Elsewhere in the galaxy, at not precisely the same time at all.
Trazyn was deep into working on another diorama. This one was depicting the great feast after the marriage of the prince and princess. He'd asked Anhomquena for information on the foods necrontyr ate, and she'd volunteered knowledge about this feast, describing everything and having more sketches done. This was not normal food, not at all, even the Phaeron himself rarely saw such a great feast. But that made it perfect. Trazyn would have some dioramas of the commoners having their porridge and soups, and contrast it with this grand display. The poorest of their species and the richest, side by side. Wonderful, just wonderful!
It was annoying when a message called him out of his work, but Sannet thought it was important enough to warrant his attention. And truthfully, it was, because of the time limit involved.
Trazyn, were you serious about giving us a tour of Solemnance? Because if you are, it should be very soon. Aleksander is getting quite serious about leaving this world and the Fantastic Four are about to become the Fantastic Three. Adler looked a bit tired in the canned FTL message. I should tell you so you don't say anything unfortunate… he lost his entire family to crime a long time ago. He wants to join them. Oh. Trazyn could understand that. Losing Zefreek had been very hard on him, although he'd found solace in his work.
Trazyn thought about it for a moment. He really wanted to keep working on his dioramas. On the other hand, Aleksander was his favorite artist of the Fantastic Four and didn't he deserve to see Solemnance before he died? Trazyn knew he wanted to, he'd been intrigued by the thought. Not to mention the other artists and 'serious people' Adler wanted to bring.
Making his decision, Trazyn sent back his own message asking them to come by any time they liked. Then he went to plan out a route through Solemnance, keeping in mind their biological needs. The last group of humans had been defecating all over the place. Of course, that had largely been due to terror, but it had made him aware that Solemnance was woefully deficient in the waste management department. Fortunately the aeldari had this lovely system and he'd 'borrowed' it.
Trazyn quickly became engrossed in plotting the path for them, including some things that would make Imperial humans, even Inquisitors, go white with fear. The humans would genuinely love to see his mummified enslaver, particularly with a lecture on their history in the galaxy and what they tended to do to Imperial worlds!
(it was always fun to hear about disasters that had happened far away to someone else)
Speaking of galactic disasters, he would also show them the display dedicated to the fall of Cadia, and the history around it. And, of course, the very final display he would show them was the one dedicated to the War in the Museum. Trazyn had regretfully removed the plaque with Orikan's name and just put in a stand in. Not only had they (mostly) smoothed over their differences, Trazyn was now more or less a member of the Sautekh Dynasty and Imotekh would NOT allow his premier Chronomancer to languish in Solemnance. There was no point in pretending he'd someday add the great Chronomancer to his display.
It didn't take very long at all for Adler and his group of friends to arrive, thanks to the wormhole to Mandragora. When Trazyn laid his optiks on them, he saw Adler had not been exaggerating… Aleksander appeared to be close to death's door. His pale skin had become utterly ghostly, veins standing out in a way that was exceedingly unhealthy. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked tired, yet determined. He was walking with the aid of an exo-suit, something rarely seen in the Imperium. But most degenerative nerve disorders could be cured.
"What is this disease you have, if I might ask?" Trazyn inquired as he started their tour. Aleksander smiled, but it was a sad, resigned expression.
"A rare genetic defect, particular to Hope. It leads to a combination of problems with the blood marrow and the nervous system… I don't pretend to understand it. We reached out to the Imperium, I'm told, but they had no record of such an illness," he said before shrugging. "Normally it leads to death, but only after roughly sixty years. I'm quite unlucky to only survive to forty-six." Trazyn noted that he was sure death would come very soon. Also, it reminded him of how different the lifespans of humans and necrontyr were. Forty-six would have been excellent for them.
"Well, I will deeply regret your passing. Your art is among my favorites," Trazyn said, reflecting on the truth of it. That picture of Imotekh fighting a duel in the ancient stadium was his favorite, only behind the statue. "I don't suppose I can talk you out of it?" he asked although he was sure of the answer. Aleksander shook his head.
"No. I just want to see them again." Trazyn didn't really believe in a life after death, but he didn't vocalize it. Also, the Warp was a great mystery so what did he know? There was some evidence that Gods did take the souls of loyal worshippers, so who could say for sure? Trazyn only knew that wouldn't include him.
(in this one point, Trazyn was completely wrong)
(he wasn't an artist, but his passion resonated in the Warp and one particular entity had staked a claim on his soul, whenever it happened to arrive)
The rest of the humans Adler had brought were an excellent group. The Fantastic Four, but also three others. Jarka, that lovely man, had found time from his work to come. A pretty woman who looked quite young, but with long experience Trazyn could tell she'd been rejuvenated early to preserve youth. Her hair and skin were Hopian dark, and she wore a stylish but practical jumpsuit and good walking shoes. Her name, when they were introduced, was Talia and by profession she was an animator. The last person was an old man, with a deeply wrinkled face and a bald head. Trazyn might have been mildly concerned - there would be a lot of walking - but his lower body was mostly a machine, bionic implants. He was Jerka, a special effects artist.
At Trazyn's request, they had brought no true recording devices but everyone had notepads and sketchpads to capture their artistic inspirations. Trazyn also changed the lighting at points - the green lighting he favored was wonderful for necrons, but the humans would want to see the genuine colors of things.
"My god, this is incredible. The detail that went into this!" Ronan murmured, his hands moving as he made a quick sketch. What they were examining was a great exhibit from the War in Heaven, depicting a clash between the aeldari and the necrons. Most of the aeldari - by no means all - were modern stand ins. Most of the necrons - but also by no means all - were remodeled stand ins. Trazyn grinned to himself as his gaze settled on one particular Overlord. Had quite a few enemies, didn't you? "And the aeldari… so like the drukhari, yet unlike. That one there, he's particularly impressive." Trazyn was a touch surprised as Ronan pointed his stylus at an eldar that truly dated back to the ancient conflict. A very good eye, to spot the subtle signs.
"I love how you can see their movement patterns," Hexi said, her gaze intent as she examined the eldar caught in mid-leap. Trazyn decided to tease them a little.
"No comments on the necrons? They were every bit as fierce, I assure you!" Trazyn said although he knew precisely why they had no comment on that. Adler waved languidly, smoke pipe in hand.
"Oh, we see that all the time, the recruitment videos are actually quite good. One of the most recent ones had an image of the Stormlord himself! That fellow there is impressive, but not nearly as much as that." HAH! To Trazyn that was particularly delicious because he knew exactly how that Overlord would react if he were conscious. He would lose his mind at being disrespected by a mere organic. "Although I notice some of us are giving them more attention. Do the aeldari bring up bad memories?" Trayzn had noticed that too, but had been too polite to say it. The old man, in particular, was examining the necron side. He looked at them with a small, grim smile.
"Indeed, I've seen how they move many times." He spent a moment looking at the aeldari. "Although if we had faced these, I doubt I would be speaking to you now." That was certainly true.
They moved on from that and Trazyn showed them great scenes of the Imperium, and also things he thought would suit their particular interests. Anastasia was able to see the dances of the eldar and also the Imperium, wild dances of Feral Worlds and the stately dances of Terra itself. Ronan was deeply interested in the great sculptures of the Imperium and they all had an excellent laugh at the sculpture of Trazyn as a Space Marine. They were all appropriately awed and grim as they saw the mummified Enslaver and Trazyn graced them with the knowledge of that species' history and how, shockingly, they had once utterly decimated the aeldari. Trazyn wasn't sure why but despite how dangerous they were now, they seemed to have become much weaker. Human planets were rarely lost to them, despite sometimes horrible casualties and the eldar were untroubled.
(the answer was changes in the warp that had made enslavers much rarer and less powerful, as any truly strong ones were gobbled up by greater predators)
(this was not a good thing)
Trazyn had other exhibits devoted to the horrors of the Warp, although they were filled with purely artistic renditions, made by dedicated (and mad) humans. To his slight surprise, the humans were captivated by one particular display, dedicated to the ancient gods of their race. Worship of them lingered as heresies in the Imperium and Trazyn had been intrigued by the stories of them. And that led to him getting an interesting tid-bit of information.
"There's some mad rumors going around about a human Avatar of the old gods, gone to train with the eldar," Ronan said conversationally, taking a pull from his pipe as he looked at a Chaos-tainted display meant to honor Ares. "The rumors are all up in the air though. Some say he's an Alpha-Plus psyker, some say he's not really a psyker at all, and no one can agree on the god he holds. Some even say it's Cegorach." Trazyn was surprised and interested to hear all this.
"While it would be strange for Cegorach to take a human as an Avatar, I was under the impression that the old gods of your species were all dead," Trazyn remarked. "Do you know anything more?" Adler was the one who answered.
"No, I asked grandfather and he was quite annoyed, apparently this was supposed to have been classified but SOMEONE let it out of the bag." That must have annoyed the Stormlord. "Although he also said it probably doesn't matter since they're going to deploy this person in the Pariah Nexus and he might be quite obvious." Ah, how interesting!
"I'll need to keep an eye out for that," Trazyn mused to himself. He fully planned to document the entire War in the Pariah Nexus, from multiple angles. All of his ships were ready and he'd even bribed some of the drukhari to carry his recording devices. It was going to be fantastic! Provided his side won of course. If not, he'd set Solemnance so a great, slumbering Cryptek would be awoken and awarded his title, to hopefully continue his work. Would he actually do so? Trazyn wasn't entirely sure, but it was worth a try. At least Solemnance wouldn't be pillaged willy-nilly by various Dynasties.
Their tour of Solemnance ended with the War in the Museum exhibit, and everyone loved the story. Talia in particular had a bright light in her eyes as she sketched ceaselessly.
"What are you thinking of doing? An animated series based off this?" Hexi asked and Trazyn tilted his head. Animation? Although he knew that could be for adults.
"Yes, for children!" For… children? "It's perfect. Children will absolutely love this. Think about that whole thing with the orks… I can even use that exactly as it happened, they will adore it!" Trazyn wondered if his dignity would survive. Although, he was able to take a joke at his own expense much better than a certain Chronomancer. "I will of course change the names and appearances so it's not too obvious who they are inspired by. And this would lend itself to an episodic series… each episode a new and fantastic adventure as the main characters spar endlessly against each other. The Orikan-like character would make a fantastic straight man to the Trazyn-like character!" Trazyn was starting to see the positives of this.
"If you do this, can you send me a copy?" Trazyn asked, imagining showing it to Orikan. Oh, the completely unimpressed look the Chronomancer would give him! It would be just as much fun as the stained glass window. Talia smiled brilliantly.
"Of course! It will be years though, I have to finish up my current projects and see if I can get funding, all the boring stuff." Yes indeed, such things did not appear overnight.
Then, the small tour of Solemnance was completed. It was only a tiny fraction of what Trazyn had, of course, but that would take all their lives and Aleksander certainly didn't have time. Trazyn had noticed many times, the others gently steadying him and offering a bit of quiet support. When they were gone, Trazyn took a moment to go look at that particular painting, the one of Imotekh in the arena. It was such a beautiful work, a true pity the man who had made it would soon be gone. On the other hand… this would remain, forever.
Alexsander might leave them, but his work would live on.
Eldrad wasn't remotely perturbed by Loki's prolonged vision quest. Quite the contrary, he welcomed it.
The reason for that was his efforts with Mehlair to customize a training plan that would teach Loki a version of bonesinging. The records they had of Avatars indicated they were all capable of that, but the material they created was never actually wraithbone. Nor would it be ghost wood… it would be a unique material, strongly influenced by the nature of the Avatar in question. Manric's spear was said to have been crafted personally by an Avatar of Vaul, in preparation for the War in Heaven. Eldrad believed that to be completely true… they had no material that could make such a thing in the current time.
What kind of material would Loki create? Eldrad had gotten hold of information about him from Hope, in addition to just listening to Loki's stories. They gave him very little clue. Stories mentioned fairy steel and meteorite iron, but no true properties. Eldrad supposed it would just have to be a mystery.
They did know, however, that Loki would have to use his own runes to control whatever material he summoned from the Warp. They had one ancient record of an Avatar at work and they would show that to Loki, along with other learning tools, and see what he could make of it. In an appropriate environment to control everything, just in case.
They were about ready to begin when Loki returned and immediately dropped into a genuine rest cycle. That was absolutely necessary, he had been running hot the entire time. Even for an Avatar, astral walking was a drain… for eldar or humans, it would be much worse, extremely draining at best. So his need for a sleep cycle was entirely typical.
Then, another delay.
"Uh, I'm really sorry, but can I have a bit of time to attend a card game?" A… card game? Loki tapped his fingers together, sloping his shoulders in a way that seemed meant to convey apology and meekness. "I'm trying to make friends," he said and Eldrad wanted to sigh but he knew Loki was absurdly strange for most humans and probably didn't have many friends.
"He wishes to make friends with our younglings," Yvraine said and Eldrad looked at her, surprised. She smiled, amused. "It is for the best to let him proceed." Was this purely for mental health? Eldrad had noticed that Loki did not associate with any of the human researchers they had aboard, only a few of the crypteks. Eldrad knew humans quite well and knew that for some this might be normal, but Loki was NOT introverted. Quite the opposite, he craved company yet had difficulty finding it. Hmm.
"Very well, we can continue your training tomorrow," Eldrad said, although he knew time was very precious. Still, Loki's mental state was not an inconsequential thing. The Warp was deeply affected by such things and as the Avatar of a God, Loki's mental state could resonate in the Warp in a way no mortal psyker could match. Loki saluted and quickly left, leaving him with Yvraine.
"I plan to watch him with the children. They are all very young," Yvraine said in a musing way and Eldrad gazed at her curiously. Surely she did not think Loki would hurt them? "I just want to see how they interact. They are very alien to each other, and I want to understand Loki better." Eldrad frowned, gazing at her curiously. He instinctively felt there was something more to this than she was saying, but what?
"Can you tell me what is behind this?" Eldrad asked, deciding to approach the question directly. Yvraine hesitated a moment, considering it. Her eyes became a bit vague and Eldrad wondered if she was consulting with Ynnead. She had a connection to her God only rivaled by a true incarnation.
"Not just yet. It is only an idea, it might come to nothing," she finally said. Eldrad just stared at her, willing her to speak. "Ynnead is contemplating gathering the remaining powers of the Warp to herself. Khaine already rests beneath her hand." Oh good, he had been worried Khaine would try to go it alone. That would surely end very badly. Yet, what she was implying?
"You are contemplating including the human Gods in that?" Eldrad asked with a bit of disbelief. Although if Ynnead wished to gather a power block, there wasn't much to work with. The few remainders of the ancient human pantheons were among the few truly neutral players in the Warp. Some of them were even benign or helpful for humanity… yet, they existed for humanity, just as the eldar pantheon had existed for them. How could Ynnead trust them? Yvraine frowned.
"We are only looking into Loki for now. You have to understand… we believe he has been dancing on a razor's edge for millennia. This Avatar, that he was forced into, might finally break that balance." Oh. So they believed Loki might require protecting. "When an Avatar dies and the spirit of the God returns to the Warp, there is a moment of great weakness and disorientation… it is hard for Ynnead to see so far in the future, but we believe she may need to claim him to prevent his final end." Ah. "But we wish to see if he is worth preserving. It is not our actions that brought him to this, after all." Well… Cegorach's actions WERE involved. Eldrad could see why Ynnead would not feel obligated, though. Really, the one who should take responsibility for shielding Loki was the White God, but would he? And COULD he? From what Eldrad understood that God was still strong, but that didn't mean he could simply face Chaos. To a certain degree, Ynnead could.
"This is all very interesting. So you want him to know our younglings," Eldrad mused, mind going back to the card game. Eldar and humans were just not the same and Loki, both the avatar and the God, would have no experience with them. Well, the real Loki did have plenty of experience with Cegorach, but Eldrad winced at the thought. The Laughing God was not a good representation of their species. "I really do have other things to do, but please tell me how it goes." He'd distracted her long enough, Loki had surely found the children by now. Yvraine nodded and they parted ways. As he went to check on some things, Eldrad had another thought.
Ynnead could not simply assault Nurgle's gardens to save Isha and Cegorach had never tried, indicating he thought he could not do it. But if they had multiple, smaller deities working together… would it be possible? Was that, perhaps, part of this idea? Eldrad contemplated it for a moment, before deciding that perhaps it was, but if so it would be a long term plan. They would have to gather the remnants first, make sure they were loyal and also empower them as much as possible. Carefully develop a plan of attack, and then wait for the right moment. It was too dangerous to do otherwise.
They would only have one chance to free Isha from the gardens of Nurgle.
Elsewhere, on Hope.
Dragana Bilic did her pushups, fighting to do them properly. If she were being judged on form, she would have failed already. Not in this test, but the pullups. She'd failed that test miserably despite trying with all her heart.
Yet, Dragana knew that actually succeeding in the physical tests was not the goal. She literally could not pass many of them - she was five feet tall and weighed ninety pounds sopping wet. A midget, a waif, a small girl who would never be anything but small. She couldn't keep up with the men and she couldn't pass the tests because life wasn't fair and she'd been born short and tiny.
None of that mattered. What mattered was her mind. Bionics could fix everything, but they couldn't fix a lack of will and that was why Dragana was subjecting herself to this three month stint in hell. It didn't matter if she couldn't 'pass' the physical tests. She just had to work to exhaustion and then pick herself up after, with fire in her eyes and God in her heart. THAT was how they passed.
Dragana was determined to make it and become one of the founding members of the Iron Angels. They would be the first women on Hope allowed to join combat, as an all female unit. When they finished their augmentation and training, they would be sent to fight the orks on a completely new front, a Knight World that had been infested. They were a patriarchal society much like Hope, but they knew the Sisters of Battle and would be able to help the Angels establish their traditions.
Those traditions would be the worship of God and attempting to channel the power of his Angels. Dragana did not know if they could do it, but she intended to try. That thought motivated her and she continued to push herself until she was exhausted, then pushed through that. The instructor called a halt to it before she could pass out.
"Good work, Dragana!" That made her feel warm inside. Personal acknowledgements rarely happened and it meant so much when it did. "Everyone! Break for lunch!" Oh thank God she was so hungry!
Exhausted and aching, they all went to the mess hall. The food was good and plentiful, slightly bland but in a good way, that made it easy to tuck into even when the stomach was uneasy from overwork. Dragana reflected on their instructors for a moment as she ate… they were brutal yet surprisingly fair with them. She had honestly expected them to take delight in driving them away, flunking them out, but there was nothing like that.
(Manric had assisted in forming this training regimen and personally selected some soldiers he thought could handle training the young women well. He specifically wanted them driven as hard as possible, and anyone unworthy weeded out, but he wanted it done in a calm, practical manner, not out of any kind of spite)
After lunch, they were taken to the shooting range to learn the basics of how to aim. Dragana couldn't handle the recoil of a heavy bolter but very few humans could. She practiced with a much lighter stand in, with the understanding that her future body would have no issues with the recoil. One of her future sisters fed the bolts as they practiced. They were slow, but getting faster! Dragana concentrated, trying to improve.
For God and her people, she would do her best.