Was it a test? Satharn did not know. He looked for anything that might identify the Sin Eater as he wracked his memory, for the name tweaked something within his mind. The Sin Eater ... hadn't his gene-father had a servant by that name once? A wizened old man, a psyker. So by now, logically, he would be a skeleton or a skull. Satharn placed the wine next to the most suitable-looking old-man-skull he could find - given that he could see one at all amid the debris. Only Lord Curze understood the pattern to his collection, if indeed there really was one. He walked to stand close enough to his master to be easily hea- he stopped himself. The Primarch could hear him if he whispered from the darkest depths of the Nightfall. He realised that he was shuddering, his soul responding to the threat level even as it warred with his Astartes conditioning to feel no fear. Nothing normal scared the Night Lord. But this was Konrad Curze, and he ruled the night through terror. Satharn owed him a tithe of fear as a baseline of respect. "I know that story, Lord," he said, softly. Indeed who on Nostramo didn't know the start of that tale? No-one was sitting comfortably, and so he began. "A child fell to earth like a thunderbolt, and he was sent to bring Justice to a world of criminals. He grew swiftly into a man and beyond, and became the Dark King of that place, a sunless world known as Nostramo. When his rules - the natural laws of justice - were obeyed, he was known as a fair and just ruler. But when a crime was committed, he took to the streets to punish the guilty. He made an example of them in the way that even the most recalcitrant recidivist could understand: he flayed, he dismembered, he impaled, he bled them dry. His rule was absolute and there was a serenity of peace upon the world. No-one need fear the criminal any more, for there was no crime." Satharn's own family had been involved in the crime syndicates in some way, he was hazily sure, but he had been too young to really understand. In any case, his mother had sheltered him from mixing with the criminal element. And look how that turned out. "One day the man's father arrived. And he was as a shining god, though he was no god. He glowed with a radiance that blinded, though he came to a sunless world. He brought three of his other sons, and he said that he had come to take the Lord home. He named him Konrad Curze, though the people knew their King as the Night Haunter. And the Night Haunter was beset by a vision of such dire character that he almost tore out his own eyes. He had always had visions, and they showed him a dark and terrible future. But the stranger insisted that he must accompany him, and took him away, to serve as a general in his armies. Despite the dire warnings and despite the clear character of this man's conduct. He was the Emperor of Mankind and he was not to be disobeyed. What did he care for the sunless world?" "Konrad Curze was a loyal son and he strove to obey this Emperor, because that is the nature of a son's bond with his father. And at first the Emperor told him that his duty was to fight injustice in all its forms, and to instill terror into a populace, so that it bent the knee to the rule of law. And the man who had become a Primarch did so. He was given charge of a Legion, the VIIIth, whom he named the Night Lords, for we are the terror that comes in the night. The Emperor told his son that his role was to use this Legion to instill obedience through fear. Fear and terror were only ever the weapons, the means and not the end. And Lord Curze did so. He used the VIIIth Legion to bring compliance to many worlds for the Imperium, and to punish those who had rebelled against their Emperor. And it was a supremely effective force. Whole systems would comply at once with Imperium rule if they so much as heard that the Night Lords were scheduled to visit. It was simple. It was effective. And it was a reign of terror only to those who merited such treatment, according to the will of the Emperor himself." "But as time passed and the Emperor's Imperium grew, he began desire to think of it as a bright place. He no longer cared to think of its origins in blood, blood he ordained to be spilled. He had long deployed the VIIIth Legion as a weapon of terror, even before they were reunited with their Primarch. But he did not want to remember that he was a conquering warlord. Perhaps the sounds of worshipful praise of his many subjects sounded sweet in his ears while their screams did not. And he had instructed his son, Konrad Curze, to carry out the most terrifying punishment campaigns and the most total wars. And in his hypocrisy, the Emperor decided to quietly get rid of his son. Then he could go back to playing noble, shining lord with his favoured children." "For the Emperor, Lord Curze had carried out many violent and bloody acts, acts that he would not shrink from, because his father asked him to perform them. He loved his father and desired only to do what he commanded. He was dutiful beyond all the rest for this reason: he gave completely of himself. No matter how terrible the punishment, how blood-soaked, how horrific, he carried it out. He did not stop with the pain of his psyche. He did not stop as his very humanity ebbed away, falling into a dark abyss. He did not even spare his own soul. He never asked for mercy. He only obeyed, out of love, because his father had asked him to." Satharn paused, swallowing. He felt outrage, and it wasn't really tempered by the fear, but more annealed into a coiling, burning sense of injustice deep in his gut. He spoke on. "He gave everything to carrying out his father's wishes. And his father, the Emperor, turned to his temple of assassins in secret and dispatched them with orders to kill his son." "Even though the Lord had only ever done as his father bid him, the Emperor wanted to sweep a now inconvenient truth away. He sent assassins until, tired and grieving and with the final truth of his father's hypocrisy playing on his mind, the Lord of the Night found a way to ease his darkness and make his father understand his purpose and his total obedience to his will." "Death is nothing compared to vindication." Satharn stood a little taller at the words, and they resonated deep within him. His eyes watered, not from crying, but the sheer weight of emotion. He suppressed the chill within him as he finished the tale. "If the Emperor chose to punish his son for carrying out what were once his freely-given orders, but which he now deemed to be crimes, then he was choosing to punish the guilty. By the Emperor's own admission this was what he was about. Konrad Curze was a criminal in his eyes and he must be punished." "Just what his son would have done. Punished the guilty. Executed the criminal. By his actions, he had confirmed the underlying truth of the Night Haunter's existence. It was the closest he ever came to acknowledging the devotion and obedience of his son." "And then, my Lord - he killed you." Satharn closed his eyes momentarily and took a sharp breath. He looked at his gene-sire, awaiting his judgement, his sense of outrage and betrayal on his behalf clouding his dark eyes with pain.
<Depths of Nightfall> @Uriel1339 "Um, I think not," the Alpha Legionary replied and Valu heard the sound of bolt round loaded up in the barrel. "And you most certainly didn't hear anything about any kind of a serpent shrine so let me give you a different proposal. If I wanted, I could make myself become another Astartes, but even I cannot turn into a completely different kind of a creature. You said you needed DNA sample, you might get one but first, I want to see your true form, if you even have any. But I'm curious, you have no warp taint lingering about you nor are you a psyker, meaning that you are something else entirely. I want to know what you are exactly. Show it to me and maybe you'll get a new valuable friend aboard this damp vessel."
<Depths of Nightfall> @Colapse "Alright, alright, alright! Just don't shoot!" Valu yelped, looking at the barrel of the Bolter, not really anticipating to be torn into tiny little Lacrymolian bits. "Just at least let me warn you that it's not very pretty and xeno." He sighed deeply and was somewhat glad that his venture took as long as it did, otherwise he would be not just exhausting himself but might risking his life transforming. The analogy he learned from before his homeworld was annihilated was akin to a capacitor. It might be able to charge and discharge. But in order to do the latter, it first needed a certain reservoir of energy stored. And a Lacrymole worked in similar ways. Only their most elder and experienced shapeshifters would be able to need no rest between their transformations. Once the Hydra-Astartes would let Valu go to give him a chance to show his talent, he would straighten himself up as much as he could with his wounded tail. The little snake closed it's eyes and focused once more, the voices still whispering in the background and the pressure of being killed if failing nagging on him however. He took several deep breaths, already taking too long. Was he too exhausted still? Did the black goo make him incapable? Valu shook his head and cleared his mind, shutting up the voices, putting mental fences around them. Then he found the necessary memory. The time he washed himself in a pond on the green plains of his homeworlds moon. With a gasp, followed by an agonizing scream, his body started to change in bursts rather than gradually changing like it was from Cultist to Snake. Suddenly his entire rope-like body expanded in new flesh. The azure scales having disappeared almost immediately and instead replaced with ugly, brute, but useful layers of gray chitin and awkward flesh. It was not carapace, yet not soft flesh either. As the torso became clearly visible and identifiable, suddenly the left leg shot out of his lower body. Followed by his right arm. Like projectiles they dashed out and there was no growth for them, just a sudden burst of a limb. Then the head popped out of Valu. And to any human being it might very well be one of the most disgusting things their eyes would ever land on. No hair. Webbed flesh, veins and bones clearly visible. One could think the chitin-skin was thin enough to show those parts, but it rather was because it was such a thin and tight layer wrapping around the head of a Lacrymole. Big crimson red facet eyes, two as for most humanoids, having spawned and blinking rapidly to adjust to the new body. His nose was the only facial feature that would resembly anything similar to a human, but that image quickly faded as spider-like fangs sat on each edge of his mouth. Saliva being spat as it flowed out of his lips in far too much of an amount. At the same time, the remaining two limbs shot out. Slowly he knelt in front of his captor, resting on his harder-than-bone kneecaps, looking up with his big, round insect eyes. His muscles and veins pulsated under the chitin visibly as adrenaline rushed through every inch of his body. "This is how we Lacrymole look like. Is this to your satisfaction, Milord?" Valu inquired in low gothic, although a strong alien accent coming through as his tongue is not quite like that of a human - it most notably had a slight buzz to it. Like that of a fly that was adventuring too close to someone's ear.
<First Task - Re-population of "Nightfall" aka Prison Break season 7 - Outer Space> @Uriel1339 @Vulpas @Taec @Jorimel @WanderingJester @DeranVendar @Vlayden @Grall_Stonefist @Kalle @Skarboy @High_Adept_Zeth Despite the shadows and the looming threat of being on the same ship as one of the not-so dead Primarchs, who also happened to be a creature of terror, eventually everyone managed to settle in and find their quarters and something to do to pass the time. Some asked questions, some did honest work, some tried to secure alliances, but all in all, they spent their time being quite busy. But when after a week of warp travel the "Nightfall" broke the veil between the dimensions and returned to realspace did Viator summoned all of the newest members of the ship's crew to join him in Strategium to discuss the next leg of his plan. Since the main Strategium was currently out of their control due to reasons known to Viator and his men (which they of course didn't care to share) the "meeting" was taking place in one of the big chambers adjacent to the hangar which was once an arming room for couple of hundreds of Night Lords, now the insides were filled with empty weapons racks, spare ammunition crates lying around and couple of skeletons collecting dust in the corners. Viator, arrayed in his full panoply of war, armored in his beautiful suit of glimmering silver armor on which belt you could see his long dashing rapier and a new addition, a gilded bolt pistol with the barrel made to resemble a golden eagle, was standing in the middle in front of a large table with couple of inbuilt cogitators, courtesy of Warpsmith Bo'kar who was also standing nearby, clad in his heavily modified Terminator armor and hefting a large forge hammer among other weapons he was indeed striking an imposing presence. Besides him stood the Alpha Legionary who they briefly met on their flight from that damned planet they escaped, the Hydra being as unidentifiable as any of Alpharius' sons but also hefting a fair amount of firepower in terms of a combi-bolter, two plasma pistols, a melta bomb and a pair of power sabers. There was one thing in common with the people aboard this ship - there weren't many of them, but they sure as hell were armed to the teeth. On the side next to the trio you could see Gorzkha and couple of his henchmen and a completely new person they haven't met before, (@Taec ) a Raptor wearing the colors of the Black Legion of all things; apparently Viator was either quite persuasive or there was something else going on. In any case the Scion of Slaanesh didn't allow for any questions at first, once everyone was inside he clicked couple of digits on the table and a picture of an asteroid field popped up. "We meet again my fellow travelers upon the roads of damnation and salvation alike! I hope your time aboard our fine vessel was to your liking! But now the time has come for you to prove your worth and actually do something constructive for once. As you are probably aware, "Nightfall" is currently suffering a number of problems, I'm not going to trouble our Warpsmith to list them all here, but the point is all of it is linked to one major issue - we lack proper crew. Apologies to Gorzkha. Therefore I have come up with a plan to remedy that issue and get us back on track. We are currently north of Gothic sector, beyond the Ecclesiarchy world of Dimmamar and far away into these regions at the edge of Segmentum Obscurus that have long ago fell into darkness. Morally speaking of course." "This asteroid field holds a big mining facility slash prison where the Governor of the local sub-sector or pretty much anyone who wants to get rid of troubles and get something out of it sends his captured enemies. Mix of real criminals, innocent people, heretics and simple workers make the bulk of the population, mining precious ores, fuel, you name it. The asteroid field is quite rich in all sort of minerals so the work never stops, being a perfect place for us to refill both our supplies and get a stock of fresh crewmen. What is even better is that we caught wind of couple of valuable individuals currently locked in the prison that we most certainly need to get out." A picture of an elderly woman appeared on the screen, signs of the Imperial Navy all over her file. "Meet Admiral Emily Augustine, former commander of the Ixaniad sector fleet and captain of Retribution class Battleship "Eternal Glory". She and her entire staff were deemed traitors during the opening days of the latest Black Crusade but instead of dying, they somehow ended up here, under lock. Since our current captain is...well, not exactly a welcoming person, I desire to change him for another one and Admiral Augustine is our current best choice." "So, this is what we'll do. We'll approach the field and launch a two-way strike into the mining facility. "Nightfall" is equipped with the means of blocking enemy communication and rendering them blind for our assault, so the blunt way in will be most effective here. We'll separate our forces into two parts, the first group will go aboard our working Stormbird and head straight for the command center of the mining station in order to take out their leadership, or whatever they have there, and seize the control, sow confusion, that sort of stuff. The second group will use one of our Caestus assault rams and punch into the lower reaches of the asteroid-base, where they'll make way directly for the prison cells, get hold of the Admiral and her crew, and escort them out." "Once the target is secured and the command cadre dead, we'll get more of Gorzkha's minions on board and they'll start herding the crew back to "Nightfall". I think this is the most clean and efficient way to do this and since I'm in such a good mood because I thought of such a glorious plan almost by myself, I'll give you this one time to ask me questions if you have any and even pick in which group you wish to go and what goal to tackle!"
The Sorcerer gave off a small hum as he listened to the 'briefing', his armour polished and repaired - a pleasant change. The cracks in his breastplate were mended and the carved runes and trim were refurbished, now smoothly transitioning from breastplate to pauldrons seamlessly; he was proud of it, to say the least, his posture significantly improved. The pains in his chest from such shrapnel was still there of course - though Ausarius did well to hide it as none now could truly tell he was actually injured, both in his speaking and his motions. If anything, now he seemed as though he was in peak condition, holding the spear close in a gentle grip, resting its upper haft against his shoulder. His robes were even renewed, too, having cleaned them himself and gotten some fabrics to patch up the holes, and re-fill the etchings with a beloved gold. Still; he had other things to worry about. "I shall see to getting this lady's loyalties - we'll need someone with... Some sense of charisma, and I'd hate to see our brutes try to scream at her to join," Ausarius said, shaking his helm side to side, "humans sometimes are fickle things... Still; if I may, what is her service record? What has she done to warrant imprisonment and not execution, or even demotion? Surely something that disappointed a great many powerful people." @Colapse
Upon the request that the Phoenician sent him, Corbulus gathered Nero and Sobek before heading to the armory attached to the hanger transformed into a Strategium. Typical of the vainglorious bastard, Viator decided to be fashionably late, leaving the Alpha Wolf along with the rest of the Wolves of Horus to wait as he washed in his bath or whatever it was that the Slaaneshi follower was doing. As the others who were transported from Schindlegeist appeared, he paid them no mind. What did make Corbulus pull out his chainaxe, though with its head lowered onto the floor, was when the Phoenician finally showed up. At his side stood an Alpha Legionnaire, the beastman chieftain, what looked to be an Iron Warrior Warpsmith, and Black Legion Raptor. Narrowing his eyes at the Black Legionnaire from behind his helmet, Corbulus gripped his chainaxe slightly tighter but made no other motion. Behind him stood Nero, who was more visible in his observance of the Black Legionnaire, but said nothing. On the other side stood the First Archimandrite of the Warhost, along with his two personal assistant servitors behind him. Listening to Viator attempt to impress all in the audience with his vast command of low gothic and its vocabulary during the briefing, the Alpha Wolf had his eyes move from the Raptor to the map of the mining prison. No doubt a place where the corpse emperor's slaves sent those deemed too weak or dangerous to be conscripted into their penal legion. More sacrifices to the alters if there was more of the former, more soldiers for the warband if there was more of the latter. Corbulus didn't care that much about the traitor captain or the need to replace their own. In the back of his mind, he wondered whether or not Curze authorized this strike if he knew about it at all. Would all of their efforts be in vain if the primarch didn't like this woman, and slaughter her the moment she stepped foot onto the ship? Would the Night Haunter then turn his blades on them? Before the Alpha Wolf finished that train of thought, the Phoenician pointed at Nero and told him to be the one flying the assault ram, as there weren't enough pilots on the ship for both vessels for the mission. The young wolf looked unsure to him, before the aspiring champion nodded. "Fly and guard the ship. We shall return shortly once we've cut the head off of the facility." With that, Corbulus waiting for the sorcerer to finish speaking, before declaring his intent to Viator. "The Wolves of Horus will join the force decapitating the command structure of the facility. The dark gods demand followers and worshippers alike. Those on the station will serve," he spoke up, as his eyes glanced over to the Black Legionnaire once more, "for now." The Alpha Wolf set his pack upon the two crafts now, having spoken for the mystic and leaving the other astartes behind him to fly the assault ram. @High_Adept_Zeth
"I fight in front" Was the first thing Ghorzkha said, though Viator would have known it before he even started the briefing, Ghorzkha was a bestigor, they did not rely on the ambush and surprise strategies of most of their kind. Though before speaking Ghorzkha had originally been a bid maddened before Viator had contenuid on, claiming Ghorzkhas herd wherent a proper crew had been against him, they could be all from engineerium serfs to brigde crew if the right where chosen, but as he heard the later parts, he understood they where to be given a slave crew, and his people would be the taskmasters, all under him, he would still be lord of the crew, and beastmen would rean over manfilth. "Lord Viator, you use da bray as wish also" he said with a bow, before Ghorzkha also whent for the stormbird, still followed by a small entourage of beasten, sadly the so called alpha wolf also wanted to be a frontline figure, though perhaps this could open up to be a chance to inspire his underling away from the so called alpha wolf, for that Ghorzkha knew he would allmost need the bloodgreed fury of a minotour.
Fera had joined the briefing when she had heard the message to come to the briefing location, Already entering with many of the others such as Ausarius, Feras weapons and armor repaired and out of the forge, heavy bolter attached to her back pack. Hearing the opportunities that were given and somewhat impressed by the weapons of there hostess Fera decided it was a good idea to head with there witch blood on his mission of recruiting this captain, Even over the chance of gaining more prowess in battle and slaying some commanders and officers heads, Fera decided to see what the lay in the prisons possible opportunities could present themselves to gain followers or other warriors to her cause to strengthen her and possible others that could help the chances of survival of her and her allies. "I shall join Ausarius in his task of recruiting this captain, Should be interesting to see what type of personnel and inmates this prison contains." Fera said interested in a bit of recruiting of her own and wondered who else would be prison break team.
<Before briefing - Depths of Nightfall> @Uriel1339 "Quite unique," the Hydra said once Valu finished with his transformation. If the marine had any problems with the fact Valu was an alien, he gave it no sign. Instead, he lowered his bolter and beckoned the Lacrymole to rise. "I have heard about a race of shapeshifting Xenos but I thought it was merely a myth, yet alone having seen one in person. A creature possessing your unique skillset can do a lot to help Lord Curze and his effort to make the Imperium suffer. So let me put it like this; survive the next mission, prove your worth and I might have a job for you that will not involve being someone else's lackey or a pet-servant and perhaps give you an opportunity to have a different life, one where you might be even considered equal." "And you can call me Phocron." <Before briefing - Court of the Midnight King> @Jorimel Curze listened to Satharn's tale in silence but with every word spoken he straightened up a bit, his hands no longer fiddling aimlessly with the set of his knives, instead touching the symbol of the VIII Legion etched on the chest of the armor standing in front of him, his armor. Only when Satharn finished did the Night Haunter turned to face the Night Lord, the pitiless dark orbs shining with unfathomable intelligence. "Love. Love for his father, for believing in his vision and for the good of Mankind. Love for justice, not justice, righteousness, for the creation of a world where such things would matter and rule over everything else. But in the end, as it is with all tyrants, the father's lies were brought to surface. Why would a man, who deemed himself greater than he ever was, allow for someone to question him? Those who would follow him blindly were welcomed, those who followed but voiced their concerns were trialed by a court where father, the biggest criminal of them all, preceded. And then we come back to love." "Every son loves his father and wants to be like him, no matter how broken he is, but not every father loves his son back the same way. Sometimes he despises him not because of his son's actions but because of how much he resembles him. Seeing how corrupt and evil he is himself just by looking at what his son had become is something no father could live with. Therefore he sends others, like every other time, to do the dirty work for him because it is easier to forget that a problem exists then to try and solve it, especially when it originates in yourself." "But the son, like every good son, never stopped loving his father, even through his death the love that he had for him endured and kept him going through everything that came afterwards and right to this point. Now the son is back and using the love he has, he would look upon the thing that his father loved above all else; his work, his legacy, his Imperium. He would descend upon it and correct it to be what his father always wanted it to be but lacked the conviction to do it himself. He would do what he was made to do, what he knows best, and make sure that the bloated kingdom made out of lies returns back to its true path and once again sees the light. But before the dawn there must first be dusk, so as the shadows deepen and night filled with true terrors approaches, so will the sins of the father be washed in the tide of blood and the corrupted flesh will be separated so that the body may live. Humanity will bleed but it will emerge stronger, or will not emerge at all." "That is why you are here Satharn Tem of the 5th company, 4th claw, Night Lord of Nostramo," and finally Satharn saw recognition in his lord's eyes, "You will help me bring the night once again." "Now go, leave me. Slaanesh's adopted son will call upon your services soon. Once the task is done return to me. We have work to do." <Briefing> Instead of Viator it was the Alpha Legionary who spoke next, reading from a datapad in front of him. "We haven't been able to find what exactly caused her to fall out of grace, what we do know is that she has been a member of the Imperial Navy for a little more over a century, having fought both piratical aliens, Greenskins and even raiders coming in from the Eye. She commanded two smaller ships before she got assigned to her latest one and was promoted to the captain of it after the original captain of the ship died in a boarding assault. After distinguishing herself in fighting against heretical forces under command of Lucius the Eternal, she received the position of Admiral of her sector's fleet. We'll more know when we get in contact with her." "Of course Ausarius," Viator chimed in, waving a hand and cleaning some dirt from his shoulder pad, "If she can be persuaded to come peacefully all the better but if not, I don't really care. We aren't here to beg, so find a way to transport her over to the ship and I'll get it from there. There are other ways to acquire servitude if the subject is unwilling to comply and I would not allow for this opportunity to go to waste just because you might develop a conscience or something like that." "Now, if we understand each other, I want you to lead this part of the strikeforce and make sure everything goes smoothly. I'll be needed on the other place, I can't really bother myself with running through those narrow tunnels inside the mining facility so I'll lead the strike against the command center and try to please my stepfather a bit," the Scion of Slaanesh replied to the Sorcerer, making sure he relayed the importance of the task bestowed upon him. OOC Team setup so far: Attack the command center: 1. Viator 2. Corbulus 3. Sobek 4. Gorzkha 5. 6. Extract prisoner: 1. Ausarius 2. Fera 3. 4. 5. 6.
At the mention of a 'conscience', the Sorcerer simply gave a brief chuckle, replying, "If I had grown one, it would have been killed off millennia ago. And I'll see to getting her cooperation, in some way or another." Still; the lack of info was intriguing to say the least. Either it was something so bland that none had bothered to log it, or something so foul the Imperials decided it was too risky to. Or, simply the incapability of spy networks to get all info. Who knew. Still; at the mention that he was in charge of this strike force, Ausarius nodded his head in acknowledgement. "You'll have more fun than I; fight well in your hunt. And while I cannot order you around, I certainly would appreciate if your team saw to bringing back any and all important information; vox-channels, documents, so on so forth." It was intriguing to see he was in charge, of course. Then again, the other Astartes simply seem to want power and brute force, and to commit carnage. Either they were too ignorant or did not care, to see about the importance of subtleties and charisma. Or, he's being sent on a suicide mission whilst they have fun. Eh; he'd prefer it this way anywhom. Prove them wrong if he was to be sent to die.
