Author's notes: Apologies, but my updates will be slower for awhile. Thank you all for reading!

I watched with satisfaction as the red cubic energy field faded away, and now, before me, I saw an almost supernaturally vibrant ruby laying on its side on a small square of black velvet. This was definitely what I had been looking for! The bloodstone was a stunning jewel, perfectly cut into a teardrop shape, and the light of my Corona scintillated off of each angular facet like shimmering starlight. It was approximately the size of a large walnut, and I estimated that if I had simply wanted to sell it that it would be worth an absolute fortune.

My psychic senses then prickled uncomfortably as I then felt one familiar Chaos power leer over my shoulder.

You're welcome, the god's voice kissed venomously in my mind before departing.

I stood there for a few moments as I ruminated again that I had just followed the advice of a Chaos power. Again. This angry anxiety vanished, however, when I remembered that without these jewels my soul was in danger of being burned off. I had been calling people "heretics" and losing my shit with alarming regularity, and that nonsense needed to stop.

I reached forward and quickly grabbed the bloodstone. When it touched my palm, I felt a peculiar swimming sensation wash through me. It almost felt as if I had been spun around a few times at high speed and then suddenly stopped. The feeling made me briefly nauseous. There was definitely a strange power within this jewel.

Behind me, I heard Null muttering under his breath. I placed the bloodstone in my jacket pocket, and turned around to walk toward the Tech-priest's left side. He was facing the drafting table as he pointedly observed the sketches of the three arches that lay on a battered piece of paper. "Hey Null," I said with a tap on his left shoulder.

Null was still muttering under his breath and did not acknowledge my words immediately. After a few moments, he turned toward me, and began to type out another message on the keyboard on his forearm keyboard before projecting what he had written onto the floor in bright green letters. It said: "The string of numbers and symbols is not a memory unlocking code, but it may be an encryption of spatial coordinates. I will have to study this further to see if I can make sense of it. For now, we must save Magos Jinnicky from death."

"Let's go," I stated.

The two of us climbed upward and out of Jinnicky's workshop. Lian handed me my force staff. As I gripped my staff, I felt a wave of vertigo as the staff somehow caused some kind of psychic circuit between the bloodstone in my jacket pocket and itself. "Woah!" I groaned, briefly leaning on the staff with both hands. In my jacket pocket, I could feel that the magic soul jewel actually felt slightly warm. I had no idea how bloodstones or spirit stones actually worked. Did you just, like, hold on to these artifacts and they capture your soul if it's in danger of being eaten by Chaos? Honestly, I probably should have thought my acquisition of this artifact through a little better...

Lian steadied me with his large hand again while looking down at me in concern. I quickly dismissed my wooziness by saying, "Going into Jinnicky's soul was a dizzying experience, but I'll be okay."

"So," Null began. "Time to heal the broken Magos!" In the Tech-priest's lower set of arms, Null was now holding a cylindrical metal device about the size of my head. He motioned us to follow him as he began hastily walking toward the stairs. "This won't take long, but I should tell you both that there is a chance of erratic or unstable behavior after I switch out his core. If there is, the behavior usually resolves itself as essential systems reinitialize."

The three of us ventured back down the spiral staircase and back to the base of the tower where Jinnicky remained prone and motionless on the floor. He appeared (and, to my psychic senses, felt) completely lifeless, even though my Key had not captured any soul recently. The servitors in this room continued to nearly mindlessly clean and sort bits of rubble.

Null knelt down beside Jinnicky, and turned the Magos onto his back. Lian and I peered over the scene as I watched the Tech-priest deftly open up Jinnicky's chest as if it were a metal cabinet. The Tech-priest spoke to us as he reached into the spider Magos's metal innards, unhooking and unscrewing connectors and various metal cables. "If you're wondering about our anatomy as Tech-priests, there isn't a perfect standard for our modifications. It is common for our kind to have central cores, but this is not a strict rule. This sort of modification does make it easier to-" A low descending whirring noise sounded from inside Jinnicky's chest as Null reached deeply within using his mechadendrites. "-swap an old or damaged power supply. My core, from what I gathered, had actually cracked when I was struck by the Chaos Marines on Nubua. If not for the interference of the Nome King's belt healing and miraculously rejuvenating my core, I would certainly have expired. And, without the Inheritor's salvation, I would have returned mad."

"As long as you're normal now," I said as I watched Null remove a broad a cylindrical metal device similar to the one he carried from Jinnicky's torso. This one, however, was blackened in places, and had a line of spiderweb-like cracks racing across its surface.

"As normal as I can be. I... I have a lot of bad memories," Null responded with a dry laugh, discarding the overloaded core onto the stone floor. The scent of burnt electronics and ozone began to waft through the air again, which caused me to crinkle my nose.

The Tech-priest worked quickly and efficiently, and I watched with interest as he deftly and nearly effortlessly reconfigured Jinnicky's guts. As I stood waiting with Lian, my psychic senses began to tingle, and I reflexively turned my head toward where the Divine Retribution was parked.

...Simply listen to me! Both of you were never properly sanctioned! Throne, you do not have the proper discipline for this! I heard a familiar frustrated psychic voice hiss angrily. The voice was far away, and somewhat filled with static. In a way, it came across more like a sensation, and not a proper message. Simply do what I say, and concentrate when I motion you to do so! We need to learn how to do this in case it one day becomes a necessity. Ready? Now, on my mark, focus!

Virgil? I psychically questioned.

I sensed a feeling of surprise passing through three individuals. I heard her! We're doing it right! a mental voice that sounded like it could be Alberich's cheered brightly.

What the hell are you guys doing? I telepathically asked, feeling myself sway on my feet again. I was a fair distance from the rest of my crew, so I was surprised I could hear them with this sort of clarity. But, why was I hearing all three of them at the same time?

Excuse my tone, Inheritor, but I, Alberich, and Rasputin... I am attempting to train these fool individuals to concentrate our thoughts in order to see if we can conjoin our consciousnesses in order to operate as a choir. But, these two do not listen! They were never properly sanctioned! They are undisciplined!

A choir? I asked. Beside me, Lian loyally steadied me as another wave of vertigo struck. Null was still working to replace Jinnicky's battery. I could tell that my halo had brightened and my light was now reflecting off of both Tech-priests' shiny metal implants.

"Inheritor?" Lian asked.

"The crew, back on the ship. They're making some kind of astropath choir or something. They're talking to me," I exclaimed quietly and with distraction. Lian nodded, and I then brought my attention back to my distant psychic conversation. What do you mean, a choir? I asked Virgil again.

It would take some time to properly explain, Virgil said, his voice now somewhat difficult to understand. While I could usually understand full telepathic sentences at shorter distances, this communication now felt more like a series of images and impressions than actual words. I sensed that the astropath was scolding Alberich and Rasputin again, and after a brief moment, I heard another coherent transmission. The short of it is this: an astropathic choir is a collective of cooperating psykers working together to transmit information across vast distances, entire sectors away, not just locally. Something has happened outside, and we needed to inform you, and so, this was a good enough time to attempt this technique.

The elf I saw in my dream! It was the elf I saw outside! Alberich's voice came through the telepathic static. Three elf aliens emerged from the forest when we were exploring! And some kind of spaceship drone machine crashed nearby!

"A drone?" I said audibly, my heart going into my throat. Null's head whipped up from his work, alarmed. I had just learned not a few minutes ago that Magos Jinnicky had seen drones from Cyclothrathe here! Fuck, this was not looking good for my hopes of no drama or trouble on this planet! What... what kind of drone? Tell me what happened!

An unmanned drone, three meters diameter, Rasputin and Virgil managed to say in unison, allowing the message to get across with more clarity. An image of a black disk smoking and sparking in the snow flashed through my mind.

"What is it?" Null asked me with anxiety, all four of his hands inside Jinnicky's chest cavity. "What do you hear?"

"Unmanned drone shot down near the Divine Retribution. Some kind of disk. Xenos spotted outside too. Crew thinks the xenos shot the disk down," I quietly informed my friends.

"What?!" the Tech-priest nearly shouted.

We have also witnessed elves with grey skin, Rasputin's voice then came through. His Russian accent was evident even through telepathy. Wearing clothing of brass or gold. Not Aeldari. Alberich claims they shot the drone down, but no one else saw this event.

I felt Alberich's presence briefly strengthen, and then, I witnessed an image of a brief bright laser originating from another mountain range in my mind, followed by a fireball as it fell to the ground. I got the sense that whatever this drone was that it had crashed somewhat near the Divine Retribution.

I didn't directly see these xenos, nor did I see the drone at all, Virgil added. What happened was this: Some of the crew ventured outside. Alberich, Rasputin, Ennoia, and Morai, specifically. They claim not to have gone far. Alberich and Rasputin claim to have seen xenos observing the Divine Retribution aside from this crashed drone.

They had intelligent eyes, and I perceived that they said words I did not understand when they noticed I had seen them, Alberich added. They fled into the forest, but Ennoia discovered more tracks in the snow! Many footprints all around!

What about the cavemen that you guys saw earlier? Are you sure it wasn't them? I asked, trailing off as Jinnicky began to twitch. His lantern-like eyes began to flicker back on.

Not cavemen. Aliens! Alberich insisted. I can sense many of come up from a cave in the mountains. I remote viewed a city! They have a city beneath the earth!

And they're definitely not Aeldari? I asked for clarification. Just what we need, more bullshit problems with aliens.

I sensed that Alberich was now becoming upset and frustrated. An image then appeared in my mind's eye. It was somewhat fuzzy, but in my mind, I now had a mental picture of a slender grey or blue-skinned elf-ish individual wearing what appeared to be a suit of brass or gold armor. This creature-alien appeared to be male with very angular elven features. He was about human-sized, and seemed to have a thick dark beard decorated with little gold beads. I then heard Alberich say, Did it work? Did I send it correctly in technique?

I sensed that Virgil was nodding somehow. Rasputin decided to add to the conversation with Not Aeldari, as you may see. Aeldari don't have beards. At least, none that I have ever seen in the years I have been in this reality, tsarina. And the disk, it is crashed close to the Divine Retribution. Fifty meters.

Back in the physical world, I watched as Jinnicky's neon green eyes began to brighten further. Three of his eyes still remained dark. Null was now closing up the spider Magos's chest, his mechadendrites and hands working quickly to refasten any connectors and loose cables. Listen, guys: we're still busy over here right now, but we'll be back soon. Please don't go outside anymore. If the aliens want to start fights with us, we can let the Divine Retribution stomp them. I want to get in the least amount of trouble possible.

We understand, Inheritor, Virgil responded politely. And, one more thing. As the crew returned from their excursion, they noted that a band of low clouds seems to be crawling down from the mountains. I asked the Divine Retribution for an updated weather forecast a few minutes ago, and there is a prediction for heavier freezing precipitation within the hour. A storm that was forecasted to mostly miss us is beginning to brush south.

"And now we're getting a snowstorm? Fucking great..." I audibly replied. Okay, we'll be home as soon as we can get there.

I could hear that Alberich and Rasputin arguing about something, and Virgil responded to me in a clear voice, We will see you soon.

Alright, over and out, I said as I consciously severed the link between myself and the three psykers. Null was now standing back from Jinnicky, who was beginning to stir once again.

"Magos?" Null asked as he reached forward to steady Jinnicky as he wobbled to his feet. "How do you feel?"

Jinnicky stood before us, and looked at the three of us with five green eyes. He had lost three arms, and two of his mechadendrites were now dragging limply on the floor. His chest was still scarred from when I had cut him, and his robes were torn messily at his midsection. It was apparent that parts of the rude spider Magos were still broken, but at least he wasn't in danger of dying anymore. "I-" the Magos began. He then began to turn around slowly, almost as if observing us all for the first time. When his eyes found me, I awkwardly waved.

"Omnissiah!" Jinnicky chirped out merrily, clasping his remaining functional hands. "How long have you been standing there? I-I-I didn't expect you! My... my divine avatar of the power of the machine! I am at your service!" The spider Magos then toppled over again onto the floor in a clumsy attempt to bow to me.

"Jinnicky..." I started awkwardly. Lian tapped my shoulder.

"Pardon me, Inheritor," Lian began softly. "What news from the Divine Retribution, if I may ask?"

I turned away from Jinnicky, who continued to grovel. He was now speaking in binary in a long nonsensical stream of ones and zeros. "Lots of great news," I grumbled sarcastically. "Xenos and a crashed drone. And a snowstorm too in an hour. I'm worried that we might have a Hell-Forge problem now, since I detected that Jinnicky had seen drones buzzing the sky recently, and he thinks they're from Cyclothrathe. We should probably not linger around here too long because of the coming storm. But-"

"...Omnissiah's a woman now, Magos," I heard Null admonish harshly in an angry hiss. He was kneeling down watching Jinnicky mumble and gibber on the floor. "You are hallucinating. She is not male."

"Silly adept!" Jinnicky laughed. "Our manifestation of the Machine God is right there! He's here! He's back and not confined on Terra! I am so happy! Just look! As marvelous and as beautiful as I always dreamed!" the spider Magos stood up, and pointed in my direction. Actually, I noticed that he was pointing above me.

"What's happened?" I asked Null. The Tech-priest's animated eyes were wide with confusion, and he shrugged.

"What happened is that you have come to save us, oh avatar of the blessed machine!" Jinnicky cheered happily before prostrating himself before me again. "Oh, if I had known you would be coming, I would have cleaned!"

"I do not understand," Lian said quietly.

Null shook his head. "Sometimes, trauma of this sort can fry one's circuits. As I said, he may behave erratically for a short time. Hopefully, this resolves. At least he sees you now, I suppose. At the very least, he's quite suggestible at the moment, if you wish to take advantage of such a state. And, speaking of that..." The Tech-priest reached across with one of his mechadendrites to tap the Magos on his shoulder as he continued to grovel. "Hello. I work directly beneath the Omnissiah for the interests of Mars. Do you have any spare machinery here at this location that I can procure? It would be very helpful for the Omnissiah's quest and new great crusade."

"Fabricator-General? Is that you?" Jinnicky laughed as he again stood back up. At hearing this, Null heavily flinched, his eyes even briefly flickering. The mad Magos then turned toward me, and I noticed again that the Magos seemed to be looking over my head. "Omnissiah, command me as you wish! I obey under you and the Fabricator-General! Anything you desire! I can't believe I'm meeting you, oh blessed avatar!"

Null gave me a pointed look. Oh, I get it. I felt my voice strengthen as I turned on my Corona for good measure, and (gently) pushed my suggestion through the Jinnicky's soul. "Magos Jinnicky, I need supplies. What can you spare, uh, oh blessed machine lamb?"

"Did you hear it?! The avatar of the Machine God called me his lamb!" Jinnicky cheered to Null, clapping all of his hands. He was now reminding me of a young teenage girl meeting an idol. His grinding, mechanical voice was literally at a "squee" pitch!

"A request has been made of you, Magos," Null spoke curtly. "You should probably pay attention."

"Ah, yes, well. I don't have much, but what do you require of me, exactly?"

"Just listen to what Null, er, the Fabricator-General tells you that he needs, Jinnicky," I said. "I-uh, I sanction this request."

Again, I watched Null flinch as if struck to hear himself referred to as Fabricator-General. The rattled Tech-priest then proceeded to list supplies that we would need to modify our flyer, the Horse of a Different Color. From what I could glean from this list, we didn't actually need too much, but what we did need appeared to be somewhat dangerous.

"Adamantium, ceramite, tungsten, iron, and iridium! I have spare materials, but not much! I only came here in my shuttle! And, you need uranium. I have some, yes! Lots of uranium! There was a uranium cache here at this site, incredibly! Plenty! Do you require yellow dusty dust uranium, or silver sparkle shine uranium?" the spider Magos stammered.

Null turned me, and quietly explained, "He means urania powder when he says 'yellow dusty dust uranium', I believe. It is a uranium oxide. We will need to make multiple trips if we take the Horse of a Different Color. We need between 50-100 kilograms of material, which includes the uranium."

"No need to trouble yourselves with this blessed delivery! I will arrange delivery with my shuttle, yes! But, could I be so bold as to ask for what purpose do you need these materials for, Fabricator-General?" Jinnicky asked.

"We're expanding the body of a flyer. Can you attend to this post haste, Magos? It is my understanding that we are now required back with the rest of our crew."

"Of course! Whatever you wish!" Jinnicky nodded vigorously before turning back to Null. "I will have my gravel men pile your technological ingredients into my shuttle and fly over to your beautiful gold eagle. I can't wait to see it in person! I've read so many theories and fairy tales about how our Omnissiah rode the Great Eagle like an avenging god during the Dark Age of Technology! And speaking of that, you simply must meet my beautiful contemporary, Magos Nimmie Amee! She always inspired me to keep the faith, Omnissiah! Oh, Nimmie will be so happy!"

I watched as Null sighed sadly, and Lian watched this scene with great concern, clenching his jaw muscles in anxiety.

After Magos Jinnicky offered a few barked and encoded instructions to his servitors, Null took a short amount of time to test Jinnicky's reflexes before the four of us were on our way. We climbed down the stairway to the rocky area where we had first landed. Our group was now standing on the blasted ground outside of Jinnicky's tower. "Snappy" the robo-scorpion was still inoperable, and Jinnicky briefly fussed over his murder robot before leading us into the open entryway from which the metal monster had come from when it had first been encountered. Our little band was now traveling down a wide stone corridor in the mountain which opened up to the sky after a few minutes of walking. Jinnicky laughed and talked to himself in binary as Null trailed him with Lian and I following at a close distance. As we walked, I noticed that the freezing mist now felt colder, and there was now a gentle wind in the air. With a brief swipe of my psyker senses, I recognized that what Virgil had told me was the truth. There was definitely a storm on the way.

"We need to leave this mountain," I stated softly to my companions. I thought about the bloodstone I had in my jacket pocket. Since Jinnicky had lost his marbles, could I convince him that he had given it to me? Or, maybe he wouldn't even care that I had taken it? To him, I was the Omnissiah, anyway.

"I'm registering a slight barometric change, yes," Null answered my earlier statement. "What was transmitted to you about this so-called drone, Inheritor?"

"I got a mental image from Alberich and Rasputin of a three meter diameter black disk," I explained. "It apparently crashed near to the Divine Retribution, and the psykers on the crew were telling me that they think the local xenos shot it down."

"Xenos... Throne, this is the last thing we need," Lian growled angrily behind me.

"Oh yes, the local xenos," Jinnicky mumbled ahead of us in his grinding voice. "Underground xenos. They look like Aeldari, almost. Not as graceful, no. Cruder. Some even have beards! Snappy usually takes care of any primitive human or xenos incursions. They keep trying to break into my tower, so I keep having to destroy them! Goodness, what did I ever do to them to deserve this treatment?! Anyway, I look forward to seeing them exterminated with your wisdom, Omnissiah!"

I decided not to address that, and we continued walking. A snowflake fluttered across my field of vision.

We found ourselves standing inside what felt like could have been a stadium of a sort. We now tread upon smooth stone ground that was split in places with sporadic narrow fissures up to a few centimeters thick. Above and around us rose what appeared to be very worn metal and stone ascending rows of bench seating, all open to the grey sky above. It reminded me almost like the Roman coliseum which I had recently seen in the simulation room.

At about the size and proportion of a football field with rounded corners, I found myself in awe of this unusual ruin, and I looked upward to take it all in. What had Spoiled Prince actually been like, I wondered? And, what was the purpose of this site? Much effort had been put into developing this place many years ago, and I wondered what it must have looked like back in its day. This place was actually starting to feel like it was some kind of summer home, or maybe even a "dacha", like what the Russians in my family talked about having.

My wondering was interrupted when a wet snowflake managed to fall straight into my eye, and I flinched straight backward into Lian's chest, causing the Fallen to spring into tense readiness again. I quickly reassured my friends that we were not under attack, and that I was just a giant baby instead.

The fog cleared somewhat as we continued to follow Magos Jinnicky, and now I could see the shape of a large flyer ahead of us, partially shadowed in the cold mist. This flyer was angular, and somewhat "clunky" in design from what I could tell from its partially obscured silhouette. The shuttle was much larger than the Horse of a Different Color, and seemed to be approximately eight or nine meters in length, and a little over half that wide with stubby wings and over-wide engines. Nearby, I could see three servitors standing over what appeared to be several metal boxes. These were presumably our materials.

"This is the Sweet Song, one of the Tower of Reason's sturdiest flyers!" Jinnicky cheered happily. "While not Warp capable, she can traverse systems with good speed and durability. I came here on her! I will strap in, and follow you to your vessel!" the spider Magos chirped brightly before slightly stumbling, further tearing his robe.

Lian appeared alarmed, and walked ahead to stand next to the maddened Magos. "Are you capable of flying this craft in your current state?" Around us, I could see that flurries were now consistently sprinkling about us. We needed to not be on this mountain anymore!

"What's wrong with my current state, my Lord Custodes? As you can see, I am perfectly healthy and hale," Jinnicky asked. He then laughed heartily,

He has lost his mind! Lian telepathically cried out to me as he shot me a pleading look from above. If he carries uranium and pilots this vessel in this current state, there is great danger!

Jinnicky continued laughing, and with a wave of one of his remaining mechadendrites, the shuttlecraft's door swung open at about its midpoint. A small expanding metal stairway expanded from the flyer's body. The servitors around the shuttle then lifted up their boxes, and began to climb the stairway. Jinnicky chuckled, and gestured toward the craft. "While I am perfectly fine, I have a pilot servitor who attends to all my flying needs. Omnissiah, I propose to follow your flyer to your landing site. If needed, I can provide any defensive support. Xenos threats are ever-present in the frontier!"

"I'm sure defensive support is not needed, Magos. We are quite confident fliers; our void shields are strong. Simply direct your servitor to follow us. And, thank you for your many gifts. The Omnissiah appreciates your generosity," Null said with a dismissive wave of his arms. He then quickly turned around, and announced, "Now that we are finished here, we must return to the Divine Retribution before the storm arrives." Our Tech-priest then turned back to Jinnicky, and said: "Follow us when we're in the air or simply meet us at our landing site, Magos."

"I obey you, Fabricator-General!" Jinnicky responded enthusiastically. "Oh, wonders of wonders! I will now see the Great Eagle! The divine mount!"

Without further word, Null immediately began hustling away from the deranged Magos and his servitors. Our Tech-priest motioned Lian and I to follow him back down the mountain passageway.

"You still have that jewel?" Null quietly asked as he hastily made his way back down the passageway with Lian and I in tow. Above, more flurries and a cold wind began to gust around us.

"Yup," I answered, my voice in a hush. I decided not to talk about my thievery further, and kept my mouth shut.

Null didn't answer, but he did nod. Soon, the three of us were wordlessly booking it back to our flyer and walking quickly down the scary worn adamantium stairs again. The snow was beginning to fall more heavily when we reached the Horse of a Different Color, which had a dusting of snow upon its plated security armor. Null raised one of his arms, and clicked some kind of small device that he held in a hand like a remote car key, and with a beep, the armor plating of the flyer retracted. Horse of a Different Color's color shifted from pale blue-grey to a brighter blue when it perceived that we had returned. "Hello, old girl," Null said as he quickly piled himself into the driver's seat. "You're going to fly in some taxing weather, so beware. But, I have full confidence in you, oh sweet machine spirit."

"Here," I said to Lian as I handed the marine my force staff, and climbed into the front right seat. I could tell that the Fallen Paladin appeared worried as he observed the light snow falling around us before he climbed into the back seat, awkwardly positioning his bulk into the flyer.

"You mentioned that inclement weather might be a difficulty for us, Null," Lian questioned as Null began flipping switches on the flight console. A low hum filled the air as the energy shield appeared around us. "Is it advisable to even be flying this small flyer during a mountain storm?"

"Yes, I did. And, we're safe, as long as we leave immediately," Null responded shortly. "Which is why we're not wasting time dealing with Jinnicky's mental state. Storms in this region, as estimated in climate models parsed by the Divine Retribution's machine spirit, can last for days. I do not want to be stuck here while we have a suspected downed Cyclothrathe drone sitting close to our vessel. It may not have been shot down at all. We need to investigate it!"

The Tech-priest actually sounded worried as the engines of the Horse of a Different Color began to purr. Heat exhaust from whatever kind of exotic-energy-space-magic system this flyer had began to flow outward from the rear of the vessel, melting the snow that coated the landing pad behind it. "I don't know if the Divine Retribution is ready to fly right now. I remember that it told me that it had 96 hours before partial regeneration was complete. It has only been like, two or three days!"

"Yes," Null said. "That's right. I very much need to investigate this drone. I'm very concerned. Hopefully, we can leave before the Hell-Forge makes us a priority!"

With a lurch, we were now airborne. Almost immediately, Horse began to pitch over in the wind, which caused me to cry out. Null reassured the machine spirit of the flyer with an, "Easy, girl. Easy!" as he steadied her in the strengthening wind. The Tech-priest then turned the flyer around, and now, we were heading back toward the Divine Retribution. Lian's weight, as before, continued to cause the flyer to list toward one side.

As I sat nervously in my seat, a strange feeling began to come over me, and my Corona responded with a strange tickle of energy. Was I getting a "call"? It felt like many people were speaking my name somewhere, which even caused me to become momentarily dizzy. Turning on my psychic compass, I expected to hear Alberich, Virgil, and Rasputin arguing again, but was surprised to sense that the feeling came from somewhere "up", wherever that indicated.

Curious, I closed my eyes, and tried to relax as best I could in this rough flight. My willpower followed the whispers I had heard, and I realized, at least, that these were positive feelings. They were all very far away, whoever these people were. I felt my Corona strengthen around me, and I reached further. My psyker senses were drawn to a ruined field that had been blackened by fire. A dark shuttle was landing on the burned field in the sunshine of a sunny afternoon. There were groups of happy people in white robes eager to see this arrival, whoever this party was. I had no idea why I was seeing this, or who any of these people calling my name were, so I continued to look.

The mysterious shuttle opened, and I sensed a whispering wave of people calling for the blessings of the "God-Empress". Hearing this sent a peculiar shiver of energy down my spine. I continued to focus, and to my great surprise, I saw a familiar large and dark soul dressed in white robes step forward. He, I could tell, was a Space Marine. He wore a familiar smile, and his long black hair was flowing behind him in the wind in a majestic and picturesque manner. Behind this individual, I could see more armored Astartes (all with dark souls) wearing armor of white and gold watching this event unfold.

My attention was brought again to the Astartes in white robes. In one large black-gloved hand, the familiar marine appeared to be reading from a sizeable blue book. As he read, he held his other hand up in a gesture in benevolent greeting to the people gathered in the field that sang my praises. Keeping the book open in his hand, he fixed his amber eyes toward the cheering crowd before him. He began to speak.

"Oh no..." I whispered audibly as I recognized this evil individual.

"Greetings, blessed lambs of Rhadabus," I heard the Chaos Marine speak, projecting his dark deep voice to be heard over the adoring masses that praised my name in nearly ecstatic cheers. "We come in peace, and mean you no harm. We have come as emissaries of the great God-Empress, the Queen of Heaven. Your world has been seen by Her divine eye, and you have now all been saved! We come to bring you the good news of your salvation!"

The Horse of a Different Color was roughly buffeted by the wind, and a downdraft caused Lian to make a noise of surprise as Null wrestled control of the rocking flyer.

"You are communicating with someone?" Lian asked from the back seat. I could now tell that my Corona had become very bright, and I drew it back into myself somewhat so it wouldn't interfere with our flight.

"More like, seeing a group of people, I think," I clarified quietly, my stomach dropping.

My expression apparently didn't look so optimistic, so the Fallen Paladin asked, "What news? Is the crew safe?"

"This wasn't from the crew," I said, collecting myself and feeling my heart flutter painfully again. I took a deep breath. "Something... something with Rhadabus." Did I really see who I thought I saw?

"Rhadabus. That is the world where you remotely purged a wicked Inquisitor," Lian observed.

"Yeah," I answered, leaning back in my seat. I grimaced, greatly upset. What the fuck was that guy doing on Rhadabus?! Out of all the damn places in the galaxy to go to, why that one world? What the hell were the Word Bearers up to? Another gust of wind caused the flyer to buck again, causing me to accidentally bite my tongue. "Word Bear has just arrived on Rhadabus with his Word Bearer crew, and I hear people calling me God-Empress. They're all... wearing white, I think? And they're loud!" I gripped my forehead. "This doesn't make sense!"

As I said that, I perceived a sensation that Word Bear had closed his big blue book, and that he was smiling. I felt his psychic perception pull toward mine, even across this incredible distance.

"Ah, you can hear me! And so far away as well!" he said appreciatively toward me, greatly pleased. "The prayers of your lambs draw your eye. Your cult grows! I witness even more proof of your nature, Dark Queen, divine creature that was foreseen by the visions of Lorgar Aurelian. I and my Brothers bask in your holy Sight, blessed one!"