<Command center> @WanderingJester @DeranVendar @Grall_Stonefist @Taec @High_Adept_Zeth

Sobek approached the console and interfaced with it, gaining control of most of the station's systems. After couple of seconds he let the incoming hail on the speakers and an image of a male captain sitting on a ship's throne surrounded by various serfs formed on the central monitor. "Attention invaders, this is Captain N'kos of the Imperial heavy cruiser "Dominance" speaking. You have trespassed against the station under control of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition, the crime punished by death. Say your final prayers before we purge your bodies from the corruption of your souls."

"They'll get in range in less than 30 seconds," Mystic informed the rest but before he could say anything else Viator approached the console, pointing at it. "Keep the feed up," he said and for couple of more seconds they watched the Imperial commander on his bridge before the screen suddenly went black, but they could still hear the words.

"Status report, what happened?!"

"We lost power sir, our shields and weapons are down," came a reply, another officer most likely. "Enginarium is not responding..."

"Dammit Lieutenant, I don't want to hear excuses, fix the problem now and get the torpedoes back online!"

"Yes my Captain!...what is that?"

"What, I can't see anything, why is the auxiliary generator not working. Get some lights on..."

"Light will not save you now, little man."

"What was that.....AHHHHHHHHH!"

And the bridge exploded in gunfire and screams. Blood splattered the Imperial console so the feed was stained with it a bit, but even through it Viator and the rest of the team could see, helped by occasional weapon discharge a silhouette of something big and dark going through the bridge's crew and cutting them into shreds. Soon after the feed died and Sobek spoke next. "Imperial vessel stopped and is out of range. They are not responding to hails."

"Nor will they," Scion of Slaanesh replied, cleaning his thin blade using the clothing of a dead serf, "Darkness claimed them. Come, let us finish securing this part of the station so the next phase of the plan can commence."


<Lower prison complex - Introductions> @Uriel1339 @BuriasDempsey @Jorimel @Vlayden @Vulpas @Kalle @Skarboy

"The Dark Gods blessed us with his return. The stars will cry and the enemies of the Night Lords and Chaos Undivided will bleed as the Night Haunter walks anew,"Dark Apostle nodded after hearing Satharn's words, his tone betraying a hint of amusement.

"There is nothing more for us in this complex, only thing that remains are the howls of the dead and bickering of the Neverborn. Bring me to the Serpent and the Hydra, I'm ready to speak to them now."

<Epilogue>​

"Nightfall" and its warriors spent another two weeks in the system, the Gloriana class Battleship kept some distance since it was too big to enter the asteroid field but despite it, the transport between the two was undisturbed as the invaders found couple of smaller cargo loading shuttles aboard the prison and used those as sort of ferries so the transportation of personnel and materials went according the schedule. Pretty much every possible mortal, be it a prisoner or a guard was taken from the station and put to work aboard the Flagship, those who possessed some special skills were given a chance to do them (like cooks, mechanics, and so on). Admiral Augustine and her crew was spared from it, instead they were given large quarters to settle in and make themselves comfortable. Alongside that every new member of the crew received proper uniforms with the symbols of the old Legion on them, most of them were obviously dusty and not properly ironed, but they got the job done.

Various materials and ores were also transported back to the ship and Bo'kar, being an efficient Iron Warrior, already began with the most urgent repairs, using mix of new crew for brains and beastmen for muscle to get more and more decks operational while also fixing some of the more important ship's systems that were previously unavailable. Quor Gallek went to the "Nightfall" as well and make his introductions with Curze once again - that wasn't the first time they met but the Primarch didn't seem to remember him, or at least that's what the Apostle said because nobody was there to witness the conversation. But after that meeting he came back alive from, the Word Bearer was given a suit of power armor in the colors of his own Legion by Phocron, the Alpha Legionary obviously prepared for this occasion. Even more interestingly he also got an actual corrupted crozius, the Dark Apostle seemingly quite happy with it and giving a satisfied look to everyone who asked him about it. Afterwards he returned back on the prison and remained there up until the last day, preaching the Word to the prisoners and slowly introducing them into the fold, while also making needed sacrifices to appease the Great Four, turning the station into one giant altar of devotion that would most likely never be used by the Imperium ever again.

Ship that tried to attack the station was not mentioned ever again and only few knew what happened. Viator took a number of serfs aboard it where they made sure the ship remained plunged in darkness and, according to Viator himself "Made sure that whoever finds it gets the message". After they finished the work Slaaneshi champion executed them and left their bodies on a small shrine devoted to the Dark Prince he himself erected.

Finally, the rest of the team had business acquiring more of the crew for their own needs and each "faction" received a small number of "Undivided" troops, previously prepared by Quor Gallek for that role. It was not much but it was a start which would hopefully be just a first step on the long road of dominance.

Once everything was done, "Nightfall" plunged back into the Warp and the travel towards its next destination started again.


<Intermission phase begins>
@Uriel1339 @BuriasDempsey @Jorimel @Vlayden @Vulpas @Kalle @Skarboy @WanderingJester @DeranVendar @Grall_Stonefist @Taec @High_Adept_Zeth

Back aboard the ship, each member of the team was allowed some time to rest and recuperate. With the new influx of people dark corridors of the "Nightfall" became a little bit more crowded but none less dangerous. Dark things still prowled in the depths and more than one soul was lost after they became a bit more curious then it was healthy, but overall the morale was stable, most of the prisoners preferring this place rather than the last one they were stuck in. This will probably change in time but for now, the spirits were raised.

As for the other members of the crew, Bo'kar busied himself with the repairs of the interior, now that they were traveling through the Empyrian, Viator remained up in his domain doing whatever he was doing there, Quor Gallek turned an empty storage hold into a small chapel dedicated to the Chaos Undivided and started doing regular sermons for his new flock and finally Phocron was nowhere to be seen. As for Curze himself, the elusive Primarch never really informed others of his actions so his whereabouts remained a mystery, but some of the new crewmen began spreading stories of a pale giant stalking the corridors, always out of sight and out of reach, terrifying them and in general preventing them from wandering too far off away from the habitable areas.

Each and every member of the team now had some time off and they were allowed to do whatever they wanted and seek whatever goal they wanted to tackle next.

Epilogue

It might be an overstatement to define what Xaviera was going through upon the warband's return to the Nightfall as "recuperation" or "recovery"; it was decidedly part of her process of healing from the plentiful wounds she'd sustained, but it was a grueling affair. The Apothecary took her into care, and several slaves' skin was stripped for the graft to replace her own burnt hide.

Upon emerging from the surgery, Xaviera was raw and red and searing all over. A world of pain throbbed along the majority of her body, but all the same, she was out of danger. Bandages were wrapped about her slender form, encasing her protectively until such a time that she could stand the stroke of air currents against her exposed skin again. The priestess herself was crushed. No small amount of tears were shed for her lost beauty, when she thought she could be perfectly alone.

... but however uncaring her Gods, it seemed her immediate masters were not so silent. A suit of armor was brought to her quarters to replace the vestments she lost. A suit of deep crimson carapace, framed by dark steel. Its helm was an enclosed death mask, a skull of snarling brass with two horns. Similar brazen, daemonic faces were displayed on the suit's shoulderguards. The breastplate bore a great star of Chaos Undivided. Some tools had been supplied for her, as well. Tearfully, she spent the night imprinting the white runes of Colchis on every crimson surface.

Intermission

Xaviera emerged from her quarters, encased in her new armor. Her bandages were concealed by the armor's plates and mask. In her little enclosure, she felt at ease. Pangs of anxiety and self-consciousness still troubled her, but she put them out of her mind, focusing on the task at hand. Descending some levels from the warband's quarters, she sought out the converted storage hold. Quor Gallek was holding sermon for the ship's crew. She entered wordlessly and seated herself, absorbing the atmosphere. She had not heard a Word Bearer's preaching since Schindlegeist. Longing and even homesickness welled up inside of her, but she remained outwardly calm as she simply peered through the dark visor of her helm at the speaker.

At the sermon's end, she approached while the other crewmen shuffled out of the chapel. She cast herself down on her knees before the Dark Apostle. "Quor Gallek! My lord! My name is Xaviera --- I was born upon Holy Sicarus, in the shadow of the Basilica itself! I was inducted into the Brotherhood of the Knife and I have served your Legion, as I would serve you! I offer my fealty!" There was almost pleading in the psyker's voice, but her helm produced a metallic rasp to go with her otherwise soft voice. It lended a certain fierce quality to her speech.

Valu - Epilogue
Valu made sure to take chainsword with him and have their smith turn it into an appropriate weapon of chaos, removing aquillas and such and replace them with the 8-pointed star. However as soon as he dropped of his equipment he was surprised to be called into surgery to assist Ukris. After all, not many more individuals than him were around to even be capable of knowing what a 'scalpel' was.

He was even moreso surprised when it was a fellow human, one of his very squad he served with. There was a constant smile on his lips as he could see every single mark of beauty being restored upon Xaviera. He did not actually perform any act of the surgery, he was only there to assist handing over tools, making sure her body was fixed appropriately and that sort of like. No matter what he might have learned in his past, or even the variety of women he had seen. There was a natural thrall coming from even the sleeping body of this one that hovered above him. It was not like the enticement of Wyches in their half-body armors. Neither was it the authority established by ex-commissars or other female officers. It was... Different. Like he just wanted to be around her and listen, watch, observe. As if she had something to teach him that he had yet to truly grasp.

He shook the feeling off as Ukris asked for a gauss, which he eagerly handed over. Once the surgery was over and Valu left to his own devices, he cursed at himself for missing out on the chance of getting a DNA sample from Xaviera. Yet again, he didn't want it, a looming shadow hanging over him as he even only thought about the idea. Not the same terror as the experience in the lower decks... No it was more like... He gazed into a different direction as if feeling the presence of Quor Gallek... Him.


Valu - Intermission; Meeting the Hydra
Sometimes once the group was well under the warp travels again, he sought out Phocron. It was time to be debriefed and see what they had to say about him. His heart beat fast and hard, the anticipation killing him - or rather the fear that they got what they needed from him and that he was of no longer use. He already had his new chainsword on him, having left the las rifle in his quarters. He figured that there was a higher chance of survival with an impressive weapon such as that. Or that it might have an intimidation factor.


Valu - Intermission; Mending the Flesh
As prisoners and guards were brought over, but also wounded Astartes such as Ausarius and Orghast had to get their healing, it was Ukris who did the majority of the work. But where he would walk in the med-bay, so would Valu. And on occasion when it got too much, he did simple first aid all by himself, applying bandages, cheap alcohol to cleanse the wound, the common things that would be explained in any imperial primer (if one could be bothered to read one). He enjoyed the work and collected DNA samples from anyone he could manage while alone. Though sadly, Ukris was around every important member such as the close circle of the new admiral, or any Astartes.

At least he managed to learn a bit about administering pain killers in proper dosage and the fact that they would be wasted on Space Marines. Once everything slowed down he approached Ukris.

"Mentor. Please tell me. Is there not a faster way for me to learn proper surgery, astartes physiology, and such? It seems there is nothing worth of knowledge in the library, and you are now busier fulfilling your humble and excellent work, than having time to teach me. Please take it not as an offense, but rather as a devotion of mine that I wish to be more useful. I have witnessed the delicacy you, even with your bulky size, that you possessed when restoring Xaviera. I wish to be capable of such deeds. And I'm ready to devote myself." Valu said with plead, ready to fall to his kness if he had to - knowing that Astartes were proudful beings that loved to bask in glory and power.


Valu - Intermission; Whispers of the Warp [sometimes after @Kalle spoke to Quor]
Following the nights after Xaviera's surgery and the feeling he couldn't shake off, he decided to do what many others of the crew did. He sought out Quor, the preacher of the dark gods. Valu found him in his humble church alone after a sermon.

"Missionary of the gods." Valu knelt before the stairs up to the altar, not daring to put foot on sacred ground without permission. "I have come in pursuit to clear my confusion. And so I must confess... Xaviera. I aided in her surgery. I was enthralled by her presence in an awkward way, but not in temptation of the flesh. And as I even only imagined to do harm to her... It was like your fiery gaze was upon me. As if she has an invisible protector, a guardian angel, an assassin operating for her. Yet not like the presence of the Night Haunter... I come not in fear to you, for I have seen the terrors of the Warp. Alas, I seek guidance in what those powers are... And to be honest, why she seems to be guarded by this omnipresent force, while I rely on myself, left alone in the dark and cold."

He would not look up until allowed to by Gallek. And the Word Bearer would easily be able to tell that the man before him spoke with sincerity, for he shivered in fear. Who wouldn't after witnessing the prowess that Quor displayed against a mighty beast like the mutant rat king - especially unarmed and without armor? But he also could tell that the mortal was embarrassed, jealous - no. Envious of Xaviera.


Valu - Intermission; Echoes of Corruption
Sometimes after all was done and the Lacrymole slumbered deeply, his dreamscape transformed around him. The dream became more realistic. And he immediately recognized the surrounding he was in. He towered next to the figure that was himself, but far younger. A mere child, who bore once a name of a true Lacrymolian, stared at the lifeless rock as they floated through space in a small ship, standing in the observation post. The vessel started to ready for the warp jump.

They had witnessed not the actual weapon of mass destruction that did collide with the world, but they knew that it was launched by the imperials. The very standing on their vessel was proof. The ships hull, the inside of it. It didn't even matter that the aquillas all were either rusted off, fallen off, scratched off or whatever happened to them. But Valu and his child version only gazed on the world anyway. That was until the warp drive engaged.

He often had this dream and woke up right as the warp engines were activated. Not this time, he doesn't even remember what happened afterwards, the memories too old to remember. But yet here he stood, watching over his child-form. A scared, lonely little insect-looking humanoid who could do nothing but cry. Valu knew he couldn't help and so he just let the scene unfold before his eyes.

The cry got stronger and stronger, as if wanting to attract his mama and papa. Alas, what sound came towards him from outside the room was not the familiar clacking of carapaced feet, but the heavy stomping of boots. "I heard something in here!" a deep voice roared. The little Lacrymolian went off to hide under some desk after hearing the humans speak in their foreign tongue.

The door opened and two men walked in. Valu was a bit flabbergasted as they were not your normal kind of imperial specialists that marched in, each on one side of the room, searching. He watched them closely and he never really saw it in person until now. The prominent 'I' on the shoulder pad of these demigods. There were Space Marines serving the Inquisition? Now Valu had seen it all as the pitch-black clad warriors searched for the Lacrymole child. There was no chance he was going to survive, yet... He did? How?

Valu looked outside to see the Gellar field flicker on and off, the only barrier between the vessel and the warp that surrounded them as they moved through the immaterium. Just as one of the Astartes was to look under the desk the child was hiding, the field collapsed and the whole vessel shook. Alerts went on and covered the whole vessel in a dark red, the sirens screeching and a voice trying to tell everyone about the obvious - invading daemons. The two Astartes with haste made for the exit on the observation deck. But before even reaching the door, the first one was grabbed by a crab-like arm from beneath where a glowing hole has been made in the floor. The other Astartes tried to reach him but the first man was already gone.

The glass of the observatory, next to Valu, shattered as a giant red beast jumped through it, clad in armor and walking on all fours. The Space Marine tried to kill it with his Bolter and even in melee tried to slice it up with his chainsword, but the adamantium teeth broke on the creature as it simply slammed him into a wall next to the Lacrymole child who witnessed from up close of how the Astartes was being torn into pieces, screaming all the while. The massive crimson red beast ate through the power armour, devouring hearts, kidney, lungs and other organs until the Astartes laid there lifeless. It looked upon the child and licked its lips. However before he could lunge at it, a flying blue beast came swooping down and threw the other one off the vessel, back into the warp.

The child escaped from its hideout and made for the door. But just as it got there, it started to rust all around. Soon after, a bigger than even space marines, green beast emerged, filled with blisters and bumps,car constantly popping and oozing horrid acids and secretes. Again the swooping manta-ray like blue beast came by, this time to smash into this one. The beast was prepared and grabbed the ray, even as he skid along from the force.

Valu ran after the kid as it bolted through the door, letting the monsters fight each other. He saw that the Lacrymole made for the cargo hold, and he followed it. The whole ships crew has gone into fighting with the daemons of all sorts and patrons. Nobody really cared about a 3-4 foot tall alien in a situation like this. Once in the tight confinement, a box at random was chosen and the kid hid inside. The older Lacrymole, even though in human appearance, watched over the child, occasionally glancing at the conflict outside. The warp creatures eventually won and seemed oblivious to the alien, not interested in it or simply too busy fighting each other.

After an unknown amount of time the creatures simply dispersed. And the kid crawled out of the crate, making for the bridge. Once arrived there, both could see that they arrived in realspace once more, the 'Vox' button blinking in furious red. With great panic the child simply grabbed the closest human, scooped some blood up and drank it. Shortly after the child turned into a human adult after a rather interesting view from Valu, considering he never saw a transformation before his eyes, and before him stood a younger version of the pirate that was his primary form before becoming a Wych or the Khornate now, the name tag on the uniform read 'Valerikhanda Lummertaler' and soon after the Lacrymole realized that because he didn't speak gothic at this time, that whomever had found him must had shortened it up to 'Valu'.

Drenched in sweat the Lacrymole woke up, bolting up to a sitting upright position, he wiped off the sweat pearls off his face and kicked the blankets off, hanging his legs over his bed and just staring at the ground, then eventually at the wall. How come that he remembers now? Or is that just what he wants to believe...? That he was predisposed to the daemons...? That his mind simply shut them off, eliminated his whole identity as a Lacrymole to protect him? Did the encounter with the goo trigger these memories to resurface? Or are they memories injected into him to make him believe it... After all he heard the horror stories about a thing called 'hypno-therapy', but that is just a tale to scare Imperials. He shook his head, confused, and laid back down, incapable of sleeping as he stared at the ceiling.

Ausarius' return was a calm one, not anything that had gotten his intrigue. After returning to the ship he saw to aiding the new crew, whilst getting his armour refurbished and his robes - or what remained of them, after taking it from Xaviera with a bow of his head once they got back - and 'patrolling' through the ship to see to at least lessening what deaths occured through the halls. At least getting some faint semblance of order, or seeing to it that the newcomers had some new weapon - be it a dagger or something of the like - to help defend themselves.

He'd often see to taking some time out of this to chat with them as well; often if they wished, spending time alongside the Navigator, or the Admiral herself. Perhaps out of some sense of desiring to seem polite, perhaps out of a mild sense of loneliness; these were some of the only people who he knew to be at least... Intellectuals, moreso the Admiral. If he could, perhaps even see to speaking of history, have debates with either of them in regards to the human empire's functionality; learn of the Imperium at large and their recent events.

Of course, the Prosperan knew he couldn't do this all the time; perhaps even very little.

As such, he tended to spend his time at his own lodgings whenever his 'patrols' as erratic as they were, were done with; oftentimes not even removing his armour (partly out of paranoia), and tending to his gear. He regretted the loss of his other personal items, even if he knew most of such things were in good hands amongst other friends - particularly another Prosperan who he'd parted ways with on this Black Crusade.

Wonder how he's doing, he thought to himself as he ran a hand along his spear's haft, tracing some of the runes that he'd made into it. The small notches from blades digging into it were often reinforced, leaving the tiniest of 'cuts' that only one who had time to closely examine it could tell now, such fine materials allowing him to have kept such a thing through the abuses it was thrown into for millennia.

So alone, he thought-- no, something else had thought. He grimaced to himself and looked to the Prosperine helmet, his mind briefly registering its lovely crimson and gold colouration, the white tracings -- only to see it flash back to its current stage. No less beautiful, yet now warped with a 'headdress' of gold and blue, the white etchings vanishing entirely. The green lenses now returning to their current teal colouration, as though the last thing that he 'remembers' of his ancient homeland fading away.

A shake of his head and some tension rising along his shoulders. Begone, beast. He spat out in his mind, shrugging off the presence of the daemons. Whispers again coming to mind in his moments alone, as he had nothing to occupy himself with. Even as he willed them away he could still hear them, knowing that no matter how he tried he'd never truly be alone as he once was, even if he wished it so.

A hand came to his forehead and squeezed, the headache growing with the rising whispers and temptations, each refused and scolded, insulted and batted aside - psychic lightning crackled along his fingertips briefly and he felt slight frustrations boil again.

Memories of his failures, of bits of regret - how he could have changed things, things he'd refused for himself, the loss of companions or of personal items -- it all ended as he lashed out.

"ENOUGH!"
​

His hand lashed out and sent the power growing in him out upon the wall, crackling and melting into the ceramite wall - perhaps even a few inches. Bits flaked off and sparked out as the psychic lightning tore into it, his raw frustration blasting away portions until he was spent, the entities that plagued him vanishing once more.

Perhaps a few hours, perhaps a day - weeks even. He recalled once being so lucky as to have two months to himself, only the tiniest of murmurs that he overpowered easily ever coming at the edges of his mind.
Looking over damage he'd done, a frown came on his Prosperan features, a shake of his head; Ausarius knew that while it was a starship-hull and he wouldn't have been able to compromise it if he tried ((at least, he knew not in this part of the ship)), it was still a disappointment he'd lashed out as such.

Ahh, well...

He'd get back onto his seat and rested his head in his palms, taking in a slow breath and... Relaxing. He had little idea on what he was doing here, or how he'd even get himself off, or when. Would he leave at the first chance of some place that was peaceful? Would he bide his time, see about getting... 'Help', before taking that with him?

Would he just take a shuttle someday and leave when he knew he could? Or would he use that chance to rejoin his Legion, damned and corrupted as they were? They were precious few, but...


It didn't matter. All was dust, with them, and he could do nothing to change that.​

<Epilogue>
Boarding the transport ship in the caves with the rest of the group, he was not expecting to see them heading to such a massive battleship, a type he was sure he never seen before. After landing inside one of its hanger bays and shown the 'safe' areas of the ship, the blood pact trooper went to claim a room to have for his own which was an odd thing for him after usually living in barracks with hundreds of other Pact soldiers. Since it was all his, he took unstrapped the flamer system and gingerly set it upon the table before taking something out of his pocket. It was the blood covered club Gains had, the the liquid itself having dried into black flaking blotches. Whistling to himself, he hanged the former guard weapon on a wall of his room, the first momento in his new life among this warband. Kombuse smiled at the thought, for he could have easily just rotted in that prison and been nothing more than a punching bag before dying without the chance of fighting back.

"Guess Khorne still got some use for me." he said to himself. There was a knock at the door and he went over to answer. It was a servitor, delivering a set of carapace armor to him. He could only guess that the lords of this group didn't want him running around in just some flak armor. He took it off its vice like appendages and took it in, giving it a once over. It seemed unpainted and lacked any markings. 'Good' he thought to himself. His own paint will be applied on the battlefield through 'donations' of whoever wanted to fight him, till then he pulled out his serrated blood letting knife and got to work putting runes of Khorne and the star of chaos on it in his own hand, whistling happy to himself as he worked

<Meeting the Iron Giant>
"Oh we just wanted to go to war today, but the lord of the lash said nay nay naaaay!" Kombuse sang, mostly to himself as he walked through the hallways and corridors of the Nightfall. From what he was told, there was a warpsmith on board and that immediately caught his imagination.
"Where's there's a whip, there's a way. Where's there's a whip, there's a way. Left, right, left, right." He's only ever seen a daemon engine once, and it was a huge reptilian looking thing that seemed to have a furnace inside it, and massive claws that tore open tanks.
"A crack on the back said we're gonna march. we're gonna march all day and all night and mooore. For we are the soldiers of the Blooood Looord. Left, right, left, right" So when he heard there was someone that had the profession of making these type of things, he just had to go talk to this Bo'kar guy in the forge area. He had no idea what an 'Iron warrior' was, but it did sounded like someone who worked with metal alot. At least to him.

Spoiler

<Seeing eye to eye....to eye.>
After making himself comfortable in his own room, and making sure it was actually safe in his own area once the rumors of a 'pale giant' started flying about for some reason, Kombuse decided to make a trip toward the bridge. That's where he assumed Delilah would be since she became this ship's navigator. He wore his new armor over his old fatigues, his mask for the most part hanging off his helm rather than worn. He also kept his bolt pistol and knife, just incase he had to defend himself from whatever lurks in the ship, something anyone who has been on enough ship knows. As the trooper walked on, he said hi to everyone on his way, from the crew that came with the Admiral to even to the random beastmen who seemed to either just ignore him or snorted and flared their nostrils at him. He could only guess that was their way of saying 'hi' among themselves.

Corbulus merely grunted as the slaughter on screen happened in front of his eyes. No doubt the old primach decided to stretch his wings, so to speak. That, or they had a daemon on their side which he had lacked all knowledge of. Either way, the Alpha Wolf cared little; the obstacle had been eliminated, the command post taken over by their forces. Victory had been attained. He stared down at his stump of a hand, the hole on the arm where the axe had pierced through, as well as clutched his jaw, feeling the holes both in his torso and face. Too much damaged sustained for too little gain. The others could boast about their prey and kill count, but what of Corbulus's own? Some feeble mortals who kept getting lucky with their shots.

Regardless, with a few grunts and gestured, Corbulus would signal for Sobek to recover the weapons of those he had slaughtered before him, trusting that the mystic had already acquired himself the power axe lost by their slain enemy. The plasma pistol and the chain sword would go to their armory, to be reforged into something worthy to worship the dark gods within battle and rituals. Before long, he spotted Officer Robb, now much more tainted by Father Nurgle than before. He gave his report and the news had been somewhat enough to offset the events of the day: many had flocked to the banner of chaos, specifically to the banner of the Wolves of Horus. Even more prisoners had been captured, fools that believed that they would not be killed if they tossed down their arms.

Nodding to the first officer of the Lupercal Army, Corbulus gestured to the corpses around, giving the order to gather all the pieces left behind. None would go to waste, not while there was still room within the shrines created for the worship of the dark gods. When he finally returned to the Nightfall, he shrugged off Nero, who had hurried over to assist him in his condition. The Alpha Wolf would not let himself be undignified in front of others, even if half of the wounds on him should have been inflicted upon someone else. He did not wince as Sobek stripped his now completely ruined armor off of him, nor did he react when his bionic hand got attached to his arm. Not when he gave the order to replace his armor completely with new pieces or when a new power axe got presented to him.

Corbulus would endure all these things. One day, he shall inflict them upon his enemies tenfold over


@High_Adept_Zeth

________________________

Ever since he had heard of the Word Bearer on the ship, Corbulus found himself intrigued. Though he still had the bad taste in his mouth from when the last one convinced him to join his forces to Abaddon, he could not deny the unique bond members of the XVII legion had with their dark patrons and would seek to utilize whatever method possible in order to reach his goal. Therefore, the Alpha Wolf found himself in attendance to each and every single one of Quor Gallek's sermons, as well as the dedication of each shrine erected for the dark powers. Now, at this latest sermon, was no different.

Corbulus stood in the back, the tainted power axe on his back glowed with the energy eerily familiar with the immaterium. The blade had been warped so that the once smooth edge now curved and jagged, looking like the jaw of a particularly vicious animal. On it, the purple eight pointed star marked the middle of the weapon, replacing the symbol of Khorne on the chainaxe that now rested within the Wolves of Horus' armory. A completely 'new' but mismatched suit of power armor adorned him. Though his old artificer armor could be salvaged with much work, he ordered it scrapped and replaced. The last mission had shown him that the old must be removed and the new must be ushered in.

Next to Corbulus, Nero stood, nervous but entranced with the words spoken by the Word Bearer. Behind them, the chaos undivided soldiers of the Lupercal Army, though in reality more a mob of undisciplined serfs and cultist, stood, holding on to the chains of the sacrifice their lord astartes had brought with him. Each sermon the Alpha Wolf would bring sacrifices in order to appease the dark gods, and this time it was no different. After the assault on the astroid station, there remained plenty of captives within the Wolves of Horus' control, as was the case with much of Curze's army. With a wave after the Word Bearer finished his supplication, the Luperal Soldiers pushed the captives forward towards the chapel's front, where they began carving the eight pointed starts into each of their foreheads before slitting their throats.

Over the death cries and screams of the damned, Corbulus observed one of their mortal companions rush up to greet the Word Bearer, offering herself quite profusely to his service. Allowing the astartes plenty of time to respond to the mortal, he waited a moment before striding forward. The Alpha Wolf had not made the personal acquaintance of this Quor Gallek, as he wished to study the other astartes from afar, both to judge competence and character. Now, he moved to the front, before stopping before the Word Bearer near where his own sacrifices screamed and died. "Greetings Word Bearer. It has been a long time since I've spoken to one of the Urizen. Tell me, might I take a moment to glimpse from the knowledge that's in the Book of Lorgar? I've only had the few rare opportunities in the past to study it, and even then lacked the time to give it a proper study. Perhaps you might enlighten me and my own with your wisdom on how to appease our mutual masters properly?" Corbulus knew that many of the Word Bearers had memorized the entire Book of Lorgar, if not have one chained permenantly to themselves. With the bridging rapport, he hoped to set off on a good term with this Word Bearer, and end on a better one than the last one he consulted with.

Prison Wrapping up @BuriasDempsey
"Welcome aboard then, It will be good to see another khorante on the Nightfall, and will be interesting to see how war will shape us all." Fera said a type of satisfaction from kombuse's reply was made.

Night fall - Rest and growth-
Fera's first place she headed to after reaching the Night fall would be the medbay to get her arm patched up and her bruises tended to, During this time segments of her armor would be removed for the affected area to be treated, her arm plate and part of her chest guard would come off revealing a pale skin with various scars dotting her body, one of them near her chest seem to be of a odd type of burn not made by a flame and others seem to come from burns wounds such as a lasgun like the one on her arm or other autogun wounds and stab wounds from time long past gone by. After such healing was done she would put back on the segments of her armor and leave the apothcarion never seemingly fully out of her power armor.


-The Seeds that have been planted -
As Fera made her way back to her quarters she would see the small remaining guards pacing around her room some looking somewhat scared, she would keep herself ready as they approached, wanting some sort of protection since she was the one to bring them into the night fall. her own expresion under her helmet was of a griamce because of how cowardly they were, Though maybe she could use that when training them. "Alright... you may join me, on the condition you join me in the glorys of war for the war god and listen to my orders." Fera said all of them agreed jumping in out of want to survival, five more personal would come to her recently recruited and turned undivided worshippers of chaos from the prison, former prisoners guard and personal useful more bodys, means they would have to claim more room.

With her and her band of warriors she began taking the area around her room and caliming many areas as barracks and left one room open as a type of shrine room, Inside it and out side it she carved into the walls, A Hunting wolf, A Bull, and A Lions and carved eight of them around her warband area marking the area to be there domain,after that she began aiding in setting up the barracks and then making a plan on training later on in the day and hopefully work out the cowardness in the guards that came with her, and possibly a name for her group





Bridge Visit- @BuriasDempsey
Deciding on going to the bridge to see the navigator and the admiral Fera was quite surprised to see Kombust heading up to the doors and opening it. "You heading to see the admiral as well?" Fera asked seeing Kombuse enter. Fera had with her her heavy bolter on her back and had her chain sword and bolt pistol at her side, usually never leaving her weapons anywhere.

<Seeing eye to eye.....to eye. Because navigators!>@Vulpas
"Well, not the admiral. Going to see Delilah. Wanted to see how she was doing." Kombuse explained, surprised to see the warrior woman going to find the bridge as well. And with all her weapons too, he wondered if that would cause any problems with security up there. "Haven't been to the bridge of a ship before, what's this one like?" he asked her, deciding to make some talk while they walked.

<Medbay> @Uriel1339

Ukris, like always, whistled while he worked. It was some old tune known only to the Apothecary and it sounded quite nice actually, despite the growth in his throat (or whatever the thing was inside of it that made him wheeze) the sound coming out as a tune was well in tune. "You have couple of questions there little Valu, but I'll try to answer them as best as I can," the Death Guard replied, his corrupted limb moving, just like the Lacrymole knew, with lots of delicacy, gentle giant was one of the terms that could be attributed to this Plaguebringer.

"Astartes Apothecaries such as me have never been trained in mending flesh of mortals. What we know is basic things and some of us, myself included, have studied a bit more concerning human physiology during our service. Some did out of necessity, some out of duty, while I have done it out of curiosity. Rest assured young one, I will teach you everything I know about these things because to tell you the truth, I enjoy having you around, your presence is quite calming and my flies like you a lot."

"If you wish to speed up this process, fetch me a fresh corpse or a few. We can then start preforming more extensive surgeries on the dead flesh where I'll teach you about the organs and the intimate workings of the human's insides. After you learn that we can start with you performing tasks on living specimen."

"As for Astartes physiology, I'll have to let you down there Valu. I see two problems there. First one, even if you knew how to operate on us you wouldn't be able to because equipment made for working on the Astartes is not made for mortal hands. Sure, you could assist me next time I'm going about fixing our friends but you would never be able to preform this duty on your own, especially not in the heat of battle. Second problem is that I simply cannot teach you more detailed stuff because we have no proper specimen to operate on. For me to show you how this should be done we would need a fresh corpse and more importantly, one that is not undergoing one of the various stages of blessings or what the unbelievers would say, corruption. So, we would need a loyalist marine corpse for me to show it how it works and sadly, we have none aboard currently."


<Hydra's lair...or maybe not> @Uriel1339

Valu wasn't able to find Phocron only because Phocron found Valu first. Intercepting the alien in the middle of one of the dark corridors the Alpha Legionary appeared like a ghost from a side chamber, gesturing for Valu to enter it before he closed the doors behind them. Just a simple room with two beds, a chair and a table to sit at, all covered in dust.

"I have made sure the Dark Apostle knows of your contribution to his rescue, he seemed like a man who would remember such things so I guess you are lucky," if that was an attempt at humor Valu wouldn't know for sure for Phocron always kept his helmet on. "Now onto the next subject. You have showed resourcefulness and some of us believe you should be introduced, however others are still not completely sure. Sadly for you, the vote has to be unanimous."

He made a pause and then continued. "Meaning that you are now observed more closely and going with that, you have a new set of opportunities to chase. We give our recruits full array of options to chose from and from their behavior we place them on certain positions. For you, we have this," he said and opened his palm in front of Valu, the alien seeing two vials in it. One had red fluid, other one had dark red fluid in it. "First one is blood of a Gor, one of Gorzkha's lieutenants. Use that costume on your own risk, the beastmen have other senses with which they might figure out who you are. Second one I suspect will be more interesting to you. It contains blood of the Scourged marine called Attelus. I'm sure you never had a chance to become one of the Astartes before and we wanted to give you that kind of opportunity. It is what I've promised to you when we met down in the bowels of the ship."


<Chapel> @Uriel1339

Valu found Quor Gallek when he was all alone, resting after a successful sacrificial ritual. Word Bearer was sitting on a bench near the altar, cleaning a ritualistic dagger that he used couple of minutes before. "Ah, so you have come to learn after all. Phocron speaks highly of you but I have yet to see why is that."

"Xaviera is guarded by an omnipresent force only if you call that force faith. She has faith and the strength of that faith is what you felt when you were in her presence. The same thing is what you feel when you look upon me."

"Tell me Valu, what do you know of Gods of Chaos?"


<Chapel, bit earlier> @Kalle @WanderingJester

"Brotherhood of the Knife? So that is why you have painted your armor in the colors of holy Sicarus and my Legion," the Dark Apostle said and gestured for Xaviera to rise. "Your devotion does you credit, Xaviera of the Knife, and so does your faith. I have felt your gaze on me and that gaze is filled with strength of prophecy and armored with zeal. But what makes you different that the multitude of other worshipers that I have inducted in the True Faith back on my homeworld? What is there for you to give to me and the Dark Gods that we cannot take from everyone else?"

While he waited on Xaviera's reply, Quor Gallek heard Corbulus' question and smiled with his most friendly smile, his eyes burning with the fire of righteousness, the blessed power of Chaos Undivided. "If you wish to read the Word, you but have to gaze upon me. Each and every tattoo you see on me represents an important paragraph from the Book of Lorgar, each syllable having strength to move mountains and make lesser souls do your bidding. Power to make and unmake things, power to command others to follow you and instill fear into the hearts of men."

"Is that what you seek Son of Horus? Or are you just another misguided soul following a road laid out for you by powers you know nothing about and care not to question?"


<Iron Man> @BuriasDempsey

Once he entered Forge, Kombuse realized that his Iron Warrior is probably the largest man he has ever seen in his life. Armored in a giant suit of power armor, the kind he never saw before (OOC modified Terminator Armor) and with an entire net of whirling mechandendrites obeying his every whim, the grey-painted mass that was Bo'kar payed absolutely no need when the Blood Pact soldier entered the shop, instead busying himself with repairing some kind of an aircraft back into its pristine condition.

Only when he finished and turned around to go and get more material did the Iron Warrior see Kombuse standing at the entrance. Shoulder-mounted lascannon came to life and Kombuse saw a red line going from giant's form all the way towards him, not looking all that friendly. But it was in line with the actual looks of the man, for his face was half covered in bionics and the other half looked quite...unwelcoming.

"Another of pretty boy's pests coming down here to bother me, is that it?" his voice was hard, like rocks grinding, "Or are you one of the morons we picked up from that shithole that was too stupid to go back when he could? Do you know what I do with pests and morons?"

Chapel

"I wield the power of Chaos, my lord," she rasped in answer. The woman rose from her knees, her sore skin stinging all over as she moved, but she betrayed no discomfort outwardly. "Already, I draw from the Immaterium to make the Materium yield to my will. I know the Scriptures, my lord, and I understand... as well as one can expect from mortals and not from Aurelian himself! The Gods know my faith and arm me with the strength of the Warp."

She cast a glance at Corbulus, and fell silent again. She had given her answer and would let Horus' wolf give his.