Rogue trader vessel of house Telvani: Immortali Igne -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Anon
A young man disguised in an Armsman uniform walked through the ship, looking for its captain, or at least the one pretending to be the captain. Anon's mission was almost complete, all of the targets in the house Telvani fleet has been assassinated by Avina and the only remaining task for him was to find the Callidus assassin who shaped herself like the captain.
The rogue trader's ship was massive, even larger than Fatorum Ruptar, William's ship, though his was far more capable and was adorned with advanced armaments. As he was admiring the length of the ship while in search of the assassin, the vox unite in his pocket came to life, it was the voice of the rogue trader's son.
"All vessels, a mission has been assigned to you, all navigators, chart a course to the Kellion system, further instructions will be given upon your arrival, the Emperor protects" the voice spoke, it was exactly like the rogue trader's son.
Anon admired the capabilities of the Callidus temple, he knew they were a talented bunch, but to mimic the voices of their victims to the letter was frightening, No, these thoughts were of no value now, he needed to find her faster.
Less than 20 minutes later, he reached his destination, he could feel the assassin on the other side, a refined and cold soul, devoid of emotion, the door opened to show the captain's room, the lavish room was filled with mangled corpses of several armsmen, a weird Xenos Anon didn't recognize, it had tentacles on top of his(her?) head, and an Eldar of all things, the Eldar corps was in worse shape compared to the others.
He looked to the right side of the room "Come out, I know you're there" his voice was that of boredom, a figure of a well dressed young boy greeted him, he smiled as he observed the witch, his cold gaze would be able to frighten any mortal or Xenos but not him, such fear was a norm in his life.
"Far more capable than what you appear to be, little witch" he smiled, 'Little witch? I'm ten times older than you, you little brat' Anon thought to himself.
"What has transpired here?" Anon ignored the insult and pointed toward the corpses, specifically the Xenos.
"Death has come for the Xenos witch, you should've heard her screams as my blades skinned her alive" the assassin's voice felt like ice "As for the others...well, I suppose their bowls were quite enjoyable" his body started to vibrate.
"At least give the humans a quick death, they were not blasphemous heretics to deserve such fate..." Anon said, he stopped to observe the transformation of the assassin, the crackling of the bones could be heard from him as his bones relocated themselves, his flesh shaped itself into a slim statue in a black bodysuit, the witch looked surprised as the process of the polymorphine stopped "A male Callidus, now that's a rare sight".
"Well, although rare, some of us share compatibility for our temple like our female kindreds" the boy explained, from the look of his relatively small stature and his slim body, he couldn't be more than 17 years old "But I'm sure that's not the reason why your here" he moved towards the desk in the middle of the room and pulled out a restraint man, the real son of the rogue trader, he threw the unconscious boy on the floor in front of the witch "I'll stand watch, so no one will intrude your work" the assassin said as he passed by Anon, the witch nodded as he started to work.
Less than 20 minutes later the alteration was over, the only thing the captain and his high-ranking crew will remember, will be of a warp phenomenon that engulfed the entire new fleet. Though the loss of 34 ships will cause major anger from the heads of the Telvani family towards the young man, Anon did not care, even if the boy gets executed, the lives of millions upon millions depended on the mission's success, what does his life worth compared to billions? besides, the Telvani family could have used these repaired ships to help the imperium but they didn't, so he might as well take them from their hands and put them to good use.
Anon walked out of the room and met the cold gaze of the assassin, though the assassin's face wasn't visible, Anon still could feel a predatory look beneath the black sheath on his face "My work here is done, I'll leave the rest to you" the assassin said nothing, Anon took that as a sign of acknowledgment, the witch's maskless face vibrated the same of the assassin's did, the Callidus seemed quite intrigued by this.
"You know of our art, Witch?" he asked with a curious tone.
"The minimum, I can only reshape my face and the effects of the last dose are disappearing, once it disappears, I won't be using the damn thing again" the assassin listen intently to his words "It was my first and will be the last as well, hopefully" Anon prayed.
"Polymorphine is rarely given to the outsiders, Witch, be careful not to be caught by heretics, lest the secrets of its creation might fall into the wrong hands" the assassin advised.
"I'll take your advice to heart Assassin" the witch nodded, he started to walk away until he suddenly stopped and looked back "Say Assassin" the Callidus turned to face him "Is there no more reinforcements coming from Segmentum Command?"
The Callidus assassin seemed to contemplate the question for a solid minute before answering "No more reinforcements are possible, the Segmentum Solar is finally cleansed of heretics, the imperial forces are finally reached Pacificus imperialist, all forces are sent to quenched the threat" he answered "You already have an army of more than half a million, a task force of grey knights, what more support you need of?" he asked, his lack of knowledge when it comes to strategy has shown itself.
"The system the Ashen Claws occupy is a hive world, billions of population and millions of traitor PDF soldiers, this is not considering the 1000 marine force located there" Anon explained "Our soldiers are indeed better trained and equipt, but numbers still matter".
"If that is the case, you can call for more special troops like me and my kindreds, but that is the extent of it, soldiers are required elsewhere, perhaps you should call for Astartes aid" the assassin suggested.
"We would have, if there was any" the witch said, he started to walk away from the assassin "Farewell assassin, next time we'll meet it will be on the battlefield" the Callidus did not reply as Anon left.
Inquisitorial Vessel Fatorum Ruptor -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector, Currently preparing to warp jump to Septor system in Finial Sector -POV: Anon
More than 650000 guardsmen, a total of 37 ships ranging from cruisers to a few frigates, and even three battleships, all of which were crewed and ready, though they were inexperienced. All that and more was at their disposal, yet Anon felt little comfort, he still had his doubts, about whether they will win or not.
The door of the bay opened and an Astartes shuttle entered the bay, the silver stormbird bore the heraldry of the emperor's sons in the shape of a silver sword, the shuttle was quite large for a transport vessel, like all things Astartes related tools.
The silver masked witch observed the transport as it landed with a thunk sound, inside it, he could feel at least 7 psychic signatures. The doors of the stormbird hissed as they opened, 4 giants emerged from within, wearing silver Aegis armor and bearing force spears and hand-mounted storm bolters, all except for one who had a force sword instead of a spear.
Anon looked at the hulking giants as they approached, even without testing, he could still tell, their psychic shields were extremely hard to breach, perhaps even better than the Eldar witch seers. Besides their mental shields, the thing that got his attention the most was the shape of their psyche, their souls were shaped like steel, pure of purpose, impossible to break.
The hulking giants stopped in front of the silver masked witch who stood all alone in the landing bay, the leader of the Grey knights observed the small human before him while Anon looked up and met his gaze, after a minute of silence, it was the grey knight who spoke first, he was the one who held the sword.
"Greetings Interrogator, my name is Rephaeus Tivor, knight Paladin of the Grey knights" his voice behind the helmet was deep, enough to instill the transhuman dread upon a mortal man.
"Welcome, Paladin Rephaeus Tivor, my name is Jermai, Interrogator of Inquisitor William" Anon slightly bowed his head, though it looked more like a nod than a bow.
"No need for further introductions, Interrogator Jermai, I and my brothers know you well" he took off his helmet, revealing an old face with grey hair, his scars only worked to show his martial prowess.
The witch tilted his head "You know me?" he asked with a curious tone "I am yet to achieve anything on my own knight Paladin, how could you know me?".
Rephaeus looked at his brother to his side, then looked back at the witch, he chuckled "How would we not? most if not all from Astro Telepathica know of your existence, your instructions on psychic powers are being taught throughout the imperium, many inquisitors have found your teachings to be effective" he informed Anon, the witch flinched slightly as he heard the news "Even we have adapted some parts of your methods, as you might have noticed" the knight paladin strengthened his soul shield, his psyche was shaped like an iron fortress.
"And my name is common knowledge?" Anon asked, feeling worried.
"Unfortunately no one knows your name Interrogator, they know of your existence but not your name, Inquisitor Greyfax knew who you were but was lost to us before she could share her knowledge, even within my brotherhood, only I know your name, and that is because you introduced yourself now" the giant answered, Anon felt a hint of shame coming from the Paladin's voice "To think such service to the imperium is ignored brings me great shame".
"Your feelings are appreciated yet unnecessary, grey knight, I do not wish fame nor glory, if you really think so highly of me, then please, do not speak of my name in front of others" the paladin raised his eyebrow.
He looked Anon from head to toe before nodding, Anon didn't know if his words offended the behemoth or not, their psychic skills were too high for him to see through them, he heard the sound of inbuilt vox units from the Astartes in the back, they were talking amongst themselves.
"Although I enjoy talking with you Knight Paladin, our time grows short, allow me to lead you to the Inquisitor" Rephaeus nodded at the Witch's words, he signed his brothers to follow him.
The giants followed behind him, every step they took slightly shook the ground beneath as it protested against their weight, as they were walking towards where William was, Anon felt their gaze from his back, the slight noise their vox units indicated that they were talking with each other, Rephaeus seems to be using his helmet as well. Minutes later, they reached William who was standing in the command deck, talking with the navigator, the stepping sounds of the grey knights seems to gather his attention.
The grey knights observed their surroundings as William approached the group "My lord" Called out the witch "Knight Paladin and his brothers are ready for your instructions" Anon stepped aside so to let the two speak.
"Inquisitor William Husan, I am Knight Paladin of the grey knights, Rephaeus Tivor" he introduced himself politely, a rare sight to see from an Astartes "This is brother Sargent Sergei Zao" he pointed towards the knight on his left, the Sargent nodded as he was introduced "Brother Saffron white and brother Demiz Alur" the other two nodded as well.
William took a quick glance over the Astartes "How many of you have been sent Paladin?" Inquisitor asked.
"Total of 50, Inquisitor, currently stationed within the 'Tears of Martyrs'"
"Good" Anon saw William nod, his face had a rare smile "Our plans are in place Knight Paladin, all the necessary information will be sent to you about your role" Inquisitor informed them "Jermai" Anon heard his name.
"Yes, lord?"
"Knight Paladin, I want you to take my interrogator with you during the mission" both parties looked at him, Anon was confused while Rephaeus looked amused.
"Forgive me my lord but shouldn't I accompany you? was my service of no value?" the witch asked.
"Jermai" William's demeanor changed suddenly as he turned to face him "You have served me well in the last decade" the witch titled his head at the sudden praise "We have dealt with many incursions, saved billions of lives, but like all things, our partnership must come to an end" Inquisitor said, his voice was as stoic as ever, but there was a certain feeling to it that Anon couldn't put his finger on it, William took out two pieces of paper with inquisition seal and hand it to the confused witch.
"What are these, William?" Anon asked.
"The first one is the letter of recommendation for your promotion to a full inquisitor" the sudden news hit him like a hammer, he quickly opened the letter and saw the truth behind William's words, he was going to become an Inquisitor, he will finally have the freedom he needs in order use his knowledge of future, he could prevent the age of apostasy and prevent untold and unnecessary bloodshed, he could recover all the STCs from the locations he knew, he could prevent the black crusades, he could do something about the state of the mechanicum and their no innovation policy.
The possibilities of the things he could do once he gained enough power were too many, the paths to save his race were finally open yet, something was off, his service, his oath to William was not over, he had sworn that he will serve him until William's death, yet William talked as if it was over. Something was not right...
(-POV: Knight Paladin of the Grey Knights, Rephaeus Tivor)
Rephaeus observed the interrogator as the news of his promotion was made evident, but instead of being joyous for being acknowledged by his peers, he seemed confused, but who could blame him? many Inquisitorial acolytes tend to accept the position of an inquisitor with a heavy heart, it may sound great for those outside their order, to become a person with untold power, but those who truly witness the horrors and the hardships this title bears, tend to be hesitant when accepting, and Jermai was one of them.
'Good' Rephaeus thought, seems like Interrogator Jermai knew the weight of responsibility he will bear, such a mindset will be useful to him in the future, and it's not like he is incompetent, a person who wrote those psychic teachings must not be underestimated, you must be a talented psyker in order to reach that level of understanding of the arcane.
The paladin observed the silver masked witch in front of him, he was reading the first letter, Rephaeus was not as adept at sensing psyches as his brothers, but even he could tell the amount of skill the soon to be inquisitor Jermai possessed, yes, he will become a fine inquisitor.
"I appreciate your gesture of acknowledgment, my lord, but I have an oath to keep, remember our deal? that I will serve you till your death bed?" the witch protested against his promotion, Rephaeus and his brother couldn't help but nod at his arguments, to value oath is a great thing, to break it, dishonorable, to break your oath is throw away the value of your words, is to be seen as untrustworthy, to keep an oath regardless of what stands in your way is one of the greatest qualities of humanity, one of many reasons that justified their birthright of domination.
"Worry not Jermai, you won't be the one breaking your oath, it is simply that your talents will be useful elsewhere, the second later is about my promotion to a high inquisitor" William revealed, the group around him was stunned at the revelation.
After the reality of the situation was set in, the silver masked witch spoke again "But that means I should be with you more than ever, what will happen to you if I wer-" he suddenly stopped as William cut him off.
"The deeds you have achieved under my service are already enough to make you an inquisitor twice over, but unfortunately most of those achievements happened when I was around, therefore transferring most of it to my name, rather than yours" Inquisitor sighed "I need one solid achievement that is entirely your own in order to promote you, this is where you come in Knight Paladin" Inquisitor turned to face the grey giant.
'So you wish to give the honor to Interrogator Jermai in order to promote him' his full plan revealed itself to Rephaeus, if he would have said such to any Astartes chapter, to give the honor of their accomplishments to another, they would have taken it as an insult, for almost all of the space marines wish to bask in the flames of glory, to be recognized by their peers, to scream the heraldry of their chapter to the imperium, but not the Grey Knights, they were Imperium's finest, son of the Emperor himself, such petty squabbling was beneath them, to them, all that matter is the safety of the Emperor's legacy.
The Grey Knights cared little about glory, but even then, passing the glory of their achievements required a reason to do so, otherwise, it would be insulting to the chapter in which all Astartes were directed from the gene-seed of the Emperor of mankind himself. Rephaeus could not do that but fortunately for him, he had the perfect excuse to pass the Glory to the interrogator.
The Interrogator Jermai within the Grey Knights, is known as an enigmatic figure. It was 8 solar years ago when they discovered a new brand of imperial psykers, these psykers, unlike their predecessors, were much more reliable, less prone to madness, more stable, and capable, they practiced teachings that were new, even to the ones as exalted as the grey knights, so naturally, the investigation ensued to discover the nature of "Doctrina Psykona" which lead to a name brought forth by Inquisitor GreyFax, Jermai.
Interrogator Jermai's Doctrina Psykona was quickly investigated by the inquisition and was accepted by all branches of the imperium, the Ordo Malleus, Astro telepathica, and even the Grandmaster of the Grey Knights who judged the teachings as pure of taint and danger, overall, these new teachings were adopted by many within the imperium, mostly the inquisitors and the Grey Knights, though it's still being implemented within the Astro Telepathica, overall, it was a great boon to the imperium.
This event has caused major attention to the provider of these teachings, but unfortunately, Inquisitor Greyfax was lost before she could provide an answer, she said to disappear after encountering an unknown Xenos abomination. But now that they found the source, they could use this excuse and give him the glory of their achievements, since he indirectly helped their order by providing the Psykona.
"I see your reasoning Lord inquisitor, and I accept your proposal, it would shame me greatly not to do so" the paladin said.
"Excellent, now, shall we start discussing our plans?" Willaim asked.
"Ready as duty commands, Lord Inquisitor".
Author here:
Hmmm, I wonder how Duran came up with such teachings in the psychic field that even imperium and Malcador couldn't come up with after thousands of years, well, let's talk about the main subject.
Sorry guys about the short chapter but I have a reason for doing so, I'm sorry to say that my job has caught up with me and I'm won't be able to write until I finish it, but don't worry, the story is not dead, I'm not burnt out, and once my job is done, I will be able to dedicate even more time to write this.
But before I leave for another few months, let me answer some of your questions:
LostSouls13: This is a surprising light hearted chapter. But I wonder what happens now that most of the Noble's PDF is taken away? Anyway, good ending with Jermai dancing with Celliphus.
Anon has not taken anything from Planet's PDF forces, what he took from them was their house guards. which are basically normal guardsmen but loyal to the noble houses of the planet, you see, when imperium collects tithe, they take the elite of the PDF as guardsmen, the remaining soldiers are put into PDF and given auto guns instead of lasguns, the house guard of the nobles are basically guardsmen that are better than PDF.
Most planets have PDFs in millions, 1% to 3% of the population of each planet is PDF(In rare cases there are more), so imagine how much PDF a hive world has, they are not elite like guardsmen but they are still soldiers.
Eins minus Zwei: allow me to say this, Anon will never turn to chaos willingly, he is a man who knows what it truly means, to accept chaos, so no, no matter how harsh they might treat him, Anon will never turn to chaos, he might go, renegade, if things get too bad but never chaos, so rest assure, he isn't a child who will embrace the dark gods just because someone was mean to him.
As for the Eldar part, I agree, and that also happened in the story, most of the Eldar present during their meetings hated Anon, only a few experienced and reasonable Eldar(Like farseer and the warlock), didn't hate him, they still hate him but didn't show any hostility, because they knew that they were the ones who attacked first(Not that Anon wouldn't have attacked them if they didn't done so).
As for him being a little scared of Celliphus, well can't do much for that, it's not like he is scared of anything, the man has died a few times and he fights daemons for a living, besides, won't you be scared of your own wife? because I certainly would be scared of her if she existed xD.