"Who the hell are you?" Leman said, looking down at the trio of heavily armed strangers he'd found lurking in the ship. Tyranid blood was splattered across his body, soaking his boots and leg armor up to his knees. He had searched this level of the ship several times for survivors, so he knew well that they weren't here before. Their armor was foreign to him, covered in illegible markings and alien symbols. Truth be told, the only thing preventing him from attacking them was the clear sense of overwhelming terror they were exuding, causing him to rank them as a significantly lower threat. Nevertheless, the larger one with the lascannon kept him on edge. The three strangers began whispering and bickering amongst themselves in a language he didn't understand, though whatever they were saying they were clearly panicked.

"Do you speak the Imperial tongue?" Leman said, growing agitated. He had no idea who these people were, for all he knew they were responsible for the attack. He wanted answers. The three continued their arguing, their voices audible even through their bulky headwear. Leman plunged his sword into the floor, startling the three strangers. "For the last time, who are you and what the hell are you doing on this ship!?" Leman said. To them it sounded like a thunderous rage, but in truth Leman was just frankly annoyed by the whole situation.

"Wait, wait!" Dóri said, pressing a button on his helmet and retracting his visor. Leman's expression turned from agitation to intrigue. Underneath the heavy metal visor was a man with a bushy beard, a red-brown mohawk, and a lumpy, rosy, stone-like face. His features were well-worn either by combat or age, but he did not appear to be suffering from the typical ailments of senescence, almost like Leman (albeit to a far lesser extent).

He looks human… Leman thought. Well, human enough.

"Do you speak Imperial?" Leman said.

"Aye, aye. I can understand ye." Dóri said. He jabbed Ykkhí in the side with his elbow, causing him to lower his visor as well. He had a slightly more youthful face, with a less grown-in beard and fewer marks and blemishes. His hair was white-silver, braided in a style that vaguely reminded Russ of Fenris.

"So then, what are you doing here?" Leman said.

"Well, uh, you see…" Dóri said, struggling to find the right words to placate the armed giant standing in front of him. He suspected that 'scavenging' wouldn't be a very diplomatic answer. "We heard your ship's distress signal and… decided to investigate."

"Scavengers, eh?" Leman said. "I know scrapping equipment when I see it."

"Hey!" Admu shouted, causing the three kin to leap backwards in fear. "Why must you be so rude to everyone we meet?" She leaned down and tried to reassure the terrified kin. "I'm sorry for my friend's lack of courtesy. My name is Tia."

"Not every stranger is going to be nice, you know. Most of them are like this one here." Leman said, raising the decapitated Tyranid head. "Besides, from the looks of it they're more afraid of you than me." Admu looked rather troubled when she noticed the terrified faces looking up at her.

"Oh, there's no need to be afraid! I can assure you we mean you no harm." Admu said, waving her hands with a flustered expression.

"I'll be the judge of that. I want to know why these scavengers are snooping around on our ship so soon after those things attacked us. For all we know, they set up this ambush and were waiting for us all to be dead before picking away at the corpses." Leman said.

"Listen, this is… this is just a big misunderstanding, that's all!" Dóri said, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice. "My name's Dóri, this is Ykkhí, and this here's Vêlyma. We're kin from the Dunmyre Syndicate. Let's everybody put the weapons away and deal with this like bel-dungr, eh?"

Leman, fairly confident that these beings weren't much of a threat to either of them, decided to go along with the request. He sheathed his blade upon his waist and crossed his arms with a reticent look. The kin similarly put their weapons away. Admu smiled, simply happy to be making new friends.

"Thank ye. My kinfolk's Hearthship is only a few quadrants away. It's got a service bay big enough to fit this entire ship inside. We can hook it up to our generators, jump to a safe location, and discuss repair fees there. Does that sound agreeable?" Dóri said.

I'm not exactly in charge on this ship… though it's not as though we have a choice. I'd rather just get this over as quickly as possible. If these… stoutlings decide to cause problems, Admu and I can handle them. Leman thought.

"Fine. Whatever gets this ship back on its assigned route." Leman said. Dóri's face melted with relief. "Though I still have one question. Why has that one not removed her helmet?" Leman said, looking at Vêlyma.

"Huh? Me?" Vêlyma said. "I'm afraid there's not much to see underneath here. Just cabling and sensor arrays."

Leman furrowed his brow.

"You're abhumans, aren't you?" Leman said.

"Wh- abhumans!?" Dóri said. "Those damn imps and their classifications. We're Kin, dammit."

They appear to be a off-shoot of humanity that lies outside of Imperial authority… I'm certain Father would have had much to say about that, though I have far more pressing concerns than some breakaway society of human colonists. Leman thought.

Ykkhí stepped forward, his hand raised slightly.

"S-say, did you two… really kill all them Niðhögr? B-by yourselves?" Ykkhí said.

Leman raised the severed Tyranid head to inspect it.

"Niðhögr… so that's what you call these things. To answer your question, yes." Leman said, tossing the head aside.

"Yep! We killed a bunch of them! I even killed a whole hive of the, uh, what did those guys call them… genestealers! I killed tons of them." Admu said with a lackadaisical tone, one that stunned the three kin. Ykkhí began to whisper something to Dóri and Vêlyma in their native tongue. The three talked softly amongst themselves. Dóri looked at Leman and Admu as they began wiping the Tyranid gore off of themselves, stroking his beard and squinting as he contemplated an idea.


The Kindred's fleet arrived soon after, their ships punching holes through the Immaterium with precision accuracy. Whereas Imperial warp travel left gaping tears which sputtered and spewed warp miasma and would be left to close up by themselves, the Kin's ships left no such trace. Their meticulous calculations and finely-tuned gellar fields neatly folded the veil of spacetime around their gargantuan ships like silk, allowing them to simply appear in Realspace as if they had always been there. As for the ships themselves, gargantuan was truly the only word that could describe them. Each was like a floating fortress unto itself and were it not for the clear symmetry and planning indicated by their appearance, Leman would have thought them to be armed asteroids such as the kind utilized by the Orks. The largest dwarfed even the other Kin vessels, although much of it was empty space. This one, clearly some sort of mobile hangar, was shaped like some kind of space-born filter feeder, with a hollow, cylindrical design and a yawning entrance at its mouth. The Kin's hangar-ship drifted gracefully through the void towards the Miriam Celeste, its central cavity engulfing the stranded merchant vessel with ease. Spindly, mechanical arms folded out from the interior walls, attaching to the hull of the Imperial freighter with magnetic locks and gently moving the ship to the side where it could be docked. All along the inner walls of the gargantuan ship, Leman could see the half-dismantled corpses of several other ships, mostly freighters and merchant vessels, which had undoubtedly met a similar albeit far more deadly fate than them. He felt a hint of unease creep up his spine, as if he were staring into the digestive tract of some immense sea-serpent that had just swallowed him whole.

As the ship was hooked up to the Kin's main generators, the flashing alarms halted, and the dim emergency lighting was replaced by bright fluorescent glow that indicated a return to normal operating conditions. As the doors to the sealed saferooms that held the ship's passengers and crew began to open, small teams of Kin adorned in heavy hazmat gear poured into the ship. The biohazard teams, well aware of the contagious threat posed by Tyranid spores, began thoroughly sanitizing the gore-soaked hallways left by Leman and Admu with heavy chemicals and plasma while also escorting the scared and confused Imperials to uncontaminated portions of the ship. Some of the Imperial crewmen balked and resisted the Kin's requests, though were quickly "convinced" by the Kin and their iron-forged brethren's firepower vastly outweighing their own. Leman and Admu, covered head-to-toe in Tyranid flesh and ichor yet somehow entirely unaffected by it, were asked politely by the bewildered Kin if they wanted to use their showering facilities - an offer that they both graciously accepted.

Thick clouds of steam filled the large shower room, one likely meant to be shared by large groups of workers after a long day of hard labor. Leman enjoyed the hot water on his scarred and weathered skin, which was surprising to him as most Imperial baths he had used since returning to the galaxy could never reach high enough temperatures to be anything more than lukewarm to him.

These abhumans must be hardier than the average human. Leman thought.

He also enjoyed that they appeared to have much stronger and more effective water filters than rudimentary and aged Imperial facilities, resulting in a much cleaner and more refreshing soak. Though, for some reason, it seemed to have an abnormally high mineral content, more akin to an especially saturated volcanic spring than a mountain river. Regardless, he enjoyed it. The glamour that kept him disguised also seemed to persist after removing the enchanted cloak, though he wondered if there were some kind of time limit or maximum distance after which the spell would be removed… questions for a later time.

He emerged from the showering facilities fully dressed and feeling quite refreshed. Admu emerged from the other room a short time later, her hair glowing brightly as a result of the purified water.

It looks like she braided her hair differently. Leman thought. Perhaps I should say something, considering how upset she seemed the last time…

"You look… well-groomed." Leman said awkwardly. Admu gave him a puzzled look, then giggled as she realized what he was trying to say.

"It's the thought that counts. Thank you." Admu said.

At the far end of the hallway, the Kin Dóri appeared unexpectedly. He rushed towards them with an enthusiastic expression.

"Ah, good. You're all finished cleaning up." Dóri said.

"You're the one we met on the Celeste. Dóri, I believe it was." Leman said.

"Aye, pleasure to make your acquaintance." Dóri said. "I trust the facilities were to your liking?"

"It was pleasant. Perhaps not as hot as I would have liked, but better than what they have on the ship." Leman said.

"Oh yes, they were very relaxing! I especially liked the big round pool with all the foam and jets. It really exfoliated my skin." Admu said.

"Wait… don't tell me… you turned the water heat up all the way?" Dóri said.

Those showers were designed to accommodate Ironkin… there's no way a human could've survived temperatures that high with nothing but their bare skin… and did that lass just say she was bathing in the equipment demineralizer? Dóri thought.

"Haha… that's… good to hear." Dóri said, laughing nervously. "Anyways, now that you've all cleaned up… there were some matters we were hopin' to discuss pertainin' to your ship."

"I already told you people, we're nothing more than passengers. Have you not spoken to the captain?" Leman said.

"About that…" Dóri said, a look of frustration growing on his face. "You see, when it came to the matter of payment for our services, the captain said that he wasn't authorized to make dealings or trades with unsanctioned abhumans." Dóri emphasized those words with a venomous sting. "Damned Imps wouldn't wipe their arses if some bureaucrat didn't stamp the toilet paper for 'em." Dóri muttered. "Oh, uh, no offense to present company."

Leman pinched the bridge of his nose and growled with frustration.

Of course the Imperial bureaucracy would rear its ugly head here and now of all places. Leman thought.

"Is there any way to arrange some kind of deal?" Leman said.

"With the captain? I'm afraid not. However…" Dóri said, looking around cautiously and leaning in closer. "I have a proposition for you. You two, to be precise. A way to get your ship repaired without the captain havin' to disobey his orders."

"...And this will get us back on our way faster?" Leman said.

"Aye, on my honor as a kin of the Dunmyre. Just follow me to my forge, we can discuss the details in private." Dóri said.

Leman looked over at Admu, who gave him an optimistic shrug. Leman lowered his head in frustration.

"Fine. We'll hear your offer." Leman said, his arms crossed.


Dóri led the two through the corridors of the gargantuan Kin ship. Leman was worried that the height discrepancy between this branch of humanity and the ones in the Imperium would make traversing their architecture… difficult, though luckily thanks to the Kin designing their ships with both Ironkin and power-armored Hearthkyn they were only forced to duck their heads a handful of times. As they passed through the bowels of the ship, small groups of kindred would stop and gawk at the two outsiders as they were guided by Dóri. It was likely the first time they had seen Imperial humans before… or at least, living ones… nor that Admu or Leman could really be categorized as average humans.

They may be disappointed when they encounter regular humans. Leman thought, feeling a small hint of amusement.

"Tell me, Dóri, how did your people… come to be? I was not aware any humans could survive the harsh conditions of the Galactic Core, let alone an advanced, interstellar civilization." Leman said.

"Come to be…?" Dóri said, chuckling. "It's not a tale we share with outsiders. All the Imps need to know is that we've been around much, much longer than they have."

A remnant of Humanity's first foray into the stars… Leman thought. We encountered many such successor civilizations during the Great Crusade… though rarely did those encounters end diplomatically. Perhaps it was wise of these 'Kin' to hide beyond the Imperium's reach until now.

"How did you find our ship so quickly? Scavengers or no, if you didn't set up that ambush it was quite a coincidence." Leman said.

"We can't control the Niðhögr, would be a miracle if we could. Then maybe they wouldn't have devastated half the core worlds." Dóri said.

"They aren't a localized threat?" Leman said.

Dóri looked at him strangely.

"And I thought we Kin were sheltered. The Niðhögr are a galactic menace, extragalactic invaders that ravage entire star systems with their hive-fleets. What you encountered was just a wayward splinter, a remnant of a hive-tendril that was broken up by an Imperial fleet just before the Warp storms intensified." Dóri said.

The Cicatrix Maledictum… Leman thought.

"The Niðhögr are crafty buggers, these ones realized they couldn't utilize their traditional tactics of swallowin' planets with their small numbers. Instead, they would wait for Imp ships to come by and raid 'em, like common pirates. They've been plaguing that particular rest stop for years." Dóri said.

"And you never thought to warn the Imperial ships before they flew straight into an ambush?" Leman said, a hint of indignation creeping into his voice.

"Oh, we tried. Many, many times. Course, the Imps just dismissed anything we said, called us mutants, heretics, the like." Dóri said.

Leman sighed. Knowing the current Imperium, he was probably speaking the truth.

As Dóri, Leman, and Admu continued on their trek, Leman noted the many discrepancies between the technology and construction of the Kindred and the Imperium, namely the much more outwardly utilitarian style of the Kin. Not that it was entirely without character or adornment, as he saw much of the empty space occupied by strange, angular representations of what appeared to be revered ancestors or legendary figures, though these never obscured access to the components underneath. The Imperium, by contrast, had a habit of hiding most of its technology and infrastructure behind gaudy decoration and religious iconography, both to encourage its citizens to see their surroundings in a mystical and superstitious air… and to deny them access to the ancient and inscrutable technology that none but the Techpriests of Mars were capable of interfacing with. It seemed these Kin had no such compunctions, and he often saw what appeared to be regular citizens of the Kindred's collective operating and maintenancing their machinery directly. This fact was all the more impressive due to how advanced their technology appeared to be. Leman was by no means an expert in the material or mechanical sciences, but he recognized archeotech when he saw it. The technology he saw resembled that of the kind which was locked away in reliquaries during the Great Crusade due to its perceived rarity and complexity, and here he saw similar machinery being treated as everyday objects. It filled him with a strange sensation. He felt a sort of optimism towards what Humanity was still capable of, despite what the Imperium had been reduced to, mixed with a tinge of bitterness that it was locked away with these reticent abhumans.

At the very least, these 'Kin' still seem open to trade and even cooperation with the Imperium… that's more than can be said for most xenos in the galaxy. Leman thought. They are still human, after all. Perhaps in the future they can be coaxed into joining the Imperium… if there is an Imperium left to join.

Leman dispelled the creeping nihilism from his thoughts. He had a mission to focus on.

As they traveled through the Kin's ship, Leman began to notice something strange. Once he looked past the advanced technology and alien adornments, the ship seemed… unkempt, perhaps even slightly run down. Machines seemed to be worn down from overuse, piles of scrap and miscellaneous objects were piled up in corners and along hallways, and many of the kin seemed to be idling or wandering around the ship without place or purpose. The ship's condition certainly wasn't from lack of maintenance or manpower… in short, the ship seemed heavily overpopulated.

It doesn't seem like natural growth either. It's more as though these people are refugees of some kind, uprooted and forced into these conditions. Leman thought. Without knowing where they came from or what their normal living conditions were, it was impossible to say why or how they ended up in this situation. Given his current guide's tight-lippedness when it came to their history, he doubted that he would get any straight answers.

"Alright, this here's my personal forge. It's not much, just the bare minimum a Brôkhyr might need. You know, a plasma forge, synthetic printer, electro-modulators, the basics." Dóri said.

He typed in a short code into a keypad, causing the large hydraulic doors to hiss and slide open. A rush of hot air poured out of the open doors, carrying the strong smell of sulfur and ozone that struck Leman's senses. Warm, orange-red light baked his skin as they entered, as if they were walking into a gigantic oven. Industrial air circulators kicked in, regulating the temperature but only slightly.

"Ah… hearth sweet hearth." Dóri said, spreading his arms out and taking in the heat while breathing deeply. "Vêlyma! Ykkhí! I brought the outsiders!" He shouted.

"The outsiders? You mean the Niðhög-slayers?" Ykkhí said. The silver-haired Kin emerged, wearing a heavy set of welding goggles and a face covered in soot.

"Managed to convince 'em to follow us on our quest, eh?" Vêlyma said, her right arm elbow-deep in a boiling crucible of molten metal.

"Well… I uh… haven't exactly given them the details just yet…" Dóri said, laughing nervously.

Vêlyma pulled her hand out of the molten metal, placing the chunk of unworked steel she was holding on an anvil for later.

"Pleasure to be doin' business with ye, Far-spacers." Vêlyma said, holding out her still red-hot hand. Admu looked at her with a confused and wary expression. "Oh! My bad, hold on a second." She said, plunging her hand into a nearby barrel of cooling oil. The coolant hissed and sizzled, bubbling and letting out puffs of steam. After a few seconds, she removed it and wiped her arm with a dirty rag before holding her hand out once again.

"It's good to meet you! …Again." Admu said, grasping the Ironkin's hand with both of hers and shaking vigorously.

"Alright, now if you two will excuse me, I need to discuss the details with our… escort." Dóri said.


He led them into a side-room with a table and a couple of chairs. After clearing a random assortment of blueprints and tools from the table, the three of them sat down.

"So, here's the run-" Dóri said, stopping when he noticed Admu raising her hand inquisitively.

"Mister Dóri?" Admu said.

"Aye, Tia. What's the matter?" Dóri said.

"Why are there no children on this ship?" Admu said, her voice as innocent as could be.

In an instant, Dóri's amicable demeanor melted away. In its place, an indescribable expression shot across his face, like a combination of confusion, fear, anguish, and regret. He began laughing nervously, though there was a clear hint of sadness behind it.

"Wh- W-why, we, um, just don't let 'em out when there are outsiders on board, that's all." Dóri said, attempting to mask whatever immense mental anguish was distressing him.

"Ah, I see." Admu said, smiling slightly. She didn't believe him.

"What is the nature of our mission?" Leman said, carving through the tension like a knife.

"Ah, yes, the mission." Dóri said, collecting himself. "You see… there's a vital mechanism that everyone on this ship relies on. It's a… purifier, of sorts. Water, air, soil, you name it. Really, quite a handy piece of technology. Without it, we wouldn't be able to sustain our current population. The only problem is… it's breaking down."

"You can't fix it?" Leman said.

"Oh, we have. Many times. But you can only fix something so much before it just ain't worth fixin' anymore. We're running out of spare parts, and we can only get so far with stopgaps. We need to replace it. Luckily, I know just where to find one."

"Why can't you just make another? From the looks of it, your people have quite a way with technology." Leman said.

"We could if we still had-" Dóri said, stopping himself and clenching his fist. The pained expression returned, and he quelled it. "...we just can't. Not now, at least. If we could get a fully intact purifier, we might be able to reverse engineer it. Without it, accounting for what little we can repair now, the hearthship would have less than 30 cycles before a critical inflection point. This is a life-or-death situation."

"Fine, you've convinced me of how this mission benefits you… but how will it ensure our transportation?" Leman said.

"The boys in the hangar owe me more favors than you can count, and if we succeed the entire fleet will be in our debt. You'll get your ship repaired, hell I'll make you somethin' myself just to sweeten the deal. It's as true as wrought." Dóri said.

"Very well. Where is this purifier?" Leman said.

Dóri looked down, as if choosing his words carefully.

"There's a planet at the edge of a nearby star cluster… Thrain II. My people used to inhabit it… we abandoned it after an outbreak of…" Dóri swallowed, struggling to summon the words. "Let's just say we abandoned it for a very good reason. The purifier is in a mid-level chamber about… 1 kilometer beneath the surface. There's a large exhaust tunnel we can take in the shuttle to get in and out quickly. I've mapped it all out extensively, I could fly there and back with my eyes closed."

"Sounds like you have this planned out rather well. Why exactly do you need us?" Leman said.

"There'll be resistance. Automated defenses and rogue machinery, mostly. I saw what you did to them Niðhögr on that ship. If you can fight even half that well, it'll give me and my two mates plenty of time to get the purifier and get out." Dóri said.

"So, we'll be the muscle." Leman said, smirking.

"Sounds like fun! Especially if we'll be helping a ton of people!" Admu said, lightly punching the air to demonstrate her fighting prowess.

"S-so you'll do it?" Dóri said, his face lighting up with hope.

"You keep your end of the bargain stoutling, and we'll get you and your friends in and out of that place unscathed." Leman said, holding out his hand.

"You've got yourself a deal, friend!" Dóri shouted, shaking Leman's hand ecstatically.

Then, Leman heard the door open behind them. Ykkhí poked his head in, his face bearing a worrying expression.

"Dóri…" he said. "There's someone outside. He wants to speak to you… alone."

Dóri's face darkened.

"Dòmhnagh…" he said. Ykkhí nodded


Dóri emerged from his forge and faced down a towering beast of a Kin. He was adorned in bright red, state-of-the-art exo-armor, wrapping him in an impenetrable shell of unrelenting steel and fury. A fully-armored Einhyr Hearthguard was more than a match for even an Astartes Terminator, and he towered over the mere Brôkhyr with ease. From within his armored collar, the scarred and weathered face of a veteran warrior stared down at him. With fiery crimson braids atop his head and hanging from his chiseled jaw, his fierce, blue eyes bore holes in Dóri's chest.

"H-high Kâhl." Dóri whispered.

"Forge-master Dóri." Dòmhnagh said, his voice rumbling like an earthquake that sent tremors through Dóri's spine. "I see that you brought the outsiders in for a chat."

"A-aye." Dóri said. "We… just finished."

"You're taking them to the hold, aren't you?" Dòmhnagh said.

"J-just to-"

Dóri was interrupted by the sound of Dòmhnagh's fist smashing into the metal wall next to him.

"You know full well why we abandoned Thrain. Why we can never go home. Why we lost our connection to the ancestors." Dòmhnagh said.

"I know why!" Dóri said. "The plague that lay dormant in Thrain cannot be allowed to escape. But if we don't do something, everyone on this ship will perish. It's true, we've lost our past. But I'd rather not lose our future as well." Dóri said.

Dòmhnagh's face softened. He turned away, his sorrow in his eyes as he reminisced.

"I led the first assault to retake Thrain… and the last. We lost 7/10ths of our Kinhost to that… thing." He turned to Dóri with an expression of absolute seriousness. "We cannot lose any more Kin. Every loss is irreplaceable. The future of our Kindred relies on what we have here and now."

"You saw the aftermath on that ship. I don't know how, but those two killed an entire Niðhögr boarding party by themselves. If they can't help us, no one can. We've got no other options. I promise you, High Kâhl, we'll return with that purifier. I can feel it in my bones." Dóri said.

"Very well." Dòmhnagh said, turning to leave. "Remember, Forge-master Dóri. Under no circumstances must the outsiders learn of the Votann."

"Of course, High Kâhl." Dóri said.

"The Ancestors will be watching. Even if we can no longer hear their voices." Dòmhnagh said as he walked away.

Dóri leaned back against the wall, slumping over as he cradled his head in his hands.