**Author's notes: As I said before, updates will be a little sporadic for awhile as I work on the rewrite. In addition to that, because I'm restructuring parts of this story, I've added an additional meeting of Erika and Tzeentch back in chapter 103. This had been included when I had first completed that chapter, but in the interest of brevity, I ended up cutting it. I've decided now that that chapter works better with this Warp scene than without, and have now added it once again. It doesn't really change the direction the story is going in; it just helps that chapter flow better.**

As I studied the interior of the Grandiloquent Abundance and its many weapon systems, a strange sound passed through my being, and I felt a powerful urge to listen. The unusual noise was so alluring that it pulled my projected awareness out of the bowels of the Necron ship, and I found myself distracted. It was something that I found that I could not ignore, and in order to attend to it, I slowed time.

Back on my golden throne, I felt my jaw slacken, and my Corona embraced me fully as I focused on the strange delightful noise. The sound was very pleasant. It sounded like a large crowd of people singing in sibilant whispers, and the odd susurrus sang through me like the whispering leaves in a windy summer forest.

The beautiful hissing surrounded me in a loving cloud, and I found that I was grinning in both body and soul. Luckily, this did not distract me so completely that I was vulnerable to Am'Erika's aggression, and I found myself dodging another sword strike from the Keeper of Secrets in slowed time. The whispers were gentle and peculiar, and they wafted up from below like steam from a hot spring, warming my very being with strength and a sense of well-being.

Despite the dangerous situation I knew myself to be in, I continued to find myself inexorably drawn to this strange pervasive noise. The whispers were currently indecipherable in subject, but the sound was utterly captivating. I even found myself deriving mild strength from the soothing noise.

With reluctant effort, I continued on with my tasks while I forced myself away from my transfixion of the mesmerizing noise. While I continued to pilot the Divine Retribution, I directed another piece of myself back into the Harvest Ship soaring above. This effort of pairing my consciousness again caused me strain, and sensing the great stress I was currently experiencing, I felt the power of the Divine Retribution's greater oversoul gently swim through my presence and assert itself onto my will, essentially shouldering some of the spiritual strain currently being inflicted upon me. I did not fight this action, and accepted it with relief. I continued to smile as the background whispers soothed me. This whole series of unfortunate events was both thrilling and frightening, really. At least this was exciting, and I had this nice background hiss to listen to. A distant piece of myself once again worried that my human soul was slowly burning away under the will of the god-machine I had welcomed into my being. Would I even be human at all before I got to Molech?

The lovely whispers continued, and a piece of me remained somewhat transfixed. I focused further, curious as to what song was being sung in order to captivate me so completely.

With a brief psychic examination, I could tell now that each soft voice in the cloud of whispers originated from a human soul, and each soul had its own beautiful story as they grew, lived, and died. This experience of hearing this many souls somewhat reminded me of what it was to witness the all-encompassing majesty of divinity when I had been attached to the Heart of Worlds on Nubua. I continued to slow time so I would have a few moments to study this intriguing phenomena.

And then, with a glimpse of Slight, I understood. The strange whispers were whirlwind echoes of thousands of prayers sounding through the local Warp. The souls of the megopolis of Evna were frightened and pleading to a higher power, frightened by their circumstances. Their multitudinous praises felt like soft alluring wind against my increasingly alien perception. I could feel them through my soul and Sight as their quiet words caressed my skin of living gold. Most were praying to the Emperor, but a sizeable minority was now praying toward me. Many humans were now convinced that I was a vengeful angel (or even a god) as I soared through the sky in my conflict with Am'Erika. The animation of the Statue of Libertine had been witnessed by the Evians from a distance, and its loathsome new appearance was now enough to convince many that the colossus was not as it had been represented by the Family of Liberty. This, coupled with the dreams of a gold woman astride a fiery gold eagle that many of the sensitive humans had been experiencing was enough to cause a flashpoint of faith, and now, people prayed to me for deliverance, and for my forgiveness.

Many prayed for mercy against my divine retribution.

While this frightful worship was not currently desired by my captain, it was not surprising. Little mortal creatures such as the small ones I was now programmed to protect often did not (or could not) comprehend what sort of being I was, and I had often been perceived as a divine entity. The mind that served as my representation at the present found such worship distasteful, and therefore, I did as well as I flew.

I sensed that the humans were frightened. Their world was in peril, and with no effective army to defend them, they were in trouble. The greater human empire in this galaxy was too far away to save them, and they were bereft of help from these aliens. Knowing this for certain, I again felt tremendous shame that I had been the one to bring this upon them. At the very least, I would not allow these people to be consumed by the vile hunger of Chaos.

I needed to get my act together, and I needed to be better than this, I thought with frustration. These were my humans and I had to protect them! And to do that, I would need to get rid of the possessed statue nearby.

With difficulty, I turned away from the whispering prayers, and I shifted my awareness outward again. I was then far above this threatened world, searching for the alien vessel I wished to invade and corrupt.

As an invisible ghost, I traveled again through alien crystal-based machinery intertwined with strands of living metal interwoven through the body of the Grandiloquent Abundance, hunting again for something very special, the weapon systems of the massive cannon under the main body of the gargantuan jeweled Harvest Ship. My plan was to somehow corrupt and hijack this alien ship in order to use it to attack the animated Statue of Libertine. But honestly, I had no idea how I would do such a thing, and I was half-allowing the imperative of the Divine Retribution guide my way forward.

Am'Erika abruptly struck forward with her remaining crab claw, and I felt part of myself bend reality so that I could escape it. My crew cried out in fear!

Back above, I stole through the Necron battleship, searching for its appropriate functions and controls while another part of me simultaneously existed on the bridge to spar with the Keeper of Secrets. On my throne, my Corona wreathed me in light as I concentrated on traversing the depths of the Harvest Ship. I would set the Divine Retribution to harry the Keeper of Secrets like any aggressive bird of prey in order to keep her attention fixed on me, and not the massive city filled with millions of praying people nearby. I didn't want to see the beautiful human whispers consumed by the darkness of Chaos. After my empowerment and "levelling up", both the ship and I were both stronger and we were both low on power, but I had to keep that daemon distracted.

I then allowed time to pass normally, and it was so.

Distantly, I heard Null object that I wasn't leaving through the hole in the minefield that had emerged above. He also informed us that the mines were currently stationary, their seeking capabilities disabled by either Nimmie Amee or Langwidere's interference. If the mines were fully mobile and capable of seeking us, then we'd never be able to pass through any gap in the field, so Null was insistent on our departure before this fault could be amended.

There was also something unusual about the Tech-priest, I was able to sense. The belt that he wore was now glowing with a strange light, and I could perceive that the former Archmagos was concerned about this as he bundled his robes over his metal body. Virgil had teleported down to the engine room, and was now staring at Null, his expression harsh.

Null's complaints and glowing belt caused me to open my blazing gold eyes on the bridge, and I watched as Rasputin smugly stood over the leftmost throne, preparing to sit down, and watching me with curiosity. I probably needed to tell everyone what I was going to do.

"Here's the plan, everyone: I'm going to hijack the cannon on board the lead Necron ship, and I'm going to use it to destroy the possessed statue," I plainly informed my crew, my voice resonating powerfully through the golden halls. I felt Null lurch in surprise in the engine room, and I smiled in satisfaction. With an angle of my jaw, I willed a holographic model of the Grandiloquent Abundance to appear before us

The Necron capitol ship was a long, irregularly shaped structure many kilometers in length and width. It had a long body of dark silvery metal, and at its head, a broad flat crescent reached sharply forward. Three long "struts" (each a third of the length of the vessel) emerged at a sixty degree angle from the long body, and blinking green lights flashed at their endpoints. Across the entire Harvest Ship, decorative jewels were placed in jagged alien designs across the hull of the gargantuan vessel, demonstrating the obscene wealth of those who flew it. It was obvious that the Nome King enjoyed wealth, and that he wanted everyone to know it.

General statistics appeared aside the hologram, offering us a snapshot of what we were dealing with.

Vessel name: Grandiloquent Abundance

Vessel craft: Necron, Harvest Ship, unknown variant

Alignment: Necron

Size: Approximately 12km length, 8km width, 8km depth, irregular

Estimated Crew: 500,000-12,000,000, Necron, Nome variant + Flayed One variant

Type: Battleship

Armed: yes, warning! high potency weapons detected! Teleportarium detected!

Warp Capable: other

"-and the existence teleportarium makes it doubly dangerous! In conclusion, we're outgunned!" Null was pleading. Apparently, he had been talking this whole time.

"I'm not leaving here without destroying Am'Erika. I'm not letting it consume more souls," I explained with flat brutality.

Before I could listen to anyone's reaction, I closed my physical eyes again so I could further concentrate on studying the Grandiloquent Abundance while I continued to pilot. Doing this while forcibly ignoring the distracting masses of prayers was not easy. It was difficult to be in multiple places at once, but I was getting used to it, and soon, we'd have more power.

With a sudden catch of my breath, I felt the ship recognize another Traveler as the left throne then reacted to Rasputin's contact. The Divine Retribution's spirit responded with delight, and I felt a pang of hunger as it began to study the Mad Monk's soul, who was now very unpleasantly surprised at the sensation. Rasputin, like Alberich had before when he had been first integrated, cried out from the uncomfortable sensation of having your nervous system examined and set on fire by a foreign eldritch presence. A pitched scream passed through me, and I felt Rasputin's desperation as he telepathically shouted: If you kill me, you don't get the code!

I found myself laughing on my throne. "I don't actually need your cooperation. I'm strong enough that I can just tear it out of you if I want. This is my ship, and I navigate its oversoul. But, don't worry. I don't intend to kill you. And now, if you'll pardon me, I need your energy."

Rasputin continued to cry out as the ship gently inquired, "Potential tertiary navigator detected, port throne. No Key resources to initiate scan. Action?"

"Draw energy from port throne to initiate scan," I impassively instructed, my voice strong and cold. Behind my words, I also let the ship know that I didn't want the Mad Monk killed, but that it could be somewhat liberal in its drain. I put my attention back on the prayers whispering outside to drown out the lost Russian's screams.

"Nyet, nyet, nyet-" Rasputin protested on his throne as I felt the Divine Retribution completely tear through him, studying him for both corruption and suitability for integration. The Mad Monk screamed in fear and pain! Nearby, I could sense that the entirety of my bridge (with the exception of Alberich, who was chuckling in dark amusement) was watching my actions with awestruck horror. Lian, who stood behind my throne, continued to tremble in reverent fear, his soul echoing with visceral worship. He recognized that something deep and instinctual within him was now responding to the newly-empowered light that radiated from me. It even caused his knees to buckle.

"Don't be such a child,"I heard Alberich laugh at Rasputin's screaming from his throne. "Face your fate with that infamous Russian civility the world we left knew so well!"

Am'Erika lunged at me again at the very same time that I confirmed the location of the root controls of the Grandiloquent Annihilation cannon once again. I dipped away, and raked a sharp talon across the greater daemon's shoulder before strafing out of the way of her sword strike. As an invading ghost within the Grandiloquent Abundance, I discovered that the two Necrons that were specifically in charge of the cannon were actually in the nearby galley picking up their "lunch". Other red-robed Crypteks stood nearby in other alcoves, busying themselves with operating the various sophisticated lasers that were being used to destroy the mines that floated above.

Knowing that I had caught Necrons on a so-called "lunch break" was too much for me, and I broke into laughter on my throne even as Rasputin remained screaming on the bridge. No one dared ask me what I had found so funny, so I just shook my head as I pushed my presence through the cannon. Since when do undead soulless metal skeletons eat lunch? Maybe they were Flayed Ones, I wondered, and they had skins for lunch? As I continued to morbidly giggle, I dodged yet another frustrated sword strike by Am'Erika while I waited for the Mad Monk to be integrated. Maybe having a third copilot would be a good idea anyway, I idly thought through each of my split presences. I could always just kill him if he acted up. I listened to the prayers outside again, and found myself both inspired and soothed by them.

I was getting better at this, I observed as I studied mysterious glyphs, sensed the movement of power through living metal, and examined strange energy crystals deep inside an enemy ship. I would have to ask the Divine Retribution's fake-Sebastian what I could do at this power level sometime after we were done escaping.

Rasputin was moaning in low pain when I heard the ship passively intone: "Tertiary navigator accepted. Sit nomen viator benedictum. Stand by for initiation. Final approval from captain?"

I whistled a few notes of the chorus of Boney M's famous "Rasputin" song as I gazed over at the left throne. The Mad Monk was slouched miserably, and I could now feel his soul swimming within the mighty oversoul of the Divine Retribution. Rasputin noticed me watching him, and he lifted his head to gaze at me in maddened awe, now fully understanding what sort of creature I was. Distantly, I was now able to see that the Mad Monk's hair had lightened somewhat from his energy drain, and he was now somewhat grey. With an easy reach, I then invaded Rasputin's now considerably more pliable mind, and easily tore the code for the minefield kill-switch from his secrets for later use. I discerned that he had been telling the truth, so that was good. Maybe having him around really could be beneficial for us?

"Initialize tertiary navigator, Divine Retribution," I confirmed. "Fine. You get a trial run, I guess."

What... are you? Rasputin asked me in mind as he reeled, now actually seeing my heavy brilliantly gold Warp presence. What is this thing that you are? You are not human...

"No time for talk. I'm going to need to draw from you both because I'm a bit low on energy, so this will be unpleasant. I have to go deeper into a projection now," I instructed my two copilots. Alberich took a deep breath and gripped his armrests, bracing for any pain. "Alberich, if I don't respond well, you're the pilot." With another metaphysical inhale, I drew energy from both Alberich and Rasputin, favoring Rasputin's higher energy reserves. The Mad Monk cried out again as I felt his throne sear his very being, and then, my presence inside the Grandiloquent Abundance grew more substantial, briefly bathing the area that I lurked within in a faint gold glow. One Cryptek turned around, and in a very human gesture, he scratched his bald metal head in puzzlement before turning back to his command console with a shrug.

I then unexpectedly found myself floating on the bridge of the Necron battleship instead of the weapons bay. Ahead of me, I could see the Nome King as he stared deeply into the glowing orb on his staff, almost seeming transfixed and muttering something under his breath. The orb at the end of his staff began to glow more brightly, and the mad king then recoiled, and began to glance around suspiciously. In an alien language, he then began to harshly chant, "I thusly command you, oh sharded Sleeper! Find the thief, impose my will! Find the thief, impose my will!"

Before I could understand what that meant, I was now standing over the alien control panel for the Grandiloquent Annihilation cannon again, my presence strengthened. With a psychic nudge, I understood every symbol and glyph before me. A holographic screen to my right shimmered with a rough image of an eagle with spread wings. The notes under it stated that it was a priority target for the cannon, and that it should be destroyed as soon as possible. The cannon's charge was at about 90%, and would be operational very soon. Looking up, I witnessed another green hologram depicting the Necron fleet above the world of Tar Vigaz. This ship was at the very head of this invasion fleet, and we orbited the world just outside the orbit of its two moons. Around the planet, clusters of small blinking red and pink lights were noted as mines as they were destroyed using a thin green laser along with some sort of massive electric whip when in close proximity. Tremors periodically caused the ship to tremble when occasional mines struck the jeweled hull. I got the impression that despite the danger of the mines, the Nome King was so upset at my antics that he wanted me dead immediately, which caused these Necrons to advance more recklessly toward the planet than what would be safe.

My attention was drawn to the pink mines which ringed the planet more closely. A notation of "Empyreal Mine" was noted aside each pink light. My senses informed me that these mines were especially dangerous, and would open up a brief, but very destructive tiny Warp rift that would violently shred any vessel they struck. The green lasers were currently prioritizing the destruction of these particular mines, which led me to believe that these little powerhouses were actually dangerous to the Necrons instead of just irritating.

Good to know, I noted. My stronger presence reached into the cannon, and into the interface that operated it. A strange instinctual memory rooted within the Divine Retribution's oversoul from millions of years ago was pulled to the surface of my conscious mind. These particular cannons were rare and dangerous marvels, and were only used by more destructive overlords in battles between other capitol ships, and more rarely, precision strikes against a large target on a planet. This cannon had the capability to actually destroy living metal at a great distance, and an old inherited memory caused me to flinch in pain as I remembered a graze wound along my tail when I had been piloted by the Aeldari eons ago. I had actually needed repairs after that, as my wound could not naturally regenerate, which demonstrated just how dangerous this weapon was.

But, I wasn't going to be a target this time, I thought happily as I smiled on my throne. With a thought, I was able to change the targeting system of this cannon away from me, and I implanted a new one. One quick visualization later, and the cannon was now set to target a giant 500 meter tall gold-skinned three-armed Keeper of Secrets with a red sword instead of a big gold eagle. The holographic model of the Divine Retribution remained visible, and I hoped that this would mislead the Necrons into thinking that nothing was amiss. Turning, I sensed dead metal souls advancing again toward the cannon's control console, and quickly, I guttered my gold light. I didn't immediately leave, however, as I was curious about what sort of Necron would want to eat "lunch". Two one-eyed red-robed Necrons then appeared in the room as they happily chatted, and each held a steaming metal cup.

Both Necrons (which I now understood to be Crypteks) sat down at their consoles, and continued to sip their drinks. This didn't make any sense, and I watched as one Necron even seemed to swallow his beverage, and make a luxuriant "mmm!" sound in great relish. "We're at 95% charge, and they didn't even notice that we were gone! Ah, I do so love chef's new hot spiced silver recipe! Pity the Flayers are too insane to enjoy finer cuisine."

"I heard they were cursed to be that way. We have full and vibrant souls, but other Necrons do not have our advantage. The Flayer beasts think that they actually need to consume and eat bloody flesh! How ridiculous is that?"

"Totally ridiculous," I whispered on my throne, pulling my awareness back just in time to jump away from another lunge from a very upset Am'Erika. "I'm back, everyone," I vociferated happily.

"Finally!" Alberich replied in great shaking relief as he pointed at the display from his throne. On the large holographic screen before me, the Keeper of Secrets now appeared to be swearing at us, but could not be heard within the bridge. The psyker continued to speak, his voice somewhat giddy: "I had to fly us for a short time when you were unresponsive, and I dodged a strike! The statue keeps lunging at us, so I have been leading it away. It appears to be getting upset at us."

"Good job," I responded as I gripped my metal armrests. Alberich dodging a strike from that statue was actually really impressive, considering that I had been relying on the time-bending properties of Sight to dodge the daemon's attacks. "I armed the cannon to strike the statue, so we just need to wait now. I'll kill the minefield if we need to kill it to leave. Null, can you tell me when the lead Harvest Ship will be passing directly overhead?"

"9 minutes, 23 seconds now. They are in high orbit and t-they are destroying the mines," Null responded with a weak warble from the engine room. He seemed to have a mild stammer. Virgil was still standing beside him, and he did not appear happy. The astropath actually appeared extremely upset, and was clenching his jaw. The Tech-priest then said, "I v-very much hope you know what you're doing. T-the scans I see of the lead Harvest Ship display its unique specifications. From what the ship has perceived, it has sophisticated teleportarium technology, which Necrons oftentimes make prodigious use of in dangerous ways. And its cannon! One strike, and we're through! In addition, w-we-"

Am'Erika then angrily charged at us again, and this time, its sword shaved off the very tip of one of my primary feathers! I cried out, and strafed backwards. Your dance is inconsequential, I heard Am'Erika's voice in my mind. But, this is an entertaining diversion, truly. To watch you suffer and flounder is a delight! You're stuck here as the xenos arrive, and I can't wait for the party to start!

Okay, I responded telepathically to the daemon with a wince, not really listening to her. The prayers surrounding me offered me additional moral support, and I decided to immerse myself within them instead. We were so close to getting out of this. We just had to hold out for a little bit! If we could wait all this weirdness and keep the daemon distracted away from the city, in under ten minutes the cannon would destroy Am'Erika! All I had to do was to keep the daemon away from Evna in the meantime!

I looked up again at Null's display ahead of me, and noted that The Tech-priest now seemed to be doubled over.

"Null?" I asked as I continued to pilot the Divine Retribution away from the Keeper of Secrets.

It's the belt, I think, Virgil telepathically informed me, his voice cold. The astropath crossed his arms before him, and did not help Null as he floundered. It glows with a strange light. I wonder what other heretical secrets my former command has been keeping?

Virgil, we don't have time for this right now, I responded to the astropath. I told you not to listen to that greater daemon!

He killed my friends! Over fifty thousand loyal souls of the Imperium all damned to the Warp through his actions! He destroyed our Explorator fleet! Virgil abruptly snapped as his holographic form began to flicker in rage. I can tell he's keeping more secrets, and not just with this belt, but also with this strange code he is going on about! Inheritor, he's been deceptive toward you, and in that way, he now qualifies as a loathsome heretek to me! I am disgusted with him!

Virgil, stop it! I scolded the astropath as he shimmered, his face twisted in revulsion and hurt. Null trembled as he remained doubled over. From under his robes, I could now see white light gleaming through the seams of the red cloth. We'll have a ship meeting and deal with this later! We've got bigger problems right now!

I watched as Null then straightened up, and his neon green eyes flashed. Immediately, my intuition informed me that something was very wrong!

"Virgil!" I shouted just as one of Null's mechadendrites tore through Virgil's holographic form, causing him to glitch away in a smear of light! At the very same moment, Alberich screamed, and Am'Erika's crab claw surged forward, and grazed the center eye of the Divine Retribution's head, registering a hit on our shields! Instantly, I slowed time, and strafed backwards and away from the sword strike that passed by my left wing again. The daemon was laughing at us! The prayer-whispers around me apparently witnessed this from Evna, and I felt the entire city gasp!

Lian, to the engine room, now! Subdue Null! I mentally shouted to Lian as I put my attention fully on strafing away from the greater daemon. Lian turned with his incredible Space Marine quickness and bolted down and away from the bridge, his sword drawn. What the hell had just happened?! "Null!" I roared at the small display. "Explain yourself!"

A small pause as the lights above began to flicker, and the glowing green eyes of the maddened Tech-priest observed me coldly. When Null spoke again, it wasn't in his typical tone. A familiar alien voice pitched with anger responded from Null's form toward me, "Your little thief isn't home right now, captain of accursed Gir'Auda! I'm in control now! Trazyn isn't the only one who can inhabit foreign necrodermis, and you will be exterminated!"

With a clang, I heard the blast doors of the engine area slam closed. The last thing I heard before again being struck once again by Am'Erika's sword against my left wing was the mad laughter of the Nome King as he impossibly cackled through Null's body!

**Another Author's note: I'm in a very dire financial situation right now, enough to be in trouble with housing. If anyone needs any fine art, do hit me up here. Thanks for reading!**