The light rain was still drizzling during the night when an Aquila lander touched down at the primary landing pad of the monastery fortress, where Kryptorer Cykell was already waiting with a squad of Skitarii rangers.
The lone passenger stepped out of the vehicle and proceeded to greet the unmoving dominus. The newcomer looked to be a heavily augmented tech-priest, however he was dwarfed both in stature and status by the inviting host.
They started walking, leaving the escorting rangers as they went through multiple security checkpoints together. Balpradus observed the curious mix of Mechanicus and Sororitas personnel around. As they got into a lift and started descending, his curiosity finally got the better of him,
The lift reached its designated floor and the door opened. They were greeted by more security elements but with Kryptorer leading, none dared to bar the duo. Eventually, they reached a huge blast door manned by more guards. To Balpradus’ surprise, an inquisitor was also waiting with his retinue.
One of the retinue, a psyker by his appearance, stepped forward and lightly probed the magos. Satisfied with the result, the psyker nodded to the inquisitor and stepped back.
It was after that the trench coat wearing inquisitor acknowledged Balpradus. ‘Well met, Magos. Stringent security is required with what is at stake. I am Inquisitor Thaberus Thorn of the Ordo Hereticus. You will be given access to information classified under Vermilion level Imperial clearance. Leaking any information on what we are about to show you will render yourself an immediate enemy of the Imperium. This warning will not be repeated.’
Before Balpradus could even organise his thoughts, they went through the blast door. Inside was a medical operation theatre of sorts, with an assortment of advanced equipment. At the centre of it all was a bed swarmed by a myriad of personnel tending to an unconscious form of a female human with an oxygen mask on her face.
Balpradus checked the datasheet he received and started analysing it while they walked. When the augmentation column was read, the shock he experienced almost tripped him over. Written in bold letters on the said column was but two words: Primarch Minoris.
With a quivering mind, Balpradus quickly went through the rest of the datasheet and realised the reason he was summoned. It appeared the patient had received critical injuries, multiple internal hemorrhaging and organ inflammations were detected, but no one knew how to proceed with the treatment process since the patient’s transhumanism was so advanced she was practically another species.
Some time later, Balpradus had gone through all the data and had a hunch on what was going on.
Kryptorer seemed pleased,
Balpradus nodded and continued,
Kryptorer went silent upon hearing the ridiculous yet plausible notion. It was around this time a small commotion happened at the centre of the medical bay. Without even looking, the dominus knew Syrine’s condition had worsened yet again.
The tech-priests proceeded to the centre of the medical bay where a team of elite medical personnel were helplessly monitoring the situation. No one paid any heed to the approaching duo.
Kryptorer stopped walking, looked around and proceeded to clap his hands. Miraculous as it seemed, a satisfying fleshly clap resounded as his primary metallic hands hit each other as he announced loudly, ‘Good news, everyone!’
The frenzy inside the medical bay stopped abruptly, everyone froze and looked bewilderingly at the towering dominus. Satisfied that he now commanded everyone’s attention, Kryptorer spoke. ‘I have consulted with an expert, the princess might just be… too malnourished to heal herself. Please try direct nutrient injections to see if that improves her condition.’ Upon receiving the revelation, the medical staff hurriedly went to work.
Kryptorer turned to Balpradus,
‘My needle cannot penetrate the patient’s epidermis!’ Someone cried out. ‘Same here,’ another echoed and the atmosphere of further desperation was setting in.
‘Let me do it.’ A sister hospitaller with an inquisition badge stepped forward and after a while, successfully performed the procedure. ‘Commencing intravenous therapy now.’
Like a miracle and to everyone’s relief, the patient’s vital readings almost immediately seemed to stabilise.
‘How did you manage that, sister?’
‘You will need a medical syringe with an adamantium needle and a monomolecular tip, standard medical equipment won’t work,’ the sister explained to a room of astonished medical staff.
‘How did you know?’ Another senior staff member asked.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
‘Experience. Here, please keep a few of these with you.’ The sister replied while distributing some of her precious medical wares, ‘I currently only have a limited supply of these on hand. Please do not waste them.’
‘Look! Vital signs are improving!’ A round of small cheers broke out, the first good news since receiving the patient.
‘Excellent,’ Kryptorer joined in, ‘what is your name, sister?’
‘Veritta Kern, currently attached to the inquisition.’
‘I will commit your name to my memory, Sister Veritta. You have the gratitude of Cult Mechanicus for your contribution today.’
The Dominus then turned to his fellow tech-priest.
* * *
I was in a void.
No time, no space, no body. Just pure consciousness.
Am I dead for real this time?
No.
Wait, who was that?
It is me.
Who is ‘me’?
That line gets blurry, doesn’t it?
Syrine, is that you?
Yes, it is me, or you. It is complicated.
You were inside all along? Come out and settle this mess.
I can’t, otherwise, I won’t call for you.
Huh, you saw everything?
Yes.
… So how did I do?
Impressive, much better than I ever hoped for.
I have to ask, why do you need my help in the first place?
That, I cannot share with you now.
Why?
It might break you.
…
…
Say, what would happen if I had refused to help back then?
I am curious too, want to see?
A vision appeared, we went back in time to the psychic beacon’s activation. Deep in the inner sanctum back to where it all began, unable to secure a soul link, Syrine would fall into a deep coma when the rebels attacked. Without my intervention, Amael and Kantor were doused by the flamer and proceeded to be gunned down while covered in flames. In the proceeding gunfight, things got a lot more dangerous for my other associates and Alicya lost an eye during the battle.
Thaberus and Kryptorer would still arrive in time and clean up the fight but they never reconciled due to the heavy losses incurred. Herlindya would take over as Thaberus’ interrogator, but her demeanour changed completely after witnessing the charred remains of Amael. She went semi-berserk and executed some of the rebels herself. Apparently, she and the interrogator were more than just colleagues.
After that mess was sorted, Syrine would be sent to the Sororitas monastery for medical care. There they would find out about her primarch physiology.
Stricken with the grief of letting their Holy Daughter down, Alicya forfeited her position of probationary palatine and volunteered to become a repentia to repent her sins of failing.
Meanwhile, Thaberus would continue his investigations without Kryptorer’s aid. Running low on time and letting a vengeful Herlindya take charge of some of the investigations, he ended up ruffling some feathers amongst the loyalist forces.
The massive battle broke out as before. Even without having access to Syrine’s authority, Khatalina’s forces aided by the Adeptus Mechanicus still managed to wrestle the advantage from the rebels by adapting a no-mercy approach. Alicya would lead one of the most crucial charges into rebels, never to be seen again.
The bloodshed was horrendous, hundreds of thousands died on both sides as a far more crude and brutal version of the trap was sprung. Fuelled by the massive surge of souls of the deceased, the chaos cult’s secret ritual successfully opened a huge portal and a massive wave of daemons soon swarmed the planet.
Realising the heretics’ scheme too late, the surviving imperials fought a losing war while more and more warp spawns were summoned through the portal. When the calculus concluded there was no way to hold the grim tide anymore, Kryptorer launched a desperate mission deep into the inner sanctum to retrieve the technological treasures sealed deep underneath the beacon .
Even with the support of all his advanced cogitators, Kryptorer could not bypass the extreme security put in place by the Emperor and his attempt triggered multiple cataclysmic explosions on site, obliterating half of the planet outright, and destroying the psychic beacon along with the unknown treasures stored within.
In the frenzy of the world’s final moments, amongst the billions of people on the planet, only a few thousand managed to escape the dying world. Thaberus would return onboard his inquisitorial strike cruiser, the Unrelenting Vigilance. There he would officially sign the death warrant for Nusquam and declare the imperial world damned and lost. The final nail to the coffin was hammered in by executing Exterminatus on the broken planet.
On the surface of the dying planet, a newly ascended daemon prince credited with the deaths of billions rose from the hellish inferno, only to watch his new kingdom burn to cinders around him.
With everything dead and gone, the surviving imperial ships escaped into the surrounding darkness. Meanwhile, the void ships that were halfway travelling to Nusquam would arrive only to be greeted by a planetary graveyard. This region of space will probably never see the light of the Emperor ever again.
I watched as everything faded to the void again, shaken and half expected the [Regalis] messages to appear, but everything went quiet.
That did not happen.
Throne damned it! You scared the hell out of me! That was extremely unpleasant to watch.
…
You seem to be fading.
You are waking up, I can only reach you in this state.
Wait, don’t go! I have so many questions.
There is a lot I cannot share with you.
At least tell me where were you during the last 10,000 years? And whatever happened between you and the Big E?
I was being sealed away most of that time. Big E? Is that a nickname of my father? I can try to show you, but it will be unpleasant.
Show me.
…
SHOW ME.
Very well.