999.M41 undetermined time || Imperial Palace; Holy Terra; Imperium Sanctus ||

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OCTAVIAN GAIUS

Octavian believed the strange feeling coursing through his body would be what humans referred to as excitement or maybe nervousness. None of it was displayed on his facade of perfection of course as he strode in last into the golden gilded room. His steps resounded on the marble floor as only his eyes glanced around to take in all the intricate paintings and beautiful tapestries of the room very few of even his brothers have the honor of entering.

He saw his brothers, elders compared to him, start making a circle as they stood around with the eldest among them standing perpendicular to the door. Octavian dutifully took his place opposed to the eldest and stood with his back against the door as he took the moment to marvel at the congregation he now was a part of.

Normal citizens would faint if they ever saw such a collection of the Emperor's finest servants but Octavian was much too used to the glimmering golden auramite armor and the graceful visage of his brothers.

"We have convened here today to once again try to decipher our Lords messages," Brother Castellan spoke, "Brother Octavian will be joining us today as he too has been graced by dreams from our Lord."

Octavian felt his heart swell, he was one of the select few to dream among the one thousand, still, he only had a few centuries of service under his belt so he inclined his head as he spoke.

"Thank you for having me," he said before raising his head and making eye-contact with all of his brothers.

"Let us start then," Castellan spoke again and what followed was hours upon hours of heated debate. One could say many things about the Emperor but that his messages were anything but cryptic was an understatement, especially this time.

"Whatever meaning could a cross and a man weeping crucified upon it mean but the martyrdom of a faithful," one Custodian spoke harshly but the others were not deterred.

"What do you say about the image of an angel weeping blood upon this sight then?"

"It is obviously a reference to the Primarch Sanguinius."

"What could our Lord want us to do with him? Sanguinius has been dead for ten millennia."

"Maybe it has to do with his sons, what are the Blood Angels doing as of now?"

"They are stuck on the other side of the Cicatrix Maledictum."

"Last information from them was a victory against the Xenos known as Tyranids."

"Could it be that?"

"But what does the giant white tree connecting 9 realms mean?"

"It should be the World Tree Yggdrassil which the Primarch Leman Russ set out to uncover so long ago to heal our Lord."

"Do we agree that the end goal of our orders is to protect something? Possibly said World Tree?"

"What if we are to protect our Lord from the Tree? It originates from the Warp, few good things came out of that place."

"I believe I have an idea of what the crucified man signifies," Castellan broke up the argument with his steady voice, "I have had the opportunity to study the eradicated false religions of ancient Terra and one such religion worshipped just that image."

"Is it a religious insurrection?"

"I have an idea," Octavian spoke up for the first time and found a majority of the room narrow their eyes at him, still he held strong as if he couldn't see them, "I have studied Ancient Terran languages in detail and there was a word used for false gods; Baal."

"Baal," Castellan said with a thoughtful look, "the name of the home world of the Blood Angels."

The argument went on from there but by now almost all of them agreed that whatever would happen had some connection to either the Blood Angels or the noble Sanguinius and that their duty was protection. The argument now devolved into what they are to protect and what from.

"We have ignored the last image only some of us saw," one Custodian spoke up, "the vision of a being shifting in form with bright white light obscuring their face."

"We did as such as it is a dead end," another spoke up, "I believe we agreed that it was one of those visions that'd make sense as we'll be doing our mission."

"What do we think of it?" the brother asked back, "We still haven't agreed on whether we are to protect or eliminate whatever we find on Baal."

"I think I can help you with that," Octavian turned his head around faster than most could blink as he heard a new voice as the door clicked open behind him.

"Lockwarden," Castellan nodded respectfully and Octavian bent his head deeply as he saw the black and gold auramite the new figure was covered in.

"I have been notified about the visions that are proving to be hard to decipher brothers," the Lockwarden spoke and Octavian was sure his brothers shared his confusion at what was transpiring, the Shadow Keepers barely involved themselves with even their custodian brothers, this was the first time Octavian has seen one in the flesh and it was the Lockwarden at that, "a white Yggdrassil and a being of shifting form clouded by glaring white light."

"Indeed Lockwarden," Castellan nodded, "what is it that you'd like to share with us about this vision?"

"As you might or might not know," the man started, "as the Cicatrix Maledictum came into being many of the things and beings we had locked away in the Dark Cells disappeared with hardly a trace and your visions reminded me of one of those things."

"Do we have the clearance to know more of this thing?" asked Castellan with a raised eyebrow.

"I will grant it to you," the Lockwarden smiled briefly, "I believe it is imperative that we reseal that thing before it brings disaster upon our heads."

"Please elaborate, Lockwarden."

"It is a thing, a tool from the Dark Ages," the old Lockwarden said as he strode into the middle of their circle, "a tool remaining not because we couldn't destroy it but because the Emperor forbade us from doing it and because it was an integral part of how the Imperium rose to power."

He ran his gaze over each and every Custodian around him, his weathered gaze staring right into their souls as if to judge them, to evaluate them, "it is a tool not unlike the Xeno race known as the Tyranids but it is psychoactive and easily controllable by an experienced Psyker. It can absorb genetic material and replicate it, re-sequence it, fix it, upgrade it, modify it or any combination of all the above. The only limitation on it is the creativity and control of the Psyker wielding it."

"Why do you think such a tool is so dangerous?" Castellan inquired.

"Because it borders on being alive," the man said clearly, "it isn't intelligent but by absorbing genetic material it can turn it into a store of regenerative energy while also creating a body for itself, it can be a being not unlike the monster the Maerorus Temple created but so much more dangerous."

"And you think that shifting white form we saw is a reference to this tool?"

"I do but there is one part that I am uneasy about. It isn't supposed to be intelligent, it is at best a bestial predator forever hungering to eat more bio-mass but the figures you described were...humanoid."

"That does not mean it is not animalistic," Castellan countered, "many Xeno races hold some resemblance to the human form and yet underneath they are no better than ravenous beasts."

"What I want you to keep in mind is this," he stared into Castellan's eyes, "that thing is a tool that if used well could create legions unseen since the Great Crusade," the Lockwarden smiled, a dark smile that Octavian thought was self-deprecating, "The emperor used that thing to forge the first Thousand of us, just like he used it to make his Primarch sons."

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"Baal?" Selene looked at me dubiously, "Why in the Warp do you want to go to Baal?"

"Don't you want to see the Emperor's angels of death in action against a disgusting Xeno invasion?"

"No," she frowned at me and started tapping her feet on the floor, "I will obviously follow you," she sighed, "you are the only thing that can keep me alive in this galaxy now but please reconsider going headfirst into another Tyranid invasion."

"You know," I smiled at her, innocently, "I could make your armor capable of absorbing biomass just like I do," my smile stretched a bit, "every single Tyranid you absorb would go into your personal energy stores that you could use to heal yourself from then on."

"A Tyranid invasion is not a banquet," her mouth twitched.

"Are you sure?" I wiggled my eyebrow. "All I see is free energy and food. Also, nothing less than a Hive Tyrant could maybe injure you, not even that if you take care and eat a bunch of them before throwing yourself at it."

"Why did I have...." she grumbled under her breath but I couldn't catch the end of it, "Whatever, if you want to go there I'll go with you."

"Thanks," I jumped up and gave her a brief hug with a wide smile on my face. "How is your training going?" I asked as I let go of her, a smile still on my lips.

"Good...I think," she tilted her head, "Val thinks I should be more than capable of warding off the occasional demon trying to mess with me but he said just to be sure I should wait a few more days to see if I can find any weaknesses or cracks in my mindscape."

"Great," I nodded, "all those Tyranids will be running away in terror from you."

"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes but her lips cracked into a smile, "did you learn something from those lessons?"

"Yep," I smiled, Valenith was a master of mid-range combat against large number of weaker enemies but as a centuries old Eldar he knew a large number of spells from other Schools so I memorized those. "Most of it is versatility really, some divination, some precognition and I managed to improve some of my own Spells, but the best was still this."

With that I stared into her eyes, she yelped as her feet left the floor.

"Stop doing that," she mock glared at me once I let her go, "and couldn't you do that already?"

"Mhmm," I nodded, "but did you feel my energy wash over you before I did it?"

She stiffened up as she thought about it, "No, I didn't."

"That's right," I nodded, "I focused on making all my stuff much harder to defend against or even notice before it struck. I think it affected my Telepathy the most."

"Could you teach me some of those?" she asked and I knew I'd bend for those wide grey eyes staring at me pleadingly, "Virendel is a good teacher but his explanations are...."

"Convoluted?" I smiled as I remembered how he started talking about some old Eldar tale of two star crossed lovers feeling the others emotions even as they were half a galaxy away from each other when I asked him how he did that 'resonance' thing.

"Yeah," nodded Selene with a wry smile.

"Sure," I shrugged, "not that I have many tricks up my sleeve, I mostly just throw energy at stuff until it dies."

"If it works," she shrugged.

"Hmm, okay," I tilted my head, "there is this thing I found out about Intent and Instructions having a deep effect on the outcome of your Spells...."

We spent the next few days training and exchanging ideas. Surprisingly, Selene had a bunch and I managed to further improve my own toys based on her feedback, but soon it'd be time to head through the gate and somehow find our way over to Baal.

I couldn't get enough bio-energy from that splinter fleet to feel comfortable but this one should make up for it and Dante is one of the few people in the Imperium with an actual brain between his ears. Maybe I could even steal a lock of Papa Smurf's hair or something when he arrives to save the day...