You exhale slowly, settling your mind as you prepare yourself. "Understand that I am no psyker, and have made no extensive study of their arts. Therefore, I am left with guesses and hypotheses at best. As I told Lord Pyrus at the time, the eldar mind-blasted me. As far as I can tell, she knocked out both myself and Yasha Dannan, my Navigator, by forcing a non-human memory into our brains. The Intended effect was that our human minds wouldn't be able to process the information, and would perform the biological equivalent of restarting, leaving us unconscious long enough for the eldar to escape.

"If that was the eldar's intent, it both worked and didn't. We were both asleep and Dreaming for a period of time. As to how long, I'd have to check the logs, because I honestly do not recall. Either the memory the eldar used was simple enough to comprehend, or had some metaphysical comparability factor, because our minds understood it, enough to present it as a rather vivid Dream.

"If I am parsing that Dream correctly, it wasn't even an Eldar memory, but one borrowed or taken from another race. I kept getting a mixture of physical sensations and what I can only describe as a machine error-log. Physical information included red sand underfoot, a sand storm bearing down, a map rendered useless by shifting sands, an obelisk with a Shard of something encased in the tip, a red gemstone being pushed into a torso. The 'error log' kept spitting information about an auto-repair function being non-operational and memory-engram damage."

You pause to take a breath and glance around the table. Inquisitor Ironsides is staring at you in disbelief. Lord Pyrus Looks stunned, almost shell-shocked at the implications. Rubicon looks as if he wants to start spitting curses, but is too polite to interrupt. Sargent Danus looks even more troubled, his brow creased into a furious frown. Direwolf shifts uneasily behind you, the hiss of his augmetic lung echoing in the silence. Only the Force Commander looks unperturbed, gesturing for you to continue.

The voice of your instinct whispers into the back of your brain "mind your tongue..."

"That is all I think I understand clearly enough to comment on. I could speculate, but It would be the wild-assed guesses of the uninformed, and form the looks on your faces, there is clearly more to this that I do not comprehend."

Rubicon rubs his chin, looking thoughtful, "'the best swordsman does not fear the second best, he fears the worst swordsman, for he has no idea what he will do.' Go ahead and speculate Master Von Sebastion, it might turn up something useful."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"With that caveat that what I say is only speculation, and that I'm doing so blindly, I have a couple of guesses.

"One: the Shard in the Dream is similar to the Shard recovered from the Terra Incarnadine. If that is the case, it is incredibly unstable. The Dream-Shard detonated on contact with a strong wind, and the Terra Incarnadine Shard may do the same.

"Two: the Dream came from a race that was as much machine as flesh, if not more. Perhaps the same race as Kamas the Technomancer.

"Three: that race is older than humanity. I've no hard numbers, but the Dream felt ancient."

From the ensuing reactions you can tell that your speculation isn't all that wild. Silence reigns for a few long heartbeats. You can all but feel the intensity of the scrutiny focused upon you. They are wondering how much you know and how much you have guessed. How much you have told them, and how much you are either holding back or have forgotten.

Inquisitor Ironsides blinks first. "I think your days as an independent Rogue Trader are all but at an end. For the past few years, you have served the Ordo Xenos, knowingly or not, and I think it's time that I formally added you to the ranks."

One of your eyebrows twitches slightly. "I can't say I haven't seen this coming. From Mira Steel and the Leaf turning up right when House Von Sebastion needed a captain and ship for a particularly sensitive cargo route, to Kudo Tamefusa turning up when we needed an astropath, to the information dead drops, and the convenient appearance of Lord Pyrus, Rubicon, Helheim Blackfang, and Sargent Danus all turning up at opportune times, you have taken an interest in me. Add in the fact that I now possess the Terra Incarnadine, a battleship when the Subsector and Sector fleets rely on light cruisers and cruisers, and no one has raised objections, and you were planning to make use of me."

The Force Commander leans forward, and you can hear Helheim shift behind you. "Thus to the moment of decision. You know far too much, and have far too much strength, to be allowed to continue as you are. You have shown loyalty to the Imperium in your obedience to the Ordos of the Inquisition, and in pushing forth the borders of the Imperium without demanding more than your fair share.

"Will you pledge House Von Sebastion, in its entirety and in perpetuity, to the service of the Deathwatch? Or to the Ordo Xenos?"