– Janus –
Present
Heinrix's point of view -Back in the shuttle, they took place along the seats and secured themselves before take-off. Heinrix was internally fuming, though he did his best at keeping a straight face- and his best was really good.
Inside his mind, he was weighing the option of disobeying a Rogue Trader and making an eldar's head pop. On the plus side, it would deeply relieve him of the horror of watching someone go against the Imperium right in front of his eyes. On the minus side, it would lose him Elena's free pass to Kiava Gamma and he could not afford that. His mission was clear and he had to prioritize it over the rest.
But having this…xeno…up with him in the shuttle was unbearable. What did even go through Elena's mind to make a decision like this ? Not only did she decide to ally herself with Yrliet - she just struck a "deal" with local Aeldari in order to share the planet's governance. Even thinking about it made his head hurt. He was so mad that he could not even utter a word to her. Yet he tried to always keep her in his line of sight, if only to check that her new xeno pet didn't try to kill her.
Elena had retreated in her seat, closing her eyes. Her face was sunken. Voidborns weren't fit for worlds like these, yet she didn't complain - though her discomfort was plain to his eyes. The jerky movements behind her eyelids indicated that she was calling to her psychic intuitions, examining their near future. He wanted to shake her off from these increasing visions, and make her see that she should care most about the immediate problems at hand - in the shape of the Aeldari sitten next to her.
His gaze locked with Yrliet's. She, too, was observing the Rogue Trader with curiosity. Her eyes turned to cold defiance towards him. He clenched his jaw but didn't relent. He would not let the xeno be unwatched. They called it "the never sleeping eye of the Inquisition" for a reason.
The Sister sat next to him. She caught sight of his attention and sighed.
" It is unfortunate and unexpected, but we should focus on the matter at hand. Fighting Chaos will require us all to concentrate our strength on our enemies. "
Having the Sister try to soothe him out was even worse, but Heinrix remained polite :
" Fortunately, I have enough concentration to focus on multiple enemies at once", he retorted.
Argenta smiled. " I don't doubt that. The Emperor protects."
Elena came back from her visions when they arrived at the landing zone. She had a look of determination in her features, a sort of stubborn bravery that covered the tiredness of her face and turned it into a grim mask.
Heinrix didn't like it when she got like that. It meant that she was going to do something that many found heroic, but that he called reckless and irrational.
" It's not Vistenza", she began as they exited the shuttle. Yrliet stayed by her side - the Aeldari had no one there to go with. Even the Seneschal, who had been so happy to remind him of the terms of the Warrant, was not going to let a xeno tag along by his side.
" What do you mean, elantach ?" asked the Aeldari.
" We thought that Vistenza was the source of the taint of Chaos, its beating heart on Janus. But she's not. She's merely a conduit, a tool for it. A puppet being played by someone else." Elena's cold and neutral voice cut the air like ice. " She is part of it - but had been fooled by another one. Her maid. I'm sure of it."
" Does that mean Vistenza's innocent ?" asked Abelard.
Elena laughed at that, an unhappy, grating laugh. " Oh, I don't think so. You'll see for yourself soon enough. I think I know where to go."
She took the lead and without hesitation, made her way towards the palace. Heinrix didn't comment on her revelations - he would make his own mind about the situation. And he still felt physically unable to communicate with the most irritating Rogue Trader of the Koronus Expanse.
Elena's vox rang. Without slowing down, she picked it up. Cassia's voice resonated on the com.
" Lord Captain ! We saw your ship landing. Have you found the rebels' hideout ?"
" Yes, we have. Long story short : they were mind-controlled by Aeldari taking shelter on the planet they considered theirs, and we made an alliance to fight back the Chaos corrupting the world and its governor. Is Vistenza still in her cell ?"
They could hear the sound of Idira whistling softly in the background of the vox, as Cassia replied, a hint of surprise in her voice : " Lord Captain, I am very sorry to say that Lady Vyatt was murdered."
" What ? When ?"
" An hour ago."
Jae intervened, cursing under her breath : " Hey, shereen. Bad news, I know. Our wardens and her wardens got in a bit of a mix-up and, in the confusion, the maid killed the governor and got away using some sort of warp-thingy-magic."
" Of Immaterium-related abilities", corrected Cassia with annoyance.
Elena glanced at them and sped up. " Let's move ! I feel where she is. There are people depending on us."
" Where do we meet you ?" asked Jae.
" Northern stairs, agricultural painting depicting roots", muttered Elena.
They broke in a run, following the Rogue Trader. Their arrival was certainly noticed by the various people in the courtyard, and their haste must have created some ripples of preoccupation.
Without even a pause or a flinch, Elena darted along in the palace, seemingly roaming the place as if she had been owning it for years. They found themselves in the stairs she had mentioned, where the rest of the retinue were waiting for them - Idira was tinkering with the painting.
" A secret door", she said when they arrived. " I cracked the code. I was waiting for you to open it up."
Elena nodded. Her breathing was ragged. Running along under the high gravity pressure must prove challenging to her. " Do it", she said.
Heinrix let Abelard go in first, followed closely by Elena and Yrliet. He made sure he stalked the xeno's back at all moments. The Aeldari had noticed his lurking but put on a show of ignoring him- though the way her elongated fingers rested on her alien rifle informed him that she was ready to shoot at him if he threatened her.
He felt it as they descended into the moist darkness of a secret cave. Something rippled through his mind. For a second, he missed a step - and caught himself back just as instantly. His senses were tingling and slightly burning from the presence of the Immaterium. A far too much important presence.
Elena and Idira had stopped as well, Idira whimpering to herself. Elena turned back to him, to check that they both felt the same - that she turned to him trustfully and ignored her attributed retinue psyker was…sensible, he guessed, and somewhat pleasant. For all her flaws, he had to admit that he enjoyed working with another psyker such as she was : not overdoing it, cautious, and controlled. They understood each other from a quick glance : yes, something was there.
He felt compelled to precise, feeling her silent interrogation on him :
" Sorcery."
Elena nodded in response and they both drew their weapons, her going for her medium-range automatic rifle gun. Argenta had already seized her bolter and the rest of the retinue followed soon. Elena slowed down the pace, and started enumerating out loud, her eyes glassy :
" Multiple casualties in the next room. Do not be distracted by them. Twenty civilians lost to chaos. Not a threat. A dozen wardens, heavily armed. And daemonettes. I'd say five. In the backroom." She frowned. " The maid is here. Invoking more. She's first priority-target."
Argenta shivered in anticipation. " I shall make your righteous wrath be known to your enemies, my Emperor !"
Abelard entered the room first and they ran inside.
Heinrix was hit with a bullet as he dashed. He discarded the wound in a lure of biomancy and felt his arms and his body grew as dense as steel. His sword caught the first cultists in the navy and its force projected its remains on the side.
He pivoted on his right foot to assess the situation. Multiple civilians lay naked, in various states of injuries, on altars dedicated to Slaanesh. Others were attached on racks. And others again, nobles according to their fancy masks and costumes, were having the time of their lives inflicting sophisticated abuse to their victims. He'd seen stuff like that before, of course, so he evaluated the situation calmly. He could tell not everyone in the retinue was ready for it though. Most of the victims were still alive. If they prove efficient, they could maybe save them.
They were not the dangerous ones, though the eyes could only linger with distraction on the show of decadence in the room. Heinrix ignored the cold clutch of anger growing inside of him to focus his attention on the real dangers. This warden, for example, packed with grenades. The shadow of daemonettes looming from the other room, where from he could feel the pulse of the Immaterium tugging at his soul, drawing him in. The access of the backroom were held down by daemonettes, their giants claws still coated with fresh blood.
" Heinrix ! With me !" That was Elena's voice.
In a reckless motion, the Rogue Trader was gaining momentum and dashed her way through the frontline. Like water, she bended and dodged, moving out of any harm's way in a supernatural fashion.
Heinrix inhaled between his teeth. Of course, breaking through enemies' lines was easy with divination powers. You just knew what to avoid. He had to actually think it through. As Elena ended up behind the frontliners, she pivoted back to burst fire at the enemies, creating a slight opportunity for him to break through. He seized it without hesitation. He understood that the Rogue Trader was making a move towards the backroom and the sorcery ritual, but the entrance was still guarded by a threatening demon.
" Jae, Yrliet, I need the daemonette taken care of, now", she ordered in her vox.
" Roger that", replied Jae in a cheery voice. Soon after, the sharpshooters aimed at the demon, distracting and wounding it.
" Heinrix, we have to get through to stop her", pressed Elena, tensed. She was reloading her barrel.
He understood perfectly what she meant, which was : find a way to make the demon disappear. Clenching his jaw, he advanced forward, sword ablaze, and focused on the deformed and horrid creature. He imagined his will being turned to crushing pressure, applying over the demon's body like a hammer to a nail. The creature yapped as it was projecting a few meters away, swept away by his telekinesis.
They both took advantage of the free space to wiggle into the backroom.
" It's reckless to go there without back-up", he commented harshly. The backroom was rippling with warp energy going wild across the room and it made his hair stand up. In the center of it all, hovering over a portal, stood the maid of honor of the late Vistenza Vyatt. The woman, now all modesty and humbleness gone, was uttering cruel words and slashing at her wrists desperately, as daemonic figures erupted out of the portal.
" Nothing's reckless as long as you're with me", she replied without missing a beat.
It caught him slightly off-guard. He almost forgot how infuriated he felt around her for a brief second. He didn't know what to respond to that, so he turned his attention back on the fight at hand, putting that thought for later.
Ready to endure the blows, Heinrix charged ahead, locking down two daemonettes into fighting him. In between his slashings and Elena's bullets, as well as her prescience at dodging, he managed to dispose of them. The third one, though, grasped him into its rancid claw and broke his arm - he barely managed to get it out before it cut him down.
He cursed as the pain jolted his senses. " Focus, van Calox, focus", he muttered to himself, as he pushed the pain away in the back of his mind - which was a thing biomancers could just do.
Elena glanced at his state, a hint of worry in her eyes, and seemed to reach a conclusion. The next second, she had jumped forward, abandoning him with the daemonette still trying to murder him - and going to face the sorceress alone.
Heinrix swore under his breath as he used his tekekinesis to push forward its assaillant, trying to make way for him. This time, though, the demon resisted. He caught sight of the Rogue Trader, all gun blazing, discharging her barrel unto the cultists- who fell dead. Swiftly, she changed target and emptied up the rest of her barrel in the daemon, turning it to mist and mash and spraying them with blood and gore.
" Are you all right ?" she asked in a calm voice, as if nothing had happened.
Heinrix shrugged, as he applied his concentration on mending back his arm. " Perfectly fine." He moved his arm back as if nothing had happened.
Elena looked at that with a hint of jealousy. "Let's take down those poor people", she said.
And that's how, in the Rogue Trader's mind, Janus was saved.
The sorceress of Slaneesh had been dealt with, her corpse burned and buried, and the dead governor had been replaced by the rebel leader- a puppet to the Aeldari, acting in the shadows - as well as other local nobles and administrators. Most of the abducted victims had been saved, received medical assistance ; some had to be turned into servitors, because the traumatic events they had gone through had broken their minds.
They had left the planet the day after, considering Elena wanted to tidy up some loose ends with Muaran. She had not taken him with her this time and he had no idea what they discussed. To his dismay, they went back aboard the ship along with Yrliet.
The return to the flagship had been the occasion for him to meditate. No matter how unpleasant the situation was for him, he had to ignore it until they reached Kiava Gamma. After that…after that, he guessed things would be different.
Xavier was going to want to know the whole story after all.
As he took place on the command bridge, consulting and examining data slates and reports from the various agents he had planted in the flagship and beyond, he saw Elena talk to Yrliet. Whatever they were discussing, he could see the defiant features of the xenos softened up slightly when speaking to Elena. She, on the other hand, looked riveted by the arrival of her new pet. It was probably good that he wasn"t close - he swore he could not bear to hear another drawled in "elantach" today. People passed them by - the crewmen taking great care of limiting any approach with the xeno. He could hear the whispers of those afraid that punishment would come to them for allowing Yrliet on board. He could feel the looks they threw at him and his inquisitorial rosette everytime they spotted him around. How it changed their behavior, how they suddenly stopped talking to stare at their screens in apparent fascination.
" I guess that's something that's hard for you to look at", mumbled the feminine and uneasy voice of Idira behind his back.
He sighed. The last thing he needed was the unsanctioned psyker taking an interest in his internal dilemna. He looked back at his slates, chasing the irritation from his mind.
" People making mistakes are always hard to look at, but, unfortunately, also deeply common", he replied coldly, pointedly looking at Idira.
The psyker had a brief, nervous smile. " I g-guess you would have training, considering that you can see that every day in your mirror", she replied, then dashed away quickly.
He could not believe Idira Tlass just had the guts to say something like that to his face. It did quiet him down.
From her knowing tone, he knew the scryer had seen something about him he didn't wish her to know. That's why you could not trust diviners…and even less so wild and unsanctioned ones.
A few days have passed since Janus and they started exploring for Kiava Gamma.
" Master van Calox, I assure you I am doing my best, and the best House Orsellio has to offer is immeasurable indeed. Still, the warp roads are…agitated, confusing me. I have to keep the ship safe. All considered, I think we may be closing in to the old charting location, but I will have to make the ship skirt around while trying to secure a road. "
He had reached the Navigator for more information on their trajectory. He knew he should be patient, but the amount of time it took them to find the planet was worrying him - all the more so since they had encountered an empty ship from said planet containing daemon engines. Elena had mumbled things about Kunrad Voigtvir and how this wall all planned from the start and she kept reciting bad omens about the fate of the planet. The thought of all these people possibly lost did not sit well with him. He felt…responsible.
" I understand, Lady Orsellio. Thank you for this information. It is good to hear we're reaching our goal."
" I -"
Cassia's voice was suddenly replaced with the coldness of Elena's voice, taking priority on the vox comm. " All free retinue members, go meet me at deck 5. We have a situation ongoing."
" Oh no ! Is it another warp incursion ?" Cassia's voice wondered as the Rogue Trader message died off. The Navigator was very conscious of the multiple warp incursion they had faced. Heinrix was already on his way to the nearest elevator. Fortunately, he never went anywhere without his force sword. It was sentimental, after all.
" Forgive me, Lady Orsellio, I will have to cut our conversation here. I'll keep you informed." He clicked at the vox, ending the line, and entered the elevator. In a swift movement, he was joined by Argenta. The Sister was wearing everyday clothes and no visible weapons. From the time, he presumed she had been taking care of the orphans and refugees of Rykad she was sheltering.
" Who was supposed to be on guard for the Lord Captain tonight ?" she asked.
" The smuggler was."
" Jae", called Argenta, clicking in, " make sure to grab my bolter on your way."
" Got it, darling", replied the cold trader. Her voice was warmer than it ever was when speaking to him. Noticing it, Heinrix raised an eyebrow. Argenta didn't react.
Another bout of comm on the vox : " Reaching deck 5. Where are you ? What's going on ?" Abelard's voice.
" Standing by with the Rogue Trader. Warp incursion of type 2 : manifestation of ghostly spirit", replied Pasqal calmly.
" Ghostly spirit ? What kind of ghostly spirit ?"
" Theodora's one."
Silence fell into the comm and, by his side, he noticed Argenta blanching and clutching at her belt, where her bolter usually was.
" Not a real ghost", intervened Elena, sounding very calm. " It's a warp summoning."
Heinrix pinched at his nose for a second.
" You look like you know what it means," said Argenta to him as the elevator descended down the bowels of the ship.
" Warp summoning happens when a psyker is nearing possession after losing control", he explained. " They become a gateway to chaos and demons. "
" But…" understanding dawned on Argenta and her expression changed. " Oh."
Heinrix drew his sword.
Tlass was as good as gone.
But, of course, according to Elena's faulted decision-making pattern, Idira Tlass was spared in the end from immediate death - which had sat well with Argenta.
Heinrix kept failing to understand the logic of it. Why pretend to possess mercy by sparing a life today when the inexorable destruction of one's soul in the future was at hand, with the risk of losing even more lives ?
Janus and now this made up for quite a lot of mess-up. It was hard for him, as a member of the Inquisition, to turn a blind eye to it. It was wrong. It contradicted his duties, his learnings.
He had spent so many years taming down all traces of gentleness and weakness in himself, that witnessing Elena throwing away all her education and training - so similar to his - was really gritting on his nerves.
Some of his dissatisfaction must have seeped through his usually distant facade as the retinue made its way back to the elevator. Abelard had slid an arm under Idira to stabilize her and Jae was quipping up some nonsense to distract her mind, while Argenta's face was, for once, closed-up and unreadable. Yrliet - the damn xeno-pet was here as well - didn't quite seem to understand all that was happening.
Elena turned back to them as the elevator's doors opened. " You all, take the next one. I need to have a word with Heinrix."
Abelard threw a dubious and suspicious look at them as Heinrix followed Elena in the elevator. She pushed through the button and waited for the doors to close up to say :
" Whatever you are thinking, be out with it. You're glaring so many daggers at my back that it's a wonder I'm not dead yet."
Heinrix wondered if using telekinesis to break through from the elevator and avoid any conversations involving Elena was acceptable.
He looked up at the ceiling, gathering his words cautiously…and then deciding that, after all, there was no need to be cautious around someone who kept throwing common sense in the air. Maybe time for subtlety was over.
" I thought giving a planet from your protectorate out to Aeldari was bad enough", he began sarcastically, not trying to repress his thoughts this time. " But you keep surprising me everyday with a new low, Elena von Valancius. You should know better than most how dangerous and unwise it is to keep an unsanctionned psyker like Idira roaming your ship. She could obliterate all of us into nothingness in a blink of an eye. She could open a gateway to demons right in the middle of your flagship. So many people could die because of her. And yet…you let her be. Are the lives of your own crew so unimportant to you ?"
Gaining strength in his acid remark, he glanced back at Elena to see her reaction. Her pale cheeks had reddened and she was looking straight ahead of her, controlling her breathing.
" Is that what you think of me ?" she said.
" That you're reckless and ultimately selfish ? Yes," he answered back.
He felt relieved to have said it aloud, but he could not quite ignore the spark of unease he felt at hurting Elena. It was stupid. He shouldn't feel any remorse at that. He shouldn't care.
Elena's fingers hesitated as the elevator approached its destination, and she clicked on her vox : " Vigdis, stop the elevator, please. I'm having a conversation I need to see through in peace."
" As you wish, Lord Captain", replied Vigdis with a hint of perplexity.
She turned back to face him.
" We're different, Heinrix, and I can see we're not going to see eye-to-eye on my decisions. But I ask you to refrain from judging me so quickly. You do not know everything that goes inside my mind. I do not make these choices easily or on impulses. Contrary to your thinking, I am not reckless. I do all of this because I feel it's part of something bigger."
Her fingers twitched as her black eyes grew distant. " I think there is a bigger threat afoot and I act accordingly to what I believe would provide more benefits to face this threat in the long run. And I believe that because I can guess at the future, and that is what I see. Yrliet is linked to this and to me. Everyone in my retinue, including you, is. Whatever is going on ahead, we're in this together - all of us, and I can tell you that we're still not complete. I have a feeling you won't like the following additions to the team either.
But you know what ? It doesn't matter if you like it or not, because it's the way it is. Muaran is useful to me. I need Janus to produce food fast to secure Footfall's survival. I want Footfall to fall under my protection because it will give me a back base and power that I will have a need of in future dire times. I need Idira to stay with me because she won't go all mad just yet and she is still useful. She may save me later, and I have a contingency plan for her. We're not done with Aeldari and Farseers just yet and they have things I want for later. I may be selfish, Heinrix, but I am not reckless. I don't throw away things that could turn out to be useful in the future. It's the same reason that made me keep the Cenobium on Rykad. All of this is going to be needed at some point. I am preserving strength to face a future enemy far more threatening than the ones we have met until now. Don't worry, I am pretty sure the Final Dawn will feature in this, so you should be happy in the long run. "
He had to stop and consider her. The vibrato in her voice, the tension in her shoulders - she really believed what she was saying. So she wasn't completely naive and stupid. She was just going mad, like every diviner he had ever met. He should have known from the start. Xavier had told him to be wary of diviners.
" To have a future to pretend at, Elena, maybe you should start taking care of the present at hand," he said in an instant of annoyance. " Your plan for the future distracts you from the most basic necessities and duties. Do you often find yourself thinking that you know better than the Imperium's teachings ? "
" Fine. I see we're in a good mood today", she replied stiffly, pushing back on her vox. " Vigdis, you can get the elevator running back up."
" Of course." The elevator whizzed back to life.
" Don't ", he said.
" Why ?" she replied stubbornly. " Why do you care so much ? Just play your part, do your reports to your master and be done with it. I stand true to what I said. I know I'm right. You'll see it one day. "
He knew he should stop there. Those things had already gone too far. There were so many things he couldn't disclose to the Rogue Trader, including what he thought. Speaking with Elena was like navigating dangerous waters. Yet he went on :
" I care, Elena, because I don't wish for your soul to be damned and pried upon by malevolent entities. I don't wish for those around you to find a horrible death. I don't wish for you to corrupt yourself. I don't want your mind to scatter in trying to prevent a future that is not certain. You may find me distasteful - but my insistence is merely reminding you of the basic guidelines to avoid being corrupted, for the preservation of the people following you, but also for you, Elena. I am actively trying to avoid you a fate worse than death and it sometimes feels like I'm the only one thinking about it. Why don't you care about yourself ? "
He stopped, surprised at his own words. He had aimed at being rational and hadn't expected sentiment to seep into his words, and yet here it was. Elena was looking at him oddly from the other side of the elevator, her black eyes softening up. From there, he could feel the intensity of her gaze, of her physicality. He locked eye contact with her. That was something she was incredibly good at. They stared into each other for a few seconds. It was undeniable that the temperature seemed to rise inside the elevator. It was both a pity and a relief to know that it was reaching the end of its course. He wondered what he would do if it did stop again. He wondered if, in another timeline maybe, he could have come close, just to increase the intensity of the tension in between them. If she was just a normal woman and him a normal man, maybe even more. But he wasn't and he chased the fleeting thoughts away.
He could feel in her dark, flaming gaze that Elena was day-dreaming in the same way. Her eyes seemed to have gone lost over his lips, but she flinched back to control and added, very softly :
" Heinrix, believe me or not, but I can say that we're bounded to each other and I trust you with my life. "
Which was a hauntingly bad thing to say.
" I want you to trust me as well.
A feat which was both mentally and morally impossible for him. Agents of the Inquisition didn't trust anyone, not even themselves, and even less so people like Elena.
Her softness threw him into perplexity, but also appealed to him. It was a good thing when the doors of the elevator opened up onto the bridge.
" You know I cannot promise that. It goes against my job description ", he replied righteously. He didn't want to just say that he was indeed a spy and that maybe they'd be enemies weeks from now, and that he would never trust anyone including himself. At this point, he hoped it was shared understanding.
She had a brief smile. " You know I cannot promise to stop acting reckless. Goes against my job description too."
He glared severely as she exited the elevator.