The staircase showed obvious signs of battle, being liberally sprayed with streaks of blood, oil, and bits of cogboy along with small craters from bolter rounds and scorch marks from plasma. Tayber was examining one such mark as we paused to adjust to the dimmer lighting. "Orks don't use plasma, right?" The PDF leader asked my aide as our expert on the Orks.
"Not to my knowledge." Jurgen replied, as equally confused as we all were. "And their bolter rounds are crude; powerful, but not nearly as uniform as Imperial bolt rounds. These impact craters are pretty uniform. Plus, there's no stay rounds going into the ceiling or floor. Damned un-Orky if you ask me."
Tayber nodded, frowning in thought."So someone blew a hole into a secret area… I'm assuming that this wasn't on the blueprints?" He asked his sister now, who nodded in concerned confirmation. The Sergeant grunted unhappily, as equally enthused as to where the puzzle pieces of this place were leading us as I was. "Great. So we may have stumbled upon a top-secret holding area. Should we ignore it?" He asked this as he turned to me for instruction. I wanted to scream that we should leave well enough alone and get the frak out of there, but that thought made my palms itch. There was something down here. Or at least there was.
"We need to make sure there's nothing there that the Orks can loot." I decided, waving for Illric to join my side, Jurgen following close behind. With the Eldar and I in the front, we continued to descend the staircase. As we went lower down however, I began to feel it. Warp energy. My Eldar comrade was frowning, whispering quietly to me.
"Do you feel it too, Slavhreenur?" I most certainly did. This was where the sense of wrongness was emanating from.
"I do… Whatever was down here… it wasn't good." I muttered.
"I don't feel anything." Jurgen added helpfully.
"Of course you wouldn't." Illric replied in a friendly manner, alluding to my aide's nature as a sucking void in the Warp; he was probably only one of a few people besides myself that considered Jurgen a friend. "But if there is something down here, please stand around the other troops."
"Sir?" Jurgen asked, looking to me for confirmation.
I gave him an affirming nod. "Illric's right. You can keep the troops focused if there's something terrible down here." I told him. Jurgen seemed to catch on as to what I was referring to, and he nodded. Tayber looked sickly at the prospect of Jurgen being right next to him, but that was understandable. What wasn't understandable was Felecia beginning to grow pale, considering she was genuinely fond of Jurgen and didn't mind his odor or messiness.
"Felecia?" I asked her, deeply concerned.
"Maggy says we need to get out now." She whispered, eyes darting back and forth not in search of data but in stark terror.
"Tell him we have to find out what this is." I replied firmly but not unkindly. If her imaginary friend was worried… Well, there would be problems, but we had to figure out what was going on here lest we leave something important the Orks could loot behind. Finally, we got to the bottom of the stairwell, and saw more signs of battle as I idly noted that the combead wasn't receiving from our outside forces this far down into the hidden compound. Corpses of tech-priests were strewn about everywhere, but they weren't the only ones lying abandoned and forgotten here.
"Are those… Sisters of Battle?" Tayber whispered, shocked at the sight of the power-armored Sororitas. My palms began itching even more fiercely as I began to see where all the bolter and plasma damage had come from. What I couldn't figure out though was, why would some of the Imperium's fiercest Emperor-botherers be firing on the cogboys here? I approached some of the bodies, and took a closer look. Indeed, there was no mistaking the favored daughters of the Emperor. Most of them were downed from head-shots. Obviously, the tech-priests had taken advantage of the Sororitas' frankly stupid lack of helmets(1). Still, that didn't explain what they were doing here, assaulting a facility hidden under what was a shrine to the Emperor in His aspect of the Omnissiah! I was still young and somewhat naive at the time, and generally unaware of how ludicrously convoluted inter-organizational politics could be in the Imperium, having only been trained to concern myself with the running of the Guard.
"Why would the Sororitas fight the Mechanicus?" I asked aloud, honestly confused.
"Maybe they were working on something heretical?" Jurgen mused idly.
"If they were, then the rest of the Mechanicus would have come down on them." Felecia declared firmly, upholding the honor of her priesthood.
"Would they have known? This wasn't on the blueprints." Tayber inquired, causing his sister to deflate somewhat.
"Maybe…" Felecia admitted. We decided to enter the leftwards area, as that was where most of the bodies were. Whatever was that way was probably what the Sororitas were here for, and what the Mechanicus wanted to defend the most. As we followed, the psychic residue grew stronger and stronger. Felecia started smacking her head.
"I get it! I get it!" She complained. "He's screaming." She admitted(2) as we all stared at her in various levels of concern. That did not fill me with confidence. Illric was also beginning to mumble something.
"What is it?" I asked.
"This air… It feels like solid light." He whispered distractedly, as if deep in thought(3). We pressed on, and I began to feel… stronger. It was like I was feeding on thousands of emotions at once, a high that I dreaded. Finally, we arrived at the main server room, and began to go through the files under Felecia's instructions. Everything had been deleted by someone who obviously knew the codes, again according to what our resident Tech-priestess had to say. Jurgen and Illric were searching around the massive room for any clues, when the Eldar let out a shrill scream that made us all jump. I had never heard him so terrified in all the time I'd known him up to that point. Hastily we rushed over to where he was standing, eyes wide and shaking over the corpse of a Tech-priest that looked like they hadn't died instantly
"By Asuyran's teeth…" He whispered, kneeling down next to the body's outstretched fingers. The Cogboy had written something in their own blood and oil as they lay bleeding out from having one of their arms blown off by a bolt round. It seemed as if this word was what had caused Illric such fear. I peered closely, making out the messy handwriting past the other splatters of blood and lubricant. It was just one word.
Shadowlight.
"Shadowlight?" I asked aloud, puzzled at why a simple word should garner such a reaction. "What's… What is that?" Of course the Ranger was too distraught to hear me or answer my question.
"No no no no no no…" Illric was wringing his hands so hard I feared he may break his own fingers. "This can't be… It can't…" He looked terrified, completely and utterly terrified. He hadn't even looked this scared when he discovered my true nature as a frakking Daemon Prince of his people's greatest enemy, Slaanesh. I was about to try and snap him out of it, when somebody else interjected unexpectedly.
"WE NEED TO LEAVE." A deep, reverberating voice came from… Felecia?
Illric's eyes widened, cognizant once more but even more full of dread. "Oh no."
"LATER, AELDARI." The voice boomed past Felecia's lips, her normally expressive eyes blank. The normally lively woman looked like nothing more than a servitor at that moment, and I feared that despite having never detected daemonic taint on her she'd been possessed. "WE CANNOT STAY HERE… WE CAN ONLY PRAY THAT WHOEVER TOOK THIS DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS."
"Are… are you Maggy?" I asked, shocked and uncertain of what to do in this situation.
"He's… he's real?!" Tayber exclaimed, staring at his beloved sister in stark horror. He glanced at me, but relaxed when I made no move to put a lasbolt through Felecia's head. The entity inhabiting the cog-girl's body caused her to nod mechanically as it answered.
"INDEED. I AM BORROWING FELECIA FOR THE MOMENT, WITH HER PERMISSION. WE. NEED. TO. LEAVE."
Well, that was concerning. 'Maggy' seemed to be as terrified as Illric was, maybe even moreso. "Do you know what the Shadowlight is?"
"THE WORST POSSIBLE TECHNOLOGY TO FIND." There was pure rage in his voice. "ONLY THE FOOLISH OR DESPERATE WOULD USE IT… AND THE PREVIOUS USERS WERE BOTH."
"Who used it before?" I asked, but it was Felecia who blinked, eyes and motions normal.
"Well… I had no idea he could do that." She said cheerily, as if she HADN'T just been possessed by… something. Id have to find out from Illric what exactly Maggy was, as his reaction indicated he had a fairly good idea. "What was that all about? And why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" She asked Illric, who was staring at her wide eyed and hand twitching as if he wanted a weapon in it; totally opposite of his attitude toward Felecia even just before we'd entered this place..
"Yngir(4)…" He whispered in shock. "How could I have not seen it?"
"What?" I asked, but for once Illric was ignoring me, focused on far more important things.
"I will talk to you later, Felecia." He stated resolutely. "But first… Maggy's right. We need to get out of here, and as far away from the dam as possible… And as soon as possible I will call upon my kin to discuss the implications of this."
"What's the Shadowlight?" I asked, insistent now as my palms itched at the sight of the usually unflappable Ranger being so out of sorts. Whatever this 'Shadowlight' was, it was OBVIOUSLY not good.
"A psionic weapon that predates your species many times over." Illric replied, looking at me with dead seriousness. "Be very, very grateful that it was your Sisters of Battle that took it." He said nothing further about it.
"Let's go," I declared, now equally eager to depart. The squad and I raced from the room, and out from the hidden staircase. I hoped that the existence of this Shadowlight and the fact that Felecia's imaginary friend was terrifyingly real would be the last unpleasant surprises of the day. Of course, I was wrong to hope for such.
"Commissar, the Orks are here." One of the men voxxed as we came back into communications contact. And we hadn't even BEGUN to get the tunnel ready to travel through, so distracted we had been by the hidden facility deep within the dam.
Well… frak.
Felecia led us to the command citadel, which provided an exemplary view of the entire valley and, to my utter horror, the swarm of Orks headed our way. It was like watching a swarm of Tyranids, an unstoppable green horde that fanned out across the valley. Their warcry hadn't reached me yet, though that may have been from excellent soundproofing in the control room. I began to put my hand to my ear to order the Basilisk to fire, when I heard the shells going off. Evidently Sautine had beaten me to it, for the gun belched three shells in rapid succession, which proceeded to do next to nothing.
"There must be thousands of them…" I whispered in horror.
"Tens of thousands." Illric corrected, his helmet back on. "We cannot hope to hold that force off." He declared obviously.
"Then what can we do?" Tayber whispered. Almost instinctively, my hand went to the Aquila I had around my neck. Jurgen noticed, and nodded. He'd understand… and maybe Illric. Illric saw Jurgen's nod, and looked to me. I saw the slight fear in his eyes, but also trust and belief in me as a person. I began to lift the amulet, before I paused.
"Damnation requires a choice. To take the easy path of heresy or the hard path of faith. Your circumstances can only influence your decision. They cannot make it for you." Father Anthony's voice whispered in my head, just as they'd been inscribed onto portions of my soul. I slowly put the amulet down. No. I wouldn't make the easy choice, not yet at least. There had to be another way. Steadying myself, I made sure my voice was commanding and held no tremor of the bowel-clenching terror I was feeling.
"Felecia? How long will it take for the tunnel to be clear of water?"
"I… I don't know… I don't have-" She paused, and cocked her head. Then she nodded her head, and her body's motions became mechanical again.
"ALLOW ME," Maggy boomed, beginning to work, far faster than any Tech-priest I had ever heard of(5). It only took seconds, but what he had to say next was not reassuring. "DAMN IT."
"What is it?" I asked the being.
"EVEN WITH MY DIRECT ORDERS… IT'D TAKE HALF AN HOUR TO OPEN THE SLUICES, AND I CAN'T WILL THE WATER TO GO LOWER; THAT'LL TAKE TWO FULL HOURS."
"We don't even have half an hour." I whispered, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. "Is there any way to make it go faster?" Felecia's head shook robotically.
"THE DAM'S ALMOST AT FULL CAPACITY. ANY QUICKER AND IT WOULD BECOME UNSTABLE AND POSSIBLY COLLAPSE."
Collapse. As I looked to the dam, and down at the Orks, I did some quick mental calculations. "I have an idea. Sautine, can you reangle the Basilisk?" I called out, over the Vox.
"Easily. What do you propose?"
"Aim for the sluices." I replied.
"OH, YOU JUST MADE FELECIA MAD." Maggy chuckled.
"She can hear?" I asked him.
"EH, MORE OR LESS. I'M LETTING HER HEAR THIS AT THE MOMENT. NO REAL NEED FOR PRIVACY." The being piloting Felecia's body said, shrugging.
"And she's fine with this lack of control?" Illric asked archly, glaring at Maggy within Felecia's body.
"...A BIT MORE THAN FINE, ACTUALLY." Felecia's body blushed a little.
"I didn't need to hear that." Tayber whispered. We watched as the Basilisk moved into position.
"We need a little more time!" Sautine called out to me. Well, we'd just have to give her as much time as we could then.
"All troops, open fire." I ordered calmly. All along the defensive lines, I could see the light of lasguns going off as autocannons rattled out rounds and the tanks belched smoke and shells towards the enemy. If anything, the signs of resistance seemed to excite the Orks and cause them to pour into the valley even faster. Which, for my purposes, suited me just fine. I let myself fall into the Warp, and pointed my fingers at the sluice. Since the water was going to go at the Orks, and not down Imperial throats, I figured it wasn't too much of a risk. "Holy Emperor, guide your Servant's aim, and let my addition hasten the fall of the dam, saving Your People from death and defilement." I intoned. As the Basilisk fired, I coated the shell with some of my taint. The blow hit true, and the explosion was twice the size of what it would have normally been. The water turned slightly purple, and light of the same color began to pour through the dam.
"By the Emperor…" Tayber whispered. Illric nodded, sweating a little, though only I could tell. The dull thuds of muffled explosions ripped through the dam, causing cracks to appear, and the pressure of the water behind it did its job. Soon, great torrents of glowing purple water began to pour from holes, house-sized jets of faintly glowing purple water sending Orks careening away and into their fellows. When they surfaced, I could see them melting, and the taste of well-done mushrooms once again assaulted my mouth, this time tasting like they'd been boiled. The tainted water covered the Orks and rushed through the whole valley then through the mountain pass. Once the violently rushing waters had receded, the valley had been scoured clean and showed no signs of there ever being any Orks there in the first place. I relaxed and withdrew from the Warp, satisfied that we were safe for now. Then came a renewed flood of energy into myself, surging as surely as the waters just had.
"Praise the Saint!" I heard over the combead. Oh frak, I'd forgotten to turn it off from the general channel so everybody had heard my prayer. Illric turned his combead off, and started giggling. I suppose I was glad he was feeling better, but could it be from something other than humor at my expense?!
"Praise the Saint!"
"Praise the Liberator!"
"All hail Ciaphas Cain!"
These cries of adoration and praise poured into the combead just as the convoy's worship poured into my soul, replenishing the power I'd expended and further feeding me. Sighing, I turned to Jurgen. "Let's get back to the rest of the troops." I ordered tiredly, trying to sound humble and not like I'd been overstuffed at a fine dinner party.
To say that my reputation took an upswing after that was of no surprise and also a vast understatement. Now, they were kneeling before me, and many would stay there until I gave them the express order to rise. Jurgen was stoic, but Illric had a smirk plastered on his face the whole time. Felecia was back in control of her body, and seemed quite upset that I'd destroyed the dam, seeing how it was of both religious importance to the Mechanicus as well as important to the infrastructure of the planet. I didn't enjoy upsetting her, but personally I think that my immortal soul was worth the price, as the only other option was to see if my power as a Daemon could scour the valley of the Orks(6). While damned, I was clinging hard to what Father Anthony had said; perhaps if I avoided making that choice, I could still be saved.
After the impromptu celebrations held in honor of our unlikely victory over the Greenskins(7), we prepared to set out. However, before we could, Illric motioned to me, Jurgen, and Felecia, leading us to a place out of earshot.
"What's this about?" Felecia asked curiously.
"I want to talk to Maggy." Illric replied, now dead serious and face pinched as if he'd bitten into something particularly sour. Felecia was confused, but fortunately for the Eldar he wasn't the one she was cross with at the moment.
"Okay…" She closed her eyes, and when she opened them they were lifeless-looking once more.
"SPEAK, AELDARI." Maggy instructed curtly; I was still experiencing major dissonance between seeing two vastly different personalities and manners of speech in the same body. Illric seemed to share this feeling, as although he'd been expecting it he still went stiff when spoken to in that deep, mechanical voice.
"Mag'ladroth…" Illric breathed out, obviously horrified(8).
"THAT'S MY NAME. DON'T WEAR IT OUT." Maggy, though I suppose 'Mag'ladroth' was his real name, replied. "AND BEFORE YOU ASK, I USED THE SHORTER NAME BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK A FIVE YEAR OLD COULD PRONOUNCE IT CORRECTLY… AND IT KINDA GREW ON ME."
"I know what you are, Ygnir." Illric spat viciously, glaring into Felecia's glassy eyes as if he could reach through them to drag the entity possessing her out.
Still mechanical in his motions with Felecia's body, Maggy (which I continued to use as I'd gotten used to that name for him) rolled her eyes. "WELL, SHIT. THIS IS GONNA COMPLICATE THINGS…"
"He's a what?" I asked, turning to Illric as I was unfamiliar with that Eldar term. However I knew enough from the Ranger's tone of voice and body language that whatever it was wasn't anything good. Through gritted teeth, he explained the word to me.
"A Ygnir… Or, as you may know them as… a C'Tan."
"A… what?" I asked, confused at yet another unfamiliar word. Seriously, was that supposed to mean anything to me? Illric huffed in annoyance, eyes squeezing shut and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as if he was experiencing a headache from my ignorance.
"How long have you known of the Necrons?" He asked, obviously trying to be patient as he explained something he felt I should already know.
"What do they have to do with this?" I asked, horrified. I hadn't met the Necrons yet, and I wasn't looking forward to it based upon the threat assessments I'd read.
"Everything." Illric snapped out, ire directed not at me but at Maggy within Felecia's body. "The C'Tan were their gods, beings of stellar gas that ate stars."
"HYDROGEN IS YUMMY, AND HELIUM IS GOOD FOR THE SKIN." Maggy replied happily.
"They… ate stars?" I asked, shocked. How had I never heard of a threat that great?! Even the Tyranids only consumed planets, not stars! Or at least, I hoped they didn't. Satisfied that I was finally getting what a big deal this was, Ilrric nodded sharply and continued.
"They could coat the surface of entire stars, and over the course of thousands of years, eat them to nothingness. I don't know how many they killed by stealing their stars, until the Necrons found them, they didn't notice or care about life."
"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I NOTICED, AND WAS VERY CAREFUL TO AVOID THOSE SYSTEMS." Maggy replied testily. The Eldar didn't pay him any mind, just continuing in his explanation.
"The Necrons, or Necrontyr as they were known then, built great bodies for them… And in exchange… They turned the Necrons into what they are now; nigh-indestructible, soulless automatons. The C'Tan tricked them and devoured their souls, using them as pawns to conquer the galaxy and harvest all life within."
Again, a protest left Felecia's lips without any say on her part. "I PREFER THE IDEA OF FARMING THE GALAXY QUITE FRANKLY, MORE SUSTAINABLE THAT WAY, THOUGH I WILL ADMIT I WAS THE ONLY ONE OF MY KIND THAT WAS THINKING LONG-TERM ABOUT THAT. SERIOUSLY, MORE LIFE EQUALS MORE FOOD, AND FARMING IT AND MAKING SURE IT WAS PLENTIFUL, HAPPY, AND NOT SCOURED SEEMED PRAGMATIC."
Emperor damn it, that didn't make me feel any better 'Maggy'! If anything Illric's glare intensified to the point where I was amazed he wasn't shooting melta-beams from his eyes. Diligently he went on, even though I'd already heard far more than I wanted to for my peace of mind. "Mag'ladroth was one of the most powerful of all the C'Tan, equalled only by a few. He could control all machinery, turning weapons of war upon their own wielders. Eventually, he and the rest of his kind were shattered into shards by the Necrons."
"What… how do you know this?" I asked, voice quiet and shaky.
Illric breathed out an exhausted sigh, finally done with his story. "Because that is the mythology of my people, of the War In Heaven. And before you ask, your species wasn't around at that time; it was sixty six million years ago."
"I LIKED YOUR PLANET. VERY CUTE. VERY FULL OF POTENTIAL." Maggy helpfully provided.
"Wait… if he could control machines…" I began, palms itching and not liking the conclusions I was drawing AT ALL.
"IF YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT THE WHOLE OMNISSIAH THING, THEN YES, I COULD CLAIM THAT MANTLE. BUT I GAVE IT AWAY TO THE ANATOLIAN. A GOOD FRIEND, HIM… AFTER I REALIZED HE WASN'T ONE OF THOSE FUCKING TOADS TRYING TO TURN YOUR SPECIES INTO A BIOLOGICAL WEAPON… NO OFFENSE, AELDARI."
"None taken," Illric said dryly with the sort of tone that conveyed offense was very much taken.
"The who?" I asked, confused once more. Was I supposed to know who this 'Anatolian' was now, whatever that term meant? If I hadn't been stunned before however, Maggy's next statement would've absolutely floored me, and for obvious reasons.
"OH, YOU'D KNOW HIM AS 'THE EMPEROR'. GOOD GUY, WHEN HE WASN'T PANICKING OVER YOUR SPECIES' FATE."
I couldn't help but exclaim at this, blindsided by this piece of my divine liege's history. "Wait… you know the God-Emperor!?"
"YEP. MY MAIN PART, WHICH IS THE LARGEST SHARD IN THE GALAXY, HOLDING A FULL THIRD OF MY FORM AND THEREFORE KEPT MY PERSONALITY AND FULL MEMORIES, FOUGHT HIM ONCE. I'D SAY IT WAS… THIRTY-EIGHT THOUSAND YEARS AGO? THEN HE STUCK ME UNDER MARS."
"What?" I squeaked. I wasn't the only one as Illric and even Jurgen did the same. It seemed my barely formed suspicions were being confirmed.
"YEAH. HE SPOKE TO ME BEFORE HIS GALAXY-WIDE ADVENTURE. HE SAID HE WAS TAKING MY MANTLE AS 'OMNISSIAH', AND I TOLD HIM SURE, WHY THE HELL NOT? HE NEEDED IT MORE THAN I DID. THOUGH I DO WISH HE'D HAVE LET ME OUT TO HELP HIM WHEN TERRA WAS ATTACKED BY HIS SON."
I… I was having an incredibly hard time processing this, my legs giving out from under me. "The… the Mechanicus…" Maggy, the massive mechanical god-like Xeno dick that he was, had the audacity to chuckle at my distress.
"WERE, AND IT COULD BE ARGUED ARE, WORSHIPING AN ALIEN GOD? OH YEAH. PROBABLY SHOULDN'T LET THEM KNOW ABOUT THAT PART… WHICH IS KINDA WHY I DIDN'T WANT FELECIA TO HEAR…"
"Why… Why her?" Illric asked, showing that he did genuinely care about Felecia and wanted to know why she'd been turned into a container for his people's ancient enemy. Maggy shrugged her shoulders and gave a fond smile with her lips before giving us a list of his host's virtues.
"SHE'S INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE, AND HAS A LOVE OF LIFE AND THOSE AROUND HER. EASILY THE BEST PICK FOR A HERALD OR A PROPHET, SINCE YOU WEREN'T IN THE RUNNING, CAIN."
"M-me?" I stammered. Damnit what was it about me that had galactic threats paying me far more attention than I warranted or desired?! Felecia's head nodded robotically under Maggy's control.
"YEP. COMMON SENSE? THAT'S A FUCKING RARITY THESE DAYS. BUT YOU WENT TO THE SCHOLA, AND THE YOUNGEST OF THE FOUR DECIDED SHE WANTED YOU AS HER FAVORED. OF ALL THE THINGS YOU CAN ACCUSE HER OF NOT HAVING, GOOD TASTE IN DAEMON PRINCES IS NOT ONE OF THEM… AT LEAST IN THIS CASE."
"Y-you know?!" I hissed, turning white as a sheet. Felecia's head was cocked to the side, eyes still glassed over as Maggy stared at me through them.
"UHHH, YEAH? TOTALLY. YOU'RE NOT EXACTLY SUBTLE ABOUT IT… THEN AGAIN, I KNOW MY SHIT, SINCE THE THREE SOCIOPATHS(9) AND I HAVE TANGLED MORE THAN ONCE."
"What are you plotting, Ygnir?" Illric hissed, hands twitching over his weapons and I was genuinely concerned for a moment he'd forget that Felecia was in there as well and shoot the body Maggy was puppeting. Again he shrugged her shoulders, completely unconcerned.
"EASY. STEP ONE, GET ALL OF MY SHARDS TOGETHER. STEP TWO, CASUALLY STROLL OUT OF MY PRISON. STEP THREE, EAT A FEW STARS DOWN TO A SIZE WHERE THEY'D HAVE PLANETS IN THEIR HABITABLE ZONES. AND AFTER THAT? PROBABLY JUST HELP YOU GUYS REDISCOVER YOUR OLD TECH. SERIOUSLY, PRE-STRIFE HUMANITY? YOU GUYS WERE AWESOME! AI WITH REAL SOULS?! NOT EVEN THE TOADS COULD CREATE ARTIFICIAL SOULS LIKE THAT!"
"So… not a threat to humanity?" I whispered, desperate for any shred of a silver lining I could grasp right now as my mind threatened to shut down from an overabundance of existential dread. Again, an uncaring shrug from the entity using our tech-priestess as a meat puppet.
"NOPE. BIOTRANSFERRENCE WAS A FUCKING MISTAKE, AND I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET TO THE TOMB WORLDS WHERE THE NECRONS THAT ARE STILL LOYAL TO ME ARE. I'VE GOT THEIR SOULS NICE AND SAFE… STILL NEED TO UNDO THE BIOTRANSFERRANCE INTO HEALTHIER BODIES…" At this, Maggy, or I guess, Mag'ladroth, went into a spree of mumbling.
"What do we do?" I whispered to Illric. I was really, REALLY hoping that the Ranger had a plan or at least an inkling of how we were going to handle this! Despite looking almost as lost and uncertain as I was, Illric's resolve firmed.
"...We keep an eye on it. If Felecia dies, the Shard will likely roam free. And if it's intelligent enough to connect to the main body, it could cause… intense damage." Good idea, keep Felecia safe since the giant star-eater was so fond of her, though that last part didn't sound good.
"Define… intense damage."
"Scour entire systems of life." Illric replied in a complete deadpan.
"Oh… yeah, keeping an eye on her sounds good." I whimpered. Would it tarnish my dignity if I let my bladder release at that moment? Probably, so better keep it contained. It was at that moment that Felecia's still glassy eyes blinked and her head mechanically turned back to us.
"SORRY… WHERE WERE WE?" Mag'ladroth asked.
"...We're good. No need to keep talking about this for now." I declared weakly. The puppetted body nodded again then yawned widely.
"COOL. IMMA GO NAP NOW." With that, Felecia's head shook and life returned to her eyes as she stared curiously at us as we stared at her, faces pale and twisted in consternation.
"...What's wrong? You all look like you've seen a ghost again."
Excerpt from 'Shrines to the Saint: The Worlds and Marvels of Ciaphas Cain', from Chapter 13, 'The Valley of Cain'.
Perlia and Slawkenberg fight bitterly to be the crown jewel of the Cainite sect of the Imperial Creed, with Adumbria being a close third(10). While Slawkenberg hosts the place of Ascension, where Saint Ciaphas Bargained for the planet and the souls of the Eldar who joined the Imperium, Perlia holds many sites of significance, with the greatest among them being the Valley of Cain.
Once known as the Valley of Daemons, it is the most popular point on the pilgrim's trail known as The Liberator's March. It was here that Saint Ciaphas blessed a Basilisk shell, creating a curse against the Orks that flows through the water of that river to this very day. The water would sweep downstream like a wall of the Emperor's Fury. All Orks who touched it, or drank from it, would die, melted away into nothing and their vile spores cleansed. The estimated death toll for the Orks was in the hundreds of thousands from the initial surge that tore through the mountain passes and the lowlands, along with countless vehicles and important positions. However perhaps millions more Orks died simply from touching puddles of the blessed waters or drinking from other water sources filled by the righteous flood. This dramatic lessening of his forces and enormous hole in his supply chain forced the Warboss into a full retreat across the continent, so he could rally his forces in a new position. This would allow the remaining Imperial forces to push forwards. The Imperial Navy, bolstered by Oathsworn reinforcements, began to push the Orks out of the system, gaining Space superiority, which further hampered the Orks(11). Thus through the miracle of the blessed shell and the blessed flood of cleansing waters, Perlia would soon be saved.
Along with rebuilding the dam and Mechanicus shrines there, Cain's Valley would see the construction of many bathhouses and sacred pools where the afflicted may come to be cleansed by the blessed waters. To this day, waters from Cain's River, as it is called, is even exported offworld. The blessing stays in the water, so potent is it that a single drop from Cain's River can bless an entire gallon of water, and drinking it heals many injuries and promotes phenomenal health. Meanwhile, bathing in it for long enough can regenerate entire limbs and purify even the most putrid areas(12), becoming an exceptionally valuable export to the wider Imperium. It is worth its weight in adamantium, and is used for everything from cleaning Underhive water supplies to a topper for only the finest and most expensive wines. It has been declared a strategic resource for the Imperium by the High Lords and is protected fiercely by the Ecclesiarchy, who ensure it is shared fairly to those who need it in accordance with Saint Cain's own teachings. Besides the Hospitaller orders of the Adepta Sororitas, the Magos Biologis, various Medicae, and others, these waters are highly sought after by the Adeptus Astartes themselves, and even the Emperor's own revered Custodes. Some even wonder quietly if enough of Cain's River could restore the Emperor Himself…
1: They seem to usually believe that The Emperor will protect them. A few inches of ceramite doesn't hurt, though. The Sisters that follow Ciaphas, however, are required to wear helmets in combat per his direct instructions.
2: There are few things that can frighten a C'Tan.
3: The Shadowlight features prominently in Eldar mythology.
4: This is the word for C'Tan in the Eldar language.
5: Even the tiniest sliver of the Void Dragon compels machines to obey.
6: It easily would have.
7: In fact, it was the bonfires and group dances held upon the remains of the dam during these celebrations that let the observing Imperial warships know that Ciaphas' forces were left intact and not swept away by the torrential waters as the Orks were. Between this seeming miracle and the arrival of Oathsworn ships to bolster the Navy in space, the Admiral in charge gave orders that all off-duty personnel should give at least a third of their allotted free time at the various ships' chapels to give thanks to the Emperor for His deliverance.
8: I… I will admit that I had at least three panic attacks while writing this segment. Few things terrify me. The Void Dragon is one of them.
9: He… he's referring to the older Chaos gods. When I realized that I allowed myself a few minutes for a quick nervous breakdown.
10: The story of Adumbria appears later in these archives concerning Ciaphas' activities.
11: Thankfully, there wasn't any friendly fire, as now Lord High Admiral Yriel broadcasted his intentions from his flagship.
12: As the (former) Dreadnought Bjorn the Fell Handed said, "Nothin' beats Ciaphas Cain bath water!", after regaining the use of his limbs and body following a many months long soak in said water. Amazingly, despite the water being tainted to an almost absurd degree (to the point that mixing a single drop of Cainwater into a gallon of untainted water produces a full gallon of Cainwater), there have been no negative mutations. In fact, the drink has been shown to purge mutations and kill germs, thanks to Cain's biomancy. Of particular note, use of it during the augmentation process of neophyte Space Marines by various Astartes Chapters has seen a nearly 66% (Damnit Slaanesh!) increase in initiates surviving the intensive surgical processes necessary to become Astartes.