[QUOTE="The_Bip_Boop2003, post: 101280459, member: 584782"]

My little psychic vampires had succeeded on the first step of the mission I had given them; I was pretty proud of them. It was a mission of great peril and danger where thousands suffered and hundreds tragically lost their life. Their sacrifice was never to be forgotten.

Their mission's primary purpose was to reach Yuggoth at all costs in more or less one piece, something that, without me zapping an annoying fly and pushing it where cancer as it belonged, would have failed and ended rather badly for them but also me.

Knowledge of utmost importance in shards was in their minds, and I didn't doubt this psychic tumor would have figured more than I would have liked with them in his hands. Tentacles? Unknown appendages?

My deep loathing for Tzeentch and his fellow psychic amalgamation of twisted emotions and concepts did not dilute my awareness of their influence. They were exceptionally powerful entities to be respected as such, even further within the confines of their little kingdom, where they were absolute masters.

So much so that they rivaled and overshadowed me in pure psychic power before my betrayal. Even Asuryan would pale in comparison.

Though it was in totality as they were spread across the Warp like the mycelium of a mold on a rotting carcass, they weren't condensed entities with a structure, a metaphorical skeleton like us. Something that made them solely able to exist in the Warp in any stable form and, in general, limited to it. They were natural formation, unrefined, and lacking in versatility.

Still, they were threats of the highest order and ones I had to comprehend fully to eliminate without permanent damage to the Material and Immaterial and myself.

I wasn't unfamiliar with Neverborn of the Daemonic type, but the three 'Gods' were fundamentally different. They weren't just powerful Daemon beyond mortal comprehension, and there were millions of those.

They were no simple denizens of the Warp; they were fundamental aspects of this realm. In a way, they reminded me of the C'tan for Realspace. But it was more, they weren't intricately connected to the Universe. They were an integral part of it, at least within this region of existence that was the Milky Way and whatever other areas the Warp dipped in.

A twisted, polluted part of it that once was the Sea of Souls. The words tumor and cancer to describe them were not only derogatory, but they were the truth. They were malignant cancers born out of healthy cells that, through countless trauma for eons, mutated into their current state.

But all was still an extreme euphemism; they were a byproduct of sapient life itself, the symptoms and not the causes. It was quite like how the Warp-Sea of Souls exists because of soul-bearing life. They were only a mirror of the result of countless years of unfiltered emotions, dreams, and death.

And that was a problem. What I did with the Blackstone Fortresses was to harm this parasite badly, but nothing more, nothing less. He would recover in due time and try something as if not more stupid. A supremely intelligent and arrogant self-destructive idiot, a theme far too common for my liking that I debatably wasn't so far off depending on the point of view.

Anyway… What I did cost my shields a non-insignificant amount of their lifespan. I couldn't just constantly fire and hope it would end well. The integrity of the shields depended on a lot of factors.

This was why I couldn't just pelt the three, Tzentch, Khorne, and Nurgle, to extinction or at least to a point they were incapacitated.

To extinguish them, the options I had were minimal. Overall, there were two choices for their disappearance to happen.

The first was the wide-scale neutralization of every living being, organic or not, for a few eons for the creatures of the Warp to starve to death. But with this one, like cancer, there might be a chance they come back. The patient was still alive, and so potentially, some surviving diseased cells could fester again.

The second was the destruction and recreation of the Warp into the Sea of Souls, something I could do in theory but with plenty of preparation and a lot of help, but it would result in almost all forms of life dying. To start from a new beginning. At least it would be permanent; the patient would be dead, and from it, new life would bloom.

To put it mildly, the most reasonable option was another one, and one the fucking toads were masters in; the act of putting it under the rugs after sealing it in a solid box, but that didn't work out very well for them, heh? I wasn't going to ignore another person like me to exist.

Overall, it was a nigh impossible task that only increased in difficulty with the fact this was not a vacuum and that the Dark 'Gods' were not passive creatures.

For the present, I had other things to focus on than worrying about these parasites, notably the secondary goal as to why I brought the Khrave here. There were many ways to word it, but there was no need to sugarcoat it; there were to be my workforce, feet, and hands.

My authority across Yuggoth lay lines of runes and beyond was vast but ultimately restricted to the defense systems and a few others. I didn't push my luck too far when I fiddled with the various systems incorporated into the rocky planet; I was constantly watched and asked questions with only the 'truth' acceptable answers.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

As such, I lacked control over many things like the Celestial Wheel that would let me, as its namesake, pilot the planet across space quite similarly to any Cruiser. Then, there was one of two Blackstone Foundry in existence in the underbelly of R'lyeh, the other being in the Celestian Enclave.

There were likely a few more, but their location was unknown and of little to no use unless a C'tan or Necron knowledgeable in using and accessing it helped me. I needed this material. The Blackstone Fortresses had worn down immensely the two I had used with unrestricted darkness barely holding together for the shields.

I didn't know these constructs' every inner working like Vaul, but enough to repair them at an acceptable level where they weren't old things barely holding together with glue, duct tape, and friendship.

And that was only two examples out of many more. But the most immediate reason for the Khrave coming here was to build gates to teleport everything and anything from point A to B instantly.

A project that one of the Great Old Ones with the dead lizard bitch had begun but not finished. One that she refined to make my golden rings and me and, from her words, one of the hardest aspects about me to design.

It was to have a safe and quick route from Yuggoth to the Dark Cradle.

The Labyrinth Dimension was unusable due to my siblings' dominion over it. Moving through Realspace was too slow and risky as the Aeldari would eventually spot the Khrave, and I didn't doubt the first contact would be less than civil from either side. Finally, the Warp, while rivaling in quickness the first, was excessively dangerous and unpredictable.

Though rest and recovery were of the matter at the moment before beginning anything.

'Ah, psychic corruption and partial possession… Nasty little things, aren't they?' I thought, observing my bats move out of their Cruisers that had landed in a body of water made of dreamy clouds leading to a path of fluffy cotton.

Their appearances weren't pretty to look at; Tzeentch didn't miss them, and it didn't stop skin deep. Soul and mind had been tempered, but it was not a finality. What here would be considered the highest level of injuries with death not even granting in all cases release was, at best, a mild inconvenience.

Corruption of that nature was no new phenomenon to the Old Ones, with the Krell existing and doing worse on several levels as they fed and not only twisted. As such, there were effective methods to deal with it, which was up in the open free of charge or any higher authority required.

Hate them as I might, the toads weren't plagued by many of Humanity's vices, and no matter the status of the wounded, the highest level of healthcare was given for free to all by order of the Great Council.

It wasn't out of empathy or care, though, but practicality and rationality. A crippled member of society was a burden, and a dead one of no value.

This place of healing was Dylath-Leen, a city-like facility of many specialties carved into a plateau of translucent stone where crystalline water flowed, and flowers of countless colors bloomed year-long, creating an essence of healing body, mind, and soul.

Under my careful ministration, my little psychic vampires were back in tip-top shape with only reminders of their trauma memories and hideable light scars. But for the one that had committed suicide, I couldn't do anything; I wasn't Isha or Morei-Hag, and death on such a level was the end.

-My most faithful believer, Majun, the wounds have been sealed, and life is abound. The time has come. You may begin the construction of the Golden Gate.- I sent telepathically to the aged anthropomorphic eight-limbed bat who jolted awake from his head-down sleeping position, planting face first on the ground.

I caught a chuckle from reaching him. It may or may not have been on purpose he woke up like this, but he didn't need to know. He shouldn't sleep so close to the ground.

-Yes, my Lord! Your vision shall become divine truth!- he sent back hurriedly teleporting to his feet while clothing himself in a snap of clawed fingers, the shame of what happened thick in his mind but drowned by the excitement of what was to come.

What followed was a terrific show of efficiency in the task given to complete, as they should. Those were not random Khrave. They were the cream of the crop, the best of the best of their species, and if not ones with the potential to go far beyond the norm.

Discipline was of utmost importance, as was work ethic and striving for the closest to perfection. Failure was a matter of life and death; none could be too harsh, but it must be constructive and purposeful. Behavior against the common good was heavily punished.

But they weren't my slaves; they were servants, my servants, and not unimportant mortals to use and throw away once broken like a tool. Rewarding and caring for them was crucial.

Nonetheless, I wasn't their babysitter. There was a delicate balance to keep up, a distance between us, at least for the majority. Like any figure in my position, I had to pick and choose adequate people to favor over others. Heralds to select in some.

Mandatory rest and 'holiday' with pass time were not only recommended but more or less obliged by social pressure I put. Food was in their Cruisers through emotional fountains, and with a belly full and great motivation, they worked hard and joyfully, always awaiting the next day to show me their worth.

Most of my presence was guiding and teaching them what to do to its last details. And it was done parallelly on Kamal, the capital planet of the Khrave, where the other end of the project was done.

The portals built for it needed to be synchronized. It was the most important step and one that would lead to more connections in the networks under my command.

And today, upon a sky showing the horrific beauty of the Warp and another, the ever-starless night of a world hidden in a dark cloak was an event of utmost importance. The culmination of close to three centuries of ceaseless work taking the shape of two massive golden rings floating in the air amidst their intricate fortress of gold, purple, and dark grey, originally fusing with them into megastructures surpassing the tallest mountain.

The Golden Gates, as I so novely named them. They were a downgraded version of my rings, but it didn't change the incredible feat of magical engineering behind them that had never been used for various reasons. Until now, that is.

Looking through the eyes of millions of Khrave, I attentively observed their actions as the finishing touches to the gates were done. My whispers and advice are ever-present at the back of their mind, fixing their mistakes before they ever occurred in their minds and they made them.

Though it would be more akin to their limit, just like a human building a quantum computer by hand, tools and knowledge were required, but they could only do so much. It was something requiring more than precision. But that was me being a perfectionist and wanting every little detail to be correct.

-People of the Dawn, I'm immensely proud of your accomplishment, but it is one step of thousands more. Be proud, and never forget your origin and the price of one's progress.- I spoke through their minds, and after this, I acted.

My legs crossed, I hummed an energetic tune from a long gone simpler past as I popped all my rings out of their sockets. Using my bats, I channeled a fraction of my authority through them over Realspace and Irreality, bypassing the Bottle of Sealing.

My body glowed as a fanged smirk grew on my beak, and I synced my rings to the gates, causing runes to light up and portals akin to the most beautiful constellation on a clear sky of Summer to come to life.

"But I can't just portal myself out of this prison…" I chuckled self-deprecatingly, my rising mood going down by only a fraction. Oh, the frustrating irony, but to go out, what I did was not even scratching the surface, and such an evident loophole was taken care of.

I just shared some of my essence into two rune matrices for them to turn on and do a two-way street between fixed points in space.

Suddenly, my focus shifted one of the keys to my freedom speed across the cosmos. And my tail moved in curiosity, mirroring my mood.

"Hmm… One was found. A first in history. Who might be the lucky one? A Krork? No, it doesn't feel like it… Let's see." I intoned in a singsong way, and as senses came to me from this out-of-body experience, my eyes bulged slightly.

Three things stood out: green, violence, and a peculiar brand of mental impediment.