I was cautious this time when I translated to the Warp. Instead of immediately translating while in the upper atmosphere of a very unfortunate world, I actually flew a proper distance away from the planet I had been perched upon before jumping off. When the Immaterium embraced me, I found myself skimming just above a wide prairie of hissing grasses of emerald envy and thorny jade tumbleweeds, the false-sky thick with billowy concealing ignorance-clouds that blanketed above me. A glance to my starboard side displayed distant turbulent emotional weather to the north. Flashes of electric energy sliced through the false-sky like harsh ephemeral dragons. Distant shadows of heavy rainstorms ringed the northern horizon balefully. Good thing I wasn't up there anymore, I thought as I determined my path above and along the prairie. Under my eyes, the whispering grasses transfigured themselves into metallic rows of of laughing wheat, and the golden road appeared before me. I followed it along from above for an indeterminable time. Time was always a little slippery when flying around in the Warp.
An irregular gusty wind brushed up against my port side, which reminded me why I wasn't immediately traveling southward. This was, I imagined, a metaphysical representation of the nearby border of the Ultima Segmentum and the Ghoul Stars. While not a properly defined border here in the Warp, it was understood to exist in the minds of many humans of the galaxy, and simply from this knowledge, this area often experienced frequent choppy emotional weather as countless beings simply thought about it. Many souls often contemplated the mystery of this region of space, which altered it, causing gusts of thought and winds of supposition. The flight would be somewhat rough, but nothing I couldn't handle.
A downpour of moody tears pattered over my hull as I observed the emotional weather around me, my minds interpreting it as a reflection of more natural weather in the Materium. I was reminded of a summer storm between two fronts as it converged over wide fields of wheat and corn in a more conventional reality. The sound of rain even echoed over the heads of the two individuals on the bridge, which caused one of them to gaze upward in awe, and say, "As if we're in a rainstorm!"
"We are," I replied, consciously attempting to keep part of myself cognizant here for my crew. The bridge felt distant, but with a little effort, I could devote energy into consciousness here. It involved pairing my consciousness slightly, and my soul was getting large enough to accommodate that action. "This area feels rainy and windy, and the weather directly south would just be too unpleasant to fly through right now. Right here isn't all that bad, but I am perceiving it like rain on the hull."
I looked ahead, and saw where the golden road wanted to take me, which was through a distant light forest that was ringed in a glow of wrathful red in the distance. That forest was about halfway the distance on our journey. It almost appeared to be on fire, ringed with heavy amounts of negative emotion. I was reminded of my vision of the burning family, and my heart hurt again.
Ahead of my physical body, the small screen that displayed one of my crewmembers currently in the engine room vanished, and the insect sitting on my shoulder said, "Let me know if you have need of me through this drone. You are very bright right now. Difficult to see in the display!" in a high voice. The insect briefly fluttered up, and I felt that he was looking behind me at someone who had just arrived in this wide room.
On the bridge, one of my co-captains appeared. "Should I sit down?" I heard him ask.
"Don't bother right now, but stay close in case I need you," I responded, not wanting to pull from a weakened soul when I had my deliciously energized captain to sup from instead. Quality feels for quality meals, I joked to myself. "I'm navigating right now. The sound of rain is because it looks like it's raining outside."
"There is no rain in the Warp," the Fallen spoke, walking into my physical field of vision. His soul was bright and healthy, and it was a pity he wasn't usable for one of the thrones. Lian was watching the map ahead of us as we moved. I could still see here, even though my physical eyes remained closed, and my Corona wreathed me in a warm glow. "Physical rain cannot fall," Lian intoned, his tone very matter of fact.
Vigil attempted to explain: "No, but from what knowledge I have on Navigators and what they see, the Warp is subjective to those who navigate its roads. If rain is perceived, it appears, if that makes sense."
"It doesn't make sense, but I will not question it."
I sensed a favorable wind at my back, and I easily soared along the prairie of hissing grasses and metal wheat for a time, dipping and diving along the emotional currents I felt passing around me. A flock of jeering Chaos Furies flew past my vision, harrying a wandering alien soul that had found itself in a dangerous position naked in the Warp with its silver cord cut. When I appeared, I surprised the flock of small bat-like daemons, and they all scattered with fright when I dove near. Starlings. They were almost like a flock of oversized evil starlings, I thought, continuing on my way. The lost fluttering soul was momentarily safe until a screaming manta ray appeared from the heavy sky, devoured the poor creature, and then, flew away. Oh well. I continued flying, enjoying myself.
The golden road before me made navigation easy. When the landscape shifted, a part of what I perceived before me transfigured into a path of glittering gold. As long as I followed that path, I knew I was flying in the right direction. With a grin, I decided to dive along the grasses of the prairie again, feeling the tendrils and fake vegetation of this place tickle my wings. Even the fake rain felt nice against my hull. I really enjoyed flying.
Time passed, and blessedly, nothing very dramatic happened. While piloting this vessel was draining me, I was stronger than I had been before, so I weathered the effect more easily. A cup of water was offered to me as we went along, and I could sense that my crewmembers were engaged in friendly conversation on the bridge. Apparently, hours had already passed. When someone became concerned that I hadn't spoken in awhile, it was discovered that I was wearing a smile. The hologram-astropath nearby asked me, "The flight is good, I am assuming? All is well?"
"Yeah," I responded. "This is nice. Much better than running from those other two planets. It's actually kinda relaxing, in a way. How much time has passed?"
Both the Divine Retribution's consciousness and Virgil informed me at the same time: "Four hours, twenty-five minutes."
Wow, time was really flying along with me, I thought. Nearby, I sensed Alberich walking toward me on the bridge. He had recovered from his hangover, and did not smell "pickled" anymore. "Are you alright? Do you need to take a break at all?" the beastman asked me.
"Actually, I probably should. You want to take over for me for a little bit? It isn't that hard."
Alberich's heart echoed in fear, but he obliged. "I should probably learn, shouldn't I?"
"Yeah, you should."
A short time later, I sensed another intelligence blend itself into me. The white falcon-man was now tentatively watching me fly along the prairie as his physical body sat on the right throne.
How do I guide this vessel? What must I do? I feel as if my seat is electrified! the beastman spoke with trepidation.
Basically, it flies itself, but you lead it along. It also eats your soul, but it isn't so bad when you get used to it. Here... I consciously moved command of the Divine Retribution to Alberich's mind, who audibly cried out in the bridge. The vessel began to dip its flight.
Keep her flying, Alberich. Just imagine that you are this bird, and you're flying. Follow that gold road ahead of you. That's our route.
The Divine Retribution corrected its flight, and rose in the false sky. Alberich straightened the ship's path, and he appeared to understand what to do. It is burning me inside, I can feel it.
That's from it eating you for fuel, and you're doing great already. You're not going to be hooked in for long. I just want to get a snack and freshen up. So, just keep her flying ahead over the grasslands that you see, follow that gold road you ahead of you, and psychically contact me if there's any trouble.
Alberich tensely replied with, Jawohl.
I willed the Divine Retribution to detach me, and opened my eyes back on the bridge. Immediately, I turned to Alberich's throne before I stood up. He had his eyes closed and his beak was half open, his expression that of heavy concentration. All his feathers were on end. He even had a sort of Corona of his own now, but it wasn't nearly as impressive as mine. It just manifested itself as a thin layer of shimmering light around his head and ruffled neck feathers.
"You're detached? Will this be safe?" Virgil asked by my side as I stood up. As I stretched, I felt my joints pop, and I pulled my glowing Corona back inside myself. I really had been sitting there for four hours!
I looked back at Alberich, and sensed that while he was anxious about this responsibility, a part of him was absolutely fascinated by the Warp, and he was also enjoying this. As I reached down to touch my toes, I said to the astropath, "I can't stay on the throne constantly, Virgil. I need a copilot. A shame you're not alive right now so I can't stick you on that other seat. I'm going to go to my quarters and freshen up, but I'll be back up here in fifteen minutes or so. Talk to me if there's trouble with Alberich here." I gestured toward the beastman. After asking Jiminy for some privacy and leaving him in Virgil's hands, I turned around to hastily walk down the stairs.
After about fifteen minutes of ration eating and refreshment (and about five minutes of existential dread looking at my slightly changed reflection again), I was back on the bridge. Lian and Virgil quietly rushed to me, and stated that Alberich did not seem to be very alert to them.
"Why didn't you contact me?" I asked Virgil, gulping down my cup of water. The astropath took my empty cup, and Jiminy flew back to my shoulder, where he perched again with a small metal cheep.
"You also did not respond to stimulus for awhile, and we- I didn't see any alarms, and I assumed that you were training him further in an advanced-"
"Oh, just hold on, let me see!" In worry, I rushed ahead of where the beastman sat, and saw that he was slumping on his throne.
Alberich! I shouted to his mind. He straightened up again, but did not open his eyes.
Meine Führerin? Is that you? Your voice is good to hear again. I am in a forest. It is so beautiful! Fairy creatures of legend follow me and sing me songs from the Fatherland, but I navigate through them as per your instruction. It has been many hours! I am glad you have returned.
Hours? I asked. Was the Warp getting screwy again? I walked to my central throne, and sat down. How many hours? I turned to him. He was slouching, and had a smile on his beak. A line of drool fell from his mouth.
A long time... Alberich mentally cooed. He actually seemed happy, and in this awful universe, happiness usually exists as a veneer over a rotting pile of misery, so I immediately attached myself to the Divine Retribution, greatly alarmed at Alberich actually being happy in the Warp. Alright, who was fucking with us now?
Before I could figure out what new terrible thing had happened to us, the Divine Retribution pointed its attention to the Key around my neck. "What, you're hungry?" I spoke aloud. I felt the vessel continue to point to the Key around my neck, obviously peckish. I wasn't aware that I had pulled any souls recently, unless I really did remotely kill and devour that Inquisitor guy earlier. Something like this had happened on Levant when I had eaten a random Black Legion Terminator, I remembered, so I shouldn't be too surprised. I gave a mental indication that the vessel could chow down on any souls in the Key, and it did. I felt the odious soul of the man who had burned the kid with the brittle bones emerge kicking and screaming from the Key, and as his essence passed through me, I was treated to the delightful taste of tar, sulfur, and ashes on my tongue.
Erchot Verpestyn, Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, Daemonhunter... I felt and saw his identity as both the ship and myself consumed the foul man. He left a foul aftertaste, and my soul cringed in response to his. Even his name sounded evil, I observed, briefly feeling a wave of nausea. While unwilling in his death, I was able to draw a fair amount of potency from him since he was a psyker, and I felt a wave of strength energize both me and the ship.
I now realized that the ship seemed hungrier than I thought it would be because more time than I had perceived had passed in the Warp, and Alberich had been considerably drained from my short break. You've been gone for a long time, the beastman confirmed.
My inner eyes opened to a scene of colorful fairy creatures dancing around the Divine Retribution as we flew through a lush springtime forest that would be at home in a Disney animated film. What the fuck? Physically, I had only been gone for fifteen minutes! What happened to the nice relaxing rainy prairie? We were already at the forest? I observed all the happy singing cheerful creatures suspiciously, and took flight controls from a very tired Alberich who gasped in relief. Unpleasant electric tingles raced through my soul and nervous system as the Divine Retribution started pulling from me again.
Look at all the fairies, Meine Führerin! Alberich said dreamily, psychically directing my perception to a fairy that looked like a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and very attractive German girl holding two steins of beer.
I snorted a laugh. Well played, hell beasts. Probably not fairies, dude, I responded to the bewitched beastman, watching the capering sylvan creatures dance around our craft in a singing cloud as they sang to us in German. This was actually pretty funny.
"Go away, now. Shoo!" I vociferated both on the throne and into the local Warp, scolding the flying things like they were irritating street pigeons. The fairies stopped their cavorting, and instead began to swarm ahead of me. With a glance of my Sight, I was now able to discern what these things actually were.
It was the same cloud of Chaos Furies I had seen earlier. They had been following us, and had sensed weakness when I had taken my break. The daemons had been testing our shields, and some were singing to Alberich in order to keep his attention away from their actions. Clever girls...
Alberich, these are Chaos Furies. They are daemons. They transformed themselves to hypnotize you so they could test the shield and try to get inside, I informed the drooling beastman. Out here in the Warp, things are very dangerous, and they'll do whatever they can to get through the shield around this ship, and if they do, we're all dead. Actually, worse than dead, so just don't talk to strange creatures out here, okay?
No, no, they are fairies, Alberich pouted until he witnessed one of them transform into a sneering black gargoyle with long teeth and bat-like wings for a split second. His fitful disappointment reminded me of a child who had just had his favorite toy taken away. How did Alberich get this fucked up this fast? Just Warp things, I guessed.
The Chaos Fury fairies were converging into a giant cloud of cacophonous noise. They had somehow recognized that the main pilot was reattached, but they still wanted the juicy mortal souls inside my glowing hull. The daemons were very hungry, and weren't giving up. They continued to swarm ahead into a very large floating mass of teeth and fangs, and stupidly decided not to get out of my way as I approached. They were preparing an assault on the shield of my vessel, which greatly amused me. They were stupid little Chaos Furies, and I was the fully-powered Divine Retribution. Did they think they would win against me?
"Fine, be that way, you dummies," I laughed on the throne as I turned on the heading beacon, which struck the cloud of daemons as they gibbered and gnashed their teeth. Their screams echoed like the squeals of burning rats as many Furies were painfully scorched by my light. The Furies then scattered from me again as I charged forward. Those little beasts did not want to mess with anything that could throw off and focus holy light.
The heading beacon was uncomfortable to use. While I was currently strong and energized, keeping that light up wasn't effortless. It felt like I was sitting in front of a powerful sun lamp, but instead of my skin being cooked, it was my soul. The beacon reminded me just how powerful the Astronomican had to be to reach across the entire Milky Way. The other (and far more famous) Golden Throne functioned similarly to the one I sat on. The light of my heading beacon and the light from Terra were essentially of a similar quality, but the Astronomican was billions of times more powerful. I couldn't even imagine how it would feel to be stricken against that insane artifact while having your soul set on fire for thousands of years to be used as a big galactic lighthouse, eating a thousands of psykers a day to keep it up.
Actually, I didn't need to imagine. I knew...
I flashed back to that split second when Sebastian had thrown me into his physical body on the Golden Throne to test me, and I shuddered involuntarily. Just that brief contact with his throne was thoroughly traumatizing. That was a healthy reminder that if I didn't escape this universe, something like that would probably happen to me, so I needed to get out of here as soon as I could.
Thinking on the Golden Throne again, I then recalled that I had seen several glass coffins in the engine room here, one of which had drained the little girl Tailsn to a mummified husk. Similar to the Golden Throne of Terra, my throne could be "boosted" with other psykers hooked into those glass coffins, which was both fascinating and repugnant. So, if Alberich ever decided to act up, I could threaten to put him in there, I thought nastily before censoring myself. That was really morbid, and I shouldn't be thinking that way.
My ruminating manifested a short whirlwind of emotive rain and chilly fright pushing across the fairytale fake-forest, causing startled dreams where it passed. A few souls were able to vaguely perceive me in the region as I flew, one of which was a man in a bed who woke up covered in sweat that smelled like rain. His wife beside him asked him about his nightmare, and he then asked her, "What if the Emperor was a woman?" The wife laughed, and I laughed along with her. If I'm supposed to be this universe's new Emperor/Empress psychic gold leader thing, the natives here were all screwed.
Empress... I mouthed the word as I tasted the brief savory fantasy before swallowing it. No.
Distantly, I sensed that Virgil was standing over Alberich, and was trying to snap him out of his stupor by clapping his hands in front of his face, but he remained sleeping. The Fallen quietly asked the astropath a question, and then turned around to face me, suddenly very curious about something. He stepped forward, facing my throne. Somehow, I knew that he was studying me deeply, trying to understand something. Suddenly, a strange choked feeling gripped him, and then, the giant marine immediately fell to his knees, prostrating himself on the floor ahead of the throne. Praises to me raced through him, and he began pleading for forgiveness for his insolence. I hadn't actually done anything to bring this on, and he hadn't done anything wrong, so I pulled my awareness further back to my body to figure this out. Directing my attention to my crewmembers, I tried to reassure them. Alberich was still slumped on his throne, and Virgil and Lian shivered with veneration when I put my eyes on them, turning away from me in fearful submission. What was the problem? "I turned on the beacon and burned a cloud of daemons," I informed them proudly. "Lian, get up. Everything is fine, guys. No need to be scared."
"I-I doubted you again. Forgive me! I attempted to understand more than I should, my Emp-empress," he stammered that last word, realizing what he had said only after saying it. In his mind, I felt awe and devotion pummel him, keeping him bowed. It was then that I finally realized that my Corona was absolutely blazing like a bonfire right now, probably from the usage of the heading beacon. My halo was so bright that my companions couldn't look at me directly. Distantly, I realized that he had said the "E" word again, and I found myself feeling satisfied to hear it. Cringing, I swallowed that thought as well. No, not doing it.
"Oh, I think this light is from the beacon, sorry," I replied, bringing myself back to reality. With a breath, I turned it off, and set myself to glide on a wind of pleasant dreams of adventure as I brought myself further back to the bridge. Keeping my attention both outside in the Warp and inside aboard the bridge wasn't easy, but I was learning how to split my attention as time went on. It was necessary to learn in case there was trouble outside and I needed to talk to my crew.
Virgil still seemed to have difficulty making eye contact with me; Lian was still groveling on the floor, and Alberich was still struggling himself to wakefulness. After a few moments, I slowly dimmed back to my more typical radiance. Virgil spoke up: "Your brightness is difficult to behold when you operate the beacon, Scion. What kind of daemon did you burn? Did you see?"
"Just a bunch of stupid Chaos Furies who were thinking about trying to start a fight they couldn't finish. No big deal," I informed my crewmembers. Lian slowly stood to his feet. Was spontaneous prostration going to be a thing with him? This wasn't the first time I had seen him behave this way.
Unexpectedly, I actually had my concern answered as a presence descended upon me through the circuitry of the throne. It spoke to my mind directly in the voice of the fake-Sebastian I had seen in the mirror of my bathroom, and in the voice of the Divine Retribution itself.
He dared to doubt you in your presence, and attempted to see you for how you truly were, the strange voice whispered to me through the ship. It is a defense mechanism against mortals attempting to know things that they should not. Trouble yourself not with their woes.
As quickly as the presence came into being, it vanished once again, and now, I found my attention directed back to my flight. Instead of the enchanted forest, I was now flying through a dark sky that was raining ashes that smelled of roasting human flesh. The prairie below me reappeared, but was now on fire, with plumes of smoke offering additional lift. Tiny screams called upward from below through the miserable pained landscape. Before I could even contemplate what this new information meant, my psyker spider senses began to crawl. The sensation was very unpleasant, and I felt heavy dread.
To the east, beware, my intuition guided me. With a rake of my Sight behind me, I had my answer, and it wasn't a good one.
My beacon had been spotted by mortal souls that were currently nearby in the Warp aboard their own vessel. One particularly bright soul, a human mutant with three eyes, had just decided to pull his vessel out of the Immaterium to address what he had witnessed to the rest of his crew. I wasn't about to turn on the beacon again to look for him, so I strained outward with my Sight, seeking the nearby vessel as I flew westward.
Another flash of my Sight, and I could see him with slightly more clarity now. As he sat at the ship's helm, a bald and dour Navigator wearing fine dark robes was explaining that he had seen what he called a "gold echo" of the light of the Astronomican to the west. He spoke through some kind of communication device in his hand, and he was nervously shifting his weight as he stood peering into the wilds of the Warp. He was scanning the area to his west, trying to find the gold light again. Two individuals wearing similar robes were now speaking to the Navigator on the vessel's bridge, trying to discern what they should do. I noticed that this vessel appeared markedly wealthy, with gold decorations, paintings of winged living saints everywhere, and even a gold statue of a heroic-looking Emperor that one woman was kneeling before in prayer. Before the image cut off, I was able to see a ship a few times the size of the Divine Retribution, covered in elaborate gold runes of purity and many blessings against the Warp. The ship's name was proudly and largely written across its gold prow.
"Uh oh," I said, sitting on my throne. I guess the heading beacon really was like the Astronomican, since people could easily see us in the Warp. Fuck, I should have thought about that!
"What is it?" I heard Null's voice distantly as I skirted along the heat of the burning prairies below me. His small holographic display had reappeared before me on the throne. I had not been able to pinpoint exactly where that ship was, only that it was close, and right now, it was no longer in the Warp. I hoped that we wouldn't need to use the black time-displacing crystal immediately.
"Another ship saw our heading beacon. I think it confused the Navigator so he jumped out of Warp. I can't tell where they are," I explained. Apparently, my throne had been magnifying my voice by default, and right now, I discovered that I couldn't speak more quietly even if I wanted to. While it sounded cool and extremely majestic, it felt a little silly, and I didn't like it. "Does anyone know about a ship named the Inevitable Wisdom? It had a really fancy gold prow covered with gold runes, and looked like it was bigger than us by a lot. No Chaos marks, or any other shit like that. Typical, uh, Imperial spaceship design, I think, so I'm guessing Imperial."
Ahead of my physical body on the bridge, I was aware that the Divine Retribution was attempting to recreate a holographic model of the ship I had briefly seen in my vision, estimating length, height, and other statistics. It was a fat rectangular ship with a jagged elaborate gold prow covered in runes, but aside from that, not many details could be seen. The design even flickered and glitched between sizes and shapes, illustrating my uncertainty concerning it. The label of Inevitable Wisdom was displayed over the very rough holographic estimate of the ship. I was now too concerned about being seen, so I did not use my Sight to investigate again, worried about my actions being perceived.
"This vessel is unfamiliar to me, or at least this representation is. It appears the prow is quite distinctive, and some of those runes appear to be Warp-protectant. Whoever has ownership of this vessel must be somewhat important, as much care was taken into such a design, if this is indeed what you saw. It could be anyone from an Imperial dignitary, to a wealthy private owner on an adventure with his or her household in the far reaches of the galaxy. That is all I can tell you," Null replied through Jiminy on my shoulder. "But, I have been out of the field for a thousand years. Perhaps Lian would know?"
"I know not," Lian responded, standing nearby with his back turned to me, facing the map on the display in front of the throne. "Many ships pass through this general area headed to the frontier and back. Your nature would have sensed it if they were closely aligned with Chaos."
"Yes, I'm in agreement. I'm going to guess human, maybe a wealthy Rogue Trader, since they are all the way out here," Virgil offered. I sensed an uncomfortable silence as I flew. I sniffed the emotive air around me in the Warp outside, and I sensed apprehension in the burning miasma. The sky turned the color of an old bruise above as the prairie continued to burn below. Out of nowhere, a non-Euclidean feathered flying mass of eyes and wings wandered close ahead of me in the false-sky, but it did not seem aggressive. It was about as big as I was, and the unlikely creature kept pace with me as I flew along through the smoldering hellscape. The creature simply appeared to watch me as it flapped its multi-jointed multi-dimensional wings and blinked its kaleidoscope eyes, observing me with great curiosity. As it flew nearby (causing me to hold my breath in intimidation), I heard Virgil add, "Or... or it could be the Inquisition, since you saw them earlier. It is not uncommon for such a richly-decorated vessel to be used by members of the Ordo Malleus, and I also recognize those runes as Warp-protectant." The feathery eldritch multi-eyed creature then flew away lazily to the north before transforming into multiple globes of floating black spines of both limitless and nonexistent depth.
"Oh god, I hope not the Inquisition," I said, a nervous warble in my voice. The air around us now literally smelled of dread, and the ash that was falling around us now began to slightly glow like cold stars. Looking back to the soul I had just consumed, I cringed. Actually, yeah, this was probably the Inquisition. If everything I had seen and sensed was correct, then Rhadabus had been visited by daemonhunters, and that ship was now gone from the planet, likely headed east. Their Navigator had seen my heading beacon! Would they come looking for us?
Checking our map to see how much further we had to go, I groaned in frustration. Since I had been focused on other things, I realized that we had already passed the planet of Dyphinus. We were supposed to stop somewhere around there, but I had become too distracted. That meant that we'd be in close proximity to Rhadabus very soon. I decided to search for a celestial body to orbit so we weren't in the Warp at the same time as the Inevitable Wisdom ship. I felt the Retribution begin to study the area, and slightly alter course as it searched for a place to stop. I let it direct me, as I leaned back on my throne. I guess I should get used to hiding from other ships if I was going into Imperial space.
Everyone was tense, and no one was saying anything, so I announced that we'd be returning to the Materium as soon as I found a good place to orbit or hide on. I was nervous enough that I wanted to get the hell out of the Warp as quickly as possible before that one vessel decided to translate back into the Immaterium and decide to go looking for us. As I thought that, I felt the Divine Retribution "point" to an irregularly-shaped planetoid orbiting its red star in an extremely wide elliptical orbit. Looks good enough, I thought. A gust of wind at my back, and the Materium now embraced me again. I exhaled in relief.
"Alright, we're out of Warp, everyone," I announced, my voice now normal again. I willed the eye shutters on the vessel to open. All of my crewmembers appeared relieved, even Null, who was watching me through the small screen ahead of me again.
"This was a good action," Lian said. "Avoidance of trouble now will bring less trouble later. I suggest that we stay out of Warp for a short time until you know it is safe."
"I'm in agreement," Null said. "We do not want to attract any attention if we can help it."
"Yeah. I'm with you guys. I'll be less liberal with the heading beacon from now on," I said, looking over to where Alberich was dozing on his throne, apparently not quite able to handle piloting yet. "So, where are we in the Materium, Divine Retribution? Show me on the map, please."
The ship hummed briefly, and lines of information appeared ahead of me on the screen. A mostly-empty system comprising of a red giant star, one ringed planet, and a few distant orbiting planetoids appeared. Wait a minute. Oh no...
System: Rhadabus
Planet: Wandering Eye (planetoid/asteroid)
Through the map, I could see that we were located at the periphery of the Rhadabus system, and in distant orbit of an icy planetoid named "Wandering Eye". I had never explicitly told the vessel "do not stop at Rhadabus", so of course we stopped at Rhadabus. At the very least, my senses told me that the Inevitable Wisdom had already departed, and was not here anymore.
"I thought we didn't want to be here," Virgil said hesitantly.
"We don't, but I told the ship to jump out as soon as it could so we wouldn't be found in the Warp when they started looking there again," I informed the astropath. "I'm pretty sure that ship left here awhile ago, and they were headed east, and flying slightly north of us. I still don't know how far away, but that's what I sense."
"Do we land?" Lian asked, turning around.
"I think it might be safer if we stay in orbit of this planetoid, just in case we have to run from something."
I set the Divine Retribution to orbit Wandering Eye, but did not leave my seat just yet. I was not comfortable with what I sensed concerning the Inquisition, and frustrated at the incomplete information I was getting through my Sight ability. I guessed I had a long way to go still before getting more reliable, consistent results. "We're in orbit now, but I want to wait a little before resting."
Cautiously, I began to attempt to use my Sight again to see the Inevitable Wisdom, and to discern where it was currently located. Using the Sight ability to psychically spy on things oftentimes resulted in me being perceived, and while I really didn't want that, I didn't want an Inquisitor's ship surprising us out of nowhere. Gently pushing my inner eye outward, I began to search for the Inevitable Wisdom, putting more energy into my action. When I still sensed nothing, I pulled into the Divine Retribution itself, empowering myself further. A rush of energy surged through me, and I was rewarded with another vision as my eyes rolled back in my head. I found myself whisked away again.
I easily found them in the Warp again. They were close.
The power of a Gellar Field could keep out nearly every sort of beast native to the Immaterium, but luckily, I was from another reality altogether, and those stupid rules did not apply to me. I felt myself pierce their shield, and fly invisibly within their vessel. I was inside!
The Inevitable Wisdom was an opulent vessel. Many bright souls stood within its bridge, speaking with concern as they communicated with their Navigator on the helm. Currently floating in the Warp, they were located to the east and slightly to the north of us, within a handful of light years. Right now, their Navigator was studying the currents of the Immaterium, trying to find where that strange light had originated. He was frustrated.
Their Navigator was being aided by a psyker of keen ability. They both studied the Immaterium, searching for that gold flash with their respective esoteric abilities. The Navigator himself was now actually convinced that they were chasing a reflection, and currently, he simply wanted to get on with their journey eastward. They had been called to rush to a "Fort" somewhere after leaving a few of their number at Rhadabus, which they were attempting to presently contact but could not. Local Warp turbulence was blamed for their problems, and no one could really agree on the correct course of action. Everyone seemed tired and irritable.
I floated invisibly away from the helm, and toward the second person that had been looking for me. The voices of arguing Inquisitors could be heard nearby, but I could not make out their words on the bridge. Instead, I flew into a small closed vestibule, where the other soul was located. He was alone.
The psyker of keen ability was a youngish man of about twenty five wearing a plain grey robe. He had bronzed skin, and dark hair. His eyes were unfocused, and seemingly blind. In his left hand, he held a clear crystal, and I could tell that he was deep in concentration. He was alone in a small dark closed space away from the arguing Inquisitors on the bridge as he spoke to the Navigator at the helm. He relayed what he sensed through another communication device. I could sense that he secretly did not like the group he traveled with, calling them "beasts". The scene was so clear it was as if I was standing in the same room looking down at his back from a considerable height.
Suddenly, he turned around and looked up as if he could actually see me! Eyes that appeared milky and blind somehow fixed on mine, and it appeared that he had been absolutely stunned into silence by my appearance, unable to say another word to the Navigator. To this man, I was fully visible! Thinking quickly, I burnt out his communication device, rendering it inoperable. His jaw was slackened, and his eyes began to wet with tears as if he was witnessing something incalculably beautiful.
"It's... it's you. Who... who... w-what are you?" he asked me with a stammer.
"I am the Inheritor, I am the Omega," I answered automatically in a voice of many powerful whispers. "I am divine retribution."
He said nothing in response to that as he remained frozen with shock. I absolutely towered over the psyker, and he had to stagger backward to see what apparently represented me, craning his neck so that he could make eye contact. I filled this small room like a large gold wraith, my cloud reaching like hungry vines around each corner. The poor guy then stumbled to the ground, and appeared absolutely stupefied by my presence.
"What is your mission? Where are you going?" I softly asked him as I reached forward, gripping his very soul right through his physical body. Back within my physical form onboard the Divine Retribution, I felt great strain as my body shouldered even more psychic and Sight energy from the vessel.
He did not hesitate in answering me, and was compelled to speak: "W-we've been summoned to Fort Pykman. D-deathwatch h-having visions of a woman in gold astride a flaming gold eagle! V-visions of you! It is... y-you!" His eyes were wide as realized what he had just said. A fat tear rolled down his cheek as his face began to involuntarily twitch. He began to shake his head.
"Anything else? Who are these people you are with?"
"O-ordo Malleus. Daemonhunters. Hunting heretics, d-daemons."
"Tell me about them."
He struggled against me before I forced him to answer, clenching my hand around his soul. I could tear this man's energy from him with an easy thought, and I reminded him of that. "T-they are sadists. Verpestyn family. Sadists. They t-take assignments in remote areas b-because there's little oversight in conduct. T-they like to b-burn people alive."
"And who are you? Are you one of them? Do you burn people alive?" I felt my presence here brighten slightly, and my light reflected off the psyker's terrified eyes.
He desperately shook his head, but I remained tightly gripping his soul. I lifted him up off the floor, holding him in midair, which scared him even more. "M-my name is Yuri Verpestyn. I'm not an Inquisitor! I'm one of their astropaths! I married into the family. Can't d-divorce! They th-threatened my family. S-stuck, stuck, stuck." The astropath began to weep as I felt his sanity begin to fray from the prolonged contact with me. This psyker had done nothing wrong, but if I was able to break into his soul and torment him this easily, then he probably wasn't the most disciplined member of his crew.
"You will remember nothing of this," I said to him as I reached into his mind, preparing to delete the memories of this encounter. "You will argue that the gold you saw was a Warp reflection, and you will recommend that this vessel continue traveling east."
"...understood, Em-emp-pr..." Droplets of blood began to form under the astropath's eyes. He couldn't even finish the word.
I gave the young psyker a sad look before allowing myself to be pulled back into my body.
As soon as I opened my eyes on the throne, I was struck with a severe headache, and I felt a nosebleed trickle down my lip. The Divine Retribution seemed relieved that I had stopped my remote interrogation, and I realized that I had overtaxed myself with this action. It was worth it, though.
"What did you see?" Virgil asked nearby. "You became very bright, and then, you lost consciousness for a few moments. Did you go somewhere?"
"I found their ship. I found one of their astropaths in the Warp, and I tore into his mind. He won't remember anything, and he'll even tell the rest of his crew that he saw nothing."
"You... you tore into his mind? And in the Warp? Shouldn't a Gellar Field prevent that?"
"Yeah, I did that, but it was necessary," I said, straightening up and gripping my temple. "I didn't really feel any Gellar Field or anything stopping me when I found their ship, so I just floated in, but it took a lot of energy. I really don't want them to go looking for us. And as a bonus, I also learned about their ship. These particular Inquisitors are a family, and they're not nice people."
"Inquisitors usually aren't 'nice'," I heard Null speak from the small display ahead of me.
"No, of course not. But this guy thought that these particular people were sadists. He actually said that. His name is Yuri Verpestyn, and he's an astropath that married into the family, if any of you recognize that name," I said, holding my hands over my face. I realized that I felt physically terrible, and utterly exhausted. Jedi mind-raping someone across the Warp was apparently not so easy.
"So, what now?" Lian asked, standing near my throne. "Are we safe? Is this our stopping point?"
"Right now, we stay on guard for a little while until I know that these Inquisitors are not in our neighborhood anymore. Then, we go south to Tar Vigaz."
I sat back in my throne, sore and aching as I passively watched the Warp move and shift on the map before me. Someone handed me another cup of water, and I gratefully took it. I began to feel guilt at how I had treated that innocent astropath, but that emotion was quickly crushed by my desire for self-preservation. People had to be ruthless to survive in this universe, and being "nice" in this reality all the time would only get you killed. That man was probably evil deep down, anyway. Cursed and rotten just like every other damned thing in this vile reality, which was why I needed to get the hell out of here.
A brief shiver passed over me.
"We are all born marked for evil," I whispered under my breath. The faintest wisp of a memory of a life lived as a brutal Inquisitor bubbled to the surface of my consciousness, and I could almost hear the screams of heretics being destroyed around me. They say you are what you eat, after all, I thought with a shrug.