Zok and I paused before the corridor that led out of the amphitheater. We both needed to nurse our respective injuries and attend to some basic first aid before heading onward into more trouble. I had a shrapnel injury that had slightly cut into the muscle of my upper arm, and it bled and burned horribly. The old Tzaangor wrapped my arm up in a tight bandage while flinching from his own burn. He never complained.
I looped the gold sword around my sash again, and put away the Nemeses Argentum in its sheath. After I adjusted the weight of the pack on my back to keep the load off my right arm, I was ready to go. Zok now carried his electric Dwemer mace in his right hand along with Jiminy in his left coat pocket. The burn on his neck and shoulder looked pretty bad, and he would definitely have to be seen by someone when we got back to the ship.
"Do you and the crew always go through trouble on worlds, like the others said?" Zok cautiously asked as we began to walk down the corridor.
Before I could answer, Wolfie appeared in a puff of glittering smoke, his tail wagging into a misty black blur. He walked beside me and happily transmitted something that felt like KILL... KILL... KILL! Each "kill" that the dog projected was punctuated by a cheerful bark. Zok jumped away from the astral hound, who happily bounded about the tunnel like a normal dog excited to go to the park.
"Sort of," I answered Zok's question while petting the ghost dog on the head. "I think it's because there's a Chaos power after me, and-"
My intuition suddenly struck me with worry, and I froze a few paces before the corridor's end where it opened into Jinnicky's main tower. "Stop!" I hissed, immediately halting. Both Wolfie and the Tzaangor obeyed, and I pressed myself against the wall of the corridor. Seeing me do this, Zok did similarly. Wolfie stood frozen in the center of the hall.
"What?" he asked.
I held my arm up, motioning for Zok to stay quiet.
"Guy with a gun up ahead," I whispered.
Wolfie lightly growled.
"Can you stop him?"
Blinking, I reached forward with my senses, and I could perceive that a Dwemer sniper was watching me from his scope from the interior of Jinnicky's tower. He was crouched under one of the metal tables that held tools used for cleaning and examining bloodstones. A specialized shimmering stealth field made it so that I couldn't physically see him from here. This field also held some sort of repellent against cute little Warp puppies like Wolfie, so I couldn't just send my ravenous hellhound after him. Shit. Wolfie also seemed to notice this, and he let out of soft whine and sat down in the tunnel.
Zok looked to me for advice, and I whispered, "Hold on, let me see if I..."
Before I could think about what to do here, I suddenly saw in my mind's eye that the Horse of a Different Color was being desperately assailed by Tonal Architect Aszabrina and a few other Dwemer. This briefly worried me, but unfortunately for them, the flyer's armored shield was up, and every bash with an electric mace, lightning bolt, and sword did nothing to pierce her skin.
That was great to see, but I had a more immediate problem before me. My attention was brought back to the sniper who was attempting to get a good bead on us. With a short gasp, I briefly saw my own bloody face through his scope! Luckily, fear seemed to be freezing this guy. Taking a big gamble, I reached outward with Sight, my halo enveloping me in a gentle glow (and making me extraordinarily visible in the dark corridor). As expected, he still didn't take the shot. The Dwemer continued to watch me through his scope, his breath shaking in his throat, his heart pounding in his pointed blue-grey ears.
She is a god, his thoughts screamed through him, loud enough for me to perceive. A prince of yore! I... I... cannot...
Sensing an opportunity, I faced the sniper, and with the aid of Sight, I was able to look him right in the eye though the scope.
Wolfie growled again, and I quickly instructed the astral hound to "stay" with a short telepathic command.
Put it down, I mentally ordered the frightened sniper, reaching through the soul before me, and pushing on his willpower with my own to dominate him. While the Imperative wanted me to continue murdering xenos, my pack was on my back, and my bloodstone was close enough to siphon the "kill-all-aliens" urge out of me. You will put your weapon down. Let us pass, and I will not kill you.
The man continued to shiver, and I continued to stare him down right through the scope. His nose began to bleed, and with a stifled cry, his rifle slipped from his hands to clatter heavily on the stone ground. His stealth field also failed, so he was also visible. A soft, miserable sob echoed through the corridor. While his suppression field might be able to stop Warp entities, it appeared that it couldn't actually stop me.
"Okay, got him, he's done," I informed Zok as I wasted no time in advancing. With a strain, I kept my Corona up, remembering (a little late) that it had deflected bullets and lasers a few minutes ago. "Zok, stand behind me just in case. Wolfie, stay in front where we can see you. And don't hurt that guy."
The astral hound whined in frustration, but he obeyed.
Zok and I cautiously walked to the end of the corridor, and there, on the floor and in a fetal position, a Dwemer man in a black bodysuit interlaced with brass threading lay shivering and crying on the floor, completely incoherent. While I couldn't understand his language, I sensed that he was praying hysterically, images of his family passing through his mind as he clutched his knees to his chest. Beside him, a strange and ornately carved long brass rifle lay nearby. It was a beautiful piece, decorated with small jewels that gleamed with a clear blue-green fire. It had a long braided strap made up of some suspicious-looking dark leather. My senses told me that while it had some sort of unusual functionality, there was no danger in simply picking it up.
"Hey, you want a rifle?" I asked Zok as I briefly paused beside the Dwemer. He had closed his eyes, completely terrified by my proximity. When my gold light illuminated him directly, the sniper winced and turned away from me, burying his face.
"Xenos weapons are dangerous, but if your redcoat will check it, I'll take it."
"I'll tell Null to give it a look, but you have to carry it."
Zok looped the mace around his belt after hitting some kind of "off" button, and leaned down to pick up his awesome Dwemeri sniper rifle! The Tzaangor hummed in approval and slung the exotic firearm over his shoulder.
Wolfie lightly barked, urging us onward.
Just as we began to make our way down the stairs to the base of the tower, the frightened Dwemer loudly "thought" at me.
What-what are you? Are you... Lady Azura? Have you come to this place to punish us for our sins? We're never going home, are we?
I am many things, I responded somewhat automatically as I walked past him. I'm Revelation. I'm Divine Retribution. I'm the Destroyer. The Tzaangor and I began walking down the stairs, leaving the broken man to pray to gods that couldn't hear him in this universe. I shot back with a mean, And no, you're probably not going home.
Zok and I came upon two other armored Dwemer at the base of the tower who promptly broke and ran as soon as they saw me. Before I could tell him to heel, Wolfie leaped forward to chase one of the warriors, who immediately ran out of the tower. Outside, the men shouted what sounded like a warning in the direction of the coliseum where the Horse was parked. I heard Wolfie barking and snarling as one of the men began to scream.
"Yeah, you better run," I called out, trying to ignore the pain in my arm and heart. I couldn't keep this up, but since it appeared that I was terrifying these people with my presence, I would lean into that so I wouldn't have to go on another psycho-murder rampage again. Also, Wolfie seemed strong enough to be our muscle now, so this worked out.
Confidently walking forward, I then unexpectedly stumbled a few steps down the spiraling stairs, but luckily, Zok caught me. Outside, I could hear frantic shouting, an odd reverberant metal "whapping" sound that I could not recognize, and Wolfie's snarling. The Dwemer knew I was coming, and the area absolutely reeked with their fear. The Tzaangor looked at me with worry before a strange tickle alighted in my mind.
With time, my strength of perception had been increasing, so I could tell that this was a distant singular soul trying to get in touch with me. This was probably Alberich again, I thought. I couldn't sit here and chat, but I briefly opened my mind as I rallied myself again to run outside and scare all the Dwemer hoodlums away from my car.
A warbling, nearly incoherent psychic voice asked me, Are you in need of assistance? from a distance. That didn't really sound like Alberich's normal psychic voice, but he had been oddly "bright" a few minutes ago when he had first contacted me. Since I didn't answer immediately, the voice repeated, Are you in need of assistance?
I don't know how you'd get over here with how everything is, but yeah, I need some assistance! I telepathically bit back before severing my connection.
The strange metal whapping sound now felt as if it was speeding up, and without further delay, Zok and I made our way out into the rough wide tunnel that led into the ancient "coliseum" area.
Emerging into the bowl-shaped ruins, I saw that it was now around early evening, and the colors of dusk were now beginning to encroach on the sky, which was mostly clear and decorated with sporadic puffy clouds only about a hundred meters above us. Blearily (and probably a bit messed up from being overdrawn and injured), I noted that this world's early evening sky was quite pretty. Fortunately, I was shocked back to awareness when I felt myself instinctually sense terrible danger, which caused me to reflexively slow time again. There were more Dwemer before me! Parked near the far end of the coliseum, I could now see what was making that unusual "whap" sound. Three truck-sized brass insectoid constructs were beating their long thin wings in what appeared to be preparation for flight, and groups of Dwemer were either running for these machines or pointing strange weapons in my direction! Time sped up again, and I was brought back to reality with just enough time to realize that I was going to be shot. With a whispered, "Fuck!" I bolstered my Corona in order to repel any lasers or bullets. Zok stood behind me.
The heavy sound of overlarge insect wings and smaller ricochet noises echoed in the coliseum as the Dwemer immediately fell back from my angrily advancing gold form! From here, the Horse of a Different Color was visible on the right side of the flat arena space. It was armored up like a metal isopod. As I stomped forward, I studied the strange bug constructs at the rear of the arena. Each of these giant insects were about five meters in length with colorful heads that resembled stained glass. Small groups of armored Dwemer frantically piled inside each one. Some of the warriors took desperate potshots at me with small laser pistols and other strange guns, but my shield stopped all of that. These big metal locusts appeared to be exotic small flyers, and their appearance amazed me for a moment. I had to admit that the Dwemer, despite them assaulting me, were certainly interesting.
The wind whipped through the air as Zok and I continued ahead, my Corona raised to protect us. I was now heavily relying on my bluster to scare these people away. More bullets and lasers hailed in my direction, but my shield stopped everything. After shutting its door, one of the flyers pushed off the ground and was now airborne. It turned and sped toward the south, right over my head. Two flyers remained now.
Wolfie now appeared again from nowhere in a puff of black smoke. The astral hound seemed to be covered in a dark, wet substance. My ghost dog proceeded to shake like a wet dog, and I could now tell that he was actually covered in blood.
Despite my increasing pain, I continued to make a big show of stomping forward in an attempt to look as intimidating as possible, and the handful of remaining Dwemer pushed into the remaining two flyers through a small entryway near each vessel's fore. They were terrified of me, and despite my increasing pain, that made me very happy, so I smiled. Making these people afraid of me made me happy!
Another flyer pushed off into the sky, and I continued walking forward as it soared overhead to the south. Wolfie, now a gruesome dripping sight, barked and snarled as he stepped forward beside me, but he made no move to attack. As I approached, I now recognized Azsabrina, who was the last person waiting to board the remaining flyer. The Tonal Architect wore her bladed helmet and a long blue robe covered in brass and gold adornments. She also wore heavy-bladed gauntlets and some kind of metal pack on her back. Recognizing that I was watching her, she turned toward me and raised one of her bladed gauntlets, her blue-green eyes flashing with furious indignation. An ascending humming tone began to rise in the air!
An instinctual sense quickly informed me that her bladed helmet was important somehow, so with a broad wave of my arm, I telekinetically yanked it right off her head. The helmet flew into the air where it struck one of the beating insect wings, which caused it to be lobbed in my general direction, spinning in the air. Wolfie, being a good dog, rushed to chase the helmet in a game of fetch.
The ascending tone silenced, and Azsabrina's shocked expression (along with the reappearance of one of the other flyers) was good evidence that this helmet was very important. Wolfie rushed to my side, and I took the helmet before giving it to Zok to carry. The Warp dog shook again, splattering me with blood.
I continued walking forward, my bluster-light shimmering brightly.
"You better run," I threatened, pushing my "big" voice outward. The Tonal Architect now wore a face of outrage. Azsabrina hesitated boarding despite two pairs of hands frantically urging her behind her. I raised my right hand and surrounded it in crackling gold lightning. This was enough to see Azsabrina finally get pulled into her giant metal grasshopper, and the door was promptly shut behind her. The vessel pushed away from the ground, and it was now airborne, flying like a large insect, sending more wind and dust my way.
I watched the last giant bug rise into the sky, and I didn't drop my hand or my Corona. The craft then turned and faced me. Inside its insect head of multicolored stained glass plates, I could see the woman who appeared to be the pilot. She was watching me with wide, frightened eyes. I abruptly sensed that the flyer had its own defensive weaponry and that the pilot was hastily estimating if she could shoot me from here. Instead, I didn't move and continued glaring in her direction. I increased the size of the orb of electricity in my hand.
"Do you feel lucky, xenos?" I boomed outward. I surrounded my raised hand in a pyrotechnic performance of snapping electricity centered around my arm. Too bad I didn't have my force staff with me now, but you can't win them all, right?
The pilot's nerve broke and she abruptly turned her craft away from us. The last insect vessel quickly retreated into the colorful sky, the heavy fluttering of its giant metal wings reverberating in the space of the coliseum. It was now gone.
"Oh, fuck," I sighed, nearly falling to the ground again, my Corona winking out. Zok caught me and held me up by my uninjured shoulder. "Alright, I'm alright. Let's get out of here," I instructed the Tzaangor, who aided me on my way to the Horse.
Happily expecting us, Horse's shield automatically dropped as the two of us approached. She was now a shimmering rainbow, and I got the sense that the car was overwhelmingly happy that we had returned. Zok and I climbed in, and Wolfie, apparently not interested in a car ride, vanished with a snap. The Tzaangor threw the rifle, mace, and mysterious bladed helmet in the back seat along with my pack, which he gingerly removed from my back. He keyed in the ignition, and the Horse rumbled to life. The heavy void shields were now immediately up, and I noticed that Zok was shaking in the driver's seat. A tear fell from one of his eyes.
"Zok?" I asked. He shook his head with his eyes closed.
"Never much one for combat, no, but I'll be okay," he responded in a wavering voice as he quickly began initializing the systems of the flyer with trembling hands. "Are there more of those aliens in bug ships? Horse of a Different Color doesn't have weapons."
"It doesn't?" I asked. That was bad news. "I... I don't know if there are more. Let me see," I said with a reluctant sigh before reaching into my abilities once again.
My mind expanded outward, and I reached through the local region. My capacity for remote viewing was getting better by leaps and bounds. Even when tired, this was still one of my strong points.
A cluster of flying locust vessels was mustering to the south. At least ten to fifteen insect vessels were swarming around my immediate region, and even more elsewhere. The Dwemer had devoted approximately a dozen ships to stopping me and raiding Jinnicky's tower, but we had only seen three so far.
Visions of Magos Jinnicky's mechanical army appeared in flashes of electricity and red laser light. He was close to the Divine Retribution now, nearly at the bottom of the dangerous mountain switchbacks. Bug ships assailed them, but the mad Magos was offering fierce resistance.
My mind's attention now perceived various hissed orders were being shouted through some kind of exotic radio to frightened pilots. While I couldn't quite understand their language, I could understand their intentions. Reassurances that the fighters were not confronting a literal god were being projected to the entire fleet, and that once I was dead, they could claim the Numidium Construct and leave this world for their homeland. Right now, the bug ships were being positioned to the south of us, right in the path of where we needed to go. They had planned to hide using more stealth technology, but my actions against the Tonal Architect and her assistant had ruined that idea.
I came back to my body, shaking my head. "There's... there's a bunch of those bug ships. They're attacking Magos Jinnicky and his army too. I get the feeling that they're waiting for us to take off so that they can ambush and shoot us. But, I-I think I heard Alberich saying that there was help coming. Maybe we should just wait? I think the Divine Retribution could crush all these bugs if Alberich could get her airborne!"
A terrible eldritch eye suddenly turned toward me, and it smiled.
You're right, Erika, an acidic, polyphonic voice of innumerable whispers dragged across my mind. But, lucky you! Help is coming! You're welcome, again!
Oh, fuck off! Not now! I telepathically yelled back at the Chaos God. In response, I heard a noisy slithering inhuman laughter lash around me before it was silent.
"We need a plan," Zok murmured, leaning forward to hold his temple with a blue-clawed hand. "I'm not a fighter pilot. I'm just a cook."
"Okay, okay," I said, trying to relax. It was too bad that I had blown a lot of my energy on reversing time in the simulation room and going on my murderous neck-cutting rampage. This was also the end of my training day, so I was already drained from that. My lack of endurance was getting to be a problem. The Emperor was a super-Alpha plus psyker who could do incredible feats while staying giant with no problem. I've got to do better here! "Let me just... let me just think about this. Do you think you could do a sprint to the Divine Retribution from where we are? There are ships to the south, but maybe we can just book it there?"
"Maybe," Zok answered while lightly shaking his head, which non-verbally communicated that he wasn't confident. "Horse isn't a war horse. She's a fast pleasure craft; she's not built for fighting." The Tzaangor tapped Horse's steering wheel, and the vessel responded by changing its color to pearlescent pastels.
I leaned back in my seat with my eyes closed for a moment, attempting to map where the Dwemer were. Unfortunately, it appeared that about ten of them were still buzzing around in the sky to the south, coordinating themselves. From what I could intuit, they were indeed awaiting my reappearance, possibly looking to ambush me as soon as appeared in the sky above the coliseum. I concluded that these ships were far more maneuverable than we were and that we'd probably be blown to smithereens the instant we appeared over the mountain. Alberich, if he could get here, was really our best hope.
"I see that there are about ten craft right over the ridge. I think they're waiting for us to fly so they can knock us out of the sky. I'm going to try to contact the Divine Retribution. We need them here," I announced to Zok, keeping my eyes closed.
I opened my mind again, and reached southward, searching for the presence of the Divine Retribution. My Sight discovered an upsetting feeling that suggested that Alberich was heatedly arguing with people on the bridge, his psychic presence unusually powerful. "Everyone!" I communicated, broadcasting my voice to be heard through the ship. "There's a fleet of Dwemer bug ships between Jinnicky's tower and you guys, and I'm still at Jinnicky's tower! I can't get through it because the bug ships are armed! Will the Retribution allow you to fly in and help us, Alberich?"
Alberich responded with an angry (and almost delirious), "Rasputin poisoned me with Spook! They're trying to relieve me of command!"
Virgil immediately interjected, "Alberich has fallen into raving madness! He speaks in many voices! He acts erratically!"
"Relieve Alberich and assign command of the Divine Retribution to me, tsarina!" Rasputin's voice requested, oily and clear. "Do this and I can help!"
I didn't need this shit right now. I interrupted the yelling on the bridge, and said, "Alberich, you asked if I needed assistance! I need it! Fly over here and help me if you can!"
"Relieve Alberich's leadership!" Virgil pleaded. "He's mad!"
"I didn't ask if you needed assistance!" the German psyker insisted.
"Please, Inheritor, we need-"
"SHUT UP!" I mentally screamed onto the bridge. "Fucking stop it! Whoever asked me for assistance, I'm saying that I need fucking assistance! Get over here and kill those bug ships!"
The bridge was silent for a moment.
"But, I never asked you if you needed assistance!" Alberich pleaded.
"Neither did I!" Virgil chimed in.
"Nor I," Rasputin added.
"Well, someone did. Whatever, I need it. Get your shit together and help me!"
I was about to continue yelling when I abruptly felt an uncomfortable sense of loathing fall over me, and I opened my eyes. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I straightened in my seat, my jaw dropping.
My attention was drawn to the south. In the sky, I noticed now that the colors of early evening were noticeably brighter. I had no idea what this meant, but my worries must have been apparent to Zok, who asked, "What is it?"
My eyes remained fixed above, and I watched as a bright, multicolored irregular bruise roughly the size of the moon unnaturally smeared across a portion of the sky. Oh, that probably wasn't good...
"The crew, they're fighting over something," I said, shaking my head. Along with lessons on how to fight, Pale Lord had also given me a few leadership tips. A crew that fought and bickered like this all the time was a poor reflection on me, the captain. If I lived through this latest tribulation, I made a mental note to give my crew some harsh lessons on working together.
Just then, another telepathic message echoed in my mind. We come, it announced simply in a dark voice. Okay, great. If Alberich was really on Spook it would explain his psychic voice being different and powerful. Why was my crew on drugs anyway? Well, whatever. As long as help is on the way, I thought gratefully. "Alright, help is on the way," I said to Zok with a sigh of relief.
After a singular moment of feeling secure, a laser pinged off our void shields, and above, I saw two insect ships in the sky! A brief sweep of Sight displayed that a few ships had been sent to flush us out while the rest waited for me to reappear in the air. I also sensed a heavy aura of fear surrounding this fleet. Most of these people didn't want to be here, as many of them now thought I was a divine entity, and that going after me would end up with them all dead.
Zok revved the engine of the Horse and looked to me for guidance. "The shields aren't designed to take all this!"
"We need to go right now! We have to get back to the ship! I'll... I'll try to help shield the ship myself but-"
Another laser struck our shields, and Zok immediately revved the engines again. His hands were trembling, and he offered whispered praises to the Horse, who was now an even brighter rainbow color. "I'll do... I'll do my best, Captain!" the Tzaangor fearfully responded as we abruptly shot upward and forward, now flying at a steep angle, rapidly gaining altitude.
Mentally, I heard Alberich was trying to contact me again, but my attention was entirely transfixed on bolstering the shields with my power. Another laser shot hit our shields as we spiraled upward.
"They're everywhere!" Zok protested, heavily banking in the sky. Horse's engines roared, and we abruptly dove to shake off a vessel that had begun to chase us from behind!
"You got this, Zok!" I responded. Three insect ships were now barreling toward us head-on, and one more behind. Two laser strikes pinged off of our shield, but Zok was able to evade the other two with some fancy sky maneuvers. Aside from our crazy situation, the primal unsettling feeling I had felt earlier still crawled through me, and now that we were airborne, I noted that the sky really did seem to have an unnatural cast. It was almost as if someone had turned up the saturation of all the colors in the area. Something felt wrong here, but I still couldn't immediately place it! What had these Dwemer done?!
An abrupt terrible scream that somehow sounded like an agonized man burning to death and a roaring lion pitched both at the edge of my psychic and physical hearing. I gripped the sides of the Horse of a Different Color as its colors shifted to a rich red-based rainbow gradient, reflecting the vessel's joyful excitement. At least someone was having fun here, I thought, desperately pouring my energy into our shields.
We climbed rapidly into an area of patchy low clouds that floated around the mountains while being harried the whole way! One bug ship chased us into a cloud, but Zok (or the Horse), decided to be a daredevil and to dive right before exiting the cloud, which somehow disoriented one bug ship enough to send it crashing into another one that had been chasing us. We dramatically banked again, and now, we were speeding roughly south while chased by more alien bug machines!
"We're at 40% shields, even with your help!" Zok offered instead of cheering for our victory.
"We're only like 20 kilometers away from the ship," I said. "Let's go! We can ma-"
Zok dove us through another, larger cloud after a particularly persistent Dwemer flyer nailed three shots against us as we tried to make our way south. This particular flyer also seemed to be capable of hurling lightning bolts, one of which was thrown at our broadside as we soared into the cloud. At the strike of the bolt, I felt physical pain around my heart, causing me to gasp.
The roar-scream again howled through the sky like a dragon, and I sensed the fear and desperation of the Dwemer increase.
"They're not letting up!" Zok shouted, steering us through the cloud. "The shields, they-"
"I'm not letting us get shot down!" I shouted, rallying my power to strengthen the shields. Even as we sped through the cloud, I could somewhat see the vessel that was harrying us especially closely. One of their stained glass windows was opened near the front of the bug ship, and an older Dwemer woman wearing a large brass collar and holding a cube staff reeled back and hurled another bolt at us, which hurt me again when it struck our shields. The lighting bolt actually caused the controls on the Horse to flicker, which was really not fun to see!
You will all die! I shouted into their minds with what little remained of my energy, hoping to scare them again. Your filth will be purged from the galaxy!
You are no god! the woman telepathically retorted before again drawing back her staff. My heart skipped a beat, and my left arm hurt from the effort of bolstering the shield.
Just then, the terrible agonized roaring scream sounded again, but this time, it was nearly on top of us! A sense of impending doom washed over me like ice water, and then, I recognized this feeling.
This was what it sometimes felt like to be close to a daemon!
Before I could even scream the order to dive (or have my life flash before my eyes), a bright, almost unnaturally lurid flame blasted the Dwemer ship from above like a fire-breathing dragon! This action torched the Dwemer sorceress, and I watched as she dropped her staff before withdrawing into her bug ship, which was now being aggressively pummeled with fire from above.
Zok didn't wait for my official instruction, and he banked the Horse heavily again before diving away from the craft that was currently getting roasted. We were now all out of the cloud. I looked behind us, and as the mist parted, I saw what appeared to be some sort of large bat-like shape come into focus. The creature, while having some organic elements, appeared to possess metal instead of skin, and this hull was a hyperreal scintillating red and blue embellished with jagged gold spikes. Each forward-reaching wing was crafted of three sharp triangular plates, which terminated in a grasping claw. The thing possessed a slender reptilian head, and through it, it roared gouts of hellfire through a flamethrower inside its maw. It roared and screamed relenlessly as it blasted the Dwemer ship with bright flames!
I then recognized what this thing was, and felt my blood run cold. Seeing this construct here already was a really bad development, because I had seen a handful of them latched onto the bottom of a certain Dark Mechanicum ship when I had hooked myself into the Divine Retribution earlier for some remote spying.
"What is that creature ship?!" Zok asked as he steadied the ship, turning us south again. I turned back around again, and another laser zapped off our shields. To our left, I watched as a Dwemer bug ship careened out of the sky, now entirely engulfed in flames! I watched as another screaming dragon immediately flew ahead of us to confront another Dwemer vessel!
"That's a heldrake!" I announced. "The hereteks are here!"
Zok took advantage of the confusion and wheeled again back toward the south. Unfortunately, two more bug ships appeared before us, flying out of another puffy cloud ahead of our position. They dove ahead and immediately began shooting us!
"Aah, fuck!" I squeaked, feeling the lasers ping off of my shield! My left arm was getting "tingly," and if I had a heart attack right now, we'd be in big trouble.
Another agonized scream-roar sounded across the sky, and a heldrake appeared from our left flank. This one blazed forward, turned, and rammed right into the two ships that were bothering us as it blasted each one with its dragon fire. The scene ahead of us was horrific, and unfortunately, we had a great view of the carnage. One craft immediately fell in a fireball, but the bug that remained in the air met a worse fate. I watched as the wicked daemon engine quickly plunged its head into the damaged craft to extract an armored Dwemer. Screaming, the armored warrior was then shaken so roughly that he was set aflame and dismembered!
This had happened right in front of us, and Zok had even been forced to slow down as to not crash into this horrible scene. Beside me, I felt the Tzaangor's fear. He was actually beginning to freeze up from seeing all the unimaginable terrors we had just enjoyed this afternoon. If he froze, we'd crash!
Still holding the shield up, I reached forward with my left hand and tapped Zok back into reality. The Tzaangor startled in his seat, and he nodded wordlessly before pushing Horse further ahead. The two Dwemer craft that we had seen destroyed were now both falling in wrecked fireballs to the ground below. The daemon engine that had assailed them turned in a wide loop and began to approach us. It looked as if it was on a trajectory to ram us!
Zok desperately pushed the Horse forward, trying to outrun the daemon engine, but the heldrake was relentless. However, instead of ramming us, the unholy machine almost gently adjusted its trajectory to fly beside us. Our wings were only about ten meters apart, and we were close enough that I could see the swirling evil red of the machine dragon's eyes glowing as if it were watching us.
We see you, the same voice I had heard earlier remarked in my mind. Wait, what?
In my mind's eye, I witnessed an image of a very spiny and wickedly-adorned giant void ship cruising in orbit above Ix! Behind it, a giant flashing cloud of unreality crackled against space, suggesting that they had translated a very short time ago and that their translation had not been perfect. The hereteks! I thought we had more time!
Before I could puzzle if what I had seen was true, I received an image of a twisted Space Marine wearing deep blue armor standing before a floating orb of black obsidian about the size of a basketball. This marine was very mutated. His face was made up of fine shimmering scales of gold, and his eyes were bright aquamarine jewels with slanted, cat-like pupils. This man's hair was a mass of long animate metal tendrils growing from his head and spilling over his armored shoulders, giving him a disturbing "Medusa" vibe.
Greetings, a deep and friendly psychic voice offered, now fairly clear. I could even sense that the mutated marine had offered me a polite bow. We tried to contact you, but failed. We will dispatch these xenos for you now as a gesture of goodwill as per your request for help. Pardon any mess.
The heldrake wheeled upward and away. One more laser strike struck our shield from behind me, but then, I heard that terrible screaming roar sound nearby, and another heldrake dropped out of a cloud and rushed over our heads to engage an enemy behind us. I received a mental image that the heldrakes (of which there were seven) were now systematically destroying the Dwemer fleet, either by torching them or ramming them! Not knowing what to do, we simply continued onward as the entire sky erupted with terrible explosions and screams of terror! After only a few minutes, the way before us was now clear, and to make this all stranger, we also now had a heldrake escort guiding us back to our ship!
Zok said absolutely nothing, his eyes wide and filled with terror, and he continued flying the horse onward. Exhausted, I felt my shield gutter out, and I flopped back in my seat. I put my hands up to cover my face in a gesture of wanting all my problems to just go away. After a short time, I felt the very same psychic presence (who I knew now was definitely not Alberich) gently reach for me.
Greetings once again, Inheritor. Your aggressors have been destroyed or routed. We will break the others in the region so you are no longer troubled. To introduce myself, I am Oro of the Thousand Sons, a sorcerer serving with Archmagos Apep and Magos Nemea on our vessel, the Anguished Epiphany. We kindly request an audience with you, blessed Inheritor who has fallen from heaven. We will await your reply in orbit. Good day.
The presence then departed, and behind me, I sensed that the heldrakes were now organizing themselves in a V formation, and were rapidly gaining altitude. They began to wheel around and organize themselves to go and mess up the Dwemer swarm that was currently fighting Jinnicky and his robot army.
I sighed and tried not to focus on my throbbing head, my aching heart, and all my fancy new PTSD. This really wasn't how I thought our visit to this world would go. Zok very quietly informed me that we were close to our vessel, and then, I abruptly heard Alberich's uncannily loud voice in my mind again. I could sense that my crew was tense. At the very least, Lian had relocated onto the bridge and no one else was fighting. He stood behind Rasputin's throne with his sword drawn, which wasn't a good sign.
"What?! You... you killed them?! How?! What were those things?!" Alberich asked me, his voice pitched and unusually loud. We were now circling the Divine Retribution. Looking outside, I dimly noticed that the big Am'Erika sword gouges I had seen on the wings earlier had been... healed? Huh, that was weird. What was also weird was that there appeared to be blood on the snow under the Divine Retribution's head. I'll probably hear all about that later.
I didn't immediately respond to Alberich's question. I then sensed the emotion of horror move through my crew as someone confirmed that the Anguished Epiphany was now in orbit, which confirmed my fears. Instead of losing my shit again, I said, "Yeah, the hereteks are here and I'm about to land. See you guys soon. I've got some good food for the Divine Retribution. I killed a Custodes. I'll gas the ship up and we can leave. No more fucking arguing, do you people hear me?"
Right before cutting the transmission off, I felt another wave of shock push through my vessel. Yeah, I killed a Custodes, that's right. Level up for me.
I began to ruminate as Zok brought us in for a landing. The hereteks were here! A whole warship of them! I thought we had a longer amount of time before they showed up, but at the very least, they (like a lot of Chaotic attention I had been receiving) appeared to be unusually friendly toward me. Also, I took comfort in knowing that our vessel was ridiculously fast and that these people, if they wanted to come after me, probably wouldn't be able to catch us.
Zok mutely landed the car beside the Divine Retribution's flank in the snow, his blue hands gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. The Tzaangor wasn't doing well, and neither was I. We had both been injured and seen terrifying things, but I guess all that is just normal in life now, so I just had to deal with it. I noticed that the Horse of a Different Color was still swirling with excited rainbow patterns that were almost psychedelic in complexity. The Horse had gone rainbow before when she had chased us into the sky when we were escaping Vigaz, so I concluded that she probably just really liked action. No wonder Horse had been all depressed in that museum.
Instead of thinking more, I mutely willed the ship to open and create our ramp. As Zok drove us aboard, I leaned forward and covered my face with my hands again, tired and overwhelmed. I sincerely hoped that our visitation to Ix hadn't doomed this world. With sadness, I had to admit that my descriptive title of "The Destroyer" was beginning to make a lot of sense.