This is fan fiction and is unofficial and in no way associated with Games Workshop Limited

Chapter 12 Prayers Unanswered

Nill staggered in his sanctorum. The human’s face was sunk, wrinkles and age showing even though he was only in his thirties. The stress of his task aging him well beyond his years. The sanctorum was dark and lined with scripture that flowed from ceiling to floor. This was a holy place for Nill, his position of power as he led the grand cruiser Endless Night through the warp. His third eye seeing into the hell that swirled about the ship, the nightmares that racked against its gellar field. A soft hum brought his senses back entirely to the small bubble of reality, and he slumped. It was exhausting work guiding the ship, and the job was made worse by the screaming banshee that Issa had placed onboard.

A glower broke his wrinkled face when he stood and stretched his back. Blood ran from his ears and eyes from Sharue's scream into the void. Yes, he knew her real name as well as her true purpose on this ship. Issa had hand-selected him for this mission, and he would see it to the end but if it had not been the protections of his sanctorum that scream could have quickly killed him. "What a monster. Why do you tamper with things like this Issa?" The question was more to himself than anyone, but it was as Issa had said. The inquisitor had said they would run into a warp storm that would be hard to pass but Sharue would have the key to help them through. That scream had opened a window allowing the mighty ship to slip through like a sleek predator of the deep.

A smile came across his face as he ran a wrinkled hand over the many controls in his sanctorum. The lifeblood of the ship ran through his room, and he could feel the might of it, Endless Night was an old ship with many battles under it. It was an honor to be selected as its navigator and even more so when it was from the inquisition themselves. Though it worried him, as a dark shadow was cast in this section of the warp. Powers well above his understanding were at prowl here. His instructions were clear though, guide this ship to the location Issa had provided and to do it in a way that would take time. She had been specific that Sharue needed time to mature on the ship, so he had taken a course that was longer in the warp then real space. He estimated that while it has been over a year in the warp, it has only been a few months in real space.

Slowly bringing the silk cloth back up to wrap around his forehead he prepped to head down and talk with the Capitan. Navigators had to be careful with their third eye. It can quickly kill someone who looks into it, and also it un-nerved the phobic populace of the Imperium. Navigators were very poorly received due to the mutation but were the only way that space travel was even possible for the Imperium. Thus, his kind has become both loved and hated in equal terms.

He gave his bastion of safety a look over before hitting the door stud. It was stressful for him to wander the ship and in a way, he could relate to Sharue. She is a psyker, the witch in which everyone is taught to hate, and he a mutant. The robes and seal upon his body gave him rank and clout on this ship. The stylized I of the Inquisition a shield against all harm from those who would want to do onto him. That's not to say nothing could happen to him though. Intelligence sometimes was lacking with individuals, and sometimes the dogma of hate overpowered the common sense of the individual.

His soft leather boots made hardly a sound on the metal decking of the ship, not like it was that hard as the constant roar of life on a ship would almost drown out anything but the loudest sounds. The ship was massive, at seven kilometers long and nearly two wide it was quite a task to go from the bowels of the ship to the bridge. Thankfully no one stood in his way as he made his way through the narrow corridors to the broader walkways. These halls and corridors were the lifeblood of the ship. Souls moved through its iron halls like blood keeping the mighty ship alive and in good health. When others boarded her, the souls acted like white blood cells and quickly work to kill the brutal invasion. It was a symbiotic relationship, we needed the ship, and the ship required them.

Over one hundred thousand souls lived, worked, and died on this ship. The mass of bodies spilled about Nill as he found himself walking one of the leading corridors to the bridge. He gave a smirk as he bet Sharue fit well in this metal hive. She would be used to the cramped quarters and press of flesh. He, on the other hand, was not fond of it. People pushing and touching him as they moved past each other. It made him uneasy as his body was frail and weak. A bump from a shipmen spun him about making him push out with his staff to steady himself. “Filth.” He spat out but was nervous too. Nill just rewarded him with a fierce smile. After a moment the male human made his way back into the throng of people, and Nill found himself on his way again.

Eventually, the bridge came into view, and after being stopped by the guards, he was allowed to enter. All eyes turned to the doors. It's bridge crew curious who would be coming on deck at this hour. Captain Kurklin looked up from his halo and gave a frown seeing Nill. The Captain was not a fan of him though he felt it was because of his mentality and not because he was a navigator. Most Captains had a special bond with their navigators as they were vital to the ship. "I trust you are here for a good reason?" The reptile was forward and to the point even when talked to by one of the Inquisition.

"I am, we are soon to reach our destination sir," Nill said bowing low keeping a hold of his staff as he did so. The large folds of his robes falling about him as he did. “Good, this long trip in the warp has made my crew cranky. I had to have over a hundred executed when they started a panic down in the slave decks and what is this about? The astropaths were screaming about a banshee.” Nill knew that the Captain was informed on some of the plan and the charge they carried. “Our guest had a bout of panic I do believe.”

“I will be glad when your mistress comes to pick up her pet. It has been hard enough to keep the commissars and the sisterhood from snooping down into the 301st, and do not get me started on that priest of theirs. She is a distraction I do not need on this ship any longer than needed.” Nills bowed again as he was the eyes and ears for Issa on the ship. He had reported back to her several times through one of their own Astropaths, one in which the Captain did not know about. "I am sure things are coming to a head. Once we are out of the warp, we will be in the solar for the pickup by my mistress. We will no longer burden you with these things.”

A simple nod from the Captain was all he rated. “Very well, how long before we break warp?” Nill stood and cleared his throat. “A few days at most.” It took a few moments for the Captain to respond as he went over rosters of who would be on duty and what swing section the ship would be in. “I will announce to my senior officers that we will break warp soon then. Let me know when we are a few hours out, so we may prep.” Nills gave another bow. “As you wish my lord.”

Exiting the warp is just as dangerous as entering it. The ship was at its most vulnerable during this transition. Not by just the monsters of the warp but whatever waited for them in real space. Ships have been ambushed by those who could read the tides knowing where they would exit. “It will be done, Ave Impetitor.” The Captain simply replying back “Emperor protects.”



Solorin was in the process of finishing up his last kill. The smear of gore was across the floor and walls, slung there by the sudden and violent entry of the space marine. Wiping his combat knife off on one of the dead mutants the armored monster looked about the room. Twelve lay dead and one incapacitated panting and sobbing in the corner unable to move from where she lay. Though calling her a she was a stretch. The stoat was mutated to the point that it was hard to discern gender.

The only thing that still worked on her was one of her five arms that flopped about uselessly. It was like putting down an animal when Solorin came about to finish the job. A gurgling wheeze coming from her as his booted foot stomped down. It had taken a little longer than he had expected to get down to the comms section and was sure the alarm had been sounded by now. The lower and closer to the command section the more mutated the PDF soldiers were.

The headset he pulled off the female stoat was comically small in his gauntlet. His free hand pulling off his helm and put the smaller headset to one ear. It would take a little bit for him to punch in the codes to get things moving. "Curse these things." He muttered. Having to move slow as a large finger could easily hit multiple buttons forcing him to start over again. "You would think that they would have some consideration for the larger breed of our kind."

“But that would be too easy, and it is not like the corpse god to be kind nor easy.” The sound forced Solorin to whip about and just barely avoid a chain sword as it roared to life. This was a serious threat and one that made Solorin go on the back foot dropping the headset and stumble back. “I can not in good faith kill one of my kind by stabbing him in the back!” The Marine roared with excitement showing off his red power armor that was adorned with several trophy’s.

"I was wondering when the rats would start scuttling out of the woodwork." The large feline space marine looked like he might be from the thousand sons possibly or one of the many offshoots of the fallen Marines from the second and third founding. "How ironic that the wolf would face off with a feline adversary." A massive boom echoed the room as the feline had switched over to his bolter forcing Solorin to roll out of the way as a series of holes opened in the plascreat.

“Funny story traitor, I swore that I had just made several rugs of your kind from a little place called Cadavers vault. Most of your kind showed their backsides and ran back to the hell you call home.” Another few shots came out tearing up the ground before one found its way into his pauldron spinning him about as he let out a blast striking the chaos marine in the chest plate. The blow staggered him back until he found his footing and came charging in.

“Funny thing wolf. I have a different memory of that event. One of your brothers strapped to my tank squealing for his god emperor to save him.” The feline bellowed out as his chain sword tore through the equipment trying to find the wolf. Solorin was inwardly cursing as he did not want any of the equipment he needed to be destroyed. So, he tried his best to lead the chaos marine away from the room. "Run, run, run, wolf pup."

The thing the chaos space marine did not know was that Solorin was not just a wolf but a death guard. Lone fighting was something he excelled at. That wasn't to say things could go horribly wrong. Another thing he was worried about was the more noise the pair of them made, the more unwanted attention was brought to him from the lower levels.

A sudden explosion of rockcreet ripped out fo the wall and into him slamming Solorin across the hall. The foul taste of the warp lingering as the chaos space marine stepped out still glowing with warp magic. Solorin took the chance and brought up his bolt pistol and emptied his clip letting each shot walking its way up the space marine’s armor until finally one of the rounds found an opening in his seal between the helm and gorget.

A roar of pain sounded out letting him know he found a mark. It did little to slow the other space marine down though as he charged into the pile of plascreet Solorin was trapped in. In a way, it saved his life as the chain sword slammed down into the rubble spitting and sputtering rock about. "What's wrong tainted one? No more words?" Solorin roared out as he grabbed the top of the chain sword and let it grind into the rebar and gum up.

Following it up with a sudden strike to the knee with his combat knife sent the marine to his knees. "Or does the cat have your tongue?" And punched with all his might sending the chaos marine tumbling backward into the same hole he had made.

A gurgle came from the downed marine as Solorin freed himself from the rubble. He too was injured; two pieces of rebar had found their way into his armor and embedded deep within his own flesh. Ignoring the pain, he charged through the hole to tackle into the red armored marine. He was trying to get up, and his angered howls had turned to gurgled screams of frustration and anger. This was not someone to be cowed by his wounds.

The pair rolled about on the floor struggling for dominance. The chaos marine suddenly punching in one of the rebars until it poked through the other side of his armor and Solorin bashing the other marines helm in until it split exposing his face. The final act was to wedge his combat knife down into it ending the other marine's life quickly. "That was a workout." He huffed sitting up looking down at the rebar skewered him.

He would survive his injuries, but they would have to be tended to. For now, he merely bent the bars over to fit with his armor and left them. If they had gone through anything vital, it would kill him to just yank it out. The wolf may be superhuman, but he was not invincible. If he bled out enough, he would die just the same.

He had to wonder where the marine came from and if there was more of them. First, though he had to make contact with Banal and get a rescue going. It took several moments to prod the machine spirit of the radio to life, but finally, he heard the alto tone of the broadcast sound out.

“Scavenger six eight two, this is fallen angel nine nine eight.” Solorin repeating it two more times knowing that Banal would not pick up until the third time. “Fallen angel we hear you. Status?” It sounded like the ship’s captain, “All parties are alive, two injured, non-fatal. Request extract at Beta Primus six.” Solorin looked at his bolt pistol which was empty. “Empty mags flight response.” Meaning his fighting ability was low.

"Confirmed Fallen Angel, please be advised that Beta Primus is no longer viable, please continue to Magenta Beta six eight. Extract Six tango six." Solorin paused to think on that. It meant he, would have to take Risia north to get to that spot, but it should be doable. Six tango Six was the code for two days. “Confirm Scavenger, Angel has no trumpet.” Meaning once he left here he would have no contact with them until extract. “Confirmed Fallen angel, code is blue.” Blue smoke which he could do. That would let them know he was still there. “Confirmed. Fallen angel out.”

Solorin than turned and smashed the radio and crushed the controller to ensure that the codes could not be used within the time they were good. The codes would roll over to the new ones the next day so all he had to do is delay them for a few more hours and then they would be useless.

The shouts from outside prompted him to finish up, but he had one more thing to do. He had found some krack charges and jerry-rigged them to a remote up in the upper spires. "I am no demolitions expert but," The wolf hit the button, and a massive rumble sounded out from where the hydrolisks and other munitions were stored. The roar of fire billowed out of the tower, and massive slabs of plascreet came tumbling down past the command station and crashing to the floor below.

The explosion should rattle them enough to make his getaway as Solorin worked through the building to a hole, and much like the way he came into the building he left it. Soaring across the gap to the other hive tower and was gone. The scene he left behind was absolute chaos. Fitting for the forces that touted the chaos cause.

It would be hours before he made his way back to where Risia was. The symbol she scratched in pointing him to where she should be and when she was, not there prompted him to slowly work his way down through the building. It was when he found the webbing and the discarded pistol that he found out her fate. It was a gamble as being captured by a rex unit didn't mean death. Though there was a significant possibility of it.

Sighing he took a knee pulling off his helm and took the scene in. "Well hell, I can't go back to Banal without knowing either way." He muttered looking left and right down the hallway. Taking a slow deep breath through his nose, he picked up a faint scent of the frisky feline. That tone of frustration and anger would be hard to miss. "You feisty thing. Let’s get you back to your master and get out of this hell hole.” The large wolf standing and turning to go the way the scent came from. He would have to use the mechanical scent of the rex units too to help track them. “Stay alive Risia, I would drag you back from warp just to scold you if you let yourself die this way.” He growled out. Solorin had grown fond of the girl and had high expectations of her.


Sharue laid there with Reed in the quiet little hole they had found to enjoy some sexual pleasures and just get away from the grind of duty. It was still a conflict of emotions for her, but she couldn't argue that it felt good.

“You feeling better?" Reed was snugged in from behind allowing her nude form to press to Sharue's. "You really seamed off the last week after that execution." The fox let out a yawn and stretch as she hemmed. The nightmare that she had seen had really wound her up and shaken her to the core. It still did in ways, she couldn't talk about what she saw to anyone, and since then she had been trapped. Her projections running into a wall and unable to go very far.

It was as if the warp had thrown up walls and trapped her in and also a black void screamed at her every time she left. It was getting close to, a black pool of darkness that radiated malintent. "Yea I am good to go," Sharue said pulling over an Iho to suck down on. “Just stressed out.” She muttered about it. Reed stole the Iho and took a puff as she grunted “Bull shit. You were just wracked when you got back. What got to yea?”

Sharue had to be careful how she went forward with this. She paused a bit thinking it over before saying “Well what would you have done if it was me against that pole?” Though she made sure to add on “I mean he was one of our own.” Playing it off that she was more shaken that it was one of their own that she had killed.

Reed let a slow exhale slide out of her, the smoke rolling out over her lips as she smirked. "I wouldn't have had to worry about doing it because you're not some witch that warranted execution, but if you were and such I would still pull the trigger. A witch is a witch, and only death is the right thing for them." That did not make Sharue feel very well as she huffed.

"Harsh." She muttered, and Reed slapped her shoulder. "Hey, you haven't seen what those monsters can do. I have, one ripped apart my hab and killed a lot of my family. Damn things are like wild animals and when cornered lash out. If the black ships are not going to get them, they need to be put down. If that guy were a true citizen, he would have turned himself in before he was sniffed out. Pretty fucking selfish if you ask me, putting us all in danger just to keep himself alive." She muttered handing the cig back. "Your family was killed by a psyker?" Reed nodded a bit "Yea that's how I got conscripted. No family and too young to work in the factorums. So, put a rifle in my hands and taught me to shoot. Never forgot the look of that fuckers face though just before the soldiers put holes in him."

Sharue’s mood had tanked fast as she sat up and hemmed. “What?” Reed asked feeling like something was up. All she could do was shake her head. "Nothing, just still shook up I guess." The truth was her chest was pounding, and her head was killing her. Corbel's words came back to her. "It is not a what if but when" Finding her pants the fox started to get dressed.

The unease in the room was building as Reed could tell she had hit a nerve of some sort but didn’t understand what. The pair starting to get dressed and just try to brush it off when the vox speakers chimed. “This is an announcement from the bridge to all staff. We will be breaking warp soon. All staff report back to your sections and await orders.” Reed tried changing the feel by laughing “Fuck yea! Back to real space and out of this hell.” She slapped Sha on the shoulder “Come on Honolin, I would think you would be the one most excited with all those damn nightmares of yours.”

Sha was happy to hear they were breaking warp and offered a forced grin. “Yea, about fracking time!” The pair making their way to the squad bay and settling in with their fellow guardsmen. There was excitement and worry as most of them knew this was the dangerous part. Some were praying others were trying to relax while others looked nervous. Either way, they were all guardsmen, and nothing they could do could turn the tide if something went wrong. All they could do is sit and wait and hope.


“Time to transit: twenty minutes, sir.” The helm called out as the Endless Nights Captain nodded. “Very well, com relay the litany of safety through the vox. All hands ready for real space.” The litany sounded out over the vox as soon every hallway and corridor filled with its prayer. Most of the crew found themselves mouthing the words as the flight decks were ready to launch fighters and bombers the moment they broke real space.

Captain Kurklin was no slouch, and even if he had expected a peaceful reception, he would have deployed his forces. This would show his peers that he knew what he was doing and took his task seriously. Waiting for the board to go green he gave the command.

"Begin transition." The pressure built on everyone's mind as the fabric of reality slowly started to tear open allowing the ship to ease out of the purple bruise of a portal. As the cruiser worked out of it the fighters scrambled and quickly made defensive positions rapidly establishing a corridor of safety between them and the cruiser.

It took only moments to slide out of the warp and back into reality. A giant red planet greeted them off the port. The world looked like a blood clot floating in the air and just radiated malcontent into the void. This was not a kind world, and it would be a spectator to what was to come. The central shutters opened allowing the Captain and his crew to see the void and this sight for the first time in over a year. Cheers went up until suddenly one shouted out. “Contacts!”

Even though he was prepared it startled the Captain that there would be contacts. “Idents?” The radar tech shook her head. “Non-confirming Idents. No Id sent.” Captain Kurklin was placed in a hard position. Was this the inquisition? He knew that sometimes they had to work off grid.

"Curse you, Issa." He muttered wasting precious moments that could have been used to attack if need. "How many?" "At least two capital sized ships and twenty or so escort ships. They are in lose formation. No organized path or pattern to them." The two groups hung in space for a few moments as fighters reported back in asking for orders.

Finally, one of the bridge crew chimed in. "Ident on one confirmed, Fiery Hate, frigate class, noted in recent run-ins with sector authorities, they are pirates." That was all he needed to know as he gave the order "Send them to the warp!" Most would think of a space battle as fast and exciting, it was not so unless you were one of the lone fighters in close combat. From the bridge, Kurklin watched his halo as the fighters broke away and started to engage the front escorts. “Come about to port and give them our flank. I want macros in the air then slender us up again.”

He meant to only stay on the flank as long as it took to launch the macro munitions and then face them again. This would give them a smaller target at this range. Turning a ship, this size was no simple task nor was it quick. "Tight spread aim for the center of their fleet. Let's see if we can scatter them some." The chance of hitting anything at this rage was very slim. But what it would do is force the fleet of ships to scatter giving his fighters an opportunity to divide and conquer. Minutes ticked away as the ship came about and a rumbling roar rattled its decks as the broad side torpedoes were set loos at the enemy.

“Twelve minutes to impact." The con called out as they already started to right the ship and point her to the fleet. "Very well, notify all fighters to focus on all stragglers and stay out of the range of the main guns," Kurklin growled out. Where was Issa? Had she been destroyed by this fleet before they got here? “Auspex do a search for any fighting and look for any other imperial signatures out there. Comm relay out all communiqué and someone get a message down to the astropath. Get a location and situation report to fleet.” The reptile had to be realistic, with these many ships against his it was possible to sustain heavy damage or even destroyed. “All hands make ready for combat.” He called out over the vox as he knew most would already know what to do. “We have prey to scatter.”


Brender was watching the wound in reality close when the grand cruiser came out of warp. Just like Issa had said and it was a beast of a ship. Bristling with weapons and its fighters already deployed showing the Captain was no slouch. It hovered there in space facing the fleet Brender had thrown together. Issa had left the details to him on how to get the task done. He knew she was hovering out there somewhere watching and making sure things were going as she wanted them to.

It was only a few moments before the first contact came. The fighters had started a strafe against the escorts and Brender knew they had been ID’ed. He had to keep his flagship, Fiery Hate out of that beasts reach. A frigate was not on par with a grand cruiser. The only hope was that he had not detected the detachment of ships hidden on the dark side of the planet. The fleet had just one cruiser class ship, and it needed to be the one to punch a hole that others could get into.

"He doesn't wait around does he?" Brender’s second laughed “No but by the--" one of his bridge crew interrupted. "Macros inbound tight spread center mass." It was already apparent who was organized and who wasn't. Requests for orders came in from some while others split off on their own to get out of the way of the incoming munitions. "Idiots tell them not to break off. He is trying to scatter us!" Brender would give the Captain that. His fighters were leaving windows of escape allowing those breaking free of formation to slip into and then slam the door shut as the hive of fighters pounded on the ships trying to escape the path of the incoming macros.

One of the escorts engines flared and blazed when a strafing run from the fighters cut into its plasma drivers. “All ships move to nav chart one, one, six. Keep together and do not let the fighters get between you and the fleet. Another small escort caught the brunt of another run and was lamed floating in the void. The fighters were not meant to destroy the ships. Their job was merely to lame or corner its prey and let the hunter make the kill.

That kill was in the form of several dozen macros streaking at his fleet. It would take only seven minutes to perform the maneuver to get out of the way but in a space battle that would only leave a few minutes to spare which was cutting it close. “Sir, Sorrs Rage isn’t going to make it in time.” Brender nodded as he pulled up com. "Login, abandon ship!" The small escort already had pods being spaced from its craft. This was the craft that had been crippled, and the contrail of the macro could be seen heading right for it. They had guidance systems that would allow it to correct itself into its target and soon the view window from Fiery Hate flared from the impact. The wave of the explosion catching several of the escape pods and the ships forward section just vaporized leaving the back half of the ship to list and tumble in the void.

“All other munitions will miss by forty kilometers.” That was a tight fit. The streaks of the munitions going by as one other ship was hit blowing a massive hole in its side and listing itself. The problem with being a pirate fleet too was the lack of resolve.

“How many are disengaging?” His second looked at his screen. “Five, want me to com them?” Brender shook his head. “No, we need them to think we are unorganized and keep his attention on us. The other fleet should be in motion, we need to keep them pointed to us until Grey Might has a chance to sink her teeth in on this bitch. That and the fighters are going to tear apart those breaking off. Let our prey thin out the herd some. More for us when this is done.”

His second gave a smirk and nodded letting the five go to their fate. “Come on you old dog, eyes on me.” Brender hoped this went well. If all went to hell, he would have to jump in full force to hopefully overpower the cruiser. "Launch some of our own macros as a show of force. Let's bait him a bit further into the noose.”


"Macros inbound." Kurklin scowled, so they did have that sort of firepower. “Come to stern and proceed ahead full. Bring me into lance range.” He watched the indicator of the macros streak across the grid at his vessel. It infuriated him to no end that he would be challenged like this. He would have a talk with Issa about this once he purged this trash from the void.

Lance range was a gamble as the two frigates had teeth to them. "Once in let the fighters take some heat and make a hole. Then slag that can." It had been some time since the ship had been in real combat. The thrill of it was a pleasant surprise, it mingled well with the hatred he was feeling right now. "Aye, sir." It only took Kurklin a moment to understand the mistake he had made though. When the hit came, it came hard from his rear flank taking out most of his starboard engines. The ambush had been sprung.

Auspex picked up a smaller fleet coming out of the dark side of the planet. The fleet had been hidden in a cluster of smaller asteroids. Not only that but it felt like foul play was at hand here. They had known they would come out here. What concerned him was the large cruiser at the center of the formation. It had bit hard and some of the Endless Nights engines flickered and sputtered having taken a direct hit. He had most of his void shielding forward leaving his rear exposed.

“Damage report! Get control teams to aft.” A flurry of activity filled the bridge as the tide had turned hard on Kurklin. He still was not out of the game yet though. “Prep for warp jump if need. Come about full Give them a spread at 80 and 120. Cross that patch and give us time to get our lances to bare.” The maneuver would bring a spread forcing the fleet to bank, but another spread would be waiting. “Warp drive will need time to spin up sir. Several conduits have been overloaded from the strike.” Kurklin nodded. "ETA?" The deckhand worked on his vox. “Twenty minutes.” That would give time for the larger fleet to close and if he got clipped in the engines again it would be over. “Very well. Time we give them a little surprise.”


Sharue’s eyes were wide as confusion had been the first response by most of the 301st. The shudder of the decks and the sudden turns forced most of the guard to grip ahold of their racks. "What the hell is going on!" Van looked at the fox. "We are under attack." He said over the alarms. A stern look forced his face taunt. She could see this was not something that was expected. The sergeants were used to this as they started to give out orders. When the first hit came it lifted Sharue up and off her feet sending her about twenty feet down the squad bay. “Honolin!” Reed grabbing her before she could smack something. “Damn it hold onto something you idiot!”

Sharue gave Reed her thanks as the pair steadied themselves. This was the horror that the guard had to face while on ship. To be helpless as the battle raged around them. The squad bays were buried in the ship, giving them some protection but not complete protection. "That one was aft." sergeant Cataline said before he leaned into a vox unit. He had been talking to his higher-ups before he nodded.

“We're going to be put to use, were boarding these sons of bitches, they want a kill team to hit a target. Bravo, Delta with me to the hanger bays." That meant that Eric and Van were going! Sha gave a panicked look as Eric was grabbing his things and Van had a conflicted look looking to Sha then the sergeant’s Disobeying right now would just get him shot. Cursing he grabbed his things as almost half of the 301st started to file out. “Reed get the rest ready to repel boarders if need.” The human giving a nod before going into action.

“Honolin, join alpha and get to deck ten and fifteen, I will join you when Charlie is in place.” This was it, this was actual combat and she could not even see who they were fighting. "Everyone, get to the armory and get your shit! Let's go!" Sharue was almost pushed along by the press of bodies in the narrow hallway. The armory would be a mess as weapons were handed out and ammo distributed. "Must be a shit storm to call us out." It was Diamond, a tall rat that had been a pain in her ass since she joined the 301st. Right now, though, both of them had to trust each other. The hatred between the two gone as each of them would risk their lives to help each other.

He had a different tone, they all did as every unit had its problem children but right now every single one of them was focused and if not eager to do their job. A flack and a scattergun was shoved into her by one other guard member “GO!” he simply said as she shuffled out into the hallway and made her way to deck ten. Navy personnel took priority and all guardsmen would move out of their way as control crews made their way through the ship. Questions raced through Sharue’s mind, how bad were they hit? Were they being boarded right now? Why were they being attacked?

It, of course, did not matter right now as her orders were to get to deck ten and make sure others got to deck fifteen. The rest of the 301st was heading to the hanger decks for who knows what. She never was pulled into boarding action training. “Fracking hell Van, Eric, be safe!” she said mostly to herself as she hopped a railing and dropped to a deck below.


Kurklin watched the blimps as he let his limping starboard show off for a moment or two. It was his turn to give a feint. Once the cruiser and its escorts came into the net he ordered the cross hatch launch of the macros. The shells streaked out but hidden within the shells also were ships. The boarding teams had one job, kill that cruisers bridge. He watched as the macros strike two of the escorts of the other cruiser and then a shell struck the cruiser itself. It's void shields flaring to life before rippling across its massive haul.

The cruiser was not being idle ether, its own salvo was coming his way and there was no way to avoid it in time. “All hands brace for impact. Come about to port, take it on the chin as best as you can." You did not want to catch one of those midship. His shielding was spread evenly now across ship but it meant that it could not take as much punishment. "Give the boarding team a window." The cruiser was in range of Endless Nights lances. Stark blue beams streaked across the void striking the other cruiser not just once but in quick succession until one of its void projectors blew out giving the boarding party a window to get into the ship.

"Another fleet is closing." And then the first of the cruiser's shells impacted. The explosion rocked the ship and a second one jerked and tore through the front void shielding sending thick armored plates spinning off into the void. Another strike suddenly hit from the port side as the other fleet opened up. They lacked the firepower to get through the void shields quickly allowing Kurklin to focus on the main threat for a bit longer.

“Boarding parties are on sir.” The commsman reported. “Good let’s hope they buy us some time. Their sacrifice will be noted.” There would be no time to retrieve them if they had to jump to warp.


Sharue watched as Reed came sliding down the rail. “Everyone in position?” Sharue nodded as she pointed down to the end of the corridor. “Got Trinity and Dannitill on the aft and then me and four others for the stern.” Reed nodded patting Sharue’s shoulder “Good get some comms up so we can keep in touch.” Sharue had already been working on that as suddenly the alarm bellowed out. “Brace for impact.” Everyone holding down as the first one rocked the ship but the second one changed everyone’s life in just a moment. It was hard to explain, and Sharue didn’t even know why she did it, just that a sixth sense sort of kicked in and she let herself expand out. As if she could see the munition tearing into the plating.

The explosion tore into the section she was at and in almost slow motion the fireball came up engulfing Trinity and Dannitill, the fire was rolling along the hallway towards everyone and Sharue let out a scream and braced watching the fire crash against her kine shield. The green flare filled the room as the fire battered and demanded she yield to it. It took a long moment before the void suddenly sucked the needed air to fuel the inferno away and she could see the void. The stars looked back at her for a brief moment before the blast doors slowly shut sealing off the rendered section of the ship.

It had happened so fast that what she had done didn’t even register. Just that she felt the drain on her before she put down her arms. Taking a deep gasping breath, she turned to the group and froze. Their looks told her the story she needed to know. They had seen it, in fact her eyes were still glowing. “Oh, frack me…” That was all she could say as Reed just stood in horror looking at her. The vox unit half dangling from her hand as her eyes slowly started to turn cold and hard. “Reed! Please don’t do this!” Sharue tried putting up her paw at her which made the group flinch away. “The fuck Honolin! You’re a witch?!” It was Diamond who had come down with the group. “Guys! Come on! I just saved us all!” Sharue was frantic, trying to think of anything that would calm her fellow guardsmen down. There were some looks as she had just saved them. Some were of fear others hatred. None of them gave her the look of pure loathing though that Reed was giving her.

“You knew this whole time.” She growled out low. “That’s why you were having the nightmares… and why that fucking execution bothered you so much. You knew and you let me… ” She never raised her voice, but it trembled with rage. “Reed…” Sharue tried taking a step forward to Reed. The human took a step back “Please, don’t” but it was too late as Reed pulled up the vox unit "Command we have a fucking witch within our ranks! It's Honolin! YES, I AM SURE!”

Sharue gave a panicked look looking to the others for support but once Reed started to report in, their uncertainty turned to hate as well. Sharue barely got out of the way of the first shot as she jumped down a side corridor. "HONOLIN! YOU ARE TO STAND DOWN!" She heard Reed scream from the corridor, but she was already taking off down the corridor at full sprint. "Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" tears welling up in her eyes as she did not want to fight any of them. She wanted to try to explain to them and assure them she was not a threat! Her chest heaved as she pumped her legs as fast as she could. The image of the commsmen coming to her, the look he had given her tied to that post. She had to find Emma, she would help her! She was on deck fifteen! Emma would understand! She had to!


Kurklin was looking at damage reports coming in. One of them grabbed his attention as he frowned. It seemed his guest had slipped her collar and was causing issues below deck. "I knew I should have just locked her up." He muttered. "Belay all orders regarding Honolin.” He commanded. “We have larger fish to fry and the Inquisition wants their pet alive I would assume. Relay that down to the guard, no one is to harm her! Get her locked up and out of sight!” He loathed to say it, as she was a psyker and should be dealt with as such but the command from Issa was very specific. “I’ll be damned to survive this only to end up shot by that crazy bitch!” referring to Issa.

He had to turn his attention back to the battle at hand. His rear shields were taking a pounding by the more extensive fleet and the cruiser was still combat capable. "Bring us closer to the planet, Try, skimming the surface and put both these fleets behind us. We need to get them all on one side or they will tear us apart. He needed to be able to divert power to just one side for shields. As long as he was being harassed on his port side, he couldn't bring his shields to bear on the starboard where the actual threat was.

"Aye sir, coming about." The massive ship was wounded, fires ranged on quite a few of the decks and two of his launchers on the starboard side was out. Causalities were being reported in the thousands as the whole gun deck crew was whipped out for the two guns. The smaller munitions from the gun turrets filled the void around the ship trying to bring down ships and shells alike. It was far from done and already a third of the smaller ships had been wiped out by the sizeable grand cruiser.

That blood-red planet glared at him as the ship pointed to it and made haste to try to slip between it and the pirates assaulting her from almost all sides. "Get an astropath communiqué out to the fleet at large. Endless Night under siege, give them our last known and also the names of those assaulting us.” He knew he was supposed to keep his location a secret but at this rate he had to report in. The ship groaning under the smaller assaults as fighters and escorts alike filled his front view screen as the red planet came into full view. "Get us close and scrape them off our starboard side so we can get them on one side.

“Sir we will have to get extremely close to the upper atmosphere for that.” Kurklin turned his head to the con and frowned. “Well, is the warp jump available?” The con shook his head. “No sir, if anything we lost vox with that section of the ship.” The grizzled reptile letting his eyes rest on the younger human male and let that be the response to his own statement. “Aye sir, coming within atmospheric range. This will get a bit bumpy.”

He wasn’t lying as the ship shuddered and shook seeing part of the haul pull away and off the ship. It was working, even the escort ships were reluctant to get on the starboard side of her and the pirates did now want the ship to go down on the planet.


Brender watched as the fight unfolded. He had to give it to the captain, he was bold getting so close to the planet and knowing that they were pirates, wouldn’t risk downing their prey so close to the planet. “Follow him, I do not want him getting away. Any signs he is trying to jump to warp?" His auspex crew came back with a negative. Ether the drive was damaged, or he was under orders not to retreat. Over a third of the escort ships were down or destroyed and his own ship took some damage too. This was becoming a costly fight.

Not only that the Cruiser Galamo had been boarded and were trying to fight off the boarders. Sighing and rubbing his face, half the damage was done by the other ships not communicating or sticking to the arranged plan. The others were inexperienced and lacked the needed punch to do much. The Galamo had bitten deep but not as deep as he had hoped. She had been off and only got some of the engines allowing the ship to still maneuver and operate. “Sir we are getting communiqué from across the fleet asking what we should do?” Brender sighed and stood pulling up the vox. “All ships, this is Brender aboard the Fiery Hate. Follow but do not fire upon them. They have to come out eventually.”

Clicking it off he was about back to his command seat when auspex roared out. “It’s huge! Sir incoming warp transition! It’s beyond anything I have ever seen!” A look of confusion came across Brender’s face as he stormed over fearing that it was a trap. When he saw the auspex though his eyes widened as well. “What in the damned warp is that?!" Reality started to split and all that was coming out was fire. The orb slowly made transition to real space and the sheer mass of it caused navigation to go haywire for a moment as more and more of its mass entered in. The sheer size was awe-inspiring as the rift continued to open giving birth to a moon-sized object.

It was a station of some sort, or hundreds of massive ships, or both, the auspex array couldn't make up its mind as half the fleet had already turned and ran. As the moon like station came to life it slowly placed a shadow on the hellish world below. “What the hell…” Brender knew that this was not part of the plan. The massive thing was about a quarter of the way through the tare when he gave the order to back away.

“Do we have any idea what this is?” He asked watching the Auspex operator work. "No idea, too much information is coming in for the coagulator to ID it. Over a hundred Idents are coming in. It's powering weapons!" The massive world engine could bring its weapons to bare before it every fully exited the warp. "Evasive…" The auspex operator interrupted. “It’s not targeting us sir.” Brender stopped mid-command. "Who is it targeting." The Auspex controller let him see. It took him a moment, but his eyes looked up at his bridge projector. "Why would it target them?" Brender's eyes on the Endless Night.


Nill was already at the astropath chamber giving a message to Issa when the runner came. The frail man frowned as he turned and intercepted the runner. “What message do you have?” The heaving rat took a few moments to catch his breath. “We need, to get, out our, location to the fleet.” He said between gasps. Nill frowned and looked about seeing no one was there with them. He had already relayed what was going on and killed the astropath. Offering a smile, he patted the rat on his back and helped him into the astropaths sanctum.

“W…what is going on!” The rat screamed seeing the blank and drooling stare of the female astropath. A blade had gone through one side of her skull and out the other leaving a blood trail along her neck and robes. “She played her part, and as a loyal citizen of the Empire she was retired for the greater cause. The poor rat had a very blank look on his face when he turned. What he saw was Nill slowly undo his cloak and allow his third eye to flare wide. The screaming was muffled through the walls and only lasted for a brief moment before subsiding to the groan and sounds of the ship.

“This is for the good of the Imperium, be honored that you got to serve such a noble cause.” The slumped body of the rat was staring at the floor. His eyes were wide and bloodshot as every orifice blead. His mind was completely destroyed. Nill had wished he could have used this on the astropath but she was blind and sanctioned forcing him to resort to a more brutal way of killing her.

Stepping out he left the room as it was. It was time to abandon this ship and rejoin with Issa. Though that would be harder than expected as the ship suddenly listed hard. A groan and pop sounded out as floor plates buckled under the strain of whatever event that had befallen the ship. Hurrying to the hanger Nill scowled at what he saw. The massive world engine coming into real space. “I thought I felt the bulge of something putrid coming out way.” He spat out in disgust. The pressure of such a large object moving through the warp had plagued him for some time. It had sat there just out of sight but non-the less putting pressure on Nill’s mind. If he had to dumb it down, it would have to be explained as taking a coin and sliding it under a tablecloth vs sliding a small ball under a tablecloth.

“You, filthy heretic, why do you show your face now?” Issa had never said anything about this. He wouldn’t doubt that she had other plans that he was not privileged to, but this seemed like something that was not apart of the plan. “Damn you Jak’irin, what are you doing!?" The navigator heading to a cutter that was waiting for him. The plan seemed to be going to hell. Van had been forced to join the boarding party, one of the other operatives had been killed during the attack, and the pirates had yet to disable and board the ship. It was time he left this and rejoined his master. His cutter had just cleared the hanger bay when he saw the flash, it was like a beam of pure chaos that struck across the void, there was no sound as it missed the cutter by just a kilometer racing to the Endless Night.


Sharue was sliding down the ladderway making her way to deck fifteen. It was a roundabout way as other checkpoints and patrols were set up. Thankfully none of them seemed to care about her as the ship listed hard. The sudden movement took her off guard but even more so the immediate pressure that flooded her senses. Something massive was coming out of the warp and the fox tumbled to the ground holding her head as she let out a scream of pain. The pain was getting worse forcing her to stumble and hold onto the railing whenever she could. "Fracking hell, wh…what is going on!”

The panic from earlier momentarily forgotten as the pain made her vision swim before she let out a gag, hurling vomit across the deck and walls before falling to her side. Curling up in a fetal position she could only struggle through it, seeing things that she couldn’t quite understand and voices that seemed to jumble together in an endless chant. Though the more she listened to it, the more it sounded like laughing.

Paws were picking her up suddenly shaking her. “Sha! SHA!” It took her a moment to realize they were using her real name. “Wha?” She lulled her head about as the ship listed more. It was Emma that was shaking her. “Sha! Are you ok?! Reed is calling you as a psyker! What the hell is going on!” It took a bit and all she could manage was. “D…dun let them kill me Emma.” She choked out tears welling up as she could not think clearly. Something was very wrong, very, very wrong and she could not shake the feeling that she had known this was coming.

"No one is going to kill you, but they are calling for you to be arrested and detained Sha," Emma muttered trying to help her up getting an arm around her shoulders. "Holy shit!" Emma about dropped Sharue back to the floor as she saw the vixen's eyes glowing finally. "You are a psyker!" Sha cleared her head just enough to plead out. "Emma, you have to help me please! You know me, I am not a threat to anyone! Please!" Then another wave of pain and vertigo struck her making her slump in her friend's arms.

She left her fate in Emma's paws as the smaller red fox looked about frantically trying to decide what to do. She wanted to do the right thing and arrest Sharue but at the same time she was her friend. Sharue had been the only one that had come to try to save her when she had been captured in the upper hive, a foundation to help her through her training and truthfully, she had never bought fully into the imperial creed. "Fracking hell Sha…" She muttered and started to drag the fox off to a side room.

“Where the frack are we going to go?! It’s not like we can just hide you on this ship and not be found?” It was a hard reality that even if she did help her, where could she go? Issa had hidden the fact that Sharue was a psyker from her and Eric. Emma wondered if Van knew? Did Issa know? Probably from what she gathered. It made sense in a way, but it was still a shit show. "How long have you known?" It took Sharue a moment, but she coughed out. "Before we left Triton. Issa forced me to use my powers when we fell down the shaft."

“Frack me, ok we need to get ahold of Issa, I mean she has the authority to just tell them to stop.” Sharue held her head forcing herself to focus and nodded. Though she felt a pressure building more and more until finally she screamed out. "It's coming!" Emma jumped startled at the sudden outburst from her friend and found her self-looking at Sharue as their world turned into a massive mix of tearing metal and blinding white light as the lance battery on the world engine chewed through the Endless Night.

Eric and Van had fought up to the third deck and secured a corridor that was important for hauling heavy weapons and supplies up to the advancing members that were almost to the bridge. When the world engine made its appearance, they found themselves watching out of one of the cathedral windows. “frack me that’s a monster.” Eric breathed out watching as the chaos unfolded. Van had to agree as he stood next to the larger male wolf. It was a monster and his eyes recognized that beast.

He could not say the owner's name out loud, but he knew that this was bad. Then the pair watched in horror as a flash of light lanced out from the monster and struck the Endless Night instantly tearing through the void shields and vaporizing the bridge section of the ship. The lance beam worked its way down along its stern until finally cutting out. Eric just dropped his laz rifle “NO!” His paws pounding on the glass. Van stood motionless as the ship listed, smaller fires flared up and he could make out the debris floating in the void. Van's jaws clenching off and on as he watched it twist and turn out of control like an animal that had been shot in the head and was in the midst of its death throws.

It was a nightmare and soon more of the 301st joined Van and Eric at the window. The officer chiming into his vox. "Commander, the Endless Night is… She is, do you see this?" Whatever was being said across the vox remained private between the officers but eventually the large stoat turned to the group. "Let's make them pay for this. To the bridge! Let's kill every last bastard that stands in our way!" The group roared out in anger as they bolted into action. It would be a hard fight, but the determination was renewed ten-fold seeing their ship struck so. Eventually Van put his paw on Eric's arm. "Come on, we have a job to do." There was a rare tone to his voice, anger that he rarely shown and even with his calm and cold exterior, Van had grown to know the people of the 301st and most of all he had grown to know his charges.

Eric’s face turned cold as he clenched his jaws so hard that blood started to escape from his gums. He joined Van as the pair joined their comrades. The last view he saw was the ship listing and slowly heading planet side. “Emperor, protect my comrades and grant us vengeance. Bring life back into the Endless Night and see her safe.” Van looked at Eric for a bit as they made their way to the front lines. “I didn’t think you were a praying man.” Eric spat out some flehm. Without a response he started into a jog. Van was right, there was work to be done.


Issa stood motionless on the deck of her ship. The collie had been watching the whole scene unfold in front of her. Her black ship hanging in the void like a silent predator as her cold eyes watched the world engine broke into real space and caused chaos and destruction. She broke the glass of asumec she was holding when the first lance strike hit the Endless Night and then watched as it started to target other ships in its path. It was a slaughter.

“Hail Jak’irin, I want to talk to that bastard.” It took a moment, but a shaky halo sprang to life as the dark mechanicus appeared. “You! What are you doing! This was not the plan!” Issa roared at the mostly blank looking magos. “Hello Issa, I have determined this was the best course of action. I predict a 53.8827% chance that over 23.993% of the crew will survive this.” The collie narrowed her eyes as she squeezed harder with her armored gauntlet. A sound of crunching glass came up from it as this was not someone she could deal with right now.

She blinked a bit as sand blew across the magos’s face making her leg go of the broken glass. "Are you on the planet's surface?!" The magos offering a very off and odd grin as his mechanical parts pulled up with the manic grin. “That I am Inquisitor, I have seen the tides from the omnisia and the path that will lead me to the all-knowing. The path is here, and I must take it Inquisitor. Do not worry, I believe your psyker will play a key roll in this.”

Issa flung the broken shards of glass at the halo. How did he know about that! Glaring the bridge crew kept on guard, they knew how she was when things did not go well. “Jak’irin if you get in my way I will end you!” The mechanicus cocked his head. “You only have a 5.728% chance of being able to carry out your threat Inquisitor Issa. With this I believe that the pursuit of my knowledge outweighs the risk of death from you or the other inquisition that is chasing me."

Composing her self Issa stood fully up. “You underestimate me, I hope you choke on this true Knowledge Jak’irin.” A shaky voice came up from her Auspex crew. “Mistress Shadowbane, the Endless Night is entering the atmosphere. Issa’s eyes snapped over to the auspex then she brought up the halo of the ship. She could see the gaping wound in the grand cruiser as flames licked from decks exposed to the void. Plasma leaked out of it leaving a trail like a dying animal before the first flickers of friction turned its nose red hot.

“Interesting, the 27.732% chance of it falling into the gravitational well of the planet and coming to ground has passed its plausible threshold. I must cut our conversation short Inquisitor Shadowbane." And with that the Halo went out. Issa was fuming with rage, or so the crew thought as all they could see was her back. What they didn't see was the sadistic grin spreading across her muzzle. "You had better live through this Sharue, I have put to much time and effort to let something like this to kill you. You fucking bitch don't you even think of ruining my plans by dying, my master is very eager to meet you in person." She breathed out to herself.

“Destroy any of those pirate scum that is trying to escape except the Fiery Hate, I will be in my chamber, do not disturb me.” Were her last words as she turned and made her way off the bridge. That smile was hidden by the depths of her hood. The last view of the halo she could see was the Endless Night burning as it smashed its way through the atmosphere. "Welcome to DX538 Sharue, welcome to hell." The bridge door closing behind her as she left the clean up to her crew. She couldn't afford word getting out about this, not yet anyway.


End Chapter 12
End Book 1

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