Ninth Jump (Light of Terra DLC 1: Part 9)

The Herald and the Decapitator

            The room was filled with sparks and the roar of a chainsword, the occasional ting as the swords clashed in the darkness of ship. The glow of his tattoos, the sparks from the clash of our weapons, and the subtle glow of the chainsword were the only bits of light that either of us had to see the other… He didn’t need such things, however. Only I required the light.

            I parried each of his strikes, occasionally getting caught by the extension from the top of his cleaver that seemed to be placed just for the purpose of stabbing into his opponent’s shoulders, their arms… I couldn’t even see the purpose of my armor at this point as it did little to truly stop any of the injuries that he imposed on me. With every attack, he simply dipped out of the way of the chainsword, leaving tracks of torn metal and severed pipes in its wake whenever we got close to other objects.

            With a heavy grunt I brought the chainsword down with both hands, his blade turning to parry the attack. His two free hands came up to slam into my stomach at once and push me back, causing me to stumble in the process. The mandrake followed up with a sharp kick to my chest, sending me straight to the ground with a thud and a ding as I landed into a pile of pipes. By the time I recovered, his sword was coming around in a wide sweep.

            My free hand grabbed a pipe and brought it up to block the sword, the pipe being pushed close with the extension of his cleaver slowly pushing into my cheek. It was a sharp pain, the taste of decades-old blood (If there was such a thing) and metal filling my mouth and the giggles of the Mandrake in my ears. He leaned forward, pushing the pipe ever closer. With a quick twist of my body and a wild swipe of my chainsword, I knocked away his sword, barely managing to keep it from tearing a chunk out of my cheek in the process. On the return swing, I managed to glance his thigh with the chain, sending blood and flesh into the air in the process.

            I dropped the pipe and pushed myself forward, my arm coming up to slam my first into the part of his leg that I had just tore into. That earned me a rather high pitched, unearthly shriek as I forced him back with my shoulder. The mandrake simply hopped back, his leg obviously a hint more unstable after the injury, but he could still stand on it.

            “Well... At least I drew some blood…” I muttered, the warmth spreading from my cheek to my jaw reminding me that he had done the same… Not counting the other scratches and holes in me from before. “Since I may die here… Mind if I monologue?” I asked the creature with no real reason for doing so. He simply re-positioned his sword and showed his teeth, his featureless face spreading and then being replaced by a maw of teeth that could only be called spears. “I have killed more than you have in your millennia… In just over a century…”

            I started as he stepped forward, I parried and brought my sword around to keep him at bay with a quick swipe. “I am no hero…” I stepped up, bringing my sword around on a return strike, the mandrake ducking and bringing two of his arms out to slam into my gut. I brought my knee up to block the first one, the second managing to hit me with reduced force by denying him the full motion. “I am no king... no emperor…”

            He knocked my leg out of the way and brought his cleaver around, forcing me to drop back and roll away to get some distance. “I don’t even truly run the planet I helped colonize. I am simply a murderer. The one who single-handedly killed an entire planet with only his hands…” I stepped up and took a few wild swipes at the mandrake, the very slight hesitation that I felt slowly ebbing away. Even after a century, I still hesitated just a hint.

            My opponent dodged and parried, taking a step back as I continued forward. “Over seven billion people… I watched over seven billion people die… Every face…” Sparks filled the air as he parried another strike. “Every voice…” Another attack went off to the side as I continued forward, never giving him the chance to counter. I remembered back when I was careful… When death was something I hated… Something I avoided. “Every drop of blood that I shed!” My weapon caught his sword, the teeth digging into the metal of his sword as I pushed forward, willingly allowing the extension to dig into my shoulder just so that I could look him in the eye.

            “I killed every single person… Men… Women… Children… The old, the sick, the healthy, it didn’t fucking matter!” My free hand reached out as he tried to pull away, my fingers latching onto one of his wrists as another hand was wildly punching at my ribs. I grunted and gasped with every strike till I eventually pulled my sword away, metal splinters flying through the air as I tore it free. With a wild strike, I brought it down into one of his arms, blood and gore flying into the air as his limb was severed, his jaw opening wide in pain.

            The mandrake stumbled away, my hand releasing him so that he was free to do so. “Do you know why I continued the slaughter in the end? I didn’t do it because I liked it… I hated it… I despised my actions… Those screams imprinted on my very psyche…” With a cry of anger, he rushed forward, wildly swinging at me as I did my best to parry and deflect his blows until one caught me by surprise. The blade switched from one hand to another and went down toward my neck. Without thinking, I brought my left hand up to try and catch it… Terrible idea. It pushed through my arm, down to the elbow before the return sweep removed it from shoulder.

            With a voiceless cry, I fell back to the ground, blood gushing from my arm as I focused on simply staying conscious, the chill of shock hitting me as if death had finally came to collect its dues. The creature advanced, his sword coming up and then down like a guillotine. Fighting that pull to the end, I grabbed my chainsword and raised up as quickly as I could. I drove the weapon straight into his chest as his sword came into my other arm at an odd angle, the metal going through the shoulder into the bones, severing tendons and arteries as it went.

            He froze, blood and gore flying till we were both covered and my nerves were severed, releasing the trigger on the sword in the process. “I… I did it so I… So I could stop it. So I could reverse what I had started…” I sniffled, my face slowly going pale as I felt consciousness slowly drain from me. “And be the only one… to remember the atrocities that I committed… Th-The self-imposed torment a-and guilt… for Remorse…” The creatures eyes widened as if he had just learned who he had been hunting as his own life drained away from him. It was one of terror, but also a sense of pride. I let go of the sword’s hilt and simply leaned in to rest my head against the flat metal that protected the internals of the sword. Blood-coated or not.

            I could hear footsteps, I thought… Interesting… Wonder how long it would take for me to finish bleeding out. “Odd final thoughts… Jumping fucks everyone’s mind up…” I stated, my lips curling into a small smile. “Knowing myself… I am not dead yet…” My voice trailed off, the air exhaling slowly as everything went dark. No light at the end of the tunnel, no afterlife, not even waking up back home. Instead, I woke up back on the planet that I called my home for this universe with the green-haired woman, Lina, standing over me, apparently checking my vitals.

            All I could do was grin, a few warm tears running down my cheeks. Oddly enough… I felt… Better… Not physically, hell no… but, mentally… “Heh… I am a stubborn bastard…” Granted, when I spoke, Lina jumped about ten feet high and let out a scream of both surprise, joy, and maybe indicating that she was on a drug of some kind.

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra DLC 1: Part 8)

The Decapitator’s Hunt

            I woke up on the ground, a cold sweat adorning my forehead. I glanced around for a moment, a few pairs of feet in front of me with one person… I think it was Lina who was speaking with a worried expression. My ears were ringing, leaving me unable to hear anything that they were saying. I knew that Lina was speaking, but I was unsure about the others.

            Through sheer will, I reached up to grab hold of the nearest thing, which happened to be an armored hand. I think it was Arlissa and my assumption was shown to be correct as she pulled me up to my feet. I sadly couldn’t read lips, so I simply spoke. “He’s coming. The Decapitator… Mandrake… He’s here.” I stated, the woman’s eyebrows raising up in surprise as she seemed to recognize the title.

            They moved me over to the bed and, after a few moments, I eventually settled down. We spoke for a time, but after they pushed my worries off to the side, we came up with a plan to transfer the contents of their ship to our own and then move to one of the worlds. It didn’t take long and, with the help of my crew, it was completed very quickly. During the visit, we picked up a few partial STCs that still seemed to be functioning… Aka, mini-factories and blueprints, along with a Vivisection Gage, which I gave to Lina… and the Pleician Tome, which I gave to Fia as she would have the best chance of understand it. With time, of course.

            As we were climbing back onto the ship, having had to camp out for a few hours to let the Void Kraken pass by, I felt a sudden, heavy chill fill the air. It was quite dark, the black star hidden away by the very planet we were on and the only light being that from my own ship and the embers of the fire we had made. I didn’t realize it until I heard Cierra call out ‘Duck, Tadek!’, the Sister of Battle rushing forward with her chainsword in hand. I ducked just in time to avoid the sweep of a large cleaver.

            Arlissa grabbed me with one hand and tossed me off to the far side, toward the other three Sisters as she attacked what appeared to be a humanoid figure. I could only see it by the glowing, green tattoos that adorned it’s body, a few rather sadistic giggles coming from it’s general direction as if it was a butcher going to the slaughter.

            The cry of the chainsword filled the air as they began to attack one another, Arlissa’s power armor protecting her as the mandrake ducked and evaded her attacks, the cleaver gleaming in the light with every swing. It moved it’s weapon from one hand to another, going around in wide circles in such a manner that it was difficult to tell where it might come from at any given time.

            Just as the being had arrived, it vanished without warning. “Get to the ship!” I called out, followed soon by the other three and, of course, Arlissa took heed. We all retreated toward the ship, which was thankfully a short distance away. I was in the back, the mandrake appearing in front of me and, in an instant it slammed the extended point of it’s cleaver into my shoulder, my armor managing to stop the rest of it’s… his… weapon, but that did not help as he simply jumped and grabbed Fia in-between his legs, his other two arms reaching out to grab the other two Sisters by their necks and, in one quick motion, spun and brought his limbs in close.

            I cried out in agony as the extension turned and duck further into my body, forcibly pulling me along as the others were slammed into one another, the audible sounds of their unprotected heads bashing into each other like coconuts while I went to the ground, going over onto my back with a thud and a cloud of dust.

            The mandrake TORE his sword out, hooking it before pulling it out with a sharp twist, tearing tendons and muscle as he went that happened to be on the outer portion of my shoulder. With a flourish of his blade, he brought it up high and then down like a guillotine toward my neck.

            Just as I thought that I was dead, sparks filled my sight as a chainsword came into view. Arlissa apparently saved my ass a second time today, if not a third. ‘Come then, Daemon! Fight someone who knows the Emperor is behind her every swing!’ She called out and forced the blade back, following up with a sharp jab toward the mandrake’s jaw. Her armored fist slammed into him, but he simply pulled back, rolling with the punch and brought his blade around toward her neck.

            I moved to climb back up to my feet, watching as she parried the strike and moved to riposte, the mandrake turning to the side and attempted to grab her neck with one of his hands, a second following up just after the first at a farther distance than the first on purpose. The Celestian pulled back to dodge the first, unaware of the second as her poor depth perception and having only one eye practically hid it from view.

            With a quick snap motion, I drew my pistol, having lost my plasma gun when I fell, and shot toward the mandrake, just barely able to see him from my current position as his fingers closed around her throat and a third hand reached to grab the wrist of her weapon hand. The three bullets that I shot missed as he turned and physically lifted Arlissa over his head, using her armored body to protect him… I should have seen that coming… and slammed her into the ground.

            To make a point, he brought his foot down onto head with a sickening crunch… I couldn’t see where he hit, specifically, but no matter where that could not have been good as her body went limp. He turned toward me, my gaze turning toward the other three Sisters that were just now starting to stir even a hint. He was after me, more than likely. The mental image, the fact he went after me first when there was a bigger threat. With that knowledge, I turned and sprinted off toward the wreckage of a large ship that we had cleared out to try and draw him away.

            With a loud crash, I slammed into a torn portion of the hull and forced my way inside, stumbling all the way before running into a pipe. I continued on and moved through the ship as quickly as I could. I knew as soon as I was forced to duck under the quick swing of a large cleaver that he had took the bait. I continued on through the ship, evading attacks as I went by just a hair and, more often than not, that was much more literal as the top of my head was cut down to the length I kept it back home on all sides, my ears nicked and bleeding in quite a few places along with a few scratches along my neck and cheeks.

            It wasn’t until he went for my legs, the hook in his sword slamming into my leg, just below the middle of the thigh where my own momentum led to it tearing into my muscle and through the right side. The metal creaked and gave way as my weight hit it, breaking away and leaving me to fall to the cargo hold that was hidden away by years of dust and sand. I laid there, one of my hands grabbing at my thigh while the other pulled me forward.

            The pain was agonizing, my blood leaving a trail that he could easily follow. Now that I was crippled, he even appeared, giggling as he slowly followed along… Savoring it. He was savoring his final kill. I slowly pulled myself up close to a bench, turning and curling back up against the piece of metal that just hanged on the wall to look toward him. “Shit… Not how I thought I would die… The one time I didn’t just fight.”

            In defiance, I reached for my pistol, but only came to realize that I dropped it when I fell, so… I simply reached back underneath the bench to try and find something. Anything. Just anything to try and take this monster with me. My hands closed around a handle, one finger locking around a trigger of sorts. Well, better than I thought I would get… Damned convenient.

            Thinking it was a gun, I waited till he was close and started to raise his blade up for the finishing blow before quickly bringing it out and pulling the trigger. Instead of a bang and him dropping, he jumped back quickly to avoid the rolling coils of a chainsword. It was pitch black, even the teeth that barely gleamed in the light that came from the mandrake’s body. “Not convenient enough… but, I will take it.” I muttered as I set the chainsword down on the tip and forced myself up to my feet. “Fucking convenient for you, though, heh… I am already wounded and you’re just letting me monologue. Going to work for your final head?!”

            I turned to face him and hefted the chainsword up so that I could wrap both my hands around the handle, one of my thumbs coming to find a switch. With a quick flick of my thumb, the teeth of the chainsword lit up along the edges, small sparks of electricity arcing across. “Well then? Any words?” He replied with a small flourish, positioning his blade up high with two hands while the other arms readied themselves. “Right… Well, as a friend of mine said… I came into this world kicking, screaming, and covered in blood… and I will go out just the same!”

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra DLC 1: Part 7)

Hmm… Starting to Wonder Why I Came Here…

((OOC Note: A few of the NPC statements are written in the jump, not by me.))

            The few soldiers that I brought along and me pulled ourselves out of the airlock after it had opened, the atmosphere having already vented and the artificial gravity having been turned off. As we came out, I fired off a two-round burst of plasma at one of the flying men that were coming toward us. “All this from an auspex, heh. Wonderful!” I stated over the radio, which someone commented ‘Sir, that was a vox, not an auspex.’, just as one of the Hollow Men, as one of the men called them as they seemed to be hollow suits, came close enough that I had to grab him by the hydraulic claw and, after hooking my foot into one of the maintenance handles on the ship, spin him around into the ship.

            “Now is not the time for the correction, Virginia!” I brought up my boot and slammed my heel into the face plate to keep him pinned down, my plasma gun coming up to blast my opponent straight in the chest. As eruptions of plasma came out from around us, one of the other soldiers took out one of the other Hollow Men that had come up behind me.

            It was so odd… Fighting in an environment where there physically was no up or down in the end, simply just a void where you had no landmarks that could truly tell you where you are. I found that out rather quickly as someone came from above and below me. I pushed away from the body in front of me, having just barely seen the reflection of someone above me in the man’s faceplate. They collided with what I would think was a thud, the sound that would normally greet my ears nowhere to be found. That was one other issue… I couldn’t rely on my sense of hearing.

            With a pull of the trigger, I fired one shot at each, taking just a second to try and aim properly as to not hit my own ship with the heat and power of a sun. “How is everyone doing?” I asked over the vox… Not an auspex, a vox… aka a radio, only to be greeted with the garbled cries of one of my men. I turned my head off to the side, catching sight of one of the Hollow Men driving their claw into the man’s gut and tearing out his intestines in a growing, floating mass of blood.

            As I was about to fire my shots off toward them, being unable to truly turn all I could do was bring the plasma gun around and try to fire. Before I could, however, I felt something grab my ankle and pull me closer toward the source. A Hollow Men brought up what looked like a tiny, industrial wielder. To avoid the fate of being filled and cut with plasma, I brought my elbow around to slam it into their faceplate before simply grabbing the wielder, using them to turn myself around, and, after prying the tool out of their grasp, put it too their jet pack and pulled the trigger.

            That was a STUPID idea on my part. Apparently their packs were chemical-based, which resulted in the pack exploding in a hail of fire and metal shards as I pulled the trigger. Everything went black in that moment, the only feeling being a mix of burning, the sensation of tiny objects entering my body, and my back slamming up against the ship before I completely blacked out.

            A voice slowly faded in as I awoke, it was feminine and one that I had heard many times before on the aus- vox as I traveled her. ‘Well aware as I am that I shall not like the answer, I will still ask. Why are they so… sticky?’ I thought over that statement for a moment, but before I could open my mouth to ask a question, any question I had was answered for me. ‘I wanted to make sure our savior wasn’t hurt, so I rubbed ointment all over their body while they slept while I removed the shrapnel.’

            Well, at least I recognized the voices- All over?! Before I could stop myself, I quickly burst up off of the bed, my muscles burning like righteous fire as I came face-to-face with a copper haired woman who had a rather discomforting grin on her face. I was going to blurt out in a mix of curses and other obscenities at my personal space being ignored, but instead I simply went quiet… For one, there was a woman barely an inch away from my face and because my muscles slowly gave out, forcing me to fall back down onto the bed.

            The copper-haired, pixie-like woman said ‘Hiiiiiiiiii.’ As she slowly leaned in a bit too close for my comfort, one of my hands shakingly raising up to set itself on her face to try and keep her at a distance. She didn’t seem to mind as she continued to speak. ‘Are you alright? Do you need more ointment? For your body.’ She dragged out the word “body” for a wee bit too long, but was silenced as my hand moved down and simply covered her lips.

            The towering, dark-haired woman who apparently could pull off wearing a monocle and possessing a scar over one of her eyes, which seemed to be closed meaning that she might not be able to see through it. Wasn’t a gruesome scar, but still, it honestly wasn’t that bad. Her body was clad in black power armor, which told me exactly what I was about to hear. ‘Please, excuse the behavior of initiate Lina. While she will one day make an exceptional Sister of one of the Orders Hospitaler, her zeal and drive to heal the faithful does sometimes get the better of her.’

            As I started to sit back up by force, one of my hands reaching up to gently rub my ribs where I had felt a few bits of shrapnel hit, the woman took a moment to clean her monocle. “Tis’ fine. Nothing against her… I just enjoy my personal space, but I thank you for helping me.” I gave a small nod to Lina, who never really seemed to drop that smile. ‘Good. Oh, how very rude of me. I am of course, Celestian Arlissa Val’Rayan of the Order of the Obsidian Rose, and these are my initiates, Initiate Lina, our medic and a prospective member of one of the Orders Hospitaler, Initiate Fia.’

            She gestured over to another young woman in the room, one who had green hair who sat quietly in the far corner. From what I could tell, she seemed to be reading a collection of sermons by Archdeacon Malovich. Though, at the bottom I could just barely see the question of ‘Can love bloom on the battlefield?’ from a second book that was apparently hidden away by the first.

            I turned my attention back over to Celestian Arlissa, who apparently noticed the second book by the very small hint of annoyance on her expression. ‘Our expeditions record keeper, who one day hopes to be accepted into one of the Orders Dialogous. Making up the last of our merry, little quartet is Initiate Cierra, who should she ever deign to spend more time studying and less time cooking will doubtless prove to be an exceptionally capable member of the Orders Famulous, the diplomatic corps of the Orders Sororitas.’ The woman paused in her rather long-winded descriptions, glanced me over, before continuing as if she had made a decision. ‘It occurs to me, my Rogue Trader friend, we may be of use to each other here.’

            “Rogue Trader? Eh, closest thing to what I am, I suppose. Now if only I had the documents.” That was a rather idiotic thing to say to a Sister of Battle, quite obvious by her raised eyebrow. ‘Then what are you?’ She asked as I slowly climbed out of the bed with a groan, thankfully finding out that I still had pants… though, the blanket stuck to every part of my body that it could. “One of the leaders of an independent planet. Granted, I am the one in charge of leaving said planet to get things done, so… Close enough.”

            With a grin, I took a moment to stretch and pry the blanket off of my body. Initiate Lina took it upon herself to help, even wiping me off, which I quickly took a few steps away from the woman when the towel she was using seemed to vanish. “But, I am still inclined to help you all out. You seem nice enough and I do at least owe you an escort out of here.”

            Celestian Arlissa studied me for another moment as I walked over to where my armor was laid out and began to slip into the suit. ‘Very well. We don’t truly have any other options. By the way… Where did you pick up that xenos technology? That is strictly prohibited.’ I raised my shoulders up and glanced over toward her. “It was a gift from a friend. Kept me alive this whole time, heh.” I slipped into the armor, quietly chatting with the three that were present while honestly wondering where Cierra was.

            My curiosity was sated as this 6’ 3”, very curvy, yet obviously in the athletic sense, woman came walking in with what appeared to be a pot of some form of stew. From the look of the meat, it was from our stores, but… No complaints considering how good it smelt. It was set on a tray along with a small cup of tea, which the tea was quickly passed over to Arlissa. The painfully cheerful woman passed out the stew in little bowls just as I slipped on the rest of my armor… Of course, no helmet. “Ah, thank you. You must be Cierra.”

            As I took the bowl of stew and moved to sit back down on the bed, she placed the tray down and spoke. ‘Mhm! Celestian Arlissa already introduced me? Awwww… Was hoping to introduce myself properly. With something to eat and something sweet for our savior!’ She stated just as I started to take a spoonful of the stew into my mouth. “Well, it’s nice to have you all on board.” The stew was absolutely perfect. Tender meat, the vegetables practically melted on contact… just the way I like it… and spiced to perfection. Though, I sadly wasn’t able to enjoy it for long before I was assaulted by a psychic flash.

            All I could see was a place between reality and the immaterium, a place that was close, yet as far as the other side of the universe at the same exact moment. A haggard, unkempt, four-armed man with green glowing lines across his pitch-black skin sitting near a heap of skulls.

            Every last skull stared at the exact same spot, the supernatural terror weighing heavily upon what made up reality and blocked all else. They were perfect in appearance, almost as if a decrepit artist had created his very dreams, but it still appeared that he was searching for something. Sometimes the man would adjust them ever so slightly, pick them up and sniff them like a flower that was bred for just that purpose and other times he would even lick them.

            It was as if he was taking care of a temple, making sure that nothing was out of place, not even by a millimeter. I could sense it, though… That one spot that they all stared at was nothing except for a point of focused horror, of the psychic terror that assaulted whoever may be trapped inside of those skulls. There seemed to be one empty space, though… Just one within the pile of thousands.

            The figure seemed to come to a decision and stepped into a shadow, no… through a shadow… dragging a large, cleaver-like blade with a sharp point extending out from the uppermost portion of the blade. He was there and then he was elsewhere… Standing on top of a ship that appeared to be floating just above the Pre-emptive retaliation. The haggard figure grinned and began to giggle, his pointed teeth showing just enough. I knew what he wanted… He wanted my skull to add to the pile… And only mine.

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra DLC 1: Part 6)

Pre-Emptive Retaliation: Firestorm Class Frigate (Free)

Choir of Righteous Fury------ (Free)

Celestian Arlissa Val’Rayan: Find out later.

Orders Hospitaler Initiate Lina: Find out later.

Orders Dialogous Initiate Fia: Find out later.

Orders Famulous Initiate Cierra: And find out later.

Other Stuff--------------

Vivisection Gage (-200cp): An elbow-length gauntlet with various instruments for surgery, dissection, or... of course... vivisection. Includes laser cutters, bio-solvents, auto-injectors, shears, and flensing instruments. Oh, it is even made from adamantine and ceremite... Can be worn in combat because of that.

The Pleician Tome (-500cp): A book from the Dark Age of Technology about various forms of technology and the like. Wonderful!... Too bad I can't read it. Hope I find someone that can.

Banestrike Rounds (-200cp): An STC that makes bolts that were made to penetrate Space Marine power armor. Wonderful.

Hellfire Rounds (-200cp): An STC that makes bolts with thousands of tiny needles and a well of a powerful acid... Whoever invented these was a sadist.

Inferno Rounds (-200cp): An STC that makes bolts that have their core replaced with Promethium... In other words super napalm.

Metalstorm Rounds (-200cp): An STC that makes bolts that have a greater explosive charge, a fragmentation casing, and a proximity detonator. Rapid fire grenades... Amazing.

Black Death (-300cp): An unadorned, completely black chainsword with both sides of the chain uncovered. As a note, it is special and I sadly can't say anything about it's story, but it is a power chainsword. Good luck stopping it from cutting into anything.

Complications--------

Skirmish with the Hollow Men (+400cp)

Decay, The Second World (+600cp)

Kheradruakh, The Decapitator (+0cp and required): NO! Not him. No, no, no, no... Not without my powers. He's a named, special NPC in the actual lore. His name actually translates to "He who hunts heads and cuts them off". His own kind fear him and they don't even fear Daemon Princes!

Void Kraken (+500cp)

Final CP: 950cp

If I wasn’t fighting, this would be awesome!

            The auspex, if I may be so proper as to call the radio what everyone else did, was turned off when it was handed to me, but as soon as I turned it on a rather discomforting string of static and popping noises, the signal obviously quite weak as it direct from the tower we had built a few weeks back to the auspex, itself.

            After a few moments, it led into a few hours of what seemed to be the exact same message. Distress signals, cheerful sounds of someone apparently catching sight of a rescue vessel… And then the sickening, grotesque sounds of someone’s flesh being torn into, their screams filling my ear as my face went a little white. The Kin of Iron that brought me the radio looking at me with a sudden amount of worry, Carwyn only stopping to check on me once she realized that my usual comments ceased.

            He/She stepped over and actually asked if I was alright and I simply gave a small shake of my head. “I have seen and done a lot… but, the sounds… They’re something a little different.” I stated as the messages eventually turned into a simple garble as the signal started to give out. However, there was only one good thing… From the repeated messages, I doubted that it was anything new.

            Just before I pulled the auspex away from my ear, it blurted out a few coordinates and went silent. With a shaky breath, I handed the device back over to the Kin and asked a simple question. “Is the ships working? Not the Light of Terra… The transports we found floating nearby and that little escort ship… Are they working?” He gave a little nod and Carwyn took it upon themselves to ask what the Kin was probably thinking. ‘Why are you asking?’

            I glanced over her way and gave a quick huff through my noses and recomposed myself with a grin. “I am going to do something stupid and see what the heck is out at those coordinates.” That was met with a small bit of shock from the Eldar, who looked quite worried for some reason, but they did not stop me. Within the week I was on my way out as the captain of my own ship that we had named the “Pre-emptive Retaliation”.

            As I traveled, I was occasionally greeted with a few more messages from the auspex. Occasionally they were good, occasionally bad… but, it was always the same exact people for some reason. It was as if they were lost in time and space in a way, going through different events in different ways. With a sharp huff, I closed my little dataslate and set it off to the side. Nothing but the expanse of the void in front of me, a few people moving around to keep everything in working order.

            That was until the ship began to shake, the starless void in front of us seeming to fold in on itself before tearing apart, the lights and speakers of the ship going wild before everything suddenly went still. It took a moment for me to pick myself up off the floor that I had somehow ended up on as reality had gone through a seizure, but what I was greeted with was quite… Interesting and both the greatest and most horrifying thing I had ever seen in my life.

            Looking out toward what could only be called a gravitational vortex, a dying or even dead star seemingly trapped in a constant state of singularity where it was just on the verge of collapse or simply beginning. Rings of metal floated around the rotting star, ships of all sizes and makes stretching around it in countless droves. They were limitless… Millions upon millions of rusted metal and crafts from millennia past that circled a black star.

            It was poetic, but… hopefully the wormhole or portal stayed stable. It should, but for now my curiosity was going to get the better of me. I ordered the ships to venture forward, slowly weaving through the rusted wrecks that collided with one another endlessly, turning what used to be works of art to mere dust over time as we closed in on the coordinates.

            As we got closer to the coordinates, it did occur to me that I may be able to find something of importance here… Special items that no one could ever find again. My thoughts were pushed off to the side as I caught sight of a light in the darkness, a red ship that held the markings of the Adeptus Sororitas. I didn’t know which order as I was unable to remember the markings of specific orders, but I could still remember who they were. “Never call them Bolter Bitches…”

            I said that exact phrase aloud and motioned for everyone to close in on the ship. As we got closer, one of the workers pointed out that there seemed to be humanoid figures moving across the hull of the ship. They wore roughly armored voidsuits, wielding what appeared to be something akin to hydraulic claws and fusion beamers to cut into and dismantle the ship. “Hmm… Interesting… Wonder how long they have been- SHIT!” I called out as they all turned as one, the black panels of their helmet staring at my ship before they leaped toward us, flames erupting from their backs to show that they had something akin to a jetpack.

            Without any further thought, I motioned for the four soldiers that were on the bridge to come with me and made my way to the airlock. “Grab your weapons everyone, we got parasites to kill.” We all quickly clambered into our own voidsuits. I picked up my plasma rifle and slammed my hand on the switch to activate the airlock. Rather unceremoniously, but we had no time for such things. “You know… If I wasn’t half sure I was going to die out there, I would have to say that floating in zero gravity is probably going to be quite fun… Fighting, not so much.” Just as I finished speaking to the soldiers, we started to float and the airlock opened up. “Alright, everyone! Watch every direction you can think of, if you don’t want to die! Keep your back against the ship!”

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra Part 2: Part 5)

Terraforming-------  (0 TP) Who let me handle the terraforming!?

Atmosphere: Terraformable (-1 TP): A little thin, but nothing that we can't fix with a little time and a lot of plants.

Terrain: Mountainous (-1 TP): Mountains... Mountains... Tiny valley... Mountains... Plenty of mineral wealth and easy to defend. Good enough.

Flore/Fauna: Terran (-1 TP): Very, very earth-like... Easy to deal with... Most of the time. At least it is familiar.

Hostile Natives (Tarellians) (+3 TP): They're walking lizards and they really hate us. I can understand why, but it is still going to be an issue.

Character Point Stuff------

None. Keeping it.

Final Character Points: 1250cp

Companion Stuff: Dark Reapers (I don't need to say anything.) and an Exodite Dragon (It's a freaking dinosaur! Great gift!)

Paperwork and Reunions

            It was three full years before I ever saw Carwyn again. Granted, he/she was an Eldar… I don’t doubt that they thought of time as a bit irrelevant and what was a decent span of time to me was barely even a day to them. Still never could figure out what physical sex they were, but that wasn’t really important. At least it gave me some time to work around the settlement and get everything in order.

            The council and I had took a vote within the first few weeks to decide upon who would handle settlement-wide affairs and anything that required leaving the planet, both allowing others to leave once we were able to get ships operational once again and actually going with them to accomplish certain tasks, such as trading with new groups. As an outsider who did not have family or long-time friends on the planet, I was voted to handle such affairs.

            The old man who led the Kin of Iron, who actually retained their name as they also handled their form of religion, physically stated that ‘As someone who knows not of our ways and brought us together to begin with, it harms fewer for you to handle neutral issues.’, which I could not disagree with… Besides, most of them did vote for me to do so.

            As things got underway, we had to handle the natives who we could not physically communicate with, sadly. The attacks slowed our progress, but the mountains did help in providing us with areas of reprieve and defense by building into nooks and crannies that they could not easily get to. We took the time to tunnel our way through the rock and stone, the mineral wealth making the building of various defenses, tools, the production of materials, and simple buildings was quite the boon.

            To circumvent the atmosphere, we used the starting supplies and a few of the Void Walkers, who handled exploration due to their hardy constitutions and experience being off by themselves, with a few Wargar and Pale Sons for protection and testing (The Pale Sons could handle toxins and radiation to the point where they could detect such things without truly being harmed by it.), to find already existing plantlife to farm and to thicken the atmosphere. As a side note, the atmosphere did make our lungs stronger, heh…. Though, we did lose a few due to terrain issues.

            At least the flora and fauna were recognizable and not too alien… More earth-like than I was expecting, honestly. Within those three years we were able to build a solid settlement with proper defenses and infrastructure that kept us relatively safe. The tribes were working together, most of which stayed within specific roles depending on their skillset, but they were free to intermingle… Something that had not occurred in who knows how long.

            Kin of Iron handled construction, research, and general crafting… Void Walkers were explorers, Pale Sons helped in more dangerous environments (Primarily the mines, though, they were free to do other tasks), Wargars provided protection from the natives and other hazards, and the Lejens helped with all four tasks to provide, primarily, order and training in tasks that they might not be used to handling. Though, that was the case for everyone, the Lejens were used to stabilize everything as a form of leadership, but they held no actual power over the rest.

            At the three year mark, give or take a few months, I was working around the edge of the wall observing a few of the workers putting together a gun emplacement over the gate when I heard the march of what sounded like a small war party from the clicking of equipment to the nearly-synced sound of their footsteps landing at the same time. My worries were put at ease when one of the workers called out ‘Sir! Your friend’s back!’. I turned around to see Carwyn walking along with a party of Eldar. They were all clad in what appeared to be black and bone colored, heavy armor that held a rather disturbing skeleton motif with various rocket launchers and other heavy weapons in hand as they advanced. Beside the Eldar that I knew, who was now wearing the armor of a Farseer… Seemed someone got a handy promotion… was a nine foot tall dinosaur-like creature with a harness. It was obviously a carnivore, but it seemed fairly tame… I couldn’t remember the exact species is was like, but it had fairly solid pigmentation and, while it was like a T-Rex, it still had functioning arms.

            All I could remember was that the thing was from the Exodite Eldar and they called them dragons. The Farseer stepped up as I waved a hand. “Ah, long time, no see… To me, anyways. You would think with your webway, you would be back before supper. Leaving me with all the work.” I grinned, obviously just trying to make a joke… A racist and/or insulting joke, but a joke either way. They responded by handing me the lead on the harness. ‘For you. Not… not because I like you or anything.’ I could just feel the word “baka” straining to sound out… But, they didn’t know that word. ((OOC note: That was actually in the jump PDF, I did not write in that statement about what they said.))

            I accepted the leash with a hum, my lips curling up just very slightly. “Thank you. Though… How much do I feed it? I don’t think we have that many animals…” They simply glanced off, blushed a hint, and muttered what sounded like the word ‘Idiot Mon-keigh’ under their breath and went toward the settlement. I simply led the freaking dinosaur into the settlement along behind them. “Baka-baka-baka-baka.” I repeated as a joke to myself, earning me a huff and a glare from my friend(?) as we went along.

            At least that was taken care of and with the new troops, our troubles with the natives became much easier to handle with fewer attacks now that we had rather heavy weapons on our side… And properly trained soldiers. Though… I had a really odd feeling that I was going to hate something… I didn’t know what, I didn’t know when, I just really felt troubled by something… and then someone came running with a radio stating they were getting destress signals. Never a break around here.

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra Part 1 and the start of Part 2: Part 4)

A bit of Chat and Blood

            We all stood within a little room that was only filled with a few dataslates and a circular table, the Void Walkers and the Kin of Iron looking at me with a hint of distaste. The only reason they even allowed me into the camp, where I was actually at a disadvantage, was perhaps because of the fact that they are not the most violent. The Kin simply want to continue traditions and normally speak to the other tribes while the Void Walkers wanted to survive more than anything else. Come to find out, the reason why they were so deep inside the ship was because the Wargars were attacking around the edges of the ship… No wonder we didn’t run into them.

            ‘We do not see you as a friend… Tadak was it? You are new.’ Stated the Void Walker’s leader with a long, wispy tone to his voice. The old man spoke up soon after. ‘We truly don’t. Your tech is not of our own and your friend hasn’t been kind to the tribes.’ He stated, motioning out toward the Eldar who was standing next to me. I quickly held up a hand and mentally asked Carwyn not to speak… Thankfully, they did as I asked. “I realize that, but I am proposing something that will benefit everyone on this ship. If we can get it running again, which is possible according to the captain, we can get it to a repair station and no longer be stuck here.”

            The old man scowled, glancing over toward the leader of the Void Walkers, a man that was more frost-bitten than healthy flesh. ‘And what do you propose, hmm? More bloodshed? I doubt the Wargars will speak with us and the Pale Sons are monsters. You may have freed us of the Redeemers, which is the only reason I even let you get this far… Don’t see only six of them after a group unless that was all that was left of their clan. Happened once before…’ The Void Walker held up a hand to the old man for a moment as he looked to me. ‘The Wargars are attacking my people. We are a hardy people, but we do not fight. We know what is on the outside of the world… It is cold, airless… Dangerous… Perhaps we could introduce them?’

            “We could, but that would include more bloodshed.... The Wargars only fight, correct? I was originally going to try and get them to fight the Redeemers… but, I don’t see how we might avoid the fighting. Void Walkers… I offer you a chance at existing somewhere that isn’t near the void of space, doesn’t involve scrounging for warmth and air. If we can get the ship working again, we can get somewhere safe… A planet.” The old man spoke up, his free hand slamming against the table to get our attention. ‘And what will you give us, hmm? Before we speak of genociding an entire tribe!? Another one… And the Pale Sons are of no real trouble.’ He stated, Carwyn giving them each a rather annoyed glance… As well as me, but still.

            “I have a plan for the Pale Sons… If they are willing to work with us, they can finally have a comfortable home. If not… Well… That may be three tribes that were destroyed. If we must. We give you, the Kin of Iron… The chance to continue your religious practices and expand them. Once we have a solid home, you will no longer be so focused on survival as to not increase your knowledge of technology.” They each took a moment to think over the offers for a moment, as well as the possibility of being free of the constant war that the Wargar bring and the mutations of the Pale Sons, who they considered filthy, heretical outcasts.

            They thought it over, but eventually agreed to help. From there, we made a plan… To introduce the Wargar to the void of space to take them out to the point that they could be convinced to join and, with the Pale Sons, the Kin of Iron stated that they would take the task of handling them. I sadly agreed to such a thing and, before the end of the week, the Pale Sons were evicted through the cargo hold and the remaining were pressured into joining our little accord.

            Back at the base of the Aquil Lejens, the Sarjant and his dead squadmates were put to rest in a funeral pyre built from a mix of promethium and rusted, metal rods to hold the bodies.

            It took a few months, but eventually the repairs were complete. I slid the final piece into place, the ship suddenly engulfed in a glowing halo as if it was back to its prime when the Emperor was still conquering the various planets in the galaxy. It was rather… heartwarming in a way. The Captain steered us toward the repair station, the robotic message that came from the station welcoming the ship and all of us to port. Apparently it was just a large warship and not a space hulk… No wonder it wasn’t extremely massive.

            Eldar and me eventually found some form of common ground during those months… I had allowed them to see a few of my memories… A hundred years of experience (Glossing over the genocide of the Twilight Universe) and the various things that I have done in so many universes. Though, they simply got more annoying and much more arrogant. I don’t know why… Perhaps it was because I proved them wrong and they were forced to reevaluate their thoughts of me.

            They didn’t seem to enjoy that fact, but the minute amount of respect they seemed to have of me after that event made working together a hint easier. However, while we were simply relaxing at one point as the ship floated into place at the repair station, he/she looked over to me for a moment, seemed to blush, and then just stated ‘Can’t believe the clumsy Mon-keigh was able to even have a chance of accomplishing this.’… My response was simple. “… You’re a Tsundere… That is precious…”

            Once we were on the automated repair station, I looked back to glance over the torn and disrepaired hull of the ship, atmosphere bleeding out from gashes in the hull and a few pieces of armor and décor falling away as the large, crane-like arms moved into position to begin working upon the ship. To my surprise, I was actually greeted by Wirginia and Medusa, who couldn’t merge with me at this moment in time for some reason.

            With everyone together and after a full twenty four hours of making sure that everyone was off of the ship with the needed planetary supplies that came with the Imperial Guard regiment that used to live within the large warship, all meant to retake a world during the Crusade.

            With a small amount of cheer… of accomplishment filling me, I sent them to the surface to begin setting everything up. The supplies and equipment, multiple millennia having passed since they were last touched, were difficult to move and to work, but they were good enough for us to begin preparations for the civilization. It would be difficult at first, but… Soon enough it would be much easier. Though, I had no idea where the Eldar ran off to after a while… Something to think about another time, considering they left without even saying a word.

            It took a month or two for everyone to set up, the lights of forming civilizations mere glowing dots pinpointing where every tribe, now mixed to form proper towns and villages where every role was filled… Something they had eventually asked me to handle at first. For everyone, but the Redeemers, however… their leadership was with me as a council. Proper. With a few plans in mind as to how to properly set up the world, I made for the planet with a few crates of random Pre-Heresy equipment.

            As the ship landed and we dragged the equipment off of the ship, I finally took the chance to check to see what it actually consisted of. As I brushed away some of the dust and pulled back the tarp, I was greeted with a surprise and something I never thought I would ever get the chance to work with… Terraforming equipment… Wonderful. Let’s make a planet.

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra Part 1: Part 3)

They’re Fucking Ogres… in Space!

            I dived behind the one piece of cover that we had, barely missing the Eldar that had been hiding behind it and firing off blasts of psychic power toward the Ogryn. Fire washed over the cover, roaring over the both of us (And the three squadmates that were currently huddled up against us.) with a roar of righteousness from our enemies. “So… We’ve lost the Sarjant in that blast of fire…” I stated just as a charred corpse flopped onto the ground beside me with a sickening thud. “One of the others is currently being tore in half. They have lost three of their own, but the last seventeen of their tribe are currently running up. Good so far, right?”

            ‘Your kind really have hope where none lie, don’t they?’ Carwyn stated before standing up and launching a beam of psychic energy that tore apart the flesh and bone of one of the Ogryn, the beast of a man falling to the ground. “Yeah, but I have been in worse before. I got a great idea, but it is also terrible and possibly suicidal. You’re a good shot, right?” As I spoke, I pulled the partially depleted hydrogen flask out of my plasma gun and quickly resealed the cell. “Hydrogen isn’t exactly stable in this state... Toss and shoot.”

            Before even giving the Eldar the chance to react, I quickly tossed the cell over the cover toward a group of five Ogryn as they gathered up. Utilizing their hate, the psyker reacted faster than most humans and directed a blast of psychic power toward the hydrogen flask as it closed in on the Ogryn. With a small roar and an eruption of both a bright flash and plasma, the brutes were coated in super-heated matter, a few of their flamers erupting in fire to add to the conflagration.

            We both ducked back down behind the cover as the remaining squad members cheered to themselves with a few claps and nudges, one of which tried to give the Eldar a hug, but ended up with a hand pushing his nose back to keep him at bay. ‘Give me a warning next time.’ He/She stated as I took a moment to reload my plasma gun. “Heh, you’re an Eldar. You’re probably fast enough to do that again. Oh and you’re welcome for the idea.” I gave my companion a smug grin as they glanced over the cover to see if the remaining Redeemers were advancing. ‘Those brutes seem to be going around. That will give us a few moments to run to the staircase. If your brain is developed well enough, I think that you will agree that is the best course of action.’

            “Hmm… We could finish them off, but it might be best. You go ahead with the three we have left. No time to mourn or recover the fallen. Well, except for one…” I grabbed the Sarjant by his burnt, ash-coated arm and dragged him closer. I slipped him over my shoulders as I climbed up to my feet. I handed the plasma gun over to one of the other men and drew my pistol, making sure that the Sarjant’s corpse was slung over my shoulders where I had one hand free. “If we can get to the Kin of Iron, we might be able to find another way around.”

            As we started off toward the staircase, Carwyn glanced my way and motioned for me to drop the dead man’s body. ‘Leave him behind, there is no worth in bringing him along.’ Considering that he/she was an Eldar and held little, if any, value for Humans, I simply gave a small huff and continued through the hallway. “There is sentimental worth… Recovering the dead is important when you can. Your kind have spirit stones, we have bodies. I am sure that you understand.” I stated as we went along. That seemed to silence my new… friend’s… complaints on the spot.

            We got to the staircase just as a few Ogryn burst through a door further down the hallway. “Shit. Run!” I stated as we started down the staircase, the man with the plasma gun shooting at the Ogryn rather blindly as we went. Right… They don’t have guns and he probably has no practice. He slowly backed up till he was at the edge of the staircase from what I saw, but was much too slow. All I heard was the cry of a chainsword and the tearing flesh of the squadmate… Of course, the clanking of an object going down the stairs was an interesting addition.

            At the bottom of the stairs, I handed the body over to one of the final two squadmates. “Keep going. Get Carwyn and your asses to the Kin. I’ll catch up.” I ran up the stairs and caught the plasma gun as it came down before retreating, ducking down to avoid a swipe of an Eviscerator that started to cut into the wall of the stairs. ‘What are you doing, Mon-keigh!?’ I heard from downstairs. I ran past Carwyn and ran off toward the two that had gotten some headway on us, the Eldar just now coming after me. “Something stupid.” I set the plasma gun on its minimal setting and turned around, putting my pistol away as I did.

            As the Ogryn-like beasts came down the stairs, spouting things about the Golden-Man and how we are heretics that must be purged. I fired two-round bursts at each Ogryn that came down the stairs, their sheer size making it difficult for them to come out of the doorway in more than twos. The growing number of bodies made it even more difficult, the plasma tearing through armor and into their flesh with every hit. Because of their size, it wasn’t too difficult to aim for the area around the shoulders and head with decent success.

            As a third one fell, the Eldar stepped up and began to send blasts of power toward the doorway, as well. They began to stack up, however, two more falling before they finally pushed out of the doorway and rushed forward in a growing horde. There were only six left, but we still turn and ran, ducking around a corner that Carwyn led me toward as a gout of fire came forth. We sprinted forward, only managing to catch up to our squadmates simply because of the body they were carrying. ‘You’re trying to get yourself killed, aren’t you?’

            We continued down the hallway and turned another corridor, the Ogryn following right behind us from the sound of the running chainswords and their calls that were apparently pulled from a book on the Imperial Creed, but had been warped over time… and through the apparent loss of their intelligence due to… What did the commander say? In-breeding? Dang it, they’re the stereotypical space hillbillies, too! Either way, we rushed toward the barricade that was set up down the hallway, turrets slowly turning toward us as we approached a bright red line. “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We are here to talk!” I called out, the Ogryn bursting out from the corner and charging toward us from behind. “They aren’t, though!”

            I had hoped that they had heard us and, hopefully, were willing to help us. We got to the very edge of the line just as the turrets redirected themselves and shot overhead. The bullets rain over our heads, the hail of bullets slamming and tearing into the final few Ogryn. I turned, unleashing a few blasts of plasma toward them to make sure that there were none remaining alive before simply backing up toward the slowly opening gate. Well… That was one tribe taken care of. Not in the way I wanted, but it was taken care of.

            Our group was greeted by a small group of what appeared to be men and women that were draped in a mix of scrap metal and torn, red robes with a cog motif, their faces covered in what appeared to be an iron dust of some form. One of them stepped up, an older man leaning against what appeared to be omnissian axe, a long-hafted axe with cog teeth along the blade and a mix of wires wrapped around it. ‘What do you bring, outsider? Besides death and blood. Speak now before we bring the same to you…’

            I simply lowered my plasma gun and turned it off for the moment. “I want to get your home running again. I need your help, if I am going to do that.” He responded by looking over me and my group for a moment before glancing over toward the shadows. Out of the shadows stepped another group of haggard, partially frost-bitten people. ‘Lucky for you, they stopped by… You’re going to need them, too. Convince them and I will join. We want to see our world move once again, as well. Besides, I imagine the Void Walkers would enjoy having the chance to be of use.’ Well, that should be easy enough… Time to negotiate.

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra Part 1: Part 2)

Traveling to the Center of the… Ship?

            We traveled off toward the elevator with a squad in tow. Roughly six guys with a mix of actual combat knives that were nicked and rusted with age, their lazguns having stopped working years before due to misuse or simply having lost the charge packs while others ceased working after too many times being charged in a fire. At least they had fire support in the form of an Eldar psyker and someone with a more-than-functional plasma gun. Speaking of the Eldar…

            As we all walked, we were mostly silent up until the point that we were outside of the usual territory of the Wargar and their patrols. At least we avoided combat with them… At least for the moment. Eventually, however, the Eldar attempted to strike up a conversation with me. Possibly to pass the time, but our view of time was a just a hint different… Though, to me time was not exactly important anymore. Not past ten years, anyways.

            ‘So, your plan is to simply gather the tribes that will cooperate and kill off those who don’t? With rusty knives, spears, and that bulky time bomb.’ He/She commented, reaching over to give my plasma gun a small poke. ‘Do you even know how to fight? Considering I found you floating in the void of space and what? Ten years of actual life experience? I doubt that you could even commit suicide with it.’ While he had a slight point about my general plan, the exact wording of it all was just a little aggravating. ‘Well, since you have me, I am sure that this won’t be the death of you.’

            “I don’t really make longterm plans. I make them as I go as to make it more difficult for others to plan around our plans and simply because the plan can’t go wrong if there never was one.” I said with a grin, the Eldar holding their nose up for just a moment as they walked along beside me, the shuriken catapult in hand. “Besides… This walking time bomb, which it is made well enough not explode, is our ticket to getting through the Redeemers. Long range, straight shot, and against a large target.”

            ‘While I see your point about the Redeemers, I don’t see why you couldn’t just ask me to do the work for you. I wouldn’t want to see the person I saved die because of their pride.’ I let out a sharp huff, giving them a nudge with my elbow as I did. “Says the Eldar. Racist statements aside… Why did you save me, hmm? A man with only pants, floating just outside of an airlock. Oh! And Human. I know how much your kind seem to hate us.” That peaked Carwyn’s interest, at least as much as a Human might be able to.

            ‘Well, you seemed interesting compared to the other… people… around this floating mass of metal. Your signature just appeared within the Warp. No warning, no reason… You just appeared and that drew my attention. There wasn’t even any evidence that you traveled through the warp. It was as if you simply dropped in.’ I hummed softly, thinking back to the last time that I simply dropped into a dangerous world without anything… At least I seemed to have my bodymod at this point ‘What’s a bodymod?’

            I quickly cleared my head as Carwyn spoke, shooting him/her an annoyed glance. “Get out of my head. Didn’t anyone teach you any manners?” With a huff, my hand reached over to grab the top of their head and turn it forward. ‘Did anyone teach you? Granted, I don’t expect a Mon-keigh to ever know something as civil as how to properly socialize.’ I withdrew my hand and set it back down on the grip, my finger straight-out next to the trigger. “Oh, they did… I simply do not use them. Hope you liked what you saw… Next time I will make sure it’s as perverse as possible. That should keep you out.” I half-joked, half-threatened as our party stepped up to the mag-lift.

            One of the tribesman told us to stop flirting as we stepped onto the mag-lift, the first few of our squadmates, then Carwyn and me, then the last two who were keeping their eyes peeled for anyone to come running in while the first two that entered kept the doors peeled open. Once inside, they hit the correct buttons and pulled the lever that activated the mag-lift. ‘Careful everyone. I don’t have to tell everyone else, but for the new guy and the space elf, we will be entering Redeemer territory as soon as we step out of the lift. Have to go through their territory to the staircase and work our way down.’

            As the Sarjant spoke, yes that was how they spelled it, I simply glanced around at what we had to work with. The Eldar and I were plenty, but as far as numbers were concerned… We weren’t doing too well. Five of them, me, and the Eldar. Thankfully… or sadly… the Eldar did not seem to be worrying at all about what we may run into. Great chainswords with underslung, single-shot flamethrowers that were being wielded by eight foot tall, zealous beings that are the equivalent of ogres in this universe. Something to deal with, alright. “If I may make a suggestion… Though, it isn’t my place. If we take out a leg and an arm, we might be able to take one out-“

‘Don’t you think we have already tried that?!’ The Sarjant interrupted with a grunt on his part. I simply held up my plasma gun, then my pistol, and then pointed toward the Elf- Eldar… Elfdar. ‘Oh… Right. Guess we could give it a shot this time. Just be mindful of those flamers. Don’t care if you have plasma or are a mutant, their fire burns hotter than anything besides the reactor.’ He explained while I took a moment to set the plasma gun on its maximal setting, just to be sure that we could fight the Redeemers, if we ran into them. It would require a momentary recharge after every two shots, but at least it would be better than hoping the less-powerful blasts would cripple them.

            I really am hoping that we can convince the Redeemers, or at least the Wargar, to our cause… But, I doubt that I have the proper linguistic skills to accomplish such a feat. “Carwyn. You’re a Warlock… If we see the Redeemers before they see us, would you be able to-“ The Eldar reached over to set their hand on my lips, which I quickly reached up to remove and give them a look. They simply returned the look with one of that was similar to a person looking at a gnawing puppy. ‘Cloud their minds so that we pass or fight with what your kind call “Conceal”… Yes?’

            They pulled their hand away and simply gave an apologetic, if still agitated, nod of my head as I spoke. “Correct. I apologize for that… A full hundred years or so and I am still not a fan of someone touching my mouth, head, or neck without permission. Do not do that again alright? I am sure that the great Eldar can understand not wanting someone on their neck.” He/She gave a surprisingly understanding nod of their head as the mag-lift slowly came to a stop, the breaks giving a sharp whine as it did. ‘As I have fought for longer than you have been alive, even against Dark Eldar, I can understand your agitation. Just keep in mind where you stand… A hundred years, though? You must have hit your head on the way out of the airlock.’

            I simply straightened up, my head remaining clear as I spoke. “No, I simply know and have done more than you are aware of.” As I finished speaking, the mag-lift slowly opened and, while two of the squadmates kept the doors held open, the other three stepped out quietly and glanced around. Once we were given the symbol, we followed suit. We made our way down the current hallway, remaining low, moving from one piece of cover to the next as we went along.

            Once we reached a crossroads, one of them stepped up to each corner to check before we went down the left toward the staircase. It seemed safe at first, but as we made our way down the hallway, one of the doors suddenly opened. I looked to my left to be face-to-face with torn scraps of what was once a robe and the hulking, half-armored frame of someone. I slowly tilted my head back to look up at someone who looked back down at me with the same exact amount of surprise. Ah… Shit. Can’t ever get through these things without a bit of pain, can I?

Ninth Jump (Light of Terra Part 1: Part 1)

Companion: Carwyn the Warlock (-500cp): An Eldar Warlock of questionable gender, both physically and mentally. Already annoying at how arrogant he... she... they... Seriously, what are they!?

Faction: Aquil Lejens (Yes, that is how they are spelled. Also... +1000cp): Imperial Guard, but with terrible spelling after all of these years and slightly better at combat.

No Abilities.

Equipment: Hax. Armsman - 10 Service Pistol (-50cp): Simple description. A pistol who's father was a shotgun that fucked a second bigger shotgun that then drank while pregnant. Need I say more?

Plasma Gun (-200cp): Pre-Heresy Plasma Gun that will not blow up in my hands, has 100 shots per flask, and is obviously more advanced. A miniature sun that won't kill me? Wonderful!

Eldar Guardian Armor (0cp):Given to me by Carwyn. So kind of them... Odd that it is perfectly built for me, though.

Current CP: +250

Ah, Shit… This is Worse Than Gears of War!

            I gasped sharply as consciousness returned to me, my body heaving and twitching as the space around me shifted. It was as if I was going somewhere that I had not planned on, that something went terribly wrong. I eventually regained my senses as a rather attractive being stood in front of me. It was obvious, both by the being and the darkness surrounding me that something was off. After going through my head for a moment and eventually forced my will to shatter the psychic illusion.

            I found myself standing on the hard, metal paneling of a Space Hulk, an extremely large ship that could almost hold enough to make up a city and are normally made of fused ships. In this case it was just a fucking massive ship. Before I could really gather myself, all I heard was ‘At least the Mon-keigh can free himself of psychic intrusions’. I turned around and that being from before was looking at me. I would state the gender, but even I couldn’t tell if they were male or female… By the appearance of the hallway that I found myself in, the insignias, and the Eldar who stood in front of me, it was rather obvious that I was in the Warhammer 40k universe… It took a moment, but I did finally speak.

            All that came out of my mouth was a long, deep, echoing “FUCK!”, the Eldar glancing my way with one of sheer distaste. It took a few minutes for me to catch up with myself and the situation. Seems I had dropped straight into space with nothing but a pair of pants and none of my usual equipment. No powers, no equipment… just my pants. The Eldar’s name was Carwyn, a Warlock, who was kind enough to save me before I perished in safe.

            He… She… They gave me a set of guardian armor that I slipped into after a bit of adjustment. I would have taken the shuriken catapult they offered me, but I refused it. The fact that the armor seemed to be made for me was a little… odd… and, while I realized that shooting monomolecular disks was quite amazing, they seemed to lack a weapon. I did not count their psionics, even if they did obviously possess them. ‘Why are you leaving behind your helmet, Tadek? I don’t think your kind can stand to lose any more brain cells.’ As Carwyn spoke, I tossed aside my helmet and started to move deeper into the space hulk. “No need. Besides… Haven’t you noticed that people without helmets live longer around here?” They picked up the helmet with a huff and followed along.

            The air was crisp, felt artificial in a way because of the atmosphere scrubbers and millennia of the air being recycled did not help anything. Dust laid across every inch of the hallways that I went along. We thankfully did not run across anyone, but it seemed as if we were being led somewhere. I realized that as the industrial atmosphere was slowly replaced with luxury, the various bulkheads creaking, the machinery screeching whenever it was forced to activate and to move.

            Eventually the Eldar and I came out onto the bridge of the ship, a shriveled man that appeared to be connected to a cybernetic throne glanced toward us with a weak, but otherwise cheerful smile. His desiccated lips slowly moved to form words, his voice barely a whisper. ‘Ah, fellow travelers of the void. You came to… to set me free… haven’t you?’

            I grinned slightly and gave a small bow of my head. “Commander.” I sat down and spoke with him for a long period of time, Carwyn, who I nicknamed Carry to annoy them, standing nearby as we spoke. Lord-Captain Draken Grigobretz was his name and he told me much about the ship and who resided within, among what he had seen in his innumerable years upon this ship. He spoke primarily of how he wished for the Light of Terra, the name of the space hulk, to return to the stars and move once again.

            Once he mentioned that I could pick from his wall of weapons, he called them trophies, I stood up and started to sift through what I could use. He described each of the tribes that ran through the ship like ants, one of which was currently allied with us apparently because of the Commander. The Aquil Lejens were their name and they were obviously remnants of the Imperial Guard that had been on the ship. I slipped this monster of a pistol onto my hip as he told me of the Kin of Iron, the kin of the tech priests from what I could tell… They will be needed. The Pale Sons, the Void Walkers… They know the ship inside and out, along with the fact that they each have strengths that make traversing the ship much, much easier than it would be otherwise. They will be needed.

            The Wargars and Redeemers, though. Extremely violent to anyone and, while their abilities might be useful, such as the Redeemers extremely large size, they may have to be killed. I might be able to convince them, but I may simply have to… exterminate them… to make things work. I slung a pre-heresy Plasma Gun over my shoulder where I could simply pull it out in an instant, if needed. Thankfully, this seemed a little more advanced… Otherwise I would have left it. I don’t need this thing blowing up in my face.

            “So… We just got to get this thing to work again, hmm? I need the tech priests and a few others. Shouldn’t be too difficult. The Wargars and Redeemers, however, may need to be killed off to avoid deaths. I shall see how things go when that time comes around. Come along, Carry… We have to go meet up with the tribe that is actually with us.” I stated as I picked up a few of the plasma flasks and set them along my hip.

            ‘Of course. Hopefully they won’t slow us down. I want to get off this hunk of metal… Would rather not be stuck with you for long.’ The Eldar stated as we wandered off toward the barracks of the ship, which was sadly positioned only a short distance from the ammo stores where the Wargars resided. Due to the size of our party and the equipment we possessed, it wasn’t too difficult to slip past any opposition and meet up with the Comsar.

            “Alright. Just let me do the talking… Humans don’t tend to enjoy being insulted. I don’t but, I just realize that you can’t take a hit and probably won’t get out of here alive.” I stated to my companion as we walked toward the Comsar. ‘As if your kind could even hit me. You don’t even live long enough for proper training.’ Now in contact with him, the Eldar and I explained our plan. We were to make our way down toward the engine room where the Kin of Iron resided and explain to them our intentions and, hopefully, convince them to side with us and our task. Second would be the Void Walkers on the fringes of the “steel caverns” that was the ship as they knew out to survive. Should be a simple task if we promise them shelter and a brighter future. The Pale Sons would be third… but, we would have to see how they should be handled. Either they help us or we will have to evict them. As far as the Wargars and Redeemers… They will have to go, if we cannot convince them to work with us. We may be able to simply convince them to attack one another, which would make the situation much, much easier.

            Once I was able to convince the Comsar to provide me with a squad, I explained the current step to them. We were to go deeper into the ship and speak with the Kin of Iron about repairing and restarting the ship that they take care of. Just enough to get it to the nearby station. This was not a violent mission and I did my best to stress that to them. “Look, keep this in mind. We are to avoid combat… We do not want to incite any further battles down the line until we are prepared and have reinforcements from the other tribes.”

            One of the squad members made a comment that the Wargar will probably attack just because they wanted to. While I did have to agree, I didn’t want to fight them just yet. With our plan together, we set off toward the one working mag-lift in this portion of the ship. I allowed them to take point while I and Carwyn took up the rear, weapons at the ready. Hopefully this wouldn’t be too difficult, but considering the proximity of everything, I doubted that it would be easy. Besides… It was 40k… Things were never without battle and bloodshed.

Eighth Jump (Ghost Rider)

Ghost Rider (Jump 8) 

Descriptions shall be shortened for convenience.

1000cp + 400cp = 1400cp

Starting Location: The Graveyard that Carter Slade tends to.

Origin: Drop In, 24 years, Male again. 50cp

Abilities: Shadows on the Wall (Free): Can show a certain degree of either an appearance or some other creepy/obvious sign of difference to create the reaction as if someone saw the real thing.

Designated Rider: Motorcycle (100cp): Very, very, very good at riding a motorcycle.

I Have No Soul to Burn (200cp): Soul can't be targeted or even detected by any effects unless desired. 

Spirit of Vengeance (600cp): Ghost Rider... Simple. Can change minor aesthetics. 

Spirited (300cp): Very powerful spirit that can even be picked up on, weakening foes and strengthening allies. Even increases the strength of any purchased capstones.

Spirit of Justice (Free): Blue Ghost Rider... Aka... More powerful and classified as holy instead of unholy.

Equipment: Nice Bike: Yamaha 1700 V-Max – Hyper Modified (Free): I got this exact bike. Margarita Glass of Jelly Beans (50cp): An endless margarita glass of my favorite jelly beans. As I do not like jelly beans, they are instead a random assortment of all jelly beans.

Wine Cellar (50cp): A wine cellar is attatched to my warehouse that not only ages wine perfectly in only a few hours and even houses bottles of wine that are over 2000 years old. Also replenishes itself. Long Coat (50cp): A proper coat that fits perfectly and repairs itself.

Drawbacks: Alcoholic (100cp): Going to be drunk the entire time I am in this jump.

YOU. GUILTY. (300cp): Ghost Rider is now hunting me and can't be killed... Great. Even has a Penance Stare that can't be resisted in any way, if he gets the chance to use it. Good thing it has terrible range and requires actually looking him in the eye.

The Spirit of Vengeance Has Finally Found Me

            I arrived in a world that I could only say was bound to hold some interest this time around. A world where various entities, most of which were demonic in nature, were about to combat one another for the contract of San Venganza… Either to prevent someone from gaining it or to use it for their own purposes. Thankfully, it was one I knew fairly well. I woke up on a soft bed in a little shack, an older man with a thin, leather vest, a grey beard, and an old Texan accent looking at me rather eerily. “Good morning, Carter… Waiting for that last ride?” I greeted him, his eyes narrowing as if he could judge every single deed that I had done up to this point. Honestly, he wouldn’t be wrong in doing so.

            I climbed out of the bed and wandered over to the coat hangers, looking at both my leather duster and my new cloth long coat… It took me a moment, but I eventually reached over to grab the cloth coat and wrap it around my frame, finishing off my suit and to look a bit more proper. I enjoyed the leather coat, but it didn’t suit the style. ‘You’ve done a lot of things in your time. How many sins weigh upon your shoulders?’ He asked me as I grabbed my hat and set it on the top of my head. “Multiple worlds worth… Has Johnny took the reins yet? He will be arriving in a day or two. I know where the contract is…”

            He looked at me with a harsh glare, glancing only once over to the shovel that was propped up next to the door. ‘How? Who are you, stranger?’ I glanced over my shoulder toward him, my visible cheek splitting and turning skeletal, the visible teeth elongating into fangs for just a moment with a crackle of blue fire. “An edgy fuck who has no place being here. I am just going to make things easier on this world before the current Ghost Rider hunts my ass down. Blackheart walks the streets with three fallen. Johnny will win on his own… if you give him the contract when he asks because of love. I have work to do.”

            After I finished speaking, I stepped out of the building and made his way over toward the silver V-Max that awaited me by the road. I climbed onto the bike and drove off into the city.

            It took a while for Johnny and me to ever cross paths, but he knew that I was present. It was the middle of the day of all things. I was sat down at the counter of my tavern, just enjoying a drink while one of the staff members (Whose name I forgot as they always changed when I moved from one world to the next.) cleaned the counter top nearby. He stepped in through the front door, his head aflame and staring at me with that eternal stare of pure malice that he always seemed to have.

            His free hand raised up and pointed straight at me as I looked over my shoulder to take a look at him. ‘YOU…. GUILTY!’ Is all he stated as he held up his other hand, his trademark chains dangling from his gloved fingers. “Good afternoon, Johnny… Well… Morning… Dang, I am an alcoholic. Been drinking since six a.m….” I muttered to myself as I climbed out of my chair, one hand keeping my hat tilted down for the moment to avoid staring into his eyes.

            “Let’s take this outside. I have yet to transform and I do not wish to see my establishment destroyed…” I informed him before bursting forth, my form appearing for just a moment where his once was with my leg held up and the door no longer present. I followed him outside, the Ghost Rider climbing out of the rubble that was left from the building I had hit him into. “I know that I can’t kill you, Johnny. You’ll just keep coming back… If I am going to face hell, it might as well involve this. An eternal conflict. I have already seen something similar… Can you kill me in nine years, Johnny? If not, you will never find me again.”

            I told him as he pushed a sign off of his body and glared my way, an unearthly growl like charred embers rolling from his throat… neck?... Whatever he had to keep his head up at this point. I think that I could see a neck. ‘You must pay for your sins… Feel the pain of the billions you have slaughtered for power and for sport-‘ “And for repentance.” I interrupted him, my clothing starting to smoke and the ethereal rage of my self-imposed anguish emanating from my body in wisps of blue fire. “Justice and vengeance, heh… Which do you seek Johnny? Why attack me for what I have done when I have yet to touch this world? I know that I have done wrong and I shall seek forgiveness, but I won’t die for it.”

            He did not listen to my words, which I knew he wouldn’t… I simply enjoy monologuing anymore. Guess there is a reason I am called “edgecoat” by some. Too much edge… and simply for the sake of it anymore. His chain came toward me, coated in a harsh flame that I ducked under to simply dodge it as it went through the front of my tavern. Fuck… Good thing it repairs itself. With a growl of my own, I rushed toward him, one of my hands reaching into my personal inventory to pull out a talisman. One of my hands reached out to grab one as the other activated the talisman. “Greater Teleportation!”

            We both vanished and reappeared in the middle of the desert that was just outside of the city, just to have him throw me a good fifteen feet away from him. I climbed up to my feet, my skin cracking and burning away to reveal a charred and cracked skeleton, my clothes having holes burned into them around the edges and even catching the blue fire in those areas where the holes directly touched my bone. Then I thought about it… I was going to fight… I was going to fight something I knew that I couldn’t kill and was seeking vengeance for all the pain that I brought others.

            I reached down to my belt and grabbed my bottle of rum, bringing it up to take a long drink of it… and then spit out fire as that was a terrible idea. Drinking extremely high proof rum while on fire… and without a stomach, of all things! “You know what… This is a bad idea on my part. Both drinking while on fire and fighting you. Fighting back vengeance just cause I know that I can’t kill you. I think that I have fought enough.” I state, my form turning right back to my normal self as I reach down to grab a talisman. His chain lashed out at me, my body launching into the air as I jumped to avoid that attack. I brought out the talisman and vanished with another teleportation spell.

            He hunted me for those nine years… Never ceasing his pursuit as I moved from one place to another in some vain attempt to avoid the confrontation. I didn’t know if it was better to avoid vengeance or face it as, either way, there was something morally wrong with it. By the end, however, it did not matter… Nine more years and I eventually was free of his pursuit with nothing really to show for it. Well, I had a wine cellar… Maybe I could start serving something that wasn’t lethal now.