... It's been a while hasn't it?

I've gotten into and lost a lot of interests over years. Left things unfinished, wanting. Hopefully, I'll do right this time.

For those wondering... Yes. This is a crossover between the grim darkness for the 41st- I mean 42nd Millenium of Warhammer40K, and Korean Gacha Game Blue Archive.

Ludicrous as it sounds? I think I can make it work. I hope you will think the same.

Enjoy!


Oftentimes I've thought that my life was far too unpredictable for my tastes. My path took me places I would very much rather not be, doing things I would often rather not do. But alas, my budding reputation and the whimsies of Him on Earth (and them in the Warp, I'm quite sure) have forced me to face them head on, and then do it again when said reputation (and the whimsies of the divine and the damned, again, I'm quite sure).

And yet, for how exciting my life was, it seemed my death was going to be oddly quiet.

Strange. I'd been accosted by heretics, warred and waaghed with greenskins, faced down tyranids and held daemons at bay. But what would get me in the end were the rigors of old age.

It was hard to even get out of bed, these past few days, but as always, I'd kept my face easy and hid the pain. Jurgen, somehow, knew. He'd scarcely left my side for the past century and change, and with the great juvenat treatments Amberly had given him he'd seen less grey hair and aching joints than I had. His odor and general appearance had gotten worse, of course, but his company and his aid in even the smallest of endeavours has been appreciated as ever.

He looked more afraid than I'd ever seen him. Perhaps he knew and feared what was coming more than I did. When I could feel like I could stand no more, I looked at him again and made one last request of him.

"I wish to see her again, one last time."

He never wanted to leave my side, I knew, afraid that I would pass while he wasn't there. But he only ever had one answer to anything I asked.

"Of course sir."

I don't know how he did it or how no questions were asked. But somehow, within the next day, I saw her again.

Her hair was paler than I first saw her. Her lips had lost some of their luster, the dress was an inquisitor uniform, and the years had shown in scant wrinkles on her face.

"I'm here Ciaphas."

It had been nearly two hundred years since I first saw her, yet Amberly Vail still looked as beautiful as she had all those years ago. I willed my heart to keep going, just a little more.

"I knew you would be."

She tried to keep the easy smile she so often wore on her face from breaking. And yet, even I could see the struggle. Words failed to come to us, so they came to Jurgen first. "I'll leave you two to it then, sir."

"No." I declared, strong as I could. My aide stopped in his tracks, surprised. "You've always been with me from the start, Jurgen. Why wouldn't you be here at the end?"

His hands were shaking at that, and the stoicism which he always kept nearly broke. "F-forgive me, sir. I would never want anything else."

That little exchange wrested the smile back on Amberly's face. "Honestly, what did you call me for? Don't tell me I have to spend all the time watching you talk."

"Well, inconveniencing you on my account every once in a while seems fair for all you've done that for me."

She let out a small chuckle at that, a fine sound to hear when I wouldn't be able to hear anything anymore. "Fair enough." She tried to keep that mood up, somber as everything was. "Seems like you'll finally be getting a break."

"I should hope so, after everything I've done, I think I deserve it," I mused.

"You do. More than you know. That, and so much more."

The twinkle was gone from her eyes then. She had let all her barriers down as her eyes met mine. An inquisitor could never afford to be vulnerable, and yet here she was, baring every vulnerability, all her pain and sorrow at losing a fraud like me.

Just this once, I wanted to be honest.

"I wish I had more time."

More time with her. More time with Jurgen. More time of peaceful lazy days when the universe didn't seem so damned.

Jurgen lost it then. He cupped his eyes in his hands and tried very hard not to sob. Amberly tried her best not to either as she spoke once more. "I'm... sorry I can't give you that." It was such an obvious fact, yet it sounded for all the world like a personal failing. Bah. She'd given me two centuries when most good barely manage less than a tenth of that. She'd given me enough. "Is there anything I can?"

In that, I already knew. "Jurgen?"

"Sir." Despite the emotion holding him, when I had anything to ask, he was ever ready to answer. Despite all that he had done for me over the years, this may very well be the hardest thing I ever ask of him.

"I can't tell you what to do anymore. What you do next is up to you."

He'd always been my aide for more than a hundred years. But he had to be more than that from now on.

And as always, he answered as best as he could. Steady and sure of himself as he could ever be.

"I'll make sure to make the Emperor proud in your name sir."

If only it was in his own. But it was a start. Amberly looked at me and nodded. "I'll take care of him as best as I can."

A former commissar's aide with an inquisitor's support. Jurgen could go anywhere he wanted. Even with Amberly, if he so desired and whatever complaints would be made, she would ignore them and do right by him. Whatever path he took, so long as it was his own, I would be satisfied. "There in my lockbox," I rasped out. "Everything there is for you both."

"And what is there?"

"Some papers for Jurgen. And much more for you."

Some posthumous commisarial commendations for him, sure to help my malodorous aide go wherever he wanted to go.

"Papers?" she said in confusion.

"For you. And for the inquisition. The truth, because you all deserve that much."

My memoirs. My actual ones. Not that awful, blowhardy dreck I wrote and published for the masses and the commissariat's sake. An honest look at myself gained from one too many brushes with death, a rare quiet moment alone and plenty of amasec.

The Inquisitors will probably burn the damn things the moment they lay eyes on them. But I could at least admit everything I could to the woman in front of me.

She understood immediately, and nodded. "I'll see to it," she said gravely.

As I felt my breath go short and my heartbeat slow, I coughed out once more. It seems my voice had gone, even though I just wanted one last thing.

As always, Amberly could read me so well. When I looked into her eyes, she gave a soft reply. "What is it, Ciaphas?"

My palm was flat on the bed. I merely turned it over and opened it up as much as I could. I couldn't say anything more. But I didn't need to.

I knew the end would come soon. So did they. Amberly held my hand, warming it up for the last time. Jurgen took off his cap, revealing his balding head to the world, the humblest he ever looked.

"Rest well Ciaphas."

My life was far more chaotic than I was comfortable with but it had its benefits. For every ten enemies I've made (and cut down, or shot, or banished to the realms beyond), I've made friends that have been pleasant company at least, and people I've come to trust with my life and cherish at the best. If I had my way and managed to lock myself down into a tedious assignment overlooking some grunts in artillery or a boring job in a brigade office, I never would have met them.

Looks like life had one last surprise for me before it all ended. And it was from me.

If I had the choice, I'd do it all over again.

That was the last thought I had, before I could think no more.


In a life so filled with fighting the Emperor's worst enemies, Commissar Ciaphas Cain passed away peacefully in the Schola Progenium of Perlia, surrounded by servants of the Emperor, many of whom he personally trained to better guide His people to their future.

He was given full military honors and, upon the request of Ordos Xenos Inquisitor Amberly Vail, had with him his trusted chainsword, his laspistol and his suit of carapace armor buried with him, each one personally tended to by Mechanicus Magos Felicia Tayber.

The funeral was attended by many notable figures from across many planets, with Valhallan regiments making up the majority of the Imperial Guard present. The Valhallan 597th, those he served with longest, were at the forefront with Colonel Regina Kasteen, Major Ruput Broklaw and even Lady General Jenit Sulla, joining her former regiment after serving elsewhere for many years.

In a surprising twist, the Reclaimers chapter of Space Marines sent a small retinue to honor the commissar's passing, led by Techmarine Drumon. His armor looked as pristine as could be for a Space Marine, save for a peculiar scar that seemed centuries old. He says that, even as a Space Marine instructed in all ways to care for a Machine Spirit, it would be the only one he would never dare to fix.

Several members of the commisariat were also in attendance, none more emotional than the Commissar's own students, many of whom had gone on to serve honorable careers leading regiments of their own to victory in their teacher's example.

Those closest to Cain himself were none other than Amberly Vail and Cain's aide, Gunner Ferrik Jurgen. It was they who would be the last to see the Commissar's body before it would be buried. May his soul receive the Emperor's peace.

The regulation to keep Commissar Ciaphas Cain in active service even after the burial is sustained, because the Munitorium refuses to spend years wasting time changing his status between alive and dead.


I've often heard it said that your life flashed before your eyes when you were about to die. I can attest to that, because Emperor knows how many times I've done that when I thought I was about to join Him on the Golden Throne.

I can't quite attest to it flashing after you died. Or for that matter, not being my life that flashed.

Or did it? I can't tell.

It was all my fault.

A soft voice, like an angel's proclamation, accompanied images to a bright city and the people in it.

My decisions, and everything they caused.

The blurry image of a silver-haired woman pointing a gun at me, ending my life with a look of utter sorrow on her face. A bullet-ridden data slate.

It had come to this for me to finally realize you were right all along.

In the pink-colored twilight, in an empty train, a woman in a bloodstained uniform, one whose face I couldn't quite place yet sounded so familiar for reasons I couldn't possibly fathom, continued to talk to me.

So forgive me for being so bold, but I must ask for your help.

I should've told her to bugger off. Another request for help. Asking me to work once again, even after all I've done.

Why couldn't I rest?

Why couldn't I refuse?

Why did I NOT WANT to?

Cain Sensei.

You'll forget these words. But it won't matter.

Even without your memories, you'll probably make the same decision in the same situation.

Therefore, I believe what matters most are the choices we make, not the experiences we have.

There are choices only you can make.

Choice? I wanted to say I didn't understand too much of that. I'd been forced from one corner of the universe to the other, fighting battles I never wanted to fight, just to survive.

And yet I couldn't. Why?

Even more images of various girls flashed through my eyes. Angels, demons, abhumans with animal features of all kinds and everything in between. All crowned with halos above their heads.

I've spoken of responsibility before. I didn't understand it then, but now I do.

Adulthood, responsibility, obligation... and the choices you make that extend beyond those ideals.

I even understand their implications.

Did she? Did she understand those words? Trying to be as much of an adult, a hero of the people, as I possibly could, for my sake and theirs? Responsibility for people, regiments, armies, planets, systems... And the obligation to do it all to keep myself safe? Did she really understand?

Therefore Sensei...

I knew that tone. I knew what was coming next.

...You're the only one I can trust.

Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate, and find the choices that can lead us to a new reality.

So Sensei... Please...

Here we go again. Some woman putting an unbelievable amount of responsibility on my shoulders. One of which will most certainly involve facing enemies that could easily end my meager existence.

And just like before... I couldn't say no. Surprisingly, I can honestly say I wouldn't either.

I waited for the request that never came, when another voice interrupted entirely.

"...ake up."

Hmm. That voice was far less pleasant and far more demanding than the last. Bring back the other one please?

"Sensei. Wake up."

Sensei? What language was that? Was that supposed to be some esoteric name? And why was it directed towards me?

"Sensei!"

I decided to wake up if only to stop the noise. I sat up and opened my eyes.

Light greeted me, coming from a bluer sky than ever I'd seen.

More importantly, there was another person with me, the woman trying to wake me up.

"You fell asleep after I asked you to wait here. I even had some trouble waking you up... I didn't expect you to be so sound asleep. You must have been having a dream. Gather yourself and focus."

It was rather hard to focus, what with my mind overloading with several unpleasant revelations.

For one, I was most certainly not with the God-Emperor of Mankind upon His Golden Throne, welcoming me to eternal rest.

For one, by the way my body was working, I seemed to be very much alive.

And the woman in front of me also had an Emperor damned halo on her head.

"Excuse me, could you repeat all that again?"

CI-CI-CIAPHAS CAIN!

THE SENSEI FROM THE IMPERIUM!

CI-CI-CIAPHAS CAIN!

THE SENSEI FROM THE IMPERIUM!

*END CHAPTER 1: EVEN IN DEATH, DUTY DOESN'T END*