text: "It seems our good friend Calpurnia has been attacked in the dead of night," Kyros says. "Imagine how much pain she's feeling. The pain of her wounds. The pain of her betrayal. Who hear could have possibly betrayed them? Who could have plotted late in the night to back stab a person, to betray someone who had given them so much? Could it have been Elios? Durge? Elizabeth?"
  
  "Fuck... you," Calpurnia says, before collapsing her head against the table.
  
  Calpurnia screams as her arm's bare flesh begins to cook, as Kyros glares at her. Durge raises a spike, running it through Calpurnia's head.
  
  "Enough. There's no need to prolong her suffering," Durge says, glaring at Kyros.
  
  "I suppose. Perhaps it's best that she died. Do you know what, Durge? Magos Cern, Chapter Master Taj and Rebecca all came to me, told me a coup was being planned by Calpurnia, and she was recruiting all the faction leaders. I'm sure she hadn't gotten around to asking you, Elizabeth and Elios yet, or you would've reported it to me. Correct?"
  
  Durge stares at Kyros, not saying a word.
  
  "Well, I'll have someone investigate who could have possibly done this to our dear friend. Anyone, as for the purpose of this meeting, I just wanted to tell you we're all out of Recaf, and I'll have it replaced by tomorrow. I also suppose I must say I'm taking control of the 33rd Istanford Regiment in the wake of Calpurnia's passing. Now, everyone back to their duties. We're in a risky time. Who knows who'll have the next... accident?"
  
  Kyros walks out of the room, and you and Fay follow him. He immediately has you set to work. He has you train with a few of your new men, fighting off dozens of crab-like aliens with a handful of Goliaths, Tribals and Gladiators to learn how they fight. The Tribals still work with their hunting tactics and the methods of war used to fight off the endless greenskin attacks, so you find you're easily able to lead them to victory.
  
  The Goliaths are borderline idiots, who even in the heat of battle get distracted by themselves and each other, get frustrated when their massive hands fail to successfully reload their bolters, and are more than happy to break formation to charge the enemy. Cain proves himself as a solid leader, taking you orders and bellowing them out with massive, powerful lungs, loud enough to snap the Goliaths back to violence. The Goliaths make up for their mental failings with their extreme strength, withstanding punishment beyond what you thought was possible, whilst turning steel to dust with their powerful blows.
  
  The Gladiators' fighting style is an interesting one. Due to the lifestyle of gladiators, they haven't really trained for being part of a large unit, only knowing how to fend for themselves or maybe fight alongside a small unit of a half dozen people. They're good, experienced fighters, but despite their experience they're still young and wild, taking unnecessary risks in battle and acting far too prideful. While Castus is wild and barely acts as a leader in battle other than shouting out curses at the enemies, rallying his men and leading a charge whenever necessary, Olive is calm, collected and acts as the real leader, spitting out battlefield tactics that allow for a crushing defeat. The gladiators also have a certain showmanship, no doubt because they're performers before they're fighters. The gladiators' attacks maximize bloodshed and feature extravagant yet unnecessary feats of agility, something that needs to be eliminated from their battle doctrine.
  
  All in all, your newfound force is fairly competent. You're satisfied with their ability to fight, which is bolstered by your immense powers, the only outlet of which are these arena battles. After several long hours fighting, just as you're too exhausted to continue fight, the massive metal gates from which the aliens spew slam closed.
  
  You hover in the air, firing a stream of multi-colored fire that consumes a crab-alien, before you swoop down, firing a psychic blast directly into the unarmored face of another. Your forces wipe out the remaining beasts, and soon the fighting is over, leaving you surrounded by corpses, blood and bolter shells. The metal gate you came through opens, and you drop to the ground, feeling your collar begin to restrain your psychic powers again, before standing and beginning to walk back inside. 
  
  "Well done, men. You've proven yourselves today," you say.
  
  Your four guards wait by the gate, alongside dozens of other guards to ensure none of you attempt a mistake. The gladiators are led to the underneath of the arena, the Goliaths back to cyro-sleep and the Tribals to their cell-dorms. You're quickly escorted to your room, and the doors close behind you. You walk forward, quickly undressing from your blood-stained, sweat-soaked clothes before collapsing on your bed, burying your head in your pillow.
  > go to sleep
  "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. 
  > agree
  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?"
  > say "Yeah, I want to go out."
  "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.
  > agree to Cain's demands
  "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.
  > embrace the darkness
  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