She never expected that some nobody she caught following her one day would turn into the most important person in the world. Two decades. Twenty long years without Lazarus. That was how long Cassandra had suffered this world. He was the only person who she could not see the future of, yet he had been her light to Nostramo's dark and bleak world. He had been the only thing that had kept her sane as she cut a path of blood to the very top of the hive. Now she sat upon her throne alone. The nightmares had returned. Her sleep was no longer peaceful. She was once again plagued by visions of war and death. She resisted them as best she could, but she could not block them out like Lazarus could.

There was nothing left in this life. The only thing keeping her going was his memory. It was in his memory that she let the nobles before her squabble over docking rights and other minor infractions. She had already made her decision on who she would rule in favor of, she just gave the mortals the illusion that their case was being heard. However, she could only suffer them so long. Before long she had interrupted whoever was speaking and declared her ruling. The side she ruled in favor of gave their empty thanks while the other side silently scorned her. She cared not for them.

Thankfully, this was the last meeting of the day and visions of the future were already beginning to plague her mind. Mostly of concerning a strange golden giant that would soon arrive. She cared not for the war the giant would bring. She cared not for the legion that was to be hers. She cared not for the Imperium nor the Imperial Truth. Soon enough the Goldin Giant would be here and she would meet with it.

As her visions had told her, an armada of warships entered the system and parked themselves in Nostramo's orbit. Their dropships were allowed to land and the giants made their way up the hive to meet its queen. She didn't care.

An aura of golden light entered her throne room, but she did not raise her head to greet them. The first to approach and introduce herself was a short white haired woman encased in golden armor. She had a serious expression. She introduce herself as Remilia Dorn, a primarch like her. Cassandra's eyes saw her future, she was being dragged down by many murderers.

A woman in dark gray armor, with inscriptions upon the armor introduced herself next. Athena was her name; she radiated an aura similar to that of a priest. Her future was made known to Cassandra. She saw the same woman covered in fire screaming at the sky.

Next was a woman who's arms where coated in metal. Her hair was like Cassandra's, black as the night yet unlike Cassandra this woman kept her hair in a ponytail. She declared herself to be Farah Manus. Her voice was powerful and unrelenting. Yet Cassandra saw only her head being held by another with silvery hair.

The last one declared herself to be named Victoria. A woman with long silvery hair in purple colored armor. She spoke with elegance that made her seem more like a noble then a warrior. Her future confused Cassandra as she saw only a snake tailed monster laughing maniacally.

She greeted none of them. Only a few showed themselves to be disgruntled via a frown with not being greeted back. Then the golden one approached. She was a beacon of golden light among the darkness of Nostramo, a false light. Her hair was black and flowed down her head touching her golden armor. One hand was larger than the other, a gauntlet with taloned fingers. A sword hung from her belt, one that held great power the likes Cassandra had never felt before. When the golden Giant spoke, she almost spoke to her soul.

"Be at peace, Kiara Curze. I have arrived and I intend to take you home."

'Home?' Cassandra repeated in her mind. 'I have no home. Not anymore.'

"That is not my name, mother. My name is Cassandra, the Night Huntress." Cassandra replied to her head still lowered. "I know what you intend for me. Before you take me away for your war. I have but one request."

"If it is within my power to grant." The Empress replied.

The Empress' creation stood from her throne and began to walk to a door off to the side. Wordlessly the Empress followed her allowing only her personal guards to follow after her. Cassandra, as she called herself, led the Empress down many hallways through many doors and turret security systems. Before long they arrived at a large vault door that would take a starship's weapon to crack open. The vault door began to groan and shift at Cassandra's approach. The vault door opened revealing a well lit hanger that had long since been abandoned. There was furniture that had been modified to accommodate the Primarch as well as a rather poorly designed, as the Empress observed, bed frame what housed four mortal sized mattresses. She also noted that the bed had been regularly used.

However, all that was lost on the Empress as she quickly spotted the most important object in the room. Four kastelan robots stood vigil around an advanced looking platform with a tube filled with a blue colored liquid. Within the tube was a naked mortal. His lower torso had been blasted apart by a plasma weapon leaving his guts hanging and his legs floating just beneath him. His upper torso was badly burned showing the bone underneath the skin. A masked was place over the mortal's face which led the Empress to believe that the mortal was alive. Yet she did not sense any life from the corpse. Cassandra approached the glass and gently touched it as if any more strength would damage it.

'Who is this mortal?' The Empress wondered. 'Her father figure perhaps. No, she seems closer to him. She knowns what she is but still holds onto this mortal. Hmm.'

Cassandra looked to her creator.

"Restore him, and I am yours to command until the day I die." Cassandra offered, the Empress could tell her creation would not be moved on the issue.

The Empress narrowed her eyes. "I cannot bring him back to life. I do not have such ability."

"He is still alive; his body is dead but is soul remains." Cassandra argued.

The Empress bit back a sigh as she analyzed the situation. "I can see you are close to him, but I cannot bring him back. I do not detect his soul or any soul other than ours."

"He is here!" Cassandra declared harshly.

"Is this the first time you have experienced loss?" The Empress began, beginning a lesson for her most recently returned daughter. "It is difficult, I know. I have lost many people I was close to. The pain cuts deeper than any blade. Yet all wounds heal, this wounds you must allow to heal. You are a primarch and he a mortal. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"If you cannot return him to me then you may see yourself out." Cassandra turned back towards the mortal.

The Empress grew annoyed at his daughter's stubbornness but her words died in her mouth when a ever so slight sound caught the Empress' attention. It was faint, quieter than the hum of the robot guards and the soft beeping noise coming from the machine keeping the mortal's corpse intact. Focusing in on the sound of a stringed instrument one that had long since been forgotten. A guitar.

A soft toon was being played. The Empress noticed that the sound seemed to be calming her daughter. The Empress soon caught the sound of someone speaking in song.

'I am a poor… wayfaring stranger… while traveling through… this world of war…'

It was the lyrics to an old song that had long since been lost to time. The Empress turned to her guards and ordered them out. They turned in place and left the vault without question. Looking back to her daughter she noticed she seemed to be in a peaceful trance as if she was being lulled to sleep. The Empress called forth her might as a psyker. Suddenly she felt it. It was faint but there. Her senses drew her to the bed where she saw a spiritual form of the mortal in the tank. The Empress stood posed ready to banish the possible demon. Yet the apparition busied himself with a ghostly guitar. The apparition stopped playing as if he had noticed the Empress staring at him.

'Hello, you must be Cassandra's creator.' The apparition spoke into the Empress' mind in a friendly tone.

'Oh Cass, I wish you would move on.' I thought to myself as I watched the exchange between the Primarch and her creator.

It was my own fault really. I had become close to the primarch who only knew one friend.. lover… on this shitty world. I had not died that day when I took the plasma blast. I was able to sustain myself long enough with my abilities for Cass to put me into a type of tank not to dissimilar to in comparison to the golden throne's stasis field. Dark Eldar tech if I remembered correctly. It was difficult to keep my psychic abilities active with my body being in such a state. It was only due to the Empress' and the other primarchs energy that I was able to manifest myself.

I had a sneaking feeling that Cass was going to ask her creator to restore me. I really didn't know if that was possible. Even now I could feel the warp trying to pull on my soul. Granted it became easer to resist when Cass had our old hideout moved to the upper hive and incased in a warded vault. She still slept in here with me and I did my best to try and ward away her visions, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried.

Yet with the Empress so close to me my powers got a boost. I decided to play Wayfaring Stranger from my memory. A nifty trick considering the song played from my memory of it rather than me playing it with the guitar I conjured up. That was just for presentation. Now the Empress was using her powers and was now looking at me.

So here he… she was.

'Man, that was going to take some getting used to.'

'That I am, I am to assume you are the spirit of the mortal in that tank.' The Empress spoke to me into my mind.

I nodded. 'My name is Lazarus; funny, I know considering that your daughter is asking of you.'

Now that I think about it, it was probably not smart to make a Bible joke to some who hates religion with a passion.

The Empress did not laugh. 'I think you an evil apparition taking on the form of my daughter's interest.'

I decided not to touch on my relationship with Cassandra and focused on the first topic. 'I am not an apparition, my body may be dying but its not dead. Also, you ot'ta thank me. Because this world is shit and was corrupting your daughter's mind. When I was better, I used my abilities to stave off her nightmares and while also acting as a grounding for her sanity.'

'That is appreciated, and I can arrange for your body to be given proper burial on Tarra but you must let Kiara-'

'Cassandra.' I corrected.

'Kiara,' The Empress repeated forcefully. 'to move on. She is needed for my plans to reunite humanity.'

'I would love to, but we both know that Cassandra is not going to just let me go just yet and I have a feeling you're going to agree with her soon.'

'How can you be so certain? I can just as easily banish you to the warp.'

'Because you be missing out on a powerful weapon you can use against Chaos.'

That got Big E's attention, her demeanor changed becoming serious. Maybe bringing up I knew about Chaos was not such a good idea.

'Go on.' She replied.

'You see I'm not a psyker, I am a psionic. Unlike the former I do not harness the warp to do what I can do. I draw on the materium's energies to use my abilities.'

'Impossible.' The Empress countered sternly. 'I have never encountered such a trait in mankind.'

'It's always in the last place you look, as the saying goes.'

'Even if that you say is true, I cannot restore your body. It is too far damaged.' The Empress commented but I knew I had her interest. Anything she could used to gain a leg up on Chaos was something she was going to investigate.

'What's where I can help, I have not been idle since my time as a science display. I've been working on my abilities, but this world is too far dead and with the negatively of this world I can barely do anything with my body as the way it is.'

'So, what do you need.'

'Simple, bring me to a planet full of life, the more the better. I can draw on the more easily controlled psionic energies. I can then pull myself back together enough for you to do the rest. I get to live again, Cassandra gets me back, and you get your general. Everyone wins.'

The Empress narrowed her eyes at me. 'We shall see.'

'Great, I'll store myself back in my body. I look forward to meeting you in person.' I returned to my body soon after, the soothing effect I placed around Cass faded with my return. My mind faded as the drugs in the tank took their effect.

Cassandra tried to hold on to the soothing feeling, yet she could not. The torment of her visions began to return with them. She cursed them, cursed them for not allowing her to save Lazarus, cursed them for making her such a bitter person.

"There may be a way." Her creator spoke up. Cassandra turned around looking intently at the golden giant. "Have him transferred to my flagship and I shall do my best to restore him."

"How?" She needed to know, she must know!

"There is a world that effects the laws of this universe, I can use my powers to heal his body to a degree, allowing me to attempt to rebuild his body."

She could not detect any lies. In the end all that mattered was restoring Lazarus.

"In the meantime, however, you will lead your legion." The woman added.

Cassandra closed her fist. She wanted to be there, she wanted to make sure the golden giant would keep her word. She had to be sure that the giant tried to save him. The giant approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder in an instant her mind cleared like how Lazarus had done. Yet there were some differences. She noted that Lazarus method seemed to block out the visions while the giant seem to blind her to them.

"I swear to you I shall do my best."

Despite herself, Cassandra believed her.

I don't know how much time passed since I returned to my body. I was awakened by a voice in my mind.

'We have arrived.' It was the Empress' voice. 'Heal yourself.'

So it was time. I reached out with my psionics. Instantly I was met with an overabundance of psionic energy, compared to Nostramo this place was an ocean of power. If my body was capable of it, it would have smiled. I willed the psionic energy to me, and it heeded my call. I felt power course through my broken body. I willed it to repair my body, and so it did. Granted I was swimming in pain killers so really, I only felt my body move as it was pulled back together. Before long my body was repaired enough for me to regain consciousness.

My eyes opened and for the first time in twenty years I saw out of my own eyes. They were sore beyond anything I have felt before and my body felt like it would fall apart at any moment. Looking out of my tank I saw the massive form of the Empress standing before me looking me over with a critical eye.

"Can you hear me?" The Empress asked, her voice was different. It affected me differently. I could only guess that her aura of charisma had not effected my astral form. With me back in my body it was having an effect again.

I tried to nod my head, but my muscles have long since atrophied. I could only manage and ever so slight shudder. Yet my acknowledgement seemed to reach the Empress.

"I took the liberty of researching your genetic code." She sounded suspicious, not good. "I was surprised to find your genetic code would indicate you are from the third millennium. We shall discuss this later. Having witnessed your Psionics, as you call them, I have decided it is a… worthwhile avenue of research."

'Yay, I'm useful.'

"You have managed to pull yourself together enough for me to take the lead in restoring your body. However, my daughter regularly asks for an update on your condition. You have made quite the impression on her. Beyond what I originally assumed. Did you raise her?"

I reached out with my psionics and tried to send some memories to the empress's mind. Nothing implicit but the time Cassandra and I spend together along with my role of keeping her sane. The Empress accepted the memories, but her serious expression did not change.

"I see." Was her only reply before she went on with another topic. "I shall do my best to repair your body. However, the extant to how far a go is up to you."

I managed to raise my eyebrow.

"As it stands you have a less than a hundred years of life left. The blink of an eye for a primarch. I anticipate that once your natural lifespan nears its conclusion, I have no doubt that my daughter shall beg me to save you once more. This level of devotion to you alarms me and leads me to question her ultimate loyalties. So, I shall grant you this, I can restore you to your base human form that much is simple enough. I shall study your Psionics and see if they may be incorporated into my plans. Once that is complete I will return you to my daughter were you shall live out the rest of your natural life with her."

"Alternately, I can make you something more."

'Wait… what?'

"You are too old to become an astartes, and you being male does not guarantee success. However there are alternatives, other means I can employ. I will need time to study your genetic code more closely as well as your Psionics. However, when I am finished you shall not die from age and you shall serve my plans along side Cassandra. What would you prefer?"

I was stunned. I never planned to become a greater part of the Warhammer universe. Really my plans went as far as keeping Cassandra loyal. Ten against eight would tip the scales and possibly change the galaxy for the better. Yet the idea of staying longer in this horrible universe frightened me. My thoughts drifted to Cassandra. In my absence, I noticed she had started to drift back to her cannon self. Even if I wasn't there for those twenty years and our only interaction was my attempt to calm her dreams. I could see the darkness taking hold again. That was only twenty years without me, what would happen to her during the great crusade. I didn't want to face down Chaos. I was nowhere near smart or strong enough to do that.

Yet I still wanted to be with Cassandra. Honestly our time together and the times we spent together both to rest and as lovers tugged at my heart greatly. We never spoke those three words of devotion. I, not wanting to assume that a primarch felt love as a normal human would. Cassandra… well I don't know entirely. It could be any number of reasons for her, she was a primarch and thus thought differently than me. Hell it could be all in my mind, maybe I am just a dense mother fucker who can't take a hint.

I reached out psionically towards the Empress, and she accepted it.

'I want to stay by her side.'

The Empress did not smile nor did she frown. She only nodded and ordered the ship's captain to depart for terra. Like it or not, I was now a part of this universe and I be damned if I didn't try to make it better.

The next few years passed slowly for me. I was in a tank for most of them. The Empress took me back to Tarra where I was brought into the then Imperial Palace then into the Empress' laboratory. She spent much of the time studding me and my abilities. Some experiments where painful others were tolerable. I was still in pieces as the Empress didn't want to start anything before she understood my genetic code, I also guess it save her the trouble of taking me apart when the time came for her to do her thing.

While on Tarra I noticed that the world was very much on the edge of death. Not dead but standing on the edge none the less. 95% of my psionic energy came from the people and the totally not deity like being working on me. When the Empress learned all she could from me she informed me that she would begin the operation to elevate me to a "greater human". She told me of the risks, but I really didn't care. I wanted to be out of this tank.

So, I was brought into another lab by the Empress' Custodies. As it turned out they were female too, it was hard to tell with the armor but after having to find something to look at after so long I started to see their feminine traits underneath all that golden armor. I only saw one or two male Custodies which led me to believe that this universe was not a total rule 63 universe. Back to the operation I was put under before they removed me and my other bits out of the tank.

The next thing I knew I was looking at an ornate golden ceiling. My body was sore and looking down I was in one piece once again. I noticed those a bunch of scarring all over my body but from the looks of things they would heal over. I pulled myself upright causing some strain on my body but it soon faded. A white blanket was sitting over me and a quick peek led me to discover that I was naked and that Little Lazarus was no longer melted. I also noticed I seemed to be a bit bigger. I was a little over six feet before the Empress put me under the knife. Now I was probably closer to Seven feet, not quite there but close. Looking around I was able to take in my surroundings. It was a room for a noble to be sure, gold was plastered all over the place with red and white secondaries. Yet at the end it was still mostly gold.

'I get Big E's favorite color is gold but come on its almost a white room in here… well gold room.'

There were ornate rugs and well-made wooden furniture. The bed in which I was sitting was also well made and the mattress was comfy. There were a few paintings of nature and a few of the Empress herself. I noticed a machine near my bed, it seemed to have my vitals on its screens. Though given that I didn't have any sensors on me I could only assume I was sitting on a sensor of some sort.

I did not get a chance to really look around beyond that because the door to the room opened and in walked the Empress. She looked me up and down judging her work, yet she did not make an expression one way or the other.

"Your awake." She observed. "At an opportune moment, we may speak about your changes and my findings."

She pulled over a chair that would fit her and sat down next to my bed. "Let us start with my findings. I discovered some unusual activity in your synaptic connections which appears to be the source of your abilities. I have already begun screening the Imperium for similar markings. Furthermore, your body seems to act as a conductor and storage for this psionic energy, while your mind directs it. As you are the first, I've come across, training you may prove difficult. Once you have been given a proper education my Regent shall oversee your own experiments to see what applications this power of yours has."

'Wait education? Back to school… fuck.'

"Along with that you shall be trained in military doctrine to assist the VIIIth Primarch and her legion in its missions. You shall also be trained to fight by one of my companions."

'Wait, training with a Custodian!' I mentally cried out. 'The only ones trained by them where the Primarchs!' It made me wonder just what the Empress had done to me.

She must have noticed my shock as and ever so slight smirked appeared on her face as she leaned back in her chair. "Oh yes, I have spent some time and resources on you and let it be known my time is precious. I do not spend it on just anything. I need to be sure that my investment does not die before he can pay me back."

'Will the loyalty of at least one of your primarchs be good enough?'

"To that end you are no longer a mere mortal. I had to spend much time crafting your body. You are the first product of what I have deemed Project-Auxiliary. Of course I found that crafting your body was far easier when your stand of DNA is so stable, but that is to be expected from someone who belongs in the third millennium or do you prefer the 21st century."

'Oh yeah, that.'

"Now time travel via the warp is not uncommon. Ten, twenty years, even A millennia in one case. But twenty seven millennia on a different world with no warp drive in sight. You might see how this might give me pause."

"Then why did you finish your work with me?" I asked doing my best to fight through her aura of charisma. "If my existence is such an oddity, why am I still here?"

"Because it has been a great boon." The Empress replied. "Humanities standards of purity dropped significantly since your time. DNA degradation, mutations, and other influences have weakened the standard of human DNA. Some technologies have repaired this damage but that technology has long since been lost. With your DNA as a base I will be able to repair many genetic damages as well as improve the success rate of gene-seed."

"There is also the fact that the taint of chaos is not upon you." The Empress narrows her eyes. "Of course that also raises the question of how you know about Chaos."

'Ok brain, how are we going to BS our way out of this one.' I wondered. 'Well as the saying goes the best lies have remnants of the truth in them.'

"Cassandra gets visions of the future. I block them, sometimes they get deflected to me. I know things I probably shouldn't."

The Empress did not immediately reply. She stared at me for a few moments. "Such as."

'I suppose I need to let some lore slip.' I thought before answering. "The fact that the four are looking for a way to turn your generals against you."

"I know-" She answered.

'She knows?'

"that is why you shall not tell anyone about the existence of Chaos."

'Never mind she doesn't know shit.'

"To that end my regent has reviewed your history with the Primarch of the VIIIth legion and thought it wise to use your example for an improvement for my legions. You see my daughter and her legion have begun to outshine the other Legions. I can contribute this to no other than yourself. I want to replicate this for the other seventeen legions."

I was both shocked and not at the same time. When Cass wanted something, she would go as far as she needed to get it. I suppose the thought of having me back had influenced her more than I expected. In a way I guess the Empress' idea was like the Remembrancers, yet instead of recording the legions history it sounded like they were going to be the Primarch's personal assistants with… whatever they needed. In my case keeping Cassandra sane. I suppose it would work, most of the Primarchs grew to like their Remembrancers aside for a few. Yet there would be a problem with recreating such a relationship for the other Primarchs.

"Cassandra and I's relationship was built up over the time she and I had on Nostramo. It's going to be hard to replicate that for the other legions." I reasoned.

"Let me worry about that." The Empress retorted. "To that end I have crafted your body to be different in purpose to the common astartes. While they are built for strength and endurance, I have built your body to be faster and nimbler. Yet you are still below the Primarchs of course. I shall hand craft the other seventeen to be suited to each of my daughter's needs. Both on and off the battlefield."

'Why am I starting to feel like a gigolo.'

The Empress went on. "I would like for them to have the same Psionic abilities as you but I will make do without it. In the event that there are more like you, you shall be the one to train each of them until we can establish a sort of psionic school. Your training begins tomorrow."

The Empress stood from her chair and turned to leave. Before she left, she turned around. "You best learn quickly. I can only keep my daughter back for so long."

With that the Empress left me.

Maybe staying normal might have been the better idea.