The Deliverance, In Transit over Urthwart, 999.M41 Seven days after 'The Saint's awakening'

Harry Potter, Master of Death

"Well, now we know why that massive ship was waiting out at such a long range…" Gerstahl was quite possibly the only one taking the sight that was being shown on The Deliverance's screens calmly, as they rocketed towards the agreed meeting point with The Chariot of Retribution.

The massive ship had fired it's main weapons at Urthwart about five minutes after they had taken off, the beams of energy that arced through the air destroying the wreckage of several of the ships that had died in orbit in an instant before scything into the planet's atmosphere. The atmosphere ignited, and even through the somewhat poor definition screens they were using Harry could see the beams burrowing into the crust of the planet itself.

"Such power, how can we hope to stop it?" Such a sight had clearly shaken Velex's usually unflappable belief in the Imperium, though Harry couldn't help but agree with the sentiment.

That ship effectively made planet based defences somewhat pointless, regardless of whether the Imperium won the battle on the ground, it seemed these 'Forces of Chaos' didn't care. As his Occlumency clamped down on his panic, Harry examined the system readouts in an attempt to find something to distract his attention from the destruction occurring in front of them.

It didn't take him long to find something that helped to calm his nerves slightly, and hopefully would help the others as well.

"Is it just me, or is that fleet still acting a little too defensively given they have won?" In fact, the fleet had been too cautious throughout.

Even now, with most of the Chaos ships in orbit destroyed, there hadn't been a rush of reinforcements that they'd expected.

"Indeed, clearly the defences on that ship are not as monstrous as it's offensive weaponry if they commit so many forces to its protection." Pointing to the mostly vapourised wreckage of the ships and the battered Chaos remnants as the last few Imperial ships jumped into the Warp, Gerstahl spoke with more than a little pride in his tone.

"And given we rescued most of the expeditionary force and destroyed at least twice the tonnage of enemy ships as we lost ourselves, I would say that this is much more a victory for us than it is for the heretics. Better yet, the destruction of Urthwart denied them of a rather useful force, assuming that the rest of the populous had been infected by that foul disease." That was a good point, Urthwart's population had been more than a billion according to the information Octus had in his data banks, and while they weren't overly dangerous individually they would have still swelled the enemy ranks.

"Lieutenant! We need you down here!" The call over the comms came from the transport area of The Deliverance, and as Velex stood and opened the bulkhead door the sound of shouting and general angry mob noises made it clear why the request had been made.

Harry followed as much out of a desire to distract himself further from Urthwart's destruction as a desire to help, he was tired and his head throbbed from the amount of magic he had used on Urthwart and with healing the infected. Even being in the Eye of Terror was a constant test of his mental concentration, as the 'tripwires' he could see in the magic around him were so closely and chaotically arrayed that anytime he called on his magic he risked tripping one.

The two thousand odd refugees from Urthwart were packed together on the second tier of The Deliverance, with the Kasrkin and Storm troopers staying with their vehicles and equipment on the first tier. The atmosphere around the refugees was charged with anger now though, and as far as Harry could make out it was focussed on something at the far end of the cargo space.

Velex and her Guardsmen were struggling to make their way through the throng, and seeing a small bubble of space in the vicinity of where the anger was focussed, he grabbed Gerstahl by the shoulder and apparated over.

"You witch! You're in league with.. By the Emperor!" It had been like pushing through mud to make the jump, and as Harry dropped to a knee for a moment he realised why.

The space he had seen wasn't being kept by the refugees on purpose, the rabble being forced from the area by a magical barrier that glowed with an eldritch light he could now make out at the closer distance.

"S-Stay back, I can't control it.." The source of said barrier became clear a moment later, a dust covered girl who was probably in her mid teens at best backed against the wall of The Deliverance, clearly terrified at her use of accidental magic and the threats from the crowd.

She was a gaunt and spindly thing, clearly underfed and malnourished from what Harry could make out at his initial glance, his wand out and casting a wide-effect silencing charm behind him as he turned to the girl while rising to his feet. Her hazel brown eyes met his own for a moment and he could see the confusion and terror that was gripping her, even as recognition and surprise appeared as the noise of the crowd disappeared almost entirely.

"That's enough of that I think." He deliberately stopped several feet from the girl and reached up to disengage the air seal on his armour for his helm.

The smell of Ozone and the feeling of static on his skin made him realise this situation was more serious than he had thought, and reaching out he could feel the panic and fear causing the girl's magic to react violently and arc outwards in an uncontrolled manner.

"Now, as you might have noticed, you and I have something in common. And unlike the idiots out there…" Harry kept his tone even and light as he gestured over his shoulder, eyes never leaving the girl's as she seemed torn between terrified and hopeful in equal measure.

"I realise quite how scary it can be to have people shouting at you when you lose control. I also know that asking someone to calm down will often make things worse, so I want to instead try and get you to do a little exercise with me…" Given this was the first magic user Harry had encountered since entering this universe, he wasn't sure how much his abilities would translate across.

But as he conjured a bouquet of wildflowers, complete with vase, the way the girl's face turned slowly to that of wonder made him bury those uncertainties before they could surface in a notable way.

"B-but, this is a curse, the texts say The Emperor damns all those…" Thankfully Gerstahl stepped forward without any prompting, summoning his silvery flames and boarding shield as a feeling of calmness and purity washed over the cargo deck.

"The Emperor doesn't damn anyone who is loyal to humanity and the Imperium. Those who use their abilities to aid in it's defence are to be lauded, regardless of the type of those abilities. In fact, do you want to know a secret?" The various shocks seemed to be helping the girl calm down, the feeling of her magic slowly calming a positive sign as she nodded her head somewhat shyly.

"The Emperor himself is a psyker, someone who can use powers like yours. So why would he damn someone for having a gift like his?" Given when Gerstahl had used that as a defence against the Guardsmen who still mistrusted Harry it had nearly caused a riot, this information was clearly not available to the general public of the Imperium.

"Really, so... it could be a blessing instead?" The sound of desperation in the girl's voice was painful to hear, and Harry took the opportunity to cast his own shield around the three of them before speaking.

"It can be, but like many blessings it is up to the control and strength of the one given it to make sure it doesn't become a curse. It took me many years to gain control of my powers, though I find it is much easier when you have someone giving you a hand." He offered the flowers forward even as the girl calmed down, the implied offer making her mouth form into a small, uncertain smile that transformed her face.

"Y-you can teach me how to make these… things? I won't be an unholy freak anymore?" As the girl took hold of the wildflowers and pulled them to her chest possessively, her eyes widening as the various smells obviously reached her nose, Harry remembered the dust covered landscape of Urthwart and the fact the population lived underground.

This was quite possibly the first time she had even seen flowers before, let alone this many types at once.

Turning to glare furiously at the now stupefied crowd of refugees, several of whom suddenly started to remind him a little too much of the Dursleys for their continued safety, Harry shook his head and extended a hand out behind him.

"I can teach you that and more. In fact, I intend to do everything in my power to make sure you become a Saint of the Imperium if you want it." The crowd literally shuddered under the weight of his glare, but Harry meant every word of what he said.

That was the best way to deal with bigots, and Harry got the feeling there would be many more to deal with in the Imperium at large. He didn't agree with all this religious clap-trap, let alone the idea of faith being more important than anything in the Imperium, but for now he would use what he needed.

"That sounds like an excellent idea." There was an edge to Gerstahl's own voice as he spoke up with his own support, even as Harry felt a small, bony hand grasp his own offered hand like a lifeline.

He looked down with a smile as the girl managed a glare of her own at the various refugees.

"See, you already have the support of an existing Saint. Now we just have to hear the name of the future Saint, shouted with all her belief in the Imperium in the face of those who would try and deny her that right." It was probably a little too petty, given many of the refugees were now looking more guilty and abashed than angry.

But as the girl seemed to stand a little taller and took a deep breath, Harry realised he didn't particularly care for their feelings right now.

"I am Future Saint Freyja, and I will protect the Imperium with all my soul in the name of the God-Emperor. And each and everyone of you, who claimed that my powers were an affront to his name..." The nearest refugees froze in terror as she raised her hand, the shield she had inadvertently created throbbed dangerously.

Then, with the slow and somewhat fluctuating manner that spoke of a complete novice, the barrier fell, with Freyja continuing to speak as her brow became beaded with sweat from the exertion.

"Are forgiven, and I hold you no ill will for your attempts to follow the scriptures we have been given. As Saint Markus said 'In the service of the Emperor, we must put aside our petty grievances and personal rivalries, for it is only united that humanity will stand against the darkness of the Universe." And as Freyja launched into a religious sermon with a fervour that would put Commissar Hawke to shame, showing that she had been more than just attentive in her religious studies, Harry found himself wondering whether it was just his imagination.

Or did Gerstahl's radiance seem to shine that little bit brighter all of a sudden?

The Chariot of Retribution, Far reaches of the Uthwart System, 6 hours after the destruction of planet Urthwart

Frederick Rhys, Captain of the Light Cruiser By His Grace and Lord Captain of the Urthwart Expeditionary fleet remnants

"Welcome aboard Lord Captain, logic dictates you have many questions, but it would be optimal if you waited until we reached the bridge and commenced a formal introduction." As he finished walking down the exit ramp of the odd Valkyrie variant transport that had picked him and his squad of Armsmen up from his ship, Frederick couldn't help but feel the Tech-priest in front of him was more than slightly understating things.

"I assume you are the Magos Nihilus that sent us the messages during the battle, correct? Other Tech-priests I have worked with before tend to insist on the use of their full titles when talking to them, I found such a lack of concern on your part… odd." That was as close to raising his concerns about the strange ship that had been involved in their survival as Frederick felt comfortable raising as he looked around the hangar they were in.

It was fairly small as Imperial ship hangars went, with three more of the Valkyrie variants diagonally parked along the centre line of the room, barely three or four metres gap between them. These valkyries were painted pitch black, and had wings that curved backwards rather than moving out directly to the sides, reminding Frederick of hunting birds mid-dive.

The lack of space spoke of confidence in the Magos' pilots, and their ability to maneuver their birds extremely accurately, or that these ships were not intended for use in rushed combat situations.

"Desire for title to be recognised and acknowledged as an emotional prerogative, pride and fear of being forgotten have limited use in the service of the Omnissiah. Magos will suffice, specialities or title irrelevant in the current situation. I have been reminded that your ship has sustained some damage during the last battle, and despite limitations on our own manpower, I calculate that a group of Tech-priests and servitors would be beneficial in ensuring your ship's functionality until it can return to an orbital station for formal repairs?"

The offer was delivered in the same monotone manner that the rest of the speech had been given, but Frederick could almost feel the condescension in the Magos' tone as he spoke about the need for titles or specialities the other Tech-priests seemed to enjoy.

"By the Emperor, yes! We were undermanned when we left Cadia, and the losses we sustained from the heretical boarding parties would have overwhelmed us if not for the Astartes you sent across to us." Sent across was the polite way of acknowledging the boarding torpedo that was stuck into the Port side of his main gun deck.

The four Astartes had barely finished with the last of the main boarding parties an hour ago, a group of heretics having barricaded themselves in one of the crew rooms on the engine deck, though from what Frederick had heard the Astartes had stormed their cobbled defences without firing a single boltgun round. The heretics and traitors did not die quickly, each and everyone of them shown that their belief in false Gods and dark promises was nothing more than selfish folly.

Even with their help though, Frederick found himself with less than 500 armsmen to cover his entire crew, and at least half the conscripted crew were dead or as good as. While his actual void crew were capable of crewing the ship for basic operations, he would barely be able to arm half of his ship's weapons until he got more bodies aboard, and several sections of his engineering deck were open to the void.

"Crew situations are not simple to solve, though there are certain systems that could be transferred to optimise weapons system requirements. This way please." They had travelled up a small access elevator to the command deck of the Cruiser while they had been talking, and as they walked through the rather quiet halls Frederick couldn't help but notice that there weren't many people around, given the seeming size of the ship he had expected there would be at least 100,000 people aboard.

He had seen less than a hundred so far, mostly red robed tech priests, and a group of short bearded abhumans that he recognised vaguely as the Squats of Imperial myth. All of which were moving materials and equipment to and from the command deck at a considerable rate, showing that there was work being carried out on the ship despite the fact it had seemingly escaped any combat damage.

He couldn't work out the purpose of these men and material movements, and as they reached the main entrance to the ship's bridge, he found himself with four larger problems to focus on.

"I didn't realise you had more Astartes aboard Magos…" Doing his best to avert his eyes respectfully, as the Astartes were known to react swiftly and mercilessly to those they felt slighted them, Frederick suddenly felt the squad of eight armsmen was a rather poor set of bodyguards indeed.

These flame patterned Astartes unsettled him in a way the Astates aboards the By His Grace didn't though, some primal part of his brain rousing itself to make it clear that there was something… unnatural about the way their eyes almost burned with literal flames.

"Your heartbeat has increased almost 7% Lord Captain. Do not worry, the Astartes are no threat to those loyal to the Imperium." The fact his unease had been so easily detected didn't particularly help him calm down, even as the reinforced bulkhead finished opening and they stepped onto the bridge itself.

There was no announcement of the Magos' return or any attempt at the traditional fanfare that accompanied some of the more storied vessels of the Imperial Navy, though several of the Imperial Guardsmen moved to attention and saluted as they noticed his approach to the large conference table.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, I introduce Lord Captain Frederick Rhys of By His Grace." Frederick noted the half a dozen people stood at the table, though they were quickly relegated to the back of his mind as the man at the opposite end of the table grabbed the entirety of his attention.

"Lord Captain, your dedication to the Imperium and the determination to fight its enemies to the last has been noted, many would have advocated a 'tactical withdrawal' the moment the size of the enemy fleet became apparent to you." The figure, dressed in the Carapace armour of a Stormtrooper and outlined by a strange almost radiant aura, spoke with an easy authority that seemed to wash over the entire room.

Whoever this person was, he clearly held a powerful position and held the loyalties of the entire room, in a manner Frederick had only ever seen before from Admirals, Imperial Guard Warmasters and Astartes. There was one other possibility, given the lack of an obvious rank denotation on the man's armour, one that would fit with the strange and secretive nature of the stealth ship he now found himself aboard.

"Thank you My Lord, I only did as would be expected of the Emperor's servants. Though, I must admit the Magos did not inform me of the purpose of this meeting. Surely, given the state of our surviving ships, we need to head to a shipyard such as Belis Corona or Sabbatorus for repairs and to warn them of this monstrosity?" Even with that suggestion, Frederick knew he was being optimistic that all three surviving Imperial Navy ships would make a successful jump through the Warp.

The perils of Warp Travel were considerable even for fresh ships, with every ship crew having horror stories of ships they travelled with disappearing into the Warp to never return, or to return with only the maddened remnants of their crews turned to heresy and cannibalism. For badly damaged ships, the horrors of the Warp could manifest only too easily aboard their ravaged decks, and the Geller field often proved a flimsy defence at best.

"Them and Cadia itself, from the data we have already mined from your ships sensors, this was merely a fraction of a much larger fleet. Such a large fleet can only mean the Traitors are embarking on another Black Crusade." At the name, the man spat dismissively onto the ground next to him.

"I assume that you're not going to jump in this time? Giving us another mysterious location where we need to go without any indication why?" The one who spoke was the other reason why Frederick suspected he was in the presence of the Inquisition.

Short, and with a slight frame that spoke of hiveworld or ganger heritage, the black haired man was not actually facing them. He was instead speaking in the direction of the only Astartes on the bridge, another of the flame decorated black armoured super humans, one who was showing a remarkable amount of restraint given the almost sarcastic manner the man was speaking to him.

Only the Inquisition got away with that level of brazen arrogance, especially when the Astartes finally shook its head ever so slightly, causing the man to return to facing the table with a sigh. Octus speaking up as he shifted the displays on the table to show the Eye of Terror and its surrounding sectors.

"Easy to speak of possibilities and potential destinations, but we are not the ones who would need to navigate us through such a journey. Navigator Typhon, what do your senses tell you?" Octus looked behind the table and up at this point, to the raised dais that was the only place on the bridge that was higher than the Captain's Chair.

The woman that stood at the edge of this dais was remarkably human looking, in comparison to the pale skinned and gangly Navigator that served on Frederick's own vessel, but even as she moved down the steps that served as the access point to this area Frederick couldn't help but flinch away under the stare of her large and unblinking eyes.

These eyes were almost a third again the size of a normal human, which combined with the jet black bandana strapped over her forehead to make a disturbingly disproportionate face. Reaching the base of the steps, she waved aside the Navigator House Troops that served as her bodyguards with a gentle if dismissive touch

"The patterns of the Warp are disturbed, as I have told you before Magos. The death of Urthwart, as well as the dark sorceries of the traitor's fleet would make travelling any great distance through the Warp a fanciful idea for the average Navigator…" The various humans at the table shuffled back slightly as she reached the table, the presence of one of the only accepted mutated humans something that put any loyal Imperium servant ill at ease.

The short man and the one Frederick guessed was an Inquisitor were the only ones not to react in such a manner, though Octus' reaction was a mere respectful bowing of his head in the Navigator's direction.

"And you repeatedly claim that you are nothing but a normal Navigator, so who is it that is aiding you in determining our route?" There was nothing but the slightest of flinches in the Navigator's expression at Octus' question, the Tech-priest looking up a moment later with a humoured tone entering his speech patterns.

"You have not gifted outsiders with your presence in the sixty years you served on my vessel, even when Inquisitor Kryptmann was aboard and demanded your input in person. It is not a great intellectual leap..." The Navigator kept her gaze on Octus even as he finished speaking, before she turned away and walked gracefully to the short human and extended her hand.

"My name is Aerys Typhon of the Novis Nobilite. I would have the name of the one whose soul is directly linked to that of an Imperial Saint, yet whose power is decidedly...unique by itself." Despite the abrupt and demanding tone, this was the closest to civil that Frederick had ever seen from a Navigator to anyone other than their direct employer.

There was a long pause as the short man looked at the outstretched hand and then back to the navigator's face before gently grasping the extended limb and bringing it up to kiss it's knuckles gently.

"Pleasure to meet you Lady Typhon. I am sure you are already aware of my name, given that you and yours were listening in during the various meetings we had previously, so you will excuse me if I don't play your game." Navigator Typhon considered him seriously for a moment before a sly grin transformed her face as she moved round him, hands darting out as if to pluck strings that only she could see.

"I do know your name Lord Potter, and I know of your origins. What I do not know, and very much look forward to discovering, is where all these threads lead to…" She reached for the pocket of his robe, only to scowl playfully when he grabbed her wrist firmly to stop her.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you, look but don't touch? You definitely need to treat me to dinner at least once before you get to grab anything in my pockets." It was as if the small man had told a joke only he knew, as Frederick knew of no link between dinner and taking things from other people's pockets.

"I would not try to feed someone who's cooking is the talk of the ship, I get the feeling our food on the ship is not going to be considered much of a treat. Still, I would ask your permission to inspect one of these strange items you have on your person? For the good of our mission I promise." The two stared at each other for several long seconds, everyone else uncertain of whether they should speak up and risk the attention themselves.

"Fine, I assume you are talking about this thing, can't just observe from a distance can you?" Rather than reaching into his robe as the Navigator had been attempting to, the short man simply waved his hand and a bell appeared in his palm, the smell of ozone bursting out onto the bridge as he did so.

It was at this point that Frederick started to wonder exactly what he had got himself into, and wishing he had a bottle of Amasec.

Psykers, strange items and talk of Imperial Saints… What next, one of the Astartes Primarchs of legend revealing themselves?

A/N: And on that irony, I will leave it there for the chapter I think. More characters, more plot, and Harry even has an apprentice in the making… That's going to make him even more popular with the Inquisition I have no doubt. And that's ignoring that his links to certain 'items' and locations are seemingly usable by Navigators as directional guides.

Still, Where should we be headed next? I have two locations in mind, one as a plot based progression and one as a more strategic move.

As a clarification in terms of timing, this is right at the cusp of the 13th Black Crusade strike against Cadia, pretty much a month/month and a half before Abaddon's fleet appears in the Chira Lomas and Nemesis Tessera. Hence, it is after the massacre at Tyrok Fields and the rise of Creed as Lord Commander, even if you want to try using the 'uncertainty of Warp Travel' as an ability to move time around.

It does mean that there is a lot of scope to act against the Armada's forerunners, the Night Lord Terror Raids, The Plague of Unbelief and the Heretical Uprisings on loads of Imperial Worlds. Or even non-Chaos related enemies, such as the Drukhari Raiders and the slowly awakening Tomb Worlds of the Necrons.

Interested to see where people think Harry and his forces will do the most good in the initial phases of the conflict. Feel free to offer up your thoughts and ideas, will be interesting to see what people come up with.

Defias Out!