The Lost (30k Primarch Quest)

XV. Break the Chains

You leap up onto the skimming craft, and your sudden weight pushes it down. You strike like lightning, your eyes alight with the fire of your rage, and the crew of the alien skimmer is torn to shreds in moments. You roar through the pain of flechette shots coursing through your body. Your pistol barks as you blast open the offending alien.

Fan is on your back, head buried against you and trying to keep hold. You're fast, and you keep her out of the line of fire. You could kill more if she wasn't there and you know it, but she's safest where you can reach her.

This ship is partially loaded with cultists; presumably to be captured and taken to wherever these aliens make port. You ignore them, instead going after the crew.

Their guns pepper your flesh with pinpricks, but you know what to expect now, and so the pain is merely extreme rather than unbearable. You tear the first Aeldari's limbs off, and are somewhat surprised when he tries to headbutt you with the spiky helmet instead.

You reward his bravery with a quick death by decapitation, then throw the helmet through one of his buddies like a macabre javelin.

You stab straight down into the skimmer with your sword, and something in the machine breaks. It starts to spin and fall downward, crashing into the forest below. You leap again, landing on a second that falls even faster, now that you know where to hit the thing. You make quick work of the remaining alien crew of both vessels.

The eldar's remaining ships are turning to flee. For a brief moment, rage flares in your chest for these alien things that dare touch your crew and run like little pissant cowards… but they're not who you came for. There are slaves to save.

One of the Aeldari pulls herself from the crashed ship, coughing as she rips her helmet off, and as she does you see blood splatter onto the ground. She will not last long.

You stalk towards her, surety of purpose lending strength to your steps. You pull your blade from the wreckage as you go.

The Aeldari laughs, spitting blood. "More of us will come, ape, and you will feed-"

You rend her head from her shoulders.

"Let them come." You growl. "They will fare no better."

You only give the other eldar ships one more glance before turning your blade back onto the cultists.

The man at their front is the best dressed there. Somehow he managed to get an actual tangsuit from somewhere, and if the formality of their clothes were any indication, this guy was the highest of their leaders.

"Thank you, stranger," The man says, his tone wary but hopeful. "Whatever those devils were-"

"You're next, moron." You snarl.

The man reels back as if you'd already hit him. "What?"

"Children were taken from their homes because of scum like you." You growl, sheathing your sword as you stalk towards the man. "They died because of scum like you."

"Damnation upon you, false messiah!" The cultist shouts. "To arms! Take heart, brothers and sisters, the gods are with-"

You grab him and pop his skull between your hands like an overripe grape, letting the body fall to the ground. Some of the cultists charge, others flee, still others are frozen in terror.

What you do from there is not a battle, not really. It's a massacre. You kill all those who go after you and any who are in the obvious leadership garb. None of them can stop you, none of them can even try, and the few that do anyway are no threat.

A woman in qipao falls dead. Another in silks falls dead. A man with a ruffled collar takes a bullet between the eyes and falls dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead.

Until all of their leaders are dead, and the rest are too terrified to even stand.

You look around at the remaining. Ragged men, dessicated women, even some children.

You spit. "Not worth it. Just run."

It takes a moment before they start scrambling. Those with children nearby pick them up, and all flee into the jungle.

"I hope the big kitties get them." Fan growls.

You shrug. "Come on, Fan. We've got injured. And Bel needs more stones."

-

Khankos is furious.

No, furious is too weak a word; incandescent, perhaps. Yes, he likes that one. He is absolutely incandescent.

He glances across the ships he still has. He is leaving the wet ball in space with eight ships. All of them were loaded with slaves and/or treasure to capacity. Under ordinary circumstances, this would be a great raid.

But all he can think about is the fact that he arrived with twelve ships.

One of them had been destroyed by the seer. One by a lucky shot from one of the mon-keigh.

The other two had been destroyed by that one particular mon-keigh filth. That primarch…

Of all the places in the galaxy to run into another of those monstrous creations, of course it would be the world he chose to raid. The universe enjoyed mocking hubris.

Worse, the seer. She'd blown apart a trueborn noble. And in all likelihood he was going to have to pay for it. Khankos would love to be an independent operator, but in Comorragh to be anyone at all you need the sponsorship of a noble house. He'd had it for this raid, but with a noble woman dead, it was unlikely to happen again. If he even lives.

He snarls, his clawed gauntlets digging into the metal of his anti-grav skimmer.

No, not if. He'll live.

He is Khankos, Dracon of the Kabal of the Black Jewel, Reaver of the Black Stars! No filthy ape will prove his better, oh no. Were there any Eldar gods left to swear to, he would have: that Primarch would pay. That seer bitch would pay.

He tries to focus on that fateful day; when the seer would lay naked, skin torn into ribbons, when she would scream and cry and beg for his mercy. When that mon-keigh filth would be stripped of his eyes and tongue, when his head would be torn from him and kept alive to watch what happens to the rest of his body. Or perhaps the soulless child he carried will suffer the most… no, she'll be a side dish. Children are simply too weak to provide proper misery; they work best as a garnish.

They will learn their place.

"Under my heel."

-

Bel is undisturbed by the bodies as she picks through the area, seeking out stones as easily as if they called to her. Perhaps they did. She is completely absorbed in finding them all in this forsaken place.

You, on the other hand, are more concerned with the cultists themselves. This place is profane, you can feel it in the air.

"So. The stones contain Aeldari souls, then." You say slowly, when you judge she's about done with her work.

She looks at you, raising an eyebrow with an amused smirk. It is a very good poker face, one that indicates bemusement rather than surprise. "And what makes you say that?"

"You said you didn't want Fan to touch the 'tears' as you called them," you say slowly, "and that she grounds reality around her. There's no reason for her to be unable to touch them unless they have some connection to the immaterium. And you said Aeldari lives rest on their recovery." You point to the stones. "You reacted to handing the stones over to the spiky ones about how I would expect one to react to a kidnapped child."

"… I don't like how clever you are."

You wink. "I am very clever~. Also one of them was worried when I grabbed it out of the air."

Bel rolls her eyes.

"What exactly was that ritual back at the temple meant to do?" you ask. "If they're meant to fuel the ritual, it must've been something big."

"Nothing of immediate concern." She shrugs. "They intended to weaken the veil between the material world and the warp."

You raise an eyebrow. "Why would they do that?"

"One cannot have a ship if there is no water."

"Sure you can." Ping says, binding one of Amaya's wounds. "They're called tanks. Or… maybe trains." He frowns. "Wagons?"

Amaya shakes her head. "Spaceships."

"Oh yeah, that's even better!"

Bel ignores them. Probably the better move. "It is of no concern. We interrupted it before it could do anything of significance."

"And who were the… spiky Aeldari?"

"Drukhari." She scowls, more darkly than she ever has since you've known her. "Raiders from Comorragh. They are monstrous."

"Comorragh is a craftworld?"

She doesn't laugh but you can see she wants to. "No."

"… What do they do," you say slowly, "to the people they capture?"

"Believe me, human," she says, with a haunted look in her eyes, "you do not want to know."

You almost demand she answer, but the Aeldari's face… it's a mixture of emotions you weren't expecting. She's given you the strong impression that she thinks of humans as little more than unevolved beasts, and yet when she thinks of what happens to them under the Drukhari, there's a measure of pity and sorrow, with a hint of disgust.

Perhaps she's right. You don't want to know.

You nod, then turn to head towards your ship.

"…Thank you," she mutters, "for your help."

You look back at where she was a moment ago, but she is already gone.

Hm. You tip your hat in the general direction she went. You could catch her if you wanted, but if she wants to leave without a further word, who are you to say otherwise? You'll see her again, probably.

-

It takes time before you find and open all of the cages; they're spread throughout the camp, beneath tents and only occasionally out in the open. When you open the cages with your bare hands, you're greeted with a mix of reactions. Some of them fall to their knees and kiss your feet. Others just stare, or tremble in their corners, not understanding what's happening. But over time you get them all out and gathered in the center of the camp.

One of the slaves is an older man, but he wears the same sort of helmet that the children had been forced into. Unlike those children, however, he seemed largely awake and aware, with a full grasp of the horror of his situation and the rescue you've just given him.

You place your hands on your hips and look him dead in the eye. "And who might you be?"

"I am Shen," he says, his tone measured but not dead inside as you expect from the helmet. "Once a humble farmer for House Dao, now a slave to the Cult of the Drowned."

"You can drop that last half now. You're welcome." You point to the helmet. "I've seen those before, on children. But it made them emotionless."

"Ah. Understandable." He taps the side of his helmet. "These are meant to be used on the untrained, see. But I had a bit more spunk than they expected. I killed a dozen or more of them before they finally got this thing on me."

"You can remove it? Or at least make it less… what it is?"

Shen shakes his head, leaning on a large stick someone got him earlier. "No. It wouldn't be much of a disabling device if it could be so easily removed."

You shrug. "Well, okay, I guess-"

Wait. 'Meant for the untrained' implied he'd been trained. "You can control your abilities?"

The man nods. "I am trained in the sorcerous arts, yes."

"Could you teach others, as well? Young children, perhaps?"

He looks a bit perplexed, but also insulted. "I don't think that girl with you has the gift and I would not train her anyway. She is sickening."

Fan shrinks against you.

"… I apologize lord, I've been in a cage waiting to be murdered for a long time, my social niceties are out of-"

"Apologize to Fan or shut up." You snap, and the man clamps his mouth shut. You wait long enough to be sure he's not going to apologize before you plow along. "I don't mean her anyway, I'm talking about the crop of children that was on its way here to join you on the altar. And you have a lot more of your faculties than they seemed to. Can you train them, if that helmet gets removed?"

Shen frowns, though this time is from contemplation rather than distaste. "… it would depend on how much power they have. If this girl were needed to restrain them, I believe so."

Finally some good news. You clap your hand on the older man's shoulder and he winces in pain. "Good. You'll be able to meet them when we get back to Shang."

His eyes widen. "The pirate port? You're a pirate?!"

Fan laughs and throws a fist into the air. "He's a pirate!"

You grin. "Yar. Now who else do we have here? A few witches and warlocks, obviously, but let's get a good look at the rest of you…"

-

Voting

The cultists had a number of slaves and potential sacrifices of various kinds, not just psykers and children. Who else do you find imprisoned within the camp that has not been sacrificed yet?

ETA NOTE: YOUR CREW WILL GAIN THE SKILLS OF THE SPECIFIED CHOICE, AND THIS WILL AFFECT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE VARIOUS LISTED FACTIONS. THIS IS NOT PURELY A FACTIONAL VOTE NOR A PURE SKILL VOTE

[] – Tech Monks

The cultists captured several men and women bearing the markings of the Kuji Nan Tech temples. They are going to be exceptionally useful when it comes to various technologies, including adapting the dark eldar weapons and the witch children's neural dampening helmets. They tell you directly that they do not owe you special loyalty, but they are grateful and will work alongside you pro bono, at least for a time.

(You have a small group of technology specialists. They will be grateful for being rescued and will help with machine-related problems like the helmets, but will have no special loyalty beyond that due to their order's dedicated neutrality.)

[] – Rebel insurgents

A number of men and women you initially dismiss as just random civilians turn out to be insurgents for the planet's rebellion. They are exceptionally stealthy and skilled, great at sabotage and infiltration operations. They want the Empress dead, but they owe you one, and so they'll work with you for the time being.

(You now have a small group of spies and stealth specialists. They are extremists devoted to destroying the Empress and strongly hate her and her allies. They will help you so long as your actions are at the very least neutral to that goal, until they can meet up with the other rebels.)

[] – Empress' soldiers

You find a number of surprisingly well-adjusted soldiers among the slaves. They are exceptionally powerful and skilled warriors, and crack shots. While they aren't particularly fond of pirates like you, they agree that they owe you a debt and will fight as fiercely as they did for the Empress; provided, of course, you don't fight her directly.

(You now have a small group of specially trained and highly effective warriors. They are diehard Empress supporters and have a strong grudge against the rebel houses. They will help you so long as your actions are at the very least neutral to that goal, at least until they can return to the Empress.)

[] – Knight pilots

These cultists got their hands on men and women meant to pilot the great Knight machines that plod your world. You're not sure how, and the Knights themselves are too ashamed to speak of it; best guess is that they were sacrificed to allow another scion to ascend. You don't have much use for Knight pilots yet, but their honor demands they serve you as best they can.

(You now have a small group of nobles augmented to pilot Knights or other vehicles. They have a strong grudge against the nobility for abandoning them. For the moment they cannot help you beyond the most basic of tasks, but as soon as you gain access to Knights, they will be formidable indeed.)

[] – Write-in

Suggested by @Vista

[] – Write-in: a half-dead star hunter legionary

The Star Hunters are the pre-Khan white scars. This legionary would be an outrider separated from his fellows.

Suggested by @butchock

[] - write-in: a Dark Eldar prisoner overthrown from his Kabal seeking revenge and allies

SteelWriter77 said:

[X] – Knight pilots

There has not been a Knight using Primarch, not one with that as an important facet, i want to use the Big robots

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...