Tainted

by Fuuko no Miko

Chapter 1

A Woman From Prospero

Author Notes:

*deep breath*

Alright, here goes. My first attempt at writing something for W40k. I would like to let you readers know this is my first foray into this fandom. I've only been into it the last few months. I'm not even done reading my first Warhammer novel, A Thousand Sons. Buuuuttt...I do love Magnus the Red. He's my favorite primarch...and I read a lot of Wiki articles. When this idea started in my head it was supposed to be a one-shot smut fic with no plot to speak of (Because why not? The Crimson King needs to get some, dang it!) But because my friend *coughcoughTheNewMandalordcoughcough* started putting ideas in my head it now evolved into a multi-chapter-goodness-knows-what. Make no mistake, there will be adult scenes (because that's all I've been reduced to doing these days...not that I'm at all apologetic about it!) but that comes by chapters 2 and 3 and...maybe even the epilogue.

I did run this by The New Mandalord since he's the W40k aficionado (aka nerd). It's been extensively edited/corrected by him and some lines were written by him as well (maybe 2% of the fic, 98% is me). Any mistakes in lore should be his burden to shoulder, HA HA HA HA HA. But seriously, any mistakes will be willingly accepted by myself. Constructive reviews and criticisms are welcome, pointless trolling is not.

The OC in this fic is the first major one I have created also. In my 16 years of writing for FFN my OCs are purely side characters. So I hope she isn't too over-the-top. Her name is also an actual first name of someone I know from decades ago.

Anyway, without further ado, I humbly present my fic for your consideration. Kindly read and review!

Disclaimer: Warhammer 40k and everything associated with it, is property of Games Workshop.

12/11/16

1211 pm

In single file they boarded, slowly, dragging their belongings with them, their faces in clear awe of the vehicle that was merely a means of transportation to their main destination.

"It's just a Thunderhawk." one of their escorts said as he motioned to where they should put their things, seeming as unimpressed as the new passengers.

Amazing. That was the main consensus among the twelve people who loaded in it, taking their respective seats and ogling in wonder at this powerful machine that shifted from land to air to space travel.

"Please remain seated until you arrive at the Scion of Battle." one servitor in its scripted, robotic speech. He assisted her on the proper application of the Gravity Harness that hold the occupants of the ship.

Karimah Tahrik smiled at the mindless cybernetic drone. "I can't wait."

Not everyone on board was a complete ingenue to space travel, of course. However that did not deter them from appreciating their newfound surroundings.

"Ready for launch."

The Space Marines escorting them to the main battleship were efficient, getting them settled in rapidly and then taking their own spots in this majestic warmachine that looked relatively empty now, having mostly regular-sized humans in it, instead of the normal thirty Adeptus Astartes in full power armor that it hosts. They looked like a handful of beans in a cookie jar.

She looked out a small window, staring at the place she called home for the last few decades. She was going to have to say goodbye. For now. Perhaps forever. She could see the towers of the libraries she had served and researched for the past years, the observatory where she would sit in the enclaves and watch the skies for ships that entered orbit, the Scholas where she studied, taught, and met Kallista Eris who had mentioned this expedition to her.

She had gone through what was like an audition to get here, showing her credentials and proving that she was an asset instead of a liability.

Maybe she wouldn't have gone through the ringer as tightly if she had mentioned to the that she was a psyker...a psyker and the daughter of a nobleman who was far more gifted and influential than she was.

But...given that she was on Terra, they may have not welcomed that fact.

This was going to be interesting.

They launched, much smoother than she had thought and soon the brown-green haze of Terra was being replaced by the constant darkness of space. She gazed in wonder as Terra shrank, and the black velvet of space embraced them. She smiled, in bittersweet memory as her last voyage outside was a little less grandiose, a bit more chaotic, and one she thinks she may have taken for granted.

She took out a pad and stylus and started writing.

Several hours passed rather quick, as the overhead Vox announced their arrival to the Scion of Prospero.

Her anticipation was not without Battle Barge of the Thousand Sons Legion was nothing less than breathtaking. A mighty giant of alloy, adamantium and hardened plasteel, it was an engineering masterpiece of warfare. It could easily dwarf a small planet, and host several Terran cities in it should it choose to. Their Thunderhawk was allowed entry at a point barely noticeable from the outside and they entered a dock that was as busy as any major city block...that is...if that city block was in the center of a military operation. Their vehicle settled at a small area designated for them in the middle of the organized chaos. The chattering buzz of people, the clinking of metal, the noise of engines and machineries drifted into their spacecraft the minute the doors opened and they were released unto the dock. One of the servitors motioned for them to follow them to the interiors of the bigger ship.

Their jaws dropped at the visually intensive sight before them. The battle barge interior was like another world in itself, the ceilings as high as the skyscrapers that lined up the streets of Terra, multiple floors of nonstop animated activity surrounding them. Weapons were being loaded. Rhinos being cleaned of blood and debris. Thunderhawks were being prepared for deployment.

"We don't have all day." one of the Adeptus Astartes nudged her fellow Remembrancer, encouraging her also to move along the ramp that led out of the ship as they awkwardly gaped at the sight before them. She hurriedly followed him, and the others, trying to remember which officer she was supposed to be "stalking and being an annoyance to, " one of the Primarchs was rumored stating. "If they want to be in on the action, then they should be armed and prepared to take battle." The Wolf King, Leman Russ, had said. Not that she would have minded. She would have even volunteered to train under Primarch Russ personally if she would be allowed to wield the majestic and powerful bolter.

That, and he was easy on the eyes too. Ruggedly handsome and tough and strong and...

She could go on and on. But that would take all day. And like the Astartes said, they don't have that.

They walked for a good distance in between hordes of workers, tech-adepts, servitors and even Space Marines. They were finally led into a large, quieter hallway where they awaited for the next event. This appeared to be control room, brimming with consoles, switches, levers and a million little things she could likely name more than half of and operate none. The space marines were busy preparing as they went about their way. A handful of them, neophytes from what she could tell, escorted her fellow Remembrancers to their quarters where they could place their belongings without being a nuisance to everyone else.

"Impressive." she murmured as she tried to find a spot to dump her ridiculous number of books, journals, data-slates and sketch pads. She would've whistled in awe but deemed it inappropriate. The Thousand Sons marines looked like a serious lot, and her gestures may be a sign of disrespect and earn her a cold spot in the galley.

Maybe I should've signed up for the Space Wolves, she mused as she took more notes on her journal.

She walked around, observing the inner workings of an imperium ship. Her fellow Remembrancers were out and about, assigned specific officers to follow. She was told to accompany the Scouts, led by veteran Sgt. Tam'er Faht-hi who she has yet to meet. As much as she had studied the Thousand Sons, distinguishing one officer from another when they were scurrying about in their armor was no easy task. She was envious of Kallista who gets to be around the more fascinating, higher-ranking members of the legion, and Mahavastu Kallimakus who was the personal scribe of the very Primarch Magnus the Red. Alas she had half their clout and experience, even as impressive as her resume already was.

The one plus of this assignment however, the very purpose of why she had fought so hard to be here, was that she got a chance to return home.

Home to Prospero.

Back to the family she had insurreptitiously left many moons ago when she had eloped to Terra with the brave and gallant Marcus Aviola, a young nobleman who served in the Imperial Army and had been to Prospero as part of an entourage. Oh but his sweet, flowery words swayed her naivete and innocence and led her to take off with him but a month of their meeting, leaving her very dissapointed parents behind, and her older brother, who at that time was still in the peak of his health.

Things were different now of course.

"Aren't we an eager beaver?" a voice from behind her spoke. The fact that it used to be an old saying from Terra based on a long extinct rodent did not go amiss. She turned about, a smile lighting up her dusky skinned features. "You don't have to record everything right away."

"Sergeant Faht-hi?" she greeted with a handshake. "Karimah Tahrik- historian, linguist, writer, and all-around nuisance."

He laughed warmly. "Don't let Primarch Russ get to you. That's him on a good day."

The sergeant made a visual inventory of the young woman before him. She was rather tall, close to six feet by his approximation. She had long, lustrous black hair that reached down to her waist, neatly tucked in a braid. She had olive skin and lively amber-hued eyes. On her neck was a fine gold necklace, with a ruby pendant of a seven pointed star covered by inverted horns. It was the family sigil of one of the noble houses in Prospero.

"Are you by chance Prosperan by blood?"

"I am." she acknowledged. "My father is Galil Tahrik, a nobleman and scribe in Tizca."

"You don't say?" he inquired as he tried to place the name in his head. "How did you end up in Terra?"

But before she could answer the veteran sergeant they were interrupted by the arrival of Ahzek Ahriman, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons. He had all gathered the Remembrancers and set forth rules that governed the ship. What they can do, where they should not go, and who they are not allowed to interrupt. The civilian guests nodded in acknowledgement, as then Primarch Magnus the Red arrived to welcome them.

"Impressive as well." she murmured to herself, then clumsily realizing the Primarch could probably hear her anyway. She had done her own research of the Crimson King and knew of him when she was in Prospero, but the words on paper did the man no justice. As with all Primarchs of the Imperium he was physically imposing, towering above everyone else in stature and bulk. He appeared grandiose in his golden armor, surrounded by a pair of horns on both his head and chest piece. His robes flowed almost ethereally, and a book was chained to his waist. His arms were like tree trunks, and his red mane flowed like a sea of fire, he had one eye on the left, a smooth scar on the right where his other eye would have been. He exuded authority, confidence and intelligence.

Damn lucky Mahavastu, she thought as she mentally sighed. She had found the Imperium's primarchs to be a very interesting lot, their legions even moreso. How different they were in their capabilities and characteristics, and yet here they were united under the Emperor's banner to make the galaxy a solid unit. A noble cause indeed.

She looked at her sketchpad and began making a doodle of Magnus the Red on it as she half-listened to more of Ahriman's rules.

"When the invasion begins, I expect you to be all eyes and all ears. You are to touch nothing on the ship's control panels. You are not to panic. You are to stay by your escort's side always. And most importantly you are not to become a hindrance to our mission."

Did he say invasion?

She looked up from her pad and that very moment, caught the single, glimmering eye of Magnus the Red, seemingly glaring at her for not paying full attention.

Or not.

For as quick as that was, he had glanced away.

Somehow, she forgets that she is surrounded by an army of mind-reading psykers, one of which is second only in power to the Emperor of Mankind.

Ahriman did really say invasion. In 48 hours. A Xenos planet of relatively primitive technology but of a good amount of natural resources that they can use to build armor, ships and whatever else the Adeptus Mechanicus can make use of. They had sent a surveillance team to scour the area, receiving reports of how well this place would serve them with its innumerable mines and quarries.

That team was never heard from again after violent screams were heard over whatever was left of the Vox.

The decision was then made to take over this small but metal-rich world.

Well isn't this just the excitement you're looking for? Karimah asked herself as they were dispersed. She knew what she was signing up for. She was a mixture of excitement and trepidation as she made her way back to the officer she was speaking to, then realizing Sgt Faht-hi had gone to brief his neophytes on the plans. She was going to have to talk to him at least a few hours before all hell broke loose.

"You are from Prospero, yes?" She turned to see the imposing figure before her, Captain Ahzek Ahriman. He sounded more like he was stating a fact than asking her for it.

"Yes, My Lord." she replied. "I was born in Prospero and had left when I was younger. But now I seek to embark on some adventures and perhaps visit my family."

He tilted his head. "This isn't a cruise you know."

She smiled. "I know what I am in for, sir. I don't just jump in the sea without acknowledging there are sharks in it...and maybe even a Kraken."

He seemed to like that answer. She can sense him smiling behind his helmet. "You are a psyker then?" Once again that sounded more of a statement than a question.

"Nowhere near as good as you sir." she answered, to which he laughed out loud.

"I like you already." he chuckled as he dismissed her with a gesture. "It is good to have a proper Prosperan to document a new culture she is actually interested in." he said, turning his gaze on her colleagues. "Show these pompous Terrans that they are not the only ones gifted in the histories arts and sciences." he paused before adding. "Find some comfort where you can, Karimah Tahrik. Welcome to the Thousand Sons legion."

"Thank you, sir."

Magnus the Red stood before the dark enclosure that was his quarters. Behind him was his bed and a large selection of ancient books, journals and scrolls he had always kept with him. Outside was the vast, pitch black of space, littered with countless stars and planets. One of which they will be landing on soon, and conquering in the name of his father, the Emperor of Mankind. He was meeting his brother Lorgar and his Word Bearers at said planet. He thought at first silly that it needed two legions to take over such a small planetary empire, consisting of nothing more than the main planet, neighboring four moons, and only one other planetoid, but Lorgar had mentioned that this world had emanated an unusual energy. The kind he, Magnus, found very intriguing to say the least. He doesn't know what Lorgar wanted from it, but knowing his brother he's probably just looking for a new place to preach their Father's name. Whether they would understand his gibberish was a different matter altogether.

"Shall we send the initiates first, Father?"

"Yes." he replied without turning around to acknowledge his most gifted Astartes. "But make sure the back-up is not too far behind. Being primitive does not mean they are stupid." he remarked. "Tenacity and determination can sometimes overpower the most advanced of forces. Plus, they are at an advantage in that they are more familiar with the terrain. As you recall the last team we sent was unable to give us a clear picture."

"I can send another advance party for surveillance."

"By all means." he responded. "But let's not keep this too long. Small, less advanced planets should not use up all our time and resources. Especially if the gain is not commensurate with our loss."

"Or you just don't want to listen to any more of your brother's zealot speeches."

"That too." he chuckled. "I love my brother but some days one can only take small doses at a time."

"His minions are worse, in my opinion."

"I'm sure they think the same way of us." Magnus laughed.

The Captain laughed as well. They were silent for a short while before he spoke again. "Our current roster of Remembrancers hold a fair number of psykers, Father."

"I know." he paused before adding. "They will be put to better use than what they were sent here for, once we determine their capabilities."

"Would you like me to put them to a test in the battlefield? Or in less vital areas, away from the front, perhaps?"

"Easy." Magnus reminded him. "In due time their talents will arise. Perhaps we can even recruit some of them to our ranks. Become a part of history instead of just writing and recording it."

"We can be the Thousand and One Sons."

"Are you assuming only one of them will survive augmentation?" Magnus inquired. "We have to be a little more optimistic than that. And less literal. We can't be changing our name every time we get new Astartes."

"How about Thousand Children?"

"They may mistake us for Fulgrim's Lot. I would rather not." he smiled amusedly. He then dismissed Ahriman with a motion of his hand. "All this excitement is giving you strange ideas. Rest. Tomorrow we have a crusade to launch."

"A good night's rest, my Lord."

"As to you."

When his chief librarian had left, Magnus started to change into his sleeping attire. His thoughts were at the last topic of their conversation. He had sensed the presence of potentially talented Psykers in the Remembrancers' lot. He would have to choose wisely on who to train them to bring out their best abilities. No sense in wasting these gifts.

That woman.

The Remembrancer who said she was originally from Prospero. She caught his eye for but a moment. Why would a psyker who lived in a planet of her own kind take off and settle in the phobic reaches of Terra was a puzzle.

Now he was curious.

Of course, he could just delve in the recesses of her subconscious to find out why.

But where's the fun in that?

Without a second thought he settled for the night. In the next few hours he was to meet with Lorgar Aurelian to map out the final attack before they commence.

"You know, for psykers we would have thought we'd see this coming."

"Nobody's perfect."

Veteran Scout Sergeant Faht-hi moved from his hiding spot behind the Rhino to take several shots at the oncoming horde of misshapen, purple monstrosities. They appeared to be bipedal insects. Heads and eyes like that of a horsefly attached to a humanoid body, their arms long and disproportionate, their legs hairy as those of a spider's, and moved just as quickly as if they had eight of them. They were fast, and they were heavily armed. For the sergeant, he could not reload his bolter fast enough. He barked out orders to his men, hoping against hope that they could hear him through the loud buzzing sound emanating from these creatures as they approached the severely outnumbered scouts and Remembrancers. There was about two dozen of them that unloaded from the Rhino and their numbers were dwindling fast.

"What are they?" one of the scouts sitting next to Karimah asked loudly as he took his turn to blast these vile creatures. Karimah flinched as a spatter of their aquamarine blood hit her on the face.

"Mmm...bitter. Not my cup of tea." she remarked as she spat out what landed on her tongue. "They're called Aswang." she had to raise her voice to be heard amidst the ear-piercing noise. "They're not very technologically advanced, very rudimentary actually. Not even having anything like a Vox. But they seem to know what to strike...where to intercept...like some collective hive-mind intellective of the species!"

"I thought they were cleaned out." one other scout barked as he loaded his bolt pistol.

"If I remember correctly, this might be their back-up army." She took her turn and started blasting with her plasma pistol. She wasn't the greatest marksman but knew enough to keep herself alive. "We may have stumbled upon their hibernation chambers. Once the active ones take to battle and their numbers get to a critical point they trigger these soldiers to awaken." She covered her ears as a blast from the Rhino fired into the center of the seemingly unending swarm, creating a hole in the ground and spreading insectoid parts all over the battlefield. The ground was getting sticky from the blanket of flowing xeno blood. "Or we could have triggered them ourselves...secret levers, touching things we shouldn't have. Who knows?"

"And we didn't get this information from the intelligence?" another scout remarked as he tapped on his communicator, cussing and frustrated that all he could hear was interference.

"The area where they are coming from looked like a mausoleum on the surface. " she remarked, narrowly dodging an Aswang hand that landed by her feet. "I suspect it may have looked like a graveyard but is actually some kind of underground base where they keep these soldiers in a dormant state...everything sealed to make them appear dead when they're actually just sleeping and waiting for the call of duty."

"I think you missed your calling. You should have been in the Magos Biologis." Sgt. Faht-hi chided as he signaled for the Rhino bolter to prepare firing again.

"I picked up a good time not to fall asleep during the lecture on different Xeno cultures." she joked.

"Did anyone respond to our Vox-signal for help yet?"

"Negative, Sergeant." one scout responded. "I think the enemy buzzing is distorting our signal!"

"Keep trying! Where are the other Remembrancers?"

"We have two or three hiding in the Rhino. The rest are out in the field with their escorts!"

"Maybe you should go in there." the veteran turned to her as she released the hot vapors of her weapon. He's still a bit surprised she stepped up to the plate earlier when the Xeno army appeared. He figured she would be hiding with the rest of their civilian crew.

"And miss all this fun?" she stood up and started firing again. This time one insectoid exploded within two feet of her and splashed her with its organs. "It appears I may be needing a shower after this."

A humming sound in the distance caught their attention. Louder. Louder. Closer it seemed to be getting. One scout cussed under his breath, his eyes bulging at the source of the noise. Karimah turned to where he was staring at, and witnessed a swarm. A small swarm of the Xenos scum. Unlike their ground attackers these creatures were pitch black, their heads more beetle-like, their bodies were bulkier and leathery, having metallic claws on where their hands and feet should be.

They had wings.

They were coming this way.

The flying beasts seemed to dodge and ignore the oncoming fire from the exposed humans on purpose and made for the Rhino. They surrounded it as the space marines fired aggressively at them, making sure not to hit their transport vehicle. The bolts ricocheted off their leathery chiton skin, and it took several powerful direct rounds to merely wound them. That did not deter them from collectively gripping the pintle-mounted Storm bolter-yanking, lifting, pulling.

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Sgt. Faht-hi screamed at the top of his lungs, ordering his men in the vehicle to blast the wretched creatures that clung on to their largest weapon. Alas the Aswang successfully ripped the mounted bolter along with the roof of the Rhino, peeling it like a can of sardines and taking along with it the two space marines who served as driver and as operator. Their cries of horror echoed above the buzzing noise as the winged Xenos tore through their armor.

Karimah turned her head away from the gruesome site as she watched the veteran call in his Vox for help again. He motioned for them to take cover amongst debris of buildings that had fallen. They made haste, firing their way through the Aswang that followed them. Fortunately the Scouts had made a signifcant dent in the number of the attacking xenos but there seems to be another batch marching out from the underground hideout. They were able to duck behind the collapsed walls of a building that gave in during the first waves of the assault. The upper levels of it had caved in, along with the roof and were now littering the floors. The individual blocks that made the walls were larger than a Thunderhawk and the pillars were as high as Reaver Battle Titans. It was a good hiding spot, at least temporarily.

There were seven of them altogether, three Remembrancers and four Space Marine Scouts, huddled and concealed them from enemy view.

"We need a plan. Fast." Sgt Faht-hi murmured. "I hope those bugs can't smell us."

It was the fourth day of fighting. This city was the heart of the planetary defense and the first casualty of the attacking Imperium forces. Magnus and Lorgar had convened to overwhelm them with force with a Lightning Raid. Scouts were sent in, cutting communication lines and supplies to the area and placing drop pod and Teleport Homing Beacons. Thunderhawks deployed the attack vehicles as Battle Brothers were sent through drop pods in the middle of the frey. The Aswang were completely caught off guard, as their defense system was not sophisticated enough to pick up the rapid arrival of the Imperium ships. What they lacked in technology, however, they made up for in numbers. A literal swarm of creatures that fused insect and human in a ghastly experimentation set forth an attack that darkened the very skies. They were fearless. They were unrelenting. But they were no match for the Imperium of Man. The Thunderhawks wiped the ground forces while the combined might of the fleet's Battle Barges, the Scion of Prospero and Fidelitas Lex, gained superiority over space and air, sweeping the skies of Aswang drones. The Terminators were released to seek and eliminate their military command before annhilating the rest of their army.

The Primarchs had geographically split the planet in two, as most of it was terrain and not as much water. Once the North where the military stronghold was located was completely eradicated, Lorgar and his Word Bearers took to the Western Hemisphere, as Magnus took his legion to the East. They were to meet in the less populous Southern region once most the planet was successfully overrun.

As the Thousand Sons and Word Bearers took apart the Aswang micro-empire, they had left no survivors in their wake.

The Remembrances were brought here, to the tip of the North where it meets the Eastern borders, to study and document the alien architecture and record the glorious achievements of the Imperium. Karimah jotted down notes and made sketches as Sgt. Faht-hi was close by. She was fascinated with the size and beauty of the landscape structures, even as they had fallen in ruin from the battle. The buildings were carved out of rocks taken from the quarries and placed in interesting albeit haphazard patterns. No two were alike.

The other Remembrances took images, gathered scrolls, books and artifacts. Primarch Magnus had made sure to remind them that any item that may impart knowledge be taken and preserved. They were several hours into their mission when the awakened Aswang army started to unearth in another part of the complex they were in. Luckily one of the scouts had seen it and able to alert them for cover.

Now they found themselves here, in the middle of ruins surrounded by an angry army of humanoid insects with nowhere to run.

Sgt. Faht-hi spoke up, as his two other men kept unsuccessfully trying to use the vox for back-up. "These walls are distorting our signal." he motioned to point to an elevated clearing a hundred yards away. "See that? I think we would have a better chance to radio from there."

"But sergeant the enemy will see us if we go out in the open."

"Not all of us have to go." he murmured. He turned to the group. "I'm going to need cover."

"I'm coming with you." Karimah volunteered.

"You're a civilian."

"Exactly." she reasoned. "You boys would be more useful in the battlefield than me." she stood up and dusted off. "Let's go, Sergeant."

Hesitantly he took her on as they made a mad dash for the clearing. They have gone about twenty yards from their hiding spot when one of the insectoids spotted them. Motioning to the rest of the squad of around three dozen, they followed the two humans running.

Karimah stopped within ten feet of the clearing.

"Hey!"

"Don't mind me, Sergeant!" she yelled out. "Get help!"

No sooner had she said that when a handful of enemy soldiers pounced at her. Sgt. Faht-hi prepared to fire his bolter.

"Call for help!" a voice jolted him from a defensive stance.

The sergeants turned to see Karimah holding up a psychic shield around them, warding off the attackers. The xenos tried to infiltrate it, failing miserably as she concentrated to keep it up. Reflexively the space marine started radioing for assistance.

"Any luck?" she called out as the enemy clawed and shot at them from behind the barrier.

"Hold on."

Karimah focused, channeling every energy she had into holding the shield up. From the distance, she could make out more enemy troops coming towards them.

At least she could draw them away from their colleagues, she noted, as she saw at the corner of her eye that the creatures were all drawn to her psychic energy.

"Crap." she whispered as the Aswang persisted on trying to penetrate through her protection. "Sergeant, how fast do you think they'll get here if they even get our message?"

"Fast enough that we won't need medical treatment if your shield doesn't hold up." he said. "Well...not much. They might have to replace an arm. Or two."

"That's not funny!"

"You volunteered for this!"

Magnus the Red lifted his head.

"My Lord, what is it?" Ahriman noticed the sudden change in his Primarch's demeanor.

They were wrapping up the last of the resistance, flattening the enemy with their tanks on ground and firepower from the skies. The ground was littered with dead Xenos, injured space marines, blood and body parts scattered in random gore. They were waiting for the last commander to surrender his city or be wiped off along with it.

"Aether."

His eye narrowed to the city where he had sent the Remembrancers and the scouts to, several miles away. There was smoke coming from the debris of that city, mixed with the smell of decomposing carcasses. But that was not what drew his attention.

When they first landed on this planet he had already sensed a strange energy emanating from the cities themselves. Like there was an invisible fog of unearthly force surrounding them. One that reminded him of the aether...not an exact match but very, very similar to it. That the landscape of the cities themselves seemed to shift ever so subtly was something he noted as well. Several times it had messed their plan of attack when the terrain appeared to move, but the space marines were ever so adaptable to the changes that it did not affect their formation severely. It was very unusual indeed.

Now this.

The force he could detect was from a psychic shield it seems. One that mimicked the character of the energy he detected.

A very strong shield.

By the minute it kept increasing in intensity.

Karimah closed her eyes, channeling every ounce of her strength into producing a powerful blast of lightning, as her shield began to waver. She cried out as it drew every bit of her energy to unleash it, burning off every Aswang in the immediate surrounding and setting them on fire. They howled in agony as they fell to their knees in death. Lightning chained those still in the air, instantly jumping from one flying insect to the other and incinerating them in a magnificent flash. She continued firing as Sargent Faht-hi blasted their way back to their hiding spot. He believed he had sent enough distress calls for someone to hear them. Now they needed to find somewhere to hide while they await a rescue.

She stumbled as she felt the strength drain from her. Luckily, her lightning had taken down most of the aliens that followed them, the rest being taken down by the other scouts who arose from their hiding. One of her fellow Remembrancers caught her before she hit the ground and dragged her back to the fallen building.

Sergeant Faht-hi was, for once in his life, speechless at what he had witnessed. "You didn't say you were that kind of psyker..." he said.

"It was a lucky shot." she mouthed, the physical toll of what she just pulled off racking her body at that very moment.

"Whatever you say." the veteran sergeant shook his head.

"You may want to look at this sir." one of the scouts had his magnoculars on. "Not good."

The veteran space marine took the binoculars from his junior. The images snapped into clearer focus. "Not good is an understatement." He turned to the rest of his scouts. "Ready your weapons. We're going to be busy the next couple of hours."

Karimah struggled to sit up, her fellow Remembrancer helping her to stand and see what the Astartes were referring to. She gasped inwardly as the building where the first swarm of creatures came from had now opened, revealing at least two hundred if not more, of the beetle-like abominations. These were the winged ones that had ripped off the top of the Rhino earlier. Not just the dozen they saw earlier. A whole battalion of them.

As they braced themselves for the battle, a huge explosion came forth from the eastern side, violently blasting the would-be attackers into pieces. The venerated Predator tank of the Thousand Sons' First Fellowship rolled into the city, grinding their angry treads on the flesh and bone of whatever stood on their path and disintegrating the unsuspecting Xenos under powerful washes from their melta canons. Behind it followed the proud and powerful Sekhmet, Primarch Magnus's personal guard, wielding heavy bolters and Autocannons as they charged into the fray. This worked up the Aswang into a frenzy, launching their offensive from the skies. The battlefield became alive with war cries, the sound of metal against metal, the deafening blasts of canons and the generous use of aether-powered lightning strikes.

"ALL IS DUST!"

"We're missing all the action." Karimah crawled to a gap in the wall to watch it all transpire before her. She noticed their escorts had joined in the fray, leaving one scout to guard the rest of them.

She watched as the Astartes of the First Fellowship demolished their enemies with a combination of physical combat and psychic strength. It was a sight to behold as the Aswang fell in defeat, some in pieces while others were left to slow, painful ends. Their entrails spilling on the concrete streets, body parts missing, their buzzing noises stifled by the body fluids gurgling in their mouths. Her line of sight was then drawn to the legion's Primarch as he stood out. A vision in crimson red, as his namesake depicts. He wielded a weapon almost his own size, yet carried it with grace, strength and extreme efficiency. With his other hand, he cast out lightning and fire to drop his enemies to the ground. He destroyed the creatures as though they were nothing but a minor inconvenience. The Crimson King led his legion with a combination of skill and passion that one would only read about in historic legend and literature.

Karimah was more than just mildly impressed. She was astounded.

It didn't take the First Fellowship long to destroy the Aswang infestation. By the next few hours they had started to regroup and gather the source materials they had come for in the first place. Sargent Faht-hi and the remaining neophytes had their injuries tended to by the Apothecaries within the Fellowship, and luckily there were no significant casualties. Two of the Remembrancers had gone missing so Ahriman ordered scouts to search for them . Meanwhile the rest of them were loaded up in a different Rhino to head back to, as Arhiman phrased it, 'a position of safety and security.' Karimah translated this as a return to the Scion of Prospero.

Karimah declined to be carried in a gurney and simply limped her way into the transport vehicle. She overheard Lorgar Aurelian on the other end of a vox transmission as she passed by Primarch Magnus.

"Why did you head back North?" she could hear him losing it. "You're setting us back six hours at the rendezvous point!"

"We missed a spot." Magnus replied dryly. "But it has been settled. Besides...I didn't get your transmission on the hour of rendezvous."

"I could hear you on the other side!"

"Well I didn't hear you. Besides, that gives you an extra six hours to spread the good word." he turned off the communicator as soon as he clarified his meeting time with his brother.

Karimah smiled amusedly to herself.

"Remembrancer Tahrik."

She halted, turning to address the primarch. "Yes...my Lord..."

"Sargent Faht-hi relayed to us your bravery in the field." he said. "We recognize your valiant effort. An excellent job."

"It was a lucky shot." was all she could muster. Somehow speaking to a primarch...the Prosperan Primarch... of all people, was more intimidating than she had envisioned in her head.

"There is no such thing as a 'lucky shot' when it comes to the Aether." Magnus stood up, pulling himself to full height and making him more imposing than he was to begin with. She was barely to the level above his waistline. "You have used your psychic gift well."

"I'm just glad you heard our distress call, my Lord."

Distress call?

"Yes, of course." he acknowledged. "Be on your way, our Apothecary will tend to your injuries."

"Thank you, Lord Magnus."

The Primarch watched as her disheveled figure hobbled up to the transport tank. She was covered in dirt and blood, her provided protective armor dented, scratched and missing pieces. Her hands had evidence of burns from unleashing her psychic energy earlier that day. Her long, ebony hair was mangled in the braid it was in, and the amber eyes that looked at him when he addressed her exhibited exhaustion and physical pain.

And yet he saw no fear.

He expected her to be at least traumatized by all that had transpired in the short time that she had joined the legion as a Remembrancer, given her lack of experience in a warzone. But she did not appear shook by it, not as far as he could tell.

Intriguing. Very intriguing indeed.

He's going to have to tell his brother that they responded to a distress signal as to why they returned to the North. Truth be told, the reason they had gone here was because of that intense surge of energy that he had sensed. When he landed on this planet he had noted traces of it around him but that burst of power was the strongest he had picked up, and it lead him, his Sekhmet and the First Fellowship right to the source of it. Magnus received no such call for help. He responded to a psychic force that was almost to the level of his own Astartes. He could also sense however, that it was raw, undertrained, barely controlled, thus resulting in the user of it a massive drain of strength and physical damage.

With the proper training, it could be used into a potent psychic weapon.

How a civilian could possess that amount of power without augmentations puzzled him more. Something was amiss with this Remembrancer from Prospero. Something was not quite right.

A small smile cracked his normally passive face. Challenge accepted.

Karimah breathed a relieving sigh as she exited the infirmary where she was treated for minor injuries. She was more drained than anything after releasing that psychic blast. All she wanted to do now was sleep. Her clothes were rendered useless as they were reeking of xeno stench and she had to regretably discard them. One of the Apothecarys gave her a flimsy robe to wear until she got to her quarters. She didn't really give a second thought about it, as she knew Astartes were immune to the lures of the flesh. She could prance naked around the galley and none of them would think of anything other than perhaps she had lost her mind.

"Remembrancer Tahrik."

It was one of Magnus' messengers. "Primarch Magnus would like to see you in his private chambers."

"Allow me to get dressed." she said as she self-consciously wrapped her robe tighter. She had cleansed in a shower before getting treatment and is in no way, shape, or form, presentable to anyone, much less to a Primarch.

"I'm afraid it cannot wait, my Lady." he said firmly. "It will be very brief."

She combed her fingers through her wet, wavy tresses as she followed him to the endless hall leading to Magnus' chambers, trying to look at least halfway decent. There was nothing she could do much for the sad robe, but she was certain Primarchs didn't give a flying fig about scantily dressed women either. She was sure he's seen worse.

At least I don't smell like rotten Aswang blood, she thought.

The Primarch's chambers reminded her of a library. A beautiful, well-stocked library like the one they had at the Scholas she taught at. She couldn't help but admire the vast collection that the Primarch had in his personal effects, and something told her that these were just a small part of a more extensive compilation. She could see the first twelve volumes of the Incipiens ex Magnitudine next to the Raise of the Men of Iron. Magnus had his back to her, on a personal Vox with Lorgar Aurelian again, probably making final plans. When he finished he turned to her, a mild look of surprise registering on his face before he nodded in acknowledgement.

Karimah Tahrik looked like she wanted to shrink in embarassment. Her dark hair was a mangled mess on her head, still wet from being washed, and the nondescript robe she had on clung to her still damp skin. He thought he saw a slight blush in her recently scrubbed cheeks and a nervous quiver on her lower lip. A pendant hung from her neck. He recognized it as belonging to a noble house in Prospero.

"My Lord." she addressed the primarch, breaking his visual appraisal of her. "How may I be of service?"

"I am relieving you of your Remembrancer services with Sergeant. Faht-hi." Magnus declared, meeting her questioning gaze.

Well that was quick, she thought. This was probably the shortest job she's ever held in her lifetime. She tried to hide the disappointment on her features. "I see. Well then... am I to depart at the next Imperial controlled world or at orbital instillation? I would see if I can arrange transportation back to Terra."

"Apologies. Perhaps you did not understand." Magnus realized what he said might have sounded to her. "You will not be a Remembrancer to the Scouts anymore. Nor will your talents be of any use on a fringe world or installation." He paused before adding. "I also refuse to allow your potential to be sullied by the incompetent instructors on Terra." With a cross of his massive arms across his chest, he indicated that his word was the law. And she was going to follow it. "You will serve with me and my first company as our Remembrancer and a scribe at the great Libraries of Tizca."

Author Notes:

Now before I get crucified on the character names, just thought I would let you know that these were names of actual people I knew. Sgt. Tamer was a friend of mine from work, and yes, he is actually Egyptian. Karimah was an acquaintance from decades ago. No, neither of them will be reading this so I think I'm safe.

I hope you enjoyed reading it, as I enjoyed writing it. I don't mind criticisms. Trolling is highly discouraged. One of the last people who trolled me here on FFN ended up being my bestie. So you have been thoroughly warned. LOL.

Thank you to The New Mandalord for going through my fic to make sure it is lore appropriate.

10:44 pm 12/28/2016