**Author's note: the music playing through the ship in this chapter is Rossini's "Call to the Cows"**
"Good morning to all lazy fleshlings who slept instead of being busy productive members of society! It is time for you to wake up!" Null's voice spooked me awake, and I startled out of bed, immediately bolting upright. Fuck! My left arm burned as if someone had held a fire to it. What a terrible nightmare!
I took a few deep breaths, and realized that I was covered in cold sweat. Was I ever going to have a restful night sleep here? Deep down, I knew that whatever I had experienced wasn't a simple nightmare. It really felt like a warning. "Don't be like me," Sebastian the Traveler had said. This poor guy had been the last pilot during the Age of Technology and had destroyed an entire group of planets because of his misuse of a xenos artifact. Was the warning to avoid alien artifacts, or to not kiss daemons masquerading as spouses?
"Don't be like me," I whispered aloud as I settled myself. This was actually the second time I had heard Sebastian send me a warning, with the first time during another vision when I first piloted the Divine Retribution in the Warp. I poured a cup of water, and caught my unusual golden-eyed reflection once again in the metal cup. While distorted, I realized that I held a passing resemblance to the the lost English man as he had clutched the Heart in my vision, and I looked away. "Alright, no messing with xenos artifacts, and no assuming that I'm a god. Got it," I said aloud, my head still swimming.
I listened to the intercom crackle to life again. Two voices were arguing. I was blessedly distracted by the barely audible sound of someone protesting the tech-priest's tone.
Null responded to them with, "No! They need to hear it!"
"...you keep doing this! This is why you weren't..."
"Fine, you win. Will all gentle sweet fleshlings who had a nice beauty rest please come to the galley? Pretty please? If you are a traitor astartes, please pretty please do not go on a mindless killing spree and instead follow the track lights toward the galley. I have sweeties for you! See how that sounds?"
"...ridiculous..."
"...yes, yes..."
After a few confused moments, I deduced that I had heard Virgil over the com arguing with Null. How long had I been asleep? I turned toward my view screen, and saw that the time was 10:32/32:00. Seven hours had passed, so I was assuming that it was morning outside. Null hadn't woken me up, but I guess I had needed the sleep. Unexpectedly, soft classical music then began to filter through the com, echoing across the halls. It sounded familiar. Where had I heard something like this?
"Is the music necessary?" I faintly heard Virgil protest.
"I found it on the information disk and I like it."
"What does that light mean? Are you still broadcasting?"
"Oh!" The transmission then cut off, and the music continued to play through the ship. The melody was terribly familiar, like what would be played over a morning scene in a cartoon. The familiarity of it made me incredibly disoriented, but it was pleasant to hear, at least. It sounded like Null had gotten into Orikan's disk, and had discovered music. That was nice.
My eyes caught my reflection in the cup again. The strange woman breathed when I did, and shook when I shook. In this universe, I had gained the ability to terrify people at a glance, set things on fire when upset, and exist naked in the Warp without dying. People seemed to be almost instinctively fearful of me, treating me with obvious deference. On top of it all, my psyker powers sometimes manifested with a gold halo.
I took another deep breath, calming myself. My intuition was demanding that I attend to a terrible revelation, but I decided not to deal with anything mind-breaking before breakfast, so I set about getting ready to meet my crew.
"No. Impossible. Don't be ridiculous. It isn't the same. Can't be," I said to myself as I crawled out of bed.
I had no clean clothes left, so I decided to wear my sweaty military uniform without the coat, which I had puked on. We needed more clothes, or a washing machine. Whenever I had read dashing sci-fi space operas, no one ever had to worry about wardrobe issues. We really needed to find a laundromat, I thought, pulling my trousers on. I figured there would be more yummy food packets waiting for me, so I took my silver scissors along, placing them in my front shirt pocket.
The walk down the hallway to the galley was much brighter than it had been before, and the classical music persisted. It was actually quite pleasant in here now. Halfway to the galley, Wolfie reappeared from nowhere again, attentively walking by my side, his tail wagging. The astral hound's dark form was a large contrast now to the bright interior of the Retribution. The ship was now flush with power, and its metal walls were clean and shiny. The servitors had probably been at work for awhile cleaning.
I arrived in the galley just as Alberich showed up, not carrying Valkyrie. He held a short canvas bag on his shoulder, the same one that carried his belongings from the Levant farmhouse. He was very disheveled, and looked as if he had seen a ghost. In addition to his newly changed gold-ringed eyes, I noticed something else had changed. Alberich now had small twisted goat horns that peered out from his feathered head plumage, sweeping backward away from his face like a dragon. His horns were only about six inches long, curled, and black like his beak. Aesthetically, they suited him. Had he grown those overnight? I stopped before the entryway to the mess hall.
"Nice horns. Did you just grow those?" I asked him, pointing to his scalp.
Alberich's hands went up to his head, investigating himself. His expression let me know that he was surprised at this. "I don't know what happened. I will file them off later. I feel peculiar ever since I was fastened into the ship. I want to talk to you alone later about what we saw."
"Yeah, we can do that. Breakfast first," I replied. Down the corridor, I saw Lian's armored shape heavily walking down the hall as he followed the track lights to the galley. Alberich walked into the room first, and I heard him greet Null with a soft "good morning". Null grunted in response. I waited for Lian. Did he ever take that armor off? Could he even remove it on his own?
"Hello," I said to the giant space marine as he approached me.
The Fallen bowed to me in response, his expression stone. He seemed to slouch as if embarrassed of his height now. "This vessel, I cannot believe it. I have never seen so much holy power. And now, music?"
"You're lucky to be here, Fallen Angel," Null's voice chimed in from inside the galley. He sounded loud and strong again, so I assumed that he had fixed himself from his Necron-related malfunction. "Before you come in here, you should not think of getting violent with us again. Perhaps on a genetic level you know where you are, and that the Scion can now shuck the soul from your body as easy as meat from a clam while in here, so do try to be mindful of your behavior."
I ignored Null and asked Lian, "So, you doing alright?"
The Fallen nodded, but did not immediately respond, nor did he look me in the eye. "I have much to meditate on."
"Hi everyone," I said, walking into the galley. Our little crew was growing, and the classical music continued to serenade us. Alberich was just sitting down on one of the benches, and Null was perched atop one of the empty tables, obviously unable to sit at anything comfortably with a chair back. While he looked thinner than he had been on Levant, he still had plenty of limbs and mechadendrites sprouting from his shoulders, giving him the appearance of some kind of humanoid metal squid. Virgil stood adjacent to Null, his hands in his robes, and his head bowed. Even though the astropath was just a hologram now, he looked completely solid here. Next to Null, I spied a selection of food packets organized neatly on the table. Incredibly welcome, I noticed two bundles of clothing beside him as well, neatly folded and bound with a cord. Oh, thank goodness!
While truculent and moody most of the time, Null was incredibly useful to have around. My feelings toward the tech-priest right now were extremely conflicted after thinking about all the innocent people he had either killed or turned into servitors to use as slaves. Without him, we probably wouldn't have any food, and those dried meat shanks we had taken from Levant were probably nearly gone by now depending on how fast Alberich had been eating them. I was forced to admit that the tech-priest was nearly indispensable. He was a technological genius who was also versed in medicine, and who happened to be a walking encyclopedia of Imperial knowledge. He was a damn two thousand year old archmagos, and not just a tech-priest, I had to remind myself. I wondered what his goals were exactly. His original objective was to flee Levant after awakening the Divine Retribution, and since he had accomplished that, what did he hope to do now? Did he want to fly this eagle back to Mars as a big "fuck you, I was right" to his old AdMech friends?
Lian walked in behind me, and found himself one of the few larger separate chairs in this galley. I saw Null's eyes narrow at the astartes, but he sat quietly and did not argue with anyone. Lian's submission was really something to witness. He had thought I was a sensei, but it couldn't just be that. Maybe it was because he had been standing right next to me when the Divine Retribution was finally given a fresh battery, but I was unsure.
Or maybe..?
No. Not that. No. I realized that I was holding my breath, and exhaled. I should have taken that calming chain with me.
Where would I sit? My eyes were drawn again to the large raised seat in the corner with the embellished gold wings on its back. Should I be sitting there because I'm the captain? That seat looked a bit too big. Maybe I could learn some biomancy and get swole enough to fit? Since I was the captain, and no one else was sitting there, I decided that this was where I should be, and settled in. The wing throne was so big that I felt like I was a small child seated at an adult table. I felt a cold breeze on my shins as Wolfie settled in at my feet.
Everyone turned expectantly toward me, and the classical music continued to play through the weird moment, making me feel put on the spot. Uh...
"So, how is everyone? Null, did you go outside last night?"
"I did indeed," the tech-priest replied happily. "I've taken some more detailed atmospheric readings and I have done a cursory visual exam of the left wing. We have minor damage, but it appears that the living gold is knitting itself together once again. If solar energy indeed effectively charges, all we need to do is wait a few days here. The landscape was as described by the machine spirit here. It appears to be a desert wasteland, devoid of all life. No xenos or any sort of overt danger. There are ruins nearby that have been mostly claimed by the sands. I have a proposition on what we should do today. But first, each of you take a food packet and nourish yourselves."
Lian and Alberich immediately got up and walked to where Null had displayed the ration packets. I started to get up, but then, Virgil made eye contact with me and motioned for me to remain seated. He picked up a psyker packet, and walked over to place it before me.
"Oh, you can pick things up?" I asked the astropath.
"Seems so," he replied with a short smile. "The light-weaving technology on this archaeotech is incredible. I had studied it for years before my death, and now to actually experience it is incredible. I'm almost not upset about being dead!"
I took out my scissors, and snipped open my ration. This one tasted like chewed oatmeal raisin cookies. While I was grateful for them, I was getting really tired of these rations and wanted some real food. I hadn't actually had a good meal since New Jersey. "Well, be happy for what you've got, right?"
"Yes, praise Empress I am," Virgil said, his eyes closed and his expression happy.
"Virgil?" Null piped up behind him as the massive form of Lian picked up two larger packets for himself on the table.
"Oh, excuse me. It has been requested that I stay with Null this morning. If you need me though, just ask," the astropath said to me with a short bow. He walked back to where the tech-priest stood.
This was not the first time Virgil had mentioned an "Empress", and something in my subconscious continued to demand attention. My vision with Sebastian was causing me distress, and eventually, I'd have to think it over, but I wanted to have a little bit of down time for now so I wouldn't have a panic attack about it. My soul was probably still a little fried from yesterday. I wondered if Null had taken over everything I had seen him carry from the destroyed planet...
"Hey Null, do you still have that amasec from Levant?" I asked as everyone started to settle down again with their food. Alberich had produced his haunch of dried meat, and was slicing off pieces of it to offer to Lian. At least the Tzaangor was making an effort to be friendly.
"I do. Why do you ask?"
Why do you think, dummy? "Because I want some of it. I had a vision last night and I can't calm down."
"Would you prefer a sedative?"
"No. Just that amasec, thanks."
I watched as Null turned toward one of the motionless servitors standing mutely in the room. This servitor was an average-sized bald man in a dark bodysuit, and had the heavy black goggles that all of Null's servants wore welded to their faces. Briefly, the servitor's goggles flashed white. It bowed and began walking out the room.
"75-SD will return soon with the refreshment. I suppose since Virgil is here it is good to celebrate his resurrection with his special amasec. Just don't get drunk again."
"You saved it?" Virgil said, looking at Null happily. He had not stopped smiling since speaking to me. "Probably isn't drinkable since it is so old, you know."
"It is perfectly non-toxic in its normal toxicity, if you were concerned about that," the tech-priest replied almost sassily. He cleared his throat as everyone began to eat. The pleasant classical music cut off.
"Good morning, everyone. It appears that we have two new crewmembers. One is a space marine of dubious lineage named Lian who has sworn to serve Scion Erika, and the other is a hologram representing the chief astropath under the 99th Exploratory Fleet of the Adeptus Mechanicus. His name is Virgil Allegrii, and I worked with him a thousand years ago. Do treat him with respect. Now, I have a proposal for our activities here on Nubua. We should stay here for at least 72 hours. This will give ample time for the hull to renew itself through solar recharging, and also, allow me to study the regenerative properties of this vessel. While I was outside last night, I was able to get a good view of the local terrain. It seems that we have landed adjacent to a large ruined city that has been nearly consumed by the desert. But, closer to us, and quite curiously unscathed, I discovered something else within walking distance. Something very interesting..."
Null held up his left arm, and it opened up to reveal a small compartment. With a flick of a switch, a three dimensional rendering of a large pyramid atop dusty sands appeared before us all in the dining room. Once again, this caused Alberich to initially jump in fright before relaxing. The pyramid slowly rotated before us.
My heart fell. It was the pyramid I had seen in my vision, I knew immediately. The Divine Retribution had been here before, and right before all of these planets had been cursed to death. Just in time, the amasec-fetching servitor appeared in the doorway. After pouring a drink in a short metal cup and leaving it for Null, the tech-priest made some kind of gesture with one of his other arms, and the slave-creature walked to me, right through the hologram.
Lian raised his hand, indicating that he wished to speak. Null pointed at him. "Forgive any ignorance, but is this structure related to the vessel we are within currently?"
"Not that I currently understand, no. This is a structure that appears to date from during the Dark Age of Technology. It is most curious that despite this planet being devoured by the ravages of time that this pyramid seems perfectly intact. I am curious as to why that is, which is why I wish to have approval to visit it."
The servitor holding the amasec placed the the cup down before me before pouring a generous serving. Happily, it left the bottle when it turned around to walk back to Null, who was now looking at me again.
"You want to explore the pyramid?" I asked as I drank my amasec. Getting at least a little drunk really did help me to deal with all this sci-fi horror shitshow of a future I've magically found myself in. From where I was seated, I saw Alberich reach up to his head and cover his face. He did not look eager to engage in any exploration. I added, "What do you think you'll find? Maybe there's some kind of time manipulating technology keeping it up?"
Null nodded. "Yes, this is what I was thinking as well. Technology from this forgotten age is rare and incredibly valuable to the progress of mankind, and anything that generates a temporal field has always been of special interest to the Adeptus Mechanicus. I am specifically interested in this technology as it can often be altered to create effective stealth fields, which may be of use to us on this vessel. We of Mars, sadly, were forbidden to visit this region under the warning that it was too dangerous to navigate with no Astronomicon. From what I remember on my old directives, the area was not marked as hazardous in terms of interior danger, Chaos, or xenos. It was only forbidden to us because of its difficult terrain, both in the Warp and realspace. Since the Divine Retribution can fly and pathfind itself through the Warp, we have little need of a beacon to guide us through the bad weather."
My senses prickled, and I felt that Null wasn't telling the whole truth here. But, I still had to admit that I was interested in this pyramid, and why it was untouched after this entire region had turned to sand. On the more practical side, having a stealth field on this ship definitely sounded useful. We were super obvious wherever we went. I felt a strange feeling that I "should" be here, too. I hated thinking about that, so I poured myself another shot of amasec as I finished off my gross food packet. Was this how psykers in this universe coped? How could anyone be sober and function here? I wondered if the Emperor sat around and got drunk when things got tough?
"Anyway, my proposal is that we send the Fallen and the mutant out to do a cursory investigation on this interesting structure. After that, I will go outside and investigate it thoroughly myself. Simply give the order and I will make it so, Scion."
"I have a name, Null," Alberich groaned, still covering his face with his hands. "And I'm this ship's copilot now. Call me by my name. I don't care what you think about me. Just call me by my damn name."
"Fine. Alberich and Lian are both strong enough with their adapted physiologies to withstand any atmospheric perturbations."
"I don't have my helmet, tech-priest," Lian rumbled. "Is the atmosphere safe enough for an unguarded human or not?"
Null paused before responding. It felt like he was getting fed up that his suggestions weren't immediately being followed. "The atmosphere is somewhat thinner than standard, as is the gravity. Most of the time, it is easily tolerable, but I have seen through the Divine Retribution's meteorological scans that heavy storms race across the upper atmosphere which lowers the pressure further, which may cause some discomfort."
"I wanna go outside," I said, drinking my booze. Fuck it. "I saw a white pyramid in my vision, and I think I know how this area got destroyed. I want to see it for myself."
"We need you to pilot the ship, Scion. If you pardon the old saying of 'don't put all your servitors on one shuttle', I would rather you stay aboard and rest. If both you and the copilot happen upon an accident, I don't want to be stranded here. You are obviously drained. I'm sure you've noticed your physical changes from the last Warp jump." Null said to me, his eyes shifting rapidly from grey, to blue, to green in some communication of tech-priest anxiety.
"You said that there wasn't any life of any kind on this world, right?"
"Correct, but that doesn't mean that accidents can't happen! I'm only trying to be sensible here!"
Lian raised his hand again, perfectly polite and obedient. "If I may, tech-priest, if the 'Scion' has received a divine vision, perhaps it is imperative that she visit this site? It strikes me as convenient that we were transported directly here and directly in orbit of this world by the Warp's winds. I'm sure that you know that the probability of such an event happening is very small. Fate and divine providence may wish her to trod upon this dead world."
That's putting it artfully, Lian. Thanks. I watched Null's reaction as I decided to leave out the detail that a Lord of Change had teleported us here. While trusting Tzeentch entirely was pretty stupid, it honestly did not feel like he wanted me to die just yet. Like what he had said back on Levant, it was definitely sounding like he set all this up like a giant game of mortal Mousetrap. It was probably like watching an entertaining television show for him. Or, he's writing a big interdimensional 40k fanfic about me and I'm living in it. What a fucking nerd.
At my feet, I heard Wolfie growl as the lights flickered again. That was still going on? As the power stabilized, I noticed that Alberich's feathers were standing on end, and that he was looking at me with a concerned expression. "What?" I said when I noticed that everyone was looking at me. "Don't look at me. I'm not messing with the power. No idea."
The tech-priest's eyes shifted to a blue-grey, and he sighed, clearly expressing both irritation and resignation. "Well, I can't stop you. Perhaps you should go if you had a vision. You will need a filtration mask and perhaps some supplemental oxygen for comfort, as you are neither an astartes nor are you a mutant. I will also go with you for extra security. I would've needed to go out there eventually anyway."
"Alright, when are we going?" I asked. The alcohol had shaved the edge of fear right off my existential dread, and I was ready for action now. Anything to not think about what that vision I experienced, and what it suggested. My gold-eyed reflection caught on the metal of my cup again, and I looked away.
"As soon as you will it, Scion. I have three supplemental air masks available, but my supply of oxygen is finite and will have to be replaced soon. I brought much over from Levant, but my supplies are being depleted. After this world, we will need to make a stop somewhere to resupply."
Lian didn't raise his hand to speak this time. "Levant?" he blurted out in surprise. "You came from Levant? How long ago?"
"Why yes, we did," Null replied. "This vessel, the Divine Retribution, was found on Levant. We departed for Kolch only a few days ago."
"Levant was destroyed months ago by an emergent Warp rift. We've been listening in on astropathic relays and they discussed it. How is that possible?"
Null's eyes went to me as he answered Lian. "Some anomalous irregularities with time are to be expected when dealing with the Warp, I'm sure you must know. But, when we get back to the Divine Retribution, I propose that we hold another meeting to speak about the fate-bending properties of this archaeotech. Virgil here was especially interested in its esoteric nature, and I'm sure he'd be willing to educate you all now that he exists again." Virgil turned toward Null in what appeared to be surprise, but I wasn't sure. Null's expression then changed to serious concern, and he looked at Lian again. "You say you were listening in on astropathic relays. What were they saying?"
The Fallen studied us all again, his green eyes briefly conflicted before speaking. "Brother Mariz stated that he overheard astropathic chatter from the Deathwatch about Levant's ending, and that an investigatory team would soon be sent to the region to understand what happened. Just before my final hunt with my brothers, we caught talk that some of the astartes of Fort Pykman had been experiencing strange dreams, and that one had been having visions of a gold phoenix flying across the galaxy. There was talk of an event occurring in the Omega Vault of Watch Fortress Erioch as well. Now that I know that this vessel is shaped as a golden eagle, I suspect that this ship was what they were seeing in their visions."
Woah, they're already suspicious, I thought with a chill. I knew that we were very visible in the Warp, but I didn't think our visibility extended into dreams of nearby worlds. Maybe the Ebon Hare had been sent by the Deathwatch, and I actually did the right thing by immediately running them down? We were definitely going to be in for some interesting times once we hit Imperial space. Molech was still so far away. Sebastian had been there too, I remembered. Sebastian and I seemed to share a lot of similarities...
Null spoke up again after hearing Lian's revelation. "That gives us something else to worry about, but I can't say I'm surprised at this. For now, the Broken Desert is offering us an oasis of safety. The Warp in this area is perturbed, and while not exactly a storm, it may have a disruptive effect on anyone trying to find us. I suggest that for now, we focus on the task at hand, which can include investigating the mysteries of the timeless white pyramid outside. Whenever you are ready, Scion, we can head out."
"No problem," I said, finishing off my third drink, and definitely now nursing a buzz. An ancient pyramid untouched by time in an area of planets that had seen their entire civilization turned to sand by the former pilot of this vessel? Just fine, yeah. Perfectly safe. "Time for another adventure, boys," I said with forced optimism that I hoped would mask the uncomfortable crisis I felt beginning to broach the walls of my denial.