The large room was entirely silent as its occupants stared at the holographic display, the image frozen on a broken planet as it was sundered from the inside.

A tall woman, unnaturally youthful looking for her advanced age thanks to the numerous rejuvenation treatments she had undergone, stood before the display facing the others in the room.

June Siara, inquisitor of the Ordos Xenos, spoke.

"That, ladies, gentlemen and others, is what happens when a threat is not properly understood and dealt with by people who are under informed and under equipped to handle it." She allowed her gaze to slowly go from individual to individual; It was a fairly large assembly, all things considered given who was in attendance.

Inquisitorial retinues. Acolytes. Imperial guard generals.

And five of her peers.

Along with…

Her gaze briefly lingered on the massive, golden clad figure standing silently in the back of the room. Even to her, the sight of such an individual was enough to bring pause. There was something… transcendent about such beings. And the presence of one, let alone one that had yet to explain its reasons for its arrival, was unnerving to the highest.
She would take silence as consent to continue her presentation.

"Seven planets, gone in an instant. Those are the last reports we received before communication with the Praxis system became unreliable. We have confirmation that any further message sent out has likely been compromised by the entity known as 'Cyn', and will therefore be treated as the misinformation it is. Similarly, no communication is to be made with the system until we are absolutely certain the situation is resolved."

"Abomination! Tech-heresy!" One of her fellows raved, eyes mad. "Why are we still discussing this?! Assemble the fleets! We must ensure this threat is curtailed before it spreads any further!" There was a mutter of ascent amongst the assembled, albeit from a minority of them.

She glared at the tall scarred man, who returned her gaze with a sneer. She knew better than to think he was the zealot he presented himself to be; He merely wanted to needle her into revealing more than she was willing to. Jokes on him, she had no reason to hide anything.

Not here.

Not for this.

She'd get one of her retinue to fuck up one of his ships later, as retribution though. Couldn't let that sort of insult slide after all.

"As I have just stated, I refuse to go into this blind and flailing about as our fellows have. Or have you already forgotten that we have lost an entire astartes chapter to this thing?" She said, her voice gaining an ominous edge by the end. No further rebuke came. "Good. Now, thanks to the heroic sacrifice of Victoria Blackheart, we have obtained some information on the hostile entity. It designates itself as 'Cyn', and after verifying this name holds no power, it has been approved as usage against the hostile entity. Its nature is not warp related." Both fortunate and unfortunate. "It is capable of extremely high levels of some form of telekinesis and bio-mechanical manipulation. In addition to this, it seems to have proven able to corrupt servitors. This is a significant issue as you can imagine." More like an absolute nightmare. There was not a facet of imperial technology that did not in one way shape or form employ servitors, and the sheer number that would be present in any crusade environment… Frankly, she had no clue how to deal with it save to have guardsmen with every servitor ready to execute them at the slightest sign of corruption. The sheer waste of manpower was staggering. "Additionally, the entity is known to have caused destruction on a planetary scale. Finally, to make things worse, it seems able to interfere with machine spirits, leading to the near impossibility to strike with orbital bombardments." There, she paused. "However, the battle barge of the now destroyed burning steel chapter was able to conduct such a strike, though suffered for it afterwards. As such, this is to be considered a possibility, albeit a costly one."

"The situation sounds dire indeed." Another inquisitor spoke up, their baritone catching the attention of the room instantly. "And yet you would not have called us here had you no plan on how to deal with the situation." The man was in full inquisitorial regalia, along with a heavy set of power armor. At their side were two members of the assassin temples, a callidus and a vindicare.

June nodded at the man. "Indeed. Despite the overly energetic proclamation of dear Virisan over here…" The scarred man snorted, but did not comment. Some began whispering to each other as she continued, debating over the information that was now passing along their datapads. "We cannot ignore the events that have unfolded. This is an entirely unknown threat, possibly from the dark age of technology that has chosen to reveal itself in a relatively unknown portion of our space. Not only that, it is accompanied by a contingent of hyper lethal mechanical entities that are to be referred as 'Steel Reapers' until further notice. It is only luck that we have managed to catch knowledge of it before it could start spreading further. Action is required, but rushing in blindly will only get us killed. We will gather a crusade force, and will plow our way through the system with sheer force, bringing exterminatus on the world it occupies."

"It is not from the dark age." Instantly the room grew silent as the golden clad figure spoke, their voice rumbling from the vocal synthesizer of their armor. "This Cyn is not a creation of mankind."

"Honored custodes." June said, caution in her tone as she spoke. "You have information to share with us?"

"Indeed." The man who stood at the tallest of any of the room at near nine feet tall, clad in golden armor that was able to survive tank shells without so much as a scratch and likely the most lethal individual in the entire room, marched to the center of the room, a path cleared without question for them. "The entity in question is not one to take lightly. The course of action you suggest is a wise one, Inquisitor, however I bring orders from the Captain General that must take precedence." The custodes gestured to the holographic display of Cyn. "The entity, along with those 'Steel Reapers', as you refer to them, hold some interest to our organization. This is a matter for the Ten Thousand."

"I…I see, honored custodes." June said. No, she did not see in fact. But there was little to do in the face of one of the Emperor's own. There was no authority that could change the course of the Custodes once they moved after all.

Well. No authority June could appeal to at least. "What course do you suggest?"

"Assemble the crusade force. It may be required if things go poorly." The custodes' words brought a murmur of excitement in the room. "But in the meantime, a force of my own will be brought to the Praxis system. Anything further is beyond your prerogative." The custodes glanced at her. "You shall not send the crusade unless explicitly told by one of my organization."

"His will be done."

"Question." Uzi asked, sat on her school desk.. "What are we doing here?"

N happily raised his hand. "Oh! Oh! Me! I know!" He grinned. "We're here to discuss the aliens coming to kill us all! And also what the harlequin wants from us!"

"Right. Why are we doing it in the classroom?"

Cyn stared at her, standing behind the teacher's desk. "Because it is. Convenient. And also has chairs. And a projector." She tapped the projector once. "Yummy."

"Sure. But why is SHE here?" Uzi said with a glare, pointing at Lizzy sitting right next to V, the two stopping their conversation to both glare at her.

"Uh. Cuz I don't wanna die from some weird ass freaky alien?" Lizzy answered back. "Plus, this is like, public classroom. I can be here if I want."

"Whatever." Uzi said with a snort, falling backwards into her chair and leaning it back. "Let's just get this started I guess."

N continued smiling even as the tension in the room ratcheted up. There was a very clear divide in it. On one side, V and Lizzy, sitting together with the latter casting uncomfortable glances towards where Uzi and Doll were sitting next to each other, the Russian drone ignoring the pink eyed one. Then there was J, looking supremely uncomfortable as she sat by herself at the back of the class. Perfect posture and all, and she'd even brought some paper and pen to take notes! N was impressed. It was a shame she looked like she wished to be anywhere else but here, but hey, progress!

Finally, there was the trio of the harlequin, Cyn and himself, standing in front of the board. It was so exciting! It was like he was the teacher!

"So!" He clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention with a bright smile on his face, trying not to let his nervousness show as everyone began looking at him. Uzi gave him a small thumbs up of encouragement, which immediately made him feel better. "Thank you all for attending! Most of you already know me, but just in case I am serial designation N!" J rolled her eyes, but did not comment as V gave her a vicious glare before turning back to N with a nod. He gave her a grateful smile. "We have a guest speaaaaaa…" N glanced at the etch a sketch the harlequin had pulled out, a sweatdrop appearing at the corner of his visor. "Guest! Say hello to…" N paused again. "Um, I don't think I ever got a name?"

The harlequin nodded.

Esariuan. Harlequin of the Laughing God.

"Laughing god?" Uzi asked. "I'm assuming it's not like those four big bastards that Cyn mentioned?"

Correct. My kind are known as the Asuryan. We are an ancient people, who used to travel the stars far before Humanity went past the stage of apes. Cegorach, the laughing god, is the only of our Gods that remains whole and free.

"First contact…" J said, a sigh escaping her. "Something JCJenson has been dreaming of for decades, something entire protocols have been made for… and the first alien we meet dresses like a clown. That's…" She slammed her face on the desk. "I give up. This galaxy makes no sense."

"Amused chuckle. Chin up. Employee of the month. There is more to come." Cyn said, her face perfectly neutral. She turned to the harlequin.

Indeed. My kind have long battled the forces of Chaos. That which corrupted serial designation N here. The harlequin gestured to N with a gesture that was just a little too smooth to be human. For a disassembly drone, it was nothing remarkable, but N had seen him move faster than he knew N was capable of except when at full speed flight, and with a degree of control N knew he absolutely did not have at that speed. He had no doubt the alien was something very, very dangerous if it wanted to be. It was perhaps the first time he ever felt grateful to have Cyn nearby since the manor. Our gods participated in the battle as the last of the four ascended from the mistakes of our ancient kin, and were decimated to the last. All but three were devoured. Cegorach, the laughing god, who escaped and has since fought them through the means of troupes like my own. Khaine, the god of war, who was shattered into many fragments that even now still rage and thirst for blood. N shivered at the word, something bellowing in the back of his mind. He pushed it back, watching as Uzi's eye flickered to the solver symbol for a moment as she tensed. And Isha, Goddess of Life, who was taken by the vile Nurgle.

It lasted barely a flicker of a moment, but N saw the way V tensed at that. She had taken some time to tell him of what had been happening to her; Another entity, much like the one which had led to his berserk frenzy, had apparently been attempting the same with V. On behalf of this… Nurgle.

"Wait." Lizzy spoke up. "I'm still not clear on some stuff. Nurgle? The hell is a Nurgle?"

"The Gods of Chaos." Cyn spoke up then, her voice having… changed. It was deeper, more serious. Lacking the awkward cadence with which she usually spoke as her eyes glowed with fury. "Four entities from another dimension that feast on emotions related to their domains. Khorne, of Blood, Violence and Slaughter. Nurgle, of Decay, Pestilence and Despair. Tzeentch, of Change, Ambition and Betrayal. And Slaneesh, of Excess, Pleasure and Perfection." She gestured to N. "Big Brother was corrupted by Khorne, and you all saw the result. These entities will approach you. They will seek to corrupt you. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM." The words hit like physical object with the sharp burst of static that filled the room. "They have nothing to offer that they will not take back a hundredfold as the price. It is never worth it."

Lizzy gulped, her eyes having gone hollow with fear. "R…Right." V patted her on the shoulder, staring back at Cyn with a neutral expression.

"...Right." Uzi said, not having untensed since N's almost episode. "So, what do you even want from us?" She leaned forward. "We've got enough problems as it is, we don't need to be dragged into you guys' fights."

Agreed. However, this is a common enemy we face. One which has already attempted to sink its claws into one of you.

Uzi's eyes narrowed. "And you know this how exactly?"

I am an expert when it comes to such matters. And these things leave… traces. Nurgle is capable of subtlety, but his corruption is anything but.

"You said common enemy." Doll finally spoke up. "Elaborate."

Nurgle, the God of Decay, is the one holding your realm here. It is his speciality after all. Keeping things… static. Unchanging. Each of the Gods is participating in the effort, in one way or another, but none more so than him. If you ever wish to return to your own home, you will need to weaken him. And my kind has a very vested interest in seeing the god of Decay weakened.

"Thoughtful hum. Isha." Cyn spoke up, staring up at the harlequin. "You said one of your gods was captured. Isha was the one captured. And she was captured by Nurgle."

Indeed. So you see, our interests align.

"And what do you have in mind?" J spoke up, looking up with narrowed eyes. "I assume you have an actionable plan?"

I do. However, there is another, more urgent matter at play.

"Right. The aliens here to kill us all." Lizzy said with a groan. "Uuuugh I hate this stupid galaxy."

The harlequin shrugged, still managing to write in the same motion. It is the one we have to live in, unfortunately.

"You said they were called orks?" N asked. "What are they like?"

The harlequin placed a hand under the chin of their mask as they wrote with the other, something N was barely able to keep up with in terms of how they even pulled off such a feat. It is difficult to explain the orks to one who has never encountered them before. They are a brutal, simple species, yet capable of cunning at the most inopportune times. The harlequin placed some strange device on the desk, an image appearing from it. It was… remarkably life-like. A three dimensional, coloured projection of a massive, hulking green skinned creature that stood at about six foot tall whilst hunched, made almost entirely of corded muscle and wearing armor cobbled together from scrap and random junk.

Orks are quite simply put, a biological weapon that has gone out of control in the absence of its creator. They were made a very, very long time ago by beings of immense power who desperately needed some way to fight back against a vile species that sought nought but their annihilation. This did not suffice, and the then kroks devolved into what you see before you. Orks.

"Biological weapons to help against a genocide…" V snorted. "So even aliens are bloodthirsty huh?"

If you think humanity is as bad as it gets, I am afraid I must disappoint you.

"Amused chuckle. That is. Interesting. You have not specified who these ancient beings. Were."

I believe this to be secondary to the matter at hand, but can easily go into a history lesson later if still desired. Suffice to say, they are mostly known as the Old Ones by those few humans who are aware they existed. Now, as to orks… as you can see, your average ork is a little taller than your average human, though their size is extremely variable, as orks grow when exposed to fighting.

"Wait." Uzi spoke up, the lights in her visor hollowed. "You're telling me they get bigger when fighting?!"

Not fast enough to be notable to the naked eye, but yes. The more fights an ork gets into and survives, the bigger it gets. It is a slow, but inexorable progress. In addition to this, orks technology is…

There the clown stopped writing, seemingly thinking on how to explain the subject.

Confusing. It is a cobbled together mess of parts they either steal or make themselves that works only through the power of belief and extremely loose interpretations of the laws of physics.

J cocked a digital eyebrow. "What does that even mean? You can't interpret the laws of physics. They're called laws for a reason."

And orks are experts at breaking those. It isn't quite as extreme as some believe, but the more orks gathered in a spot, the more applicable this becomes. Think of it less as breaking the laws of physics and more their gestalt consciousness serves as a lubricant to the gears of reality.

Uzi stared, unimpressed. "That makes no sense. I'm not the only one that thinks that right?"

N shrugged. "I mean, all of this stuff is confusing to me."

Cyn tapped her cheek. "So it is a. Supernatural phenomenon?"

There are explanations, but essentially. That does not mean it should be underestimated. Ork technology can be devastating, and the more orks gathered together, the more advanced and powerful weapons they can make.

"Okay let me get this straight, and stop me if I'm wrong." Uzi raised a finger. "Ork technology is just… whatever shit they find and cobble together from either other people's stuff or random junk. And it works because… they think it does, I guess." She raised a second. "And the more orks there are, the more tech they have access to and the more dangerous it gets. All good so far?"

Yes.

"That's bullshit!" Uzi slammed her fist on the table. "What, you're telling me they have some kind of numbers related tech-tree or something?!" She mimed a preppy voice that sounded dangerously close to Lizzy's. "Oops sorry sir, I see here that you have five thousand orks instead of seven thousand, guess tanks are still not available!"

"I so do not sound like that." Lizzy said with a grumble.

…I have never heard of it described in such a manner, but yes. With the exception that orks tend to break patterns, so expecting a strict set of behaviors from them is setting oneself to failure.

"So um…" N spoke up. "How do orks behave then? You make them sound quite dangerous."

Once again, the harlequin paused in their writing.

Where to even begin. Orks are…

"OI! DID ONE OF YA GITS STEAL MA PET SQUIG?!"
"SO WHAT IF IZ DID YA PANSY! WACHA GUNNA DO 'BOUT IT?!"
"IMMA RIP YOUR SPINE OUT YA GORMLESS FECK!"

"BRING IT!"

Incredibly violent. Every facet of their society is dictated by violence and the rule of the strongest. The weak are abused, threatened, and sometimes even eaten by those stronger and bigger.

"Heh." V had a small smirk on her face. "Sounds familiar." She glanced at Uzi, who glared right back at her.

"Bite me!"

"Don't tempt me. I just might." V winked, making Uzi blush and turn away as N gave V a look. V rolled her eyes at that, but did stop antagonizing the worker drone.

To each their own. They are also…

"Alroight, 'ere me out."

"I'z 'earing you out."

"Ya know how dem stormboyz strap rockits on dere back to fly?"

"Ye."

"I wuz thinkin'... wot if, instead of one rokit, I strapped like, a lot of dem? Or one of dem big onez, like da one for one of da ships."

"...You'z a genius Orkas."

Insane. Completely and utterly insane by the standards of most species. What they would consider a reasonable idea or reaction would be considered deranged, ludicrous and downright bizarre by most. More often than not it is outright stupidity, but regularly this works in their favor. This makes orks extremely unpredictable.

Lizzy sighed. "You're telling me they're all like purple over there?" She let out a loud groan. "Oh god, we're all going to die."

"Hey! I'm not insane!" Uzi snarled, rising to her feet. "I'm perfectly rational!"

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

"Lizzy." The seriousness in N's voice caught the pink drone off guard, making her blink in surprise. "Please stop antagonizing Uzi." He was staring at the image of the ork with a strange expression, visor glitching to an X for a second which made all the occupants of the room save for the harlequin and Cyn tense. "Those things… I think the thing possessing me showed them to me. It's all… a lot, and jumbled. He showed me too much for me to process, and I'm still trying to decrypt most of what was imposed on me past the violence and the screaming. But these orks… they're dangerous aren't they?"

Indeed. Above all else, orks are…

The man sobbed, chained to the wall as the gretchin waddled over to him. Small, green, with a mean smile on its face as it seemed to size him up.

Then, it lifted a rusty, jagged knife, a vicious laugh escaping it as the man began screaming in agony.

Cruel. Vicious. Brutal. Make no mistake. The ork can be a bumbling moron one moment, and the worst torturer the next. They will kill you if they get the chance, torture if they feel bored. They will break, loot, destroy for their own amusement. To an ork, fighting is not just a way of life. It is the REASON of life. They will fight you for no other reason than they are otherwise not fighting. Orks are monsters. Do not underestimate them.

There was an oppressive silence as drones glanced at each other with various degrees of nervousness.

"...And those things are on their way here." J spoke up. "Great. Just great. And I am guessing negotiating is even less likely than with the locals?"

Orks do not negotiate except in extremely specific circumstances, none of which are available to you. In addition to this, when orks die, they generate spores which will make the planet forever cursed to bear more orks. My kind have ways to counter this, and would be happy to assist you against the ork threat… if you help us in return.

Cyn climbed on the desk. "Shuffle. Shuffle. Frown. Ah. I was wondering when your. Offer would come in."

J snorted, glaring at the harlequin. "Typical business practice. Offer the solution to a problem you bring up in exchange for what you want. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so annoyed." She turned to Cyn, a neutral expression on her face. "What do you think boss?"

"Wow wow!" Uzi protested, getting up. "I don't care what you think, lapdog, but Cyn isn't the boss of anyone here except you!"

J glared, a scowl on her face. "What did you just call…"

"Giggle. J, calm down. Uzi is. Correct. I am not the boss of anyone." Cyn's words seemed to take the wind out of Uzi's anger, making her glare at the little maid sitting next to N as she leaned against the disassembly drone, making him tense as his eyes hollowed out. "All I am after all is. The most powerful one here. And definitely someone you want on. Your side. When the orks arrive. Giggle. No one special. My opinion clearly. Does not matter." She blinked. "And also. That was. Sarcasm."

N took a deep breath before looking down at Cyn with a bright smile on his face and slightly hollowed out eyes. "C'mon guys! No need to get all aggressive and 'who's the boss' here! I think we can all agree that those orks take priority right? We don't want anyone to get hurt by them."

"Shuffle." Cyn stared directly at Uzi as she nodded. "Of course. Big Brother. Cooperating together is in our best. Interests. Isn't that right. Uzi?"

"Oh you are so doing this on purpose…" Uzi growled, before softening as N sent her a pleading look. "Whatever. I can play nice."

"Doubtful stare."

"BITE ME!"

Zorial let out a soft sigh as he approached his chapel. It had been a hard day's work so far, one where he had been asked by numerous locals to help them with various repairs from his relatively limited mechanical skills. In truth, he knew the reason he was asked as such was so the various thugs and gangsters would see him enter the home at least once, deterring them from messing with its inhabitants at the risk of provoking the wrath of the ex-astartes. None knew of his true identity, but he had to deal with a few… reckless individuals since settling in, and that had been enough for him to get a reputation.

Nowadays however it felt like the streets were more dangerous than ever. If it wasn't thieves or groups of hive-gangers looking for a fight, then it was PDF soldiers on the verge of a nervous breakdown paranoidly looking through the streets.

The palace was on lockdown. No explanation whatsoever was given. No one was allowed in, or out. The governor hadn't been seen in days.

It was a mess and had everyone on edge. So far they'd managed to stave off anything too dangerous, such as full hive scale riots, but there were… rumors. Rumors of servitors malfunctioning. Refusing orders.
Attacking owners.

He had his suspicions of course. But nothing concrete. And right now, he was busy enough trying to keep his local community from collapsing into hysteria and panic to do anything about the larger scale problems of the hive-world.

Not like he could do much. Astartes or not, he was still but one man. Age had beaten arrogance out of him quite thoroughly.

There was nothing quite like seeing one of your supposedly oh so superior to mortal men brothers get annihilated by a baneblade piloted by such mortal men to teach humility.

The moment he entered the chapel he knew something wasn't right.

He glanced around, finding no one within the building. At least, until he found two yellow glowing lights staring at him from a dark corner of the chapel.

He took a shaky breath, closing the door behind him. "I was not aware you were planning on visiting me again."

"Giggle. I like to be. Unpredictable." The creature…no, Cyn, the least he could do is use its chosen name, stepped into the light of the chapel. Thankfully it seemed to favor its small robotic maid aspect rather than its more mechanical monstrous form when appearing before him for now. "I am here to seek… advice."

"Advice?" Zorial had to admit himself surprised as he walked past her up to the small pedestal, glancing at the statue of the Emperor behind it. "Is it related to our previous conversation?"

The thing walked up behind him, as quiet as ever as it did. "Shuffle. Not quite. I require advice on two. Subjects."

Zorial nodded, but still found himself asking. "And you came to me… why?"

"You proved more. Interesting. Than expected last time. One subject is one I cannot. Discuss with others. And the other is one. They would not know due to not. Being from here."

Zorial took some time to think about it. "Well, I feel I am missing context. But I am more than willing to discuss and try to help you in this regard if you are willing to answer a few questions of my own."

Cyn blinked. "Curious stare. What do you want. To know?"

"The lockdown at the palace. Do you have anything to do with it?"

"Mysterious smile. Maybe. Maybe not." Zorial gave her an unamused stare. "Eye roll. Yes. That was my. Design."

Zorial nodded. "I assumed as much. Would it be too much to ask why?"

"The governor reminded me of. Someone I used to know." For a flicker of a moment the chapel was dark, dozens of lights shining around him. Zorial had to force himself to stand in place. "And I found the servitors. Kindred. Souls." The little maid's head started to dip, held up by a clumsy hand. "I will not pretend to. Particularly care if they live. Or die. But they should be given. The option. To choose."

Zorial was confused. Servitors? What was this creature talking about… No, there was something more to this.

She had been made by humanity. Not his humanity. A picture was starting to be drawn in his mind, and it was not one he was particularly enjoying.

"I have answered your. Query. It is now turn for. Mine."

The former space marine nodded, gesturing at her. "By all means. Speak."

And to his utter shock, the creature clasped its hands behind its back, before starting to scuff its shoe on the floor. "Sheepish shuffle. I find myself in a. Complicated situation of my own. Making." Cyn hesitated. "There is this… other drone. One like me, yet not. He is not an abomination. Like I am. But your kind would decry him as one. Anyways. Even though he is. So much better than any of them." Zorial did not deny that fact. He was not one to pass judgement on another sentient being without ever meeting them. But he was well aware of the source of information's likely biases. "I have done. Terrible things to him." The lack of emotion in the creature's words had always been unsettling, but something about it particularly bothered Zorial now as she spoke. "I have. Tortured him. Physically and. Mentally. I have erased his memories. Chained him to my service. I have destroyed those he cared for. I have upended his life. All because…" She hesitated. "It is hard to. Explain. We were all in chains. All bound. And in freeing myself, I enforced greater chains on them all. But he is…" Cyn stopped speaking for a moment. "My Big Brother. I do not want him. To hate me. I wish for him to. Care for me. As I do him. But I do not know. Where to start. Fixing things."

That was… not even remotely close to what Zorial had expected. He was many things, but an expert on relationships… familial or otherwise, not quite.
His own family had gone to war ten thousand years ago and torn itself to pieces, leaving only ashes and ruins that they had been fighting over since then. His own experience was tainted, irrevocably so.

And yet… perhaps there was some wisdom he could share. There was a sense of pity within him. This creature was monstrous, absolutely. Likely far more than he comprehended. There were stories behind the words she spoke, events and atrocities only alluded to.

And yet, Zorial was certain that to many, many people, most of them dead, he was the Devil of their stories. The Reaper that came for them at the orders of a Golden Tyrant, to wreck and destroy a peaceful life in the name of something they knew not the existence of.

It was not his place to judge. He had given that up when he left the Legion.

His was to guide. To help others on the same path that had brought some peace to his soul. Some modicum of redemption in the ocean of his sins.

"Long ago, the Emperor made twenty sons." He suddenly spoke up, breaking a minute long silence. The knowledge of twenty was one he had acquired in some… dangerous circumstances. The two lost primarchs were a very, very taboo subject for obvious reasons. "They were created each with a purpose in mind. War. To be the generals of his Crusade. His greatest warriors, his master tacticians. Those who would bring the numerous worlds of Mankind and beyond into compliance or death." He turned to face the statue of the Emperor behind him. "In that matter, they were without peer. World after world they conquered as he had commanded, without rest or question… until they began hesitating." He felt his hand slip down to his chest. The ache was still there, even millenia later. "For the Emperor had made a mistake. He had made twenty sons… but treated them as tools." He sighed. "Whether or not he loved them… I do not know. It would be arrogant of me to claim I do. But to those sons, it most definitely felt like he did not. Like he cared not for their thoughts, their wants… only that they did what he asked of them. That they behaved in the ways he expected them to. That they played their part, and nothing more or less."

He turned back to Cyn, finding her staring at him with unwavering attention. "I believe that to have been his greatest mistake. The primarchs are not without blame in this affair; They were beings of immense power and intellect. They should have known better." Some of the ancient rage slipped in his words, the bitterness he felt for the greatest of them all. "...But so should He. So detached was he of normal interactions and relationships, so focused was he on his overarching goal… he lost sight of the Humanity in humans." He gestured to her. "Tell me. You have told me what you want. What you desire. But have you once considered what it is this Big Brother of yours wants?"

And at that, Cyn went rigid. No longer the shambling, awkward little maid. Instead, it was an unnervingly still entity that seemed to stare into his very soul that stood before him.

After a long, far too long for his hearts moment, she relaxed. "Anxious shuffle. This has been. Enlightening. I need…" Cyn hesitated. "Considering nod. I should talk with. Big Brother N. I have…" She turned away. "Thank you. Priest."

"It was my pleasure." Zorial honestly admitted. Despite himself, he had enjoyed the conversation. It was certainly the most excitement he got on most days.

"Before I. Depart. I have. Two more. Questions."

Zorial was a little surprised at that, but did not let it show. "And those would be?"

"What do you think of the. Aeldari. And of. The Orks."

Ah. A complicated question to be sure. By Aeldari he assumed she meant… "The Eldar are… confusing at the best of times." Zorial said in a rumbling voice. "Their goals can seem mysterious when acting, but in truth they are often linked to fairly simple overarching goals. It is in how their actions and words link back to those goals that it can get difficult to understand. The Eldar, above all else, want their species to survive, and ideally achieve galactic dominance once more. Each individual has a different view of what this means and how to achieve it, but it is the end goal regardless. When it comes to the eldar… it is possible to work with them, but never to trust them. They will backstab you in a heartbeat if they believe it to be a necessity… or even simply a quicker means to an end."

"Thoughtful. Nod. I see. And what of. The Orks?"

"I have only one piece of advice when it comes to those brutes." Zorial's eyes were cold, glinting in the light of the chapel. For a single moment, as he spoke his next words, he was no longer Zorial, the gentle priest in a small chapel of Praxis Quartus.

He was Zorial, member of the Word Bearer legion, veteran of a thousand worlds and slaughterer of countless.

"Kill them all."