Hope this is okay. I've titled it
A Bad(?) End.
It was over.
A lifetime of preparation and it was done.
Abaddon was behind her.
As she looked out at the sea of stars, witnessing the dying embers of battle, Zerayah thought back to what had led her to this.
Of the last days of Slawkenberg, and of Cain the Liberator.
She recalled those weeks of stress, as the various members of the council and the people had worked to try and find a way to save what they had built. The warning had come in all haste but in the end it might not be enough.
In the end though, her father had made a decision. So, it was decreed, all those who could not fight, those who needed to stay alive, would be put onto the fleet and get away.
It had hurt so much, when he said that she would be part of that number.
Zerayah had resisted, she'd begged, pleaded and in one shameful moment threatened her beloved father to be allowed to stay but he had stood firm, just hugging her as tears ran down his face.
Despite the preparations to flee it almost wasn't enough. The ships launched and went dark, joining a passing meteor storm and going as inert as possible. But they had the means to look back at their world.
Witness the fleet of the Imperium in all of its terrible power arriving over it.
The initial invasion to merely pacify it, thrown back time and again by the USA and all other's who joined them, had culminated in the burning of one of the last remaining churches to the Emperor being destroyed by those who claimed loyalty to it. The last pictcast of Father Anthony, shielding innocents who weren't able to make it to shelter or the escape fleet, shouting at the so-called loyal soldiers of the emperor
"Cease this madness! Do you not know that it is your own that you destroy"
The hit to morale was noticeable, which is why it was not surprising when the Inquisitor aboard the flagship ordered an Exterminatus of Slawkenberg.
The Virus Bombs, falling onto the world they called home, to tear the flesh from their bones and turn bones to mud.
Though the imperials had called it a righteous purge over the vox, her people saw it for what it was. Nurgle's last strike. The final swing at the enemy which had vexed and denied him.
She remembered seeing the bombs go off, preparing to spread their sickness across the world.
But her father and people had the last laugh. Those detonations were followed by secondary ones from the USA. Bombs filled with highly compressed Panacea, and with city wide mists of it deployed as a form of secondary protection.
Nurgle's last strike, fizzled and failed.
But the Imperials were not done. Their first effort foiled they simply unleashed fire. Even with the defences brought about by the Borgs, this was not enough. The world began to burn.
Cain's last call, his final transmission, rang out.
"Whatever good you think you're doing, it won't be enough. If all you can do is burn then you'll only ever destroy what has been built. This isn't us, we can be more!"
This of course went out to the whole system and was ignored by the Imperials. But as the signal ceased she heard his voice over their shared ansible. The one that was only between the two of them.
"I love you. Live. Be free. Remember that you are never alone".
Then.
Light.
A light of stupefying Pink/Purple, Majestic Blue and an Intense Red struck out at the fleet from Cainopolis. A last and final 'Frak You!' against their enemies.
She knew what it meant, of the ritual Jafar had found and spoke with to Mahlone and Krystabel during those tense weeks. Something that had taken much interrogation of deeper mysteries and even those of the Immaterium were reluctant to share it despite its destructive potential.
Soul Eradication.
A spell that took the willing soul and then took all of it's potential, all what it was and could be, and condensed it before unleashing it. It shred the Soul to pieces, denying any reincarnation or use by any of the powers in the warp.
A variant, some theorised, as to what the Emperor had done to Horus.
All three had consented, champions of their respective power denying themselves a final rest with their patron god. Combined of three powers who both believed fully in their chosen deity but also in each other and their shared beliefs.
Slannesh preened and wept at the sensation of its passing.
Tzeentch cackled and cheered of the rare true destruction of potential.
Khorne despite his hatred of sorcery, consented on the basis of his champion enduring the destruction of himself to destroy his hated foe.
With such power, the fleet could not resist. A fleet thousands of ships strong, filled with some of the most dedicated fanatics of the Golden Throne, was destroyed. Not even a remnant survived for the power struck at all who had brought death to Slawkenberg.
The survivors of Slawkenberg wept, but did not give Nurlge the satisfaction of despair, instead stoically continuing on their journey, being taken in by the hidden Protectorate fleet, into the Warp and away from their broken home.
The Black Legion Surrounded her.
Standing by her side was uncle Jurgen. Now far more advanced in years with a long white beard and a hooded robe. Both were tidy and clean, for despite the challenges he'd never lost his dedication to cleanliness.
Zerayah loved him for that, of the fact that he would change but never lose himself.
She'd needed it, during those first few years.
When her father had ordered Jurgen to join her on the escape ships, she'd looked at her Uncle, wondering how he would react to being sent away by the man who he'd dedicated his life to serving.
There was no frown though, no condemnation or resentment. Instead he had looked her father straight in the eye and nodded.
"I will guard her with everything that I am" her Uncle replied, and with a thankful nod in return, nothing more was said.
It didn't need to be.
In the years after he had kept that promise. Defending her from threats unseen and building forces whilst she tried to learn how to manage in a universe without her father abide by his teachings.
During that dark time travelling in the fleet, there hadn't exactly been any real hierarchy agreed upon but as the daughter of the liberator she had gotten a seat at the table in the fleet of .
At first there had been panic and confusion. The sudden arrival of the Exterminatus fleet meant a number of plans weren't ready and would not be able to come to fruition. It had come to a head in one meeting, when despair was seeping into the mood of the survivors.
There had been talk of breaking some of the tenets Cain had laid down, of summoning and binding Daemons to give them power.
'It would only be minor ones and they would be released once the crisis passed.'
More talk of making 'willing' sacrifices to the various gods for guidance and assistance.
'Only those who agree, and just a few until we can find safety.'
Zerayah had in that moment never been more tempted to unleash herself and devour them all.
Jurgen's hand on her shoulder gave her the control to not join these benighted fools in their madness.
Giving a grateful look at her Uncle, she had stood up, increasing her height to give more authority and had started with a simple word.
"No"
Using all that she'd been taught by her Father, Uncle's and Aunt she had talked them down from such actions. She'd spoken of how it was now down to them to prove to the universe that their way of Liberation was the way forward. That to give into those easy paths would merely damn them, and shame those who had sacrificed everything to preserve something of themselves.
The group had been cowed, making their apologies.
It had been her first major speech and act of leadership. It would not be the last.
When they had reached the safety of their newly named system and planet, they began to rebuild.
Uncle Jurgen looked around, cocking his head in a manner that contradicted his apparent advanced age.
"Quite a mess isn't it?" He said smiling.
She smiled too, glad he still could after what he had been through to achieve what they had done.
Abaddon was behind her, and the Black Legion surrounded her.
To her other side strode her teacher, Malicia.
Jurgen despite his loyalty had never forgiven himself fully for leaving Cain behind. He had dedicated himself to caring for Zerayah whilst seeking means to ensure he would not lose anyone else ever again.
During those times, Malicia had been there to give guidance.
Despite the loss of her bloodward, she still remained bound. For during those dark days Cain had asked a boone of Emeli, one she had for granted reluctantly, if only because it was her beloved asking, and that the idea of Malicia fighting off an entire Exterminatus fleet was a poor joke that even Ceogorach wouldn't laugh at.
A modification had been made, and Zerayah had been added to it, the mark of Cain it would be called, to brand her so that she would defend the line of her beloved, blood or not, from all that would harm her and defend those she might one day produce. Worded in such a way had caused Zerayah to blush even as she spoke to Malicia of promising that she would never waste her life.
During those years after she had taken to Malicia as a teacher, learning the ways to turn her body into a weapon from the smallest finger to the mightiest of kicks. Her unique biology granting her a body able to match that of the perfect balance and poise of an Eldar, Dark or otherwise.
It had come in handy when they had come across that wretch Killian and his attempt to destroy them to 'deny chaos its toys'.
His taunts were maddening and his company of broken people who had touched the Shadowlight were frustrating. She'd had to become her most dangerous self to survive, loyal troops of the USA remnants fighting around her against the non-Psykers of Killian's forces. Malicia defending her until she got close enough, striking Killian's head from his neck before stamping it into mulch. She did not devour it, for it was not worth the stomach-ache of eating such rotten produce.
Despite victory though things had almost ended in tragedy, when Malicia inadvertently picked up the Shadlowlight, she screamed in a way no one had ever heard from her. Before it could do, more Jurgen had wrested it from her hands and himself been consumed with pain. His power rose and he looked as if he would combust from the effort of trying to control it. Instead, he had looked at Zerayah and breathed. With a force of will he had deposited the Shadowlight in a container and with a clap of his hands wiped away any last remnants of Killian planetwide.
Since then he had achieved power almost beyond reckoning, and even the inheritors of Jafar's cabal bowed to his power and ability. Some more suicidal ones had tried to emulate it, burning themselves trying to use the Shadlowlight and in one bad case the transport which was transporting it with an ambitious sorcerer fell into the Warp, leaving only the arcane object in its reinforced container to crash into the ground.
After that, Jurgen had made it a point to keep the quote 'damned stupid slab' in his personal collection to stop any other idiot from causing problems. He called it that of course because wanting to touch it in his opinion made it obvious how damned stupid you were. His collection of damned stupid's had grown over the years.
A final surprise had been Malicia reawakening some Psyker ability and not having her soul instantly taken from her by Slannesh. She'd been afraid for a while until one of the coven assured her that Emeli had spoken to the Dark Prince and made it part of the Mark of Cain's arrangement.
A thousand more stories could be spoken of, but they all culminated in the last few hours.
They had landed in a new model of Gunship the Borg's had created, capable of many things but mostly safely getting it through the battlefield surrounding Cadia.
Disembarking onto the Will of Eternity, the massive Blackstone Fortress, they had been met by a group of Black Legion Astartes who at the order of Abaddon himself were there to escort Zerayah and her attendants to present themselves to him.
When they had finally arrived, after being kept waiting outside the meeting hall, Abaddon greeted them. At first with welcome to his army striking against the hated Imperium and mentioned some of the small actions the resurgent protectorate had done in the Damocles Gulf before getting to the point. He bargained for her to serve him, using their 'unorthodox' methods to give him victory. He demanded Zerayah prostrate herself and gift her forces to him. To serve him and fight to bring down Cadia. He threatened that despite the danger she represented he would not countenance any rebellion to someone only favoured by 3 of the 4 gods and only in a 'minor' way for he saw no Daemons bound to her or her retinue. Finally, he promised that if she did not show deference then he would strike her group down and gift her to Nurgle before finishing here at Cadia and then making his way to the Damocles Gulf to wipe her 'insignificant' protectorate from the galaxy.
Zerayah had listened and not shown any reaction to any of this. Merely watching Abaddon as he spoke of all that he would do if she did not bow to him then and there.
When he was done, awaiting her answer, she took a deep breath before raising her head. Removing her robe before donning a recognisable cape.
"I know what you did Abaddon. I know it was your whispers that drew that fleet to destroy my home. Your bargains and threats that duped the Imperium into moving those forces so you could maneuverer yours into a better position and simultaneously remove a threat your pet Oracles warned you about"
"My name is Zerayah Cain. You killed my father. Prepare to Die."
Abaddon sneered before raising the Talon in a snapping gesture, showing off his mastery of the weapon.
"A pity" he intoned, before snapping the Talon's with a shriek of metal. The Black Legion prepared to unleash hell.
"Yes, a pity" She echoed, before turning the dial on her chest, sending out the signal via the ansible embedded in it.
In a flash of impossible light, the company of Grey Knights and USA elite forces waiting in the Teleportarium of a nearby ship appeared and unleashed a hell of their own.
It had been a bargain filled with much risk, but the return of Kaldor Draigo from the Warp was enough to convince the Grey Knights to consent to join this fight.
Despite such forces though, the fight had been hard won.
Zerayah had unleashed all of her trained skills and innate abilities to defeat the Champion of Chaos Undivided.
He struck with deadly force and swiftness, backed by powers beyond mortal understanding.
It wasn't enough.
He struck with rage of Korne, but she was the inheritor of Leigenstrasse, so any force he used could not defeat her. Any small slices of her were fixed through simply taking back flesh from her enemy.
He sliced with the deceptiveness of Slaanesh, but she was the student of Malicia, her strikes were filled with lethal force from a thousand angles. Backed by her teacher in ensuring her enemy could not gather himself.
He called upon arcane magics of Tzeentch powerful to lay low demi gods, but she was the niece of Ferik Jurgen, who even now unleashed his powers to protect her from warpcraft.
He endured and attempted to poison her with the corruption of Nurgle, but she was the daughter of Cain, and her cause was righteous.
With a mighty shout she sliced the Talon of Horus from Abaddon's arm, catching it as she kicked him onto his back.
"Return that you wretch. It is not for you" He screeched, shock and disgust plain upon his face as he worked to stand again.
She looked at him, at this supposed champion of the gods and warrior of millennia.
She smirked.
"Gladly, I have no need for the tools of a long dead and defeated foe"
As a look of pure rage at her dismissal covered his face, it was ruined through the force of the Talon being thrown with extreme force into it, pulping his head.
Upon that act, the powers against her fled, seeking to congratulate her as they faded, but she deferred them, preferring to look upon the material world and those who had fought with her. There had been some losses but the suddenness of the attack had meant they were few.
There had been a tense stand off with the Grey Knights, both sides expecting betrayal. But then Zerayah had handed them the Talon of Horus and wished them well before turning the dial on her chest again, sending them back to their ships.
She had promised them the death of Abaddon and the laying low of the Black Legion.
Nothing had passed her lips as to what would happen to the Will of Eternity.
Eventually she stood at the window depicting the outside world, of the many ships of the Black Crusade firing on their own as a plan decades in the making came to fruition. Many of the 3 powers either declared themselves loyal to her, or fled from her new found might. Those of Nurgle however were not allowed to leave, weapons purging them from the Universe.
Abaddon, his corpse cooling, was behind her.
The Black Legion, torn and sundered, surrounded her.
Eventually she ordered the fleet back and declared to Cadia that though they might never be on friendly terms, their chief enemy was dead and she would be taking his precious fleet with her and out of reach of the Eye of Terror.
They tried to stop her of course, but they had planned this for years, and were able to leave with minimal losses.
Eventually she gave the order, to return to the Slawkenberg system and Cain's world, their refuge and the centre of their new Protectorate, to prepare for the next steps.
She would gather her forces, and when it was enough, would strike at 'Holy' Terra itself. She would either convince or consume its guardians.
She would stand before the Golden Throne.
She would not destroy it by burning it.
She would simply demand something of its occupant.
Why.
Depending on what she heard, would determine the fate of the people of the Imperium, and the galaxy at large.
There was so much more to this but even these few lines of text has mentally exhausted me. Maybe I might come back and add in some details like a proper fight scene, I had this whole thing about each power being used to fight her in more detail.
It's perhaps a bit too much bigging up of Zerayah but I thought it fun to write. Hope some of you enjoyed it as well.