AN/
' ' – character thinking
"" - character speaking
BOLD – author notes
Mini Magnus ventured into the warp. It was calm. There was a distinct lack of chaos, demons and all manner of monstrosities. Of course it would be this way. The power structure in this universe is fundamentally different to Warhammer after all.
Still Mini Magnus ventured out. It didn't know where it would end up, it simply understood this was it's mission. It's reason. Why it was made.
Mini Magnus POV:
"BIG MAGNUS WON'T BE LONELY IF MINI MAGNUS FINDS PEOPLE!" he declared.
He had left the warp now. Floating in space towards another planet within the outer rim. He did not know its name, he only felt the minds of thousands of people there. They would be needed back with Magnus. They would be his population for the new world he was building.
Mini Magnus fell through the atmosphere, the wind blasting against him and blowing his little red tail around, though as a ghost he didn't truly feel it. His eyes opened as he fell. Widening as he looked over the lush jungle being cut down for a settlement of some kind.
"NEW FRIENDS FOR MAGNUS!" he called out as he once again disappeared. As an invisible spectre he flew through the wall. And he saw them, all gathered round a table discussing.
"We could be doing so much more boss, just look. We're so close to Tatooine and we all know Jabba always buys up more slaves. Hell even if he doesn't buy them then others on that dustball will." One spoke, hunched over. It's pink carapace glinted under the light. One of its four arms slammed against the durasteel table to prove his point.
"Shut your mouth. We have all these slaves here now. Jabba won't buy this many in one go. We need to spread them out. Right boss?" another spoke. Two of its black beady eyes glanced to a scarred member of this insect like race. All four limbs clenched its three finger like appendages.
The scarred one looked over the room. All twelve members of the bug race - the Krawgs if Mini Magnus remembered correctly.
"We keep them here for now, then we sell them off in batches across the outer rim. Understand?" it spoke in a slow deep voice. Mini Magnus was not intimidated by it. How could it be? After all, it was just a filthy slaver xenos.
Mini Magnus needed to explore more. He phased through the walls, looking over each room. A kitchen. Dorms. A hanger. Weapons rooms. And then he found them. Hundreds of them. All kept in a deep dark cave, with no light and little supplies. He had seen enough. He had to get back to Big Magnus and tell him what he found.
Magnus POV:
Magnus was disturbed. The fact Mini Magnus had gone out of its way to look for a 'population' as he wanted was a pleasant surprise for him. But now he had to deal with this.
"Filthy xenos" he muttered as he walked forward. He reached into the warp, filling himself with its infinite power. If he was to march to war and save these people, then he was to be ready to annihilate them.
Twelve known enemies, possibly more arriving from a patrol in space or others round the planet. Several hundred beings to be liberated.
The warp coiled around his arm as he raised it. Solidifying and combusting into flames as it coated him. He was donned in Magnus' armour. The same one that Tzeench corrupted and marked. The very markings did not hold the same corrupting feeling, instead they were empty. They lacked real power.
His right hand gripped something. He pulled his arm back from the warp. The blade of Ahn-Nunurta. The ancient Khopesh like blade had been warped, it edge glowed as he tightened his grip.
He would be enough. He had to be, he had nothing else with him that could aid his endeavour. He glanced back at the tower, soon to be filled by the people he would rip from the captors.
His one eye glowed as his mind set ablaze with the power he drew from the warp. The full might of Magnus the Red reached across the stars, opening a new hole in reality. The warp opened to him, welcoming him like an old friend that you forgot the name of. He stepped forwards as the rift around him closed.
Pirates POV:
"My lapp was a fucking mistake" the boss of the Krawg pirates spoke. His voice softening as he sat alone in the office of his ship "Running Star". 'A stupid name' he thought, he would've named it something new, something like 'Black Carapace'.
'Yes that's much better for a name befitting if the great Krawg Pirates' he thought. He stood to look down at the growing camp. Soon his hold on the planet would be finalised and he would start truly growing his pirate empire across the outer rim. The credits would roll in after that. His mouth parts peeled back revealing a smiling like visage.
Then suddenly, inexplicably, he felt something. Something entirely unnerving and foreign. He turned his head as a glowing blade came down, severing it from his body.
The rule of the Krawg Pirates had ended mere days after they attempted to establish themselves.
Magnus POV:
'Disgusting' he thought as the rift closed behind him. The sickly green blood pooled at his feet. The headless xenos shivered on the floor. It's nerves firing randomly as the last drops of life evaporated from its being.
He waved his hand, flames erupted around him. This disgusting slaver shop would burn. No. It will burn. Magnus demanded it, and the warp accommodated. The body was vaporised as the flames grew, feeding off Magnus' hatred of the foul creature that brought him to the planet.
His senses expanded again, his one eye glowed with power as he searched the world.
"Only eleven left? How interesting. Such a small number of these xenos could capture so many beings." He spoke to himself as he crouched to exit the room. The ship was far too small for him, he admitted internally. But he needed to remove the leader first, then the communications would fall and the infighting would start.
If there was a larger force, the plan would work well. Instead, due to the limited enemies, there was no benefit to removing the leader first.
Magnus teleported again, to the hangar this time. Unsurprisingly, it was empty. It appeared all the remaining xenos were in the cafeteria. Magnus briskly exited the building. His eye glowing once again. He lifted his hand and clenched his fist, then throwing it in the air.
The ship, while not large by Star Wars or Warhammer standards, was fairly big. Capable of housing hundreds of people. He could use it. He needed a way to remove the people safely, and dragging the average person through the warp, even without chaos gods may cause a sudden growth of tentacles, warts, genitals, fleshy parts along with insanity. He couldn't allow it.
He looked to the sky, sensing his new world. Not too far, by space standards at least. He could send them through it on the ship quickly, propelling it similar to how the tyranids achieve FTL travel. It was the main option, simply because he didn't know the coordinates for the hyperdrive - if it still worked.
"I should end it." His deep voice boomed around him. His clenched hand released and he thrust it to the floor. Within the ship, all eleven xenos were crushed. Their carapace shattered and organs liquified under the sheer pressure of his psychic might.
They were dead now. He had removed the possible threats. This was also sentient life. Despite his intrinsic disdain for xenos it angered him. How could he simply kill off these living breathing beings due to his desires? 'No. It matters not. At the end of the day, they deserved it' he justified, mostly to himself.
He renewed his walk and moved towards the cave system where the people were. He saw a perimeter fence set up, electrified to hold them in. He heard the whispers. He sensed their fear, their worry, their hope. He almost revelled in it, the desire for CHANGE. He halted. Just for a moment. It felt intoxicating to have the feeling wash over him. He hated it.
His hand raise once more and the fire burning within the ship had ceased. All traces of the xenos were gone.
Now he had reached the gate. He raised his blade and swung it. Blasting the gate open through sheer brute force. The whispers stopped.
Kori POV:
We all waited as the stranger came in. He dwarfed even the nearby Wookie by several times. His one eye glanced round. Inspecting us all.
'Is this it? Have we been sold to this... thing?' I questioned. A wave of transhuman dread washes over me as I looked closer at it. No thing should be that monstrous yet be so appealing. My instincts themselves told me that it could kill us all instantly.
"I am Magnus, and you are free now" he spoke to no one in particular. Yet we all heard him. I didn't trust him. How could I have? Trusting the Krawg got us all here. A refugee ship attacked by a small raiding party, crippled in space then boarded by the small pirate force.
"If you have nowhere to go I will welcome you, I am building a home. I wish to extend an invitation for you to come and be there with me." He spoke once again in a slow measured tone.
We didn't know what to do. But whatever choice I made would change everyone's life's here forever.
So that's another chapter done. I don't know how often I'll end up uploading chapters with work and college and my regular life. But in the end i'll try make something weekly, hopefully I'll keep it going more often though.
In this chapter I decided to use to use the Krawg pirates that are mentioned in a comic. I wanted a way of having Magnus start to get a reputation within the outer rim. This would be lead up to some ideas I have for the future