The Wayward Son

Avenger of Terra, The next day, Mess Hall

News of the heretic hive had been all the rage aboard the flagship over the past day. Without hesitation or mercy, the Inquisitor and her troops quickly murdered all suspected traitors and associated parties after seeing the scene of the crime for themselves. Seiras was almost surprised by how relentlessly brutal Atia had been ever since the ordeal. It seemed especially odd to him considering how merciful she was with the librarian himself.

Even despite recent events, she displayed a level of trust towards him and kept his secret. Unfortunately, the Grey Knights seemed to know some of what happened, and were not so lenient. They had been regularly watching him from afar for the past day now, and Seiras wasn't sure if it was by Atia's order or their own vigilance.

The Blood Raven sighed heavily as he carried a tray of food to the officer's table in the mess hall of the flagship. The room was mostly empty at the moment thankfully. He sat down by himself and stared at his meal deep in thought. He wasn't sure why he decided to come here again, but used it as a good excuse to get alone time from his brother space marines. Seiras examined his food thoroughly. It was some type of grain and meat mixture with odd assortments of fruits and even a cookie.

The librarian took a bite of the pastry as he recollected the various reactions his brother space marines had towards recent events. All of them were equally disturbed and furious by the news of heresy aboard the ship, but luckily they were not informed of his infiltration in the ordeal.

He was concerned that Viggo would smell something different about him, and was extra careful in covering his scent upon returning to his brothers yesterday. Seiras felt relieved that Atia kept his secret as well, because Emperor knows what his brothers would think of his recent mishaps. He could only imagine what Gregorius would have said about him committing heresy to lure out and kill heretics. Thankfully, they were none the wiser and Seiras was back in his power armour again with a force sword at his side.

He ate his meal in relative silence as he thought about the initiation from the other day, 'I feel sick...all of those disgusting things I did. I can't get them out of my head. Amelia, Daniella...even Jessenta. Damn it, what is this feeling?!'

He was drawn from his thoughts when a strange vibration caught his attention. A warm and psychic echo filled his head as he stopped eating, "You seem troubled."

At first the librarian ignored the voice as he attempted to return to eating. The spirit stone around his waist shined brightly as the voice filled Seiras' mind with more clarity, "Monkeigh, I would speak with you."

The voice was in an Eldar dialect, but Seiras had long since memorized and discerned the meanings of the psychic emanations from its telepathic frequencies. He chose to ignore its voices as he typically did these days. Seiras would never admit it to anyone, but the stone did try to talk to him on its own sometimes.

"Seiras...listen to me, it's important!" the stone complained. In the decades since he had acquired the spirit stone, Seiras had never once heard it refer to him by name.

He took a moment before acknowledging it psychically, "What, Eldar?"

"What happened to you? Ever since your encounter with that cultist girl, you've been acting strangely. Have you been tainted by Chaos?" it asked with a suspicious tone.

"Those cultists are all dead. I made sure of that. I am not tainted or sympathetic to the ruinous powers and those who worship them. I remain always faithful to the Emperor." Seiras responded calmly.

"I can sense ripples in your mind. You are unstable and distracted. What did they make you do? The monkeigh girl spoke of an initiation. Did you fulfill their requirements?" the stone asked curiously. It had a very unnoticeable sliver of sincerity in its tone. Due to the fact that he wasn't wearing his power armour down in the heretic hideout, the eldar in the stone had no real idea what actually happened because it usually stayed with the librarian's armour. Seiras was confused about why the Eldar seemed to even care, but he decided to answer anyways.

"Some initiation ceremony that involved sexual depravity...among other things I would prefer to never speak of again," Seiras responded bluntly and shamefully.

"Disgusting...I am thankful to have missed watching that. The idea of you mating is repulsive to imagine." the stone said in a disapproving voice.

"Why do you even care? We haven't spoken in years..." Seiras asked as he finished off his cookie.

"You haven't spoken...I have had plenty of wisdom that you have foolishly ignored for years. Why did you bother learning our language if you never intended to speak to an Eldar with it?" the Eldar sassed.

Seiras shrugged, "I have nothing to say to you, alien."

"Well, let me make this clear. I don't care about you or your well being in the slightest. However, given the nature of recent events, I believe I understand why Saim-Hann came after you. It wasn't just for me as I originally suspected. It was to assassinate you...although I'm sure you already knew that. I imagine you're doomed to fall to Chaos and bring terrible fates to many. Obviously, that's concerning to me since you are very powerful and you keep me around," the eldar explained.

"That's the closest thing to a compliment I have ever heard from an alien. I already knew that they came to kill me. Do you actually have anything relevant to say?" Seiras replied callously.

"I don't think you're as stupid as most Monkeigh. Surely you've realized that this change in you is dangerous. I know you will likely refuse this, but I highly recommend that you seek out the Aeldari on your own. If you approach them properly and respectfully, I doubt they'll kill you. They might know something about your future. If you allow them to help you, then they might not have to kill you," the stone continued.

"That sounds like a terrible idea. What possible reason would I have to talk to aliens that tried to kill me countless times in the past?!" the Blood Raven asked angrily.

The stone was silent for a moment before replying, "You speak to me, do you not? Whether you will admit it is irrelevant, but you and I share a decent understanding and a mutual tolerance of one another. Aeldari and Humanity share a common foe...if you ask them to help you, they will. In fact they might even appreciate you showing wisdom instead of being a foolish brute tampering with things you do not understand."

"Keep your suggestions to yourself from now on! I don't even know you alien. You give me information about Eldar technology and language...that's it. You can't lie about language and technology when I can test it. But trust? That's easily exploitable. Your kind are notorious for deception, which is why I made it a point to learn your stupid language. I did as much so we could NEVER again suffer at the hands of the treacherous xenos filth from Biel-Tan or Ulthwe! You're not going to outsmart me you knife-eared xenos!" The man elaborated.

"You are a fool if you believe you can outsmart the Eldar. We're always ten steps ahead of your Imperium's pathetic psykers. Not even a librarian such as you could match even the lowliest seer among the Aeldari. You're hardly as cunning or intelligent as you think you are," the Eldar spoke condescendingly.

Seiras immediatly grabbed the stone chained to his waist and pulled it into his grip. He began to squeeze the stone as hard as he and yelled psychically at it, "I've heard enough from you. Keeping you around has lost its benefits. Say hello to Slaanesh for me after I shatter your spirit stone!"

The stone recieved a visible crack from the force he was exerting, which caused the Eldar within it to immediately voice concern, "Wait! Do not kill me, Seiras! You're making a mistake! You have no idea how valuable I am to you alive!"

"By all means enlighten me you coward!" he replied darkly as his grip tightened even harder.

"My name is Prince Kalyra. I was an Autarch of Aldmorian...the crashed Craftworld on Typhon Primaris," the Eldar replied.

Seiras gawked in disbelief as his grip finally loosened, "You're an Autarch?! That's highly doubtful...an Autarch would never have told me all of the things you did. You're just trying to save your worthless life. In the face of death, you Eldar will stoop to any low to save your own souls from Slaanesh."

"I am an important figure among my people even in this state. My word still carries weight to the Aeldari. You could trade me to a Craftworld for knowledge or amnesty. They would honour such an exchange if you initated it. I can help you, but if you kill me then you lose that option forever." Kalyra concluded.

"Hmm...fine, you get to live a little longer then. Do not think this means I'll tolerate your arrogance, alien. If I hear one more bad comment from you, then I'll send you straight to Slaanesh. You'll be a useful bargaining tool if necessary," Seiras replied.

"As you say, Seiras." Kalyra said curtly before finally ceasing to speak. Seiras let go of the spirit stone shortly afterward and let it fall back down on the chain around his waist.

He barely had a moment to continue eating before the sound of heavy footsteps caught his attention from behind.

"Brother Seiras, there you are! Mind if I join you?" a familiar voice brought Seiras out of his deep thinking. The Blood Raven looked up with surprise to see none other than Nogemo coming around the table sitting down across from him.

The Blackshield had a serious but friendly expression on his face which was both inviting and concerned.

"What are you doing here, brother?" Seiras asked the Blackshield curiously.

"I came to check on you. You have the look of shame and regret in your eyes. Did you see something disturbing recently on one of your walks?" Nogemo asked slyly.

Seiras was silent for a moment, 'Does he know about my involvement in rooting out the cult?'

"What are you saying? It sounds like you're under the assumption that there is something wrong with me." the Blood Raven asked carefully.

"No need to be evasive with me, Seiras. I know you personally rooted out those heretics. I will say no more on the matter. If anyone would understand your situation, believe me...I do," Nogemo said calmly.

Seiras relaxed a bit as his Blackshield brother took a few bites out of his meal. The bald man shook his head and sighed after a moment, "I saw you sneaking around without your armour the other day. Convenient for it to occur right before this heretic purge. The others thought you were just pacing around the ship like you usually do. I have to say it was quite innovative and cunning on your part. Your infiltration is something I would never expect from a librarian."

"My actions were dishonourable, but necessary," Seiras said quietly. He was still recovering from the shock that Nogemo figured him out.

"Sometimes we have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons," Nogemo noted.

"What about you Nogemo? Did you do the wrong thing for the right reason? Is that how you became a Blackshield?" Seiras wondered.

The bald man frowned, "I've done countless things that I am not proud of. I prefer not to dwell on them."

"What chapter were you from, Nogemo? I know we're not supposed to ask, but I genuinely want to know." Seiras asked.

"Sometimes, Seiras, ignorance is bliss. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to know everything about everyone around you," Nogemo replied.

"That's where you're wrong, Nogemo. I want to know about everyone and everything that is relevant to me or my goals. I'll never trust you fully until I know exactly who you were and why you turned your back on the Emperor," Seiras replied bluntly.

"I never turned my back on the Emperor...only on the hypocrisy of the Imperium. That's why I'm here. Forgive me brother, but I cannot tell you who I was before joining Deathwatch. Knowledge of my past would not benefit you at all." Nogemo responded.

Seiras stared at him doubtfully, "Knowledge is power...that is true in every sense of the word. Having knowledge over something gives one power over it. You're afraid of me knowing what you were...aren't you? You don't trust me either I take it? You're hiding something from us."

"Am I Afraid? No. Do I trust you? As a battle brother I do, but as an ambitious Astartes I do not. Not telling you is for your own good as well as mine, Seiras. You're a very interesting scholar and Psyker...but your thirst for knowledge and power is not much different than the ancient sorcerers within the Thousand Sons. Not all secrets are meant to be unraveled. Do yourself a favour and don't end up like them lest you fall to Chaos," Nogemo replied.

"Don't compare me to chaos traitors! What would you know about them anyways?" Seiras retorted somewhat aggressively.

Nogemo gave Seiras a blank look and did not say anything in response.

Upon asking that question, a bit of clarity began to fill the librarian's mind. He stared at Nogemo for a moment before speaking, "You're a lot larger than the rest of us and I know you're older than you let on. The way you speak about the Great Crusade and the way you speak gothic...it makes me think you have a connection an original legion."

The Blackshield seemed slightly alarmed by Seiras' intuition, but quickly recollected his composure and cocked his head, "What are you implying brother?"

"You're different than all other loyal Astartes I've ever encountered. You are a lot larger than a normal Space Marine too...were you created from first generation gene-seed? I've noticed a lot of the marines from the Chaos Traitor Legions are larger than modern day space marines...and they have a lot of first generation geneseed," Seiras pointed out.

Nogemo looked at Seiras slightly surprised, "That is a rather interesting detail for you to pick up, but how does my size mean anything in that regard? Plenty of Astartes are close to my height. I'm hardly special, Seiras."

"You're 260 centimeters tall in your power armour. That's very large even by Astartes standards. You're taller than even Decimus and Viggo which is remarkable considering they're the largest Astartes I've fought beside. Decimus is 256 centimeters tall and Viggo is 251...but that's in their terminator armour. I'm 240 and I'm larger than an average Astartes in my power armour. The only space marines I've seen that come close to your size in regular power armour are the Alpha Legion Marines. If I had to guess they were all close to your height on average. They were bigger than my fellow Blood Ravens and me, but similar in size to you. I know you're not a former Chaos Marine because you're untainted by the warp...and I don't know of any loyal or traitor chapter that has qualities like yours. It leads me to only one conclusion...you're from the Alpha Legion." Serias deduced as he focused a hard stare on Nogemo.

The blackshield was caught off guard from Seiras' revelation as his eyes went wide for a moment. A long silence passed for a moment before Nogemo finally spoke, "You truly believe that?"

"Unless you have another explanation for why you're so large and stealthy, that's what I believe you are. Am I wrong?" Seiras replied calmly.

"No, you're not. I actually am from the Alpha Legion. I didn't expect anyone to ever figure that out," Nogemo admitted.

Seiras tilted his head confused, "I'm surprised you would admit it."

"Why bother lying about it since you already know? There's a reason I didn't want you or anyone else to know about my former allegiance. It's because the Alpha Legion is notorious for infiltrating the Imperium," Nogemo replied.

"I wonder what the others would think if they knew..." Seiras trailed off as he stared at the bald man.

Nogemo narrowed his gaze, "I am not your enemy brother...this is not something that the others should know. It would destroy our team cohesion. The others would never trust me again."

"But you expect me to keep this a secret? How do I know you're not an infiltrator? Give me the real reason for why you're here and I'll keep it to myself," Seiras threatened.

Nogemo frowned, "I am here because I am a disgraced angel. I failed humanity and I failed the Emperor. The Alpha Legion has ultimately abandoned what it set out to be, and I chose to spend the remainder of my life atoning for the things I've done. That's the honest truth, Seiras."

"If you're truly repentant about it, then just admit what you are to our brothers. Telling them will show that you trust them and that you have no intention of betraying us. They would be mad at first, but in time they would understand. Just like how Viggo and Decimus like me even though they don't like other psykers," Seiras suggested.

Nogemo looked at Seiras deeply, "Perhaps you should tell them about your experience with the Cult of Slaanesh then and about how you betrayed people in such a sinister way. I imagine they would not be as understanding as you would like. Why else would you withold that information? If they are to know about what I've done, then it is only fair that they know about what you've done as well."

Seiras' eyes widened, "Are you threatening me?"

"No, Seiras, I am trying to make you see this from my point of view. Others would never understand why we are the way we are and why we did the things we did. Some secrets should remain secret. You are ashamed of the things you've done...just as I am ashamed of my past. Please respect my wish to forget the past and bury it brother. I will never speak of your secrets if you never speak of mine."

"Fine, I will keep it to myself. But know this, brother...if you ever betray us I WILL personally kill you in the most horrible way you can imagine. I've suffered too many traitors in my life to tolerate subterfuge from another Astartes," Seiras threatened.

"I promise that I will continue to have your back. Your mistrust is understandable...I would expect no less from a librarian. Enjoy the rest of your meal, my brother. I hope this does not ruin our kinship. I rather like you, Seiras," Nogemo replied as he stood up.

"Farewell Nogemo," Seiras said distantly as the Blackshield walked away.

Seiras stared down at the table even more troubled than before, 'He's an Alpha Legion marine...I had my suspicions, but for him to admit it so honestly to me implies that perhaps he isn't here to betray us? How in the name of the Emperor did he find out about all of those things I did? He's definitely Alpha Legion...nobody else is that stealthy or cunning. I should keep a closer eye on him from here on out.'

Several minutes passed as Seiras ate the rest of his meal. He was actually starting to like eating normal food again.

"Hey, Space Marine, can I talk to you?" Seiras heard someone ask from behind.

He glanced back and saw an Imperial Guardsman standing there. It was Daniella's friend from the other day much to his surprise. She seemed very depressed and clearly troubled by something.

It did not take a genius to figure out that the woman was concerned over the fate of her friend. "Sure...sit down if you want," Seiras gestured for the woman to sit next to him.

She seemed surprised by his gesture at first but slowly sat next to the large Astartes. Seiras glanced over at her and spoke first, "Is this about your friend, Daniella?"

"Y-yes...how did you know that? Nobody will tell us what happened...only that she was a heretic and that she was killed by the Sororitas. I know it's presumptuous of me to ask, but can you please tell me what happened to her? Surely you've heard something? Danny would never betray the Imperium. She loved the Emperor. She loved space marines too. I just can't accept the idea of her being a traitor," the guardsman said nearly in tears.

Seiras took this time to examine the woman more closely. She had blonde hair neatly pulled into a bun, blue eyes, and a pale complexion. Her eyes looked puffy as if she had been crying a lot recently. The woman was currently in her full flak armour and had a lasrifle slung over her back. She did not look remarkably special in any way, but she was a nice looking woman in Seiras' opinion.

"I don't really know what to tell you other than Daniella was conspiring with cultists and the Sororitas killed her," Seiras said as he made eye contact with the woman.

He felt a terrible and sickening feeling in his gut for lying to the woman's face. The image of him burning Daniella alive with a flamer kept playing over and over in his head as he stared blankly at the woman.

"I am really sorry about those rude questions I asked the other day. Danny got really mad at me for upsetting you. She really liked you. At first I thought it was just some kind of schoolgirl crush since she loves space marines so much. I was amazed when she told me how she knew you. Danny said that you rescued her when she was a girl on her home planet of Meridian. She called you her guardian angel. It was almost poetic the way she described you," the female guardsman said sadly.

Seiras nodded, "I did rescue her as a child...unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to save her family from being eaten by tyrannids."

"It's just impossible for me to believe someone like her would be a heretic. I just wish I could have helped her." the guardsman said as tears streamed down her face.

The Blood Raven looked remorseful as he basked in his own guilt, "Me too..."

The woman quickly collected herself as she tried to wipe away her tears and maintain her dignity, "Look at me crying to you about this. I'm sorry for bothering you again lord space marine. I know it's not something you would understand from a stupid little girl like me. I should go."

"Wait," the librarian said as she tried to stand up. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to sit back down.

She looked at the Blood Raven confused and slightly alarmed, "What?"

"I do understand how you feel. I've had brothers and friends that I've known for a long time betray me and the Imperium. It hurts more than anything else in this galaxy to be betrayed by those you trust," Seiras explained.

His insides were literally burning with shame and guilt as he thought about how he killed his brothers during the betrayal of Kyras, and about how he hypocritically betrayed Daniella in an evil way when he could have potentially saved her from the cult. Betrayal was such an evil thing.

The female guardsman noticed the pained and despairing look on Seiras' face and immediately tried to hug him. He was drawn from his guilty reflection as the woman embraced him tightly. The few people in the Mess Hall looked over with complete confusion, and had no idea what was going on. They all stared with shock as Seiras allowed to the woman to hug him.

The librarian couldn't describe it, but he felt somewhat better from the woman's action. Just having someone, even an insignificant guardsman, reaching out and empathizing with him was a strange feeling.

"Thanks," the woman said softly as she let go.

"For what?" Seiras asked confused.

She smiled, "For telling me that. I guess space marines are human after all. I should get back to duty. May the Emperor protect you my lord."

"You can call me Seiras if you want," the Blood Raven spoke as the woman took her leave.

"I'm Gisela Goldmane. It was nice talking to you Lord Seiras," she said before departing. After she left, Seiras decided it was time for him to leave as well.

He passed by the few inhabitants in the mostly empty mess hall and saw them staring at him strangely. Most of their faces looked unrecognizable compared to the ones he saw from the other day. He could tell that they were genuinely curious about his talk with the guardsman, but none of them had the courage to approach him as the Blood Raven left the room.

As he walked outside and moved down the corridors in reflective silence, Seiras passed by several Adepta Sororitas. They were all staring at him intensely as he passed by.

He briefly made eye contact and could see a few of them looked familiar. He did not know their names, but they looked like Jessenta's personal escort from the other day. A few of them smiled at him as he stared at them. One even addressed him, "Something you need, brother Seiras?"

'Are they smiling at me? Since when do Sisters of Battle smile?' Seiras wondered.

"No..." Seiras replied after a brief silence before walking past them. He could feel their stares bore into him from behind as he departed. Ever since his experience with Jessenta, the Sororitas had been unusually friendly towards him. In his opinion it was slightly creepy.

Seiras would often catch them staring at him whenever he was around them. It was difficult to discern what type of expressions they had, but his best guess was that they were a mixture of interest, respect, and curiosity.

The Blood Raven passed several more before running into none other than Selana, who was leading a pack of four. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing him and spoke seriously, "What are you doing wandering around alone right now, brother?! Don't tell me you're looking for Commander Jessenta."

"Selana?" Seiras said her name uncertainly.

"Don't address me so casually! We are NOT friends. Just because Jessenta has gone all googley eyed over you does not mean that the rest of us have!" Selana said heatedly.

Seiras looked over the four sisters with her who all had varying reactions on the matter. One spoke her mind, "So this is the space marine that the Commander is infatuated with?"

'Rumours spread way too fast around here...don't tell me that they all know about what happened between me and Jessenta. If they know then it won't be long before the Grey Knights and Atia herself know about it. I should have known having sex with her was a bad idea. Damn it!' Seiras thought to himself concerned.

Selana nodded, "Yeah that's him...he's the one I was telling you about. This is Seiras the Impure."

'Seiras the Impure?! Did this woman actually give me a title like that?!' Seiras thought annoyed.

"What exactly have you told them?" the Blood Raven asked carefully.

"That you seduced the Commander with sorcery and must be protected by the Emperor himself to have gotten away with the infiltration you did. Did you seduce the Inquisitor too in order to get out of trouble? Why did she invite you into her room? I expect answers from you." Selana spoke seriously.

"She simply wanted to ask me some questions about you Sororitas and my involvement in helping to destroy the heretic hideout aboard the ship," Seiras replied blankly.

Selana narrowed her gaze, "Is that right? For the love of the Emperor you better not have said anything unnecessary to her."

"Nothing about the acts involved," Seiras clarified in a somewhat vague way.

The second in command Sororita huffed at him, "Has your insidious desire fully tainted you yet?"

"Not at all, sister. Emperor be praised, I have had no desires since that day," Seiras replied calmly.

"He did have sex with Commander Jessenta though. Is that even allowed, Selana?" one of the Sororitas perked up with a doubtful expression.

"Of course it's not! None of us should be having sex on a mission...especially Astartes and Sororitas," Selana protested.

"Keep your voice down...it won't be a secret much longer if you go around saying it out loud for people to hear," Seiras said as he looked around. He was thankful to see nobody else in range of their conversation. Seiras was especially relieved that there was no camera in this hallway either.

"I didn't realize Space Marines had sex with women. That is something I'm curious to hear about if you wouldn't mind telling me brother," one of the sisters said in a strange but curious way.

'This nightmare won't end will it? Damn you Jessenta...it's all your fault I have to deal with this!' Seiras thought to himself angrily.

"They don't and they shouldn't...he was perverted by those cultists. He needs to be supervised so it doesn't happen again. That or put out of his misery," Selana said shaking her head.

"Well if it comes to that, hopefully you can supervise me, Selana. At least I know you won't try to seduce me like Jessenta did. I have nothing to worry about if you're around," Seiras said plainly.

Selana gave him a hard glare, "I distinctly recall you saying you found me attractive. Mind yourself, brother! I will shoot you if you even think about me in such an impure way!"

"Selana, I thought you said he seduced her. He's saying that Commander Jessenta came on to him? What's the real story here?" one of the sisters asked suspiciously.

"The commander came on to you? That's impossible. He must have used some psyker trick to charm her. Probably daemon magic," Another said aggressively.

"I don't know what happened, but I can assure you that it won't happen again," Seiras replied.

"Yeah...we'll see about that won't we, Seiras. You're giving me a real creepy vibe today," Selana said with a sneer.

Seiras wasn't sure exactly what her phrase was supposed to mean, but he gave her a careless look in return.

"Hey, Seiras, want to have sex with me? I won't turn you down if you're interested," one of the sisters randomly asked as Seiras began to walk away. She had a suggestive grin on her face.

Both Seiras and Selana gave the woman incredulous looks as their heads jerked towards her. Some of the other sisters looked shocked by her request as well.

"Absolutely not!" Selana shouted.

"Sister have you lost your mind!" the skeptical one spat.

"And you think I'm the perverted one...you sisters should really get out of your monastaries more often. For the record, this was her idea, not mine," Seiras said shaking his head.

He quickly made his departure before having to answer the sororita's question. As the librarian left, the woman looked disappointed, "So that's a no?"

Selana quickly slapped the woman across the face, "Go and prostrate yourself at an altar for even thinking that!"

"But the Commander did it and she's assured us that he's loyal. He's also pretty good looking for an Astartes. You didn't mention that part Selana," the woman said distantly.

"Sister, did he invade your mind with his psychic powers to make you like him?" another asked concerned.

She shook her head, "What? No, of course not. I'm not blind and neither are any of you. You can admit that he's attractive for an Astartes. Plus if it was heretical then Commander Jessenta would never have done it. She would never commit heresy, so I don't see a problem with me asking him too."

"You do have a point. I mean if he could seduce someone like the Commander, then he's got to be an ideal type of man," one of the sisters agreed.

"She's right, what more can you ask for in a man? He's an Angel of death...a killing machine descended from the glorious Emperor himself. I was actually there when he burned that heretic girl alive with Selana's flamer. It was hot," another remarked.

Selana simply stared at them disbelievingly, "Go repent now sisters! Your lust is shameful! Just because Commander Jessenta fucked him does not mean that it's okay for you to do so as well."

"If he asks me, I'm not saying no," one of the sisters chuckled before walking away with two others.

The skeptical one remained behind with Selana and shook her head, "What sorcery is this? He's got them acting like school girls."

"I don't know..." was all Selana could say as she shook her head displeased.

'The prioress WILL be hearing about this, Jessenta...now other sisters are eyeing him up too! What ever happened to faith and restraint?' Selana thought in annoyance.

Avenger of Terra, Crew Deck

As Seiras wandered around the ship for a bit, he passed patrolling crew members which was a common occurence during warp travel. What surprised him however is when he saw one of the Grey Knights blocking his way forward.

'Since when do Grey Knights walk in sight of regular personnel? Now that I think about it, there's no way he's gone unnoticed by the regular crew the past few days. I guess the Inquisition doesn't care if people see them since we're about to go fight a chaos fleet?' Seiras couldn't help but wonder as he examined him.

The Grey Knight was fully covered in terminator armour minus his helmet. His head was mostly shaved and he had faded brown hair on the top. Other than the man's grey eyes, there wasn't much to distinguish him from any other Astartes' facially. He wasn't sure which one it was specifically as Seiras had never seen any of them without their helmets before, but the massive grey knight was holding a fancy Nemesis Force Halberd which led him to assume it was Captain Arius.

He stomped towards Seiras upon noticing the Blood Raven and addressed him, "I would speak with you, librarian."

"What do you need, Captain Arius?" the Blood Raven asked calmly.

The Grey Knight seemed rather surprised that Seiras knew it was him, but said nothing on the matter.

"Inquisitor Atia told me to find you. We must go at once," Arius explained.

"Let's not keep her waiting then," Seiras nodded as he walked next to the Grey Knight on the way to Atia's quarters.

As they passed patrolling crew members and Imperial Guardsmen, Seiras glanced over at the Grey Knight and broke the silence, "Do you have any idea what this is about?"

"Yes...it involves a serious matter. We should not delay," Arius replied.

"A serious matter involving me?" Seiras asked.

"Involving all of the ship's Psykers. There was an incident on the bridge. It's currently under control, but Atia wanted all psykers there just in case," Arius replied vaguely.

The Blood Raven frowned and changed the subject as they hurried along, "I see your grey knights watching me a lot lately. Did the Inquisitor order you to keep an eye on me?"

"It hasn't been them...just me for the most part. I have been watching you ever since you helped the Sororitas uncover the hidden traitors aboard the ship. Inquisitor Atia has had a complete change of heart in regards to you. She has nothing but good things to say about your initiative ever since it happened, but seemed concerned for your well being. She asked me to keep an eye on you and I personally wanted to get an idea of what kind of Astartes you are for myself," Arius elaborated.

"I see...and what have you discovered?" Seiras wondered.

"That you are very good at influencing other people. I am surprised you do not hold a higher position of leadership. I see how your Kill Team brothers look to you. It must be difficult to get such different chapters to like you as a librarian. I have seen many librarians not even liked by their own chapters, let alone others. You have remarkable charisma. As a fellow psyker, I must say that I find that admirable," Arius said as he looked over at Seiras

"I have a question if you dont mind me asking...why are you grey knights walking around in sight of common military personnel? Isn't your existence supposed to be a big secret even to Astartes? As far as I'm aware, my chapter is one of the few allowed to actually know about you." Seiras asked.

"The fleet will be mind wiped after the battle...your Kill Team and the Sisters will not be. This fleet was specifically chosen by the Inquisitor because it has battled chaos multiple times before. The senior officers were allowed to keep their memories...although we should have been more vigilant in checking the Astropaths and the Navigators. I understand the ringleader of the heretics was the main Navigator for this ship...Amelia Feracci," Arius replied.

"Yes, it's good she's dead. I am glad the Sisters were able to wipe out that heretic den," Seiras said with a nod.

"I don't know how you found it when we could not, but I know that Blood Ravens are renowned for this kind of thing. You're very much like us in many ways. You might not be one of us in name, but in deed and purpose you are our brother psyker," Arius said approvingly.

Seiras was blown away by the unusual compliment he was getting from the Grey Knight Captain. He had always held a bit of resentment against Grey Knights and found it bizarre that they would compare him to themselves.

"I'm surprised the grey knights do not hate me for what happened with my former chapter master. He was a librarian that turned into a daemon prince. Most would assume I'm doomed for the same fate," Seiras trailed off.

"The Grey Knights have always liked your chapter, Blood Raven. That is why you're allowed to know about us. Despite what happened with Azariah Kyras, I am glad that librarians like you survived the purge of your chapter's traitors. I understand Gabriel Angelos has been named your new Chapter Master? He's a good man. I have actually had the pleasure of fighting beside him once. Few are as honourable and loyal to the Emperor as he is," Arius stated proudly.

"Gabriel is a great man...I wish I was half the Astartes he is. I want to make him and my brothers proud by my service here," Seiras said as he thought about his battle brothers.

His mind wandered off as he looked at the inner part of his armoured forearm. There it had the names of many of his brother inscribed on it. Almost a third of them were slashed out however. Specifically the names: Kyras, Avitus, Gordian, Isador, and several other of his younger librarian brothers were all crossed out.

A wave of melancholy washed over the librarian as he thought about his brothers. He was drawn from his thoughts as Arius spoke again, "Are those the names of your brothers?"

Seiras nodded, "Yes...all of the ones I was closest to. All of the ones I learned the most from and fought the most with."

"The slashed out ones are traitors I take it? Why slash them out? Why not simply remake these inscriptions?" Arius asked as the two picked up their pace.

The Blood Raven didn't even bother answering the question as Arius briefly looked over the names.

After a moment of silence, Seiras finally answered, "They're still my brothers. Seeing their names on my armour is a reminder to me that I was not much different than them. It is a reminder that my faith is the only difference between us."

Arius was silent for about a moment before responding, "I understand."

"We're almost to the Inquisitor's Quarters," Seiras changed the subject as he and the Grey Knight came up to the bridge elevator.

"We should meet her on the bridge," Arius said seriously.

'I wonder why she wants all of the ship's psykers there,' Seiras wondered as he and Arius approached the bridge.

Avenger of Terra, The Bridge

As Seiras and Arius entered the bridge, they immediately made their way to Atia and the other three Grey Knights. Much to their complete shock, all of the other Navigators were on the ground dead.

"Ah, you found him...about time," Atia said as she saw Arius and Seiras approach.

"What's this all about, Inquisitor?!" Seiras asked immediately as he examined the dead psykers.

She took a deep breath before explaining, "The reason why I've called you all here is because all of our navigators are dead. The gellar field had a malfunction in the Navigation Chamber. Every navigator that attempted to salvage the situation was possessed and came back to the bridge attacking everyone shortly after entering. The Grey Knights were forced to put them down. We're currently without a navigator drifting in the warp."

"What?!" Seiras gawked as he looked over the dead navigators on the ship's bridge who looked noticeably tainted by the warp. A trail of blood followed their bodies all the way up the Navigation Chamber door which was currently closed.

Seiras looked at Arius disbelievingly, "If I knew this was that urgent I would have ran here!"

"I didn't realize they were all dead! When did those two die?" Arius said concerned.

Atia shook her head, "Shortly before you arrived actually or I would have sent you a psychic message. One by one, all of them got overwhelmed when they tried to take over. And the ship's most experienced navigator was a heretic who is also dead! So essentially we're screwed!"

Another one of the grey knights moved in as he spoke up, "If we continue to drift like this, we could very well see damage to our entire Gellar field and daemonic infiltration aboard the ship. If the warp starts affecting the rest of the crew then we're in trouble. Since we're the ship's psykers, we must come up with a solution quickly."

"Can't we just follow the other ships?" Admiral Hightower cut in full of concern. He and the fleet commissar were both present. Seiras was amazed the bridge officers weren't panicking and figured it was likely due to the Commissar's calm and foreboding presence. They definitely looked shaken up though and understandably so.

Atia shook her head, "Of course not...someone would have to look through the raw warp in that chamber to guide us. None of us have the ability to do that effectively...especially for another week straight! So essentially we're going to to end up Emperor knows where away from the fleet...assuming our Gellar field does not collapse before the warp spits us out!"

"What do you propose we do then, Inquisitor Atia?" Captain Arius asked seriously.

"I don't know what to do...that's why I asked for all of the ship's psykers. We need to figure something out and fast!" Atia said urgently.

Seiras looked up at the sealed Navigation Chamber door and immediately started walking towards it. Everyone turned towards him incredulously as he approached it.

"Seiras, what are you doing?!" Atia practically demanded.

"Open the Navigation Chamber...I'll pilot the ship," he said as he finally reached the sealed room.

One of the nearby officers immediately did as the librarian requested opening the chamber for Seiras to enter.

"Seiras, don't you dare go in there alone!" Atia commanded as the Blood Raven stepped into the chamber.

"I'm not going alone. I assumed you all were coming with me. There's no time to stand around and discuss this. We have to get the ship back on course!" Seiras shouted.

"Grey Knights go with him," Atia said after a brief moment.

Without hesitation, Arius and the other three Grey Knights followed Seiras into the Navigation chamber.

The librarian pressed the button to seal the door closed behind them. Atia stared at them seriously, "Are you sure you can pilot this ship?"

"Of course I can. See you in a week, Inquisitor," Seiras replied as the door fully sealed.

Navigation Chamber

After sealing the Navigation Chamber behind them, Seiras and the Grey Knights went up a set of stairs that wrapped back around and found himself in a viewport above the bridge. The chamber viewport was the only non-covered window during warp travel, and for good reason too.

Seiras looked out the window and saw bizarre, impossibly strange things everywhere in sight. He quickly shielded his mind and closed his eyes as he began to focus his psyker senses. Thankfully his psychic hood was on currently as it helped him tune out the wild warp surges that flashed over his mindscape.

They Grey Knights all dispersed around the room and slaughtered the many warp entities that were taking shape. Seiras opened his eyes again upon entering the chamber fully and saw a throne like seat of some kind with ship controls and a helmet like visor with cables coming out of it. He approached it while the Grey Knights were fighting off warp creatures. To the best of his ability he adjusted it and strapped himself into the navigator's chair.

Thankfully, most navigators were very tall and proportionally lanky, which made it possible for his oversized self to barely fit into everything. Seiras saw a large galaxy map grid to his side and display of the ship and its gellar fields in relation to it on the other. From what it looked like the Gellar Field was extremely weak around the Navigation Chamber for some reason. Out of the main window he could see the warp itself.

He focused as hard as he could on comparing his side map with the trajectory set and tried to align it to where it looked like he was going in the right direciton. Unfortunately, he had no reference point to where he was going as he glanced over at the galaxy map and grimaced.

With as much of his psychic will as he could muster, Seiras peered out into the deep vastness of the immaterium. It was a horrendous nightmare filled hellscape of disturbing images. It was only then that he realized something terrible...he couldn't see the Astronomicon

"Damn it! How am I supposed to know what direction I'm going? Where's the Astronomicon?!" he asked himself frustrated.

"You can't see it? Keep looking, Seiras! There's only so long we can hold off the raw warp!" one of the grey knights spoke psychically to him.

"It looks like we flew through a brewing warp storm. I cannot see the Astronomicon either," Arius said after pausing briefly.

"I'll find it! Just hold these things off!" Seiras replied psychically.

An evil and disturbingly familar voice filled the navigation chamber as Seiras blindly piloted the ship, "Having trouble, Seiras?"

The librarian felt what must have been fear for the first time since he was a teenager as he immediately recognized whose voice it was, "Amelia?!"

"Oh...my beloved Seiras could never forget my enchanting voice could he?" the voice giggled in a wicked warp tainted way.

Seiras immediately regretted acknowleding the voice as it was now echoing whispers all around him. He refocused his attention back on navigating as he tried to tune out the voice. Obviously, it was the warp projecting daemonic images from his mind, and he did not want to breathe any more life into them than he already had.

The Blood Raven attempted to peer back into the warp and saw many twisted faces taking impossible shapes as they crackled with raw warp energy. They took horrific forms as he saw them fly around the ship.

He could see tentacles covered in mouths and eyes moving in strange flowing ways that defied all physics and even sane imagination. There was no pattern to this abhorrent realm...it was pure chaos.

With his full psychic might and his Astartes willpower, Seiras forced his gaze past the disturbingly chaotic scenery and could see a very faint light shimmering to his right. He could feel the warp reacting to his psychic powers as it changed shape immediately around his emotions.

"That was it! Where did it go?!" Seiras said aloud as he tried to relocate the Astronomicon.

As he continued to peer into the warp, many voices began to speak to him all at once and in strange haunting warp whispers. Above them all, one stood out the most, and that was the voice of Amelia again.

"You look like you need help, Seiras. I would be more than happy to help you my love!" Amelia's voice sounded with more clarity. He could hear her voice whisper dozens of more things at once which was beginning to drive him crazy.

He focused as much as he could on finding the astronomicon and refused to acknowledge her or think about the the voice as it would only empower whatever was creating it.

"You betrayed me!"

"We would have been royalty!"

"Tell me again that I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen!"

"You know why I'm here, Seiras? Because you miss me...because you desire me still. Because you wish I was here to help you pilot this ship. Well luckily for you, I am. Just let me in!" Amelia's voice whispered in his head.

"More Daemons incoming! Something is flying through the Gellar Field!" Arius shouted psychically.

Just then a figured took shape right outside of the window and flew towards Seiras. He was disturbed to see it actually pass through the window and enter the Navigation Chamber next to him.

The display to his right showed the front of the gellar field flashing wildly for a moment indicating that more things were entering. Seiras' eyes went wide when none other than Amelia was in front of him. He couldn't help but stare at her, 'Impossible...she can't be here. She's dead!'

"I know how to navigate the warp, and I managed to find you. I will always find you...because you're mine! MINE!" she said in a tainted daemonic way.

"Begone daemon!" Seiras yelled as he tried to fry it with warp lightning. Unfortunately his attack missed her, but it did hit a few other warp creatures nearby.

Laughter could be heard from all around him as many more figures appeared as well.

Seiras could barely react before he found Amelia sitting on his lap petting his head, "Let me help you, Seiras...if you don't everyone will die. Is that what you want? More deaths on your watch?"

He immediately felt a pair of lips against his own as Amelia or whatever was pretending to be her was aggressively kissing him.

"This isn't real! Get off of me, daemon!" Seiras shouted as he blasted everything back with raw psychic might. His eyes widened when the saw the fake Amelia turn into a daemonette.

"Our kiss was real," the daemonette spoke aloud as she attempted to approach him again.

Many other minor warp entities were also shaping into daemons as well. They did not last long thankfully as the Grey Knights quickly tore them apart. Arius immediately moved in and slaughtered the daemonette without mercy giving Seiras the ability to focus back on the warp.

"The Gellar field is down in front of the ship!" one of the Grey Knights announced psychically.

"Out there! A big surge of warp energy is coming! Pool your psychic might together brothers! Hold it back!" Arius commanded.

The four Grey Knights and the librarian all focused on a joint psychic shield that blocked the massive surge of raw warp from flooding the Navigation Chamber and touching the front of the ship. Their shield held off a subsequent wave before the gellar field began to flicker back on.

"The Gellar Field is coming back up but it won't make it if we take another hit from a warp cloud like that! Emperor, protect us..." Seiras spoke aloud as they all forced the psychic shield against incoming warp cloud. Just then a very bright light blinded everything in his vision and Seiras heard another voice. This one drowned out all of the whispers and was strong, authoritative, and in his opinion trustworthy.

"Focus on the light of Terra. Don't use your eyes. Don't see the warp...see the path and you will find your way through the storm," the strong voice told him. It was warm and comforting to hear and somehow gave the Blood Raven the help he needed. For some reason Seiras swore he could hear an angelic choir sing in whispered echoes with the strong voice.

Seiras immediately had an epiphany upon hearing the statement and began to think about Terra and the golden light of the Astronomicon. The warp always reflected what was on one's mind and if he thought of Terra, he could see the Astronomicon's light. He calmed his psychic peering and receded his power as he simply tried to follow his mind's instinctual intuition.

Finally, Seiras could see the light of the Astronomicon. He looked between his map, the ship angle, and the light itself before finally triangulating the proper way to go. Seiras focused less on what the outside of the ship looked like and more on how the Astronomicon's light aligned with the ship's direction on his map.

He turned back on course and began to follow the correct path. The gellar field was finally back up after he made it through the large warpcloud. The five psykers eased up slightly as the ship was no longer in immediate danger of breaking apart.

"I found it! We're stable!" Seiras spoke out loud to the Grey Knights. They seemed relieved upon hearing it and all sheathed their weapons as the Gellar field returned to normal.

"Good work brothers. How far off course are we, Seiras?" Arius asked curiously.

"About a week out still if this map is correct. I can pilot the ship until then if nothing else happens," the librarian replied.

"We need to ensure your safety so that the ship arrives safely then," the Grey Knight Captain replied.

"Only one of you needs to stay. The others should go inform Atia that we're back on course," Seiras replied.

"You three go. I will remain with Seiras. Make sure that no daemons made it onto this ship while the Gellar field was temporarily down," Arius dismissed his team. They all nodded before departing back to the bridge.

"Fly true brother. I will watch over the chamber until we arrive," Arius spoke aloud calmly.

"Did you see that light, Captain Arius? Or hear that voice?" Seiras asked curiously.

"Yes. The Emperor protects," Arius replied simply.

"Indeed he does," Seiras nodded as he slowly began to shut down parts of his brain. He practically stopped thinking about anything else other than lining up the Astronomicon's light with his intended course.

This continued for Emperor knows how long. To Seiras it felt like he had been doing it for a month as his mind practically went on autopilot and stopped thinking altogether. After what felt like an eternity, he finally saw something in the warp that was real...another ship.

In a trance like state, Seiras simply began to follow it as he remained focused on the Astronomicon. He difted so deep into his mind that he actually felt like he was asleep.

One Week Later

Seiras awoke from his half-sleep state by a loud boom and very unusual flash of light. He snapped back to his full senses and realized that the ship had finally come out of warp space. The librarian looked around incredulously, 'Did we make it?!'

He was thankful to see that the Avenger of Terra was intact and was now surrounded by many other Imperial ships in real space. From his window he could see the coverings on all of the fleet's windows opening up as they were finally out of warp space and could safely look outside.

Amazingly enough, the majority of the fleet appeared to be relatively close to the border of the system and came out more or less together.

"We have arrived. Excellent work, brother Seiras," Arius spoke approvingly as he walked over towards the window and looked outside.

'Praise the Emperor...was that his voice I heard in the warp? It couldn't have been...could it? It came to me when I asked for his help...did the Emperor really speak to me?' Seiras wondered to himself.

He shook his head in disbelief, 'I can't believe it. Did I imagine it? The Emperor saved us...he saved me. Navigators are a blessing...I will never question why they get warp corrupted ever again.'

Seiras got out of his head as he finally stood up from the navigator seat. He unhooked everything on himself and walked over next to Arius.

The Grey Knight seemed surprised as he spoke solemnly, "I was not expecting this..."

"Expecting what?" Seiras asked as he took a closer look into the void horizon.

His eyes went wide when he saw what was further away in the distance. It was a colossal chaos fleet full of battleships, barges, cruisers, and escort vessels beyond counting. As Amelia had told him, the fleet was way larger than they were expecting. That wasn't the disturbing part unfortunately.

At the front and center of the fleet, Seiras saw something enormous. The Enemy flagship was a Gloriana Class Battleship.

"Is that a Gloriana Battleship?" Seiras asked disbelievingly.

Arius turned towards him seriously, "We must return to the bridge at once!"

Seiras immediately rushed down from the Navigation Chamber and opened the door to the bridge followed closely by the Grey Knight captain.

Everyone on the bridge was staring out the window, but jerked around upon hearing him enter.

Atia looked like she hadn't been sleeping much as her eyes were bloodshot with bags under them. Seiras wasn't surprised to see his fellow Kill Team brothers all there as well.

"Are you alright, Seiras? We heard you and the Grey Knights had to navigate the ship." Kallius asked as he approached the librarian first.

"I am, but we can talk about this later. Right now we have a bigger problem. Look!" Seiras pointed out the window towards the enemy fleet.

At the front of it was something that had everyone on the bridge except the space marines and Grey Knights petrified...it was a Gloriana Class Battleship. The massive 20 kilometer ship was both beautiful and grotesque in its appearance. It was covered in tainted warp filth and looked completely daemonic.

The Inquisitor gawked at it, "Is that...a Gloriana Class Battleship?! That's impossible..."

"I thought they were all destroyed during the Great Crusade or lost..." the Admiral added with utter fear and disbelief.

"If that's a Gloriana Flagship leading a warband of Emperor's Children marines, then it can only be one ship...The Pride of the Emperor. That's the traitor Primarch Fulgrim's Flagship," Atia said unable to restrain her fear.

The space marines looked at the magnanimous ship which was now covered in daemon corruption. It was beautiful in a way despite how twisted it had become.

"A traitor Primarch? Do you think he's on that ship?" Gregorius wondered aloud.

"Madame Inquisitor...we cannot fight one of those ships with a fleet this size. We're equipped to handle battleships and an escort fleet...not one of those monstrosities. Damn those heretic infiltrators! They told them we were coming! This fleet was waiting right here for us on the edge of the system!" the admiral said fearfully.

"We were counting on intercepting them here though...if they pass this system then we could see the fall of the entire sector or worse!" another bridge officer said strongly.

"None of the heretics we interrogated said anything about a Gloriana battleship!" Atia said frustrated as she pounded her fist on the nearest display.

"Inquisitor Atia...what do we do now?" Admiral Hightower asked concerned.

"We have no choice but to fight them here...perhaps there is hope that the Dark Angels Fleet will arrive to aid us. Send out the distress calls at once. Have our astropaths send a message to Terra while I send out a vox broadcast to anyone nearby," Atia said.

Doing as commanded, several bridge officers left to retrieve the surviving astropaths, while others patched a distress signal and broadcasted it through an open vox channel.

Atia began to speak in it urgently, "Attention, to any Imperial Fleet or Space Marines nearby, this is Inquisitor Atia. We are engaging a chaos fleet of the Emperor's Children. Be warned the Pride of the Emperor is at the helm of their fleet! We require aid immediately! I repeat, a Gloriana flagship is leading the chaos fleet!"

Her broadcast was interrupted by someone joining her vox broadcast with a powerful chaos-tainted voice, "Inquisitor Atia...brave of you to face my fleet with such a meager one of your own. Does the Imperium not possess actual flagships anymore? I half expected to see Macragge's Honour here. Is Roboute too busy to come fight me himself? Or is he still sleeping?"

The voice was hauntingly evil, but also had a beautiful charisma to it. Seiras would be lying if he said it was unpleasant. He actually wanted the voice to keep talking for some reason he couldn't explain.

Atia seemed to be affected by the voice's power as well and took a moment to respond, "We do...but they are busy fighting other threats. Ultramar has its own problems to deal with."

"I know you're lying, Inquisitor. That's your flawed nature isn't it? To force the truth out of others, but to hide your own fears and insecurities with a life of lies and secrets. It's rather hypocritical if I must say. Your Inquisition is the biggest joke I have seen since the Imperium put the Emperor on the Golden Throne and started worshipping him as a god. Do you realize that the Emperor forbade his worship when he walked among men? He even punished the Primarch Lorgar for breaking this law," the voice said amused.

"You lie!" Atia shouted angrily.

'Is this being broadcasted to the whole fleet too?' Seiras thought to himself briefly.

The voice chuckled at her anger and responded with amusement, "For an Inquisitor you're awfully misinformed about the true nature of the Emperor. I know the Emperor better than you, Inquisitor Atia...in fact you could say I knew him very well when he was alive. I walked the same ground as him. I breathed the same air. I fought beside him in many battles."

"Who are you, damn it?! Answer me, traitor!" Atia demanded.

Seiras already knew who the voice was just based on the way he was talking about the Emperor and wondered if anyone else figured it out yet. He was honestly surprised that Atia couldn't put two and two together. It could be possible that she did not want to accept that grim truth just yet.

"I'm simply a loyal servant of Slaanesh...a real god. Let's find out which of our gods is stronger. Let us test the might of Slaanesh's faithful against the dead husk of the Emperor and this pathetic band of heroes," the voice taunted her even further.

"You will regret insulting the Emperor, heretic! We're coming for you, and even if you kill us, the Emperor will cast you down sooner or later! Everyone in Segmentum Solar knows this fleet is here. The Space Wolves do too! You will fail one way or another!" Atia yelled into the vox.

"The Space Wolves are a useless horde of idiots without Leman Russ to command them and I know he is gone. I wouldn't count on them or any other help arriving. The warpstorms have already begun. You cannot escape and help is not coming for you. I will rip apart your fleet ship by ship, and kill all of your men until only you remain. You shall be given as an offering to Slaanesh and raped upon the Altar of Agony. When it's over, you will truly see divinity and beg to be sacrificed. I look forward to hearing your pitiful screams and cries for the Emperor to come save you. But he cannot save you...my father is dead." the voice said in a wicked and somewhat seductive way. Seiras could also hear moaning and screaming in the background as well.

The Inquisitor seemed slightly shaken by the threat as she stood there frozen for a moment in fear.

All of the space marines and Grey Knights tensed up when they heard the last part. Gregorius spoke disbelievingly, "Did he just refer to the Emperor as his father? No Chaos Marine would do that..."

Nogemo shook his head, "No, but a Primarch certainly would..."

Before Atia could say anything else, Seiras stepped forward and cut into Atia's vox broadcast, "Is this the Primarch Fulgrim?"

Everyone present was taken aback by Seiras' blatant interruption and direct question to the chaos leader on the other end of the vox broadcast.

"Hmm...who am I speaking to now?" the voice asked curiously.

"Blood Ravens Librarian, Seiras," he answered calmly. Everyone else seemed shocked at how casual his voice was when speaking to the chaos leader. Others seemed surprised that he actually told the chaos leader his name. The Inquisitor seemed especially fearful of the thought that she was actually talking to Fulgrim a moment ago.

"Seirasss..." Fulgrim hissed the name almost seductively, "Most astute observation. I am indeed the Primarch Fulgrim. Granted who else could be commanding the Pride of the Emperor? Such a magnificent ship wouldn't you say?"

The librarian shook his head, "Why do you still call your flagship that if you hate the Emperor?"

"I do not hate father...at least not in the way some of the others did during the Heresy. This ship was built in the shipyards of Jupiter...it was a great gift from my father. The Pride of the Emperor has destroyed hundreds of worlds and dozens of advanced civilizations. It's sentimental for me because the Emperor told me to do so during the Great Crusade. He honoured my legion and my ship with the Aquila long before any of you wore it. So why would I change the name of an already perfect ship?" Fulgrim replied.

"You disgrace and mock the Emperor with that ship's name, traitor. We will destroy it to avenge your betrayal of mankind," Seiras countered.

"My betrayal is mild in comparison to your Imperium's. The real betrayal and disgrace to the Emperor is the mockery that his Imperium has become. He created it, and the real Imperium of Mankind died with him. Your current Imperium is no different than him right now...a corpse barely sustained by a whisper of life. Let it die so that I may properly mourn for my father and forgive his failures. He would hate everything you have done in his absence. Breaking apart the legions? Worshipping him as a god? Refusing to advance scientifically? I would almost wish for him to return just to see him destroy you all himself. The Emperor would not protect a society as pathetic as yours...not when we destroyed countless human civilizations far superior to the Imperium during the Great Crusade. You are not worthy to call yourselves the Imperium of Man. You are not worthy to live in the Emperor's shadow. You aren't even worthy enough to die for him," Fulgrim said condemningly.

"Tell that stupid, pompous bastard to shut up already, Seiras! I don't feel like listening to him talk all damn day!" Viggo shouted.

Seiras ignored everyone else as he tried to understand Fulgrim's point of view.

"Humour me for a moment then if you will, Lord Fulgrim. If you truly believe that, then why did you let things get to this state? Why did you turn against the Emperor of Mankind? Was being an Primarch and son of the Emperor not enough for you? What did the Ruinous Powers offer that he could not provide you?" Seiras asked.

"Seiras, what in the name of the Emperor are you doing?! Why are you asking him questions?! Sto-" Atia was cut off mid sentence.

"I like you, Seiras of the Blood Ravens...you're far more curious to know the truth than any loyalist I've spoken to since the Horus Heresy. I will tell you exactly why I turned my back on the Emperor," Fulgrim interrupted Atia.

Atia froze as she herself was actually curious to hear what Fulgrim was going to say. In fact everyone on the bridge of the Avenger of Terra seemed to be anxiously hanging off his every word.

Seiras could only imagine what the various ship captains were thinking while listening to this vox broadcast.

"The Emperor in all of his divine wisdom actually created the Primarchs in a way that your Inquisition would deem heretical. He created us with his own DNA and crafted our bodies and minds with advanced technology far beyond any science you would understand. With his own genome, and the machine dragon's help, the Emperor performed one vital deed to make us primarchs as powerful as we are. He consorted with the Chaos Gods and infused us with warp energy. We, and every space marine created from a primarch's gene-seed only exist because of the Emperor's Pact with the Dark Gods of the Warp," Fulgrim continued.

Everyone on the bridge had varying reactions ranging from disbelief to blatant anger. The Commissar, the Grey Knights, the Inquisitor, and even the Admiral all found the idea preposterous. The entire Deathwatch Kill Team was furious at that mere suggestion of something like that.

"Enough of these heretical lies! I will not believe it! He is trying to break our faith! Do not listen to this preposterous heresy! All traitors know how to do is lie!" Atia shouted at everyone.

"The Adeptus Custodes and the Grey Knights have no primarch and were created directly from the Emperor. They are inherently immune to chaos in comparison to regular Astartes...but every space marine created from the gene-seed of a Primarch was born from the power of the dark gods," Fulgrim continued.

Everyone gawked at that crazy revelation. Nobody seemed to believe it as they all exchanged dumbfounded expressions. The space marines shook their heads at the information. Several debates erupted behind him, but Seiras tuned them all out as the information sunk into the depths of his mind.

"You lie! That's not true!" Seiras shouted into the vox.

"Oh but it is, Seiras. You wanted the truth...there it is. I'll see you very soon space marines," the primarch spoke calmly before the transmission ended.

Dead silence filled the bridge as Atia looked over at Seiras. She shook her head seriously, "What were you thinking?! Do not even try to ask traitors questions! He was trying to fill our heads with lies and demoralize the fleet. That broadcast went out to the entire fleet and emperor knows who else!"

"You're right, Inquisitor...he was trying to mess with our heads. I don't believe him," Seiras said reassuringly.

"He said he would see us soon...Fulgrim is expecting us to invade his ship," Kallius interrupted seriously.

Everyone seemed shocked by the revelation that they had to go fight a primarch and that he knew they were coming for him.

"Damn those heretic traitors!" the Commissar shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice caused several bridge officers to flinch.

"I don't know how effective we're going to be against a Primarch. What's even worse is all unofficial records claim that Fulgrim became a Daemon Prince. It shouldn't even be possible for him to be in real space with this fleet like this." Seiras said seriously as he looked around at the bridge officers and his fellow Astartes.

"We don't have any means of escape and he said there were warp storms coming." a random officer announced fearfully after a brief silence.

"We should have brought a bigger fleet..." the admiral stated the obvious.

"Kill Team Calamity...your mission remains the same. Infiltrate the flagship, disable its systems from the inside and kill the leader," Atia commanded.

"Inquisitor with all due respect, are you out of your mind?! They'll be killed! That's a Daemon Primarch over there!" the Admiral said fearfully.

The Deathwatch Marines all exchanged skeptical looks with one another, but Seiras shook his head, "We're going to kill that bastard or die trying!"

"Agreed! Stopping him is the most important thing here. Even if we can't kill Fulgrim, we'll disable his ship! A Gloriana flagship could easily turn the Black Crusade in the enemy's favour if it isn't stopped!" Kallius added reassuringly.

"May the Emperor keep you safe, Astartes. Get ready to go," Atia said before gesturing for them to leave.

"Let's hurry! I'll pilot our assault boat and get us on the Pride of the Emperor," Nemias said as all the space marines charged out of the bridge.

After they left, Atia turned towards the Grey Knights, "Captain Arius, I have one thing to say before you leave. If Seiras shows any sign of corruption or possession...kill him," Atia said seriously.

"As you say, Inquisitor," the Grey Knight Captain nodded. He and his three terminator Grey Knights all began to take their leave shortly afterward.

Without another word, the Inquisitor immediately moved to the command deck next to the admiral as their fleet moved in to engage Fulgrim's Fleet.