she was going to give a 'Gift.'

The dawn was about to break on Kiel Point, it was almost time. Adrianna stood almost two blocks way from her target watching and waiting for him to enter his landspeeder. She had memorized his schedule for today and looking at her favored pocket watch she knew she had only a few more minutes before showtime.

She had never done something like this, take a life, rebel against the Compact in such a large way. While she did rebel, go against their lies, it was solely in actions not deeds. She had rebelled more than the Compact would ever now, visiting the Principality, learning the true history of humanity, and most of all, something that she knew the Compact feared above all else, learning from Magnus.

But none of that truly mattered, while she has not killed, nor rebel she had hardened her heart to what she must do. For it was a need in truth, a need to change the status quo, to act upon the knowledge that only she had. But it was more than that too, it was not just because no one else would act, but also that she didn't want to become like her master. He was once a man to admire, but that was long before they meet, long before he was overtaken by grief, long before he became distant form his people.

It was a time so long ago that civilizations rose and fell, as he did. She knows this from the few stories he told of his home, but more to the countless tomes and murals that she examined in his sanctum. And the reason she acted, acted now of all times, was not just her suppressed hatred, not just her rage at her oppressors, not just out of love form her family, no she feared becoming like him, becoming so distant from their people that she did not care for their suffering.

She thought when they found the corps of humanity that he would be roused to action, to once again take of the tools of war that she had only hear of in stories, but his raged burned briefly, with the only change in true being him changing her lessons and paying more attention to the countless sprites that occupied his sanctum.

And she knew that if she stayed with him any longer, she too would become distant, even further than she already was.

So, she would act, even If he wouldn't.

The opening of the bastard's door finally broke her out of her musings, it was time.

She watch him, the brief seconds it took him to walk to his landspeeder felt like an eternity to her as she griped the rune carved stone even tighter, the anticipation was killing her.

Then finally he took his seat and started the speeder. She pushed her intent into the stone, the runes glowed briefly with an eldritch light as the power of the stone was given to its sibling.

It only took a second to happen, an otherworldly sphere of light engulfed the landspeeder and part of the ground below it, center on that bastard's backset. Ethereal lightning speared out arcing around his formerly impeccable lawn. Branching out into the pre-dawn sky.

Then Nine seconds later it was over, the only sign of the high end landspeeder was part of the hood.

But even though she did nothing more intensive than thinking, her heart was racing, blood pumping, a thrill running through her body, an excitement she had never felt before. It was liberating in a way that her myriad visits to alien worlds could never compare too.

It took all of the control she had, honed with days of runecrafting, to not skip home. But she slowly turned around and calmly walk home away from the sight of her first kill.

The Rally Headquarters of Compact Intelligence Services was like a kicked over ant hill, thought Tizca Greyson, son of Baxter Greyson. He was a career CIS agent just like his father. And he was in charge of this part of the ant hill. Tizca was a captain in the CIS so when what the media was calling the 'Thanksgiving Bombing" happened he being the ranching agent on shift started the investigation immediately.

While Agents where still coming it to contribute to their efforts, none of his fellow captains had pull the investigation away from him, and the Department director was to busy with the politics of the bombing to do it either, which just let him to direct the investigation.

So, he set to ordering his agents, first to pull all over the videos of the bombing to give to his explosive's analyst, while sending a team to do the same with a detective team to try and find more evidence with the family on site.

The next step was to identify all of the witnesses on site for the event, it was a matter of minutes for the computers linked to the all the people seen on cameras in the area to their ID's in the database. Those ID then had their phones traced so agents could be sent out to get their witnesses statements. With the number of metropolitan camera and GPS satellites.

All of this was normal, by the book, even, if it were not for how high-profile bombing was the normal polices would be doing this even.

However, what he was looking at was not so, discounting the explosion itself, this cause was a textbook example of how any investigation on Rally was carried out. While sometimes during the identification stage something would trip a flag and a junior agent would investigate, he remembered his youth when he did just that.

One of these flags where trip and the agent before him looked into the matter, the person ID and the trace on the phone didn't match, while this is unusual any number of thing would cause someone to be separated from their phone, but it caused further investigation never the less.

The investigation by the young agent before him found that she acted strangely on the video she was found on walking way from the scene, not running but calmly walking way. This caused him to pull her phone's GDP record which was when a much larger flag was tripped.

And that was what he was looking at, she, or her phone at least, had entered the New Appalachian Mountains exclusion zone. While it was only once and years ago at that, the protocols were strict and she would have to be brought in.

"Thank you, Agent," he said before turning towards a group of newly arrived Agents.

"Robinson, put a team together we have a suspect to bring in."

Then he turned back to the agent that brought this to his attention, "you will work with Agent Beasley and Moore to continue looking into," he looked down at the dataslate "Adrianna Leblanc", I want everything you can get, forget the rest of the investigation and focus on her"

"Understood sir" The agent said before hurrying off.

Tizca would continue the investigation and put together a list of suspects, but he knew in his heart, and the stories of his father, that she was the one responsible for it. It was just a matter of proving it enough for the no doubt show trial that would follow the highest profile crime this decade.

Adrianna lazed on her family couch, watching the early morning news report on the 'Thanksgiving Bombing'. They called it a terrorist attack, playing videos of her explosion from dozens of perspectives as talking heads talked about how horrible it was, what a lost the bastard was for all of Rally. What a joke.

Her parents where out, and there was no school today so there was nothing better for her to do than watch the reactions of the world to her actions, then plan her next move, the security stations of the cites would make a good target, always looking down on the 'Broken' being part of the ruling races.

However, there was something off, beyond the news cast there was no sound she could her, no cars traveling the room no neighbors chatting, nothing. Then her suspicions were confirmed by the blaring of her wards, giving her a precognitive warning of danger.

She acted quickly ducking behind her couch, but with only seconds of warning and her inexperience's she couldn't to anything beyond that before her homes door was busted in an CIS agents in SWAT gear came, the mix of Tribunes and humans quickly found speared out to search her home.

Adrianna was disoriented from the suddenness' of the event, the shouting form the agents along with the chaos of their breaking in caused her to pause to try to plan her course of action.

But before she could think of anything beyond moving towards the back door to try to make her escape, she was tackled from behind. Trying to resist the obvious Tribune that pinned her, but she again couldn't do more than put up a feeble resistance before she was handcuffed and pulled to her feet.

They frog march her towards a landspeeder outside her home, patting her down all the while, searching her for weapons and 'evidences'. She was confused her mind racing trying understand how they found her where she made her mistake, but she came up blank.

Time became a blur to her, before she could realizes her pocket watch and runestone where taken, and she was sitting in the back of a CIS landspeeder on their her way to, somewhere, she had heard stories of where people taken by the Compact went but she always believed that she could escape that fate, get away go off to some distant world and plot humanities revenge from there, evidentially she was mistaken

Magnus looked over the empty landscape of Terra, Earth he corrected himself, this was and would never be the Terra he knew and while he could blame that on the Compact that was not entirely true. Even without them destroying the world he learned so much on it would have never been Terra the Throne world of the Imperium.

But that was not why he has here, that particular revelation had come long ago within his first conversations with Human Observer. No, he was here for another reason, to reflect again upon his failings, his student had left him.

And it was not for one of the many reasons his children left him in the past, leaving for the crusade, responsibilities pulling them away, having little more to learn from him. No, she had left on her on quest, a quest he in truth cannot fault her for, but it felt like failure no the less losing the only human contact he had had in, an amount of time he didn't what to think about.

But he knew she was safe, the ward in the back of his head reassured him so, if her wards would ever be triggered he would know, but he could not shack the feeling that she was in danger even so.

So he was here on this ruined world, think of what he could have done to make her stay with him uncover the secrets of world long gone, but another nobler part of him of him wonder if he had done enough to prepare her for the trials she would faces on the path that she has choices. He left his studies left his wards to try an understand what he really was doing.

Because she had a point no matter how much he didn't what to admit it, he had spent generations doing nothing and while for part of that for the first part of that he had the weak excuses of ignorance's not knowing what was going on, but after Greyson and especially after he found Terra like this. But no, he did nothing, and even now he did nothing but sit on a dead world and look at its broken moon.

"What ever happen to the Great Magnus the red?" A voice creaky with disuse echoed across the empty plains of a once bountiful world.

No one answer.

"What ever happened to the brother that wanted to make the galaxy a better place, to not just beat back the horrors of old night but learn form them, learn form the mistakes of the past, what happened to him?" The voice echoed gaining strength.

But again no one answer.

"What happened to the man labored day and night that pay with his eye, for the hope of a better future for his children? What happened to the man that believed no challenge was to great no problem to vast to be solved? What happened to the Magnus of old?"

"He die with Prospero" Magnus answer softly, not looking away form the shatter moon above, where like in his home the greatest weapons of humanity where born, but now it was broken like himself, without prepose.

"You where one of the best of us," the voice said form behind him softly not with the strength of its accusations of before, "It was not your power, nor your intellect that made it so. It was your innocence's that will to look into matter that everyone else feared to, the belief that you could solve problems everyone else believed unsolvable. That naivety made you able to do so much than any of us."

He didn't answer, he knew it had a point, that it reinforced his own thoughts, but that was not why he didn't answer; no, it was that voice now that the distortions were gone both the echo and the signs of disuse, he could recognize it that too familiar voice. He did want to believe what to who he was hearing, he couldn't. But he could not fool his transhuman senses, he knows who was speaking but he could not bring himself to look to confirm what he already in his heart know to be true.

"But what have you done since you arrived, since you lost your that naivety?'

Again, He didn't answer.

"You once shaped the galaxy with your knowledge alone, you once brought world into the fold with just your words, you once conquered worlds with your mind alone, what have you done to further the ideals of the Crusades that you once supported wholeheartedly supported?"

At this, this accusation, by this man finally ended his hesitation.

"Who are you to judge me, you are nothing more than a Vengeful Spirit. I cannot even image how much blood is on your hands. But you judge me for my failing, caused by you? No, I will judge you." He said finally breaking his vigil to turn towards the interloper.

And there he stood as Magnus know he would, but fear all the same. There in all his ruined glory stood the Warmaster himself. Nothing more than a shade of his once might form, his armor tattered, pitted with holes and dints. For most among them a rend where his hearts once were, so dead that Magnus could see the other side, even if he was not already ethereal.

The rage at the lost of his home so long ago rose, rekindled by the sight of the man before him, the distant an almost forgotten memoires of his people's physic cries came rushing to the fore.

"You have the blood of Prospero on your hands, all my sons, all my people, even through you were not the one their butchering the world it was by your will Prospero burned, and for that I judge you. And your punishment will be far greater than even Father could inflict."

Power gathers around them, draw in by his rage and will both. I his mind a hundred thousand ideas formed each another curl fate, each another fitting punishment for the traitor. But none of the would bring his people back.

"And I will deserve every second of it," The once favored son of the emperor answered, looking resigned to his fate.

Magnus paused not at his words, as odd as the were coming from him. No, he paused for something else, in the back of his mind he felt the pull of a ward. One oh so familiar to his past life of war, but fear now. It could only mean one thing, what he feared had come true, his apprentice was in danger.

He hesitated, for a long moment, warring in with himself, before at long last duty won.

Magnus turned the follow of energy around him into a new purpose, a portal opened to his home, a shimmer in reality where it weeps. However, as he rushes towards the newly forged gate, he turned to remaining dregs of his power and focus towards binning the wraith to Terra, he would deal with him later, his apprentices came first.

He watched from his scrying pool his apprentices being taken, but he could not bring himself to act. She know the consequences of her actions even without his lessons, and she was not in real danger she would not die in prison. But he wanted to act even so, he wanted to retrieve her to teach her all the secrets he could, to explore all the sciences.

But he had to let go, let her learn on her own, just as his father did and he had done to his sons.

However, they were both right no matter how much he didn't want them to be, he had done nothing and mayde he should change that.

Not with blood and violences as they would, but that was not the only way to change something, as may world were claimed by the imperium by diplomacy as where conquered by the might of the Legions. And again that through came back to him from the burning of Prospero, what good is all this Knowledge if no one uses it.

But he could not give the Compact, or anyone for that matter all the knowledge he held, discounting his arcane lore, the materials science his children had complied would reshape the galaxy if it were to ever be used. As much as he disliked the Mechanicum hording their knowledge, they do have a point about knowledge falling into the wrong hands.

He wants to change the galaxy not have it fall into an endless cycle of war fueled by sciences that even humanity at its height had mastered.

So, what could he do? He looked towards a shelf, a very familiar shelf with a very familiar book. Their was sciences that humanity in his age had almost forgotten, but the compact had nearly master, but that mastery cut both ways.

The only question left is the fate of the arch-traitor and there are better uses for a spirt of his caliber than to be punished until the star burn out, and how fitting a fate for the one that tried to tear down the reason and enlightenment of humanity to be made to rebuild it.

From: Rally's Headquarters for Compact Intelligences Services

To: Project Athame

It has come to our attention that someone has been in contact with the Wiseman, we have retrieved two items of note that are attached, one a pocket watch with unusual properties and another a stone carved with symbols similar to those recorded by Agent Greyson.

While we would like nothing more than to send one Adrianna Leblanc to you for interrogation, she has committed a very public bombing that we have to address in a public trial to maintain public trust. However, after this no bought short trial we will send her off to you to gather whatever you can.

In the mean time we will be gathering everything we can to send aid in your work.

End chapter 6.

Magnus 7

Chapter 7

Rosston Rollan took his seat at the round table, he hated meeting like this. Across from him were the two agents CIS sent to fill him in on the case, besides them there was some PR manager he didn't care to remember and the center of attention Judge Drakon Tezcatlipoca Zalam and 2 names beside.

Rollan was the District Attorney for Kiel Point and would be the one representing the Compact in the upcoming trial. But that was not why he hated this, seeing justice done was always a joy to him, no the reason he hated meetings like this was the cageyness the CIS had when it came to handing out evidence, and the evidence he was already given was, lacking to say the least.

If it were not for the fact that this was a show trial and everyone in the room knew it, he would be worried about losing the case. But he hated that even more than their cageyness, cases like these mocked the judicial system, mocked what he stood for.

But. There was always a but, there was a reason for this. He was not sure what those reasons were in full, he had suspicion, especially with how public the trial would be. But he trusted that they where good reason, good enough to justify all this fan fair.

Then finally nearly late, but he knows that she would instead she was on time, their last guest came in, Gonzalela. She was an interesting woman, not a good lawyer only being one on technically always cheerful, always doing something supporting so cause. Which was probably why she was tapped to be the public defender for the upcoming trial. To drag her down with her client.

"Good morning, all!" Gonzalela cheered as she took her set on the other side of Judge Drakon to him.

"Now that you are here citizen Gonzalela we can begin" Judge Drakon said before looking to him to start the meeting.

He cleared his throat before turning towards the pair of agents, "Agents, I would like to ask for more evidences to use in the upcoming trial,"

The two agents looked at each other before the senior agent answered him, "We have given you all the evidence we can," He paused before looking towards the judge, "Everything else is sensitive,"

He hadn't expected anything else but he had to try away.

Gonzalela spoke up, "You gave us like three video clips, none of which give evidences that my client was responsible."

While she wasn't the best lawyer, she did have a point, that he agreed with and supported, "You need to given me something, social assimilation sources, charter testimony, something to at least make it look convincing."

The joiner agent shifted, before reaching down and retrieving a dateslate, "We can give you," He looked at his partner, "Most of that, her assimilation sources are high but we have some statements of odd behavior from her teachers and classmates."

He side looking towards the judge for support, "Do you have anything concrete evidences? A confession? Anything?"

Neither of them answered, not like he was expecting them too.

Gonzalela then spoke up turning towards the judge and PR manager, "You do realize that if you don't get more evidences I will win the case no matter how loaded the jury," she the turned towards the Agents griming like she already won the case, "You barely have the evidence to hold the poor girl…" she trail off.

The senior agent coughed and shifted their glasses, obviously they where not for seeing, probably some way to communicate with his superiors, "We are currently holding her on for different reasons, that we are not at liberty to discuss."

An uneasy silent felt across the room, all of them knew that the verdict was a forgone conclusion, as dictated by people beyond them, the problem was getting form point A to B without butchering legal system to badly.

Mitizzt Damallow Do'pe was feeling anxious, he was assigned to this backwater after pissing off, someone he was not too sure one exactly he ruined the day of to get this posting but he know he most of done so. For a Janissaries Advocate, Submissive to be posted on such a pointless position that the ground force or local focus could cover and didn't need the firepower that the Janissaries detachment carried.

But that was not why he was nervous, not at his waste of talent. He was nervous because of the pair in front of him, he had never had contact with the CIS before now but knew enough on how to act from the stories share around the barracks. But he was worried that he had missed something even though he did nothing wrong, he just had to tell the truth, and everything would be fine.

"Janissaries Advocate Submissive Mitizzt," The Tribune across from him spoke up, she looked up from the collation of physical papers before her to meat his eyes, "Are you aware of what is contended in the exclusion zone?"

Mitizzt shook his head, it was a constant rumor in the detachment of why they were posted at Rally Alpha-one observation post, most told each other that the out post was a dumping ground for unwanted Janissaries, or a training sit for those that didn't make the cut. But those were just the most common rumors, their where other that floated around the detachment, ranging from an ancient superweapon to an extra dimensional tear. But those were just that rumors, and so he answered truthfully.

"Where you watching the cameras on the 12th of the 9 month of 6170 at 31 hours" the other agent in the room ask, a female Broken. Normally he would have no respect for the dominant species of Rally, always fall over to do what he wanted, but she had an insensitive that he rarely saw in the diminutive species, and he now better than to do anything to a CIS agent.

"I am unsure, that was a decade ago." He answered again as truthfully as he could manage.

"You were logged as being on shift at that time, do remember seeing anything on the cameras that day?" She asked, but he know that these agents had already seen the footage they where asking about, or at least have someone gathering said footage as they spoke.

"No nothing beyond the normal"

"And what is the 'Normal'" The Tribune asked.

Mitizzt hesitated, before he reminded himself to be as truthful as possible even if it was not a good truth. "Distorted Images, videos of things walking across the border, a female Tribune messing around with the environment, the cameras do not work, we replace them sometimes, but it doesn't change anything, the distortion continued, even when we change the type or location of the cameras it didn't change anything,"

It was an ugly truth that the only way to observe the zone was with people on the ground, and the failure of the cameras where the reason that there were always rumors, even though they told themselves that everything was normal this provide that it was not.

When he first arrived more than a decade ago, he tried to do something about it, filed reports to the outpost commander, replaced cameras, pushed around the clock patrols around the zones, but nothing happened. Until one day his Ideologue came to him and explained that he had done the same when he arrived nothing ever changed, in the nearly a century history of the outpost nothing ever changed, nothing ever happened and that was a good thing. Even if the cameras don't work, even if the forest look exactly the same every day, nothing happen and we should keep it that way, but now something has happened.

The two agents looked at each other, before the Tribune spoke again, "That will be all, Janissaries Advocate Submissive Mitizzt"

Tizca took his set across for Mr and Mrs Leblanc, it was child's play to bring them in after getting their daughter. He had decided to interview them himself, giving them the curiosity of speaking to the person in charge of their daughter's arrest.

The pair was just like any other on Rally, with some peculiarities, Mrs Leblanc had some genetic engineering in her family's past, giving her the blue hair that made it easy to pick her daughter out crowds on footage. While Mr Leblanc was an engineer, and old one at that, looking at them they were both old, if he didn't know any better he would believe them Adrianna's grandparents.

His inspection of the pair was interrupted however by Mr Leblanc, "Why are we hear."

His voice was calm more so than most that were interviewed by the CIS, and how he said it was odd, as if he already knows the answer not actually asking a question. His calmness was constated by his wife, fidgeting in her chair.

"You are here Mr and Mrs Leblanc to answer some questions, you are not in any trouble." That of course was an outright lie their daughter had committed a very serious crime while living at their home, they would be charged with failure to report or negligence at least, but depending on what they would find in this interview that could be escalated.

This placated Mrs Leblanc but only seemed to make Mr Leblanc give him a piercing look.

"Please tell me about your daughter," a very open-ended question and most parents would talk for hours about their kids. He wanted them to work with him.

Mrs Leblanc spoke up with obvious pride, stopping her fidgeting but still not meeting his eyes, "She is a very bright young woman, top of her class she is so dedicated to her studies she spends 3 hours every day after school with a tutor and even more on when off to stay ahead of her peers. She is just a passionate about her learning, we thought that she would a teacher until she told us…" She trails off, Tizca through she finally put the pieces together, a CIS agent asking about your daughter only had a few things it could mean none of them good.

But there was something important, more so than she probably knew, there was no tutor listed on her official record and those hours line up almost exactly with the hours that Adrianna would disappear off the face of Rally, being unable to be found on all cameras or records with her disappearing into a surveillance blind spot for hours on in. It was a minor miracle that this behavior was not reported early, so he had another team was already looking into why that is.

"Keep going, what did she tell you?" he coaxed.

She heisted before she counited, her confusing was evident more so than Mr Leblanc's distrust, "She told us she was going t-to the join the Rally provisional Space Force."

Tizca nodded at that, in their preliminary research pulling records from confessor and teachers her 'want' to join the Space Forces had come up however when cross refencing this with the Space Forces recruitment division this proved untrue.

"Is their anything else you can tell me? Her friends? People she would hang out with?" he asked trying to see who else they could bring in.

"She had not friends" Mr Leblanc cut in finally answering one of his questions, Tizca turn his attention onto the so far uncooperative citizen.

Seeing this he continues, "Ever since she started working beyond her peers all of her friends and classmates have fallen by the way side, she had not talked about them in years, whatever you think she did she did it on her own."

Tizca grimaced, he thought that he would say that based off the all the files they had on her, but it made his job that much harder. The main problem was the public trail that Rally provisional government insisted on. He was hoping that they come get some good friends who where better citizens to testify against her in court. Because right now everything they had against her for the 'Thanksgiving Bombing' was circumstantial at best and it was out of the question to draw attention to the real reason they arrested her. They needed to maintain legitimacy especially with how far they have come in the last hundred years.

He reached down into his front pocket and retrieved a picture of the victim, "Have either of you ever seen this man?" He asked while sibling it across the table to the pair.

Mrs Leblanc looked down at the picture them snapped her head to her husband. He grabbed the image then plaided.

Finally, something Tizca thought while carefully keeping his smirk off his face.

This was not at all what she expected CIS imprisonment to be like, she expected torture, interrogations them trying their best to get whatever they wanted out of her, but it was none of that.

Ever day since her capture they would feed her in the morning ask her question the repeat this process at each meal, she told them nothing of course but she thought their would be more to it that just the plain low security cell she had spent the last several days in.

But what was odd was the questions, only a hand full where actually about her attack, no they focused on other topics, school, education, knowledge, where she spent her time, it only took a day to realized that they did not care about her they wanted Magnus.

Which in itself was surprising she didn't even know that the Compact had an idea about him, while he lived in a quarantine zone she thought that was just the Compact reacting to the energies and effects that leaked out from his sanctum not them taking action against something so powerful.

But their was no other explanation for what the questions they where asking, and based on how they asked them, the slight hesitant in how they spoke to her, the shifting and their emotions when they asked her. They did not know what they where digging for, they where asking about him without knowing about him, they where flailing around searching for answers to question they didn't even know to look for.

But someone did, someone know Magnus was out their and they were trying to use her to get to him.

But their was still on problem one thing that did not fit with the images that she had made of her current circumstance, why had they not harmed her. If they wanted so badly to get to Magnus, why had they not pushed more, physical, sociologically, or perused her more than having her in a cell for three days. It just didn't make senses.

She was broken out of her musing by the door across from her cot opening, this was not whole unusual ever day some agent came into her cell to try to ask her questions, but those where always right after meals, and if she was measuring time correctly them she had two and a half hours to lunch.

She looked up to see who enter, it was human, not entirely odd, there had been several Human CIS agents that had tried to integrated her but more often than not a member of the ruling races did so.

"Good morning," the man said stepping into her cell without any hesitation, he carried a brief case with him, "I would like to ask you a few questions."

She stayed silence, this was basically how all their integrations started, and she would not dignify it with an answer.

He sighed clearly displeased by her lack of attention, "I am agent Tizca Geyson and I would like to ask you about Magnus the Red?"

She could not help but laugh at the irony, so she laughs in the face of those how held her.

The man, Tizca she supposed looked even more frustrated at her irreverence that he did at her lack of responses. "I assure you, Adrianna this is no laughing matter."

"No hehe, I really think it is hehe,"

"Then many I ask what is so funny that you cannot control yourself?"

"Your name is Tizca and you are asking me about Magnus." She said bring her humor under control.

"And what is so funny about that," He ask raising his eyebrow to emphasis his question

She paused and looked him over again, brown hair cut short, blue eyes, a professional tailored suit that screamed government agent, but not a hint of understanding, "You honestly don't know?"

"What don't I know?"

"Tizca is the capital of Prospero, as in Magnus' homeworld" she said exasperatedly

He smiled at her, and once again she realized her mistake to late. Was she this bad at this, to get caught so easily to give up a secret so easily. She was the apprentices to one of the greatness humans in history she should do better, but in true she know she was not prepared for the life ahead of her maybe she would go to prison for life, maybe she would escape, but she was not prepared. Although she enjoyed her work, the thrill of her first kill still sent shivers down her spin, and she was dedicated to the cause to fighting against the compact, she was not ready, she lack the skills she now realized she needed, she was not strong enough, nor smart enough, nor talented enough.

But when had that stopped her, she would better herself she would seek out those who could help like she did with Magnus until she would be the best and bring the Compact to its knees.

But that all started by not answering any more of this man 'Tizca' if that was even his real names question.

Date transfer

From: Project lead Project lead [Data Expunged]

To: Project lead Echo

In the light of WM-3 it has come to our attention that 'The Wiseman' is not wholly beyond our reach. Seeing how far the scraps of knowledge we gained with WM-1 has progressed our research It is in both our projects best interest to reopen investigations.

Upon further review of the information and wording found at the end of WM-1 and the persons involved in WM-3 we believe your project is uniquely suited to enter his sanctum.

Best regards, [Data Expunged]

Project update

From: Researcher Umular Volason

To: Project lead [Data Expunged]

I have received the artifacts you have sent me, and they very interesting. The pocket watch for one has the anomaly's ability to tell the correct time no matter what time zones it is in, and gives it in the observers most favored language. Preliminary testing has only just begun but if we can uncover the mechanism behind this it's civilian applications would be near limitless.

The stone on the other hand is harder to determine the use of, it seems to absorb serval forms of exotic energy, however this is only noted by those energies lack in the proximity of the stone how or if the stone is doing so is unknow.

I have attached the full research reports to this.

Thank you for this opportunity,

Umular Volason

CIS Intel Report

Over the last week unknown Broken have been spotted across the Compact with their only distinguishing property being far taller than any Broken on record. These report and recording also indicate that their appearances from one world to another is too fast for any civilian transport. How and why these Broken are arriving on world is under investigation. However, if you see then standing orders are to engage in conversation and not escalate.

End Chapter 7

Magnus 8

Chapter 8

He had spent generations in isolation hording his knowledge and power, he had let the centuries fly by without interferences, he had let the mortals do as they wish while he abstained from their affairs. He had let countless events and tragedies pass by doing nothing, to tied up in his work to bother.

But that ended today, he would live his sanctum not to seek out new knowledge, no he would do what he should have done millennium ago.

Sakaala Virxina Loved her job despite what other Thoughtfuls may think of her profession. While it is true that the main draw of her business is the novelty of paper back books and may think that she is regressive for using them. She cannot help but she the appeal and find kinship with something odd as she is.

She was old for her species and positively ancient for all of the shorter lived races, which in part was why she took the job of running the public library on the campus she spent so much of her life working on, she was past her prime no more great insights would be coming from her.

But that was why she loved working at the library so much, to she those younger minds come in and flourish, helping the students and even the researchers and professors find what they need and making that next insight was what she lived for now.

However, this part of her job she hated, the waiting. Her detractors claims did have some merit, no one went to libraries any more. Rather querying databases for their own devices. And with all the paperbacks digitizes long ago their was little for her to do in what some races would call her twilight years. At first she read through the old paperbacks but that only lasted her half a century which was well past when she expected to pass on.

This was not help by the fact that in the bigger picture their world was nothing to remarkable being to far from the Compacts core to see it great wealth and too far from the boarder to see any military investment, she know that she was on the Compacts equivalent to a backwater. That fact had never bother her so much as now with so little to do and so little time to do it.

However, Sakaala was broken from her musings when the rarely used front doors Swung, with her head swinging to meet it.

Their stood a massive figure larger that any that had walk through those doors before. The figure was crimson aggressively so, she could only think of a handful of species that had a natural red skin know of which were so massive. Only a few of which matched the bipedal and two-armed figure before her.

However, the species of the figure was not the most noteworthy thing she notices as it approached. Its outfits was somehow even stranger. It wore a rob of all things, pristinely white with emborder red and gold symbols. In one five digit hand it carried a long golden staff which miraculously fit through the doors. While across its torso was a silver chain of all things which help in place a physical book on its side.

It stopped before her desk looking down at her diminutively seated form.

She looked up at the figure meeting its eyes before she asked as calmly as she would ask any other, "Good evening how many I help you."

The figure bared its teeth in what she knows some species would call a smile, "I would like to publish a book" It said while placing the chained book onto her desk. She realized that the size of the figure made her believe the book was smaller than it truly was. It was massive covering almost all of her desk, and thin too.

The library in the past had published papers and articles, having the permissions to put such information onto serval academic databases. However, it had been years since anyone came to her to do so and no one had ever came with a actual physical book to publish. Looking closer she realized that the text on the book was in some stranger flowing language that she could not understand.

She looked up at the figure patiently waiting before her and she spoke slowly unsure of the intelligence of it's species or its gasp of Compact Standard, "I can publish this but I need more information and a translation."

"Oh" it said she only now no longer distracted by the figures apparencies notices the echoing quality of the voice, similar to many translators, but it was off there was something more their than just a translator.

Then it reached out and waved it's five fingered hand over the book. Her eyes went burley and somehow the characters on the book before started moving on their own until they formed words, then phrase that she could understand. And upon the cover made of what she was beginning to realizes some type of animal skin sat inconspicuously the title, "On the Downfall of Empires Volume one. Written by Observer Triarchies, Necrons, and Eeldari, Edited by Observer Justicars"

She quietly flipped through the pages of the book to make sure that she could understand the whole work, before looking back up at its owner.

"I will need your name, home address, race, and means of contact," She said pulling out a data slate from under her desk, "After we have that a committee will review the book before publishing it on serval academic databases, we have accesses to."

It once more bared it's teeth before lightly taking the slate out of her extended arm.

After completing the form it bid her goodbye before exiting through the same doors it entered.

Leaving Sakaala with far more questions that a Throughful of her age would like to admit even to herself.

Name: Magnus the Red

Race: Human Primarch

Home Address: Rally, Center of the New Appalachian Mountains exclusion zone

How to Contact You: Say my name nine times once every nine seconds before a mirror

Horus Lupercal looked around at the carnage he had rot. His power was just a fragment of a fragment of that he held when he was deceived, and still on a shard of what he had when his mind was whole. But that was enough to massacre the four Xenos that laid at his feet. The human that by chance or intent had meet the arcane and arbitrary requirement his brother had placed on his summoning was long gone, just like the dozen before him.

He was not fully sure what it was with the humans of this age being so meek only a handful had thanked him for his help while the rest just ran off as some as their attackers where occupied. The sprites his brother had made whispered to him about this age, but… He had learn his lesson taught to him by his farther in his last moments on the mortal coil to not truest those born of the warp.

Beside those sprites were obsessed with their individual topics of studies and never gave context to their statements, what is "She was shattered, but is reforged, however still but an echo" ever referring to? It could mean a thousand thing taken literally and a million more if not.

He was fading away now his contact completed, the innocent human protected from the treachery of the Xeno. It was an odd feeling to have your body become less and less real by the second it almost felt like dying again, but what make it feel all the more stranger is knowing what comes after, entering the warp unprotected, not by eldritch technology, not by any treacherous god, or even a physical barrier, no matter how useless it would be in the warp.

Despite how much he distrust the sprites Magnus surrounds himself with there is no denning that he is one now, his armor that shrugged of the talons of those who attacked him, his claw which reaped the spin out of their four armed leader, and even his maul which caved in the skull and rids of the other two, all where now as much a part of him as his own arms and legs. All just a memory given shade and form from his will alone.

He was dead his physical body destroyed utterly, he reflected as the warp surround him no more being a stain on the materium, after his complete failure of a planetary assault on the throne world, stifled at every turn by the Wards and other more esoteric arcane defenses he invited his father aboard to try to best him in single combat, however without any suitable psyker to scatter their attack he was utterly crushed by his fathers legions of supporters.

He knew the faith of his physical form still feeling it even after his death and banishment from the warp. His ashes, all that was left from his smithing where tossed into Sol, his armor those tattered remnants where melted down and placed within the Noctis Labyrinth. While his own tale was taken by his son, before it was used to ripe its wielders hearts out then being lost to the void. And lastly his favored maul, Worldbreaker, it returned to the hand that forged it.

But he was here now, his countless years wandering the empty world of Terra were over, it was not worth dwelling to much in the past when he could be making up for his mistakes.

But that was the trouble, the waiting, while time is subjective in the Warp, he could not travel from one summing to the next protecting humanity where ever he went and that was because there was so little humanity left to protect. So, he waited in the warp, waiting for another call to action, to smith those who believe themselves better than humanity. Left to wait only with his memories, only with the past.

So, he through of wait his mind drifts to all too often, the one thing not tainted by his mistake, like all else was, his days in the crusade brought low be their undoing, his time as the arch- traitor to shameful to re-live, his time wandering the wastes of Terra a painful reminder of what victory would have meant.

No, he focused on that all to brief intermission, his banishment for the old world and entering the new. That place even stranger than the warp, empty of everything a void with his only guide the trail his brother left in his passing. Yet that land was full he did not know with what but he know it was empty of everything but held the possibility of anything.

Yet came a time when his services where needed once more, a call for a all to human soul which he was obligated to answer. And just like how leaving the materium was like death a slow loss of self, entering it was like birth a painful sudden emergence. He wonders not for the first time who he would have to kill today?

Researcher Umular Volason was one of the best in the business, when it came to exploring and reverse engineering foreign technology. Starting with her early days of taking apart Principality tech before quickly scooped up by the CIS for her skills.

And that was how she spent the first three century of her life working with the CIS to counter the Principality. However, all that ended when she came across a dead system which should have been full of life. Her handlers didn't know what to make of it so set her and her team on the case of finding out what happened. Despite her your she was team lead and went straight to work one figuring out what happened to the system.

To her the answer was obvious, the mechanism the only thing in doubt.

It was after they reported their findings to their fleets central command that she was brought closer to her current work.

They called it Gravestone and organization the held greater technology than any other major player in the galaxy. So, for the last four and a half centuries she had worked on unrevealing the perplexing technologies of Gravestone.

And she was quite effective at doing so garnering the attention of serval powerful individuals which lead her to her current work. Project Athame.

It would be her magnum opus, her greatest and most likely last contribution to the Compact. When she was assigned to the project she was let in on a few secrets that she had long suspected on the nature of Gravestone. But then was given all they had on the 'Wiseman' or Magnus she prefers to think of him, he beyond anything else was flesh and blood.

At first, she was indignant and dismissive of his claims on the nature of shock space, who has he to wave away millenniums of research and theory. But clearly someone up the chain believed there was merit in his words.

Then the evidences started mounting. First with the blinded trails of shock space breaches, then the effects of unpiloted jumps was re-examined oddities that where brushed off in ages past when shock space was first discovered by each race was re looked at. The pattern of more damage and drift form unmanned shock breaches, then their ideas confirmed through rigorous testing.

All leading to this what a mere century ago she would have been content with as her final gift to the galaxy. A stable breach core.

It was a magnificent cite, before her while the theories and simulations where all sound there was nothing like looking at it. Seeing a whole in reality created by a repurposed shock gate the eldritch energies of what she now knows is the collective beliefs of the galaxy being held at bay by intricate overlapping fields. A quite inspired idea from one of her coworkers to reverse the process of creating a breach to contain one.

She watched a blot of energy arc out from the rift before dying off as it met the containment fields. She knows that the process was still energy negative but that gap was closing by the day as they refined programs to better capture the random outburst of the rift. Soon if all thing went to plan the station would be running off of the breach core before her.

But no matter how impressive the device before her was, it was not the projects true goal, just a mere stepping stone.

It was discovered early one in the remote testing of the breach core that the more energy feed in the larger the arcs of otherworldly power where released, which each caused dimensional shearing. This ended many a test early, but gave them a working understanding of their final goal.

The problem was three-fold. Starting with the most mundane, the power requirement where off the charts for it to have any range at all, however her team found a concerning solution to this. Mainly that if the energy released from the breach core was collected correctly it would be self-sustaining in its expansion, which if their understanding of shock space breachers was correct meant the only thing stopping an effective false vacuum collapse was the galaxy's belief that one would not happen.

The second problem was containment, the amount of energy needed to contain the rift was it was enormous and beyond that their was no practical way to shield the breach core of the environment from the dimensional shearing.

And lastly was the randomness of the effect. No computer could predict the effect in full, no matter how much data they had, no matter how much her younger self dismissed the idea, you need a soul to predict the arcs of the rift, which also effected their energy collection problems.

They had ran test on all the species they had to fine which best could predict the rift, and even those with the best capacity lacked in the reaction times to make it feasible.

But they had come this far and she would not be stopped, even if it kills her she would have her Athame.

He watched for his mirror pool, watch as she sat cool and alone in a cell, but he did nothing, it was her choose, it was her actions that lead her to this fate, and she had to learn from it. But still every second he watches he wanted more and more to go to her to break her from the cell.

It would be so easy to forces again on his work to be lost in the wonder of creating mystical marvels, in the joy of discovering of eldritch secrets, in the pride of watching his children learn in grow. But he forced himself to watch, he know he had let to me unctuosity slip in his quest for knowledge, how many worlds and battlefield had he abandoned in the crusade? How many worlds were burned by the horrors of old night while he was hidden away studying in his crystal towers? How had he the most knowledgeable among his brothers miss each of their falls? How many humans did when the became the Broken? How many more where lost in the years since while he again turned a blind eye to the galaxy content?

He was old, older than almost any being in this galaxy, almost Two Thousand Three Hundred if one where to follow time linearly, older still if one where to not. He who was older than civilization, he who could shift the stars themselves, he who know more lore and arcane knowledge than the rest of the galaxy combined, yet did nothing.

Nothing until today, until the only person he had talk to in a generation left him.

He was but a child in true, he had enough maturity to admit it to himself. With all this knowledge and power, with all his age, where was the wisdom to use it. Where was the wisdom to talk the Wolf king down, where was it to keep his sons from diving to deep into the warp, where was it to stop the flesh change, where was it to keep his brothers from fighting, where was it?

He would do better, so he watches on reminding himself why he acted now and for who.

One of his lesser creations placed the books he requested on his desk. It was too weak a sprite to have a mind and so was not one of his children, it then floated away not knowing or bothering to use the legs its illusory form had.

The pile was small for him, only five think tombs, for most mortals it would come up to their torso. But he was not researching today, today he was leaving his sanctum, for the first in an age the outside world would see him in his true form.

It took time to find where to go, where these texts would do the most go in bring about a change in the galaxy. Scrying for libraries was surprisingly difficult, most information having been digitized, which he could not understand how there was no public library on Rally, hardly any paperback at all. Did everyone forget the feeling of a good book in hand, the smell of a library, or even the use of one as an improvised weapon?

Never the less he would be traveling across the galaxy to publish these books in libraries around the galaxy. A better use for these high gothic texts than sitting in the rarely used sociology section. It would take so time for his to deliver them on matter how powerful he was he could not teleport around the galaxy all day.

This also served another purpose, the development of his children, the most powerful among them have wanted to publish their books and ever since he acknowledged them as his children, they have been insisting on this. It would do good for them to know that their works have reached others.

However, that was not the only way he was reaching out into the galaxy after his long absences. There was his other project, he looked at the large ruby soulstone floating in the air at the center of one of his many studies. Their it was surrounded by dozens of rings of runes, symbols that circled the stone glowing gold in the air binding his brother, or what was left of him after his fathers wraith at least.

The bindings where simple he had gotten much practices with those from his children and even before his time in is new home. However, they where powerful enough to bind a greater spirits, and could even hold a fragment of an Aeldari god which the soulstone's design had been inspired from. Soulstones where deceptively hard to craft, he and even his father believed that all it did was hold a soul in the materium to prevent it from being released into the warp. They could not be more wrong, it took him longer than any other creation to date to uncover the secrets that made Soulstones work, and if it where not for his observations on his children grew in power he may never of understood the principals behind soulstones. It did not store the soul in the materium, but create a domain in the Great Ocean for the soul to reside in protected from the flow of the greater immaterium and impenetrable fortress in the warp with only one entrance and only one exit the stone in the materium. Making it impossible for any solely warp based being to attack them.

However, it was not the bindings or the soulstone that was the important part of the artifact that he had created, no even without binding in his brother's remorseful state he would not even try to escape. No most of the glyphs that orbited around his brothers soul where made to tell he when and where to manifest his physical form. Linking into the human subconscious was difficult, but using a human soul to identify them as easy enough, no that was not the most important part. That would be the countless systems to prevent false positives, to not mistake the fear of failure with the fear of an attack. It almost warranted the creation of its own spirit, but he could not bring himself to put his brother under anyone but himself. The system to manifest him was by comparison was tiny, taking the power form the lands that he would be summoned to, guiding it into the form that his brother felt was truly 'him'. With this extra power he would be nearly unstoppable. If he were to face him without preparation in would be a far to close fight.

All this to say that anyone who would dare attack a human would be broken themselves into pieces by the wraith of a chained wolf. He wounder now which way was better, which way will return humanity to its rightful places sooner, the enlighten of the scholar or the death of the warrior?

End Chapter 8