Of Dancers and Pilgrims

Hey everyone! It's me! This little tale will be taking place before Mass Effect 2, and will carry on from there.

Huge thanks to RaptorusMaximus, a great writer; author of Necessary Monsters (Mass Effect and Warhammer Crossover). And a great friend, you should check him out, his stuff is awesome!

*WARNING* This story contains graphic descriptions of blood and gore, along with semi-implied/acted out forced sexual activities due to this story having Slaanesh cultists in it.

If you don't feel comfortable with these things, please leave now; for I do not wish to scar any younger or more sensitive viewers (but if they're reading something with an M rating, they should know by now that things can happen).

Marching song used was "Come out ye black and tans" by the Irish Descendants

Anyways, sit back and relax. Grab some popcorn and let's begin: Of Dancers and Pilgrims!

Characters:

The Plagued Pilgrims:

Loimos RotGut: A Plague marine, he took part in the Horus Heresy; fighting against the Emperor. Now he commands a ship named the "Art of Illness"; he and his brothers and sisters call themselves the "Plagued Pilgrims" They seek a world for those embracing Nurgle's gift. A large man, standing at around nine to ten feet tall; he is an imposing figure; his behavior however, it a stark contrast; for he is almost always smiling and is downright jolly, even in combat. His weapons are a heavy bolter and Eviscerator for a two handed weapon. His armor is old and corroded, just like him; he sports a rusted suit of MkIII power amour and a M1 Thunder Warrior helm.

Halaphus the Painless: An ancient Chaos Dreadnaught, formally of the Iron Warriors Legion. Loimos's second in command; he found him abandoned in a Space Hulk ten thousand years ago, and they have been campaigning together ever since. While Loimos is cheerful and jolly, Halaphus is cynical and suspicious of other people. His chassis is corroded and infected with Nurglings. His fuel source is pure pestilence and plague; spewing green smog to infect more enemies. His main weapons are an autocannon and a powerfist/flamethrower combo.

Sarah Dewvon, Mistress of the Legions: A female Commissar, formerly of the Penal Legions, she is a strict leader with odd tendencies and caring for those under her command. She wears simple Commissar armor; but faded and tarnished. Her weapons are a Lasgun, Autogun, and Powersword. Her tactics are strange, favoring old-fashioned techniques such as using war drums to inspire courage in her soldiers.

Dancing Court:

Lilith ThrillSeaker: A ruthless and hedonistic woman with a charismatic nature she swayed the high society of her home planet to convert to Slaanesh; along with most of the guardsmen on her world. Leading this mob, she engaged in a murder orgy that greatly pleased Slaanesh, so she was granted beauty and sorcery, in exchange of her soul. She now controls a stolen Battleship; equipped with the entire planets armory, is a deadly vessel indeed. The ship, now named the "Purple Sun" after the name of Lilith's favorite hallucinogen, it's a deadly maze of death and base delights. Her weapons are an auto pistol and power sword. Her armor is form fitting Carapace armor crossed with an elegant dress.

Svonux the Silent: A Noise marine; this soldier of Chaos can no longer speak normally due to a blessing from Slaanesh; his voice has been changed so that anything above a whisper is a Warp scream. He has an obsession of recording everything he hears, using a daemonically possessed microphone to capture everything; from the laughter of children, to the last beats of an Eldar's heart. He is eight feet two inches tall; with pale, scarred skin as a testament to his battles. Due to his worship of Slaanesh, he has two small horn nubs sprouting of his head. He is Lilith's main enforcer and advisor; bringing some semblance of sense to her erratic plans. His weapons are guitar-like sonic weapon (the old Noise marine weapons), and a power axe.

…

Chapter One: Commanders And Invaders

Loimos POV

Forty Second Millennium

The Art of Illness

I am walking towards the bridge; and as always, I'm smiling. Ever since I had accepted Nurgle as my savoir, the expression never left my face. Life had been good to me, thanks to Grandfather Nurgle's gifts; pain was a distant memory, suffering even more so. My brothers and sisters were a merry lot; always trying to spread the joy of Nurgle's gifts; sadly, the blind zealots of the Imperium didn't see our gifts as something to be desired; and they kill us on sight. But, that doesn't mean we will stop trying; for Nurgle rewards those who persevere. The reason I was making my way to the bridge was that Sarah said that she picked something odd on the radar. Hearing the rumble of large footsteps behind me, I turn around to see my old comrade; Halaphus. The old Dreadnaught has fought by my side for centuries, and we've become good friends since then. His devotion to Nurgle is unwavering, and Nurgle had blessed him because of it.

"Halaphus, my old friend. How are you doing on this lovely day?"

I call out. My comrade only grunted in response; he never seemed to be able to express much emotion, probably because he was abandoned for so long, it would do things to anyone. We still have been working on it however, and improvements have appeared.

Anyways, we loped towards the bridge; which was currently being manned by Sarah; mistress of the Pilgrims; a new convert to the faith. She was always energetic, and always full of good cheer. Her legionaries were formerly of the Penal Legions; from a horrid place that is now lost to the annals of time as it should be. Hearing us enter; she turns, letting us see her face; still full of life, but with the stray boil here and there thanks to Nurgle's gifts to her. Her greying red hair is seen poking out of her Commissar hat, her pale skin showing the early signs of Nurgle's blessings, looking drawn and slightly withered.

She salutes to us, a look of worry on her face.

"Ello boss, we have us a wee bit o a problem ere."

She said, her thick accent making things a little bit difficult to understand at times. Her bright green eyes were flashing with a mix of excitement and worry. The Commissar garbs that she wears had been claimed with Nurgle's mark, blessing them and making them able to endure anything, even if she went on living for all time, those clothes would survive.

"What's the problem my child?"

I ask, wondering what it could be.

"We're out in the middle of nowhere, so a pirate attack seems the most likely, maybe Greenskins?"

My thoughts are cut short by the sight of fleets carrying a hated standard by anyone who is a Chaos worshipper: the Inquisition

I activate the ship wide PA system

"Attention all hands! We have Inquisition vessels in our area; all hands to battle stations, no one fire until I give the order!"

My voice blasts throughout the ship, making several of the new recruits to jump to their posts, charging up gun batteries, loading missiles, and warming battle ship engines.

We look at the radar, until a dreaded conclusion reaches us; a fleet of Inquisition ships. Those zealots blindly kill anyone who does not obey their brainwashing. We march towards our posts; me at the helm, I order the first salvos to be launched, and the Warp Drives fired up.

"Where to sir?"

Sarah yells over the commotion

"Anywhere! We can't fight them!"

Halaphus bellows, his command echoing around the room.

As our engines begin to fire up; missiles and laser blast begin blasting our hull; sending us stumbling around. The Imperium ships were trying to take out our engines!

"Póg mo thóin*1 and go hifreann leat!"*2

I hear Sarah shout, her accent and distant Terran ancestries of Irish and Scottish really flaring up in her rare bursts of anger.

I could feel every single salvo being launched, along with every impact of the enemy's weapons into our ship. I don't know how or why the Inquisition is out this far; but I don't care. If they have come for my flock, they'll have to kill this shepherd! I grit my teeth as the Imperium ships get closer and closer; their attacks keep coming, battering our single Despoiler Battleship. We kept firing regardless, if we died; so be it. If we fell, Nurgle would embrace us in his garden, and we shall be there for all time. Our engines finally began to fire up.

"Ere we go! Alright ya gits, hold on to yer magairle*3; cause we're going for a ride!"

Sarah cheers, a smile clear on her face.

The Warp opens up all around us; and no matter how many times I see it; the beauty of it still takes my breath away, if I still needed to breathe mind you. As we launch through the Warp, the trip feels far rougher than usual; with several more bumps and jolts. The colors of the Warp seemed harsher than usual; like the Gods were angry or agitated. Soon, the ship began shaking and rattling, the motions making the ancient metal of this vessel start creaking and groaning. I begin looking around, trying to get some sense of what's going on. No matter how hard I tried the sense of being powerless to stop what was happening still remained. Suddenly, a gurgling voice blasts into my brain, making me collapse to my knees in reverence; for the voice was that of Nurgle himself!

"My child, something has happened that is outside the natural order of things, most likely Tzeentch's trickery. You are outside my immediate reach. But do not despair my boy; for I am not outside your reach; so persevere and fight on! I shall bless you with the gift of knowledge; for the xenos species don not have the same languages as back home. Do me proud my son and spread my gifts to this new galaxy!"

And just like that, the voice of the Plague Father fades from my mind, leaving me with a sense of awe and a feeling of purpose. The Plague Father calls and I shall answer!

…

2185, close to a space-port on the edge of Citadel Space

…

Finally, we appear in space that looks far different then what we're used to. No Imperium ships, no feeling of always being hunted; but very little feeling of the Chaos Gods; I mean, it's very faint, but it's there.

"Status report!"

I call out to my crew on the bridge.

"Present"
Sarah calls back

"Alive"

Halaphus rumbles

Walking around the bridge that there was very little damage internally to the ship, even though we had just been in a large firefight with the Imperium.

After I see that the ship is slightly damaged, but otherwise completely functional, I try to see where we are.

No matches in our data-base.

"What is this?"

I mutter to myself, a wave of unease washing through me; we are in completely unknown space, and we're only a single vessel.

Marching to the ship wide PA, I bellow out

"All head officers, to the bridge, I have important news to tell you all!"

The crew on the bridge looked surprised at my outburst.

"Ey boss? What's the matter?"

Sarah asks with a worried look on her face.

"I shall reveal all when the rest of the head officers arrive."
I mummer, almost impossible to hear over my gurgling tone.

Soon, many of the head officers, most being former Penal Legionaries, some being my fellow Plague Marines, and we had one Blightcaster on board to advise me on the will of the Grandfather.

Slowly, like decay, we all arrived. They were all seasoned veterans of many wars, some going back to the Horus Heresy so long ago. Taking a deep breath, I begin the news

"Brothers and Sisters; I am afraid to say that I have some bad news. We are no longer in the Forty Second Millennium, nor are we anywhere near Imperium, Greenskin, Tau, Eldar, or our own space. We are in a different universe, completely free of the blind bigotry of the Imperium"

Looking around, I see some of the officers smiling with joy; a universe without being hunted at every turn, and we are still the blessed children of the Plague God.

"However, the Chaos Gods are quite far away from this place as well. We can't spread Nurgle's gifts as easily as we could back home. But fear not my comrades! This universe is full of life, I can feel it, we just need information on what kind it is, and how we can spread the good word of Father Nurgle. But for now, we should hide the ship; I have a feeling that the inhabitants of this galaxy would not kindly to a massive warship outside their doorstep."

"Sarah, grab a small landing party of your legionaries and prepare for some shore leave."

I grin, feeling my old self coming back, one that shall persevere no matter what.

"You got it boss!"

Sarah chirps, her grin as bright as a bolter spewing bullets. She practically skips out of the room, humming a hymn to Nurgle.

Halaphus lumbers out of the door that was made for him alone, saying something about checking inventory.

The other officers drift out of the room; some had looks of excitement at the thought of this new frontier while some had looks of despair at notion of being far from Nurgle's embrace.

This universe shall soon see the gifts of the Plague God, one way or another; they shall see.

…

Forty Second Millennium

Purple Sun

Lilith POV

Swirling lights; that's all I can see. All round me, there's beautiful colors; flashes of red, green and blue; it's the Warp incarnate. The feelings of euphoria and ecstasy rip through my body; bringing the wonderful side effects of those emotions. But, like all wonderful things, it had to end; and the space known as the Materium faded back into existence. That's when I looked down and saw the female figure chained at the foot of my bed. A fresh captive that I caught on a raid of an Imperium world, but what we didn't know was that there was an Adepta Sororitas outpost on that world. It didn't make much difference in the end however, as they were only few in number, and by sheer numbers we overwhelmed them. We couldn't stop them from raising a S.O.S. however, so we rounded up as many captives as we could, and got out of there before the reinforcements arrived. The little lady chained before me was a commander of a unit of Battle Sisters; she fought quite well, but I managed to defeat her, knocking her out and dragging her here.

From her fellow captives, I learned that her name was Ophelia; and I have to say, she was beautiful. With shoulder length brown hair that cascaded down her back, brown eyes, fair skin that would make a model instantly jealous. She had two tattoos, one of a fleur-de-lis on her forearm, and an Aquila on her lower back. Hearing her groan, I look down and see her starting to regain her senses, tugging at her chains. Her head snaps up, eyes of full rage and confusion; as soon as she sees me, her eyes narrow into slits.

"You filthy heretic, you dare imprison me here!"

She howls, trying to lunge at me, but the chains on her arms and neck hold her fast; like the tight embrace of a lover.

"Now, now; that's no way to treat the one woman who is keeping you alive."

I purr, making her pause in her deluded self-righteous rage.

"What are you talking about, you traitorous scum? If you try to deceive me, I'll eviscerate you! "

She rants and roars, her tone making it clear that she'd probably try to do it.

I fix her with a stare that was infused with pure Warp energy, making her pause and look in fear at my display of power. Seeing that I had her attention, I continue my conversation.

"You see, my comrades below deck wanted to have their ways with you. Almost all of them wanted a piece of you, those that didn't were already occupied with your fellow Battle Sisters; oh how they screamed. You must understand, I claimed you as my own; and no one crosses my wishes on my ship. So, you should really be thanking me; unless you'd rather try your luck with the entire crew?"

I can see a shift in her eyes, it changed from outright hostility, to a subdued hate.

She mutters something under her breath, not hearing her, and wanting to establish the fact that I'm in command, I shoot my hand out, and strike her in the throat.

"I didn't hear you, speak up!"

I hiss, feeling a mixture of anger and joy flow through me

Her head whips back, her eyes bulging, and throat heaving; trying to breathe, but couldn't get enough air.

After a few moments, she spoke again.

"For…the…Emperor"

She rasps out.

Pure rage alongside a sadistic streak coming on flows through me; back handing her, I grab the liquid form of Purple Sun, and pour it down her gullet. I can hear her gagging and choking, but her body has to breathe at some point, so it chugs the drug down in order to get air. Soon, her eyes start to dim, and her movements become more and more sluggish; until she finally lies still, completely absorbed in the drug now filling her mind with its effects. Getting up, I reach into the Warp and summon Daemonettes to come up to my chambers. Within moments, two of the Daemons of lust appear in my room, with large grins on their faces.

I point to my bound and chained captive

"Have fun with this one, but don't kill her, I want to slowly break her. Your job is to start this process"

Upon seeing just what my captive was, the Daemonette's faces burst into ones of pure joy, and evil intent.

"Yes mistress"

They speak in unison, bowing at the same time.

As I close the door, I can hear laughter from the Daemonettes, and the ripping of clothes.

…

As soon as I exit the door; I see Svonux standing in the shadows; simply listening in on the prisoner's situation. His expression was one of bliss; hearing the noises the Daemonettes made was always an enjoyable sound. His pale and scarred face was twisted into an almost childlike smile; it was always like that when he was listening. Upon seeing me, he jolts back to attention; his massive space marine armor clinking.

Laughing, I reply with

"At ease soldier, there's no need to be formal, we've fought together for so long"

I smirk, watching him relax into his usual position; relaxed.

He simply nods, and was about to walk away; but a massive alarm rips through the ship. I hear my door open, and the Daemonettes poke their heads out; through the small opening in the door, I could my captive face down on the floor, with a brand new tattoo taking up her entire back.

"Whatever you do, don't leave that room till I come back. We have some very rude intruders, probably coming back for our captive here."

Svonux scowls, pulling his guitar like sonic cannon from his back, a look of fury coming into his eyes, growling in his whisper like way, he marched towards the bridge; humming a Greenskin battle song, something about killing and pillaging. We finally reached the bridge, where the helmsman was commanding the ship's main controls; and he looked pissed off. An ancient looking pipe was in his mouth, smoldering and sparking wildly; it matched the fire in his eyes.

"Hey boss, seems some Imperium bastards followed us all the way here. Can we murder them when they try to board us?"

His gruff voice rumbled out, sounding like a heavy smoker talking through the blades of a fan.

Grinning, I begin getting waves of euphoria flow through me as I start imagining the beautiful arcs of crimson that shall soon adorn my ships walls.

"Let's have some fun"

I say smugly. The rest of my crew begin smiling like Christmas came early; I guess it has, if you call the Imperial guards presents, all that we have to do is unwrap them.

…

3rd Person POV

John Ellis was a simple man; he was a Guardsman, he fought the enemies of the Imperium; sure it wasn't an easy job, but it was the only one he had.

His regiment had arrived on the planet below after a S.O.S. call had been broadcasted to whatever Imperium fort was nearby; something about Slaanesh cultists. They had boarded their ship when they saw that the entire colony had been wiped out; or worse, taken to be the crews "entertainment". The cultist's ship wasn't very hard to track; it was a battleship, not too big, not too small either. It was the perfect mix of speed and power. They boarded with relative ease, and the ship seemed to be empty. The halls, once plain and grey; and been turned into a horrifying collage of garish colors and ghastly carnal acts. Some of the captives; well what remained of them anyway, could be seen on the walls; splattered like a bunch of overripe melons and as the guardsmen walked down the corridors; they could hear faint noises, like a garbled radio transmission. Soon, it got louder and louder, until they could hear what was going on clear as day. It was a massive rave; full of flashing lights and crazy music; it would have looked wonderful; but if you looked closely, you could see the horror underneath the glamour; bodies were randomly piled up in a crude notion of artistic pursuit, the stench of drugs mixed with sweat and blood permeated the air. It hung like a wet cloak; sticking to everything; a few of the more light hearted guardsmen retched, but they were forced forwards by the Commissar behind them.

Just as they were going to charge in; everything stopped; the music cut off, the lights went out, even the breathing noises stopped. It was eerily calm and quiet; like all the animals had run away from an incoming storm that humans can't see until it's too late.

As soon as the quiet began, it ended; with a single set of hands clapping; and a woman's voice laughing. It was a siren's call, bewitching many of the already freaked out guards, some had been affected by the leftover drugs in the air that left them weak willed and oblivious. The lights flickered back on slowly, so they could see just how many of the cultists there were in this ship of base delights. There was a mixture of Traitor Guardsmen, cultists and even a couple of Chaos Space Marines. After the crew, they could see the victims; the ones that still lived probably wished otherwise; as they looked absolutely devastated, especially some of the newer Battle Sisters; their Vows of Chastity forever gone, their innocence despoiled for all time. The crew far outnumbered the Guardsmen, so while most of the cultists were smiling evilly; some of them looked furious at the Guards arrival.

The woman began to speak, her voice sultry and melodious.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here; a couple of lost lambs that wandered into the slaughterhouse. So, will lay down your arms and do this the easy way? Or will you resist, to be honest I hope you go down that road; I love it when they struggle."

While she was talking, the lights finally showed light on the speaker; and more than one of the guardsmen gasped. She was unearthly beautiful; with hair as black as the void of space; blue eyes that drew you in and wouldn't let you go no matter what. Her features made some of the younger men weep; her beauty was that intense. It wasn't natural however, that much was clear; but that didn't stop some of the guardsmen to surrender themselves to the ruthless cultists. The rest of the squad rallied themselves; and raised their Lasguns, teeth gritted, and hearts beating wildly.

The woman grinned, her armor and dress swishing seductively as she walked towards the squad.

"Good, you've chosen to struggle; I love it when you people do it."

Her grin was playful, but her eyes showed murderous intent.

She grabbed her powersword that was hanging at her side, and raised it into the air.

"Get em boys!"

She shouted, glee on her face; and with that, the cultists surged forwards, looks of pleasure overtaking their faces ads they began gutting and hacking away at the doomed guardsmen.

The head lady marched over to John, swinging her sword and smiling teasingly at him. John knew that he was going to die, but he couldn't help but stare at the beautiful woman before him. As quick as he could blink, she was right behind him; slashing at his legs; making him collapse to the ground, screaming in agony as he saw the now useless legs fall to the ground. He tried to crawl away, but she impaled him through the shoulder, pinning him to the ground. Tearing the blade out, the woman flipped John around so he could see her face.

She leaned in and grabbed his face.

Her lips against his; that was the last thing that John Ellis would ever feel, and the sight of the woman's face would be the last thing he would ever see. He could feel himself floating away, far away, until oblivion claimed him.

…

Lilith POV

"That was fun, can we do it again?"

I hear one of the newer cultists ask, followed by the laughter of his fellows.

"Soon darling, soon; but first, we have to leave the area. As much as I'd love to get my hands on some more Imperials; we cannot take on an entire armada."

I state, many of the underlings nodding and murmuring amongst themselves.

Smiling, I look over and see Svonux standing on top of a small pile of bodies, holding the Daemonic microphone to the cadavers as he blasts them apart with his sonic cannon, grinning wildly, a harsh light in his eyes as he decimates their corpses in praise to She Who Thirsts.

Marching towards the bridge, I can hear some of the guardsmen who had surrendered before the battle being either converted or executed by some Daemonttes or very devout cultists; either way, they would lose their innocence today, either by bolter or flesh, they will lose it today. I could hear praises to Slaanesh dimly echoing through the halls as my troops celebrate their victories. Finally I arrive at the bridge, where the helmsman was happily carving a grin into one of our brand new convert's face

"Ya just gotta hold still, if I go up anymore, I'll take out an eye."

Ignoring him, I begin firing up the engines and the Warp Drives, and almost instantly; the awe-inspiring colors of the space that the Chaos Gods call home surround the ship, ending us towards wherever is away from here. Suddenly, the journey stops.

2185: Near Omega

…

"What the hell happened"
I bark, confused as to why this happened. The helmsman looked just as confused as I did. We check the long range scanners; but find no planets in the area; however, there was a massive asteroid or small moon, but upon further scanning, we saw that it was a space station.

I heard one of the new recruits mutter something under his breath; it sounded like

"That's no moon, that's a space station"

Almost everyone on the bridge looked at him with a confused look on their faces

"Nevermind…"

His voice trails off in embarrassment.

We immediately forget about this comment however because a small fleet of ships are on the radar; and they're closing in fast.

So, we are completely unknown territory, a fleet of ships closing in, and we're only one vessel. Shit, looks like it's my birthday.

…

Space Port

Sarah POV

I walk down the hall, grinning like a loon; just happy to be on the move again. Being locked up in that ship for a couple o months had left me a wee bit crazy; humming an old song I could barely remember from way back in the day; I walked into the barracks. Upon seeing me, many of my comrades, along with the newer recruits jump into a salute.

Laughing, I wave them down

"At ease, ya gits; yer making me all riddy*5. Now come on lads, we got us a little o shore leave."

Several of the lads and lassies began jumping about and doing a jig of some kind; with looks of excitement that look like they belong on children on their faces.

I picked a good two dozen of us, all grabbing their weapons and side arms; wanting to make a good first impression on whatever's out there. Marching out of the barracks, and down to the hanger, a couple of the older recruits begin singing an ancient tune; somehow remembered by the Terran descendants of Irish freedom fighters. The guerrilla warfare group that sang it had rebelled against their government; it seemed fitting that we, the so called traitors would sing the same thing.

"I was born in the Dublin street
Where the loyal drums do beat,
And the loving English feet walked all over us;
And every single night when me dad would come home tight,
He'd invite the neighbours out with this chorus:

Come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders;
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killeshandra.

Come tell us how you slew
Them ol' Arabs two by two,
Like the Zulus they had knives and bows and arrows;
Of how bravely you faced one with your sixteen-pounder gun,
And you frightened all the natives to the marrow.

Come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders;
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killeshandra.

Come let us hear you tell
How you slammed the brave Parnell,
And taught him well and truly persecuted;
Where are the stares and jeers that you proudly let us hear,
When our heroes of sixteen were executed.

Come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders;
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killeshandra.

Oh! Come out you British Huns,
Come out and fight without your guns,
Show your wife how you won medals up in Derry;
You murdered sixteen men and you'll do the same again,
So get out of here and take your bloody army.

Come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders;
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killeshandra.

Oh! Come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders;
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killeshandra."

While singing, we had boarded the ship and blasted off into the void of space; repeating the chorus over and over; full of good cheer and vigor; ready to take on this new universe. We soon found ourselves in the xenos spaceport; it was familiar, but foreign at the same time. Strange spaceships were everywhere; some looking like something an Eldar would make, all shiny and chrome; while some looked like an Ork's dream ship; full of boosters, gun ports, and other Orkie things.

We had landed our ship, and as soon as we had left our vessel; we were hit with noise; xenos and human, cheerful, and not so much. We were getting some odd looks from several folks; probably jealous 'bout our weapons and the like. We saw a building with xenos script, but from the people surrounding it, and the sounds coming from within; it's a bar.

We all enter the bar, and find it quite full of these weird bird looking thingies with mouth claws on the edge o their maws, and a shell like covering on their bodies. I sat down and ordered the strongest stuff they got. The waitress, a blue skinned alien that wasn't that bad looking smiled at me, and gave me my drink; giving her the only currency I had on me; I received a weird look, but she (I assumed it was she, based on the face and body type), shrugged and took it. As I'm sitting down, I hear amazing things; from slaver empires, to crime lords, to an all female race (the blue one I saw earlier). It was a huge difference from back home; where the only humans who associate with aliens are heretics; to see humans easily mingling was a nice change.

My attention was drawn two very large armored xenos talking in deep gravelly voices.

"Just got off Tuchanka; place was worse than when I left. Thanks to the blasted Genophage, my wife just had another stillborn. Damned Salarians and damned Turians"

I continue listening, and start feeling rage worthy of a Khorne worshipper fill my veins. These two races; Salarians and Turians; infected this race, the Krogan; to be practically incapable of having children, and because of that, they're slowly dying out as a species. It is an affront to Nurgle! A plague that ends life instead of creating life for something else? It's an abomination that must be destroyed!

Getting up, I marched over to where the two Krogan were sitting. They were immediately suspicious of me; not liking many other races. But after many, many drinks; they began to open up. Crorloc Branak was an older Krogan, reaching around two hundred in human years; and was blind in one eye to do a war injury. The younger one was Ritarog Terg; a Krogan of around fifty; full of fire and rage. Ritarog's wife was the one that had given a stillbirth; giving the young xenos much to drink to; mainly, the life of his child that shall never occur now; thanks to the races who were too weak to fight back. Long into our conversation; a Turian that looked like it had way too much to drink staggered towards our table.

"What do you want, Turian?"

Crorloc spat out, his one good eye burning with anger

The Turian lurched towards, his eyes unfocused and they had a muddy look to them; the liquor must have been extremely potent.

"Y-you filthy bastards, ya can't do anything right. Ya c-can't even have kids right!"

He hollered loudly, causing many of the Korgans in the bar start growling and reaching for whatever was nearby to start cracking skulls. The Turains slowly started shifting into combat stances, ready to fight.

I beat them to it; wanting to get rid of the rage currently clouding my mind, and to get the Korgans to trust me; from the sounds of things, Loimos could help them overcome the Genophage.

I grabbed the bottle of potent liquor; and smashed it into the drunk's face; sending him reeling back with blood spraying everywhere. It was like someone had flipped a switch; everybody went nuts. Turains started pummeling the Krogan with fists and feet; while Krogan started grabbing tables and chairs; and promptly began throwing them at their Avian descended foes. The bar became a cacophony of noise; from Krogan roars, to Turian battle cries, to Human screams of rage or confusion. I saw a Krogan lift a table with a couple of Turians over his head and threw it out a window; xenos and all. In another corner I could see three Turian teenagers trying to take on a couple of human mercenaries; and in the middle of it all; stood my squad, they had formed a ring around my two Krogan allies and were dealing massive amounts of pain to anyone who came close. The two Krogan looked surprised at our intervention on their behalf, but were laughing and charging into Turians like bowling balls. I decided to join in to the grand melee, bashing many a Turian with a table leg or a bar stool. The fight was broken up by some kind of internal security; so our group booked it out of there; laughing the entire time.

We found ourselves near the hanger, and that's when Crorloc asked me

"Why did you help us? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but nobody does anything for free, what do ya want in return?"

I look at him; surprised that he thought that we'd want something out of our goodwill.

"We don't want anything from you; but we were wondering if you'd be willing to talk to our boss; he'd be eager to help your people get rid of the Genophage"

The two Krogan looked at each other; complete surprise and mistrust on their faces

After many minutes of muttering to each other, they nodded. And with that we marched to the shuttle. After boarding our shuttle, we flew back to the Illness; where Halaphus would talk to them before Loimos would speak with them. As soon as we arrived on board; we could hear our brothers and sisters cheering as we arrived; happy to see us again. The Krogan were taken completely off guard by our attitudes, they looked like one of us had grown wings or a second head. Their eyes began widening when they saw the putrid flesh of some of my more blessed comrades; causing them to grip their weapons ever tighter.

The cheers of my brothers and sisters echoed through the halls, and several of the crew ran up and asked us about what we saw. Chuckling, I gently waved them off and asked them to fetch Halaphus and Loimos. We marched into the bridge to find Halaphus already waiting for us; and I could hear Ritarog whisper to his friend

"Where can I get one of those?"
Laughing, I turn to them, and was about to answer them, but the Dreadnaught had beaten me to it.

"I'm afraid you can't buy me, I'm one of a kind."

He rumbled out, his deep brass voice echoing through the chamber. If you looked closely, or if you knew where to look, you could see some Nurglings crawling around inside his chassis.

He continued explaining to the Krogan what we were.

"We are an organization whose mission is to unite all life through strength. The strength to defeat pestilence to be exact, we fight to undo any slight against the natural order of things; the universe will be reborn, and we are helping pave the way for the strongest among us to live on."

The Krogan looked at each other and started muttering to each other, looks of determination on their faces.

"We'll join you, anything to spit in the faces of those bastards"

Ritarog spit out, eyes blazing at the mere thought of his hated foes.

A deep gurgling laughing boomed through the bridge, making the Korgan jump

"Who's there?"

Crorloc called out, turning to us he asks

"Who the hell is that?"

He looks slightly unnerved by the disembodied voice.

"It's the captain of the ship, and our leader; Loimos RotGut."

I say, feeling pride upon saying his name; he had saved me long ago, and I owe him everything, so in turn, I owe Nurgle all I am.

The door opens, and Loimos walks in; completely encased in the near ancient MkIII power armor, with the Thunder Warriors helm on, leaving none able to see his face. The corroded helm looked like it was weeping plagues, with green fluid slowly leaking out the mouth and eye slits. His Eviscerator was over his shoulder, the metal now rusted and worn through the over ten thousand years of war. His bolter was at his side, also worn from the centuries of conflict. He kept laughing, a jolly sound coming from his helm.

"Welcome my friends! Welcome to my ship; the Art of Illness; I'm so happy that you've decided to join us. So, where do you want to go?"
His voice booms at the two Krogan.

They looked almost panicked at the sight of Loimos; they stumbled backwards. Aiming their weapons at him; fear taking over their faces. When they saw that he wasn't going to attack them, they lowered their weapons, and reply.

"Tuchanka, we want to go home and fix what those cowards did to us"

They growl. Loimos asked for information on the situation so he'd know how many brothers and sisters they'd be able to bring. After a couple of minutes of talking; Loimos returned and patted me on the head.

"You did good Sarah; you've given us a target, new recruits and purpose in this new galaxy. You've made me very proud."

His compliments made me smile, joy easily popping up. He walks over to the PA syatem, and belts out his orders.

"Attention all hands! We have a target, and a mission. We're going to Tuchanka, home of the Krogan race; they have been gravely wronged by the cowardly races known as Turians and Salarians. Long live Nurgle, and let's free these poor folks from this injustice!"

Across the ship, I could hear several crew members cheer, eager to get moving. It's off to Tuchanka and beyond!

…

Ophelia POV

Purple Sun

When I awoke from my drug-induced slumber; two things rushed in immediately.

The first was a dull pain that drummed between her eyes; the remains of the Purple Sun in her system that psychotic bitch had forced down my throat.

The second was lines of burning pain that blazed on my back; causing me to whimper in pain as I attempted to move across the floor. Mustering my last remains of strength, I pushed myself into a sitting position at the foot of my captor's bed; and gingerly reached around and felt my lower back. I winced in pain as I felt a felt a mass of scar tissue where my Aquila used to be.

"Those heretic bastards! They dare deface the Emperor's holy symbol!?"

I fume to myself angrily.

However, as I felt my lower back, I noticed that this part hurt less then my lower back did. Grunting in pain as my muscles protested; I felt more scar tissue that formed a completely unknown symbol on my back.

As soon as I touched it; my skin felt like it was on fire; I tried to scream in agony; but it changed into a moan of pleasure as the horrible agony flipped into the most overwhelming feeling of pleasure I had ever felt in my life. This cycle of blinding pain and mind numbing pleasure continued for a full twenty minutes; until finally, it ended; leaving me drained of energy as the sensations finally stopped.

Sleep began to claim me, and my final thought was one of fear

"What has been done to me?"

…

Vocabulary used:

*1: Scottish for Kiss my Arse

*2: Irish for go to Hell!

*3: Scottish for bollocks

*4: Scottish for embarrassed