NOVPUB(AN: By the time any of you read this, I will be well underway to my weeklong vacation. See you all again on June 2.)
---Termaine System---
“This is Commander Serena Halls of the Imperial Anti-Pirate Fleet. Unidentified vessel, turn on your ship beacon immediately and state your intentions.”, a voice boomed across every communication channel. “Failure to comply will result in your immediate extermination.”
Watching several antiquated battleships move in between the New Genesis and Termaine Prime, the vessels brought their guns to bear and awaited our response. Doing as she requested, Luxion re-engaged the ship beacon and attempted to open a channel with the station.
“Wow… The pirate problem in the Grakkan Empire must be even worse than I thought. We just came into visual range, and they are already ready to fire upon us.”, Samus remarked, glancing at me. “Also, why didn’t you have the ship beacon on?”
“The New Genesis is registered as an Imperium of Man vessel. Need I say more?”, I answered.
“Ah… Yeah, I can understand why you kept it off.”, Samus laughed.
Answering our call with a stern expression, Halls took a moment to study our group with intense scrutiny. Motioning for us to remain silent, one of her subordinates brought her a tablet, presumably with our ship’s information on it. Glancing down to review it, her eyes went wide almost immediately.
“Well, I’ll be, a Rogue Trader has come to pay the Grakkan Empire a visit. I mean no disrespect, but I honestly believed your country did not have the technology to reach us.”, Halls chuckled, purposefully trying to invoke a reaction from me. “Are you here to trade information or goods?”
“Haha, I am no Rogue Trader, Commander Halls.”, I said, engaging the New Genesis’ weapon systems with a wave of my hand. “My name is Victor von Stark, grandson of the Emperor of Mankind and Primarch of the Second Legion. I suggest you tell your ships to stand down immediately, or I will be forced to reduce them to scrap heaps.”
As our weapons came online, alarms began sounding all around her. Watching her confident expression begin to falter, she went to say something when two of her vessels abruptly began firing upon us.
“Cease fire! I did not give you permission to begin bombardments!”, Halls shouted, but it was too late.
Pelting our shields with their peashooters, the Charged Particle and Nova Cannons came to life and began to zero in on the ships. Firing on them the instant they got a lock, the two ships violently exploded in brilliant fireballs before everyone’s eyes. Locking on to the remaining vessels, they wisely decided to power down their weapons to avoid their own fiery deaths.
“You can write this off as an unfortunate misunderstanding, or I can take this as a declaration of war. The choice is yours, Commander Halls.”, I spoke as thousands of my warships began blipping in around us.
Bringing their weapon systems online as well, my vessels got into a defensive formation around the city-ship. Watching things unfold with a petrified expression, I stared at her with a stone-faced expression, awaiting her decision.
“I… I understand.”, Halls said, choosing peace over a bloody war. “Both ships went rogue when they acted outside my orders. Will that suffice?”
“Yes.”, I replied with a nod. “In that case, I will return them to you.”
Rewinding the ships to just prior to their destruction, a burst of radio chatter came in from the resurrected crews. Confused by how this was possible, Halls kept her question to herself, as she did not want to pry too much. Commanding the fleet to disengage and resume their patrol routes, she let out a long, content sigh as she flopped into her chair.
“Primarch Stark, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit today?”, Halls questioned, trying to stay on my good side now.
“My family, friends, and I have come to the Grakkan Empire for a two-week vacation. Unfortunately, we cannot check in until tomorrow, so we came here looking to take a few bounty contracts.”, I replied, holding up my Association ID. “In addition to being a nobleman, I also moonlight as a bounty hunter to preoccupy myself. May we come aboard to visit the local branch office?”
Surprised to learn that I was a bounty hunter, Halls agreed to let us come aboard. Warning us ahead of time that their branch office was not that nice, she let it slip that it had sustained pretty significant damage recently. Several mercenaries set the building ablaze in a drunken rage over a lost bet with a few newbie bounty hunters. Understanding the situation, we still elected to come aboard and kill some time.
“Very well, I will come to the dock personnel to welcome you.”, Halls said before disconnecting from the call.
“Wow… I think this is our first time meeting a female military commander.”, Angelica commented.
“Hey, you do know I am a female military commander, right?”, Ionica said, taking offense to her words. “I am a Canoness Superior!”
“She meant an actual military commander. You are a glorified battle priestess of a fanatic cult.”, Malys snickered, much to Cegorach and Loki’s amusement.
Turning to the Drukhari woman with an angry scowl, Ionica reached for her blade to cut her down. Telling the two of them to stop, I reminded Ionica that the Emperor made it abundantly clear what his stance was. While he could do little to sway the public, within the military, he ordered all fervent worship of him to cease. Recalling my grandfather’s words clearly in her mind, she released her weapon and looked away, still fuming with anger.
“Oh wow, he has you trained like a- “, Malys began to say.
“Do not push your luck, Malys. If you continue prodding her, I will not stop her from killing you.”, I remarked. “Luxion, please prepare Yamato for departure. I would take the Endless Horizons, but they do not have a bay large enough to house her.”
<Master, would it not be easier to simply teleport aboard?> (Luxion)
“Once we establish ourselves, we can, but I would rather they not know we can bypass their jamming quite yet.”, I chuckled. ‘If they knew their anti-pirate measures were worthless against my tech, poor Halls might have a heart attack.’
Taking the lift down to the hangar, we all climbed aboard Yamato and headed out.
---3rd Person POV, Warp---
Arriving at the edge of Slaanesh’s territory, Fulgrim (Evil) and his legion were met by an endless sea of hellspawn. Recognizing the armor worn by their leaders, the Daemon Prince’s face soured as old memories came flooding back to him. Marching toward him without batting an eye, their vanguard fell upon Fulgrim’s men with unfettered fury. Cutting down the Noise Marines one after the other, they abruptly halted their advance a few hundred yards from the Daemon Prince.
“It has been a long time, hasn’t it, Fulgrim?”, Zephrim questioned, wearing a pained expression as he strode out from his men. “I would say you look well, but we both know that is a lie.”
“Zephrim, is that you?!”, Fulgrim gasped, barely able to recognize his missing brother anymore. “I had heard rumors that you were still alive, but I thought they were all lies. Tell me, whose army have you called into your service?’
“This is not living, my fallen brother. I did not ask for this; it was thrust upon me because of my curiosity and naivety.”, Zephrim spoke, his breathing becoming ragged. “Hear me, brother, take your sons and leave this place immediately. I cannot restrain the beast that has taken control of me much longer. Aremus already fell by my hands; I do not want another of my sworn brothers to do the same.”
Startled to hear that Zephrim was the one who killed Aremus, the Daemon Prince began having flashbacks of himself killing Ferrus. Screaming in agony as he dug his fingers into his skull, Fulgrim slipped into another bout of madness while Zephrim struggled to maintain control. Realizing that Fulgrim was a lost cause, he looked at his nephews with a pleading gaze.
“Please… Heed my words well. Take Manus’ body to the Emperor and tell him… Tell him that I am sorry!”, Zephrim cried, losing control of himself once again. “A war is coming from an ancient evil, and I am its unwilling host!”
Wailing in pain, as his eyes began glowing a golden orange, Zephrim’s voice became darker and more feminine in tone. Slowly shifting from cries of pain to maniacal laughter, the Noise Marines sensed evil unlike anything they had felt before. Heeding Zephrim’s last words, their second-in-command ordered several of the men to carry out his request and forewarn both sides of what was coming toward them. Breaking away just as the transformation completed, a powerful burst of energy sent everyone flying.
“I gave my life to bring this reality to fruition, and instead of cherishing it, you have torn it asunder!”, the possessed Zephrim screamed, gripping the All-Black sword tightly. “None of you are worthy enough to continue existing in the beautiful universe I created. You cancerous infections on creations will be cut out, and I will start anew with me as the one and only ruler.”
“All of you, get going immediately!”, the Noise Marine Commander commanded. “We will buy you as much time as we- “
Before he could finish speaking, a powerful burst of energy erupted from somewhere else within the Warp. Giggling with delight, the purple gemstone embedded in Zephrim’s armor began to glow brightly. Sensing Nurgle’s death, his former power began flowing into Zephrim’s body, further increasing his already bottomless power.
“RUN!!”, the commander shouted at his men. “The rest of you, hold the line!”
Doing as they were commanded, several Chaos Marines broke formation while the rest of the Noise Marines charged forward. Knowing full well they were going to die here, all they cared about now was protecting their brothers and Fulgrim. Smacking the Daemon Prince across the face, his subordinate pleaded with him to come to his senses as they needed him now more than ever. Pulling him back to reality with the tone of his voice, Fulgrim looked on as his sons were violently torn apart and their souls devoured.
“ZEPHRIM!!”, Fulgrim seethed, drawing his daemonic blade. “You will suffer for this!”
“I am not Zephrim…”, the entity laughed. “I am Nemesis!”
