"Done," you say.

Olive extends a hand, which you grip and shake extensively. Castus extends his hand, which you grab, but he twists your arm around, causing you to yelp painfully. He kicks away your foot and sends you to your knee, before bringing his sword up to your throat.

"Dead," he says with a smile.

"Well shit, Castus, what's wrong with you?"

"What? I was just preparing him for fighting. I thought we were supposed to be training him. First lesson, kid: trust no one. Now, get up."

Olive offers you a hand, smiling.
> You get up yourself
You try to stand up, but Castus kicks you in the stomach again. You groan and collapse onto the floor, before Castus puts his foot on your head.

"Second rule: the first rule is bullshit. You know who doesn't trust anyone? Bastards like Kyros who ends up with no loyal friends, no allies, nothing, and then end up alone, with no one. If you want to survive in this world, you need allies."

Castus offers his hand to you, which you accept. He pulls you up, before kneeing you in the stomach and tossing you to the ground.

"Come on, you're not learning. First rule: trust no one. Don't you listen?"

"I was going my the second rule," you say, groaning.

"Sometimes, the first rule is more important than the second rule," Castus shrugs.

"How the fuck am I supposed to tell the difference between which rule to us?" you ask, annoyed.

"Beats me. When you find out, you'll be the most powerful warlord in history. Until  then, you just go off gut feeling and intellect."

"Seems like a shitty system," you say, as Castus finally lets you stand up.

"Seems like a shitty world you're in. That system is the best I have to offer. Now, rule three: in hand to hand combat, go for the weak spots. The throat, eyes and balls are always good, but when it comes to half these fucks, I'd stick to the eyes, because past that, I don't know what you have left. Observe."

Castus flips his sword so he holds the blade, wrapping his sleeve around the blade so it doesn't bite into his fingers as much. He steps forward, swinging his sword with insane speed. The pommel slams into your throat before jabbing you in the eyes, leaving you to stumble backwards. You quickly close your legs together before Castus jabs the pommel into your groin, and you collapse backwards with a pained yelp.

"See? Effective," Castus smiles. "Rule four: you can win through many ways. Pain submission, incapacitating them, or simply taking their lives. Judge which can be used to take down your enemies. For instance, in your case, pain is the way forward."

You're growing tired of being hit in the face. As Castus steps forward with his sword raised, you decide you're going to do something to dissuade him from continuing to hit you.


You duck your head, the knife flying just over your head and cluttering to the floor behind you.

"Good catch," Castus says.

You grab the knife, taking a practice stab.

"What do you think?"

"It's a knife," you say simply.

"Yeah, it is. Do you like it? Does it feel good?" Castus says.

"I don't know anything about knives. Maybe," you say.

"Alright, first, we need to talk. Is anyone watching us? Like, are there cameras?"

"No. Well yes, but they're offline," Olive says, resting her head on the butt of her axe-gun. "What is it?"

"A plan is being formed. We're going to escape."

"Escape?" Olive says, musing. "Who's on our side?"

"We have a large amount of people on our side. Elios, Elizabeth and Durge are bringing the weight of their war-bands, as well as most, if not all, of the Guardsmen here. Then there's the Goliaths and the Tribals, both of whom are with us."

"What...?"

"Because I've done this twice before, I best say. We have no plans yet. They're to be decided. We have literally nothing. We just need to check whether you'll join us. Then, we'll get the leaders together to plan our to take over, and what to do with once we've actually done so."

"Huh. Well, I'm in," Castus says.

"What?" Olive asks, surprised.

"Yeah, I'm in," Castus says.

"We don't know the plan, we don't have any assurances that we won't be back-stabbed as soon as we take over, we..."

"Olive, let's be smart here. If we don't rebel, we'll definitely either be killed fighting Kyros' war, killed trying to put down these fuckers' mutiny, or killed fighting another arena battle for these bastard's amusement."

"If we rebel, we'll almost certainly be killed!"

"Almost certainly is way better than definitely. Plus, we'll get to kill a few of Kyros' bastards before we go down."

"Fine, I'm in, but I... we have a few demands," Olive says.

"Go on," you say.

You know the gladiators will be essential to your plans, so you really need to get them, but still, you don't want to devote to many resources to this issue.

"I want instant freedom once we take-over. No more being locked up under the arena. I want my men to have free reign to travel around the ship. I want pay, do the men and women who fight and work for the ship actually get something from it. I want an increase in food rations, and better equipment than the shit we're given. I want actual medical care, on top of this."

"That it?" you ask, annoyed with her large demands.

It'll probably take a serious amount of resources to fulfill her request. You have a few options here.

"What a fucking greedy bitch. This fucker needs a dick, I tell you that," Meliodas complains.
> You try to compromise
"I can't guarantee you all that," you say. "It's simply too expensive."

"What can you guarantee?"

"Freedom, definitely as well as free reign to travel the ship. But we're not giving you free rooms, food, equipment and medical equipment as well as pay. Pick one."

"Fine, no pay," Olive says.

"That's a deal, then," you say.

Olive extends a hand, which you grip and shake extensively. Castus extends his hand, which you grab, but he twists your arm around, causing you to yelp painfully. He kicks away your foot and sends you to your knee, before bringing his sword up to your throat.

"Dead," he says with a smile.

"Well shit, Castus, what's wrong with you?"

"What? I was just preparing him for fighting. I thought we were supposed to be training him. First lesson, kid: trust no one. Now, get up."

Olive offers you a hand, smiling.


Your eyes lull closed, and you lose consciousness.

You awake an unknown time later, lying on the metal operating table. Magos Cern stands over you, washing her implements in a basin of water. She looks at you, her cold, red eyes peering into your soul.

"Ah, you're awake. Good," she says.

"What did you put into me?" you ask.

"The biology of what I did is beyond you, flesh bag."

"Can you dumb it down for me?" you ask.

"Could one reduce concertos to the mumbled grunts of mutants?" Magos Cern asks indignantly.

"Please?"

"Fine. I increased the size of your heart by 40% and lungs  by 12%, and added several veins and arteries leading directly to the brain from the heart. These actions increase the blood flow to your brain, and should hence increase psychic abilities. I added multiple microchips that breed monocytes, other white blood cells, platelets and other helpful things for your body. That was the bulk of my work. Other than that, it was just a medical check-up."

"OK," you say.

"I have a lot of important work to do, now. You should've had enough time to recover."

Two of your massive space marine guards arrive, a roaring face on their thick helmets.

"Here you are," Magos Cern says. "Guards, make sure to walk slow. If at any point the patient starts puking blood, let him sit down for ten, maybe fifteen minutes."

"Shouldn't you keep him hearing for observation, then?" one of the guards ask.

"I have far too much work to do," Magos Cern says. "Don't disturb me. If anything goes wrong, go to Genetor Corivan. He is very experienced with medical matters."

"Yes, sir," the space marine says.

Magos Cern quickly heads off, walking off to a row of elevators. The space marines stare at you, and you climb out of bed with a groan.

"Ah, my head," you say.

"You should have headaches for the next 48 hours," Magos Cern shouts, right before she disappears into an elevator.

You stand, feeling a rush of blood hit your head. You walk after the space marines, along halls and up and down elevators, until you find yourself in the arena. Castus and Olive are there, mid-battle with each other.

"Oh look, it's tweedle-dum and tweedle-fucking idiot," Meliodas says. "Not even a laugh? Oh wait, you didn't grow up with nursery rhymes, you're from a Feral world. My bad."

Castus swings his sword at her, while Olive swings her rifle-axe up at his head. He rolls out of the way, kicking Olive's foot away and sending her to her knee, before booting her in the head. She collapses down, before rolling out of the way to avoid a downward stab by Castus. She grabs Castus' sword handle and punches him. Castus falls backwards, before taking up a fighting stance. Olive begins circling him, her gun-axe at the ready. She spots you, smiling.

"Karth's here," she says.

"Bullshit," Castus says, readying his sword.

"Karth, tell him you're here," Olive says.

"Yeah, I'm here," you say.

Castus turns to look at you, but Olive charges, swinging her gun-axe. She knocks the feet away from Castus, dropping his knee down on Castus stomach. Castus grunts before Olive grabs her gun-axe and holds it to Castus throat.

"Dead," she says.

"No fair, we were supposed to stop when Karth got here," Castus says.

"You're still dead," Olive smiles, standing up.

Castus grabs Olive's wrist, pulling her forward so his sword pokes into her stomach.

"Dead," he smiles.

"Seriously?" Olive says, rolling her eyes. "Fine, I'm dead. Are we finished yet? The kid needs training."

"Fine," Castus shrugs. "Let's start it."

Castus draws a dagger from his belt, staring at it. The blade is a bright silver, with an odd pattern etched into it. It's handle is a bright, light blue, with a short, silver horn coming from the end of the handle.

"Now, this is an absolute beauty. I really don't use it enough, so it's yours. Xenos-origin, so even owning it is heresy. The blade is razor sharp, it could cut through flesh and bone easier than it could through air. Here."

Castus turns, tossing the dagger straight at your head.
> You catch the knife
You reach up and catch the knife, cutting your fingers with the blade, blood dripping down the blade.

"Good catch," Castus says. "Try to catch the handle next time."

You grab the knife by it's handle with your other hand, licking your cut fingers clean. You hold the knife, stabbing it forward.

"What do you think?" Castus asks.

"It's a knife," you say simply.

"Yeah, it is. Do you like it? Does it feel good?" Castus says.

"I don't know anything about knives. Maybe," you say.

"Alright, first, we need to talk. Is anyone watching us? Like, are there cameras?"

"No. Well yes, but they're offline," Olive says, resting her head on the butt of her axe-gun. "What is it?"

"A plan is being formed. We're going to escape."

"Escape?" Olive says, musing. "Who's on our side?"

"We have a large amount of people on our side. Elios, Elizabeth and Durge are bringing the weight of their war-bands, as well as most, if not all, of the Guardsmen here. Then there's the Goliaths and the Tribals, both of whom are with us."

"What...?"

"Because I've done this twice before, I best say. We have no plans yet. They're to be decided. We have literally nothing. We just need to check whether you'll join us. Then, we'll get the leaders together to plan our to take over, and what to do with once we've actually done so."

"Huh. Well, I'm in," Castus says.

"What?" Olive asks, surprised.

"Yeah, I'm in," Castus says.

"We don't know the plan, we don't have any assurances that we won't be back-stabbed as soon as we take over, we..."

"Olive, let's be smart here. If we don't rebel, we'll definitely either be killed fighting Kyros' war, killed trying to put down these fuckers' mutiny, or killed fighting another arena battle for these bastard's amusement."

"If we rebel, we'll almost certainly be killed!"

"Almost certainly is way better than definitely. Plus, we'll get to kill a few of Kyros' bastards before we go down."

"Fine, I'm in, but I... we have a few demands," Olive says.

"Go on," you say.

You know the gladiators will be essential to your plans, so you really need to get them, but still, you don't want to devote to many resources to this issue.

"I want instant freedom once we take-over. No more being locked up under the arena. I want my men to have free reign to travel around the ship. I want pay, do the men and women who fight and work for the ship actually get something from it. I want an increase in food rations, and better equipment than the shit we're given. I want actual medical care, on top of this."

"That it?" you ask, annoyed with her large demands.

It'll probably take a serious amount of resources to fulfill her request. You have a few options here.

"What a fucking greedy bitch. This fucker needs a dick, I tell you that," Meliodas complains.


"Deal," you say.

"Good, good," Cain nods, extending a hand.

You grab his hand, and thankfully Cain doesn't attempt to squeeze, which would almost certainly result in your fragile bones shattering. You shake vigorously, and Cain attempts a smile. The corners of his mouth twist unnaturally high, revealing rows of serrated teeth, curved fangs, massive molars and many other weird, odd teeth, protruding from bloody, rotten gums. You smile in response, not willing to offend him.

"The beast would've taken half of what he asked for," Meliodas says.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" you say angrily.

"I presumed you knew," Meliodas replies.

"Are you OK?" Cain says. "Tell you what?"

"Uh, nothing. Sorry," you say.

"OK. Good deal," Cain says, his face contorted in what you assume is his version of a raising of the eyebrow. "Alright, best get prepared for your operation before Magos Cern gets back."

"Yeah, I should," you say.

You walk over to your operating table and quickly get undressed, before lying down. After another minute or two, Magos Cern appears, pushing a tray in front of her. One of her metallic tendrils grabs a syringe filled with a pale, translucent liquid.

"This might hurt a little. It will more likely hurt a lot more," she says.

You let out a pained yelp as she jams the syringe into your neck. She begins pushing down on the plunger as what you hope is anesthetic is pumped into you. Warm hands embrace you, pulling you into the oblivion of unconsciousness.
> You resist
You shake your head, struggling to avoid falling into unconsciousness. You take in a deep breath, flinging the warm hands away from your mind. Magos Cern continues pressing down on the plunger, shooting the remaining fluid into your blood. Your mind is gripped by a scream for sleep. Perhaps you should just embrace it.
> You resist
Magos Cern notices your struggle with indifference, refilling her syringe with anesthetic and injecting it into you again, although you can't feel the needle pierce your skin. Your eyes flutter before they roll in the back of your head. As you lose the fight to resist the void of oblivion, in the back of your mind you hear voices.

"Magos Cern, I polished the AI module."

"Good, Adept. You have gained one step forward in receiving your cybernetic upgrades."

"How long, master? My flesh is weak, my body frail, I crave the strength of steel."

"Soon, Adept, soon. Do not bother me in a time like this! We are on the brink of discovery! We have a mind older than the Emperor himself. Fifteen thousand years old! Can you imagine the knowledge it holds? Prepare Primus for start-up. I believe now is the time. I must just play with Kyros' pet's flesh, and then we will work."

"Yes, Magos. Understood, Magos."

Then, you lose all resistance and sleep takes you, leaving you powerless in its dark embrace.

You awake an unknown time later, lying on the metal operating table. Magos Cern stands over you, washing her implements in a basin of water. She looks at you, her cold, red eyes peering into your soul.

"Ah, you're awake. Good," she says.

"What did you put into me?" you ask.

"The biology of what I did is beyond you, flesh bag."

"Can you dumb it down for me?" you ask.

"Could one reduce concertos to the mumbled grunts of mutants?" Magos Cern asks indignantly.

"Please?"

"Fine. I increased the size of your heart by 40% and lungs  by 12%, and added several veins and arteries leading directly to the brain from the heart. These actions increase the blood flow to your brain, and should hence increase psychic abilities. I added multiple microchips that breed monocytes, other white blood cells, platelets and other helpful things for your body. That was the bulk of my work. Other than that, it was just a medical check-up."

"OK," you say.

"I have a lot of important work to do, now. You should've had enough time to recover."

Two of your massive space marine guards arrive, a roaring face on their thick helmets.

"Here you are," Magos Cern says. "Guards, make sure to walk slow. If at any point the patient starts puking blood, let him sit down for ten, maybe fifteen minutes."

"Shouldn't you keep him hearing for observation, then?" one of the guards ask.

"I have far too much work to do," Magos Cern says. "Don't disturb me. If anything goes wrong, go to Genetor Corivan. He is very experienced with medical matters."

"Yes, sir," the space marine says.

Magos Cern quickly heads off, walking off to a row of elevators. The space marines stare at you, and you climb out of bed with a groan.

"Ah, my head," you say.

"You should have headaches for the next 48 hours," Magos Cern shouts, right before she disappears into an elevator.

You stand, feeling a rush of blood hit your head. You walk after the space marines, along halls and up and down elevators, until you find yourself in the arena. Castus and Olive are there, mid-battle with each other.

"Oh look, it's tweedle-dum and tweedle-fucking idiot," Meliodas says. "Not even a laugh? Oh wait, you didn't grow up with nursery rhymes, you're from a Feral world. My bad."

Castus swings his sword at her, while Olive swings her rifle-axe up at his head. He rolls out of the way, kicking Olive's foot away and sending her to her knee, before booting her in the head. She collapses down, before rolling out of the way to avoid a downward stab by Castus. She grabs Castus' sword handle and punches him. Castus falls backwards, before taking up a fighting stance. Olive begins circling him, her gun-axe at the ready. She spots you, smiling.

"Karth's here," she says.

"Bullshit," Castus says, readying his sword.

"Karth, tell him you're here," Olive says.

"Yeah, I'm here," you say.

Castus turns to look at you, but Olive charges, swinging her gun-axe. She knocks the feet away from Castus, dropping his knee down on Castus stomach. Castus grunts before Olive grabs her gun-axe and holds it to Castus throat.

"Dead," she says.

"No fair, we were supposed to stop when Karth got here," Castus says.

"You're still dead," Olive smiles, standing up.

Castus grabs Olive's wrist, pulling her forward so his sword pokes into her stomach.

"Dead," he smiles.

"Seriously?" Olive says, rolling her eyes. "Fine, I'm dead. Are we finished yet? The kid needs training."

"Fine," Castus shrugs. "Let's start it."

Castus draws a dagger from his belt, staring at it. The blade is a bright silver, with an odd pattern etched into it. It's handle is a bright, light blue, with a short, silver horn coming from the end of the handle.

"Now, this is an absolute beauty. I really don't use it enough, so it's yours. Xenos-origin, so even owning it is heresy. The blade is razor sharp, it could cut through flesh and bone easier than it could through air. Here."

Castus turns, tossing the dagger straight at your head.


"Oh, really?" Fay says smiling.

"Don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah!" Fay says, smiling. "I was actually just going to ask you about that. I'm glad you said yes."

Fay smiles, before leaning in and kissing you briefly on the lips. You stare into her bright green eyes, the split-second kiss lasting for infinitely longer, feeling the warmth of her lips flood into you, before she pulls back.

"Well, that was nice. Ideally our next rendezvous is going to take place somewhere where we're not surrounded by our tribe and horrible guards who want us dead," Fay smiles. "Was that it, or was there something else?"

"Yeah, we have something important to discuss."

"Wasn't that important?" Fay asks, smiling.

"Oh no,it was, I just... I meant important for the tribe, not just for us," you say, stumbling over your words.

"It feels nice to see you've become as awkward as I just was," Fay giggles. "Now, stop spitting out words. Take a breath, and tell me what's so important."

"Rebellion."

"Oh?"

"Kyros is mad and paranoid. He's either going to slit our throats or send us on an endless string of suicide missions. We need to do something, and I really need your help. A group of collaborators have planned to rise up, and rid ourselves of Kyros. Then, we take over. I need the support of your Tribals to do so.

"Yeah, totally. Done."

"Done?"

"Yeah. If we don't escape, we die here. Also, they're your Tribals as much as mine. Who else is in on this?" Fay asks.

"Elios, Durge and Elizabeth are all in. No doubt Calpurnia's man will help us," you say.

"What about Cain and the twins?"

"I haven't asked them yet, but we need to get them on board," you say.

"Do we hae a solid plan yet?" Fay asks.

"Not yet. We need to find out how many people we have fighting for us."

"What happens after we take the ship," Fay asks, raising an eyebrow.

"That is still to be decided. Once we have Cain. Castus and Olive behind us, we'll have bargaining power. So you're in?"

"I'm in," Fay nods. "I'll have the message spread among the tribals."

You notice one of your guards walking towards you, carrying a tray. You motion for Fay to quiet down, as the guard arrives putting the tray down on the table.

"Eat," he says, in a cold voice like the scraping of a blade on rusted metal.

You look at your food. There's a bowl of noodles and strips of thin, cured meat, a small bowl of green jelly with chunks of odd, alien fruit inside, a large plastic cup of wine and a small, dense biscuit-like cake.

"Well, someone's being pampered," Fay says, smiling.

"Clearly I'm just more important than you," you gloat as you have a forkful of noodles and meat.

Fay grabs the biscuit cake from your tray, taking a bite.

"Hey!" you say in annoyance, as Fay sticks her tongue out.

You quickly eat your meal, polishing off the entire tray and gulping down the wine. Then, Magos Cern arrives.

"Good, you've eaten," she says. "These operations will be safer if you've had a full stomach."

"OK, I'm ready, let's go, you say. "Bye, Fay. See you soon."

"See you later, Fay says, blowing a kiss.

Magos Cern leads you out of the cafeteria and along the halls, off along halls and elevators. Eventually, you pass through the cyro-sleep section, arriving in a large operating room. Dozens of Goliaths are lying on the surgery tables, many halfway through surgery. A half dozen other Tech Priests wander around between the Goliaths, removing and adding flesh, bone, organs, cybernetic implants and other strange things.

"I didn't know there were other Tech Priests," you note.

"This ship is the size of a small moon. Did you think you've seen enough of it to accurately be able to say that we don't have something? I have scores of Tech Priests who followed me into the embrace of the Dark Gods," Magos Cern says.

Magos Cern leads you to an operating table.

"This is yours. Please get undressed and wait here, I need to grab my materials and equipment. Stay here."

Magos Cern turns around, walking off, leaving you alone. You spot Cain, lying on his operating table, his chest cut open to reveal still functioning organs. You wonder how he can still be alive with such a hastily cut-up torso, before you wince as you see his eyes dart towards you and you realize he's conscious. Looking to see Magos Cern hobbling away, you hop off the operating table and walk over to him.

"Commander Karth," Cain grunts. "Need something?"

"I have... an offer."

"An offer? An offer of what?" Cain says, absent-mindedly picking at a cut alongside his... or at least, one of his stomachs.

"Freedom," you say, catching the monster's attention.

"Go on," Cain says, furrowing his scarred brow and causing a thin stream of blood to pour from his horns.

"We're planning an escape. We could use you and your men," you say.

"We?"

"Elios, Durge, Elizabeth, Fay, others," you say. "That's it, I think."

"When?"

"We don't have details, yet. We need a head count before we can start planning it."

"Hmmm... I'm willing to give you control of my... "Goliaths", as you called them. But, I have a list of conditions that I want to be satisfied once we take the ship."

"Go on," you say.

"I want us to get names. Every Goliath who is capable of remembering and answering to a name will be called that instead of its serial number, by you and ALL other members of command. No more cyro-sleep. I want a bed for every single Goliath. I don't care if it's fine cloth or a slab of concrete, as long as it doesn't freeze them, it'll do us. I want free time that's not just killing."

"Anything else?" you ask.

"That's it," Cain says, spitting out a serrated teeth that's fallen free from his jaw.

Cain's demands are far from unfair. Really, all he wants is slightly more rights for his Goliaths, which wouldn't even take any more resources. Still, you don't want the beast getting a big head. You ARE still in charge of not only his collar, but the collars of every single Goliath. All you need is a few threats, and the Goliaths will be yours.
> You threaten Cain
"No."

"No?"

"No. I don't think you understand the nature of the offer I'm giving you. I'm letting you live. Whenever I want, I could have every single man under your command strangled to death by your collars, blown apart or force you to tear each other apart. You're going to follow my orders, or you're going to die."

You prepare yourself for Cain to strike, but he only lets out a low, rumbling growl.

"What was that?" you ask suspiciously.

"An order," Cain snarls.

Suddenly, a massive fist smashes into your back. You fly forward, smacking into the operating table and onto the ground. You let out a pitiful moan, before Cain puts his massive foot on your head.

"What orders do you have for me?" he asks.

Cain attempts a triumphant yet terrifying smile. The corners of his mouth twist unnaturally high, revealing rows of serrated teeth, curved fangs, massive molars and many other weird, odd teeth, protruding from bloody, rotten gums. Cain raises his foot, before bringing it down and crushing your head.


Elios steps forward, knocking on the metal door. The guards open, immediately raising their bolters. Elios waves his hand.

"You didn't see me here. The voice of Slaanesh calls you, and you're his now. Move aside, and tell no one I was here."

"I... no... yes, sir," one says, stepping aside.

You watch Elios stroll out of the room, giving a final smile and wave as he leaves the room.

You get some sleep, lying wrapped up in your blankets. Blissfully, there's only a few dark, terror-filled dreams, the rest only filling your with a vague, uneasy sense of dread. You awaken to Magos Cern poking you in the stomach with a white-hot pincer.

"AH!" you scream. "What the fuck?"

"My diagnostics told me that I'd be able to wake you up 0.4 seconds faster this way. We need to go," Magos Cern says.

"Where?"

"First, you require food. Then, you'l get some implants. I'm going through some long overdue upgrades for the... "Goliaths", as you called them, and Kyros asked me to pencil you in for a few biological upgrades."

"Then?" you ask

"Melee practice. In wake of assassination threats, Kyros wants you to be able to fend off a melee assassination as easily as you could a ranged or psychic attack."

"My powers can do that," you say.

"You'd be run through before you could react. Castus and Olive will run through some drills to get your reaction time up and give you a few dodging techniques that will lend themselves to all your battles."

"Then?"

"By then, with the recovery time from the implants, your weak body will require sleep."

"OK", you say.

Magos Cern leads you out of the room, and along the hallways. You find yourself in a massive cafeteria. You walk forward, spotting Fay sitting alongside a badly burnt girl with a long braid wrapping around herself and another with a prosthetic arm replaced by a sharpened, mechanical claw. Fay looks up, noodles hanging from her mouth, spotting you.

"Oh, Karth!" she says, waving, before noticing that her mouth is filled with noodles and blushing.

You take a seat next to her, and she smiles.

"So, how are you doing?" she asks.

"We need to talk. Alone," you say, looking at the two tribals beside her.

"Uh... OK," Fay says, motioning for the two tribals to move, which they quickly do.

"Thanks," you say to the tribals as they walk off.

"So? Is this about what I think it's about?"

"What do you think it's about?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you know... you want to speak to me alone... privately... so I kind of assume it's about us."

"Yeah, of course it's about us, that's why we're both here to talk about it."

"No, I mean... like, us us," Fay says, clearly frustrated by your failure to understand.

"What?"

"Well, like, do you want us to be a couple?"
> You say "I really like you, but as a friend."
"Oh, yeah, yeah, I agree," Fay says. "I feel the same way, I was actually really dreading telling you that, and I thought I'd have to tell you it now,  but since we feel the way, it's OK now."

"Oh, good, good."

"So, what was that other thing?" Fay asks, rushing onto the next subject.

"Rebellion."

"Oh?"

"Kyros is mad and paranoid. He's either going to slit our throats or send us on an endless string of suicide missions. We need to do something, and I really need your help. A group of collaborators have planned to rise up, and rid ourselves of Kyros. Then, we take over. I need the support of your Tribals to do so.

"Yeah, totally. Done."

"Done?"

"Yeah. If we don't escape, we die here. Also, they're your Tribals as much as mine. Who else is in on this?" Fay asks.

"Elios, Durge and Elizabeth are all in. No doubt Calpurnia's man will help us," you say.

"What about Cain and the twins?"

"I haven't asked them yet, but we need to get them on board," you say.

"Do we hae a solid plan yet?" Fay asks.

"Not yet. We need to find out how many people we have fighting for us."

"What happens after we take the ship," Fay asks, raising an eyebrow.

"That is still to be decided. Once we have Cain. Castus and Olive behind us, we'll have bargaining power. So you're in?"

"I'm in," Fay nods. "I'll have the message spread among the tribals."

You notice one of your guards walking towards you, carrying a tray. You motion for Fay to quiet down, as the guard arrives putting the tray down on the table.

"Eat," he says, in a cold voice like the scraping of a blade on rusted metal.

You look at your food. There's a bowl of noodles and strips of thin, cured meat, a small bowl of green jelly with chunks of odd, alien fruit inside, a large plastic cup of wine and a small, dense biscuit-like cake.

"Well, someone's being pampered," Fay says, smiling.

"Clearly I'm just more important than you," you gloat as you have a forkful of noodles and meat.

Fay grabs the biscuit cake from your tray, taking a bite.

"Hey!" you say in annoyance, as Fay sticks her tongue out.

You quickly eat your meal, polishing off the entire tray and gulping down the wine. Then, Magos Cern arrives.

"Good, you've eaten," she says. "These operations will be safer if you've had a full stomach."

"OK, I'm ready, let's go, you say. "Bye, Fay. See you soon."

"See you later, Fay says, looking a bit sullen, as you wonder whether that put down was too forward.

Magos Cern leads you out of the cafeteria and along the halls, off along halls and elevators. Eventually, you pass through the cyro-sleep section, arriving in a large operating room. Dozens of Goliaths are lying on the surgery tables, many halfway through surgery. A half dozen other Tech Priests wander around between the Goliaths, removing and adding flesh, bone, organs, cybernetic implants and other strange things.

"I didn't know there were other Tech Priests," you note.

"This ship is the size of a small moon. Did you think you've seen enough of it to accurately be able to say that we don't have something? I have scores of Tech Priests who followed me into the embrace of the Dark Gods," Magos Cern says.

Magos Cern leads you to an operating table.

"This is yours. Please get undressed and wait here, I need to grab my materials and equipment. Stay here."

Magos Cern turns around, walking off, leaving you alone. You spot Cain, lying on his operating table, his chest cut open to reveal still functioning organs. You wonder how he can still be alive with such a hastily cut-up torso, before you wince as you see his eyes dart towards you and you realize he's conscious. Looking to see Magos Cern hobbling away, you hop off the operating table and walk over to him.

"Commander Karth," Cain grunts. "Need something?"

"I have... an offer."

"An offer? An offer of what?" Cain says, absent-mindedly picking at a cut alongside his... or at least, one of his stomachs.

"Freedom," you say, catching the monster's attention.

"Go on," Cain says, furrowing his scarred brow and causing a thin stream of blood to pour from his horns.

"We're planning an escape. We could use you and your men," you say.

"We?"

"Elios, Durge, Elizabeth, Fay, others," you say. "That's it, I think."

"When?"

"We don't have details, yet. We need a head count before we can start planning it."

"Hmmm... I'm willing to give you control of my... "Goliaths", as you called them. But, I have a list of conditions that I want to be satisfied once we take the ship."

"Go on," you say.

"I want us to get names. Every Goliath who is capable of remembering and answering to a name will be called that instead of its serial number, by you and ALL other members of command. No more cyro-sleep. I want a bed for every single Goliath. I don't care if it's fine cloth or a slab of concrete, as long as it doesn't freeze them, it'll do us. I want free time that's not just killing."

"Anything else?" you ask.

"That's it," Cain says, spitting out a serrated teeth that's fallen free from his jaw.

Cain's demands are far from unfair. Really, all he wants is slightly more rights for his Goliaths, which wouldn't even take any more resources. Still, you don't want the beast getting a big head. You ARE still in charge of not only his collar, but the collars of every single Goliath. All you need is a few threats, and the Goliaths will be yours.


"Karth!" Meliodas' voice says, appearing in your mind. "Look behind you, you fool!"

You quickly twist around in bed, raising your fists and preparing to use what little psychic powers, to see Elios leaning in the doorway of your bathroom.

"Shit! What the fuck are you doing!?" you shout.

"Hmmm... a man can't just lean back and enjoy one of the finer sights in life?" Elios says, winking as he strolls confidently towards you.

"Get...!" you try to speak, but he puts a finger against your lips, leaning in close.

"Quiet, baby. No need to fret. I'm not here to give you any trouble. I'm hear to help you with a certain little... problem."

Elios runs his hand along your bare chest and up to your collar, playfully tugging on it. You stare at him, waiting.

"Well, let's be realistic here. We're going to be slaughtered. If we're lucky, we're going to be killed when Kyros leads his moronic charge against the Imperium. If we're unlucky, we're going to end up like Calpurnia, tortured to death by a paranoid Psyker."

"You're at risk of being tortured to death. I never betrayed him," you say.

"Oh, baby, why do you have to be so difficult?" Elios smiles, two of his fingers walking up your legs, slowly nearing your groin. "Baby, at the moment, Kyros is looking to eliminate those who are going to betray him. But he's growing paranoid. He'll end thinking you're going to betray him, whether you are or are not. Let's be fair, you do have motives. Your tribe destroyed or enslaved, forced to bear the troubles that a Psyker does? Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if you had an escape plan in the works. Hell, even if he doesn't, one of your men will act rebellious or a battle will go wrong, and you'll be blamed for it. You need to get with us, baby."

"Let's say I'm considering it. What would it entail?" you ask.

"You need to get the leaders on your side. Fay, Olive, Castus, whoever's in charge of those big monster boys I saw you working with earlier. Get them on your side, while I will talk to Elizabeth and Durge about maintaining the rebellious attitude amongst Calpurnia's boys, make sure they're still up for a little bit of mutiny."

"What happens when we take the ship?" you ask.

"That'll be decided once we've secured the other leaders. I'm sure they have demands of their own. So are you in?"

"Hmmm... it's clearly our only option, but you should know that Elios both wants to fuck you over and straight up fuck you," Meliodas says.

"I'm pretty sure my other choice is death. That's not even a choice," you say.

"Well, it's the one I'm giving you, baby," Elios says,gently flicking the tip of your dick, causing you to yelp and scuttle back on your bed.
> You disagree
"No."

"No?" Elios says, taken aback.

"I'm not joining you. He knows what you're planning. I'm not joining your death trap."

"So be it," he says, a sneer forming on his face.

Elios steps forward, knocking on the metal door. The guards open, immediately raising their bolters. Elios waves his hand.

"You didn't see me here. The voice of Slaanesh calls you, and you're his now. Move aside, and tell no one I was her," Elios says, strolling forward, leaving without looking at you.

In the next few weeks, you're quickly proven right. Elios is first. When he's found, he's had his limps slowly sanded off, before being thrown in a pit with mutants who tore him apart. A "mysterious" assassin attempts to kill Elizabeth, but Durge fends her off, only for a "malfunction" to destroy him the next day, incinerating him in a single blast. Elizabeth is killed by one of the ship's macro-cannons, taking out the shuttle they were going on, because of a sensor malfunction identifying it as hostile.

With his threats to power gone, the assault on the Imperium is on. The first few worlds fall with ease, as they're unprepared for the level of firepower that Kyros is bringing to the table. Still, issues arise. You're reinforced by those recruited from the conquered realms as well as throngs of war-bands coming to join your invasion. Still, Kyros gets greedy. He attempts to take on a Forge World, a world literally covered with layers of factories, run by the cyborg-engineers that are part of the machine-worshipping cult known as the Mechnicus. Kyros' grand plans to have a Forge World producing endless war machines are ruined when the planet's orbital defenses take out much of your fleet, and in the ensuing battle the factories are leveled. When Kyros finally takes the planet, it's nothing but a smoking rock.

Everything falls apart after that. In a desperate attempt to capture geneseed stores to allow him to take over the home world of a Space Marine chapter known as the Horned Kings. The chapter is wiped out, but again Kyros gains nothing as the last act of the Chapter Master is to detonate their geneseed stores.

At this point, Kyros' forces are a pale shadow of their previous selves. Cain and most of the Goliaths were taken out as their landing pods were wiped out in an attempt to take the Forge World, and the gladiators are wiped out by a suicidal charge by the Iron Kings. They're not the only ones gone. Fay is killed, along with many of the tribals, in the Genesee stores' destruction. It's only at that point that you truly stop caring. Your tribe is gone, only a few faces so grief-stricken you can barely recognize them remaining. You don't care if you reach Terra. You don't care if you live. You don't care if you die. You just don't care, about anything.

You find yourself on some war-stricken world, killing. Scores of refugees are wiped out as your hand waves and warpfire spurts from the earth. Once, you would've have wanted to hurt innocents. You wouldn't have done it. Now, you feel nothing as you smell their cooked flesh. A Space Marine charges towards you, but you stare at him. The Space Marine screams as you force him to tear his own arms off, tossing them aside and having tentacles rapidly grow out of his arm sockets, before his mind is corrupted and he charges, roaring towards his allies as he begins to tear them apart. You  watch as a Dreadnought's legs buckle under your telekinesis, sending it toppling and tumbling down before it explodes. You levitate a Guardsman into the air as he howls in terror, be...

The earth shutters as artillery booms, sending you into the air. Artillery tears through the earth, and you slam into an APC. You hastily stand, to see dozens of refugees piling out of the crippled APC. You see to your surprise Tribals shooting at you and the other refugees, bullets thudding into the metal next to you, before they're killed by bolter fire. You look at your reflection in the half-broken window of a destroyed building, and realize why they were firing. With your now torn clothes and dirt-covered face, you are now indistinguishable from the refugees you've been killing.

You hear a dozen monstrous roars from your allies off towards your right, signifying a charge, before it's answered by the shouts of the Imperial Guard and Space Marine preparing a counter-charge. You could try to escape this. Hide amongst the refugees. Find a way out of this life. But what would be the point? You hear the charge nearing. Damn Kyros, putting you in this situation. Maybe you should be the one to finish his mad invasion? Or maybe you should return to what you know, and fight?
> You attack the Space Marines and Imperial Guard
Fear the Psyker

You turn, to see dozens of colored, heavily armored bodies making a charge. You let out a psychic scream, destroying eardrums and leaving the closest to you collapsing on the ground and howling in pain. You fire a long stream of flames, engulfing another two. From then on, it's a blur. Warpfire flies from you in a whirlwind of flaming death. Psychic electricity runs along your wrists and melts bone, fries skin and takes life. Bolts of energy take out any stupid enough to near you. You take fire, though. You dodge most, shield yourself from most of what remains, but a few get through. By the end of this, blood pours from your wounds and you feel the life drain from you. You continue fighting, breaking and shattering all those before you. Your life has become a blaze, burning all that nears to cinders. Like a blaze, it begins to blaze out. Eventually, you find yourself on your knees, continuing to wipe out dozens of your enemies, though lacking the strength to stand up. You let out a final roar, releasing a burst of psychic energy, before your soul is violently rendered from you.

Although Kyros takes the planet, his forces are nothing more. They take two more worlds before being wiped out as the Ultramarines, Bronze-born and Lead Vipers wipe them out to the last man. Still, Kyros name is barely known. It's another name that becomes commonplace through the Imperium, as a terrifying reminder of why Psykers need to be crushed or imprisoned: Karth.


"No."

"No?" Elios says, taken aback.

"I'm not joining you. He knows what you're planning. I'm not joining your death trap."

"So be it," he says, a sneer forming on his face.

Elios steps forward, knocking on the metal door. The guards open, immediately raising their bolters. Elios waves his hand.

"You didn't see me here. The voice of Slaanesh calls you, and you're his now. Move aside, and tell no one I was her," Elios says, strolling forward, leaving without looking at you.

In the next few weeks, you're quickly proven right. Elios is first. When he's found, he's had his limps slowly sanded off, before being thrown in a pit with mutants who tore him apart. A "mysterious" assassin attempts to kill Elizabeth, but Durge fends her off, only for a "malfunction" to destroy him the next day, incinerating him in a single blast. Elizabeth is killed by one of the ship's macro-cannons, taking out the shuttle they were going on, because of a sensor malfunction identifying it as hostile.

With his threats to power gone, the assault on the Imperium is on. The first few worlds fall with ease, as they're unprepared for the level of firepower that Kyros is bringing to the table. Still, issues arise. You're reinforced by those recruited from the conquered realms as well as throngs of war-bands coming to join your invasion. Still, Kyros gets greedy. He attempts to take on a Forge World, a world literally covered with layers of factories, run by the cyborg-engineers that are part of the machine-worshipping cult known as the Mechnicus. Kyros' grand plans to have a Forge World producing endless war machines are ruined when the planet's orbital defenses take out much of your fleet, and in the ensuing battle the factories are leveled. When Kyros finally takes the planet, it's nothing but a smoking rock.

Everything falls apart after that. In a desperate attempt to capture geneseed stores to allow him to take over the home world of a Space Marine chapter known as the Horned Kings. The chapter is wiped out, but again Kyros gains nothing as the last act of the Chapter Master is to detonate their geneseed stores.

At this point, Kyros' forces are a pale shadow of their previous selves. Cain and most of the Goliaths were taken out as their landing pods were wiped out in an attempt to take the Forge World, and the gladiators are wiped out by a suicidal charge by the Iron Kings. They're not the only ones gone. Fay is killed, along with many of the tribals, in the Genesee stores' destruction. It's only at that point that you truly stop caring. Your tribe is gone, only a few faces so grief-stricken you can barely recognize them remaining. You don't care if you reach Terra. You don't care if you live. You don't care if you die. You just don't care, about anything.

You find yourself on some war-stricken world, killing. Scores of refugees are wiped out as your hand waves and warpfire spurts from the earth. Once, you would've have wanted to hurt innocents. You wouldn't have done it. Now, you feel nothing as you smell their cooked flesh. A Space Marine charges towards you, but you stare at him. The Space Marine screams as you force him to tear his own arms off, tossing them aside and having tentacles rapidly grow out of his arm sockets, before his mind is corrupted and he charges, roaring towards his allies as he begins to tear them apart. You  watch as a Dreadnought's legs buckle under your telekinesis, sending it toppling and tumbling down before it explodes. You levitate a Guardsman into the air as he howls in terror, be...

The earth shutters as artillery booms, sending you into the air. Artillery tears through the earth, and you slam into an APC. You hastily stand, to see dozens of refugees piling out of the crippled APC. You see to your surprise Tribals shooting at you and the other refugees, bullets thudding into the metal next to you, before they're killed by bolter fire. You look at your reflection in the half-broken window of a destroyed building, and realize why they were firing. With your now torn clothes and dirt-covered face, you are now indistinguishable from the refugees you've been killing.

You hear a dozen monstrous roars from your allies off towards your right, signifying a charge, before it's answered by the shouts of the Imperial Guard and Space Marine preparing a counter-charge. You could try to escape this. Hide amongst the refugees. Find a way out of this life. But what would be the point? You hear the charge nearing. Damn Kyros, putting you in this situation. Maybe you should be the one to finish his mad invasion? Or maybe you should return to what you know, and fight?
> You attack Kyros' forces
Ending the Crusade

You turn, to see Chaos Space Marines, Traitor Guard, Mutants, Tribals, Goliaths and Gladiators charging onto the battle. Far in the distance, floating high above the forces, is Kyros. You know what needs to be done. You leap into the air, flying directly towards Kyros with a roar. You release waves of warpfire and psychic energy, killing dozens of people around you, but that's just a side-note to your main foe. You slam into Kyros, wrapping your hands around his throat. You begin to crush his throat, screaming, as Kyros immediately begin to activate your collar, strangling the life out of you. You don't care. You feel your trachea explode, but you don't care, you only keep strangling. As the two of you fight, you release waves of psychic energy, killing scores of men around you. You let out a scream, transfering all your energy into your hands, and Kyros screams in pain and terror, before you tear his head clean from his head. IN a final scream, you release your hold on line, adding all your remaining life and energy into the psychic blast Kyros releases upon his death, wiping out much of Kyros force.

With your move, Kyros' forces are stopped. Without a leader, they are broken on that planet. Magos Cern is taken down attempting to flee the planet, while Chapter Master Taj is killed in a suicidal charge. Kyros' forces take so many losses in you and Kyros' battle and are so confused that they're crushed by the following charge, leaving few alive. Guardsmen who survive note the suicidal rampage you went on with your final breath. Many wonder if, instilled with an ounce of the God-Emperor's courage, you sacrificed herself to take out the monster Kyros was and the monster he made you. Of course, these thoughts would be heresy, so known dare to even think it aloud in there head. Still, the belief persists, to whatever degree, that your death meant something.


"No."

"No?" Elios says, taken aback.

"I'm not joining you. He knows what you're planning. I'm not joining your death trap."

"So be it," he says, a sneer forming on his face.

Elios steps forward, knocking on the metal door. The guards open, immediately raising their bolters. Elios waves his hand.

"You didn't see me here. The voice of Slaanesh calls you, and you're his now. Move aside, and tell no one I was her," Elios says, strolling forward, leaving without looking at you.

In the next few weeks, you're quickly proven right. Elios is first. When he's found, he's had his limps slowly sanded off, before being thrown in a pit with mutants who tore him apart. A "mysterious" assassin attempts to kill Elizabeth, but Durge fends her off, only for a "malfunction" to destroy him the next day, incinerating him in a single blast. Elizabeth is killed by one of the ship's macro-cannons, taking out the shuttle they were going on, because of a sensor malfunction identifying it as hostile.

With his threats to power gone, the assault on the Imperium is on. The first few worlds fall with ease, as they're unprepared for the level of firepower that Kyros is bringing to the table. Still, issues arise. You're reinforced by those recruited from the conquered realms as well as throngs of war-bands coming to join your invasion. Still, Kyros gets greedy. He attempts to take on a Forge World, a world literally covered with layers of factories, run by the cyborg-engineers that are part of the machine-worshipping cult known as the Mechnicus. Kyros' grand plans to have a Forge World producing endless war machines are ruined when the planet's orbital defenses take out much of your fleet, and in the ensuing battle the factories are leveled. When Kyros finally takes the planet, it's nothing but a smoking rock.

Everything falls apart after that. In a desperate attempt to capture geneseed stores to allow him to take over the home world of a Space Marine chapter known as the Horned Kings. The chapter is wiped out, but again Kyros gains nothing as the last act of the Chapter Master is to detonate their geneseed stores.

At this point, Kyros' forces are a pale shadow of their previous selves. Cain and most of the Goliaths were taken out as their landing pods were wiped out in an attempt to take the Forge World, and the gladiators are wiped out by a suicidal charge by the Iron Kings. They're not the only ones gone. Fay is killed, along with many of the tribals, in the Genesee stores' destruction. It's only at that point that you truly stop caring. Your tribe is gone, only a few faces so grief-stricken you can barely recognize them remaining. You don't care if you reach Terra. You don't care if you live. You don't care if you die. You just don't care, about anything.

You find yourself on some war-stricken world, killing. Scores of refugees are wiped out as your hand waves and warpfire spurts from the earth. Once, you would've have wanted to hurt innocents. You wouldn't have done it. Now, you feel nothing as you smell their cooked flesh. A Space Marine charges towards you, but you stare at him. The Space Marine screams as you force him to tear his own arms off, tossing them aside and having tentacles rapidly grow out of his arm sockets, before his mind is corrupted and he charges, roaring towards his allies as he begins to tear them apart. You  watch as a Dreadnought's legs buckle under your telekinesis, sending it toppling and tumbling down before it explodes. You levitate a Guardsman into the air as he howls in terror, be...

The earth shutters as artillery booms, sending you into the air. Artillery tears through the earth, and you slam into an APC. You hastily stand, to see dozens of refugees piling out of the crippled APC. You see to your surprise Tribals shooting at you and the other refugees, bullets thudding into the metal next to you, before they're killed by bolter fire. You look at your reflection in the half-broken window of a destroyed building, and realize why they were firing. With your now torn clothes and dirt-covered face, you are now indistinguishable from the refugees you've been killing.

You hear a dozen monstrous roars from your allies off towards your right, signifying a charge, before it's answered by the shouts of the Imperial Guard and Space Marine preparing a counter-charge. You could try to escape this. Hide amongst the refugees. Find a way out of this life. But what would be the point? You hear the charge nearing. Damn Kyros, putting you in this situation. Maybe you should be the one to finish his mad invasion? Or maybe you should return to what you know, and fight?
> You hide amongst the refugees
You successfully hide amongst the refugees, and are transported to a nearby evacuation facility. You're given a cheap meal of Grox Jerky and soup, before being put into a massive fenced off area. Unfortunately, soon you learn that you overestimated how easy this would be.

"Ah, an inquisitor has arrived. We're going to die here." Meliodas says, as you hear his voice for the first time in a while.

You spot an Inquisitor, a heavily armored agent of the Imperium built for rooting out Chaos and Heresy. He stands, tall and heavily armored, a longsword glowing faintly blue clutched in one hand and a bolt pistol in the other. At his side is a grizzled soldier in Carapace armor holding a Flamer and snarling her scarred face as passer-bys, a man in browns robes holding a huge chainsword and a heavily cybernetically-upgraded Tech Priest. You wait patiently, attempting to hide every ounce of your power.

"It's not going to work," Meliodas says. "He's going to find us. You're going to die here. You can get revenge, though. Let me take you. Let me take hold of your body, and open a pathway through the Warp. I can summon endless hordes of daemons to this world, wipe out that inquisitor, gain your vengeance, and allow me power. We have a chance now."

He strolls along, stopping next to you. He looks down, raising an eyebrow.

"Are we experiencing more Warp Storms, Engsineer Low?" he asks.

"No, sir," the tech-priest says in a monotone voice.

The inquisitor rapidly raises a bolt pistol, aiming at you head as he swings the longsword.

"It's Karst! TAKE HIM DOWN!" he screams.

"Now, now! We can crush them! You're already dead. They can be too!" Meliodas howls in your mind.
> You face the bullets
You close your eyes, and soon, the world is taken away. You hope to find a peace in death you could never find in sleep.


You successfully hide amongst the refugees, and are transported to a nearby evacuation facility. You're given a cheap meal of Grox Jerky and soup, before being put into a massive fenced off area. Unfortunately, soon you learn that you overestimated how easy this would be.

"Ah, an inquisitor has arrived. We're going to die here." Meliodas says, as you hear his voice for the first time in a while.

You spot an Inquisitor, a heavily armored agent of the Imperium built for rooting out Chaos and Heresy. He stands, tall and heavily armored, a longsword glowing faintly blue clutched in one hand and a bolt pistol in the other. At his side is a grizzled soldier in Carapace armor holding a Flamer and snarling her scarred face as passer-bys, a man in browns robes holding a huge chainsword and a heavily cybernetically-upgraded Tech Priest. You wait patiently, attempting to hide every ounce of your power.

"It's not going to work," Meliodas says. "He's going to find us. You're going to die here. You can get revenge, though. Let me take you. Let me take hold of your body, and open a pathway through the Warp. I can summon endless hordes of daemons to this world, wipe out that inquisitor, gain your vengeance, and allow me power. We have a chance now."

He strolls along, stopping next to you. He looks down, raising an eyebrow.

"Are we experiencing more Warp Storms, Engsineer Low?" he asks.

"No, sir," the tech-priest says in a monotone voice.

The inquisitor rapidly raises a bolt pistol, aiming at you head as he swings the longsword.

"It's Karst! TAKE HIM DOWN!" he screams.

"Now, now! We can crush them! You're already dead. They can be too!" Meliodas howls in your mind.
> You try to reason with him
"Wait! You...!"

The inquisitor fires, and the bolts slam into your skull, ending your life. You hope to find a peace in death you could never find in sleep.


You successfully hide amongst the refugees, and are transported to a nearby evacuation facility. You're given a cheap meal of Grox Jerky and soup, before being put into a massive fenced off area. Unfortunately, soon you learn that you overestimated how easy this would be.

"Ah, an inquisitor has arrived. We're going to die here." Meliodas says, as you hear his voice for the first time in a while.

You spot an Inquisitor, a heavily armored agent of the Imperium built for rooting out Chaos and Heresy. He stands, tall and heavily armored, a longsword glowing faintly blue clutched in one hand and a bolt pistol in the other. At his side is a grizzled soldier in Carapace armor holding a Flamer and snarling her scarred face as passer-bys, a man in browns robes holding a huge chainsword and a heavily cybernetically-upgraded Tech Priest. You wait patiently, attempting to hide every ounce of your power.

"It's not going to work," Meliodas says. "He's going to find us. You're going to die here. You can get revenge, though. Let me take you. Let me take hold of your body, and open a pathway through the Warp. I can summon endless hordes of daemons to this world, wipe out that inquisitor, gain your vengeance, and allow me power. We have a chance now."

He strolls along, stopping next to you. He looks down, raising an eyebrow.

"Are we experiencing more Warp Storms, Engsineer Low?" he asks.

"No, sir," the tech-priest says in a monotone voice.

The inquisitor rapidly raises a bolt pistol, aiming at you head as he swings the longsword.

"It's Karst! TAKE HIM DOWN!" he screams.

"Now, now! We can crush them! You're already dead. They can be too!" Meliodas howls in your mind.
> You follow Meliodas' plan
Daemonic Pawn

You release yourself, allowing Meliodas to take control. Your soul is burnt out, in a quick and slightly painful action, and your life is gone. You hope to find a peace in death you could never find in sleep.

The planet is soon overwhelmed. In the death of your soul, Meliodas opens a portal to the Warp. He manifests, alongside endless daemon armies. The inquisitor barely manages to react before he's wiped out. Soon, the world is taken. Ironically, a bitter alliance is formed between Kyros and the forces of the Imperium in an attempt to hold back the daemons who care not for Kyros' delusions of grandeur or supposed "loyalty" to the Dark Gods. Soon, the planet is theirs. The planet's populace is wiped out, and warp storms form, taking the planet back to the Chaos of the warp. The last sound on the planet, before it's plunged into the warp, is Meliodas' laughter.


You follow Kyros, as you head to the arena. You reach the doors that would lead into it, but instead oof entering you go off to a small elevator behind it. You enter, and it slowly begins descending. It opens, revealing the underhive of the arena. There's dozen of cages, holding exotic beasts and dangerous Xenos. You see a half dozen thick, heavily muscled, green-skinned Orks in a cage, their necks chained to the wall. They're howling and roaring, tugging at their chains. Surprisingly, while most shout in their barbaric, guttural language, one seems to speak yours.

"Humie! Humie! Get me free! Get me free!" he shouts. "I is gonna let you live, even give ya a bitta loot and an escape pod if ya let me free!"

"Don't respond!" someone further down the catacombs that lay beneath the arena shouts. "It only encourages Ol' Dak!"

"Hmmm... this Ork must be one of the greatest speakers of his kind," Meliodas points out. "Of course to us he's a fucking idiot."

The ork's eyes narrow, before he begins howling in frustration and smacking his hands against his own head, a heavy thud emanating as his muscled fists slam into his thick skull. You continue walking, passing amazing and fantastic creatures and gladiators. There's a tentacled slug-man with a large beak and dozens of eyes peppered around his body which is huddled up in the corner of it's cage, a trio of horrible bird-hound creatures that scratch at their bars, a massive human wearing what appears to be an iron cage with hundreds of inward pointing nails who rams himself against the cage wall, his body shredded to such an extent you're amazed he's not dead yet, a multi-legged, horned creature that looks almost cute. Finally, you reach a long hallway, with thick, heavy metal doors spread along the hallway. An eye peers out of a door eye-slot, staring at you.

"Hello there. Do we have more fighters, or...? Oh wait, it's them. Terrific."

The eye disappears, and the slot closes. Kyros takes out a datapad, pressing several buttons before the door slowly slides open, revealing a large open area. Bunk beds line the wall, with a bunch of young men and women, the oldest in their late twenties and the youngest in their mid-teens. They wear very little armor, all of which is either leather or light combat armor. They sit around a fire, roasting chunks of meat on sticks in it. Two of the gladiators lean against the beds nearest to you, staring at you. One is a tall, muscled and tanned, with long blond hair and sparking green eyes. She holds a long, rifle-like gun with an axe blade made into the barrel with a grip under it. The other is shorter, with similarly tanned skin, with playful green eyes and curly brown hair, holding a curved sword and a Plasma pistol. They both look to be in their late teens or early twenties at latest.

"Is that a fire?" Fay asks.

"Are they armed?" you also.

"Yes and yes," the male says, turning to the girl. "This question game is fun."

"The fire's below a vent that's sending the smoke... somewhere. We weren't exactly given schematics of this place, all we know is the smoke doesn't bother us. And we're allowed weapons to keep the others in check. Even if we both went for Kyros, our minds would be shattered before we could raise our weapons," the girl says.

"Nah, I could at least start a swing before I was killed."

"These are the Twins. They lead the Gladiator-Slaves. Now, introduce yourselves," Kyros says.

"I'm Castus," the boy smiles, staring at the pair of you.

His eyes flicker, as he looks over Fay. He appears to be checking her out. You feel like punching him in the throat, but refrain.

"You're a jealous one, aren't you?" Meliodas says.

"I'm Olive," the girl says, extending a hand, which you grab and shake before Fay does the same.

"So, is there a reason you're here?" Castus asks.

"Fay and Karth will be taking command of the gladiators. They are my lieutenants, and will command a segment of our army, the slaves."

"Oh, terrific. We've been shafted," Castus says.

"I'm sure Kyros will want us to have an advisor position to assist Fay and Karth," Olive says.

"Correct," Kyros says.

"Well, there might be an issue with that," Castus says. "You see, both Fay and Karth have a history of... well, murdering my men. Pitting the Kyros Jr and Magos Cern's latest brand of super-freaks against us has led to a lot of men being, quite understandably, pissed with the guys who hacked apart, or psychically exploded, or simply beat their friends upside the head until they went comatose."

"If you want, we can have the dissenters flailed alive. Simply point them out, and I'll have them broken. Is that preferable?"

Castus goes quiet.

"As I thought," Kyros says with a smile. "Make sure the men know to follow orders. Now, it's late, and these guys need sleep. Is anything else needed?"

"I suppose not," Olive says.

"Well, we need a lot, but nothing we're realistically getting anytime soon," Castus says.

Kyros stares at Castus, fire beginning to run along his body.

"Nothing needed, sir," Castus says.

"Good. Fay, Karth, let's go," Kyros says.

Kyros swivels around, walking out of the room. You quickly follow him, and the massive metal door shuts behind you.

"So, we'll escort Fay back to the Uwais dorms, and then send you to your room," Kyros says.

"Well you know, Karth's room is closer. I could just spend the time in his," Fay suggests. "It would give us some time to go over battle plans now that we know what our men are capable of, and I can inform him of what the Uwais tribe are like in battle..."

"Really? That's the reason? That's the reason you're going for?" Kyros asks, raising an eyebrow. "No."
> You accept Kyros' decision
"Fine," you say dejectedly.

"Jeez, Karth, your stubbornness will serve us well in time," Fay says, looking annoyed at you.

You arrive at the doors to your cell, and Kyros opens it.

"Very well," Kyros says. "Inside."

You look at Fay, who smiles at you despite still looking annoyed.

"Bye, Karth," she says, giving a short little wave.

"Bye, Fay," you reply.

The doors are shut, and you walk over to your bed, collapsing on it. Only now do you realize how exhausted you are. You've spent all day walking, which again isn't exactly your specialty. You close your eyes, and soon sleep takes you. Thankfully, the twilight stage where your soul can rest and your exhausted mind can find peace, lasts extra long. Of course, it doesn't take long before the nightmares hit.


"Alright," Cain sleeps. "What else?"

"Nothing else is required," Magos Cern says. "Return to your pod."

Cain nods, before walking back into his pod. The cyro-pod shuts, leaving Cain back to his cold, endless sleep.

"We should continue," Magos Cern says. "I still have to show you the gladiator slaves who you'll take under you command and the Uwais Tribe. The Goliaths will act as your heavy shock troopers, the gladiator-slaves will act as scouts, skirmishers and fill in whatever spare roles you have, and the Uwais tribe will be your main unit. I'll take you to see them."

You begin following Magos Cern out of the cyro-sleep area, and along the hallways. After ten minutes, you reach a large metal door, which opens to reveal a large room filled with bunk beds, with familiar bronze bodies lying in the beds.

"This is Dorm A. We have around sixty soldiers here," Magos Cern says.

Fay walks into the room, and lets ou a shout.

"Gentlemen! Your captain's back!"

The tribals roll out of bed. You recognize a few of them, but strangely you recognize many as men from other various tribes."

"Fay, you're back!" one says.

"How did the fight go? It took far longer than expected," another adds.

"Oh, shit! Is that Karth?" another asks.

The attention immediately goes from Fay to you, as tribals begin appearing. They all appear far more muscular, many bearing fresh scars.

"Karth! How are you even still alive?" someone asks incredulously.

"It's the Uwais shaman!" another asks.

"Karth, how are you? What have they been doing to you?"

You watch as the tribals begin to surround the three of you, although Magos Cern makes sure they keep as least half a dozen feat away from her.

"Stay back. Karth is only here to see you, not talk to you," Magos Cern says, drawing a datapad and letting out an electro-shock that causes the group to let out a pained yelp before they back away.

"Why are there so many men and women from other tribes? I thought it was the Uwais tribe who was kidnapped."

"When we arrived on your planet, we needed to do a lot of work. We drained lakes for water, drilled into the planet's crust to get vast quantities of Promethium, wiped out native species for food. It takes a lot of effort to run a vessel this large, and to do it quickly and efficiently. While we did so, our soldiers went to work. They needed to fight, both to train and to simply shed blood for their own enjoyment. Prisoners were taken in vast quantities, and I used them as I used the Uwais tribe. Now, there's far more from other tribes than there are from Uwais tribe."

"Hmmm... your home world is destroyed. Ambition is the only path forward now, Karth, there is no going back. We will conquer the stars together." Meliodas says.

"I suppose calling them the Uwais tribe is a bit of a failing, then. Tribals would be more suitable."

"As you wish. You are their superior. You can do as you wish with them."

"The average tribal will be be outfitted with combat armor as well as some equipment, such as grenades, gas masks, communications devices, that kind of thing. The stronger ones will get Bolters, the strongest will be equipped with melee weapons; chainswords, chainaxes, power swords, as well as bolt pistols. The weaker ones will be given specialized roles and equipped for as such: meltaguns and missile launchers for anti-armor, snipers with sniper rifles and stealth roles with chameoline cloaks and silenced weapons. We should have a fairly well equipped army that will be able to hold their own when fighting alongside the Guardsmen and Traitor Marines we have under our command."

"We're not fighting for you fucks!" someone shouts.

"Yeah! Fuck you, you kidnapping bastards!"

"Ah, this is an issue," Magos Cern says. "Unfortunately, due to my... failures in work on the brain, Kyros has forbid me to tinker on their minds to ensure loyalty. Fay has only so far failed to do, so it'll be your job now. I need all rebelliousness to be crushed."

"How?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Get it done. I don't care how. I need to go check on the oxygen decks to the macro guns on the starboard side doesn't asphyxiate," Magos says, turning around and walking off.

"Well, that's a bitch," you complain, turning to Fay. "I guess we need to get rid of rebelliousness before Kyros gets pissy and blows our heads clean off."

"Or..." Fay says slyly. "We could just hide the rebelliousness. It would be better if we kept it under wraps until we have a chance to get out of here."

"Oh, choices, choices, choices. Terrify, threaten, talk or trust. Which shall it be, Karth?" Meliodas says.

You walk forward, into the center of the dorm. You have several options here. You could attempt to use some of your psychic powers to show these tribals the true power of the Warp. That would definitely ensure their loyalty, if only out of fear. You could threaten them to ensure their loyalty, once again while out of fear, and you wouldn't have to alienate yourself by making yourself seem like a terrifying psychic being. You could attempt to convince the tribals that loyalty to this place is the only rational choice. You could also take Fay's path, and assure them that they'll have the chance to get revenge, but that for now they should hide all rebelliousness until it's time to strike.
> You threaten them to ensure their loyalty
You walk slowly forward, growling.

"Magos Cern has told me about some rebellious behavior. It needs to end. We are a tiny fraction of the population of our ship. Even if we could somehow get all of our weapons, get everyone together and ready to fight, and we'd fail to get free. What could we do? We're light-years away from home by now. Even if, by some miracle, we could take this ship, we have no idea how to pilot it, and even then the chances of getting that far is astronomical. Kyros, the team leader, has amazing psychic powers. He could read our minds at any moment. He'd have you flayed alive and had the skin made into a cloak! He'll have this entire dorm filled with Chlorine gas! If you don't want to doom our entire tribe to non-existence, don't even think about rebelling."

The tribals seem a mixture of disappointed, angered and annoyed, but you know the see the logic in what you're saying. They won't rebel. They'll follow orders now.

"Tell the other tribals. I don't want anyone doing anything stupid," you say to the tribals, before turning to Fay. "We should go."

You walk out of the room, quickly followed by Fay, who runs after you.

"That was a bit depressing," she admits.

"How so?" you ask.

"You're not seriously happy with a life of service to a guy who kidnapped us? These guys killed Duggin!" she asks.

"We need to be pragmatic. If there was an option for escape, I'd take it. But I'm not dying when there's no real chance of escape."

"Umm... I guess," Fay says, clearly unsure what to do.

You walk outside, where Kyros awaits, smiling.

"Ah, you're here. Were they convinced?"

You nod eagerly, and Kyros smiles.

Well done," he says. "Now, we need to visit the last of your soldiers, the gladiator-slaves. They're always an interesting crew. Shall we go?"

You look at Fay, who nods, although she still looks nervous from your earlier threats.

"Yes, let's," you reply.


You stand, walking along after Kyros. You're at a point where your psychic growth has overtaken your physical growth to such a degree that it'd be easier to float along the ground rather than actually having to walk. Unfortunately, the collar prevents you from even firing out some sparks without Kyros' permission. You arrive in a metal door, which opens, revealing the booth from which Kyros and the others watch down at the fight. You walk along, looking down at the arena, which is empty.

"I thought you were bringing me to see Fay," you say nervously, despite knowing what this is.

"I brought you to see her fight!" Kyros says with a smile.

You stare down, as one of the gates opens. You watch as an abomination stumbles out. Stumbling on four insect-like legs, with it's eft arm replaced by a long tentacle of coiled pink muscle, the very end of it studded with bone outgrowths to make it a more formidable weapon. In it's right hand is a short, rusted axe stained with blood and gore. It's head is monstrous, with an oversized mouth filled to the brim with teeth, overflowing with acid that drips onto it's chest with a sizzle, and a single, blood-shot eye. The creature looks up at you, it's eye flinching, before it lets out a miserable howl.

"Shit... that looks miserable beyond belief," you say.

"Yes, she does," Kyros says, grinning from ear to ear as half a dozen more beasts just like the first walk, stumble or crawl into the center of the arena.

"She?" you ask.

Now that you're not fighting them, you can have a long look and see what these mutant abominations really are: disgusting, pitiful creatures that should receive a quick death.

"You don't recognize her?" Kyros says, clearly suppressing laughter. "This is what remains of the Uwais Tribe, and the first one to come out, the pack leader, is Fay."

You look at monsters underneath, trying to see any resemblance to your friends as pure horror overtakes your mind. You collapse to your knees, puking over the banister and onto the monsters underneath as Kyros bursts into laughter.

"He's done this to provoke you. He wants to get you angry, to see how powerful you are even with the collar. He's under-exaggerating how powerful you are, so you might be able to harm him, but..." Meliodas advises, but you don't pay any attention, too filled with anger.

You stand, holding onto the banister to pull yourself up. Your knees shake, but you take a moment to regain your strength. Then, you launch yourself at Kyros. You grab at his eyes, your fingers going straight for his eyes. Kyros stumbles backwards, unprepared, before you feel your collar quickly tightening as you start to choke. You continue to scratch and gouge, even as the air is choked from you. Finally, you're dragged upwards by invisible hands, floating a few feet away from Kyros. Your weak body has done practically no damage to Kyros, who seems surprised and a bit amused rather than angry.

"Hmmm... I under-exaggerated how angry you'd get, or how stupid you are if you think trying to fight me is an option."

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to break you. I don't care how long it takes, I will destroy your very soul," you say, staring at him.

Kyros chuckles softly, before forcing you around to stare down at the arena.

"Watch the match," he says.

"We will have our revenge, Karth. Not today, not tomorrow, but we will have our revenge, " Meliodas says.

You watch for about a minute as the abominations sit there, wandering around in confusion, falling to brief bursts of violence and self-harm and a lot of screaming and howling. Finally, the second gate opens. You watch as hooded figures enter, holding swords and small, circular shields. The trio charges forward, diving into the air. The beasts charge forward, attacking with fierce brutality. You watch as the lead one, the thing that used to be Fay, is almost beheaded by one of the trio. The trio fight with ease, diving, ducking and weaving out of the way of tentacles, axes, biting and stomping. Within a minute, the last of the abominations stumble forward and hits the ground as its front two legs are hacked off, and one of the trio leaps on top of the monster and impales it through the head.

"What a display!" Kyros says with a smile. "Shall we see the victors?"

Before you can say a word, Kyros releases you and you fall through the air, smacking into the dirt with a pained yelp. You moan in pain, looking up at the fighters. They walk forward, staring at you.

"Karth?" one of them asks.

You look up to see Fay standing there, her hooded robes covered in blood, alongside two other Uwais tribals you vaguely remember from your trips accompanying hunting parties, the Jakar Twins.

"Fay," you reply, staring back at her, not knowing what else to say.

Fay tosses her sword aside, grabbing you and embracing you tightly. Even though you feel yourself being turned into a fine powder from the strength of her hug, you're just so happy that you've found her that you don't care, hugging back. Kyros drops down, staring at you from over Fay's shoulder, as Magos Cern joins you.

"Ah, what a happy reunion!" Kyros says.

"You said she was dead!" you shout angrily, pushing Fay aside to point an accusatory finger at him.

"I did. I lied," Kyros says, smiling.

"Never trust a psyker, Karth. Not even yourself," Meliodas says.

You shrug it off, trying not to bow to his attempts at emotional manipulation. You grab Fay, looking at her properly as she takes off her hooded cloak. She's tall, standing over six foot tall, and she's a lot more muscular than you remember. Whatever Kyros has done to her, it's had a serious affect. Her arms and legs are quite muscled, and you doubt you could find an ounce of fat anywhere on her. Still, she has the same coy smile, the wild, adventurous look in her eyes, She's pretty much the same Fay.

"So... what's with the hood?" you ask, struggling to find anything else to say.

"Um... it's so the mutants can't grab my hair and drag me down, Karth. Was that the most important question? How are you? What are they doing to you?"

"Come on, out of the arena. I have a captured Squig the boys want to have some fun fighting," Kyros says. "Jakar twins, back to the dorm. Karth, Fay, follow me."

You look at Fay, before grabbing her hand and walking after Kyros and Magos Cern.

"Hmm, walking alongside me with my hand held? Where's the old Karth that I would piggyback around the village?" Fay asks.

"Pffh, if I didn't have this collar I'd be floating around the place," you say.

The stress of being kidnapped, having your tribe enslaved and murdered, your village burned down, your mind and soul forced through the very depths of hell falls away as you talk to your old friend. You recount your story as she tells hers. Apparently, she spent much of the time in a coma, having her body hacked apart and remade. Her blood now contains vast amounts of chems and combat drugs, she has several new organs and stronger bones, faster blood clotting and much more. She's trained extensively both with swords, guns, explosives and infinitely more, as well as team tactics. She's been chosen out as Team Leader for the Uwais super-soldiers.

"So basically, you've become a super-soldier?"

"Super-soldier?" Magos Cern says, her voice flooded with the most emotion you've heard from her the entire time you knew her. "She's a failure. A disgrace. I had access to geneseed, space marine test subjects and untold resources. What did I create? A mockery. These "super-soldiers" couldn't take on multiple space marines each like I had hoped. They couldn't take on a single fucking space marine like I had planned! They're barely worth half a space marine! I've failed!"

"They'll do fine, Magos," Kyros says, arriving at another set of metal doors, which open to reveal a large table, where various figures are sitting.

There's Kyros, Magos Cern and Taj Suenage, as well as Kyros' daughter, who sits in the corner. There's also many more who you don't know. One is a tall, gaunt looking woman with pale skin and black hair pulled back in a pony tail, wearing a long coat that disturbingly, appears to be made from human skin. Another is a girl with a shaved head wearing heavy combat armor who is sharpening a long machete, another is a... person whose gender you can't tell, wearing black leather armor and lingerie in an odd attempt to look sexy at a war meeting, with long, curly black hair and excessive make-up. The person smiles at you, licking his... or her... or its lips. Then there's a young girl, younger than even you, wearing hooded robes and reading an ancient, dusty tome. Finally, there's a barely human monster. An obese man covered with rotting pores, boils, sores and pus-filled, infected wounds, with its arms replaced by long, rusted spikes. Kyros and Magos Cern take a seat.

"These are the leaders of the fleet, Fay and Karth. Some introductions are in order. First is me, the supreme leader of the entire fleet. Magos Cern leads the Dark Mechanicus on the ship and maintains the vessel itself. Chapter Master Taj Suenage leads the space marine chapter on board, the Undying Reapers. Then we have Calpurnia the Ravager, leader of the 22nd Istanford Regiment. "

The one with the human skin coat stands up, extending a hand to shake.

"Pleasure to meet you," she says, shaking both your hand and Fay's. I hope you're... efficient during your stay here."

"Then there's the Staine siblings. There's Rebecca Staine, the leader of the Bloody Claws, a war-band that worships Khorne the war god."

"Fuck you, psyker. You're weak and pathetic. Your parents should've left you to die," Rebecca growls, pointing her blade at you.

"Fuck you," Fay snarls, shoving her blade point away from your throat.

Rebecca stands, brandishing her sword, before the plague-ridden man stands, blocking Rebecca's path forward with one of his spike arms.

"Hey, hey! There's no need for violence! We're all brothers and sisters here!"

Rebecca sits back down with another growl.

"Alright, next we have Elios, leading of the Shrieking Harpies, a war-band that worships Slaanesh, the god of excess," Kyros says, pointing at the person clad in leather and lingerie.

"Pleasure to meet you, darlings. For slaves aboard a Chaos vessel, might I say you're looking... delectable," Elios says in a deep, masculine voice, licking his lips as he stares at both you and Fay.

"Keep it in your pants, Elios," Kyros says. "Next we have Elizabeth."

Elizabeth, the hooded girl reading the book, doesn't look up.

"She's risen to the position of leader of the One-Eyed Crows, a war-band that worships Tzeentch, the sorceror god. She easily reached the position through her amazing social abilities. Tell us about yourself, Elizabeth."

"Move along," Elizabeth says, making a circular motion with her hand without looking up.

"OK, Elizabeth. Finally, we have Durge, leader of the Black Rats war-band that worships Nurgle the plague god."

"Hello!" the diseased man says, waving his spike-arms. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I hope you're being treated well. I hope you're being fed enough. If not, it's probably because I've eaten all the food aboard this vessel!"

The man, Durge, breaks into laughter as several maggots burst from his skin. You try not to get sick.

"You're here to meet the leaders of this fleet so that you know who you'll be answering. We want you both to lead the slave army."

"Slave army?" Fay asks.

"The Uwais tribe soldiers, the previous batch of failed test subjects, the gladiator slaves and whatever else we can muster up. We'll hold the detonators to your explosive collars, but you'll hold a copy of the detonators for all the men under your command."

"There was a previous batch of failed test subjects?" Fay asks.

"Yes, there was. They were quite strong, but their minds were easily broken. Most weren't sentient, the sentient ones were insane. There was only one who you could even have a conversation with, the one I appointed leader. I'll show you to them some time after this. I assume you'll take the position?"

"It's not like I have much choice," you say.

"We'll take it," Fay says, answering for the both of you.

"This slave army, ot whatever you want to call it, will give us the strength advantage to become a serious military power in this tiny little sector. We could conquer ourselves a little kingdom from the weak and undefended worlds. We could become a raiding fleet that could have us living a life of luxury. But one little slave army wouldn't even give us a chance against even the defenses on Pluto!" Calpurnia says.

"I'll tear out your soul and devour it if you show anymore signs of cowardice!" Kyros yells. "Magos Cern, take Fay and Karth to see the previous batch of super-soldiers."

"I'll have to let the galaxy witness the shame of my failed creation when we release them on the galaxy. I might as well let the two adolescents have a preview of my sickening failure," Magos Cern says.

"We're not finished here!" Calpurnia splutters angrily. "I'm not launching my army on a suicide mission!"

"My army! As long as you serve me, it's my army!" Kyros screams.

"We take a vote, then," Calpurnia suggests.

"Fine, raise your hands if you don't want to go through with the assault, if you're a coward, if you're not loyal."

Calpurnia defiantly holds up her hands. Elios holds up his next.

"Sorry, Kyros. I'm not dying.. I'm too young and beautiful to die fighting an unwinnable war," he says.

Durge holds up a spike, looking ashamed.

"I'm loyal, Kyros, but I'm just as loyal to my men as you, and I won't see them die for nothing."

Elizabeth slowly raises a hand, looking up from her book for the first time.

"This plans suicide, Kyros. We both know that."

Kyros snarls in anger, looking around.

"That's me, Cern, Taj and Rebecca for attacking, and Elizabeth, Durge, Elios and Calpurnia for not doing so," Kyros says in a low growl.

"The slave leaders are the tie-breakers, then," Calpurnia says.

Kyros looks at you with a stare, holding onto the controller for your collars. Well, this seems like an obvious answer, even if it is a suicide mission.
> You don't support the assault on Terra
You raise your hand, and Fay follows suit.

"You have balls of steel," Meliodas says. "Unfortunately, now Kyros will tear them off, melt them down, turn them into a sword and fuck you up the arse."

"You fucking cunts! I lifted you up from the dirt! I gave you power! I gave you a future! I gave you all a future, and now you want to betray me?!" Kyros screams, standing up. "I won't let scum like you kill our chance at greatness! Loyal brothers, wipe them from the face of the earth!"

In an instant, everything goes to hell. Kyros puts your collars on full, and your collar tightens incredibly. You feel your throat be crushed and the air run out as you helplessly grab at it, watching the carnage. Calpurnia stands, raising her bolt pistol, but Rebecca leaps up, driving her sword through Calpurnia's chest, killing her instantly. Elios moves with incredible speed, drawing a hidden blade and slicing open Taj's throat as the space marine attempts to raise his bolter. Then, Magos Cern sprays boiling gasoline from a pipe in the side of her head into Elios' face, burning him severely before she stands, driving a drill into his burned face as he falls backwards. Durge struggles to stand with his immense wait, but immediately moves forward, standing in front of Elizabeth in an attempt to shield her from Kyros' wrath.

"Elizabeth, get out of here!" Durge says, as a panicked Elizabeth gets out of her seat.

"Durge, you miserable, plague-infested prick. You're going to die. You think you can save your sister? I'm going to cut off your spike-arms and drive them into both her eyes and then give her to the troops for a bit of fun."

Durge roars, charging forward. The scene goes fuzzy as the lack of oxygen hits your brain and you feel your throat being crushed. All you see is the massive, blurry blob that is Durge explode, collapsing backwards, just as Elizabeth disappears, no doubt having teleported with some psychic ability she has. Kyros screams, but by now you're on the line between conscious. You reach a hand out, finding Fay's as she dies on the ground next to you. You hold her hand tightly as she squeezes back and the last bit of life leaves you.