**Author's note: I think I've discovered an inconsistency in the lore regarding the spelling of the word "Malefactus" (or "Malfactus" on some pages). The "Malefactus" rift I'm referring to is in the Ghoul Stars, but it might be the same thing as the "Malfactus" Warp Storm or a completely different anomaly that just happens to be in the same galactic neighborhood. I'm going to continue using "Malefactus" for consistency for now.**
The three of us decided that we'd make the trip out to the cave tomorrow. For now, it was nice to have a little bit of time that wasn't steeped in the sense of impending Warp rift doom. My new sense of impending doom came from the fact that Null had decided to steal from the Necrons that were dormant beneath the planet, but we had at least a day before having to deal with that. Time for some self care.
Alberich had told me that he had gone for a run outside earlier, and claimed that the planet was actually fairly pleasant. He described that we were indeed close to a slow moving body of clean fresh water that flowed outward from an underground spring separate from the rushing river of the canyon, and that it was a good place to get a clean bath. The Tzaangor complained that this world did not seem to have a typical 24 hour rotational period, and that the "faster" days (18 hours) were upsetting in a visceral way. We had landed during daylight hours, only to see the sun set quickly, putting any serious trailblazing off until tomorrow.
Null had come prepared, and offered me a towel and some soap. Sadly, shampoo and conditioner weren't high on his packing list, so I would have to make due with this brick of sharp-edged harsh lye-based soap that could probably strip paint from a car. I took a simple thin robe and a small jeweled comb I had packed from Evanora's things, and let Alberich guide me to the exit of the ship.
Once again, the ship was bent low, and a gangway led to the ground. Wolfie trotted by my side, an ever loyal happy cloud of dark Warpstuff. A warm gust of dry air hit me as I started down the stairs. Levant had been cool, damp, and blustery, and it seemed that we had landed in a warmer, more arid area on Kolch. An herbal scent not unlike sage hung pleasantly in the air. The wind felt like Las Vegas at night, warm and very dry.
It was early evening as I stepped out of the ship, and onto the dry rocky desert ground of a planet 1,200 light years away from where I had been a mere few hours ago. I took a moment to reflect on how awesome that was. I had piloted a magic eagle spaceship through the Warp after fucking up a greater daemon, so good for me, I thought with a smile. While the overall situation was still terrifying, I had to admit that this was extremely cool and very metal.
Alberich waved me ahead, and pointed to a spring about ten paces away from where the Retribution was standing on huge golden talons, wings outstretched above us. The pool wasn't very large, only about four meters around, and flowed into a babbling brook that flowed away from the canyon's faster river. The beastman had marked the area with a few small torches in the light of the setting sun, and I walked over the rocky ground to where he had indicated. Wolfie walked alongside me, his fuzzy dark outline difficult to see in the waning light.
"Null is organizing his dead metal slaves to set up a way to drain the spring for potable water. He is currently gathering a hose so that he may transfer it, but now is a good time to bathe," the Tzaangor explained as I walked on the alien planet for the first time. He had brought his suspicious glaive along with him.
I was too out of it to give a damn about anything aside from getting a good bath. While I did feel better from having Null's mystery paste rations, I still felt very drained. We arrived at the spring, and the Tzaangor turned around to offer me some privacy. Wolfie sat at attention near the edge of the water.
"You don't have to guard me, you know," I said, stripping off my sweaty military clothes. I dipped my feet in the water, and found it to be pleasantly tepid. This area was probably desert hot during the day. After placing my clothes on a rock, I stepped in the clear pool. It wasn't that deep, and I found that I could stand submerged up to my shoulders in shallower part of the pebbled bottom.
"But I do. I swore an oath. We are in an alien land, and as much as the metal man says that he knows everything, even he admits that he does not have current information on this place," the beastman said, his back to the spring as he held his legs close to him. The warm desert wind ruffled his colorful longer head feathers, and from here, I could see two stubs of where his Tzaangor horns should've been near his long ears.
I got to lathering up the Mechanicus-made bar of soap. It smelled a bit like floor cleaner and eucalyptus, but it was better than nothing. It felt nice to have a good bath, and I tried to put away some of my worries for now.
Can you hear me? I felt the words as I immersed myself. Instinctively, my attention went to Alberich, who was remained sitting with his back to me.
Alberich? You can do this? I asked, concentrating on pushing the thought over to him. Oh, he was a psyker, that's right. Without responding in voice, I saw him nod.
I can, yes. I had been sharpening my abilities when able. I simply never had the opportunity to use them with you.
I took a deep breath, and dove under the surface of the water to get my hair wet. I surfaced, and asked, So, you came from Nazi Germany. How about that? I began to wash my hair with a little bit of soap. I'd definitely need to get conditioner or oil for my hair.
Fate takes us strange places, he stated plainly.
There was a pause when no one spoke. I could now spy a few insects that looked like fireflies surfacing in the balmy evening as the horizon was painted with warm sunset colors.
I'm assuming you are from a future further than mine, or an alternate reality, if such things truly exist. Tell me what happened with Germany, please. I heard Alberich take a deep breath and sigh.
I gave him a short telepathic history lesson as I bathed, detailing Hitler's overreach, and the split of Germany into two states after 1945, and then, following the fall of the Iron Curtain after the Cold War ended in 1991. I condensed a short story of state of the world as history advanced up until 2018.
You are not from the American military? He asked me, genuinely surprised.
I was getting a headache and wanted to get out of the bath, so I just replied to him in voice with a cheeky, "As far as I know, I wasn't part of any sort of military psychic program. I'm just incredibly unlucky, I guess. Someone poisoned me back when I was having a gallery show, and I found myself here afterward. I have the impression that this is all happening as I am dying in my living room."
"But you're here," Alberich responded in turn, and I stepped out of the spring to begin toweling myself off. "You're here and not dead. Or, I don't think you are. Hmm."
"Maybe this is just how I'm perceiving my own death, but I really don't know. Or, maybe I'm really here? I have no idea," I wondered, slipping the robe over my head. "You told me that you died awhile back. I thought someone was just doing magic on you in this reality. I'm sorry it didn't occur to me to think of you as an actual Traveler before. I remember you said you said you died too. Oh, you can turn around now," I said, brushing the tangles out of my wet hair with my comb.
"I believe that I am dead or at least dying in the custody of the British," he said, not turning around. "Perhaps this is all a condensed experience as I also lay seizing in a holding cell surrounded by officers. I'm not certain they could bring me back from the cyanide capsule I had hidden in my tooth, so I am fairly certain that my demise happened. I am at peace with it, as I trust in the will of fate now. I am pleased that I now have a new existence in a futuristic universe filled with magic, so it is not so bad."
"What was your name back on earth? Did you take a new one or is Alberich your name?" I asked him. I was hoping that I wouldn't recognize it.
"Heinrich," he said heavily. "Heinrich Weiss," the Tzaangor turned around, and stood up. "I... worked as a researcher of the mystical arts, and now, I suppose this is my afterlife." He leaned down and picked up Valkyrie, clenching the haft of the glaive in his hands. And this weapon, Valkyrie, holds a wise spirit that has greatly aided us. I have wanted to tell you about it for some time. It is because of Valkyrie that you are still alive, for it had warned me of the daemons at the farmhouse.
I then watched as Alberich once again leaned the flat of the blade against the side of his cheek. Valkyrie wishes to speak to you, he announced, offering me the weapon.
I shook my head and stood back. I know some things about this universe, and I know that what you likely have in there is a daemon. Daemons are very dangerous as you've seen already.
But this one, it saved your life, Erika. And-hold on, it speaks...
I waited with my growing headache brushing my hair out. Telepathy gave me a headache, and I definitely needed some good hair products if I was going to look cool while doing space magic with my new golden eyes. If the Emperor can rock the golden eyes and luxurious long hair look, so can I.
It says to tell you that it is a friend of Glinda's. I am not certain what that means.
I relaxed a little. Okay look, we're going to have to have another big talk about being friends with daemons, but for now just be careful. We've got the eyes of at least two, maybe three Chaos Gods, and we're just fun toys to them. At least I know the "Glinda" daemon you're talking about is aligned with one that seems to want to help us for now. Another thing, don't talk about this at all with Null. He's not a very tolerant sort toward Chaos.
"You mean The Great Architect?" Alberich audibly blurted out in excitement as we both started walking back to the ship. The sky was now a teal-ringed glow around the western horizon, and the stars had begun to come out. I put my finger up against my lips to "shush" the Tzaangor. Despite my migraine, this was not a conversation I wanted to have anywhere where Null could overhear.
He's got a lot of names, but he's mainly called Tzeentch. He's the Chaos God responsible for us both being here, since he has domain over magic and time. He's actually the reason why we're still alive, but I still don't trust him. He makes it his business to enact crazy plans and meddle in mortal affairs for fun. He plays with us like game pieces, or puppets on strings. Right before we struck Am'Erika, he appeared and nudged the Retribution into the angle it needed to be in to hurt it, so for now, I guess we are in his favor. My headache was getting worse as we neared the gangway, and a nosebleed had erupted. Talk about this some other time. We're going to need to find a way to use these abilities safely. Doing magic and psychic stuff in this universe is very dangerous, so be conservative using it.
"Thank you, Erika," Alberich said, placing a hand on my shoulder as we walked.
Faster than a blink of an eye, I was standing in front of a room, speaking to a group of men in black uniforms. The image burned away as quickly as it had come, and I shuddered. I need to learn how to control this!
Alberich, Wolfie, and I approached the Divine Retribution again just as a 77-X appeared, hoisting what appeared to be a long flexible metallic cloth tube that resembled a fire hose over his shoulder, and was slowly walking down the gangway. Behind him, Null stood, adjusting something on Jiminy as he observed the big servitor.
"Ah, you're out of the bath. Good timing. Now the soapy water will be well downstream, and well into someone else's problem. I've discovered how to resupply our water, but I do need you to direct the ship to open the water port."
"Do I need to get on the throne again to do this?" I asked, drying my hair with the towel. Alberich brushed past us both, and further into the ship with Valkyrie.
"I don't believe so. Since you are now its attuned captain, it will simply respond to your will if you are within it, so tell it to open the external water port, please."
"Divine Retribution, open the external water port. You're getting a drink," I said after walking further inside. I heard something shift as I walked more inside as the ship lowered itself further to the ground. Wolfie remained walking beside me.
I walked past a couple servitors that I hadn't seen before in the dim interior of the ship. They walked like zombies through the Retribution's dim metal halls. They had apparently been ordered to clean, and one servitor with a telescopic broom was sweeping away the accumulated dust in the main hallways, and another was polishing a wall fixture of an eagle with a rag and cleaning solution. While I wanted to explore the ship further, I wanted to go back to my room and relax even more. After having my soul wrung out by an energy-eating spaceship, I just wanted some time alone. My nose started to bleed again as I found my space deep within the interior and upper left portion of the ship. Interestingly, I noted that this was where its heart would be if the eagle was a living animal. Unwelcome, I saw 99-Z standing motionlessly in my quarters, holding another nutrition packet and another jug of water. Ignoring her, I took my dirty clothes and bunched them up, making a makeshift pillow on the rough degraded surface of the old mattress. I did notice that it was somewhat cleaner in here now, as the main room of this suite seemed to have been dusted. Null, while irritating at times, was incredibly helpful to have around, I had to concede. The remains of ten thousand year old furnishings had made the place very dusty, so I was very happy to see that some of it was being cleaned away. Depending on how long it took to get to Molech, we should find a space Ikea to make this ship livable in the meantime.
I laid down on the ancient mattress, my head on my dirty clothes. I turned toward 99-Z who stood motionless by my side at the small table. It (well, she) began to speak in a monotone "It has been suggested by the Master that the Scion sustains her mental facilities with high glucose nutrient paste and water. Please consume all water and all allotted foodstuffs for optimal nutrition. The Master will arrive in fifteen minutes to arrange a physical checkup."
Ugh, I didn't like being Null's little project right now, I grumbled, but I probably did need a physical exam after everything that happened. I got up and took the nutrient packet from 99-Z's mechadendrite. A cup of water was poured for me and left on the table before the servitor left the room. Again, I struggled to open the packet of paste. What was fantastic was that I was a psyker that could kill daemons and navigate psychic eagle ships, yet I still struggled with stupid things like these poorly-designed food bags. I reached down into my pack, and found my silver scissors. As soon as they met my hands, they immediately glowed bright white. I dropped them on the floor, startled. The shears glowed, and then, returned to their normal silver shine. What on earth?
I picked the scissors back up, and investigated them. At some point, I needed to find someone to figure out what kind of evil mystery these scissors held, seeing as I had seen them in my vision with Tailsn, and that Tzeentch himself wanted me to have them. From here, they looked just like a normal pair of thin silver scissors, although they were very sharp. Oh well, I thought, and used them to clip open my food packet.
The paste had a sweetness to it that made it taste like a mixture of overripe banana and mashed peas. It wasn't very good. After we pick up some furnishings, we should stop by a space Costco for some real food, I thought. After drinking my cup of water, I began to feel better. Null hadn't come by yet, so I decided to go through my things and see if I could find any entertaining reading.
As I went to pull out the Cadian Cookbook again, the small blank journal fell out. I remembered that I still had the pen that I had picked up from the farmhouse, so now I could keep a journal if I wanted to. I opened the journal, and saw something new.
There was writing in the journal now! Where before, it had been nearly entirely blank, it appeared that a few pages had been filled in with a silver ink that faintly glowed. Interested, I began to read.
Dear Traveler,
If you are reading this, then you have consumed at least one human spirit, and now, the Key is anchored to you, and cannot be taken away unwillingly. Your psyker level, as per the Imperial Assignment, is at least an Iota in scale, for if it was lower, you could not be reading this, nor would the Key have accepted your soul in my vessel.
If you do not already know by now, you are, as some rare scholars describe as a Traveler. Your soul knows no roots in the Immaterium, as you were not born on this Materium, making you highly resistant to the Immaterium's corrupting taint. Perhaps you have left the doomed planet of Levant in search of your glory, or perhaps not. As you continue your quest across our galaxy, more of this book will become visible to you, as for every soul you consume through the Key, the more powerful you become. I hold myself privileged for allowing my body and its powerful lineage for your use, and wherever I may be, I pray to Almighty God that you will destroy those who would subdue you.
Continue to practice your psionic abilities, and continue to integrate souls into yourself, and watch your power grow in great strength.
~Evanora, Scion of the East
She had signed it "Scion of the East", which was interesting. I supposed that she would definitely be a Traveler too now if she wanted to escape this universe. I wondered where she ended up? Maybe she's now in Oz as the actual Wicked Witch of the East? The thought made me laugh. Someone as diabolical-sounding as Evanora would be extraordinarily bad for any universe to experience.
The following few pages were filled with instructions on esoteric techniques for meditation, protection, and psychic intimidation. As I started to read further, I heard Null step through the door without knocking. I closed the journal and set it aside.
"Good, you have consumed your food. Psykers of a higher potency have different dietary needs. These packaged meals should be enough nutritionally for your unique requirements," the tech-priest said, sitting on one of the two chairs in this room as I sat up on the bed.
I noticed that Null was still actively avoiding making direct eye contact with me, and I felt somehow that he was intimidated just by being in my presence. He removed a metal tube from a pocket in his robe, along with something that vaguely hinted at a stethoscope with strange blinking lights.
"I wish to examine you, if you would allow it. You have likely been under immense physical and mental strain. So, if you would permit me," Null inquired.
"Just don't inject me in the neck with anything else," I said.
The tech-priest pointed a bright light into my eyes with the metal rod, pressing a button that offered some sort of readout on its surface that I couldn't see. He then placed the stethoscope over my heart, and listened for a few moments. Without explaining what he had found, he then reached into his robe, and produced a thin metal bracelet lined with mysterious clear crystals and glyphs.
"Place this upon your arm. We use this little piece of tech to determine psychic potency to test suspected psykers when in the field. It can offer a rough estimate to your strength."
Null gave me the bracelet, and I put it over my left wrist, where it immediately clamped down and locked. Before I could become upset at this, the device came to life began to softly glow red, before shifting to orange, yellow, and finally a bright yellow green. After the colors stopped shifting, the bracelet unlocked itself, and Null took it away.
"It appears that you are a high Eta, or maybe a low Zeta," the tech-priest stated. "Your health appears stable, but you should try to get some good rest tonight."
"Null, please don't kill Alberich. Just try to get along with him for now," I said with a yawn. "I know he's a mutant, but for now, he's sworn to protect me with his life."
"He's not a Traveler, Scion," Null said, putting away his things in the many pockets of his red robes. "He can't be. The mutant lied to save his life, and will probably continue to lie. It is their nature to be beastly. It is in their nature to fall into corruption and degeneracy. The probability of two Travelers on one world at the same time is exceedingly minuscule."
"Alberich came from my reality, Null," I insisted. "He knew things no one else could know, and was familiar with my world."
"I will still say that he lies, but it is your decision to keep him here, so I will not harm him. I will again say that he will be a great detriment to you once you reveal yourself to the greater galaxy, and once we start heading into Imperial space, the ship you ride in will begin to attract attention, that is, if it hasn't already. Aside from that unpleasantness, I have something that might interest you."
Null produced chain of dark metal links a bit longer than my forearm, offering it to me with a metal hand. It appeared to have a clasp, and could be used as a short necklace. As the tech-priest held out the chain, I saw Wolfie crawl under the table and curl up in a sleeping position before vanishing into a smear of smoke back to the Warp.
"What's this?" I took the chain and examined it. It was heavier than it should be, even if it was solid metal. I rubbed the links between my fingers. It felt calming.
"This used to be Virgil's. He was plagued by visions the further he got in his research. His physical blindness did not stop the amount of information his mind picked up, so he often wore this dampener to muffle his premonitions when he wished to simply read or study. It isn't meant to be a substitution for good mental discipline, but he said it helped him. Virgil wore it around his neck from time to time. He had, well, 'borrowed' it when assigned to a previous Mechanicus fleet."
I took the metal chain. "Thank you. This is definitely useful."
Null sat aside from me, clasping his four hands together, and still not making any eye contact. "We should talk further when we have replaced the battery for the ship. We are only seeing a shadow of what she used to be, as she is operating on emergency systems. I am studying as much as I can, but for now, do not judge her as dirty or weak. The Divine Retribution has already maimed a Keeper of Secrets at only a sliver of its true power, as you have seen."
"Well we have water now, at least," I placed the metal links on the nightstand. "What we should do is find a way to get some furniture or something here when everything is fixed up. Make this ship livable again. Molech is far away. How much do we know about this local area?"
"Not much, truly. There are few stars out here in the Ghoul Stars, and livable planets are even rarer. There is evidence that an unknown event stripped these worlds of their civilizations many thousands of years ago, so there are many ruins, but little populated cities."
Wait, something that strips civilizations? We were located on very eastern fringe of the galaxy, and since he had not been off planet for over a thousand years, maybe Null didn't know about...
"Null, do you know about the Tyranids? In the stories I read, there was a group of giant insect aliens that came in and started eating the galaxy a few hundred years sometime before the end of M41. I can't remember where exactly, but I'm pretty sure one of their fleets strikes an area to the far east. But wait, what year is it?"
"It is currently 999.M41. I know nothing of 'Tyranids'. When heavier Warp activity began to isolate Levant in 733.M41, I experienced a severance of my ability to listen in on news of the greater Imperium. Do Tyranids originate from the planet Tyran? One of my old colleagues was posted there, and may still be there, but that was very many years ago. It is a heavily fortified ocean world, so I doubt any insect xenos could cause difficulty."
"I have some bad news for you, Null."
For about ten minutes, I described the menace of the Tyranids, and all about how they assaulted the planet Tyran, completely overwhelming and devouring it before the fleet picked up and moved to strip another planet. The tech-priest listened in horror, and I could see him gripping his knees nervously. His now yellow eyes blinked in surprise and horror, and I even thought I spied a tear move across the surface of one eye.
"Omnissiah, save us. Another new horror for humankind to suffer," Null said as he shook his head sadly. "You say that they will avoid areas of high Warp activity? Would you be able to sense them if they were close?"
"Their psychic shadow is so big and powerful that I read that people were calling it the 'Shadow in the Warp', because it disrupts abilities. Tyran couldn't even use an astropath to call for aid since they were already in that Shadow when that attack happened. I'm not sure it is possible to sense them moving in the area. From where I saw on the map on the bridge, the Malefactus rift isn't very far away from here, so I would think the bugs would avoid that, but I'm not certain on that either," I said.
Oh man, I hadn't even considered any Tyranid danger out here. I had been so occupied with worrying about greater daemons, Necrons, and manipulative Chaos Gods that the possibility of running into a Hive Fleet hadn't even entered my mind. Holy shit.
"After we're done here, lets get away from this part of the galaxy. I don't want to be lunch," I said, yawning.
"Of course. While my information may be out of date, I do know of a few locations that are somewhat neutral toward those simply passing through. We shall plot a course after the battery is replaced, and the ship has regained full functionality. I will tolerate the mutant for now, but I strongly suggest you get rid of him or leave him on the ship when we arrive at a human world. He is an untrained beastman psyker, and could be very dangerous to you."
Null appeared understandably upset at the revelation that Tyranids existed when he left my room shortly afterward, wishing me a good night. I got a few unbidden images of him directing different servitors toward different cleaning tasks, and another of a test of a water faucet, which worked after sputtering for a few moments. I decided to try out the dark chain the tech-priest had given me, and held it in one of my hands, which caused the images to immediately cease. I really had to get better at being a psyker without needing that chain, because this was overwhelming.
I spent the rest of the evening reading up on techniques on psychic intimidation, and how to cultivate emotion to fuel different desired effects. I didn't want to scare anyone, so I just ended up yelling at my scary reflection, pretending that it was Evanora, and swearing at her for putting me in this body. Eventually, I got fed up and angry over my circumstances again, and fell into a fitful sleep, dreading raiding that damn Necron Tomb tomorrow.