# Calamity



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

The last. 

Not the very last. 

But the last of her kind for sure. 

There was no way to know how long it had been now. Since that fateful moment when almost all life in the galaxy had been extinguished. Nobody, what scarce survivors there were, knew what had caused it. It had been a scream unlike anything else. The warp had resounded with a pain unlike any other and in the blink of an eye everything had... Everything had died. Worse than died...

Ork tribes had screamed their anger even as they keeled over and bled their last curses to the void. Humans had cried out for a salvation that would never come. Craftworlds had collapsed, the wraithbone structures unable to cope with the warped resonance of the calamity that befell them. Tyranid Hive ships had simply burst, bleeding their numerous charges to the cold of space. Even the fledgling tau had been unable to weather the shock of the psycho-galactic blast. 

Even the Warp had not come through unharmed. With the psychic backlash of such a wide scale of death, even the Chaos Gods had been dealt a grievous blow. Entire legions of daemons simply winked out of existence, unable to withstand their patron’s near fatal wounds. The Eye of Terror dimmed and was snuffed out, taking with it the lives of every damned soul that dwelt within. None could explain it. 

...Nearly every living thing had been annihilated. The countless souls had not died and bled into the warp, they had winked out of existence altogether...


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## gothik (May 29, 2010)

whoa!!!! talk about hanging on a thread.....c'mon man more more more


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Be patient.


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## Ambush Beast (Oct 31, 2010)

*Hi*

Having a bad day when you wrote it? Just needed to kill something or many somethings in a legal way and relieve some stress? I understand completely.

Great job at killing off the universe. Now what will I write about? lol :russianroulette:


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 1*

_‘What’s happening?!’ The child asked. She ran as fast as she could to stop from falling as she was dragged by her hand. The farseer’s dome was a throng of panicked activity as they ran.

‘I do not know, child.’ The farseer replied. ‘But we must get you to safety. Be swift!’ They shouldered through a group of eldar civilians running in the opposite direction. The girl was almost knocked from to the ground but the broad shouldered armour of her protector kept the way forward clear as they once again increased their pace.

‘But Lord Maechu...’ The girl protested. ‘What about everybody else?’ She almost tripped but was hoisted back to her feet by the powerful grip of the farseer leading her. 

‘Many of us must... prepare to fight.’ Maechu replied. ‘Everyone is seeing to the safety of those who cannot. You are my responsibility now. Please, go!’ He stopped and ushered her forward. She looked to where he was pointing and saw what looked like one of the isolation domes she had seen during one of her earlier visits to the dome of crystal seers. 

A tremor ran through the ground beneath their feet. All around them, fleeing or cringing eldar cried out and pointed to the sky. She followed their gazes, but whatever had their attention escaped her.

‘Lord...?’ She pleaded fearfully for some explanation. A single tear formed under her eye as the farseer met her gaze and simply shook his head. 

‘Stay in there.’ Maechu commanded. ‘And please, do not come out until I come back for you...’ 

As the dome sealed her inside, she lost sight of the farseer. It would be the last contact she would ever remember with another eldar... _

* * *​
A beam of sunlight permeated the darkness, cutting her empty sleep short as the light pierced her closed eyes. She stirred with a soundless grimace of disquiet and slowly stood. Her head was almost devoid of hair, her clothes were tight fitting and almost run ragged and her once beautiful face had become a permanent expression of fluctuating anger and neutrality. 

She was as tall as any of her race. As slim and flexible as any of her peoples’ warriors. As resourceful as the outcasts and as forthright thinking as the farseers. To be anything less would have meant death. And to die would mean the extinction of the eldar race forever. No matter how hopeless she felt, no matter how much she wanted to give up, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t, not with the monumental responsibility she had undertaken. 

She took a few moments to stretch her joints and reached for the cloak that hung on the wall nearby. Stepping away from the makeshift bed of stretched vines and various scavenged fabrics, she donned the cloak and stepped out of the tiny room. Just outside, there was a belt and a long rifle. She strapped the belt on straight away, and slung the rifle over her shoulder. Pausing for a moment to survey what had become her home, she noted every tiny detail to ensure nothing had been here through the night without her knowing. 

It was a giant cave, a hole in the ground. There was no way to say that delicately. The myriad of trinkets and technological artefacts stared back at her, unmoved and untouched since she placed them there. She nodded to nobody but herself as she began to walk towards the hidden exit at the far end of the dome sized cave. Her eyes flittered over the many things she had scavenged or found along the way, each one with a story to tell. Each one a relic of a dead race. 

There was a crude metal shaping of a twin headed bird taken from a fallen place of worship. There was a ramshackle weapon which by all scientific rights shouldn’t be able to fire the misshapen bullets in its ill fitting magazine. A round autonomous unit that sported several mechanical limbs fitted with various tools and attachments. And a group of gemstones that once glowed with the brightness of living souls... 

She stopped walking, ever so briefly at the last one, to stare into those relics that had been so sacred to her kind. Now they meant nothing. Their purpose was hollow as they now had no souls to harbour, and the malevolent deity that thirsted after them was but a mewling shadow of the all encompassing terror it used to be. She resumed walking with a sigh. Though they were empty, and always would be, they still served to remind her of the traditions and the memories her people left behind. Just as she preserved them, she saw fit to preserve the Aquila, the Shoota and the tech drone. Each in their own way, these objects were sacred to the races that created them. 

They were all now testament to a galaxy that had been teeming with life. And now that life was all but gone. Reaching the end of the cave, she brushed aside a thicket of thorns and woven branches. Slipping the hood of her cloak over her head, she slipped through the small gap she had created and stepped onto a ground littered with twigs and dying foliage. With practiced ease she moved through the clutch of trees that concealed the entrance to her underground hideaway and scaled a nearby tree. It was one of the oldest on this planet by the looks of it, sturdy and broad and immovable. She climbed to the highest branch and surveyed the land that surrounded her... 

She couldn’t bring herself to call this place home. Home would always be Ulthwe, but instead of the immense craftworld plying the stars, it had become a memory scattered through her thoughts just as the flaming wreckage of Ulthwe itself had come crashing down on this planet. She didn’t know why, but she had always assumed that Maechu had steered the craftworld to this place in his final moments. Somehow he had known what was coming even before it had hit. There had been no warning. The Calamity that had claimed everything had not sent a precursor. It had simply happened, without warning and seemingly without cause. 

The Calamity. That was what it had come to be called. The End of Life and the End of Hope. 

Her feet landed softly on the ground once more and she broke into a jog. At the edge of the small forest was what looked like a pit of thorns and poisonous blossoms. With one clean leap she cleared the obstacle to land inside another hollowed out underground section completely hidden from view. This cave however was nowhere near the size of the other one. This cave only needed to harbour one thing. She allowed herself a few moments so her eyes would adjust to the dark before picking out the sleek shape before her. Mounting the saddle, she triggered the ancient machine to life and pushed it forward. With a soft shriek of engines, the jetbike roared into life and carried her back out into the daylight. 

The machine did not resemble the elegant jetbikes of the craftworld, indeed all wraithbone structures had begun to deteriorate after the Calamity, instead it was the metal form of a corsair vehicle. Perhaps it was good fortune that such a band had graced Ulthwe with their presence at the right time to... 

She dismissed the notion with a contemptuous snort. It was nothing but blind luck. Fortune had died along with any other ideals of destiny or purpose in this bleak universe and the only constant anymore was the need to survive. As the ground zoomed past her in a silent haze, she made for where she had left off yesterday. She would have to make more progress today than before however or risk starvation. Already her stomach had begun to speak to her of its emptiness and displeasure. 

The hours of silence preceded yet more silence as she reached her destination. Unlike the empty fields of before where at least there was still grass and vegetation, this place was completely devoid of anything living but her. With a grim sense of numbness and a deep breath, she lowered her craft and began to search. 



_++Entry 2158++​
I don’t care anymore. Or at least, I have to keep telling myself that. For every corpse I come across, for every empty waystone I find, every dropped relic of lives long extinguished, I have to remind myself that I don’t care anymore. 

I have to keep fooling myself, or else I’ll go insane. 

Everything I do now is for profit, survival or both. I have no cause to devote myself to but my own continued existence. A century ago, harvesting wraithbone to sell as power sources to humans and greenskins would have been unthinkable. Today, it is simply another facet of life. With the warp all but dead, everything that was connected to it began to bleed away. The once holy and imperishable material of our homes was no exception, and it gave off a healthy dose of energy as it did so. 

But it wasn’t just energy that radiated from that substance. Memories flowed out of it, dreams of a time full of life. To hold the stuff as it faded away was like having a vivid dream of a happier time. 

My parents had told me otherwise once. They said to me when I was a young girl, that the galaxy was full of nothing but war and death. 

But for that... there had to have been lots of life didn’t there? Sheltered away on that craftworld for all of my childhood up to the Calamity, I had never known what life was really about. And now, with everything gone, it seemed I never would.

++End++​_


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 2*

_Like all the children, she had gathered to see the return of the Ulthwe Strike force. The adults all formed a parade in the streets below and welcomed back the brave warriors who had come back from waging war on the humans. Like most children here, the girl had never seen a human before. When she asked her mother what a human looked like, she had been told it was as though Isha had thrown the dregs of Life’s broth onto the ground outside and it had festered into a shallow mockery of Eldar Majesty. From which the child could only infer that humans looked at least vaguely similar to her own kind. 

Her father would be down there in the parade somewhere. He would be a returning warrior. From the elevated walkways and balconies above she and her friends kept out of the way where they could see without causing undue stress on the warriors’ minds. Or at least, that’s what she had been told. One of the elder farseers had told her that the warriors weren’t ready to see their families straight away when they came back, that they needed to remove a stained mask from their souls first. 

‘So where is he?’ One of the children beside her asked. His eyes displayed a hint of concern despite his youthful smile, but she could see straight through it. The same concern had gripped her already. 

‘He... He should be with them...’ She pointed to the dark armoured eldar sporting skull masked helms and bone themed armour. There had been five of them when the strike force left, and now only three of them returned. ‘He might be... one of them...?’ 

‘Or one of... ‘ Her trembling lips stopped forming words the instant her eyes landed on the unmoving eldar forms that were being carried on hovering funeral units..._


* * *​

She heaved as hard as she was able to, but the wreckage refused to budge. With a grimace of resignation, she returned to the bike and withdrew several tools that had been stashed permanently in the rear compartment. Withdrawing a laser cutter presumably of human design, she approached the enormous chunk of spacecraft and aimed the cutter at the weakest point she could find. As she worked, pieces began to detach and she immediately stowed them on her jetbike as they did. This simple fighter would be a start, but fragments of what used to be a human cruiser had also dotted this landscape where the death throes of a plummeting craftworld had dragged the human armada to a fiery death with it.

Metals and other raw materials were in dire need, less so to her than to the fledgling human colony she intended to sell them to. But what had value to them by extension had value to her for one primary reason; She was the only one crazy enough to venture out here and find these increasingly rare resources. In return she was able to barter weapons and food, materials she herself had more direct need of. With the pieces of metal she had been able to scrape from the hull of the crashed fighter, she would probably be able to trade for half a day’s food. Which would be delightful no doubt, but having travelled this far she would have infinitely preferred something more. So it was with little needed self encouragement that she made the decision to explore further. If she was truly fortunate, she might yet find pieces of wraithbone... 

Once more she found herself shaking her head at the unconscious use of that word. Fortunate... She climbed aboard the jetbike with rushed inelegance and jetted further into the wasteland that had once been a paradise. Every day she ventured further, but this was another step still, to go even closer to... them. 

If the eldar was honest with herself, she was glad to have found nothing after three more hours of searching. She could go no further without being caught out after the dark had fallen. And that was something she did not wish to repeat. With a neutral sigh she spun her craft around and started heading towards her next destination. 


Not every psychic sensitive creature had been wiped out, though survivors were invariably a tiny fraction of the whole. On this world in particular, in reality the only world she had known since the Calamity, there was only one settlement. This world, once a thriving industrious colony of human manufacture, had been reduced to a barren shadow of its former self and barely a few dozen souls still called it home. Aside from her, the vast majority of these individuals were humans, and it was towards their fading echo of a town that she zoomed now. 

It appeared as a small jagged strip on an otherwise empty horizon ahead, the speed of her approach rendering details visible within minutes. She glanced sideways to ascertain the position of the sun and deduced it to be late afternoon. The short days of this planet were ever a thorn in her side, restricting as they had her ability to travel any meaningful distance in the sun’s light. She set her jetbike down at the edge of the small village and stepped off with a liquid grace. A small dot of movement caught her eye and she cast back her hood, revealing herself. 

‘Well if it ain’t Stick Legs back from da wastelands!’ A gratingly familiar yet annoying voice called out. 

‘It’s wonderful to hear your voice as well Spiv.’ The eldar woman replied. Her own voice was a dry and joyless tone, far at odds with the melodious song voice of her childhood. ‘Why don’t you stop hiding in garbage and lend me a hand?’ 

‘Stick Legs wants Spiv’s help?’ 

‘Sure, why not.’ Came the dour reply. ‘Come here, grab a few handfuls of scrap and help me get hem to Consou’s shack.’ 

With unfettered eagerness, a small almost naked green form darted out from under the pile of garbage he had been using as a bed. He practically dove into the junk heap that had precariously been placed in the jetbike’s saddle bags and cargo compartment, sending the scraps of metal scattering to the ground. With undiminished enthusiasm he gathered up as much as his scrawny green arms could carry and fell into place behind the much taller eldar as she gathered an armful of scrap herself and led him towards an unassuming shack near the centre of the town. 

Her senses caught the presence of another set of eyes watching the two of them approach even before Consou made himself known. The man was dressed in a ragged set of work overalls and his skin was covered in the dirt and grime of a forge. Flickering fires of his trade could be seen through the doorway of the building he stood before as he nodded sombrely in greeting to the odd pair of xenos. 


_++Entry 2159++​
I don’t understand why they let Spiv stay. Or even live. And yet, it is curious. I have never heard of a gretchin being so eager and helpful to non greenskins. My old teachers, and my parents who had encountered them first hand, described gretchin as cowards and sneaky thieves that took orders from only themselves and their larger ork cousins. Maybe Spiv understood on some primal level that he was most likely the last of his kind on this world. 

I once asked the little greenskin how he came to be here. From what I could decipher of his poorly worded ramblings, he doesn’t seem to know. Consou and those who live in this town tolerate him more for the amusement factor than his supposed willingness to be a helping hand I suspect, as there’s no denying he’s an ineloquent clumsy oaf. Though even I will admit, on the few occasions I’d deemed necessary to spend the night here, he was immensely entertaining when they let him into the alcohol reserves that Harkinson brews from time to time. In a way, he was almost a subject of some twisted affection from a few of the townsfolk. I will admit to occasional smiles generated on his words and deeds, and he was helpful after all. Sometimes. I almost didn’t mind giving him a share of the half grown vegetables I received in exchange for the scrap metal Consou would turn into more useful things. 

These same thoughts cross my mind every time I see him. When I see any of them in fact. I can flick this record back perhaps a hundred or even a thousand pages and find entries almost identical to this one. My mother... I think it was her... used to say that the warp was our dreams and memories. It was our emotions and imaginations. It had given rise to She who Thirsts... Thirsted... and when it was all but snuffed out I can only imagine that much of who we were died with it. 

Is that why the few remaining humans no longer cling to meaningless beliefs of sovereignty and a long dead Emperor? Their pride and faith was wiped out?

Is that why Spiv is devoid of the malice that his kind were once famed for? His aggression is spent?

Is it why I no longer fear Slaanesh? A fallen god whose name once burned a person’s lips to even speak and whose horrific visage haunted my dreams? Now a pathetic blind husk whose decadence and need for indulgence have no place in this grey world...

At times... I wonder if the Calamity was a blessing or a curse... 

++End++​_


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## gothik (May 29, 2010)

wow serp loving it


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 3*

_‘Full swings.’ Her father said. ‘One motion, one swift kill. You won’t get a second chance on a battlefield little one!’ He chided, then motioned for her to follow through again. She grinned back up at the lean figure of her father and swung the fallen branch in the same movement he had shown her. 

‘When will I be able to join the temple?’ She asked eagerly. 

‘When you come of age, girl.’ He answered. His eyes were warm yet serious, the mark of a doting father who wished nothing but the best for his child but knew full well the weight of the galaxy would be upon her shoulders soon enough. ‘But don’t rush into it. There are many things to do on the grounds of Ulthwe before you feel the need to shed another’s blood.’ 

‘I wanna protect the craftworld!’ The naive girl exclaimed. ‘I wanna fight off all the aliens that try to wreck our home!’ She swung the branch in the same sword patterns that her father had showed her while the stoic warrior looked on proudly. Though he dreaded the day his daughter’s life would be put into the hands of fortune on the battlefield, he would never do a thing to dampen her spirit. 

He suddenly became aware of a pair of sharp eyes glaring at him from a short distance away. The child’s mother waited no longer than was necessary to let him be aware of her displeasure. He said nothing as the woman left, and continued to watch apprehensively as their oblivious daughter continued to play with her imaginary sword. _


* * *​

‘Do you think you’ll make it back?’ Consou asked. 

‘If I hurry.’ The eldar replied. ‘There’s still a good hour before the sun sets. I might be able to get back in time if I push the engine...’ Even as she spoke the words however she could see that it was a slim chance at best. 

‘You might as well stay.’ Consou said. ‘You know I always have room, and it’d be better if you not get caught outside when those... things, start skulking around.’ 

The last eldar thought for a few moments, as reluctant as she was to stay here she could not deny the logic behind the decision. She was not going to make it home in time to avoid a confrontation with the creatures that owned the night on this world. She accepted the smith’s offer with a gracious nod before turning back towards the edge of town. If she was going to stay here, her jetbike would have to be hidden. 

‘Spiv.’ She said, grinning wryly as the grot looked up with bright eyes. ‘How strong is your arm?’ 


Half an hour later, a tired eldar and an exhausted grot sat on the floor of a dirty living room. The forge worker had hardly made it a point of his life to keep the place clean, and she grimaced slightly at the state of the old mattress he had rolled out for her use. An apologetic shrug was her only reply but in truth it was not a great deal worse than the barely kept tangle of vines she used back home... 

Home. The word seemed wrong to her. Even after everything that had happened, Home to her was still Ulthwe, still a scattered and broken vessel strewn across the wastelands of this world in an ever decaying state. She huddled her robe closer to herself as she contemplated the once mighty vessel’s fate. It had come to crash on this world shortly after the Calamity had hit, but she could not for the life of her understand why. Ulthwe, indeed all craftworlds, had always made a point of avoiding human held planets. Why had it been heading here? 

She put the thought from her mind and began to meditate. In this frame of mind she was easier able to rest while not rendering herself completely unaware of her surroundings. It was a habit she had formed whenever circumstances prevented her from sleeping in the security of what had become her shelter. In the next room, Consou began dousing the fires of his forge while Spiv settled into a pile of junk which he seemed to inexplicably find comfortable. Soft snores could be heard from the grot within moments. As the eldar’s thoughts began to flitter away and her heart rate and breathing slowed, the small human village resembled a town in more peaceful times. 


She roused herself a number of hours later and focused. She thought she had heard the faint scuffling of footsteps outside. Moving as silently as death itself, she rose and crept silently to the sole window of Consou’s house. The eldar pulled her hood tighter, trusting her life to its camouflaging power. The night outside was a deep darkness permeated only by the dim light of the stars. But even the starlight was enough to make out the terrifying silhouettes stalking slowly through the town. 

Even having seen the same sight almost every night she had been living here, the sight of these malevolent figures stalking through the shadows so close was still enough to freeze the blood. Every light in the town had been doused, giving the impression of a dead empty village as devoid of life as all the others. One of the figures scraped its claws across the window of the small house opposite Consou’s, while another crawled slowly just in front of it. After a few moments of inspecting the structure they moved on. 

The window was suddenly filled with the dark shape of a hunched figure leering as it glared inside. The unmistakeable humanoid form peered with glowing red eyes through the glass, looking directly through where the woman was knelt. She stared back with baited breaths, not daring to move, not daring to break eye contact. For a few agonizing moments it looked as though she had been discovered. Then the contact passed and the creature moved on. 

She didn’t sigh in relief, but instead remained on full alert. Complacency would only cause death, and she had survived too long and endured too much to forfeit her life to such a stupid mistake. Not for the first time, the same cloak that had once adorned a corsair’s back had saved the last eldar’s life... 

_++Entry 2160++​
It was... unusual to say the least. To know the face of death and to gaze upon what could be the harbinger of your own cruel fate. They only seem to come out at night, and were it not for them I may not have survived my childhood. The childhood terrors told to me by my parents and Lord Maechu had suddenly become real, and in the face of that fear my survival instinct went into overdrive. 

Because of them, I exercised a caution like none I had known as a child. I knew what real survival meant now. The frivolities of finding a Path now seemed insignificant compared to the ever present task of simply staying alive. These ghoulish creatures had instilled in me the same drive that my father used to in their own twisted way. 


I was told that the humans tried to fight them the first time they appeared. I was subsequently told there used to be several hundred human survivors compared to the paltry few dozen who lived here now. These things could not be fought. The only way that had proven successful to survive against them was to remain hidden. 

But I try not to limit my thoughts like this. As time goes on and my will to live becomes ever more eroded, I begin to entertain foolish notions of fighting back. Will I ever act on these insane plots that unravel themselves in my head? Perhaps. In a few thousand years, when my body begins to fail me and my mind finally cracks, perhaps I will seek my end. Maybe I will lure as many of them to myself as I can and rig myself to explode. It would be a final victory of mine. 

But it would be just another tiny bump in a long road for you. 

You... You who have taken everything. 

I hate you so much. 

++End++​_


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

I like the combination of real time events and diary entries; it works very well as a device for revealing background without large chunks of exposition.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 4*

_‘Why do you insist on planting these ideas into the girl’s head?’ The eldar woman demanded, confronting the father of her child in an accusatory manner. ‘Do you want to se her die on some battlefield?’

‘I want nothing more than to see our child flourish, woman!’ The warrior retorted. ‘A life of peace and stability does not come without cost. Without the Priests of Khaine and their disciples, the life of serenity that you enjoy so much cannot be!’ 

Neither of them knew that their child was hiding forlornly just a few short metres from where they stood. They believed themselves alone in this section of the Park Dome, the same place where they had met and fallen in love. But the young girl who was the object of their debate kept herself hidden between a clutch of trees and listened with sadness as her future threatened to tear her parents apart... 

‘There are plenty of eldar who place themselves on the Path of the Warrior!’ Her mother retorted. ‘All who feel the need to vent their anger will find their way there without your... encouragement.’ 

‘My encouragement?’ Her father fumed. ‘Have you never seen the child when we depart for battle? Have you not seen the light in her eyes? The eagerness in her heart? And when we return! The joy of our victory is celebrated the craftworld across! Why would you discourage that?’ 

The eldar woman looked averted her eyes from his and instead looked at the ground. ‘And when you don’t return one day? What will I say to her?’ _


* * *​

With the return of daylight and the disappearance of the terrifying creatures of the dark, the eldar and her erstwhile housemates once more saw fit to step outside. Droplets of blood marked their passage where they had draped the flesh of earlier kills around themselves. Consou shivered as he looked at the abnormal footprints they left behind and the deeply indented scrapes their claws had left behind. 

Spiv had vanished t do whatever a lone grot would do when not trying to kiss up to somebody else, and so the eldar offered her thanks before returning to the junk pile she had used to conceal her jetbike. Hurling several pieces of scrap aside from where Consou stored her finds, she hauled the vehicle free and kick started the engine. 

‘Be careful out there.’ The smith cautioned. 

‘Don’t worry.’ She answered. ‘With any luck I’ll be back earlier today with more materials and maybe something else if I find the time.’ 

‘We’d welcome it.’ The man nodded gratefully. Not seeking to waste any more time than this, the eldar boarded the jetbike and activated the turbo boosters. Jetting off to the north, she angled her craft in order to increase her altitude by half a dozen metres to avoid unwanted obstacles on the ground. The ground beneath her zoomed past at extreme velocity, blurring into a muddy green haze as she sped along. 

In a matter of two and a half hours the green had given way to a dead brown as she returned once more to the wastelands and their hidden bounty of raw materials. She did not stop here though, instead veering to the west and towards the forested areas that bordered her camp and the craftworld’s crash site. She slowed only enough to keep an eye out for anything that shimmered in the light of the risen sun that may turn out to be something of worth. 

The next few hours yielded the same assortment of scrap that had become typical of this place. Abandoned Imperial vehicles and the remnants of structures buried under the craftworld’s crash onto this planet were difficult to unearth, but worth the search for the materials they provided. As she prepared to leave the current area she paused. A wave of familiarity swept over her senses and for the briefest of moments she felt the faint flicker of Home. 

It was enough. She knew that there was wraithbone in the area after that and had no reservations whatsoever about searching for it here and now. Very rarely had she ever opened her eyes to the warp since instructed in basic defences by Maechu as a child. For most of her life it had been unnecessary and pointless, but now it would help her unearth a treasure of a forever lost time. Focusing her mind and tapping into the potential once possessed by her entre race and now her alone, she looked out upon a barren dead landscape to see the pockets of bright psychic energy embedded beneath the surface of the dusty ground. 

With a disappointed sigh, she made note of the nearest pocket and swiftly rode her jetbike to its location. With a grimace, she removed one of the small tool kits from the rear saddle bags and flicked a switch. For all of their pride, she was thankful that the corsairs who built this machine had the right mind to get dirty when the occasion called for it. The device in her hand extended and formed a laser excavation tool. With a good deal of patience and precision, she found herself able to cut away chunks of ground and rock to unearth the precious psychic substance buried beneath. 

When she was almost there, she stopped. Wraithbone could not simply be taken from where it lay without risking instant deterioration. With a moment to reflect on the task at hand, the same task she had performed dozens of times before, she returned to the tool compartment and withdrew a translucent container of multicoloured hue. With the reverence one normally afforded a holy relic, she carried the sphere like object to the hole and gently twisted the two halves apart. Only now did she complete her digging. 

A light suddenly assailed her senses. Not just her eyes, but a cacophony of melodies and a feeling of warmth and joy permeated her very being as the tiny shard of her shattered home was finally revealed. She reverently picked up the wraithbone shard and lifted it slowly in her hands... 

A song once sang by a bonesinger artisan flickered through her mind as the wraithbone shard shared with her the moment of its birth. Hundreds of thousands of conversations passed through her mind as it spoke to her of the many eldar it had been in the presence of during its long existence. Screams of fear and pain tore into her senses as it recalled the craftworld’s sundering. 

With immense reluctance, she placed the wraithbone shard in one half of the sphere and quickly replaced the other half. The flood of memories and thoughts ceased as the psychic essence was contained. It was a surreal sensation, to have the scattered memories of a hundred lifetimes passing through her before suddenly being once more alone in the vast expanse of a dying planet in a dead galaxy. With a few moments to gather her thoughts, she gazed forlornly at the prismatic orb and the misshapen shard contained within and mourned the los of what they both represented... 

Suppressing tears, she bundled the cargo up and turned her jetbike back towards the human settlement. This haul would pay much better than the pile of mere scrap she had returned with last time. She gave one more look back, making a mental note to return here at the next opportunity and dig up the rest of the dying remains of her old home... 


_++Entry 2161++​
At times I cannot believe the depths I have sunk to. The lows you have driven me to with your relentless pursuit of everything that still breathes. Wraithbone. Waystones. You have driven me so far as to use the melted and reshaped waystones I scavenge to contain the shards of my own home. Two of the most sacred materials known to my kind are reduced to bartering fodder under the duress you mercilessly push me through. 

I slowly came to realize that what I am doesn’t matter anymore. The last eldar? Meaningless. If there can be no more after me then why does the history of my people matter? If every craftworld has met the same demise as Ulthwe what purpose is there to preserve it? Harkinson told me once over a night of drinks that the past only mattered if there would be any to remember it. 

You have taken everything that would have been important. I had not a future, no present and the past had been rendered hollow. When you finally manage to wrap your icy talons around me, your victory will be complete. That which a thirsting god could not do in ten thousand years, you accomplished in one fell swoop. In a single moment you eclipsed what the combined might of the Great Enemies of old couldn’t accomplish in over sixty million years. 

You annihilated life itself, and you destroyed what little hope we might have had. Consou, Spiv, Harkinson... They may believe rebuilding is possible. But every time I look upon the fading memories of a piece of home, I see the same fate that awaits the few lingering souls that remain. To fade and fall into your uncompromising grip. 

I am an eldar. I will live for thousands of years to come. I will outlive all of them, all of anything that is left. But it will not matter. It may take you longer, but you will have your triumph over me all the same. You will have the lifeless void you crave. 

++End++​_


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 5*

_‘What happened?’ The girl asked through a teary expression. ‘How did he...?’ 

The stoic warrior standing before her could only look back blankly as he struggled to find the right words. After a few moments he gave up and shook his head. ‘I am not the one to speak with about this, child.’ He said sadly. ‘Speak with Lord Maechu, and he will explain the manner of your father’s heroic defeat. His death meant the lives of a dozen of his fellow warriors of Khaine. Be proud of him little one.’ The Dark Reaper paused only long enough to lay a comforting hand on the child’s shoulder before turning to return to his temple. 

With no other course, the girl resolved to track down the farseer at once, but it would be difficult as he likely would have returned to the Dome of the Seers by now. Nevertheless, she forced her legs to move and fought back her tears as she looked to where the farseers made their abode. 

Travel between the domes was a matter of finding a skiff at the right time and hoping there was room enough to accommodate her. Being of such a young age meant she was not yet trusted to interface with the Infinity Circuit directly, instead relying on the help of a parent or adult. It was difficult, but she managed. 

It was inside of twenty minutes when the girl finally made it to the Dome of the Seers. She would only be allowed within the first barrier of the dome, as only those on the Path of the Seer were permitted to go deeper. As she approached the entrance, chest heaving with the effort of running, she froze. 

Her mother was already there, on her knees before the Farseer and crying hysterically... _

* * *

The way home was a straight shot from the town, but she had to drop off the fruit of the day’s labours before she could rest easy for a time. As before, her jetbike was being pushed to its very limit in order to beat the uncaring sun. Her mind raced with the thoughts of what she’d be able to barter for a shard of wraithbone. The amount of food it was worth would not keep for as long as she’d need it, so as in the past she’d likely be asking for some piece of equipment or a backup weapon.

The thought paused as movement in the trees up ahead caught her eye. She slowed, almost being thrown forward with the sudden deceleration as she brought the bike to the ground. The shadow moved again and this time she saw it. A wild canid was lurking through the trees as it stalked something the eldar couldn’t see. Leaving the jetbike to idle in place for a few moments, she unslung her rifle and lined up the shot... 


Pulling into the town once more, she noted the position of the sun. Provided she was not here for longer than half an hour she would have plenty of time to get back to her own cave. As usual, Spiv was the first to notice her arrival and the first to offer his help. She allowed the gretchin to carry the carcass of the wolf she had shot and retrieved. Meat was a rare thing to come by, and as a bartering tool it was worth almost as much as wraithbone. 

‘So life still dwells out there?’ Consou’s voice called to her. 

‘So it would seem.’ She answered, looking up to see him approach with a cloth in his hand stained with the grease that marked his trade. ‘It almost seems a shame to see the thing dead.’ 

‘Better the dog than any of us.’ Consou said darkly as the pint sized greenskin managed to heft the carcass to the ramshackle patio. ‘Will you be taking a cut of the meat?’ 

‘If it can be cut in time.’ The eldar nodded. Consou gestured to Spiv, and the greenskin nodded eagerly and ran off to find Harkinson. Harkinson was the only man in the small community with the expertise prepare more than rudimentary foodstuffs. According to him, he had been a cook for the Imperial Guard and had inherited a talent for being able to make anything taste good. 

‘Wouldn’t want you to go hungry.’ Consou grinned. 

‘Well in the meantime...’ The eldar began, withdrawing the next item from her saddle pack. ‘Tell me what I can get for this?’ She held out the waystone sphere containing the wraithbone shard she had unearthed. Consou’s eyes went wide, and he took the sphere from her hands with a tenderness normally reserved for holding a newborn infant. 

‘For this?’ Consou asked breathlessly. ‘Whatever you need.’ He cradled the object with wide eyed astonishment and carefully carried it over to the entrance to his workshop. Shifting his head in a gesture for her to follow, he kicked open the door with his foot and led the way inside. He deposited the orb on one of his workbenches with care and rushed over to another. 

The last eldar looked around with a small shred of interest. The dim memories she had of the technologies of home made the clumsy machinery of humans seem like an amusing novelty. Despite this she had learned to have a healthy respect for their undeniable effectiveness in most cases, owing her life on more than one occasion to a pistol of Consou’s crafting or an energy ration improvised by the expertise of Harkinson. Presently she eyed off a set of knives that hung by a belt above one of his workbenches. 

‘You want the knives?’ He asked her. 

‘Are they good?’ She asked in return. 

‘You know mw lass, only the top quality comes out of my forge.’ Consou retorted with a confident smile. 

‘Then yes, I’ll take them.’ The eldar nodded. ‘What else?’ 

‘Can I interest you in these?’ Consou disappeared behind a stack of old chimera wheels for a moment before stepping back out with a pair of exquisite goggles. 

‘What are they?’ She asked. 

‘Goggles,’ He began. ‘Which allow the wearer to see in the dark or over long distances. The controls are just alongside the left lens here see? These once belonged to an Imperial colonel.’ 

‘Am I to take it that these are rare?’ She asked with incredulity. 

‘The technology itself no.’ Consou shook his head as he retrieved the knife and brought both sets of items over to her. ‘But this particular set was master crafted by the best artificer on the planet. They were built for durability and efficiency, as well as being somewhat stylish.’ 

The eldar took the proffered knife belt and strapped it to her waist immediately under her robe. The goggles she examined more closely, her expression invisible under the veil of invisibility afforded by her hood. Despite Consou saying they had been designed to be stylish, in truth she found them to be rather blunt and crudely designed, much like every piece of human technology she had ever laid eyes on. 

‘The eyes of the beholder I suppose...’ She muttered. 

‘Pardon?’ Consou asked. 

‘I’ll take them.’ She answered. 

‘Excellent. In addition to the usual supply of fruits and vegetables and the slab of meat you’ll be taking with you then?’ The forge master enquired. She nodded curtly and strapped the goggles to her forehead. With this piece of business resolved, the two returned outside and finished unloading the pile of scrap she had brought back. Harkinson had shown up and with Spiv’s help carved a decent portion of the wild wolf’s meat for the eldar to take back with her. 

As she repositioned herself on the saddle, she turned back to the three of them. ‘If I have as much luck tomorrow as I did today, I should be able to procure a little more wraithbone.’ She paused for a moment before continuing. ‘I’m also going to look into the forested area to the west of the wastelands and see if there’s more wildlife in there.’ 

‘Good luck to ya Stick Legs!’ Spiv shouted as she pulled up and sped off, leaving the humans with the hope of a promising tomorrow. 


_++Entry 2162++​
Maybe I allow them to have hope because it allows me to give myself the illusion of fulfilment. I refrain from telling them that the warp is dying. That their hopes of rebuilding the glorious civilization they once had are doomed. It simply cannot come to pass. Because whatever caused the Calamity, whatever YOU did to end everything, has had a more lasting effect than to simply kill what there was. 

The life that dies now cannot be replaced. I was there when one of the elderly survivors passed away a number of months ago. I looked into the warp as he passed, and I saw nothing. His soul did not join the flow of the other realm, it too simply vanished just like the gods of old and the turbulence of a galaxy of life. 

There will be no children to replace these losses. They try to leave children behind but manage only stillborns. The wolf I killed today will have had no pups and never could have. When Spiv too dies, the spores he leaves behind will not mature. They will wither and rot like everything else you have touched. And yet we all continue to fight on. We survive by whatever means we can. We ignore the bleak darkness that slowly creeps towards us and we shout in defiance at the cold claws of death that reach out to us. 

We are fools.

++End++​_


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Another interesting segment.

I have a couple of small niggles:

_"Harkinson was the only man in the small community with the expertise to really prepare food and other consumables to any real degree."_

This seems a clunky sentence, especially for the thoughts of an Eldar: "food" and "other consumables" seems unnecessary duplication; as does "really prepare" and "to any real degree". I feel it would be more lyric without the sub-clauses, e.g. _"Harkinson was the only man in the small community with the expertise prepare more than rudimentary foodstuffs." _

_"The eyes of the Beholder...."_

Unless you are talking about a specific creature this should not be capitalised.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Absolutely right and fixed. :so_happy: 

Thank you.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

_An explosion and a scream all at once wracked the girl’s senses to the very threshold of her sanity. For the briefest instant she saw an unimaginable power sweep its mighty influence across the warp and the galaxy itself. The screaming was not caused by the Calamity itself but rather by the deaths of the uncountable trillions upon trillions of souls that were simultaneously annihilated by an unknowable force. 

Following this, the very ground beneath her began to shake. Without needing to see, she knew that everyone aboard the craftworld was dead. Ulthwe itself was beginning to break apart, and it would only be a matter of time before she was also lost to the void. She hit the button on the dome’s entryway only to have her heart sink as she realized the Infinity Circuit powering the door was dead. She was trapped. Another thunderous shake and the dome itself cracked, losing a section large enough for her to squeeze through. 

The scene that greeted her was horrifying. Eldar lay dead all around her and everywhere she could see. There had been no fighting, no resistance. They had all simply keeled over and died. She had no time to waste, no luxury of being horrified. Her only chance was to make it to the departure bay and hop that she would be able to find a ship to shelter in. With the systems of the craftworld rendered inactive, there was no guarantee she’d even make it that far. 

Still she ran onwards, her survival instinct not giving her the luxury of giving up. Another fierce tremor and she found herself thrown into the air by the shaking ground. She landed hard on a tough piece of pavement, losing consciousness with the impact... _

* * *​
Such was the life of a scavenger and trader for the course of fifty years following the calamity. Eventually... Inevitably, the survivors dwindled. So it came to pass that a lone eldar became the last living thing in the galaxy... 

* * *​
Again she awoke. The sunlight broke through her closed eyelids and ended her sleep. Now she made no attempt to hide the tears that fell from her open eyes as she stood. There were no reasons left to remain strong. There was no purpose left to her existence. One by one the others had all died, succumbed to the weight of time or been taken by the terrors of the night. Time and again she had seen them and avoided their attentions. But they kept coming. Night after night. And then, in the day.

But that was not the worst of it. With the end of sentient life came the end of purpose. She lived, not to preserve hope nor to rebuild for the future. She lived simply to defy death, the Calamity that had claimed all life but her. 

With a still mind she went about her morning preparations. She armed herself and donned her corsair’s robe. She placed the still functioning goggles she had procured from Consou decades earlier around her neck and slung her rifle over her back. With a sword sheathed at her left hip and a trio of knives at her right, she exited her hole via the overgrown thorns and vines that concealed it and began to venture forth. 

She moved slowly at first, for as the years had passed caution was no longer a trait to be reserved for the night. The ghouls that once crept in the dark seemed to have become bolder as time had worn on, and on numerous occasions now they had been sighted in broad daylight. After scanning the area thoroughly she increased her pace towards the forested area where she habitually stored her jetbike. She may not have had anyone left alive to trade with, but scavenging remained a predominant part of her existence, albeit in a slightly evolved fashion. 

She had set up numerous farms across the landscape in whatever concealed locations she could. Her life had become a systematic loop of maintaining and harvesting these crops and subsisting on what she was able to manage. She had contemplated giving up more times than she could remember. 

The day passed for the most part uneventfully. One of her gardens failed to yield any crops, confirming what she had long suspected that even plant life was dying out. The forest near the old human settlement had begun to wither in the last decade, and now the number of live trees was outdone by the numbers of the dead. With the meagre food she was able to gather, she returned to her hidden sanctuary and prepared to conceal her jetbike. With due thoroughness she made sure the vehicle was properly concealed and depowered before throwing her harvest up out of the hole and climbing after. 

Unexpected noise nearby prompted her to stop moving. With practiced economy of movement she crept forward until she could see out of the clearing. It was exactly as she feared. 

Four of the creatures had begun to prowl the area. Somehow seeing them in the daylight added to their fear factor as she was now able to see in detail the horrifying reality of what she was being constantly hunted by. And for them to venture this close could only mean they had somehow gotten wind of where she dwelt. And if that did indeed prove to be the case, her end could be much closer than she anticipated. She stayed locked in her concealed position as she watched, hoping she could outlast their search here and make it back to her cave. If nothing else she had to gather what was essential to her survival and move on in search of a new place to live. 

It felt like hours as the four things hobbled about. They were like twisted parodies of an eldar or human form, with a skeletal appearance and rustic metal hide. A few of them wore decaying pieces of skin over their frames but for the most part they were bare. Hunting had clearly been less successful for them in recent times, likely the most prominent factor of their increased activity. Their upper limbs ended not in hands but rather a set of deadly flensing claws. She had witnessed their gruesome work the night Harkinson had finally been taken. Nobody had the courage to come to his aid, instead hiding and sobbing as the sadistic flayers had peeled the skin from his bones and torn out chunks of his flesh. 

Such had been the fate of most of that village once the flayers learned that life still dwelt there. 

The last eldar had a sudden flashback to the stories she used to hear from her father. She recalled stories of the deathless creatures known as the Necrontyr, once allies of the Great Enemy called the Yngir. In ancient times, the sons of Asuryan had fought this unholy alliance and come close to wiping them out for good. Following the Fall of the Eldar, they had not the strength to prevent the deathless ones from rising once more. 

She remembered stories that Maechu had expanded upon for the girl’s curiosity. The terrors possessed by the necrontyr brought about by the possibilities of impossible sciences and unparalleled knowledge and mastery of the materium. The farseer had said the rise of these creatures would herald a time of mourning the likes of which the galaxy had never seen. 

In that moment, for the first time in her blighted existence, a sense of understanding began to form in the last eldar’s mind. Was it possible that the necrontyr had been responsible for the Calamity? Even as the thought formed in her head, her hands unconsciously unslung her rifle and brought it up to aim...

_++Entry 6658++​
Everything I have ever done or will do will undoubtedly be undone by you. But now, I finally realized that even a small victory on my part is the best I can hope for. That’s right, I can still fathom hope and it is with hope that I will go to my death. 

I am the last living soul in the galaxy. Perhaps it was your design that it end like this, dragged on for decades, letting my hope wax and wane like this. But no more. No longer will I be your plaything, your fearful little pawn to play your twisted game with. 

When I am gone, what will you have? What will you be? A hollow meaningless nothing is what you will be. You made the mistake of taking everything. Even a simple farmer knows not to harvest his entire crop and leave nothing behind to continue the growth cycle. You in your haste eliminated everything in the span of fifty years. 

And now, you are destined to be alone and without a purpose for eternity. Death cannot exist without life. By taking me, you end yourself. Oh, the irony. 

Farewell. 

++End++​_


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Good reveal, and the sting in the tail adds even more poignancy to the story.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

This is barely the beginning.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 7*

_Her head throbbed with pain as her eyes slowly flickered open. She was sprawled across the ground amid a field of flaming wreckage. As she shakily tried to find her feet, she became aware of an ever pervasive feeling of death and suffering as her mind was bombarded by the dying echoes of everything around her. It was like a more pure agony than anything a mortal could physically feel. With her farseer taught mental disciplines all but shattered, her mind bore the full brunt of what the warp would barrage upon her. 

Only the warp had no energy to spare for her, no malice left to direct at the defenceless child. Unprotected and unprepared, she looked up into the sky, her sight open to the realm of souls only to see... 

Nothing. The warp was all but empty, the horrors of mortals’ darkest dreams all swept away. There were no visions of death and no life to precede them. It was all just gone, and everything that would have been was gone with it. With slow breaths the eldar child took a step forward followed by another. Bereft of purpose or direction, she set out to see what she could make of this empty place..._

* * *​


She fired. And one of the ghouls fell. Before the other three could react, she fired again and felled a second. The two survivors were loping towards her position now, like primitive beasts of ancient times. She fired again, downing the third and then again, finishing the fourth. All four twisted creatures lay on the ground before her now, gaping holes torn through their forms where her rifle had torn through them. 

‘They’re not invincible after all.’ She muttered. The last eldar stepped from her hiding place among the trees and walked slowly towards the fallen creatures with her rifle at the ready. She approached the nearest to her position, the last one she had felled. Its head was split in half where the projectile from her long rifle had impacted and it lay still as it leaked a green fluid from the wound. 

Suddenly a high pitched metallic scream filled the air as the farthest back began to stir. She watched in horrified disbelief as the first flayer she had felled rose to its feet with a shaky but definite motion. The gaping hole in its head had closed and sealed itself, making the skeletal monster whole once more. Its claws flensed the air as it began to advance once again with murder in its eyes. Without any idea of how to react she instinctively began walking backwards whilst loading her rifle for another round of shots. As she raised the weapon, she noticed with horror the other three flayers beginning to pull themselves from the ground in the same manner as the first. 

‘Oh gods... They are invincible...’ She breathed, now for the first time in decades feeling true fear in the face of very real death. Shakily she rattled off another shot, but lacking the discipline of her earlier attack, the projectile went wide. Again she fired, hitting one of them in the shoulder and giving it barely a moment’s pause before it continued its advance. 

True terror had gripped her heart now. For decades she had thought herself resigned to such a fate, but now that was here it became apparent that she had been fooling herself. Her heart raced as she finally managed to force herself to turn and run. Risking a backwards glance, she was horrified to see that the creatures were keeping pace easily. One of them dropped to all fours in a twisted parody of a hunting animal and began to run faster. In desperation she made a beeline towards where her jetbike had been hidden, hoping she would have enough time to start it up and get out of there before those things caught up. 

She darted between the trees with practiced ease borne of decades of living in the area. Pushing herself to her limit, she dove into the hole that concealed her vehicle and started it up immediately. Angling sharply skyward, she shot out of the hole in the ground just as the first of the flayers peered inside. The point of the jetbike’s prow impacted the creature’s leering face with a heavy metallic clunk and it was thrown backwards as she zoomed out. 

Her elation was short lived as a dull thud sounded just behind her. She looked backwards, horrified to see that the ghoul had somehow managed to dig its claws into the rear chassis and now dangled behind her as she sped through the air. Stifling a scream, she angled sharply and barrelled through the trees. She zigzagged as close as she dared to the tree trunks in the hopes that the flayer would be caught or damaged by an impact. Three slams and metallic cries of annoyance passed her ears but still the creature held its grip. 

With a feeling of trepidation she realized she would not be able to shake the creature. Having run out of trees it was now beginning to grasp at her trailing cloak with its free hand. With a scarce few moments to formulate her next move, she aimed the jetbike into the nearest jutting rock she could find in the blasted scape outside the forest and increased the throttle. Timing her jump perfectly she leaped clear, leaving the flayer to crash and burn with her vehicle. She rolled athletically with her landing and brought herself smoothly to her feet. As the flames burned across her vision she felt a bitter pang of regret. That jetbike had served her well for decades, and in a single heartbeat decision it was gone forever. She prayed silently to long dead gods that the flayer had perished with it. 

Approaching the wreckage, her hopes were dashed as the gleaming figure leaped clear of the fire and caught her by surprise. To make matters worse, the other three had not given up the chase and now began to emerge from the tree line and close the distance. The last eldar broke into a run as their metallic screeches of rage began to ring out. But it was clear she would not be able to outrun these things for long. They were relentless machines, this much she knew and her own stamina, already under strain, was finite. 

Still she fled, her heart pumping furiously as she desperately sought some means of escape. Her mind raced with a sea of regrets, wishing she hadn’t sought death like this so foolishly. Heavy footfall sounded close behind her. Reflexively she glanced backwards and the mistake cost her dearly. The lead flayer swiped a claw for her legs. Flensing blades raked across the back of her thigh and she screamed in agony. Still she ran, the pain being forced to the back of her mind as she sought survival by any means necessary. 

Something impacted her back and she was hurled to the ground. She rolled over just in time to see a heavy metallic foot slam down on her gut and drive the breath out of her. The ghoul leered down over her, slowly reaching down with a knife bladed hand to rend her flesh. Though its face was devoid of all expression, its slow deliberate actions made it clear that it was enjoying this experience. With her adrenalin spent, and her mind beginning to fade with the loss of blood and the effort of breathing, the figures gathering around her immobile form blurred into indistinct shapes of grey. She willed herself to die faster, to spare herself the pain they would inflict... 

A sudden flash of green burned through her closing eyelids and brought her back to wakefulness. As her eyes snapped open she saw that one of the flayers was simply gone, seeming as though it had never been there to begin with. The remaining three reacted instantly, turning to face this new unseen enemy. Another green flash saw another of them disintegrated as the other two charged. The last eldar struggled to raise her head, to glean some idea of her saviour through blurred vision. A caped figure fought the two blade limbed monstrosities, flowing through their attacks with a liquid grace before swinging a bladed staff and cleaving one of them in two. The figure swung its weapon again and the bisected target was reduced to a puddle of dissolving metal slag. The final flayer was dispatched in a similar manner, being decapitated before the wielder of the staff fired its weapon once more and ending the monster’s existence. 

The eldar reached shakily down to the wound on her leg, keeping an eye on the approaching figure as she tried to stem the bleeding. As it walked, the newcomer removed the hood that covered its face, revealing yet another skull visaged mask. The flayers were gone, only to be replaced with something far more sinister... 



_++Entry 6659++​
Damn you. To give me such a tiny sliver of hope only for it to be dashed to pieces like this. To deny me my strong farewell and reduce me to a gibbering wreck. Was death not enough? Was I required to suffer as well in order to slake your thirst? 

Even as these entries are recorded, I am on the verge of death. The cusp of oblivion is the only thing I can expect and for that I hate you. I cannot simply deny you. I cannot just ignore this pain, undo my last shreds of hope and take back my foolish ambitions of dying in defiance. 

By making me feel that fear, by forcing that terror upon me, you have destroyed everything I had left to cling to in my dying moments. I thought I could claim one final victory. 

I should have known better... 

++End++​_


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 8*

_The rifle swayed lightly in her grip as she took aim at the stalking animal. Carnodons were reputed to be large fearsome creatures and the sight of one did nothing to dissuade that notion. The eldar girl had been fortunate enough to stumble across a corsair’s jetbike and rifle during her scavenging, and she had resorted to using these to hunt for her own survival. Tracking the monstrous cat’s movements even as it followed hers, this became a battle of wills to determine which of the two hunters would make the first move. 

In the end it was the child who made the first move. She lined up a perfect shot and with luck as much as intent succeeded in shooting the beast directly in its left eye. With a roar of pain and fury the giant carnivore charged, intent on rending the eldar to ribbons. Keeping unnaturally calm, the girl fired again, removing the creature’s other eye and dashing to the side to avoid its thunderous charge. The carnodon faltered and fell to the ground. It mewled in pain at its inability to see and began to scrounge at the ground. Its ears shifted restlessly and its nose twitched as it sought the eldar’s scent or footfall. 

Realizing that hiding would not be an option even with the monster blinded, she made a run to the jetbike and started it up immediately. The carnodon turned to the sound of the engine, quiet though it was, and charged once more. She kicked the primary thruster into gear and sped out of the creature’s path and into the air. It thrashed about in the air, leaping and clawing at the contrails of the jetbike as it tried vainly to pin its prey down. Seeking to end the hunt, the eldar child looped overhead and opened up with the jetbike’s prow weaponry. A hail of small projectiles slivered through the air and tore the beast’s fur and flesh to ribbons. As she made the final pass overhead the carnodon collapsed on the ground, spasming briefly before lying still. 

The child had completed her first hunt. Yet to discover any remnants of sentient life on this world she had resolved to perfect the art of survival as soon as possible. Even so, killing another creature was a new experience for her and it was with nervousness and trepidation that she drew a knife and prepared to harvest the meat from the fresh carcass. _

* * *​

She struggled simultaneously to stem the bleeding from her wounded leg as well as keep her eyes open. She didn’t even acknowledge the necron looming over her, reasoning that if it wanter her dead she’d be dead in moments regardless. For the moment it seemed content merely to stand and watch her struggle, motionless but for its robes flowing softly in a slight breeze. Letting one hand go to reach under her ranger cloak, she tore a strip off her under tunic and clumsily fashioned a bandage around the stab wound where the flayer had struck with its claws earlier. 

She managed a glance at the imposing figure. This... necron had saved her life. It had slain its fellow necrons and thus prevented them from tearing her to pieces. With the immediate concern of her wound tended to, she was afforded a moment to think. Why had it destroyed its fellows? Why hadn’t it killed her yet? 

As a few moments passed she was able to regain control of her breathing and slowed her heartbeat. She looked up and locked gazes with the necron before her, trying vainly to divine it motives or intent. At length she gave up and dropped her gaze. Since it had thus far made no attempt to harm her further, she decided to push her luck and with a hefty strain on her muscles began to try hefting herself into a standing position. 

The necron, for its part, was seemingly content to watch this ordeal, similarly motionless as it had been before. Though it took the last eldar a good three and a half minutes, she eventually managed to pull herself upright. Only now did the machine before her deign to move, cocking a head to one side in a gesture that spoke to her of confusion or analysis. 

‘What are you playing at?’ She managed to ask, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to remain calm. 

It replied with a series of high pitched shrieks and clicks before recoiling a step backwards as if in fright. After a few moments of what looked like deep thought, it stepped forward and attempted to communicate again. ‘Life form.’ It spoke. ‘You are of the genus Eldar correct? Gender Female?’ 

‘What?’ The eldar replied in barely a whisper, unable to overcome her astonishment at being spoken to by such a being. 

‘Your reply indicates my translation has been applied to the correct language.’ The necron rasped. ‘Your inability to comprehend my question does not follow logic. Do you require it be rephrased?’ 

‘I... I... No. It’s just...’ She struggled to form the words at first, eventually taking a deep breath before continuing. ‘What I mean is, it’s a shock to see one of... you, speaking to me rather than trying to kill me.’ 

‘You refer to those lost to the flayer virus.’ The necron answered in its metallic grating voice. ‘They are a blight upon our kind as much as any other. Even more so with the absence of true life. They have begun to turn on their own and those of the dynasties. As a result, many high ranking nobility have been lost. Many legions stand leaderless. And the few who remain cannot control the situation any longer.’ 

‘Well.’ The eldar woman spoke with a moment of bravado entering her voice. ‘It seems like you really screwed yourselves over with this.’ 

The necron looked back at her, once more cocking its head in what she had taken to be confusion. ‘I do not understand your statement. Do you mean to imply that it was the Necron Dynasties who instigated the End of Life?’ 

‘The Calamity? Yes!’ She snapped. ‘Who else but the necrons could attack the warp in such a way? And who else would have as much to gain? The Forces of Chaos were one of the few threats to your kind’s dominion, not to mention attacking the Warp like this was a sure-fire way to kill every living thing in the galaxy at once!’ With her outburst spent, she awaited what was sure to be a vicious counter, maybe even an attack. 

‘Calamity?’ It spoke simply, with not a hint of anger. ‘An adequate term. And while your assessments are correct, your assumptions are not.’ 

‘What are you talking about?’ She demanded. 

‘I require your aid, Creature.’ It said simply. ‘Mass extinction was never a desirable outcome for any necrons but the destroyers. With life gone, they have turned on those yet to fall to their curse. Between them and the increasing numbers of flayers, our civilization has been pushed to the verge of collapse. To correct your earlier statement, it was NOT the Necron Dynasties who were responsible for instigating the Calamity.’ 

‘What?’ She asked again, no more aware for the creature’s almost cryptic answer. 

‘I am a cryptek, and I am fully aware of the technologies capable of devastation on such a scale.’ The necron explained. ‘When the... Calamity, occurred, my initial thought was to investigate all such possibilities to ascertain the culprits. I checked the bastions of the Nexus Hyperarrangement, but those protocols remain unengaged and their application to this end is as I analyse it a slim possibility at best.’ 

‘I don’t know what you’re saying...?’ The eldar almost begged now, frantic for answers she had long given up on. 

‘I investigated the Celestial Orrery, despite its function being aligned with the material universe rather than the warp. Yet as I had assumed it remained all but non-functional and its Guardians were loathe to let me know more.’ 

The eldar simply shook her head now in utter bewilderment. 

‘I investigated the Pylon Supernetwork, yet even those were not responsible. In fact many of them had decayed beyond functionality and most were buried too deep within the tomb worlds that housed them to be of any use.’ 

With one final effort, the eldar woman dared to reach out and place a hand on the robed shoulder plate of the necron as it finished speaking. It turned to look at her, fully a head taller and much broader as it looked down with an emotionless stare. 

‘Please.’ She said softly. ‘Tell me why you need my help?’ 

‘That is simple.’ It answered. ‘With your aid, I intend to identify the cause of the Calamity. And then, we can stop it from happening.’ 


_++Entry 6660++​
I don’t understand what’s happening here, nor do I have the sense left to try and rationalize what’s left in this world. I was all but dead, and now a creature of darkness and evil wants my help to undo the Calamity? Is such a thing even possible? Even for the necrons whose technology was enough to topple ancient gods in the legends, I can’t help but think that this bizarre cryptek is setting itself up for an impossible goal. 

Yet, despite all my commonsense, at this moment I have found that there is one thing I have managed to hold onto throughout everything. Even when I was the last living thing in the entire galaxy. I still had hope. I still had fleeting dreams that one day I would awaken in my old bed, to look up at the face of my mother, to visit Lord Maechu in the seers dome and live as I once had. 

That hope no longer exists, but now I have something... tangible? Maybe this necron does indeed know of a way to reverse what the Calamity has wrought. Maybe life can exist again? 

But I can’t help asking myself... Why would it want that? Has life become so integral to the necrons’ existence that even they can’t function without it? 

You’re just full of surprises aren’t you? Like a cosmic joker with foresight to put even the legendary Lord Ulthran to shame. I wonder if this necron will come to hate you as much as I do? 

++End++​_


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## gothik (May 29, 2010)

OMG from the first cliffhanger i knew this was going to be a Serpion5 special. As much as i love your Draconia tale this totally eclipses it in style and suspense. i love the switch from first to third person, it flowed effortlessly and did not detract from the read, something i have not yet mastered, well done Serp this is a featured fiction any day of the week.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 9*

_The landscape zoomed past as she searched. The corsair’s jetbike was a blessing of the greatest fortune, allowing the youth to explore the remnants of this place with great speed and efficiency. So far to her distress, there had been no sign of further life other than wild animals and decaying plants. So it was with necessity in mind that she made her first priority shelter. The land had been reduced to a barren desert in the region of the craftworld’s crash and most of what surrounded it was a mix of savannah and forest. She had little doubt that if wild animals could survive, there would be adequate shelter to be found. 

But that would have to wait. Having eaten what she could, she now faced the problem of preserving the rest of the animal’s meat from decay. It would last her close to a week if she could keep it frozen or in some form of stasis. Not naive enough to think she would stumble across a stasis chamber anywhere, she instead sought somewhere like a cave or borrow where she could entrust her future meals to the cool earth. It would not be the best form of refrigeration, but the cooking process would remove whatever problematic bacteria may grow. 

There was a valley up ahead, one that looked as though it might house several caves or crevasses. Hovering for a moment, she panned her gaze across the horizon but stopped short completely moments later. There was smoke coming from the west. Had she not stopped to survey the valley from here she would have missed it completely. It was not just simple smoke either, but a single column rising from a fixed point in the distance. 

Civilization. Survivors... _


* * *​

‘Undo...’ The eldar repeated. Despite the hours she had to think on the matter, it still made little sense to her. Despite the necron’s impatience, she had returned to the interior of the cave and raided her medical supplies. She now sat on a loose boulder in the large chamber that housed her scavenged artefacts, one hand on her freshly bandaged wound while the other held onto a portion of preserved meat from a cooler unit Consou had built her so long ago. 

‘Indeed.’ The necron answered. Its gaze panned continually across the collection of items and trinkets she had sought to preserve over the decades, finally coming to rest at the suit of armour that was propped up on a dead tree. ‘I am a chronomancer, I practice the science of manipulating time.’ 

‘You want to go back in time?’ She realized. ‘You want to go back and prevent the Calamity from ever happening?’ Her eyes widened in disbelief, meeting the green glow of the cryptek’s as it turned to face her. 

‘If the task was so simple, I’d have accomplished it myself.’ It told her. ‘Time travel is a forbidden practice among all chronomancers. Long ago, an accord was reached to prevent the flow of time being manipulated to in such a way as to provide an unfair advantage. We were permitted to weaponize it, witness the short term future or past, but interfering with timelines is strictly forbidden.’ 

‘So you can’t go back in time?’ The eldar asked. ‘Is the technology itself forbidden?’ 

‘By the ancients girl, do you expect I would allow such a decree to withhold me in circumstances like these?’ The necron asked incredulously. ‘Of course I travelled back in time. I travelled the timeline a hundred times over. I searched every location in the galaxy capable of exerting such strain on the warp. But every time, the Calamity came to pass. No matter what I did, I changed nothing.’ 

‘So, what difference do you expect me to make?’ She looked back at the machine with honest confusion. ‘Lord Maechu once told me that the seers could see the past. But I’m no seer, and the warp doesn’t have any secrets to offer anymore.’ 

‘Precisely. You are the best one for the task.’ The cryptek said, almost allowing excitement to enter its voice. 

‘That makes no sense.’ The last eldar retorted. ‘I don’t know a lot about these things but I know-‘ 

‘Then allow me to educate you.’ It interrupted. Seeing her continued bewilderment it began to explain. ‘When the Calamity occurred, the Webway began to collapse. Much like your race, the Dynasties were dependant on this network for efficient long distance travel. In the past, we had attempted to expand on the network but interference fro m the warp entities as well as your race made the task difficult to impossible. With both of these obstacles conveniently removed, we were able to make progress.’ 

He paused for a moment, tilting his head as though trying to remember something. ‘With this new freedom, we were able to stabilize much of the webway while your kin died out. As we expanded, we stumbled across the place known to your kind as the Black Library. At this point, I had a strong standing with the Sautekh Dynasty and so was able to procure a large number of texts. Among them were numerous documents pertaining to time travel, its functions and its relation between the Warp and the Material universe.’ 

‘Okay, I understood some of what you said...’ The eldar sighed. ‘But I’m still unsure as to exactly what it is you want me to do.’ 

‘In that case, the first thing I require of you is to educate yourself.’ The cryptek told her. ‘I will give you the required texts and you will learn what you need to.’

‘You said you travelled back in time?’ She asked it. ‘You’ve tried to fix this already? So... by asking for my help. That can only mean one thing?’ 

‘Correct.’ It nodded. ‘I am convinced that whatever caused the Calamity took place entirely within the Warp. This is something I cannot perceive despite all the knowledge I have acquired. Something that only a warp sensitive being can see, feel and describe. If we can understand it we stand a chance of pre-empting it. ‘

‘The warp is... was, a reflection of the galaxy’s emotions and dreams.’ She said wistfully, remembering the lessons of her childhood back on Ulthwe. ‘Lord Maechu said the fundamental emotions became the Chaos Gods. But after the Calamity, the gods are all but dead. I guess the question to be asked is... Were the gods attacked, resulting in the loss of life? Or was life attacked, resulting in their loss of power?’ 

‘Logical reasoning.’ The cryptek agreed. ‘If the latter, you should be able to see it no matter where you search. If the former, it will be far more difficult. In any case, there is no longer any need to remain on this world. You might be more comfortable on a Maiden World?’ 

‘What?’ She demanded. ‘How can you possibly know about Maiden worlds?’ She felt a brief flare of anger before realizing that the cryptek would have read far more than that if it had been given access to texts of the Black Library itself. The last eldar remained silent for the next hour, contemplating every facet of what she was being asked to do. The incredible risk she would be taking, the emotional trauma she would have to endure. 

She had given up mere hours ago. She had resolved to die with the ashes of hope in her heart and the blood of sanity dripping from her eyes like tears. Yet fate or fortune had forced her to live on. This couldn’t be mere co-incidence could it? No matter how much she tried to convince herself that fortune was a hollow concept, that fate was just something that would come with time, both had continued to haunt her. And never more obviously than now. 

Finally, she could dwell no longer. She slid down off the top of the boulder and looked up at the unblinking necron cryptek. 

‘I’ll do it.’ 


_++Entry 6661++​
Will this never end? Never have I dared to have as much hope as I do right now. At best, the Calamity will be undone. At worst, I will have the opportunity to revisit my past. 

No. That’s a foolish thought. It could get much worse than that.

At worst I will learn something terrifying. Something I didn’t want to know. 

What if it can’t be undone? What if it can’t be stopped? That would be... 

That would be your cruellest joke to date. 

++End++​_


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 10*

_Maechu led his newest charge through the main dome of the seers and into a private chamber. The young girl clutched the jewel at her chest with a sense of nervousness and curiosity in equal measure. The farseer had told her this stone would be essential to her safety and her future, but the child at this point did not understand why. 

At last they stopped, and Maechu looked around at the blank, perfectly white rounded walls of this room. The child did likewise, wincing slightly as the door closed behind them and vanished from view. ‘What is this place?’ She asked. 

‘This is called the Chamber of Solitude.’ Maechu answered. ‘There are several of these on every craftworld, and their importance is beyond compare. Do you remember the nightmares you have been experiencing?’ 

‘Yes?’ She answered fearfully. Memories of a fearsome god taunting her in her dreams, threatening to swallow her soul and feel her writhe in agony for eternity came back to her and she began trembling involuntarily. 

‘This place protects you from that.’ Maechu said, smiling warmly. ‘And when we’re done, that stone around your neck will protect you no matter where you go so long as you always wear it.’ _



* * *



The necron’s vessel was one of unique design, similar to the typical crescent raider transports used by its kind. However it informed her that the weaponry had been removed in favour of additional transport capacity. She had asked further questions of course, but it had grown impatient and boarded its ship before she could protest. Unsure of what she was meant to do, she simply stood dumbfounded until the craft rounded in the air and swept towards her. The last thing she saw was a blinding green light before losing consciousness. 

When she awoke, she was in a chamber of eerie darkness where the walls were lined with thousands of green lights. But as disturbing as this was, it was the apparatus in the centre of the darkened chamber that held her attention. It was like a throne of sorts, surrounded by a series of machines and readouts that presently were blank. 

Movement to her left caught her attention. She turned and saw a rectangle of light as a previously unseen door opened. Silhouetted by the light outside was the cryptek, now devoid of its robe and staff. As it approached where she now sat, it gestured to the throne device and indicated that she should approach. 

‘This is perhaps my greatest creation.’ It said. ‘Never before has necron science been able to attune to warp currents in a manner such as this.’ It almost sounded as though there was pride in the necron’s voice as it spoke. The eldar followed the machine to where its throne device stood and she walked in a circle around it. It was blatantly obvious that the chair was designed for her or at least a mortal psyker of similar size. She was unable to make any sense of the arcane machinery that was connected and refrained from approaching it any closer than she was. 

‘What does it do?’ She asked. 

‘It will manipulate warp currents in a very specific sense.’ The cryptek explained. ‘Previously such a thing was impossible. But with the warp stilled, it has become doable. Still difficult, but doable. As such you will still need to do most of the directing yourself.’ 

‘The warp isn’t just still.’ The eldar said to it. ‘ The warp is gone.’ 

‘That is incorrect.’ The necron corrected her. ‘Sensors indicate that the warp is still present throughout known space. Empty perhaps, but it is definitely still there.’ 

‘So how does this work?’ She asked reflexively, still unsure as to how much she could rely on the words of a machine whose senses were not as attuned as hers, at least in regards to the warp. ‘This is going to take me back in time?’ 

‘In a sense.’ It explained. ‘It serves several function. Firstly, it acts as an anchor. So no matter where you project yourself, your soul remains firmly rooted in the point of origin in the timeline. So you need not fear for your safety during your time travels.’ 

‘That’s a relief.’ She nodded with a half smile. ‘What else does it do?’ 

‘It will amplify the amount of warp energy you can generate.’ The necron continued. ‘It will also give you a rough guide on where to direct your focus. I have determined several distinct points in the timeline that I require you to investigate. These have been uploaded into the device, so you need only focus yourself on those points and you will be projected where you need to be.’ 

‘Projected?’ She asked. 

‘That is something you will need to master yourself.’ The necron answered. ‘I have the appropriate research materials from the Black Library, and I suggest you take whatever time you have available to you to study them. I am hoping that we may perform our first test of the machine within several weeks.’ 

‘You understand that I have certain needs right?’ She interjected nervously. 

‘I am aware of the limitations and requirements of mortal flesh.’ It answered. ‘This world is well capable of sustaining life, and you need not travel far to find what you need. But first, are you willing to go through with this?’ 

‘I don’t really have a choice do I?’ The eldar responded dryly. 

‘I cannot speak for you.’ It continued simply. ‘Nor can I force a decision that is contrary to free will. Not for an endeavour like this. However for you to refuse would be unfortunate in the extreme. Admittedly I would not hold this against you. But time is of the essence, so to speak.’ It stared back at the eldar for a few more moments before turning away and approaching the same doorway through which it had entered. 

The eldar watched the necron leave with a feeling of isolation and a sense of obligation. Despite having given up several times over in the last few days, she found herself still alive, still well capable of surviving and now with an opportunity to fix everything that had gone wrong. Taking another look around the chamber, the strange machine in its centre and the thousands of lights dotting the walls all over, she made her choice. 

She approached the doorway leading outside and looked at the world she had been brought to. It was a veritable paradise of unchecked foliage and evidence of wildlife. The further she walked, the more her smile spread. Oh, the joy of being in a place like this had been gone for too long and the sight of such thriving life in a dead galaxy caused her to break down in tears of joy. A soft breeze blew through her ragged hair and took her sobbing breaths far from where she had stood. And then, like a tidal wave of emotion, it dawned on her. One day this would all be gone. Like every other living thing, like her friends and family, her erstwhile trading partners... It would all fade and die unless she could save it. 

Without her realizing it, her tears of joy had become those of despair and distraught. The thought of all this fading somehow made the Calamity seem so much more real. It was then she realized that her only coping mechanism had been holding back decades of grief. Grief that until now had been too deeply repressed. 

Struggling to blank her mind, to bur the thoughts that were now threatening to consume her sanity, she ran back inside. She did her best to bury the thoughts that had surfaced once more. She forced herself to venture deeper into this necrontyr labyrinth until she found the repository of ancient texts that the cryptek had spoken of. She smiled to herself between her frantic breathing. Books. Books had always been a means of escape, of memory and comfort. She grabbed the first one she found from the expansive bookshelves before her and found herself a place to sit. The light was dim, with only the dotted walls to read by, but she made do as she could. 

It was not long before she found herself engrossed in the past glory of her race... 



_++Entry 6662++​
I have discovered the means to the galaxy’s salvation. The means to deny you your greatest prize. I am going to find out what you are and what you did. And I will stop you. I will prevent this bleak existence from becoming reality. 

Part of me fears that, if you truly are playing games with me, I have no real chance of preventing this. But I am beginning to doubt this now. If you really wanted me, you’ve had ample opportunity before now. And it seems you’ve missed your chance. 

The farseers of my kind were possessed of more talents than I realized it seems. I had known of their talent for seeing the past and the future. I had known of their ability to steer timelines and direct us towards a favourable future. I had not known however, that they had the ability to change the past. 

With due reason it seemed. The records in my hands right now tell of drastic measures taken by the seers of old. The disastrous consequences, and the laughter of the ancient Yngir. The practice had been abandoned, but never forgotten lest the mistakes be repeated. 

I was never trained as a psyker. But the Warp here is all but spent. The timeline of my origin point all but ensures my safety no matter where I project myself in time. I would be visible as such to those with the perception to see what I was, but on the surface I would simply be another eldar walking around. Further reading would teach me the art of illusion, allowing me to alter my projection to appear human if I wished. 

Days have passed since I was brought here now. Knowing how and what I must do is one thing, but success is completely another. Preparation for this will require exercise and practice. My host seems content to leave me to my own devices for now.

Once upon a time, I might have prayed too... 

++End++​ _


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Most portentous.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

More needs to happen now. Future chapters will likely be significantly larger.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 11*

_‘You will be mine one day.’ The figure said. ‘It matters not what measures you take to prevent it. I will own you. Just as I will own every last one of your kind.’ 

‘Leave me alone!’ The child sobbed. She tried to turn away, to run or to hide but there was no running from this nightmare, no hiding from this inevitability. She closed her eyes and crouched into a ball, shielding herself with her hands. But the nightmarishly perfect face of the being leered at her behind her own eyelids and she screamed. 

She screamed as she sat bolt upright in her cot with the laughter of the cruel deity still ringing in her mind. The night cycle of Ulthwe shrouded the craftworld in darkness and the small chamber that served as he bedroom was similarly veiled in darkness. She shivered despite the warmth provided by the craftworld’s climate regulators. She sweated despite the lack of any humidity. At her chest, the waystone she wore burned against her skin. 

Maechu had warned her that the stone would take time to completely attune to her innate psychic signature, and in that time the nightmares may get momentarily worse than normal. It was normal, he said, for the Great Enemy to increase her grip as she felt eldar souls slipping from her sight. But knowing that didn’t make the reality any less terrifying. 

But eternity was an incredibly long time, and a god’s patience was limitless... _


* * *​

The aforementioned time was up and as she had expected from her host, the cryptek had returned at the precise minute of two weeks since its last words. The eldar met its blank gaze with the stoic glare of her own strained eyes. With a simple nod of greeting, she stood and awaited what it had to say. Much to her confusion, it said nothing and seemed to await her thoughts instead. 

‘I’ve... made some progress.’ She said at last. Which, while true, she suspected was less than the necron wanted to hear. 

‘Do you feel you are up to the task?’ The cryptek demanded. 

‘That I cannot answer.’ The eldar said, truthfully this time. ‘However I do feel that I have adequate knowledge to attempt a trip into the past.’ There was silence for a few moments as the cryptek seemed to consider the options. It could allow her to continue studying, but this would take longer and offered little further reward at this point. The alternative was much more appealing. In the very least, they would know if her psychic abilities were up to the task. 

‘Then let us try.’ It said. ‘I have a moment in mind where the risk would be minimal. You will find details of this within the device itself. So I will allow you to make whatever preparations you believe necessary and then make your first trip to the past.’ 

She nodded in agreement before the cryptek turned and left, presumably to make its own preparations. Feeling that she shouldn’t waste too much time, she closed the book she had been studying and made her way back to the main chamber where the strange device stood. Approaching with trepidation, every step brought a new question, a new form for fear to take. She sook the doubts from her mind and took her seat within the control throne. The cryptek was nowhere to be seen, but thankfully the device seemed straightforward enough. As promised, the machine contained a number of pre programmed destinations in time, and it was the one atop the list named test that she entered as the co-ordinates. 

The readout was complicated, displayed in a muddled mix of eldar runes and necron glyphs. She could only surmise its attempts to translate its own language to hers had only met with limited success and did her best to fill in the gaps. It seemed to be pointing her to a specific point in time not too far back. The machine seemed to have sent a beacon to that exact point. As she inhaled deeply and opened her mind to the warp, she could feel its presence echoing. 

At the moment, she was only looking through space. It required a measure of focus and conscious effort to shift her warp vision to see through time. Sweat beaded her forehead as she got closer and closer to success, until at last her mind’s eye looked out upon a swirling mass of events both past, future and now. The beacon shone brighter now, blaring its way through and giving her a sense of direction as she achingly projected herself from her body into the swirling chaos before her. She noted with some relief that the cryptek had not been mistaken in its assumption that the device would protect her. She felt as though she was walking through a tunnel towards her destination. Masses of screaming daemons and shoals of warp predators careened towards her only to be hurled back by the barrier the machine placed around her. 

The beacon grew closer and closer, and she increased her pace. Her projected form felt somehow stronger than her physical form and she pushed herself harder than she thought possible. Throughout it all however, she could not deny the presence that watched from deep in the shadows. It had waited ten thousand years and more. It had lost the means to claim its final prize. And now she was willingly walking back to where it could reach her. 

No. The Great Enemy was dead in her anchor point. If anything happened to her here she would only return back there. Slaanesh could not hurt her. 

So she told herself, but even thinking the name seemed to incite a shallow headache now. She increased her pace yet again. The beacon was just in front of her now, so close she could reach out... Reach out and... Yes! The beacon’s light was warm to the touch, but that was not the end of it. She pushed herself here, cutting through the barriers of warpspace and realspace with an ease that made the surrounding daemons cry out in envy and rage. The beacon’s light faded... to be replaced with natural daylight. 

She fell to her hands and knees onto a patch of grass and panted heavily. As much as she wanted to throw up at that moment, it was as though her stomach was completely empty and she couldn’t even manage a dry retch. Footsteps from nearby caught her attention and she pushed herself to her feet with an ease that surprised her. She stood now in a small clearing surrounded by eerily familiar trees. It was after a few more moments that she remembered them from her past few weeks of hunting in these very forests. She was on the same planet as she had been before. 

The footsteps sounded from her left and she turned to see the cryptek emerge from the tree line. ‘So you have succeeded.’ It said. ‘Excellent. All readings are as I suspected. You have the same energy signature as a warp entity when you project yourself like this.’ 

‘What?’ She stammered. ‘I’m like a... daemon?’ The realization was far from comforting to know that this was how a manifested daemon perceived he world. Suddenly her lack of physical weakness made sense. Even her perceived feelings of dizziness and nausea had passed now, seemingly having lost their hold now that she realized she was not wearing her own flesh. 

‘If that is what you call them, then yes.’ The necron answered her question. ‘You should take this opportunity to test your limits. See what your projected form is capable of.’ 

‘Alright...’ She nodded, though in truth she had little idea of exactly what she was supposed to do here. ‘How far back are we?’ As she waited for the answer, she approached the nearest tree and reached out a hand.

‘Three weeks, one week before your arrival here.’ It told her. ‘Was projecting yourself here difficult?’ 

‘Well, it wasn’t exactly easy.’ She replied. ‘But I think I could manage further without too much trouble.’ She drew her hand back and struck in a simple punch against the tree trunk. The entire tree shook violently and a number of loose leaves began to flitter to the ground. 

‘That was rather impressive given the limitations of your mortal form.’ The cryptek observed.

‘Impressive indeed...’ The eldar nodded with a smile. Her mind began racing with thoughts of what she could accomplish. She wondered if this was how a daemon felt when it tore its way through to reality. She also began to wonder if the same limitations would apply to her. Would she eventually fade from reality and return to her point of origin? Or would she have to consciously decide to make that return journey herself? 

‘Now then.’ The cryptek interrupted her reverie. ‘Shall we try something harder?’ 


_++Entry 6663++​

I have done it! I have travelled through time and I have witnessed the past. I have seen the path to salvation. I have seen the possibility of once again witnessing a galaxy of life... and by extension death. But even if that life must die, it is a welcome sight from the endless nothing that has become my only company. 

I had doubts before this, but no more. I have proven myself capable. I know I can do this. I will lay down my life if it will beyond doubt restore everyone else’s. But what more could I change? With time and practice, how much further back could I go? What other tragedies could I prevent from coming to pass? The Fall? The Great Betrayal of the Primarch Horus? The War in Heaven itself? 

If I can get strong enough... If I can withstand the immense distance, the vast gulf of time... I can accomplish anything. 

I am sure of it. 

++End++​_


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## VulkansNodosaurus (Dec 3, 2010)

I've recently read through all of this, and greatly enjoyed it- making 40K even worse is difficult, but _killing everything to start the story off_ works in that regard. Well-written, and the future (past?) promises to be interesting as well.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*Part 12*

_The nightmares had faded as the elder child grew, becoming more secure with her own dreams and able to sleep without fear. She attended the teachings of the seers as all elder did at her age, to be educated on the fundamental ways of their kind and learn the truths and dangers of the universe and the realm beyond. She learned history and legend alike, questioning as many did the hazy boundary between the two. _

_Had things been different, there may have been a chance for her to choose a path like her Mother or Father… or perhaps even a seer. _




* * *​ 


Several days. The trip through time lasted three and a half days before her warp projection began to fade and she awoke back in the cryptek’s device once more. It had been a learning experience like none she’d known in her long life. Her physical abilities were far in excess of what her real body was capable of when she focused on specific tasks. 

But she had also found her limits. Physical damage still caused her pain, and she still exerted energy with every action, leading to her eventual dissipation and return to her bleak present in the cold throne of the necron’s design. 

‘That was quite impressive.’ Its voice brought her mind to focus. ‘And it seems your projected form is quite capable of anything you may require of it.’ It took a step forward and took note of the reading out display. 

‘Should I… go back to before…?’ The elder asked. ‘I feel like I could see what I needed to.’ She tried to project an air of confidence, but her voice wavered on the last couple words. She immediately regretted the show of weakness as the machine creature turned its hollow gaze to hers. 

‘What is this? You have no cause to be uncertain, your abilities are adequate.’ It told her. ‘Your tone suggests some kind of… unease.’ 

‘It’s just that… I don’t know if I can do this anymore. To see those who I accepted as dead so many years ago. To stand there and…speak to them?’ She felt the tears beginning to well up, but fought them back. 

‘Then don’t.’ The necron replied simply, his tone almost sounding cruel in her ears. ‘This is not a means for you to simply spend time with your loved ones. This is a serious endeavor to undo the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the universe. I would hope the gravity of this situation be sufficient to keep your mind on task.’ 

‘It is… I just, I thought…’ She could not answer the cryptek’s piercing glare. How could a creature that had embraced death long ago possibly comprehend what she was experiencing at a time like this? Her entire world had been shattered and incinerated, and now she had a chance to save it, or at the very least, see it again before she too faded to nothing. ‘Never mind. I’ll do it.’ 


It was another full day before she had steeled herself enough to speak with the necron face to face once again. To its credit, it seemed to at least grasp the concept of emotion and what detriment they could cause her, as it left the issues of earlier that day to rest. Her heart raced as she took her place within the mechanism and prepared her mind for what was to come.

‘The path is laid out, you will arrive at a point in time one day before the Calamity occurs.’ It explained. ‘You must make use of your refined senses, see if you can identify a specific trigger, something that we can prevent.’ 

‘I will.’ She answered, giving her nod for it to activate the throne. She felt the pull of the re-created skein the device used to interface itself, allowing her mind to project itself with clarity and precision. The path through time was littered with what looked like beacons and forks in the road, but there was one which she knew to be her true target. The last moment of calm passed her and she once again saw the Warp full of life and death that had been the final day before it all vanished. Steeling her soul, she directed herself to a very specific location. She knew where she wanted to be when this happened. For a brief moment there was a glimmer across her vision, like a vast malevolent eye that stared through her. And then she was standing on soft grass. 

* * *​ 
Ulthwe… She was home… Her heart pounded in her chest, the warp stuff that comprised her body feeling suddenly very vulnerable as her memories came flooding back. The sky cycle was set to morning, the air was cool and crisp, the sounds of singing birds echoed from the park that surrounded her. She looked around, forcing herself to focus on one thing at a time so as not to be overwhelmed. The trees… Swaying gently. The sound of a flowing brook… And footsteps. 

She turned suddenly, seeing the form of a small child approaching her cautiously. She had to keep herself from breaking down in tears as she recognized the young eldar’s face… One of her childhood companions. 

‘Hello?’ The boy asked. ‘You just came out of nowhere…’ There was a sense of admiration in the boys tone and his stare, and as she looked down at herself she realized that her mind had projected itself in the image of her as she had been, complete with the stealth cloak worn by eldar corsairs. 

‘Oh, uhh, yes. The cloak you see?’ She demonstrated its effects to the boy, eliciting a smile and a nod from him. ‘You seem to have managed to sneak up on me too, impressive for someone with no training.’ She struggled to suppress a smile and mostly failed. Not only was she home, she was speaking to one of her oldest friends! Never in her last fifty years had she believed such a thing to be possible! 

‘Yea?’ His eyes lit up at the praise. ‘Maybe one day I could be like you? Do you think?’ 

‘Oh… maybe?’ She replied, her smile slowly starting to fade. ‘Why would you want that? It’s not like this is… easy.’ 

‘But you get to go wherever you want!’ The boy exclaimed. ‘Isn’t that why you joined the rangers?’ His eyes were still full of the naivety and innocence that only a child could know. It was heart wrenching to her knowing that he would end like this. ‘Listen… I need to go somewhere now. There’s someone I need to speak with. But I urge you, don’t be so eager to leave this place… Stay here for as long as it’s good to you. This is home after all…’ 

She left the boy to ponder his not to exist future and looked to the Dome of the Seers. She had to see Maechu, and she knew he’d be there on this day… 

The Dome was every bit as majestic as she remembered. The pathway to the center of the craftworld was like walking down a living memory. The spirit stones of generations littered the pillars and gave a sense of life. It was enchanting, and in her projected form she could sense them even more. And… somehow… they could sense her too. 

It was an unnatural sensation, to be looked upon like something that had come home, and at the same time didn’t belong. Her feet suddenly became heavier and she began to struggle to keep balanced. Her feet slipped and she dropped to one knee in exhaustion. This was not right. Her form was that of a daemon, and the dome of the seers would not tolerate her presence here… 




_++Entry 6665++_​_
_

_Home has… rejected me. To see it even this once, I thought this would be everything I ever wanted. But now it will not allow me to tread the heart of what made the eldar who we are. The very spirit of this place despises me, but this is only its nature. Such a perfect essence cannot recognize the creature I have become nor the form I take… _

_But this is not my only grievance… With no way to access the innermost sanctum of the seers, I cannot speak with Maechu. And I just know that he is my only way to figure this out. 
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_++End++_​


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Thought I'd pull this back up to focus and see if I can finish it up. I don't expect it to be a quick job, I did have a lot planned for this.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

I've always enjoyed your posts, but your writing is creative and easy to read. Please keep the story going, it has a tremendous potential!


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## Beaviz81 (Feb 24, 2012)

It's interesting to skim through the thoughts of a guy i don't agree with on basically everything, and to see his fiction. Its a good work from what I have skimmed through (this is honestly as I don't mean to bash or anything). 

Then again I'm very distracted right now as I think someone made Space Marines with antlers and I must tell them thats a bad idea without sounding like a total wanker.


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