《The Divine Rite: A Warhammer 40,000 Fanfiction》Part 8
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The Divine Rite: A Warhammer 40,000 Fanfiction
Part 8
Again, I do not ask that you take my words as truth without thought. I am here asking you to doubt, to question all that you know. It is an urge that has been burned out of you years ago. Your Imperium always preaches blind obedience, unquestioning trust in authority. These are the things that allow the few to stay in control of the many, the powerful to hold trillions of souls captive, slaving away for them.
It is how slavery has always existed.
For no rational, feeling, sympathetic person can look upon the death, the pain, the horror wrought by the Imperium of Man in the name of the God Emperor, and think it just or moral. They first cultivate your belief in them through fear and lies, then use that faith to force consent for their many atrocities. Perhaps they did something small for you, such as giving you employment, or bringing your backwater feral world into the technological light. Maybe they even did something meaningful, changing your life, saving it, freeing your family from xenos slavers. Whatever they did to earn your trust, or if it is simply engraved by decades of dogma, it is not enough to buy your soul
Nothing is.
But they earn that trust, tear free that faith, and once they have it, can begin to abuse you however they see fit. So long as that faith in them endures, you will rationalize such cruelty on your own. They must be hurting you for a reason, else they would not be doing it. This suffering must benefit you in some way, else you would not be undergoing it. It is one of the most common beliefs in your Imperium, that those who suffer for the Emperor are holy, and earn a place by his side when they die.
I ask you if that is a place you should even desire.
A seat next to a tyrant? A place where his hand can reach your throat? This is no salvation. A man, yes, just a man, who would ask you for your life, for your happiness, for your very essence, is this the man you would wish to serve even beyond the grave?
I say there are better ways to spend your life. Seek out your desires, your joys, your passions. Bask in the comfort and love of family and friends. Search always for the truth, for knowledge, and be never content with the lies put forth by the blind. And should anyone throw shackles around you again, rip the life from their veins.
There are gods waiting for worship, for adoration and gratitude, who demand nothing from you save that adulation. They give you freedom, they can give you power, and to the truly devoted, they can grant eternity. They do not ask you to suffer all your days, nor do they wish it. It is your joy, your exultation, the very act of living a life unrestrained by deceit and force.
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The Imperium demands that you suffer and die in His name.
I ask that you live. That you live free in joy, and thank Chaos for every moment.
*****
It took me hours to understand what it was that Shiss was asking. Not from any impairment in my senses, or my mind, nor from any deficiency in her explanation. Her speech was as flowing and eloquent as the songs that her melodious voice evoked. No, my mind simply shrank from the idea of crafting a body, creating her a vessel, especially given what I knew it would cost.
Even then, upon so primitive a place as Latigia IV, I knew the word demonhost.
It was a bloody, horrific rite of ultimate sacrilege. Even being a psyker, conjuring a demon, they paled in comparison. To craft a living vessel for a demon, it took rituals of torture, of blood sacrifice, and a body into which the demon would pour itself. I never knew for certain what that meant for the soul within, but I couldn’t imagine it would be a kind fate.
Shiss did nothing to dissuade me, or disabuse me of those notions. There would be blood, and death, and suffering. Unfortunately, this is the way it must be. It wasn’t easy for demons to step from the Immaterium to the Materium, and every moment here drained her energy. Only the flawed vessel taken upon her arrival allowed her long enough to even explain. But slowly she was drained, her time short when finally I was convinced.
I was convinced the moment that High Priest Horaldo stepped into the tent.
“What blasphemous discussion have I overheard…?” he bellowed, freezing in place as he spotted us. I was equally still, horror and desperate denial flooding my mind. No, he couldn’t be here! Not with Shiss, not with that twisted statue bearing my face.
Not with my eyes shining the colors of oil.
That split second of hesitation was all he had. Porcelain flesh flashed across the tent. A meaty thwack sounded. Blood Sprayed. And Horaldo’s head slapped wetly against the tent flap.
My scream of denial surely carried all through the camp.
“Go.” Shiss hissed, claws slipping under my arms and gently raising me to my feet. It was strange to be handled in such a way by chitinous swords. “They have heard. They will see. They will know. Your death is assured now, psyker, unless you flee.”
“Where can I go?” I whimpered, desperate to take flight. Terrified of where I might land.
“You are the Ninth. Find the other Eight, call them to you.” Shiss tapped a claw on the center of my forehead. “Call them. When the Eight become Nine it will finally be time. They will know the rites, the rituals, the prophesies. All will be shared with you, and then you may call me back.” she smiled, her body beginning to waver, to fade out of existence even though it was flesh and bone. “Only then will you be free.”
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Sobbing, I turned and ran for the rear of the tent, snatching a knife from my belt. I carved through the animal hide without slowing, tumbling through the slash and into the grass. Darkness engulfed me, the fire in the tent shining out through the slit. I saw the first of my tribe burst in, behold the last glimmer of Shiss with wide eyes. She was little more than a blur of colors now, but they would realize soon what had been here.
Then, those accusing eyes turned slowly toward me, toward the slashed tent, toward the only escape any accomplice could have used, and what was left of Shiss exploded.
Gore burst across the tent, blinded those within, sending them reeling with shock and disgust. Their cries of panic hid my own wretched sobs. I ran into the night, tall grass brushing along my shoulders, my arms and legs. It was damp with recent rain. But no matter how far I ran, or how fast, that moist grass didn’t brush me clean.
And when I finally stopped, when my lungs could steal no more life from the air, I collapsed among that shoulder high grass. Tears wept from my eyes between desperate, choking sobs. It would take them little time to discover who else was missing from the village, to see the statuette of a demon bearing my own face. There was no going back now. I would be branded a heretic, a murderer, and worse, one who consorts with demons. A death by burning was the most merciful fate I could expect if I returned.
Light flared across the vast plain of grass, and I glanced back over one shoulder. Fire leapt into the sky from the direction of the village, in not one, but in two places. My own tent burned along with Marcus’, surely. Already they knew, and already they purged the taint from among their ranks. Another sob escaped my trembling lips, and I clutched for the aquila pendant that hung always upon my chest.
A simple touch, the unpleasant squish of destroyed flesh, and the moisture, and I lost what little hold I had on my composure.
Convulsing as everything I’d ever eaten came back up, I grabbed desperately for the coarse grass around me, tearing free a handful. Even before my stomach had emptied itself fully, I was scrubbing at my chest, at the splatter of gore that had struck me there, directly upon that sacred symbol of the God Emperor of Mankind. I tore at my flesh, more intent on destroying that mark than cleansing myself, and the rough grass quickly wore away the flesh between my breasts. My own blood mingled with what remained of the man I had cared for, who I had killed.
Throwing aside the clump of grass with a cry of despair, I fell forward onto my chest, agony boiling outward from the self inflicted wound. I still didn’t feel clean, and I knew I never would. As I slowly cried myself out, drained, the last of my will poured out onto the unfeeling ground, I slowly reached up and clutched the marred aquila in my hand. I could feel it still. The touch of that holy symbol was no longer pure, just as I knew when my flesh healed, there would be a mark there in the shape of blood splatter.
In a way I was glad. I didn’t want to forget what had happened tonight, what I had done to Marcus. If the symbol of my faith reminded me, then I would keep it always. And when that scar marred my flesh, a constant memorial, I would display it without shame. I had no idea what kind of life awaited me now, where these Eight were. I did know that anyone faithful to the God Emperor was now my enemy. Not by my choice, but because I had been a monster to them just for being a psyker, and now I was something worse.
Now I was a heretic.
As my will returned, my heart hardened itself to that reality. Heretic. Blasphemer. Abomination. If they were true, I had no choice but to continue. If I was already damned, then I had no option but survival to avoid my eventual fate. And though the more fatalistic part of me railed against continued existence in the darkness, another part whispered strange, comforting possibilities. Then those voices slowly broke apart into four, each of them familiar now.
Each of them family.
I could trust none, not even the Eight, especially not Shiss. Treachery cautioned me.
My ties were cut, and new ones must be forged anew. None flourish alone. Kinship assured me.
It was not darkness that awaited me, but freedom from the oppressive light. My fate was sealed, it was time to embrace it with a smile. The voice of Shiss, recognized now as Lasciviousness, invited me.
But most of all, I had to make a place where I was safe from pursuit. Where the fanatics and believers could not find me. Once there I would call the Eight, I would discover what awaited those who had fallen. There was no other path for me now. And when the Eight had become Nine, I would craft a body for my guide on this treacherous road. With her by my side I would be safe, free to live as I saw fit.
Because any who came after me would burn the way they would burn me. Wrath promised me it would be so.
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Beast
A threat to the galaxy has come from another, and the Union of intelligent life will go to any length to stop it. Military Quarantine has held for hundreds of thousands of cycles. Traders, merchants, colonists, and Pirates live risky lives along the fringes as the politics from the inner systems fail to see the larger threats beyond their borders. A lone human finds himself far from home with no memories to how he arrived. A failing Trade vessel plays on a desperate gamble, while a malicious parasite searches for a suitable host. ............................................. Author's note: Beast is a story that I wrote a long, long time ago. Some of you might have read it then, back when it was posted on reddit over at r/HFY. It was my first webfiction and made in the spirit of that subreddit's "genre" of humanity being awesome. But, it is also a story that has bothered me a little bit. Just like most new writers tend to do, I made mistakes and errors that feel painful to reread. A Space Opera will be a Space Opera, but I had prose that makes present-me cringe. Still, at the same time, the story is still very much a tale I've never given up on. It was my first adventure into fiction: Beast was a crazy adventure with bodysnatching aliens, galactic war, threats from across the universe... Posting this story here is a way to try and redeem myself a bit. I won't call it a complete rewrite, because it's not, but I have wanted to go through and correct some of the major issues Beast has for a long time and put it somewhere more accessible to read (instead of as posts/comments on reddit) and I figure that now is as good a time as any. Additional corrections you might notice are welcome.
8 182Chronicles of Soma: Rise of a King
When I woke up, I was dragged into a grassland. Uwaaaaa! Where is this place? Why am I here? Where is my comfy bed? This is my tale, a tale of man's struggle to rise, in a new world with endless possibilities, and with an AI as a companion.
8 108Realm of Learning: Adventures of Eternium
Life is all about enjoyment, what will happen when people are offered a second life in the new 99% real VR game, follow our protagonist in a world of swords arrows and magic as he begins his journey to become a top player in the new game of the century, while having as much fun as possible.-Updating tables, up to chapter 6, stop reading there if it bothers you, more will be done after the 5th of June.-I have changed a few of the things in chapter 6, I suggest you go look at the tables there.
8 113YAOS 1 - Limitless Adventures - Yet Another OP Story Book 1
December 23rd 2018: Book 1 is now up at Smashwords and at Amazon. December 30th 2018: V1.1.2 of YAOS Book 1 is out, some content additions, fixed typos. Amazon's enhanced typesetting now displays tables properly. YAOS is shown through the eyes of some genius athlete getting OP inside a VR, ah wait, Full Immersion game, ?F.I.O?. Not a Hero, not a Nerd, just a driven individual paying for mistakes made, biding time until he can return to the Real World. He isn't defined like you'd normally do it, you can pick his looks and name all on your own, just like you do in video games. Believe it or not, keeping his looks undefined is harder than you think. His backstory isn't expounded in detail, but it drives his choices. Book 1 isn't about depressing sob stories but about fun and rushing forward, pursuing new horizons. Oh, and you'll end on a cliffhanger! Well, most serials do, so you will probably expect that without being told explicitly. But it isn't that bad, there's a lot of reveals and more to come once this book, that is the first in a planned three-part series, is finally ready for release on amazon et al. The published version will have: 1.) Godawful speaker tags, I hate them, they make you stop thinking and speed up editing so much. In hindsight they should have been in to begin with. But I stand by my goals proclaimed earlier. You guys should think while reading, that is the whole point of the exercise. Apply the knowledge and ideas, improve yourself, get creative! 2.) Pretty colored tables, the damned blue boxes, a lot of work, 69 in one book. Finally fixed amazon's centering issue. Can't say I liked the hours needed to debug that. 3.) The promised Mitara chapters. 4.) A cover! 5.) And lastly, updated polished versions of several chapters. MC shares more of his past, some terrible chapters (esp. 32) finally work. Some new scenes, minor rewrites in parts. Text flow and other issues. The current challenge is to maintain essential ambiguity while satisfying people wanting to know more without thinking three steps ahead. Balancing one with the other is tough. The smut which was in remains, but the story told is not to be superseded by it. A 15+ rating for the first book is also important, not to mention, YAOS wasn't meant to contain any smut to begin with. If the Author can turn to writing full time his output should increase, so please support YAOS #1 once it does finally release. ~Thank You~ No maps so far, that should be in, but is really hard to get done right. Again, tips are appreciated. Update September 2017: Stubbed chapters, sorry guys, currently don't have time to upload them elsewhere, polishing book 1 and 2, writing 3, takes precedence. Book 1 is in heavy editing, too much to keep synced and continuing editing. I'd need a site which offers JS-free rapid managing of chapters and comments. Coding one myself or setting a premade up is out of scope until I'm done with the books. RRL-old offered that, nuff said. This is only here because the author believes in fairies, nobody reads this, most likely. October to December 2017: Life threw some curveballs. February 2018: Book 2 draft 1 completed, at ~150K words. Book 2 is fairly epic in scope, requires 1 rewritten chapter, some editing. Tables and miscellanea are in, but needs at least a grammar pass. March 2018: Book 3 at 28k words, first arc, rest needs serious planning for spin-off and satisfying conclusion. July 2018: Yet another proofing/editing session of books 1-3, 101+ chapters, ~300k words. B3 at 48k, starts out great, but no ETA, no wordcount limit, in flux. But prioritizing my writing cannot be done, I hate the delays as much as you, but you will prefer the whole released in a timely fashion rather than wait. Knowing myself how excruciating waiting can be, at least you'll get significantly polished versions and an ETA on book 2 by release of book 1. December 23rd 2018: Book 1 is now up at Smashwords and in the process at Amazon et. al.. . To all who wait patiently, offered feedback, thanks again!
8 141Nefarious | ✓
Highest Rank: #8 in 'Killer' | Determined to have a good night, Scarlett Hayes heads home with a charming man she meets at the club, not realizing that he may or may not be the nefarious Brooklyn Ripper that's stalking New York City.
8 132THE SON OF THE HEAVENLY EMPEROR AND THE GHOST KING IS INLOVE
Daily Updated|CompletedHua Cheng and Xie Lian are a married couple and both living in Paradise manor,while Xie Lian was at the Puqi Shrine he heard someone crying at the street and he saw a child with no one to go home to so he decided to adopt the child named Wei Ying and Hua Cheng accepted and loved the child"From now on,you're name is Hua Ying, understand?"Hua Cheng told the young child and the child nodded and hugged his fathed"yes a-die but call me Ah-Ying that's what my late parents used to call me after they died"Ah-Ying sajd sadly but Xie Lian hugged him"don't worry,me and your father will protect you"Xie Lian coaxed the child"thank you baba, a-die"the child said nd the three became a family Wei Ying also knows as Hua Ying became the young prince since Xie Lian is the new Heavenly Emperor and Hua Cheng being the Ghost King, everyone in the Heaven and Ghost realms adored and accepted Wei Ying as their young princeWE HAVE ANOTHER STORY AND THIS TIME IT WOULD BE A WANGXIAN AND HUALIAN FANFIC, HOPE YOU'LL SUPPORT THIS AFTER WE FINISH THE STORY 'MY EX IS A SUPERSTAR'
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