Until now I've been waiting patiently for my plans to come to fruition, years wasted thinking that I was still in the dragon ball universe and that I would have to abide with the knowledge I had about that universe.
Yet now such plans were gone to waste. Years of careful manipulation of my teammates and visions of myself getting my hands on the dragon balls led me to nothing.
And you can't blame me. For all, I knew until one day ago was that I was a Saiyan who was sent to another planet to survive alongside four other Saiyans. The cremme of the top from Planet Vegeta.
Kids that in other circumstances would have accompanied Prince Vegeta himself to plunder and lay waste to the whole universe. And who knows? Maybe even take over his position.
But if I stayed in the 'What if' mindset, my life would've passed, while I still be debating over things that don't need to be overthinking.
What I knew now was that I was living currently in the Warhammer universe and some threats could crush any hope or goal I put myself. But that could easily corrupt my soul and forever haunt me until eternity.
The few pieces of knowledge I've previously known about the warp and chaos were too vague to make me understand correctly the implications that they would have over me. As I was no longer a human, but a Saiyan that knew how to use ki.
Looking over the Saiyans in front of me a looming dread was slowly making itself more real as the thought of just one of them falling into the hands of Khorne, was simply too horrendous to begin with.
Steeling my mind, I cast a glance at the Acolyte from the Inquisitor and said to her "Due to your knowledge in regards to the warp, the beings lurking in it, and the psykers, you'll be teaching us everything you know."
As more words escaped my lips, I was able to notice the woman slowly getting paler as she listened.
"And for those things, you are ignorant of, you'll tell us where we can find clues and the knowledge itself," I said while staring into her eyes.
Seeing her trembling and biting her lips in a mess trying to say coherent words, I waited.
"I... How ... I cannot do such a thing! If my master knows he, he, he will kill me." The Acolyte was visibly shaken. And I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the fear of getting killed.
Or because she couldn't put her head around about speaking such 'heresy' and forbidden knowledge, without feeling the looming threat of her faith.
Before I was able to mutter a word, Rucule beat me "You're not being asked woman, the same master you're worrying about is alive only because of you." He looked over me when saying that, seemingly seeking acknowledgement to back his words.
When he saw me nodding, he continued "Your job will be to provide us not only with the information of such place, but train us daily in how to protect ourselves from it."
The Acolyte looked over between me and Rucule as she opened and closed her mouth for a couple of seconds. Until she let out a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them while saying "I can tell you about the things I know from the warp, and the many horrors it harbours. But I can't help with your training, for all I've learned is how to control my powers and how to seek the light of the Emperor to expel the shadows that threaten me."
Hearing her words made me sigh in disappointment, as she could've been the only person who could help us this early in that regard.
'Well, it is my fault for expecting such a thing from someone who is not well-versed in such knowledge.' I thought to myself while staring at the young face from the Acolyte.
'There won't be loremaster in real life to help you refresh your memory after all.' I chuckle to myself in irony, until I remember something.
Looking back at Acolyte I said to her "You may not be able to train us, but could guide someone who is a psyker or is awakening her power?" My mind led me to remember the words that Cielo told me back in our conversation.
The dreams where she saw me - or so she said - was one of the things that I remember reading from one of the novels of Warhammer. In that book, a psyker was able to foresee the future in her dreams while she awakened her powers. It ended with the woman being able to see the future. Though I wasn't able to finish the book and read her fate, I knew that Cielo may be having the same process.
The Acolyte frowned for a moment as she heard my question, but slowly started to nod "I guess I could try? Although there may be some troubles..."
I didn't hear what else she could say. For all I know for Cielo it may be useful. 'Maybe her not being trained by the Imperium would be a good thing.' I thought to myself while trying to avoid raising flags.
I remained silent and observant as I heard Rucule, Seleri, and Ramela asking questions at the Acolyte while getting a little grasp of what they could expect.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
What surprised them the most was how common the encounters with daemons were, as when the ships travelled through the inmaterium some of the more careless fellas looked over the windows, and got tainted and corrupted by the chaos.
Hearing how they literally travelled through hell to reach a system was an eye-opener for them. And made them realize the invaluable resource that our engines represent.
Our most modern engines could travel thousands of times faster than light speed, and the ones that will be provided to the humans of Faradras could reach 800x FTL speeds. Not only preventing humans from going through the ordeals that travelling through warp poses. But also gave an enormous advantage against the Imperium of Mankind in regards to reaction speed - Which alongside our scouters that could communicate through the whole galaxy in an instant - gave us a clear advantage that couldn't be countered easily.
"So the most important aspect is our willpower?" Asked Ramela in a horrendous low gothic.
The Acolyte nodded her head while explaining "It is our will that prevents us from succumbing to their call." As she finished those words I saw Ramela letting out a faint smile as she probably got cocky.
"It is easy to corrupt us, they only need to promise strength in our weakest time for us to fall. Do not get confident." I warned her while giving a glare to them.
Seleri scoffed while saying proudly "I will not let someone lend their strength to me. If I need to get stronger I can only blame myself for being weak. If I cannot beat someone when getting oozaru, is only reasonable for me to fall." The glint in her eyes was cold and absolute. She believes those words.
Rucule nodded his head in agreement while he added "I won't let anyone get my soul for easy power. It is mine or it's not. Nothing would make me change my mind." He said with arrogance.
Letting out a faint grin I said to myself "I'll be damned before I ever let myself be lured by daemons. I believe in reincarnation and I won't do anything in my power to change my time of death." Who knows? Maybe another galactical burrito would send my soul to another animeverse. Only in death, I would know.
The Acolyte was looking over us with a complicated expression. She probably doubted our words but I knew better.
'I guess I'll need to put a little more faith into the ki training.' I thought to myself while standing up "You said that in your ship there would be more scrolls and books that could help us, right?" I asked the Acolyte while remembering something she mentioned briefly during her explanation.
Her face lit up as she also stood up while nodding "Yes, there are various scrolls that I have that could be useful..." She then paused briefly as if pondering about something.
Raising her gaze, she stared at me while saying "... there's also someone there that could help your training. Although I don't know how you will get him to help you all."
Her words picked up my interest as I didn't know to whom she might be referring. After all, there wasn't anyone who had an interesting amount of ki in those ships.
'Well, the biggest lecture was about the same as Cielo. Who was almost reaching 800 units.' I thought as I remembered the lecture given by the scouter.
"And who that might be?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
She gulped down as she answered with a solemn tone "The ship's navigator."
I became speechless for a while as I stared at the Acolyte with a plain look. Until I rubbed my temples at my bad memory.
'If there are people in the Imperium that could train us in this regard, is them. How stupid can I be?' I scolded myself while giving a smile to the Acolyte.
"Take us to him if that's the case," I ordered to her while she looked troubled but started walking nonetheless.
I gestured to the others to follow us as I walked behind the Acolyte. Along the path, we received the same stares from the freed slaves. It was slightly uncomfortable I simply did not look at them and remained staring at the Acolyte's back.
"So what's the deal with this navigator?" Asked Seleri who accelerated her steps to walk beside me.
The Acolyte didn't look at her as she tried to look carefully at the right corridor to not get lost. "They are the ones that enable us to travel through the warp, I don't know much about them aside from the amount of respect that Inquisitor Gannicus had for him. And that only a few saw them from time to time." She answered while continuing walking as she carefully eyed the surroundings.
I glanced back at Seleri as I saw a frown forming on her face while she asked with strangeness "Is not a machine or another piece the one that does it?" It was clear she wasn't able to grasp her mind to understand the notion.
The Acolyte nodded with fervour as she said "Yes, it is him who is the one capable of doing, and only him." After saying those words we fell into silence as we continued making our way towards the ship.
It took us around twenty minutes to continue walking at a fast pace until we reached the pressurized door that connected with the ship.
Before long we were inside the ship travelling through its corridors. Some guards looked wary at me yet they didn't say a word as they simply saluted the Acolyte as we made our way up into the ship until we finally located the room where the navigator was supposed to be.
Two were the grunts guarding the door as they ordered us to stop. Though sadly for them before the Acolyte could utter a word they were knocked out by Seleri's ki blast.
She then walked forward and knocked on the metallic door with a resounding force that resounded loudly through the lengthy corridor.
*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*
She didn't wait for an answer before opening the door without effort "I'm coming in." She said as she threw the door to the side.
I stepped behind her while giving a toothy smile was the Acolyte who alarmed followed by my side. On our way inside I was able to spot a figure giving us his back. The room was a spacious one with a humble decoration. Candles were lit around the metallic room as the soot in the walls showed they hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
An interesting machine was a the center of the room, with various wires around it and a place where I deducted someone could get into.
The hooded figure slowly turned around as he supported his body with a metallic staff with a top that resembled an eye. His robe was black with golden stripes, golden ornaments adorned his hands, neck, and waist. Yet my eyes were taken by his face.
His sunken white eyes and deep bags were too visible, his skin was pale and his lips thin. In front of his forehead, a piece of cloth was covering what I assumed was his third eye.
"Who are thou? What's the meaning of this insolent intrusion into my chambers?" His voice was ragged but gave me a sense of wisdom. Yet it held a conviction and raw power on it. Different from his weary look.
I gestured to Seleri that I would take care of the business here and stated "My name is Bann and I'm the current ruler of Faradras alongside my companions here." I moved to the side while gesturing with my arm to present them.
The navigator eyed each of them, yet when he landed on the Acolyte he said "I didn't remember that the Acolyte Augusta was the ruler of a world. It is surprising how fast she rose from the ranks it seems."
I let out a chuckle at his words while the Acolyte who seemed to be named Augusta looked troubled and tried to explain herself.
"I-It's not like that my lord! Thing-" I didn't let her continue as I turned around and said to the man "I can assure you that she's not a planetary governor. Her current situation is more complicated than that."
My words seemed to pick the interest of the navigator who said "Well I'm sure that's an interesting story to hear about, but thou didn't answer my question, what's the meaning of your intrusion?" I saw his hand gripping his staff while he said those words.
I smiled at the man as I answered him truthfully "We're here in the name of knowledge, and more importantly, to prevent a catastrophe from befalling this galaxy." Lowering my head to gaze into the man more directly I said "And you're the only one that could teach us. Or better said yet, to show us."