Divine Confessor's Story

The Commissar watched the gas slip into the room, and waited, knowing what would occur next, as it was an obvious move to get rid of his mask. Hearing noise outside, as the marines formed up, he waited until he heard the doorway opening, the gears and various other devices activating. As the mechanics moved to open the door, Torgärd lunged forward, his cuffed hands grabbing the bolt pistol and laspistol, left on the table by the confessor, who seemed to have forgotten to collect his weapons. Having been looking at said weapons as the man had left, he noted that indeed, both were still quite intact, the bolt pistol loaded, and his laspistol seemingly undamaged. As he does this, his hands wrapping around the hilts of both weapons, he begins to stand, kicking up his left foot, hitting the underside of the table, causing it to flip onto it's side, so that the top would not be facing the doorway. Not halting there, he pushed out with his raised foot, sliding said impromptu barricade towards the now opened doorway, moving forward, firing both weapons repeatedly at the lead man, the frame of the door only allowing for one of them to enter at a time. The relative close range of said weapons, coupled with the bolter's already deadly ammunition, one which regularly penetrates ceremite armor with relative ease, would cause this standard Aschen Marine to feel the solid impact of a slug, each diamantine tipped round drilling through his exposed face, before detonating within, causing a spurt of gore to fly outwards. As the man has no prior knowledge to this occurring within, standard human reaction timing would not be quick enough to save him, as the speed of this rocket propelled bolt would move far to quickly for a man to dodge in such close quarters. Should this so far go according to plan, the man, now headless, would fall back due to the amount of force pushed upon it by the impact of mentioned bolt, sending him back into his allies, causing their charge to halt, as they would need to react to this new development. Going up against the table, the Commissar now took cover, getting ready to pop out of cover to fire at these men.

The entry-man had no time to react to this sudden and abrupt development, despite the fact the Confessor had overseen and planned for everything. He had made sure the weapons were loaded, expecting exactly this type of resistance. The will of the Divine Shadow was not to be questioned, and so the Confessor stood back as the Marines backed up and behind the doorway.

The table would not save the commissar however, as the men returned fire their weapons barked their reports, and brilliant and dazzling green bolts of light, fast moving slender bolts compared to the larger, fatter bolts of their plasma cousins seared cleanly through the table, and impacted the floor liquefying a small amount in a puddle of molten slag.

The men kept up their fire until the order came to stop, and they were pulled back behind the doorway. The thick ozone and smoke would clear for just a moment, revealing a slender feminine figure clad in some kind of black outfit..

She made no effort to move, and should the Commissar open fire, the explosive bolts would deflect from the suit's shields with an audible twang. Laspistol shots fared no better, impacting and dispersing harmlessly against the figure's shields, which flickered in an aura of blue-white around the impact points of the weapon.

The strange figure began to slowly step towards the Commissar, step by step before she suddenly vanished entirely.

In the blink of an eye she re-appeared a mere foot from the Commissar, and with blinding and inhuman speed she reached down to grab the bolt pistol, and with inhuman strength she would likely easily tear the weapon from Torgard's grasp while in the blink of an eye, her other hand jabbed forward to grab him by the neck, and lift him up as if he were light as a feather.

"You have spirit." The female voice echoed. "The Black Hand may yet have use for you." She said, moving to squeeze his neck while the helmet retracted, revealing a young female framed with short black hair and dazzling neon blue eyes.

Torgärd would struggle against this new attacker, listening to the voice of this woman. Staring into her now revealed eyes, he would only be able to utter a growling sound, as he reached up with his still cuffed hands to grab at her outstretched arm, vainly attempting to pull her off. Barely still able to breath, he would notice his inability to even annoy the woman, and finally stop attempting to escape, accepting that this seemingly augmented human had him. His voice a rasp, he managed to get out one sentence to the woman.

"First....blood.....goes to....me"

The android stared up at the Commissar, her shimmering and unsettling Neon eyes revealing nothing, not even mild annoyance. With the flick of her wrist she tossed him aside while the door closed behind her.

"Do you think your feeble attempts at meaningless bloodshed will earn favor with the crew of this ship?" She said, clenching her fist and crushing the bolt pistol within her grasp, before tossing it to his feet.

"You have spirit, but your insolence amuses even me." The strange woman said, pacing around him. "Where is your god-emperor now?" She said, moving to send a powerful kick towards his face.

"Do you honestly think he will save you?" She called out, grabbing the table and throwing it at him. "Hah! You and your General will be another notch on the belt of the Divine Shadow, of this Empire." She growled.

"I tell ya what pardner, this universe ain't big enough for two God-Emperors." She said, moving to stand over him. "So tell me, will you spend your life in servitude to your new masters? Or will you still be a hound begging for scraps at your emperor's table?" She paused a moment, staring up into space for just a moment, and then her gaze settled back on Torgard's hidden face.

"His Shadow requests your presence, and that of your General."

Torgärd looked up at the woman, picking himself up so that he sat upright on the floor, his breath and heart rate going back to it's regular pace. He felt blood running down his face, as it bleed from his nose, pain where the bone had apparently broken. He listened to the woman's words, reaching up to grab the Imperial icon hung around his neck.

"I serve only one master woman."

He began to rise, shakily standing back to his full height to stare down this witch.

"And he does not hide in the shadows."

With a chortle, she stopped and watched as he struggled and tried to fight her. "You serve one master?"

Aiyanna watched Torgard, regarded him as he defiantly stood before her. "Your Master demands that you stand." She said, pacing back and fourth, before she walked up to him.

"Mine..."

She then moved to kick him in the back of his knees, hoping to force him to his knees.

"Mine requires only that you kneel."

---

"We're a lot alike you and I, both desire to see that man ascends to the custodians of the galaxy. You claimed the blood of that Marine, it is only fair that I claim your blood.

Finally she moved back towards him, looping an arm under him and moving to force him to his feet. "Try not to kill any more of my men, or I will have to throw you out of the airlock."

Feeling the pain erupt in the back of his legs, Torgärd used all of his willpower to stay standing, stepping forward instead of falling to his knees. Turning to face the woman, he also gives a weak chuckle at her remark about the similarities.

"My dear, I believe that you and I are quite different in ways I do not yet understand. Though you are correct in man's destiny to rule the stars, my people know that machines also fall under our dominion."

Listening to her speak about not killing anymore men, he snorts.

"Caged an animal, and what do you expect when freedom is presented. Until you release me, and accept the truth of the God-Emperor's divine right to rule, I will do all in my power to resist and destroy what you stand for. So if your done here, I believe these men have business with me."

With that said, he reaches up to his face, unbuckling his rebreather mask, pulling it off before dropping it to the ground, glaring at the woman, his gaze as cold as the frozen plains of his homeworld.

Aiyanna shook her head slightly, looping her arm under his, as she started to walk with him towards the door, which opened on it's own, and a whole squad of Marines waited on the other side. With the re-breather off, the Marines scowled and stared at him as the Android walked him through the halls.

"Machines? What gave me away?" She chuckled while she walked. "You may swear to do everything you can to destroy everything here. But there's something you don't understand. Your God-Emperor does not exist here, how can something that does not exist have any right to anything? I have access to the knowledge base of two galaxies, spanning across three civilizations and thousands of years. Never once has your Imperium come into existence. People hailing from your Empire have come and gone, all of them originating from a reality outside your own."

Aiyanna started through the halls towards the cell block.

"Accept the truth of this reality, and perhaps we may be able to work together to reunite you to your reality, where you may return to the cesspool that is your Empire. But so long as you resist us, seeing your home will be but an impossibility amongst a civilization where the technology exists to make it so."

He walked with her, scowling at the marines who awaited outside, spitting on the corpses of the fallen, yet otherwise showing now resistance to this woman's path, knowing full well whatever augmentations she had proved to be out of his own strength.

"Your stunning personality, coupled with that agility and strength. Your too fast for a natural human, your suit bears very little in machinery, so I doubted it would account for this unnatural ability, and so I believe either a machine or a xeno. Your thoughts on mankind's right to rule, combined with all this speak of servitude points towards the former."

He listened to her words of the God-Emperor, his fury rising at such heresies, yet held his tongue, awaiting a break to speak.

"And yet here I am, and with me, comes an aspect of my Emperor, for he protects all his faithful. What binds a god to one universe machine? Were I come from, two realities are in constant warfare with one another, and the God-Emperor's power radiates in both. He may not exist in physical form, but I know that I walk with his light upon me. Though I am interested in these anomalies, these wayward travelers who come to this pitiful galaxy. It goes further to prove my point that my Emperor may indeed still hold sway over this universe, as you cannot deny that such repeated occurrences show some form of link."

Continuing walking, he kept taking in sights, watching any who may pass them by, examining the walls and doorways, searching perhaps for a sign of the general and his fate.

"Alas, though I wish to return to my world, to continue my fight, and your words do tempt me, much to my frustration, I will find my own way back, be it in life or death. A man is judged only by the actions he commits, and betrayal of all that I have fought for will never taint my soul."

Maximus simply shook his head as lightning claws protruded form his gauntlet that had not been confiscated, his many internal bionic enhancements filtering out the inhaled gasses. He Is a man who leads from the front and this was not the first time he had been gassed. Should the bionics prove unable to fully neutralize the gas, they should at the most, prevent it from taking effect at the current moment. Walking toward the door, Maximus rears his right arm, thrusting it forward a mere moment later with superhuman strength. The kicker would be that, should everything go according to what Maximus plans, The power field surrounding the claws would make contact with the door and presumably tear right through it, the aforementioned field disrupting matter on a molecular level.

Should the door be hit and indeed rent, Maximus would proceed to exit by additional rending and physical suggestion, keeping alert should the possibility of someone arriving at the door occur.

When Maximus stood up to try and launch his strike against the door. The first hit would impact an energy field, and the power field would be absorbed and dispersed across the entire door by a flickering violet barrier. The same thing could be said for the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. A second hit would yield the same results, with violet shockwaves of energy scintillating across the surface of the violet-tinted door. While the kinetic energy was easily absorbed by the reinforced kanvium blast door.

A third and any subsequent hits seemed to be to no avail, as the energy field continued to dissipate the power field around the gauntlet, and the physical resistance of the door prevented any damage. Another telltale sign was with every strike, the energy field seemed to draw more energy out of the power gauntlet, sucking it more with each hit, the bangs reverberating through the halls, and the ship's AI More than aware of what was transpiring, she appeared to him in a flickering image of a young woman.

"These interrogation cells are designed to hold creatures and individuals several times more powerful than yourself, your escape attempts are futile. I have summoned additional personnel to subdue and escort you to the holding cell. Please note that any further resistance will result in an escalation of abrasive action, up to and including the termination of your individual life."

While Aiyanna and Torgard walked along the halls, a squad of Marines ran past them at full speed, and Aiyanna growled and shook her head. "Your friend too has spirit, exploring all avenues of possible escape however futile they may be." She said, while a pair of power armored TacOps moved past the pair, both of them wielding rotary heavy plasma cannons.

The AI's voice could then be heard chiming over the intercom.

"Captain Ramos, please report to Interrogation Cell Alpha-One for prisoner extraction and transfer to a more secure holding cell."

Aiyanna slowly shook her head then turned to the Commissar. "The more you and your friend resist, the more we will push back. Compliance begets leniency."

Once they reached the cell block, Aiyanna would move to walk Torgard into one of the holding cells, a large room with what seemed like no door, but rather an energy field.

"Please sit tight, your friend will be joining you shortly." She then vanished into thin air once more, the energy field to the cell engaging.

Listening to the woman's words, he chooses to be silent, for he has no more to say without repeating himself at this point, simply allowing himself to be led into the cell. Watching the barriers activate, he scans around the room, looking for any sign of torturous devices, before sitting, cross-legged, in the center of the cell, awaiting news of his lord general.

The heavy, metrenomic thud of metal boots on ceramic tile heralded the arrival of Captain Calen Ramos long before he reached the interrogation room. When the doors at last opened and the energy field lowered to allow entry to the newcomer, the Lord General would find himself face-to-face with a monster of a man. He hulked high above Alexander, his frame broad and thick, his eyes narrowed and sharp. He was clad head-to-toe in a suit of polished T-65 Augmented Combat Skin, the black metal reflecting the eerie gleam of the nearby energy field. An 53 RCW Rapid Capacitor Disruptor Rifle was strapped over his back, a plasma pistol lock-holstered at his side. He stared at the Lord General with an expression of calculated reserve; not hateful, not haughty or condescending... just careful. He was a soldier. He had orders to extract and transfer this man to a more secure holding cell. As of right now, that was his only concern. Follow orders with honor.

For all intensive purposes, Calen was the Aschen equivalent of a Space Marine.

"Stand up, please," he moved forward, hand on the grip of his pistol, "move in front of me and put your hands behind your back."

---

Meanwhile, in the cold breaches of space, three Terran Triremes would hail the Reverence as it drifted in orbit, the insignia of the TNG and the Terran Armed Forces emblazoned on their hulls. As the primary Terran government and the protectors of Terran civilians and sovereignty, they were naturally curious as why there'd been a serious of rapid transmissions between the lower reaches of Hafirjan and the Imperial vessel...

"Chariot of Fire, do you copy?" the Terran captain said from the bridge of his ship, "we've detected transmission signals between the the planet's surface and your hull. Is everything alright?" Translation: you better not have just whisked any Terrans up against their will.

The Pair were being transferred to a holding cell, but they would be separated from one another. Qalia would be transported to a simple large and white washed room with a metal table, two chairs and a single door.

The Collar remained on her, but had been chained to a metal loop in the center of the room, under the table.

Her four arms had been freed, the bindings removed but the psionic inhibition field remained.

With a clunk the door opened up and a single individual clad in a black suit and tie, along with dark sunglasses stepped into the room. In the crook of his arm was a thick file folder which was thrown on the table. Two more of these similarly dressed men stepped into the room, while the lead one sat down and observed the strange alien before them.

--

Cael was not so lucky, stripped of all his clothing, collared and chained to what could be described as a rack of sorts, he would be greeted by strange individuals with mesh covering their faces, and purple robes.

Individuals that could be described by the Isirians as completely ruthless, yet efficient.

Divine Confessors.

The Pair were being transferred to a holding cell, but they would be separated from one another. Qalia would be transported to a simple large and white washed room with a metal table, two chairs and a single door.

The Collar remained on her, but had been chained to a metal loop in the center of the room, under the table.

Her four arms had been freed, the bindings removed but the psionic inhibition field remained.

With a clunk the door opened up and a single individual clad in a black suit and tie, along with dark sunglasses stepped into the room. In the crook of his arm was a thick file folder which was thrown on the table. Two more of these similarly dressed men stepped into the room, while the lead one sat down and observed the strange alien before them.

--

Cael was not so lucky, stripped of all his clothing, save for a simple loincloth, collared and chained to what could be described as a rack of sorts, he would be greeted by strange individuals with mesh covering their faces, and purple robes.

Individuals that could be described by the Isirians as completely ruthless, yet efficient.

Divine Confessors.

Cael strained to sit up to look at his surroundings, but the restraints kept him prone on the rack and he finally lay his head back and stared up at the ceiling. His heart was racing in his chest and there was sweat beaded on his brow. He had heard the reputation of the confessors.

Looking to the side at one of the confessors he tried words.

"My name's Cael Duckett, I was born in Brillion on Arastel, and I'm a professor at the Marlton University. I have rights as a citizen. The right to a trial."

The Confessor grinned at Cael as he moved around the man.

"Look around, you will indeed get a triad, your charge is Heresy." He said, circling the man and preparing his instruments of torment.

"Heretics do not enjoy rights." The Confessor hissed. "Why did you help the Xeno."

"She wasn't from around here," Cael tried to explain. "She didn't know our laws."

He twisted his wrists against his bindings uncomfortably at the attention the confessor was showing to the torture implements. He was a professor, not a soldier. He wasn't trained for this.

The Confessor scowled some. "What were you told when we initially assumed control of your government." He said, pacing around the man.

"Report all Xenos, Heretics, and Mutants to your nearest Garrison."

He then stopped, touching the silver dagger to Cael's neck. "So tell me, what did you do that does not align with that simple command?"

Cael grit his teeth at the press of the cold blade against his throat.

"She is not of Isiria, and should not be subject to our laws," Cael reiterated. "If it is your desire to enslave free people, then I will have no part of it."

It took remarkable courage from the man to utter those words, and the beads of sweat ran down his face.