Back on Erika's Orb,
A few hours after Kochav was knocked out.
"Finally awake?"
Lucas spoke.
"So it was a rat I sensed back then.
A big one, too,"
Kochav mocked,
his hands cuffed with a Psy-Limiter.
*Kick*
"Insolence,
Do you even understand
your current situation?"
One of Lucas's men kicked Kochav.
*Cough*
Kochav spat out blood.
"Enlighten me—
how exactly are you alive?
I'm pretty sure I made a meat pie out of you.
Even gave you a kick afterward to check."
Lucas signaled one of his men.
The figure approached and
removed their mask
—revealing a corpse.
Lucas touched the corpse's shoulder
and reshaped it to look like himself.
"So you're saying...
you used your tendons
like a puppet's string."
"Disgusting",
Kochav muttered.
"even for a biomancer."
Tendons slithered from Lucas's body, wrapping around Kochav's neck
and lifting him off the ground.
"Notice anything different?"
Lucas asked.
Kochav felt the strength—
his tendons were like metal.
—
"Did he reinforce his body...
with the Astartes?"
Kochav's eyes widened.
"So... you use his sinew coils...
How pathetic."
Kochav spoke with difficulties.
The grip loosened.
"Now,
I'd like to know why you're here.
And how you know of this place."
He grinned psychopathically.
"Though, please don't talk.
I prefer digging myself."
Kochav struggled.
No power, no plan.
Maybe this was it.
He muttered,
"I... am... not... alone."
Before Lucas could responded––
*Swish*, *Swish*, *Boom*, *Boom!*
A whistling sound of missiles,
Followed by explosions.
The ceiling collapsed,
light flooded the room.
A Valkyrie hovered above in VTOL mode.
Mira, in the cockpit,
hand-signaled Kochav to dodge.
More missiles rained down.
Lucas's biomancies failed—
the presence of a blank
nullified all psyker abilities.
Corpses collapsed.
Lucas dove behind debris.
Mira left the cockpit on auto-pilot,
reached the ramp,
holding Kochav's revolver.
Kochav raised his hands instinctively.
*Bang*
Cuffs shattered,
Mira tossed the revolver down,
and tuned her inhibitor.
Warp energy returned.
Their eyes locked,
giving Kochav the silent signal
to finish his job.
Snow fell.
Fires spread.
Kochav stood,
caught the revolver.
Counted his bullets
"Five shots again....
should be enough....right?,
Renoir"
"Come out and fight me, Lucas!",
Kochav shouted.
Corpses jolted,
tendons reattached.
Four bodies.
"As you wish, Dead Rogue."
Lucas came into view,
but another tendon snaked
toward the entrance...
Few seconds later,
a large figure joined the room.
The dead marine.
"Tch––,How am i
going to have enough bullets now?"
Kochav shouted at Lucas.
"You are a diviner, right?
You will figure it out."
A corpse lunged at him.
Movements erratic, like a puppet.
Kochav's precognition kicked in,
easily dodged all the attacks.
"I need to find the connecting part."
Looking into the veil,
enhanced his hearing.
Crackling of bones,
meeting of fleshes.
The tendons slithered
on the floor....
connecting to cervical spine?
"I can't destroy the tendons
with my force-sword."
"Then I'll just destroy the body,
simultaneously though."
*Bang*
Kochav shot at Lucas,
sinew coils blocked it, unscathed.
"Four shots left",
Lucas counted.
Four corpses
except the Astartes rushed at Kochav.
*Bang*, *Bang* ,*Bang*, *Bang*
Each shot to the thoracic spine.
They collapsed,
still twitching.
"No bullets."
Lucas smiled. Reclaimed his tendons.
Sent the dead Astartes.
*Fling*
A huge debris flew toward the Astartes,
some parts stuck,
slowing his movement.
There was a considerable distant between Lucas and his last puppet.
The Astartes swung his arms aimlessly, trying to clear the way and hit Kochav.
*Stab*, *Boom*
He stabbed its neck with psychic blade
and sent high precision barrage into the gap.
Removing the body from the spine,
like peeling a skin of a big game...
The Astartes fell.
Kochav landed before Lucas.
He pulled his force-sword with telekinesis,
readied for close combat.
"Oh, right.
I have to update your information there,
I am also a Telekine"
Kochav cracked his joints
and swiped dust off his shoulder.
Lucas morphed his arm
into a bone-blade.
They clashed.
Lucas missed repeatedly.
Then—
a barrage of tendons.
One pierced Kochav's jacket.
A small pendant fell from his jacket,
a dove?
"How do you have her crest?"
Lucas asked, shocked.
"Are you Helena's——"
*Stab*, *Thunk!*
the Force-sword flew through the air,
pinning Lucas's shoulder to the wall.
"My....nephew....?"
He groaned,
his bodies pierced by sword and debris.
Unable to escape.
He muttered,
"Velardo?"
"Velardo died the moment
he was sent to Artine."
Kochav said coldly.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang!*
With the last bit of strength and will,
Lucas tried to shield himself with
his sinew coils
but all the bullets pierced through.
He gave a faint smile before he died,
he felt relieved?
The Heirloom weapon from Clan Orlock, Necromunda's House of Iron.
This personalized revolver....
was an anti-vehicle weapon.
"All the shots I made before
were psychic bullets,
can't believe you fell for it
and lunged at me for close combat..
Thank you for the gun, Rouge."
"And you were my uncle.
Tch, Disappointing."
Kochav mumbled
while shaking off the empty casings.
He looked up and shouted at Mira.
"You could have helped, you know."
She made a disinterested face
and dropped a bomb.
"Destroy all of this?"
Kochav asked.
She gave a thumbs-up.
He sighed,
armed the bomb,
wall-jumped to the ramp.
They returned to base.
In the hangar,
Inquisitor Theodore Helsin awaited
"Do you now understand
what the Imperium requires of you?"
Helsin asked.
"To kill my blood",
Kochav answered, resolute.
"Yes. To kill all Xarcarions.
You,
Velardo Von Xarcarion,
will bring doom to your house."
"And rise anew?"
Helsin nodded and signaled him to follow.
In the planning room,
a large leather board displayed the
Xarcarion bloodline.
Portraits lined the walls all distinctively alike,
"Silver hair."
Two had been crossed out....
Helena and Lucaszo.
But there was no Velardo.
Truly an unwanted child.
"Do you know what happened to
your mother?"
Helsin asked.
"Ulysses told me,
she died during childbirth"
Kochav answered.
"Not entirely wrong,
She died while giving birth to you.
But Void exposure was what killed her,
you could say she was dragged there,
chained to the bed
while basking pure warp energy."
"Upon learning she was pregnant
with someone outside of the family,
your grandfather
disowned her almost immediately.
Her lover killed,
She was treated like an incubator.
You already knew what happened
to those who opposed."
"Artinites..."
Kochav muttered.
"And you were their doom.
Now, also their legacy."
"Destroy Xarcarion and rise from ashes"
"Von Artine,
that is what will replace Xarcarion."
Kochav declared.
Helsin nodded.
"There's also someone
i want you to meet."
Helsin looked toward the corner of the room.
A large figure lurking in the shadows,
two blue lights glowing,
marking their eyes.
The figure came out of darkness.
An Astartes?....But which chapter?
Wearing grey terminator armor with
an ancient helm design.
A hammer larger than Kochav's entire body rested behind him.
"How is this dwarf ogryn
going to fit in the valk––",
before Kochav could finish,
the hammer flew in his direction
to the grip of its owner.
"Jest, Mortal."
The Astartes got closer.
"Rogue Trader or not—
I would like to see you dance."
Unflinched,
Kochav stared at the.....
Chest plate?––
He got on the desk,
eyes to eyes with the Astartes.....
"I'm sure we will have plenty
of time to dance, Angel."
Kochav taunted.
"I like this one, Helsin."
The Astartes laughed
then went back to lean on the wall.
after the tension went down,
Helsin finally got the chance to speak.
"Battle-Brother Bergelmir here,
is on a mission from the Inquisition",
Helsin said.
"Do you remember the dead Astartes?"
"The one with many holes?
hard to missed",
Kochav answered.
"A Grey Knight initiate from
the 7th Brotherhood. The Exactors.
We don't know how he fell or
how Lucaszo got his body."
"More importantly,
they took something from him,
his gene-seed."
"and you will help Brother Bergelmir
retrieve it."
Helsin explained.
"So..., Xarcarion took the gene-seed.
I help take it back and also kill someone,
A mutual beneficial mission i supposed."
"Where to?"
Kochav asked,
bloodlust filled his aura.
"Follow me."
Helsin led the two players to the top floor
revealing a command deck,
at the center was a tactical holography table displaying the ship—
a Loki-class Q-ship.
A covert warship disguised
as a merchant vessel.
Their base of operation.
This began the journey of a
Rogue....Rogue Trader of House Artine.
His rise to power.
"....One more thing to add,
Inquisitor.
There was some kind of creature,
It felt like a peril.....
Did Mira sense any of that?"
Kochav asked.
"No....there was nothing of sort,
are you sure you're not
triggering them yourself?"
Helsin doubted.
"Absolutely not....
I think."
"Then you better keep your senses,
and report every anamolies."
Helsin added.
Whatever that thing was,
it wasn't associated with Lucas....
Its intention remain unknown.