**Author's note: This concludes the massive Tar Vigaz arc! Originally, this arc was supposed to end about ten chapters ago, but I was not satisfied with it, so I rewrote the whole end, which made it longer. Thank you all for reading this huge fic!**
A brief dizzy spell caused me to briefly nod my head as I piloted the Divine Retribution through the exosphere of the probably-doomed world of Tar Vigaz. We continued to gain speed, but I still refused to make a jump to Warp until we were well beyond the planet below me. Sadly, I assumed that the population was probably doomed anyway if the Necrons didn't all chase me, but a premature Warp translation had the potential to kill 100% of everyone on that world, while a Necron invasion might leave some survivors. It was a very morbid thought, and my heart ached again at realizing that I had caused all this pain simply by my arrival.
Below, I felt the substantial population of Evna cry out in terror that they now saw me departing, their prayers wailing in desperation at seeing their golden savior abandoning them. A deep and pervasive feeling of disgust and shame gripped me. The spirit of the Divine Retribution was not pleased at this outcome, I could definitely tell.
Behind and above me, I sensed the Necron fleet's attention on my golden form. My senses bristled uncomfortably as I felt weapon systems begin to attempt to lock upon me, but right now, no weapons fired upon me. On the large display above me, I was blearily aware of another timer that had been summoned into existence by my concern over the Grandiloquent Abundance's doomsday laser cannon. It was steadily counting down as I fled into space.
"Estimated recharge time: 51:16."
"Pardon me, Inheritor, but do we have a plan for fleeing this system and away from the range of the cannon in this sort amount of time?" Null turned to me cautiously, his animated green eyes narrowed in concern.
"I-" I started to speak before my world was blurred by black stars at the edges of my vision. I regained consciousness a split second later. Despite our recent meal of a hundred farmers, both the Divine Retribution and I remained completely overdrawn from this morning's efforts. My hull was damaged, and needed time to regenerate. I also realized that despite being the creature that I was, I could still suffer the effects of extreme exhaustion, dehydration, and severe mental strain. I quickly blinked on my throne, and forced my bloody gold eyes to remain open. "I don't know, but we've got to try and run, right?"
No one said anything on the bridge as I continued to climb. Above, Spaceport Evoldo grew slowly larger as we approached it off my damaged left wing, and the first of the deactivated mines were now being perceived above the port. Alberich sat on the right throne, and it appeared that he was attempting to explain something to one of the gold-masked Blank sisters using gestures and very slow English. Rasputin, on the left throne, remained speechless and weak as he continued to process his new situation. Due to the earlier energy drain instigated by the Divine Retribution, the Mad Monk looked years older with his new greyish hair, and even his beard had turned grey. He still wore his Malcador costume from the party, which made his appearance even more uncanny. If I squinted at the squirrelly Russian, he appeared uncannily similar to some of the lore art I had seen of Malcador, but a Malcador with a beard. The thought made me supremely uneasy.
I tried to relax, and took a deep breath on my tingling energy-eating throne. The smell of fear hung in the air surrounding the bridge, and the light of my shimmering gold Corona wreathed both my body and my throne in a searing cocoon. My skin was definitely burned, and if I lived through this, I was probably going to be very uncomfortable for the next few days.
I noticed then that there were many expectant eyes upon me. "Er, excuse me, my Inheritor, but do we have a destination?" Virgil cautiously asked, his voice low and fearful as he stood ahead and to the left of my throne, his eyes turned submissively away from my Corona. "Do... do we lead these xenos away somewhere where we might have a tactical advantage in battle?"
"Uh, let me, uh..." I stammered. I didn't answer immediately, my exhaustion causing my heart to briefly ache. My void shields were hovering at around 45%, but with my hull actually damaged, the ship was psychically crying out in pain, demanding that we go somewhere to rest. "Hold on, I'm thinking," I answered.
Once again, I was able to perceive that the Necrons were watching me as I flew, but were not acting. Curious, and with a short push of Sight, I was able to see that there was actually some kind of serious disagreement of leadership on the capitol ship, but I could not immediately discern what it was. As I passively observed the alien fleet, I watched as it then appeared to split. The bulk of the fleet, which included two of the Harvest Ships behind a small group of escorts, were now turning away from their positions. The Grandiloquent Abundance, the larger bejeweled central Harvest Ship that the Nome King rode upon, was now changing its flight trajectory along with about a quarter to a fifth of the war fleet. This smaller group was now, presumably, aiming to chase us!
"Aw fuck," I sighed audibly on the bridge, my heart aching in my chest. Welp, there goes my stupid hope that I could just lead the aliens away from the world and have them chase me instead of killing the planet. Only a fraction of these Necrons appeared to want to chase me, which still left plenty of the alien fleet available to genocide the planet below. Maybe I should just perform a premature Warp translation anyway, I thought sadly.
"Inheritor?" Virgil's voice summoned me back to reality. I was now cognizant that Null, Lian, Virgil, and both my copilots were now watching me with great concern. I probably didn't look too good. The lights on the bridge flickered as more dark stars appeared at the edges of my vision. My skin was on fire, and I really wanted to rest.
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but we cannot outrun a Necron fleet," Null finally spoke up when I didn't answer, his voice slightly choked with worry. He stood a few meters ahead of me before my large holographic display. "If we attempt to flee using conventional means, they will catch us. Their ships utilize inertialess drives, and are the fastest of all xenos vessels known to the Imperium. I now gently propose a solution, if you would allow."
"Sure, what do you propose?" I asked, my mouth dry. An investigatory hit from a green Necron space laser originating from a crescent shaped escort ship pinged off our void shields, causing the Divine Retribution to cringe in discomfort. Despite having eaten many souls recently, I intuitively knew that we had ultimately sustained too much physical damage to attempt to engage in a firefight against these aliens. My hull had been too injured, and the Necron forces were still simply too numerous to fend off. Not only that, they had enough firepower to eventually whittle down any shielding I had left and blow us out of the sky even before hitting me with the cannon!
"Make for the world of Garmanthor, the fifth world of this system," Null replied as he turned away from me to look ahead onto the holographic display screen. Lian remained near the cowed Tech-priest, ready for any indication of madness or betrayal. "Put the world up on screen if you can."
Responding to Null's voice, a separate window appeared in a corner of the display, and there, a bluish gas giant that looked like a darker Jupiter hung in the void. This world was surrounded by what appeared to be many irregular moons, and what appeared to be a thick rocky ring. "Observe the moon of Ara, please. It is the second largest moon, and is 5571 kilometers in diameter, existing in the center of the asteroid ring." Null instructed.
A barren rocky moon appeared on the display. Long jagged furrows carved across its barren surface in strange patterns. These linear dark clusters appeared to be the remnants of a civilization lost to time, and they cut like complex spiderwebs across the blasted white and grey surface of this lonely moon.
"Ara, from what Magos Amee has told me, was once a-"
Null was interrupted by both myself and the Divine Retribution crying out in pain as another green laser struck where my hull had been injured on the top of my head. The Necrons appeared to be testing our weaknesses. I heard angry screaming at the edge of my psychic hearing, and then, my Sight directed me to the chaotic scene on the bridge of the Grandiloquent Abundance. While I could not easily see what was happening on the Necron capitol ship, I found that I could at least hear it.
"No! I'm not listening! No, no, no! Damnation, I don't want it getting away again! No! We're following it, and I will not be dissuaded! I'm positively ashamed at you, Valgûl! I've come all this way and you've decided to be a slave to your hunger once again instead of aiding me on my righteous quest! I'm trying to make the Nome people respected again, and you and your hungry costume party people have abandoned me! All Necrons will bow to us when they see that we have killed this terrible gold beast, and I aim to destroy it!"
"Roquat, pay attention! You saw that Imperial ship as well as I did, brother! If you follow Gir'Auda, the other humans will see you!" Valgûl responded remotely from a different location. "Stay near to me and I can protect you! You have the potential for suffering if that approaching Imperial human vessel decides to engage you alone without my cooperation! There may be more ships en route! Imperial humans travel in swarms! Maybe this was all a lure to destroy you, have you considered that? Follow me on my Time of Bounty instead of your mad chase!"
Wait a minute... approaching human ship? An Imperial ship? Was that us, or something else? I continued to listen.
"Our firepower far outclasses any puny human technology! For shame to even suggest that the Nome people have weaknesses! I will obliterate both Gir'Auda and this silly toy human vessel!"
My Sight then forcefully dragged me deeper into the system, and passing the orbit of the sixth rocky planet of the system, a larger vessel with a decidedly Imperial shape (it even had what appeared to be a cathedral!) was now making its way toward us along with at least two smaller escort vessels! And worse yet, this ship, unlike the other Imperial-styled vessel I had seen earlier departing the spaceport, appeared to be armed! I felt myself gasp on my throne! My life just gets worse and worse! What the fuck was this armed Imperial danger ship doing all the way out here?! Knowing my luck, it was probably from the Inquisition. At least it appeared that they had not seen us yet.
My attention was forcefully summoned back to my bridge, and a fierce migraine decided to join me. Null had apparently been explaining something important, and Alberich had noticed that I had psychically zoned out again, and had given me a psychic "nudge" to bring me back to reality. Another wave of exhaustion washed through me. I needed to rest!
"...and the Warp Gate will lead us to Ix," Null finished, and turned to me expectantly. By now the entirety of my crew now stood before my throne, and each person wore frightened expressions. Oh, they wanted to know where we were going.
"What Warp Gate? Could you repeat that?" I groaned, feeling another laser strike my void shields. A line of drool had begun to form under my mouth when I was remote viewing the Necrons, and I brushed it away with a bloody hand. Virgil's eyes went wide, and he turned to nervously observe how much shielding we had left. 12% now. Yeah. Black stars sparkled around my vision again. Was I actually fully sympathetically linked to the Divine Retribution? Since its hull was significantly damaged, was I also hurting in response? I swallowed, and tried to explain my mental absence to my crewmembers. "I'm sorry I got pulled away. I saw the Necron fleet split. One fifth of them appears to be-"
Yet another laser strike, this one on the area of injured hull above my head again. I tried to ignore it and continued to speak. I had to stay focused here, despite the sympathetic connection the damaged Divine Retribution and I apparently possessed at the present. "-one fifth of the Necrons have split from their fleet. The Flayers are going to the planet, and the Nomes are following us. I think there also might be an Imperial ship in the system on its way here. Repeat what you said about Ix."
At my spoken supposition of an Imperial ship, an estimated model image of what I had seen flickered into existence on the display. The holographic image of this vessel was very blurry, communicating my uncertainty over what I had seen. However, its shape was obvious enough to cause many of my crew to gasp in surprise.
Null nodded as he stoically observed the display behind him. He then turned back to me, and straightened his back before speaking again. "There is a Warp gate on the moon of Ara orbiting Garmanthor, the fifth world of this system. It leads outside an unclassified world named Ix which is many thousands of light years to the galactic southwest, which is the direction where we are going anyway. The moon has no atmosphere, and the Gate sits upon its surface. It is too small for a Necron Harvest Ship or an Imperial cruiser to pass through, and will require some deft maneuverability to approach due to its location in the asteroid ring orbiting the gas giant."
"Ix?" I inquired. Using Sight, I was able to dodge a laser strike from the Necron fleet instead of letting it wear down my void shields, which were critically low again. My crew quailed in fear, and Lian had begun quietly pray.
Null's voice began to tremble. "Ix is an unconfirmed independent feral or medieval world unaligned with the Imperium. It has not been formally classified, but from what Magos Amee tells me, it is a sparsely populated world of forests and high mountains. Breathable atmosphere, adequate gravity. Magos Amee has also informed me of archaeological digs that may be of interest to you on that world as artifacts relating to Travelers have been uncovered there."
"Really?" I asked, and Null nodded nervously. Another laser struck my tail as I pushed a quick observation of Sight into Null's soul (which caused him to stagger and nearly topple over), which confirmed his statement's truth. We continued to fly forward as I decided where we would go next. We absolutely needed a place to rest to regenerate the living gold of the Divine Retribution's hull, and this Ix place sounded adequate as any as a place to park. And, it was another world with Traveler lore, which was somewhat convenient. "Okay, I'm sold. We're going to Ix. Full speed ahead!"
"Warning! Void Shields at 9%!" the Divine Retribution cried out. Okay, I have to stay focused here. I'll be fine. Just stay focused. I can do this. I'm an isekai Mary Sue from another universe, so I can do anything, right?
I took another brief look with my Sight behind me just in time for another green laser to strike my tail. In response, pain shot through my sciatic nerve.
Curious, I began to wonder if maybe I could lure that distant wandering Imperial ship into attacking the Necrons while I made my escape? I increased my speed and pointed myself in the direction of Garmanthor, which existed beyond the dead minefield. To my left, I was now nearly level in altitude with Spaceport Evoldo. I watched as the other Imperial-style vessel I had seen earlier departed the port, and began to speed away in the opposite direction I was going. Those poor folks probably saw all the ridiculous chaos overtaking this system and wanted to run away, which was entirely understandable. My Sight informed me that this ship was a wealthy merchant vessel, and that while they had seen me, they were not concerned with assaulting the Divine Retribution, so I was able to ignore them.
I continued to idly watch the departing ship until unexpectedly, I felt a telepathic message consisting of many strong souls calling to me from within the vessel. I was surprised to hear many dark voices chanting in cruel Warp-spawned tongues, and the tone of these exultations sounded malevolently familiar...
Abruptly, their telepathic speech cleared in my mind, and I was able to understand what was being called into the Warp from the fleeing void ship.
"Blessed Dark Queen, we see you and exalt your coming, oh promised God-Empress from beyond time! May your glory tread the ignorance from the superstitions of the followers of the dead corpse Emperor! May the skulls of the nonbelievers crack and their spines break under the burden of your future righteous rule! We worship you, oh beautiful Star Child of Heaven! Blessed is the name of the Traveler, and may her justice be swift to her enemies!"
That sounded like Word Bear, I guessed blearily as I dodged another green laser from the Necron fleet. I didn't have the mental energy to deal with this right now, but it appeared that the friendly Chaos Marine and his evil mutated Brothers were aboard the wealthy merchant ship.
I continued to desperately speed away, and I forced myself to remain conscious as I rallied my Sight into sustaining what little energy I now had left. Okay, just lure the Harvest Ship away from the planet. Just do that. Maybe get that armed Imperial ship with the cathedral to notice the Nome King, but at the same time, not notice me. Easy, right?
"Void shields: 4%!" This is fine, I thought, feeling my eyes and ears burn with the burning hot blood of psychic strain. This is all just fine.
My psychic attention was then somewhat forcefully (and unwelcomely) pulled to a group of very large men with black souls as they stood in a wide circle drawn in what appeared to be blood. These were definitely the Word Bearers I had seen earlier during the battle of Port Aubergine, and most wore their distinctive red spiky armors. Each of these evil Astartes held what appeared to be struggling prisoners in one arm as they raised their right arms high above them in what appeared to be some kind of salute.
At the center of this debauched scene was Word Bear, who wore his grey robes instead. He stood in the center of the circle, and was apparently leading whatever this ritual was. At the Chaos Marine's feet, a very frightened young man in rich clothes was bound and kneeling on the floor. Standing beside Word Bear, an entirely nude delirious woman with short black hair grinned maniacally; she held a sharp knife in her hand, and at her feet, a bound teenage girl of about fourteen years old squalled in terror. The psychotic woman's face was covered in fresh blood, and her eyes flashed with the joyous mania characteristic of Chaotic corruption. I could tell that the man kneeling on the floor beside Word Bear was pleading for his life while the Word Bearers chanted profane words of power. Looking further into the unholy scene, I recognized that Word Bear also held a long pale knife in a mutated hand that consisted of a cluster of revolting slick black tentacles.
I then realized that all the Word Bearers in the circle held knives raised above their heads as I quickly anticipated what was about to happen! No!
"Please accept our humble gifts for your safety in passage away from danger, blessed young God-Empress! We offer to you a portion of the astropathic choir of this seized Imperial merchant ship! May the souls of these wayward lambs sustain you!" Word Bear shouted with glee. "May your future reign be glorious! Ave Imperatrix!" he called out rapturously before plunging his knife into the throat of the weeping captive kneeling before him! The rest of the group followed his lead, and each cut the throats of their struggling captives with such violence that a few were nearly decapitated!
The terrible shock at seeing such an event caused my psychic connection to immediately sever, and all the powerful souls that the Word Bearers had sacrificed to me fled screaming toward the Divine Retribution!
The unfortunate sacrificed souls were forcefully drawn into both myself and the damaged vessel, which to my horror, eagerly and instantly devoured them. A rush of power filled through my battered hull, and I actually felt significantly rejuvenated!
"Look! The Void Shields healed themselves!" Virgil happily cried in relief as I returned to full awareness within my body again. "61% strength! How has this happened? Praise you, Inheritor! A miracle has occurred!" The sounds of cheering filtered through the bridge. Energy coursed through my fleshy body on the throne, renewing me and chasing away some of my extreme strain and fatigue. What? Did all that happen, I thought as I wiped a bloody tear away from my eye. Did Word Bear sacrifice all those people to me?
I decided not to address what I had just witnessed, and instead, I listened to the happy cheering of the crew on my bridge. Sensing all this emotion, Wolfie barked and wagged his black smoky tail happily before running about the bridge in excitement. Virgil, in a display of great relieved exuberance, reached forward and hugged Lian, who stood by calmly watching the display, his back to me. Alberich, however, was not cheering. On his throne, I saw that his head was turned toward me in an expression of grave disturbed concern. A red tear fell from his eye.
The German psyker had witnessed what I had seen...
I couldn't afford to stop and ruminate on this terrible event as I dipped and dove through the deactivated minefield, continuing on my way ahead, dodging both mines (some of which still held dangerous explosive materials, even if they were disarmed) and green laser strikes. These laser blasts were growing more frequent as the fleet grew closer. It dawned on me that the Necrons actually seemed like they were toying with us, as I was fairly certain that they could probably instantly rush us and kill us even before the cannon was operational again.
Speeding along as quickly as I could in my battered condition, we were now between the orbits of the third and fourth planets in this system, which I knew was still too close to Tar Vigaz for a good Warp translation. I made a concerted effort this time to dodge the laser strikes from the Necron fleet behind me now, using Sight to briefly anticipate where the aliens would target before making a brief phase shift strafe to the side. I continued to race toward Garmanthor as quickly as I could using the stolen energy from Word Bear's sacrifices. My crew seemed to think that the danger was over, and I watched as Ennoia laughed at something Alberich had joked about while the rest of my bridge kept an eye on the display screen above.
I felt sick as I contemplated something awful. The sacrifices had given me much in the way of quality fuel. Whatever terrible ritual the Chaos Marines had enacted to rejuvenate me had actually been more effective to help me than the consumption of the hundred farmers earlier. It seemed like the energy I had just consumed was of a very high quality, and I even felt somewhat mentally refreshed. Incredibly, one of my plasma torpedoes had even spontaneously regenerated along with a small portion of my hull!
We continued onward, and still deep within the system, I sensed that the other Imperial ship I had seen was well on its way forward. They were currently aligning themselves to the same approach to Tar Vigaz I had used when following Evring Sinclair's yacht. Garmanthor was currently at an angle to this approach, but I knew that the gas giant would be visible to the Imperials as they made their way into the system. This put the Divine Retribution (and the Necron fleet) at risk for being spotted by the armed Imperial ship, and I briefly wondered if they had already seen us, and I just hadn't noticed. Prodding curiously further into their ship with my Sight, I realized that their attention was heavily invested in trying to communicate with Tar Vigaz, and now, being unable to do so, their bridge crew had gathered in an emergency meeting.
This sounded important, and since I had been topped off with more energy from Word Bear's little side quest of sacrificing innocent people to me, I was now strong enough to pair my consciousness again in order to do a little ghostly spying.
"They don't answer, Lord Ariaz. All known channels are being tried. Silence," a young black-skinned man wearing a menacing black cloak growled to an older pale man that reminded me of Grand Moff Tarkin. One of the younger man's eyes had been replaced by a glowing red bionic implant, and it made clicking noises as it fixated on this small meeting behind the helm. I then received my conformation on who these people represented in the Imperium by their attire and words, and it wasn't good news.
"When Ordo Hereticus knocks at your back door, an answer should be instant and polite," the Grand Moff Tarkin look-a-like named Lord Ariaz stated coolly before sighing in exasperation. "Certainly a disappointment after such a long voyage." Lord Ariaz was dressed in very dark and very expensive military wear. His fine long red cloak was lined in gold embroidered thread, and his tall black boots reminded me of an SS officer from Nazi Germany. A heavy gold bauble of what appeared to be the letter "I" hung from a thick gold chain around his neck. This man definitely had "evil villain" vibes by the look of his opulent imposing uniform.
"Still no word from Agent Greyweaver as well," another older, huskier man spoke in a voice of hoarse gravel, his creased features deepening with worry. Similarly attired to Lord Ariaz, this man was polishing a gleaming hammer covered in what appeared to be strange runes. "Greyweaver is a fine agent. She has never been known to abandon her duties. This worries me."
"Did we ever get any confirmation from Mars concerning why this world has been permitted to remain independent?" the young dark-skinned man with the bionic eye asked as he crossed his arms before him in a gesture of disapproval. "For this world to behave toward us with such rudeness and audacity! A properly civilized Imperial world would have snapped to attention!"
"Mars has not been entirely forthcoming to the uninitiated as to why this world is of such supreme interest to them. They say it is of utmost importance to Oud Oudia Raskian, the Fabricator General himself," a tall woman with long blonde hair and dark angry eyes replied. She had two mechanical arms, and a servo skull floated morbidly behind her. "I will say that I'm very interested in speaking to this governor Langwidere. I've been told that the Fabricator General has an entire devoted storage vault concerning this individual on Mars. He wishes the governor observed, and her rulership examined, but gently. We have been instructed to allow this world to remain independent, I remind you all."
"But they're ignoring us. This is entirely disrespectful!" the younger man slightly raised his voice, and his bionic eye briefly flashed red. "And Greyweaver isn't even at her post. I'm telling you, something smells foul here. I've been told by our psykers that there exists a particularly disruptive whorl of Warp energy and temporal disturbance surrounding this general region. That is frequently indicative of either forthcoming or current corruption. I say we arm our weapons just in case. With all due respect, I don't like this, Lord Ariaz."
"Calm yourself, Murna. A special operation remains a special operation. I trust the High Lords of Terra," Lord Ariaz quietly informed his crew while glancing about, a hint of worry in his pale eyes. "Officially, this is a diplomatic inquiry. We do not threaten a wealthy pleasure world with exterminatus the minute we come out of Warp just because someone is asleep at their monitoring station. Remember that we were not expected. I personally know two other Lords who have vacation properties within the Conglomeration of Ev, so continue to proceed with caution. But, I admit this situation seems unusual, so initiate the scan, Peron, just in case."
"Yes, Lord Ariaz," the woman with the long blonde hair replied with a short salute before the group returned to their stations.
A close shot from a green laser knocked me back into consciousness once again on my body. "Inquisitors!" I explained. "That armed Imperial ship is filled with Inquisitors! They're going to do some kind of scan! I just heard them!"
No one said anything for a single frightened moment until Null's green eyes brightened, and the Tech-priest practically lunged toward me! Lian sprung into action, reaching forward to grab one of Null's metal arms to jerk him back. Before the Fallen Paladin could further restrain the Tech-priest, Null explained "The black crystal from the Nubuan pyramid! The one in your pocket! Use it to create a stealth field around us!"
Oh! The spiky time crystal from Nubua! I reached into my upper right breast pocket, and retrieved the glittering object that Null had plundered from the pyramid that had contained the Heart of Worlds. "Tell me what to do!" I cried out. Fuck, if the Inquisition figured out that I existed I was totally fucking screwed!
"Push your soul through it! Route your own energy that you use to power the Parson Shield through the crystal! Hurry!"
Null had talked about using the black crystal to produce a stealth field before, and while I would have liked to have tested this first, he sounded assured of its functionality. This sounded risky, but being chased around by the Inquisition in this universe sounded far more dangerous!
I held the spiny black crystal in my hands, and closed my eyes. I actually had no idea how to "route my energy" into a crystal and to cause a stealth field, but I had to try here. I cautiously reached forward through the Divine Retribution's active Parson Shield. It felt like a crackling skin of electricity that swam in many impossible colors when I psychically observed it. Invisible waves of power were being siphoned off my body and distributed around the hull of the ship like a skin.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I perceived that the Inquisitor ship was now beginning their exploratory scan of the system! I had to do this now!
Taking a deep breath, I visualized myself reaching for one of these energy waves, and before it could reach the outer hull, I forced it through the black crystal first.
My breath caught as a cold sensation washed through my body. As if through gravity, I sensed my energy pull and redirect from its distribution outside the ship in a skin to channel through the crystal in my hands. A shock of what felt like ice water passed over me, and when I opened my eyes, all the color on the bridge had become somewhat desaturated, and everything was slightly blurry around the edges. The three screens above each of the three thrones of the bridge flickered and momentarily went dark before flashing back to operability again, almost like a computer rebooting itself. I really hoped that I hadn't fucked up the ship!
"Divine Retribution, status?" I asked. My voice had a strange muffled quality, but at the same time, it almost now sounded like I was speaking in many voices at once. Many faces on the bridge were now watching both the display and me with wide worried eyes.
"Calculating," the vessel responded.
"Does she even know what she's doing?" Rasputin whispered to Lian, who ignored him.
"Trust in the Inheritor of Mankind," Virgil gently reminded the worried bridge before turning to face the screen once again. Zok crossed his arms and walked behind the thrones, shaking his head. I could tell that he was shivering, and trying to hide it.
The vessel paused a moment before responding. "Reality distortion detected. Unknown temporal phase shift. Compensate?"
"No, don't compensate! I'm not at my console, but I'm sure we're in stealth right now! We cannot be perceived, as we are a half-step behind conventional reality! Ah, it was successful!" Null shouted happily as he stood before me. Lian still remained near, and kept a close eye and an a heavy armored hand on the emotional Tech-priest.
The black crystal in my hands was now very cold, and it almost felt like a spiny ice cube against my palms. "You're in stealth mode now, Divine Retribution. Keep routing the Parson Shield through this crystal to keep it up," I instructed the ship. "We're going to stay in stealth for a little bit." Concentrating my energy through the black crystal, I wasted no more time, and continued on my way to the Warp Gate on the moon of Ara.
A few minutes passed. Outside, space somehow seemed darker than it actually was while I sped along under the apparent stealth field. While I wanted to use Sight to keep an eye on what was happening out in realspace, I felt that the strange muffling effect that now suffused everything around me prevented that. We were neither in the Warp, nor were we in the Materium. Everything was strangely tenebrous and threatening in this strange space, almost as if the volume of reality was turned down, for lack of any proper description. Even the voices of my crewmembers were similarly muffled and strange as they also observed the slight change in the bridge around them. Null appeared absolutely thrilled with this development, and did not seem unnerved, so that offered me some reassurance.
One thing did seem to concern me, however. While the large holographic screens before the three golden thrones were now back to normal functionality, displaying various statistics, suspected models of void ships in the area, and our travel map, I noticed that the timer for the Grandiloquent Abundance's cannon had slowed, and was now ticking backwards.
"Countless tiny nanomachines bundled together in a crystalline lattice that refracts time itself! And, it harmonizes with the energy emitted by a Traveler! Incredible! Indubitably amazing! Why, in all my years, I never cease to be surprised by the wonders of technology of lost civilizations!" Null was almost bouncing with excitement on the bridge. Lian continued to stand very close to him, and I noticed the muscles of his jaw were clenching. In my hands, the black crystal seemed to be growing colder, and it was now somewhat difficult to hold.
While I had presumed that our trip all the way out to the fifth planet of this system would take a little longer, according to our map we were apparently almost there. I blinked, and then, I noticed that I actually did not know just how much time had passed between me activating the black time crystal and when Garmanthor and its asteroid ring loomed largely on my display. We were now quickly approaching the moon of Ara, and would be within the asteroid ring within a few minutes. The activity of my crew had somehow faded away into the background, and I now also realized that the time crystal was growing so cold that it was painful to touch. It now suddenly felt as if I was holding dry ice in my hands!
"Oh, fuck!" I reflexively yelped as my fingers were burned, causing me to accidentally drop the crystal, which proceeded to shatter with an explosive cold pop on the floor that sounded like the snapping of a firecracker.
The sensation of movement momentarily gripped me, and a warm wave passed through both my being and the Divine Retribution as reality "righted" itself after the fracture of the crystal.
"Ah!" Virgil exclaimed, holding his hands on his head, his holographic form glitching between desaturation and full color. "What was that?"
"Miraculous stealth technology from an advanced lost civilization!" Null quipped happily. He then turned about, and pointed upward at the display. "My theory is that we have transcended time but not entered the Warp, allowing us to skip through a sort of transitional layer of reality. I theorize that you all may have experienced personal distortions of your perceptions of time. For me, it has felt like hours have passed."
"Just a few minutes for me," I said, beginning to shiver and sweat heavily from the experience. The crystal was now a smoking pile of black dust on the floor of the bridge. My hands were red and burned; I could tell that I would have terrible blistering from this. But, I would take a few blisters and some uncomfortable time sweats instead of being hunted by the Inquisition.
"About ten minutes for me," Alberich announced. "I feel as if I was in an ice bath, and all color lost vibrancy!"
"No time passed for me. I blinked, and the event had passed," Lian replied. The Fallen still stood dutifully ahead of my throne as he watched over Null, who was facing my display, gesturing with excitement at our approach into Garmanthor's orbit and asteroid ring.
The rocky ring that surrounded the swirling dark blue gas giant of Garmanthor was made up with irregular boulders of many shapes and sizes from man-sized, to over house-sized. This was strange, I began to wonder idly, despite my perilous situation. I had read that the rings of Saturn back home were made up of both fine dust and larger rocks, but this ring seemed "chunkier" than what I had read planetary rings were supposed to look like. My curiosity was further piqued when a boulder containing the remains of what appeared to be a ruined building sailed by my right wing.
"An ancient war was rumored to have ruptured the civilization that orbited this world," Null responded to my curiosity with a buzzing sigh. "I can study these images later if it pleases you, Inheritor. But, we must continue searching for the Warp Gate."
Null was right. There was more than enough time to play 40k planetary scientist later, I thought as I continued to fly around this rocky congested area of space. Right now, we had to leave this system before the Necron fleet found us again, and finding the Warp Gate was our best chance at doing so. Curious, I glanced up at the timer that displayed the estimated recharge time for the Grandiloquent Abundance's cannon, and was surprised at what I saw.
"Negative 999 minutes?" I wondered aloud. The timer had been ticking backward when we were in stealth, but now it was slowly advancing forward again. The timer glitched again, and then, it now displayed an "error" notation. That probably wasn't a good sign. A quick glance of Sight behind me displayed that the Grandiloquent Abundance had actually stopped dead in its space tracks far behind me as the Nomes aboard argued in frustration about my disappearance. The Nome King was apparently so invested with destroying me that he had simply decided to ignore the approaching Imperial ship.
A flurry of psychic noise from the Inquisitorial cruiser now directed my attention deeper into the system. They had also halted somewhere around the orbit of the sixth world of this system. I sensed extreme worry pointed in the direction of the Necron ship as many souls shouted orders and weapons were armed. Hopefully everyone was too occupied with their own problems instead of worrying about me. Have fun fighting it out, you guys. I'm out.
Back on Tar Vigaz, I could still hear the feeble prayers of the the people of Evna become pitched as the first Necron Flayed Ones began to assault the nearly defenseless population. "Why have you forsaken us, Empress? Help us! Save us!" a familiar young red-haired woman who cowered with her little daughter cried out deep in Langwidere's palace.
Hearing this, the all-seeing oversoul of the Divine Retribution glowered at me in great disapproval. This is not who we are, it said through me in many whispering voices. If a storm could experience contempt, this is what I imagine what it would sound like. We will not repeat this behavior. Our imperative is to protect and elevate the humans.
I'll do better, I promise, I quickly told the god-machine coiled around and within me as I concentrated on dodging the asteroids of the planetary ring of Garmanthor.
I felt the overbearing eye of the Divine Retribution continue to observe me coldly before beginning to slowly relinquish its direct attention and judgement upon my being. With a brief shiver, I continued onward on my approach to the rocky moon, which was now growing larger on the central display.
"There!" Null shouted, pointing at the image of the lifeless white moon. "Get closer! There it is! That must be it! Near the north pole! Look!" Responding to Null's observations, the Divine Retribution magnified a portion of the moon. A gigantic crescent shaped structure of reflective metal stood atop a very tall mountain. A faint strange shimmer was visible between the two points of the crescent.
"That's the Warp Gate?" I asked. It was much smaller than I had anticipated!
"Yes! Newly discovered by Magos Amee's genius! Kept hidden from the public and the Imperium! I see that if we approach it through a level altitude and center ourselves through the gap, we should be able to make it through if we fold our wings!"
That did not sound very safe. "And you're sure it's safe?" I asked Null, gripping the armrests of my golden throne. On my left, I felt that Rasputin was shivering in fear, and had begun praying in Russian to himself. Well, this is the sort of shit we get into constantly, buddy. I'm a disaster-courting spacefaring train wreck that Tzeentch is personally interested in, so get used to it.
Null paused before answering. "I've been told there has been one successful round trip through that Gate. As I said, it appears you may have to fold the Divine Retribution's wings inward to fit through the gap, but it works. Neither the xenos fleet nor the Imperium can follow us through!"
"I guess we really don't have much of a choice," I responded with a nervous gulp. "Hold on everyone. I'm taking us in to the Warp Gate." The Divine Retribution responded to my intentions by altering its flight trajectory. The eagle sped up before it banked in a steep spiraling dive that made half of my bridge cry out in alarm. The Warp Gate was probably not easy to pass through by any spacecraft, seeing as though it was atop a mountain on a moon instead of freely floating in space. I hoped that the boulders of the asteroid ring kept our passage hidden.
Unfortunately, the sensation of being watched by another party once again fell upon me, and my Sight quaked in alarm. The Necrons that had followed us had rediscovered our position, and were now booking it over here! Even worse, I now sensed that the Inquisitorial ship had chosen violence, and was now quickly advancing ahead toward the Necron fleet. Its weapons were now armed! Was the Nome King really just going to ignore the Imperial ship? Was he really that singularly transfixed on killing us?
"Goddamnit, we need a vacation after this!" I cried out as I felt the Divine Retribution level out as we soared above the blasted moon of Ara. We were now at the altitude of the Warp Gate, and while it would be a tight fit, we'd be able to thread the needle and leave this chaotic Slaanesh-corrupted and Tzeentch-influenced shithole of a system that I was somehow responsible for ruining. Below, I could now clearly see the remains of roads, cities, and what appeared to be furrowed irrigation ditches surrounding what could have been farmland from ages ago before whatever apocalypse happened to this unfortunate civilization.
The Warp Gate had appeared ahead on the horizon, and I willed the Divine Retribution to slow and steady its flight in preparation to pass through it. On the display above us, a model of the Warp Gate crescent appeared.
"Unknown inter-space Warp Gate corridor detected. Diameter of active transitional energetic skin: 287m. Warning! Vessel size exceeds Warp Gate diameter!"
"What if we bend your wings if we go through, buddy?" I asked the Divine Retribution.
The crescent before us grew larger as I felt the terrible Grandiloquent Abundance doomsday cannon lock upon us again. My Sight treated me to a scene of the Nome King cackling as he began to initiate the firing sequence!
"Allowance of wing movement can be constricted to 280m. Warning! Hull and structural damage to left wing! Movement impaired!"
The eagle then mentally informed me of a dangerous solution to our predicament. The damaged left wing could not bend as effectively as it normally could after all of Am'Erika's sword strikes! The ship informed me that we would have to actually curl the right wing against its torso to compensate for the lack of the left wing's mobility!
"Okay, do that," I announced audibly to the ship without informing my crew of the terrifying danger I knew we were now in. The ship acknowledged my order, and slightly adjusted its flight. The crescent grew closer...
"Now I have you!" the Nome King's voice unexpectedly blasted over the bridge, causing me to jump on my throne. "When you get to the afterlife, tell everyone that the Nome King destroyed the hated gold chicken named Gir'Auda! I bid you farewell!"
A split second before the Grandiloquent Annihilation cannon fired, many things happened at once. My Parson Shield reactivated as the Warp shutters around the eye windows of the bridge clanged shut. My right wing then curled in on itself, and another green laser was also fired our way. This laser strike managed to slightly alter our flight trajectory! Thinking impossibly quickly, the Divine Retribution compensated for this. It reached through me, and took control of the situation. I felt myself giving an order for a slight phase shift to correct our position, and putting us 500 meters ahead from where we had previously been. The heavy energy draw caused my body and soul to cry out in pain.
I sensed one more thing right before my beak touched the threshold of the Warp Gate. Another scan had been initiated by the Imperial ship that was aggressively barreling down toward the Necron fleet chasing us, and this time, they had seen us!
The Imperial Inquisition had seen us!
A heartbeat after my tail cleared the Warp Gate's boundary, the Grandiloquent Abundance's cannon struck the crescent of the Warp Gate itself!
I was now perceiving a traumatic landscape of what appeared to be a writhing tunnel of unreality unfolding before me! A swirling tornado of impossible colors that somehow echoed in the scents of terror and madness surrounded the Divine Retribution! Behind me, I felt the gateway we had entered through disintegrate as the Warp Gate crumbled in an explosion!
Okay, keep going, I calmly reminded myself as I watched the boundary of the Warp tunnel begin to fracture. I continued to fly, but due to my curled right wing, we were turning about in a slow corkscrew as I struggled to control my vessel! Long fissures of unnatural light began to arc across the length of the narrow metaphysical passage we flew through. A monstrous toothy pseudopod consisting of hungry hatred and dark matter reached forward through the disintegrating Warp tunnel to grapple me, but before that could happen, it miraculously transformed into frozen blue crystal, and shattered into infinite tiny shards, each representing a terrorized thought from the citizens of the damned world of Tar Vigaz.
The amused laughter of the Lord of Change hissed like a million serpents through my mind. I like to think you're lucky! All of my childer enjoy my touch upon destiny, even if they won't always admit that, you see? I take care of them, Tzeentch's voice laughed coldly at me. Once again, fate smiles upon you, godling and future piece of myself. Never forget that!
Some of the crystal shards sunk painfully into my Parson Shield like porcupine quills as I raced ahead through the disintegrating Warp tunnel, and after either a month or a moment, we were then flying through conventional space again. My flight continued to spiral and twist due to my folded right wing, and when I tried to reflexively extend it, my wing accidentally struck a boulder the size of a small car, which caused my shoulder to spasm in pain again.
We had emerged within a small asteroid field that surrounded another unknown world in a ring. Putting myself back together from this experience, I gasped, and then, promptly vomited off the side of my throne.
The eye shutters of the Divine Retribution snapped open once again, and around me, I felt that my crewmembers were trembling with relief. Tears were being shed, and I was now cognizant that Virgil, Lian, and Null were all prostrating themselves at my feet. Each individual offered frantic prayers of adulation on my behalf as I dizzily directed the Divine Retribution through this new asteroid field.
And happily, I realized that I could no longer sense the Necron Fleet, or the Imperial cruiser! We had escaped!
"Get up, guys," I instructed. "We're through. Look!" I pointed upward and through my display toward the center eye window of the Divine Retribution's head. Slightly dimming the holographic display so people could see, I gestured with a blistered finger that a new world had appeared before us in the void. This world resembled a globe of swirling white clouds, blue oceans, and dark land, making it appear blessedly normal. The holographic display flickered as the Divine Retribution began to to get its new bearings. "Divine Retribution, when you're ready, tell us where we are."
The three men then stood shakily. Lian, it appeared, had been heavily weeping, and his face was still stricken with great emotion. Null turned around, and began to observe the window behind the translucent display. Behind me, I heard Zok mutter, "We're alive... We're alive..." as gasps of extreme relief began to filter through the space of the bridge.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to be the first to welcome everyone to the world of Ix," Null intoned as the display confirmed the Tech-priest's assessment. "We are a full thirty five thousand light years southeast of where we once were! Ever closer to Molech in leaps and bounds!"
The impassive androgynous voice of the Divine Retribution confirmed our location. "Location: Materium. Planet: Ix. Class A planet. Classification: Feral/wilderness world. 1.15 gravity. 1.1 standard rotational time. 1.07 standard atmospheric pressure. Terra-like atmosphere. Calculating emergency locations for suitable landing..."
The Divine Retribution had apparently had enough fun, and was now heavily urging me to land on the world below. A model of our vessel appeared above us on the display, and now, I could see just how heavily damaged we were. It wasn't good.
The left wing had suffered numerous traumatic gashes to its living gold along the wing joint, and they glowed with pain to my Sight. My head had been struck, and a small dent marred the top of my crown. Along my back and both flanks, numerous scorch marks where the green lasers had struck us were visible, and a few long glowing gashes bled ethereal gold light where Am'Erika's sword had hit home. The Divine Retribution was terribly injured!
"Do you have a place in mind where we should park, Null?" I asked slowly, feeling my body ache in sympathetic exhaustion.
"Yes, actually," the Tech-priest answered immediately. "Make for Jinnicky's research tower at the coordinates I indicate. Magos Jinnicky, from what Magos Amee informed me, is a friend to her. He's a Magos Explorator that used to reside in Tar Vigaz, and has been placed on Ix by Magos Amee to oversee an archaeological dig site to guard it against ignorant fleshling hands. Any friend of Nimmie's is a friend of ours, rest assured."
"If you're being deceptive-" Lian began to warn.
"Yes, yes, you'll kill me. But, I promise this is truth. And, I have quite a way of persisting through the years, so killing me might not even kill me, you see?"
Null's voice held a strange pitched tone, so I pushed a bit of Sight into the Tech-priest, once again looking for any deception. While I did not sense any attempt to mislead me, when I searched Null's soul I was treated to a series of hazy images of a red-robed Tech-priest speaking to a massive bald Space Marine wearing a genial smile and long opulent flowing white robes. A large wolf pelt lay across the shoulders of the mysterious giant. The huge bald Astartes I spied with a large wolf pelt was unfamiliar to my limited and more casual lore knowledge. Leman Russ had hair, if I remembered correctly, and even so, primarchs were a Horus Heresy thing, and not a modern Warhammer 40k feature. I would have to ask Null about this guy later.
When I came back from my short Sight examination of Null, I noticed that the Tech-priest was trembling, his green animated eyes rapidly glancing to and fro. This, I assumed, was from my heavier presence of Sight dredging Null's soul, which was probably an uncomfortable affair. I would need to go further into the Tech-priest's mind later to fully ascertain his loyalty and sanity, but for now, the Divine Retribution and I desperately needed rest.
Null offered me the coordinates for Jinnicky's tower, and we were well on our way down to the land of Ix. This new world was not a heavily populated place, I thought with relief as the first licks of atmospheric drag pulled painfully along my damaged feathers. Maybe we could take a short vacation as a respite from our ordeal? I promised myself that I would not get into any trouble here, and that certainly, this new world would be a more relaxing adventure than the last few worlds.
I mean, I can't possibly damn all the planets I visit, right?