Unfortunately," I sighed. "The personal attention I have from him will make that tricky to accomplish."
"Perhaps you should have chosen a more conspicuous suit of artificer armour, Mel," Camael said gently.
"I know it was greedy," I admitted. "But I wouldn't have been able to escape his notice anyway, unless I never used any of my boons where others might see. Something that might cost me my life on the battlefield. Besides, my Terminator armour does have great practical utility; teleporting anywhere within my line of sight is a lot more useful when I have 360 degree vision."
"What of your other boons Master?" Erys asked. "Which ones will you keep a secret?"
My brow furrowed. "I will use my more low key abilities freely, such as my teleportation. Yesterday I earned another boon just before the Emperor's Children's assault, which I will keep in my back pocket for when I truly need it. Assuming I can't use it somewhere without outside observers anyway. Exactly which future abilities I choose to use openly or not will have to be decided on a case by case basis as I receive more of them."
"Maybe those that can more easily be passed off as regular psychic powers are the ones you should use freely," Camael suggested.
"Good idea. Though as previously mentioned, the main deciding factor will be how likely they are to result in Gabriel viewing me as a threat."
"Master, is there any point planning further until you know what those boons will be?" Erys asked. "I don't see how you can plan around your abilities when they are, as of yet, unknown to you."
"You're right, my love," I murmured. "At least we have the outlines of a rough plan now. We can continue this later, once I've acquired more abilities from my patron."
We kept chatting for a while longer, taking pleasure in the simple joy of conversation, though my mind was only partly focused on it. The rest wondered what would happen when Gabriel returned.
-x-x-x-x-
The next day the Tears of Sanguinius, along with the rest of the Angels Transcendent fleet, was back in orbit above Baal Superior. One of our sorcerers had sent a message through the Warp to one of his fellows aboard our flagship, prompting them to make an emergency jump out of the Warp before turning around and returning to the homeworld post haste. The entire warband had gathered in the glistening, blood red walls of Gabriel's palace, made entirely of crystallised blood.
"Once again, the scions of Fulgrim demonstrate their inferiority to the scions of Sanguinius," Gabriel said, his Warp-amplified voice filling the cavernous room with ease. For once he didn't even attempt to maintain the mask of aloof superiority that he usually did when gloating to his defeated enemies, his face contorted by a barely restrained rage. Despite that, his voice remained as calm as ever. "You outnumbered what few of my brothers remained on Baal Superior while the rest of us were stuck in the Warp. You had the initiative, choosing exactly when and how to attack. And despite that your entire band of degenerates was decimated by a force barely over half its size? If any further proof is required that we are the most favoured servants of the Prince of Pleasure, I will be more than happy to see it."
The Emperor's Children Chaos Lord who had been delimbed by Michael just chuckled, not at all bothered by the spiked chains of crystallised blood which dun into his flesh. "Proof? The Prince of Pleasure Himself desires your destruction! I do not know what you have done to earn his ire, nor do I care. I only know that His will be done, one way or another."
I thought I saw the very barest flicker of unease on Gabriel's face before his mask of rage returned. "Do you take me for a fool? If that were true, He would not send a lone warband too high on Frenzon and Slaught to tell a swordblade from the hilt to attack my exceptionally skilled and well trained brethren. Nor would He send them while their immortal leader was in Warp transit. You are just one in a very, very long line of idiots delusional enough to think they could best us. Luckily for you, I know just the place where such idiots belong. Do not think for a minute that you will enjoy this pain."
With a small act of biomancy, Gabriel reversed whatever neurological changes had been made to the Chaos Lord to cause his masochism, the smile being wiped off his face in an instant. Using a further act of biomancy, Gabriel then amplified his pain sensitivity as much as he possibly could before causing the chains binding the son of Fulgrim to grow into his flesh, its jagged tendrils of crystallised blood suffusing every nerve in his body.
Even the constitution of a Space Marine was insufficient to stop the Chaos Lord from screaming in agony, before being dragged down into the floor, which closed on top of him to seal him inside. Whereas Gabriel's other acts of haemomantic torture might 'only' last a few centuries, the Warp energy of the daemon world keep him alive, and in the worst pain imaginable, for an extremely long time, possibly even forever. As bad it would have been for him to die and have his soul tortured by daemonettes, the fate he had suffered at Gabriel's hand might actually be even worse.
"You are all dismissed," Gabriel said shortly, before looking me straight in the eye. "Sorcerer Melekh, a minute of your time."
I gave a short bow, my brothers flowing around me as they turned and left, while I waded through them to speak with our leader.
"I am your command, Archangel," I said.
"Yes, you are," Gabriel murmured. "Is it true that three entire drop pods landed near your estate?"
"Yes, it's true," I replied. "Fortunately, they were seemingly unaware of the boons I have received from our patron. By fully exploiting them, along with some aid from Battle Brother Camael, we were able to fight them off, albeit with some effort."
"Boons plural?" Gabriel asked.
I teleported a few feet to the side. "As you can see, the Dark Prince has given me the ability to teleport anywhere within my line of sight. Though its range is not infinite, it allowed me to weave in and out of my opponents attacks when I otherwise would have been too slow to do so, particularly when my armour's auto-senses grant me 360 degree vision."
"Is that so?" he said, intrigued. "Would you be willing to teach this to your sorcerous fellows?"
"I am more than willing, Archangel, but I do not believe I am capable," I replied. "It is not a Warp technique as such. It is something… deeper, etched into my soul by the Prince of Pleasure."
"A shame," Gabriel said, not hiding his disappointment. "Still, I understand our lord not wanting His gifts to be used by those He deems unworthy."
"If I might ask, how many of our brothers fell during the Emperor's Children's assault?" I asked.
Gabriel's expression turned thunderous, though it was not directed at me. "148. It is a testament to yours and your brothers' skills that the number was not greater, yet it is still an unfortunate loss. We will not recover our full strength anytime soon, I fear," he replied, before turning to face me. "I am curious to hear the opinion of a relative newcomer to our ranks. How do you believe we should proceed, given our present circumstances?"
I didn't answer straight away, giving the matter some thought, wondering how much he actually cared about my opinion. "While I would love nothing more than to return the favour to the Emperor's Children, I fear that in our diminished state we are not well positioned to give them what they deserve. Ideally we would replenish our numbers fully before doing so, yet I am cognisant of us being seen as weak if we do not strike back in a timely fashion. Such apparent weakness may invite further attacks against ourselves. I believe that we need to secure allies first."
"Allies, you say?" Gabriel mused. "Yes, I can understand the logic. Who would you recommend we attempt to ally ourselves with?"
"I fear that I do not know the politics of the various factions within the Eye of Terror well enough to give you a satisfactory answer, Archangel," I replied. "Obviously, it should be the… least treacherous group, whomever they happen to be. Failing that, someone with an existing grudge against the Emperor's Children, and that does not directly serve the Prince of Pleasure to eliminate any risk of divided loyalties. The Iron Warriors, perhaps?"
My daemonic leader seemed surprised, but not displeased. "An interesting choice… but not a bad one. Their obsession with attrition based warfare would complement our own style well. And they are not fond of the Emperor's Children. A thoughtful response, Melekh."
"I am glad you think so, Archangel," I said, bowing slightly. The third and fourth legions might not be natural enemies, if not for the fact that Fulgrim had allegedly stolen a portion of Perturabo's soul upon his ascension to a daemon prince, back during the Horus Heresy. The latter had 'survived' by becoming a daemon prince himself, yet the Lord of Iron had not forgiven the serpentine princeling of Slaanesh, nor did I think he ever would. Naturally, this extended to their gene-sons.
Gabriel just nodded. "I will let you know if I have need of you again."
"Of course, Archangel," I replied, bowing more deeply before turning to leave. As I made my back outside, I idly wondered how likely it was that he actually took my advice onboard.
AN:
And so we get the first dud. Though I am picking randomly besides the first two, I have actually already rolled the first 20 powers, so I do know what I'm getting in advance. Like ReplyReport Reactions:Xryuran, Sorain, Vergil1989 Crossover King and 194 othersShakieJul 19, 2025NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 11 - The Tearful Thing (NSFW) New View contentShakieBad girls = best girlsJul 25, 2025Add bookmark#83I relaxed back into my favourite armchair in my tower's basement, sighing in pleasure as Angelica and Lucinda worshipped my testicles. Their neck chains were securely fastened to the nearest wall, though their hands were free. I had watched some of their initiation at the hands of their new sisters, whenever I'd had a chance anyway. Obviously, they had been taught how best to please me, interspersed with nonstop pleasure and pain lasting hours at a time.
Purely the kinky kind of pain, of course. I wasn't particularly sadistic, and neither were my concubines. I doubted any blood had been drawn, at least intentionally. I had resisted the urge to turn up their pain sensitivity any higher than the level naturally induced by Baal Superior's Warp-infused atmosphere. I had, however, made them hyper ticklish. Not a favourite fetish of mine, but when they were so sensitive that feathers passing over the soles of their feet felt like razor blades, it made for a good way of adjusting the attitudes of these two haughty Battle Sisters.
Hence why I now trusted them to leave their hands free. Free to stroke my penis, in this case. While their minds remained their own, they had long since resigned themselves to pleasuring me for as long as they lived. Which considering mine and Erys's skills with biomancy would be for a very long time.
A fact that they were now banking on; once they'd learned they wouldn't be dying anytime soon, they'd resolved to keep at this until I was foolish enough to take them off-world, whereupon they would attempt to escape and tell the inquisition everything they'd learned. A plan formed in desperation, clearly.
Their mistake wasn't in assuming that they would eventually be taken off-world, however. It was to assume they would still be of sound mind when that time came. I hadn't attempted to convert them over to worshipping the Prince of Pleasure, yet even still His influence had already begun to warp their minds. Now, they could justify to themselves why they had to serve me unreservedly when they hadn't done this when they first arrived here. They couldn't even bring themselves to hate me anymore. They already knew that I'd had no choice about joining the Angels Transcendent, so it wouldn't surprise me if they eventually began to see me as a victim, even.
"Would one of you fair ladies care to start fellating me?" I said.
Without a word Angelica pulled back my foreskin and began to suck the exposed head of my penis, wrapping her lips around the tip while her tongue ran over my urethra. I had to hand it to her, she was a quick learner. I felt her push the tip deeper into her mouth, her jaw already beginning to open a bit wider than should be possible to accommodate my girth.
"I hadn't appreciated just how utterly obscene that looks until now," Lucinda said.
"I know," I replied. "It's brilliant, isn't it?"
She blinked, clearly not expecting that response, causing me to laugh. This pair had taken up a disproportionately large amount of my attention lately. Why hadn't I gotten any Sororitas before now? I knew the answer, it was because I generally liked my concubines to be nice and submissive, but messing with my pet Battle Sisters was just too much fun.
100 CP gained, current balance: 710 CP
Spoiler: Singular Purpose - Library of Ruina: HamHamPangPang, Cost: 400 CP
Well, would you look at that? I certainly did, deliberately keeping the floating text from disappearing as I read it three times. Getting a priceless archeotech suit of armour was one thing, but technology from another plane altogether, one untainted by the Mechanicum's dogma? Unlike previously, this one came with a sort of menu which gave details of the capabilities of these 'Singularities', many of which caused my jaw to fall open as I read them. One in particular, owned on its home plane by an organisation called W Corp, allowed for near instantaneous teleportation, across any distance. The text implied it was merely used on that plane to facilitate more efficient transportation on their home world, but on the scale of an entire galaxy? It would be nothing short of revolutionary.
As incredible as that was, it wasn't the sort of thing that helped with my immediate situation. W Corp did also offer another singularity which provided a means of recreating my body from an earlier 'saved' state. Useful if I ever died, except how would I explain that to my brothers? No, this technology would remain strictly my own until I managed to take control of the Angels Transcendent.
Some of the other Singularities on offer were almost as remarkable. R Corp offered advanced cloning technology. I wondered if it could be used to clone purified gene-seed? Another allowed for the production of augmentations to the human form which were entirely distinct from, and presumably synergistic with, my own augmentations as a Space Marine. That would require considerable aid to apply to myself or others though.
At least I could always purchase more Singularities in the future once I'd earned enough CP. For now, I selected the one relating to the group known as K Corp, which seemed to produce some sort of powerful healing technology. Undeniably useful, reducing the mental strain from having to spend Warp energy to heal, and with the added benefit of being easy to conceal from my annoyingly perceptive brethren.
I locked in my choice, as I felt the world… shift slightly, in a manner that I instinctively knew was perceptible only to myself. My patron had added another room to the tower's basement, carefully concealed and containing my new prize. I would investigate soon of course, but not that soon. It wasn't going anywhere, and it could wait until I'd been pleasured.
"What are you staring at?" Angelica asked, clearly having noticed me stare into space, withdrawing her mouth from around the head of my penis with an audible 'pop'.
"Nothing," I said shortly. "Now, why don't you show me how… malleable your backdoor has become?"
Angelica climbed up onto my lap, facing away from me as she gently lowered her puckered anus onto my erect penis. I let her put her hands on my shoulders to steady herself, Lucinda holding my hard shaft perfectly vertical to make it easier for her sister. It took her a few seconds of attempting to force herself down before her tight hole gave way around my girth, causing Angelica to let out a moan of pleasure and… something else. It wasn't pain. I tasted her emotions, causing me to smirk. It was shame she was feeling. Shame of how much she'd come to enjoy my treatment.
"By the throne, it feels as if I'm being split in half," she said through gritted teeth.
"I know. Doesn't it just feel incredible?" I said dryly. "Lower yourself as much as you can, then start riding."
In total, Angelica managed to fit a full 14 inches of my length inside her, her rear end stretching even more obscenely that her mouth had around a girth that the human body had not been designed to handle. The feeling of her self-lubricating anus tightly gripping my erect shaft was a pleasure like no other. As it was for my concubine, with Angelica unable to keep herself from crying out in orgasmic pleasure after a few thrusts of my penis into her rear end.
I could feel my testicles beginning to stir, my ejaculation imminent, but I held it in for as long as I could, wanting Angelica to have to work for this. She'd gotten quite good at continuing to ride me even as she forced herself to experience orgasm after orgasm, something that had previously made her lock up as she rode out the pleasure. Being forced to experience hours of nonstop orgasms at the hands of her fellow concubines over the past couple of days had forced her to learn how to not be rendered completely insensate by them.
"Now you're not going to let a single drop of my seed fall on my clothes or the chair, are you Lucinda?" I asked.
She looked more resigned than enthusiastic, but still she nodded. "I will ensure you remain clean," she replied.
"Here it comes," I groaned, as I emptied the contents of my testicles into Angelica's rectum, more than two dozen thick ropes of semen spurted inside her as I came for more than a minute straight. The Sister of Battle kept dutifully riding me even through my orgasm, even as her insides began to feel rather warm.
"Get ready," Angelica said once she'd come down from her own orgasmic high. Lucinda moved into place, her face awkwardly positioned just beneath her sister's anus, ready to catch my seed as Angelica slowly lifted herself up. Lucinda pressed her mouth and tongue against Angelica's anus, making sure to swallow every last drop of my seed.
"Don't forget to share some of it with Angelica," I smirked. Lucinda kept herself from swallowing the last mouthful, her cheeks bulging as she held it in her mouth. Angelica turned around once she was empty, pushing her lips to Lucinda as they engaged in a passionate kiss… or at least the imitation of one. I enjoyed the feeling of their disgust and shame radiating through the Warp as they made out, Lucinda exchanging my seed with Angelica at the same time. Despite the things they'd been forced to do to each other and their fellow concubines, they were no more attracted to other females now than they were when they first arrived. It made all the acts of lesbianism they were forced to engage in all the more entertaining.
"Now, why don't first clean me up Lucinda, then you can repeat your sister's actions," I said.
She glared at me, the greatest amount of defiance she could summon before she began to fellate me, not enjoying the taste of Angelica's anus all too much. Even still, the influence of the Prince of Pleasure had wormed its way into their minds, which paradoxically meant that they now enjoyed being forced to do something that they found disgusting.
I once again enjoyed the feeling of a Sister of Battle wrapped tightly around me as Lucinda lowered herself down, but my mind was elsewhere. I contemplated the possibilities of my new boon as Lucinda rode me like her life depended on it.
-x-x-x-x-
Once I'd been sated, I sent a telepathic message to Erys to get her attention. Not that she was needed here, but if I was going to explore the new hidden room in my basement, it would be more fun to do it with someone else.
"Another boon, Master?" Erys asked.
"Yes, and one I'd like to keep a secret from everyone except ourselves and Camael," I replied, feeling the urge to keep my voice low despite the lack of anyone else around. "At least for the time being. Let us explore it together."
I pushed the secret door open, which sat flush with the bare stone in its closed state, opening up into a metal corridor. My beloved and I stepped through, closing the door behind me, walking towards the light at the end of the tunnel.
Interestingly, I noticed through my Warp-sight that the entire room and corridor were under the protection of heavy psychic shielding. This being a Daemon world, my patron presumably didn't want whatever lay inside to be affected by the ravages of the Warp. Which begged the question, how on Terra was my patron able to accomplish so much in the materium when the negative aspect of Slaanesh could do so little? She must be drawing upon the power of alternate planes where she had more influence, and which by the same token, the negative aspect has less influence.
Erys entered the room first, immediately spotting something in the middle of the room, causing her to scream. I was relieved to see that it was more out of shock than fear.
"Master, what is that?" she asked, disgusted yet unable to look away.
I didn't answer until I could see what Erys saw for myself. The room opened up into a large open laboratory, with clean, bare metal walls and a gantry around the top like the galaxy's cleanest forge world. The most interesting thing was in the centre of the room; a large, meaty tentacle extended down from the ceiling, on the end of which was a colossal eyeball.
Spoiler: The Tearful Thing
"My newest boon, or at least the source of it," I replied. I spied a workbench, upon which rested a pile of blueprints. I picked one of them up, purely to see whether I could even make head or tail of it. To my surprise, I could.
"Fascinating," I murmured. "The tears of this creature, which has the highly imaginative name of 'the Tearful Thing', have the ability to revert any living organism back to its original state. In their unrefined form, being submerged in these tears will revert a person to the state of a zygote. This is effectively instant death, given that the zygote will be disconnected from its mother's womb, or any womb for that matter."
"That seems too good to be true Master," Erys replied. "You could use these tears to kill anyone, including Gabriel?"
"That much is unclear. While it seems they can be weaponised, I doubt a single drop would be enough to completely revert an adult human, let alone a Space Marine. In addition, the world from which the Tearful Thing originates seemingly has no psykers, or hardly any connection to the Warp at all beyond what a civilisation of ordinary, non-psychic humans would have. Given that the tear's effects are clearly magical, and the Warp is just one source of magic in the multiverse, my suspicion is that any amount of psychic resistance will also confer resistance to the effects of these tears. I'm not sure they would even have any effect at all on a conceptual being."
"You said that was the effect of unrefined tears," Erys said. "Implying there are refined tears as well."
"Indeed," I replied. "Refined tears will revert one's body only to its normal healthy state. This allows them to act as powerful healing items, reverting any injuries one may sustain. They can even revive the recently deceased so long as the brain remains intact."
"Incredible!" Erys gasped. "Bringing people back from the dead… I didn't know such a thing was even possible."
"I believe certain elements among the Drukhari can accomplish the same thing on an even broader scale, resurrecting those that have been reduced to a mere skeleton. Of course, that has the downside of forcing you to deal with the Drukhari," I replied.
"So how do we actually extract these tears?" Erys asked.
I noticed that the Tearful Thing shuddered at the question. I tasted the creature's emotions, sensing fear.
"We do not wish to hurt you, Tearful One," Erys said soothingly, having sensed the same thing. "But we require your aid. Master Melekh serves under a being far crueler and more powerful than himself. Master hopes to depose his leader and rule in his stead. Rest assured that we will not mistreat you."
"Quite," I said, staring directly into its enormous eye. "Fortunately for you, we have options unavailable to those that extract the tears of your brethren back on your home plane. Biomancy for example, the art of manipulating biology using the energy of the Warp. Perhaps we can induce your tear ducts to produce your precious fluid constantly, without any negative effects to yourself, or even grow artificial tear ducts that do not impede your…" I trailed off, struggling for words, "state of being in any way," I eventually said.
The Tearful Thing shook its ocular appendage, which was its entire body, up and down, which I interpreted as a nod. I had spotted a few diagrams which indicated how K Corp has induced the creature to produce tears by forcibly holding its eye open and showing it pict-recorder footage of people being brutally tortured, upsetting it greatly.
Not something I was in any hurry to replicate, of course. As strange as it was to consider, the Tearful Thing was effectively my servant, and I was not inclined to mistreat my servants. In addition, the creature did have a soul, which meant its suffering would surely feed the Dark Prince. It made me wonder what sort of world could bring about such cruelty, devoid of the malign influence of the Imperium, Chaos, or anything else from this plane. After the vision my patron had shown me of humanity devouring itself back before the Dark Age of Technology, I theorised that this was something similar.
I climbed up a large stepladder, leading right up to where the Tearful Thing hung down from the ceiling.
"I would like to study your tears. Would you object to my usage of biomancy to induce lacrimation?" I asked. It responded by shaking its… head? Eye? Body? Whatever the case, I interpreted it as a no.
I placed my hand on the fleshy stalk, sensing its bizarre anatomy through my biomancy as I agitated its tear ducts. Almost immediately a stream of unrefined tears flowed from its eye, designed to be caught in a pool in the centre of the floor. I instead caught the green liquid, suspending a ball of it mid air with telekinesis, which I transported into a storage vessel for study.
The Tearful Thing seemed to relax once I was finished, apparently relieved that my biomancy wasn't as unpleasant as K Corp's methods. I examined the jar of tears through my Warp-sight, and I was not disappointed by what I saw.
"Apparently the technical term for this liquid is Helapoeisis," I said, examining one of the documents before returning my attention to the jaw, which I had set down on a workbench. "Look at it through your Warp-sight Erys. What do you see?"
I saw her brow furrow, clearly as intrigued by the stuff as I was. "The energy contained within it… it resonates with the Warp, but its nature doesn't relate to healing at all. It instead has some sort of temporal effect."
"As I suspected," I replied. "It makes sense though. It doesn't 'heal' wounds as such, it undoes them."
"Did those documents say exactly how this Helapoeisis is refined, Master?" Erys asked.
"Yes. Unsurprisingly, the process is more spiritual than physical," I replied. "They need to be diluted with… human concepts, whatever that means. Essentially, it needs to be given context as to what state to rewind the injured person to."
"Does that mean they only work on humans? You don't want to be rewound of your gene-seed organs."
"We'll need to test it, but I don't believe that's the case fortunately. It's mentioned that they used the Helapoeisis to grow meat by severing the limbs of animals and then healing them."
100 CP gained, current balance: 410 CP
That meant I actually had enough CP for another Singularity, but I wouldn't do it for now. I had my hands full with this one.
"While the refining process may be spiritual, the physical component cannot be neglected either," I said, gesturing to the various components laying around the room. "We'll need someone with some technical knowledge to manage this and any other technology I acquire in the future."
"The equipment looted from the Emperor's Children will need to be sold, as well as from the Sororitas on Adderoth," Erys mused. "You intend to join them?"
I nodded. "There ought to be at least one disaffected heretek I can recruit on an entire forge world."
A shame I would be separated from my beloved so soon, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. Erys and I could work on refining the precious liquid. Hopefully I could put some in a vial and show it to some heretek or another to convince them that I wasn't full of hot air.
AN:
Technically I did cheat a bit this chapter, as Melekh shouldn't have rolled another perk so soon. I decided to just roll with it as I couldn't think of anything interesting to take up the next 2.5k words.
I had never heard of Library of Ruina before getting this roll (I imagine other people that write Celestial whatever fics are in the same boat), but it's actually quite fitting considering how grimdark the world seems to be. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any source that goes into detail as to how exactly the tears are refined, so I might have to just make something up.Last edited: Jul 26, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:Xryuran, Sorain, Vergil1989 Crossover King and 165 others
I had regrettably little time until I would be separated from Erys once again, though at least on this occasion it would be of my own choosing. Surprisingly, Gabriel had actually taken my suggestion to seek aid from the Iron Warriors seriously. After making some enquiries regarding trade, he'd announced that we would be selling our loot from Adderoth and the Emperor's Children on the Hell-Forge known as Adskapesht. Located on the very edge of the Eye of Terror, it had previously been a loyalist Forge World prior to the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum.
Now cut off from the wider Imperium, it had been since conquered by an Iron Warriors warband known as the Adamant Corps. With no attempts able to be made to retake it amidst the chaos wrought by the galaxy being split in half, the sons of Perturabo had been free to remake the world in their own image. The Tech-Priests previously in charge had either been killed or converted to the ways of the ruinous powers, having no choice but to submit to their new Astartes masters.
It was almost the perfect place for the Angels Transcendent to do business. A fully functioning Hell-Forge such as Adskapesht was just begging to be attacked by the Adamant Corps' envious rivals. While they were only loosely associated with the wider Iron Warriors, the fourth legion was not about to let such a valuable asset fall to one of their hated enemies, so they'd invested heavily in turning the entire system into a fortress. Seeking to recoup their losses by any means necessary, they'd be more than happy to trade with us, especially for the chance to hit back at the Emperor's Children.
On a more personal level, it was also the ideal place to recruit a competent Heretek to manage my technological affairs. Even if the world's population were fully committed to the worship of Chaos, I couldn't imagine they'd be too happy churning out daemon engines for a group of Space Marines not renowned for their social skills. I should probably have something to entice them however. To that end, I wanted to get some of this Helapoiesis refined before leaving.
"Diluting them with 'human concepts'?" Erys said, eyeing another jar of tears that I'd collected. "Regardless of what methods K Corp used, they had no psykers, and would thus surely be inferior to biomancy? That is, using the Warp, the sea of concepts as regarded by sapient beings?"
"Perhaps, though using the Warp risks disrupting the temporal nature of the Helapoiesis," I replied. "Once suitably refined, they are supposed to revert one to their 'original state', as defined by the perception of the recipient. I will not need to worry about losing my gene-seed, as I regard my current augmented self as my original state, not back when I was still an unaugmented human boy."
Poring over the schematics, I found one that I'd somehow missed earlier, which showed one of the methods K Corp used to render the tears usable for healing. I couldn't help but stare at the diagram for a few seconds before letting out a bark of laughter.
"All they do is water them down," I said.
Erys did a double take. "What? Master, surely it can't be that easy? What happened to imbuing them with 'human concepts'?"
"Nothing, I suspect," I replied. "I theorise that when the workers of K Corp diluted the tears, they did so with the intent of turning them into a medi-pack. Even though they weren't psykers, they still had souls, and so their intent must have 'rubbed off' on the tears, thus granting them the intended effect. I suspect that the Warp must be exceptionally calm on that plane, for such a weak psychic 'signal' to not be swamped by the 'background noise' of the Warp."
"That does presumably mean that we will need to rely on a psyker to refine the tears," Erys said. "Not a problem for us, but if you ever intend to expand the rate of production for the usage of the entire warband…"
"We may have to come up with something else," I replied. "Hence, my hopeful recruitment of some Heretek or another."
I had to head out of the chamber housing the Tearful Thing so one of my servants could fetch some clean water. The existence of said chamber would be on a strict need-to-know basis. Maybe I should get some plumbing set up directly into the Tearful Thing's chamber.
At least now I could create some of the refined tears. I carefully mixed the green liquid with water, focusing intently on the concepts of life and healing, before inserting the prepared Helapoiesis into a syringe.
If not for my need for secrecy, I would test this on an expendable human subject first. As it was, I felt confident enough to try it on myself. I stabbed my combat knife through the palm of my left hand, the pain barely an irritation, before setting it down and injecting myself with a small quantity of Helapoiesis. Small enough to not de-age me if something went wrong.
As expected, the wound in my hand didn't so much heal as disappear. Normally, a wound like this would heal from the outside inward. In this case, the back of my hand healed first, it being the last part to be pierced by my knife, then the middle, then the palm, leaving no trace of a scar.
"Remarkable," Erys said, examining my now uninjured hand. "It healed so quickly, and from so little of the Helapoiesis."
"I'll replace the chemicals in my armour's auto-medicae with it now that I know it works," I replied.
Ordinarily, a power armour's auto-medicae wasn't capable of proper healing, just keep someone going until they could see an apothecary. With the Helapoiesis, it now was. It would inject me with the liquid only when I was already near death however; one of the Primaris Space Marine organs, the Belisarian Furnace, essentially did the same thing, filling the body with a cocktail of regenerative compounds to rapidly heal the entire body. However, this would cause the organ to be depleted of chemicals, taking some time before it could activate again. Presumably, the Helapoiesis would also restore my Belisarian Furnace to its normal state, effectively doubling the number of times I could heal.
It took a while, but I was able to dump out the combat stimms from my armour's auto-medicae and replace it with the refined Helapoiesis. There was still more work to be done though; for example, could I mix the unrefined tears with combat stimms for an extra potent healing liquid? Now I certainly wouldn't be testing that on myself, or anyone else until I'd secured the aid of someone that knew what they were doing. With a carefully wrapped syringe full of the refined Helapoiesis, hopefully I could tempt at least one Heretek to my side.
-x-x-x-x-
Location: the Hell-Forge Adskapesht, the rim of the Eye of Terror, Segmentum Obscurus
Date: 0.217.150.M42
The journey to Adskapesht was uneventful enough, my quarters on the Tears of Sanguinius remaining exactly as I'd left them. Many of my brothers had stayed behind on Baal Superior, mainly those that had suffered the greatest damage to their estates during the Emperor's Children's attack, while many more simply didn't bother trading on the Hell-Forge directly. I usually fell into the latter category, except that I now had a task important enough to outweigh my desire to while away my days making love to Erys.
Two tasks, technically. One was to hire a Heretek on retainer, and the other was to sell the loot I'd earned over the past couple of weeks. Something that I normally let others handle on my behalf at the cost of a portion of the proceeds, but if I was here anyway I might as well do it myself. Camael as well; I'd persuaded him to join me to potentially purchase some new gear with his portion of the haul. Namely, seven suits of power armour, assorted weapons, and the equivalent value of one drop pod which our warband would be using itself. Camael had tried to give me three tenths of the value of the drop pod, having killed 7 out of the 30 attacking Emperor's Children, whereas I'd insisted he keep the whole lot, having the unfair advantage of my patron's boons. He'd ceased his protests only when I threatened to give him the value of both of my drop pods as well.
"So that's Adskapesht, eh?" Camael said, looking down upon the Hell-Forge just before we climbed into a shuttle, the glow of industry just barely visibly beneath its thick smoggy atmosphere. "A bit depressing looking, even by the Iron Warriors' standards."
"Something that isn't even their doing," I chuckled. "Let's not kid ourselves Cam; the Dark Mechanicum are no less dogmatic than the cult they purport to improve upon. They just channel their dogmatism in a different direction. That includes making their little fiefdoms as unpleasant to live upon as possible. I suspect Adskapesht has barely changed since the Adamant Corps took over."
I didn't think I'd be removing my helmet while on the surface of Adskapesht. A large rocky planet of grey stone and dust barely visible between the manufactoria poking through the surface, most of the actual infrastructure being buried underground. It did have enough gravity to hold its own atmosphere, but that just meant the pollution would never escape into space, choking the planet eternally. Between that and the dust storms, the local sun was barely visible in the sky even during daytime. All in all, a grim place to live.
At least I could take my helmet off beneath the surface, even if the air was permeated by a foul sulphurous odour. Unsurprisingly Servitors vastly outnumbered the actual inhabitants. They'd be handy to have back home, but up to now I didn't have a way of maintaining them despite their minimal maintenance requirements. Yet another reason to bring a Heretek around to my side.
I understood that Gabriel was meeting with the Adamant Corps' reigning Chaos Lord to negotiate a deal for their aid in getting revenge against the Emperor's Children. I imagined it wouldn't stop at just that though; while the Angels Transcendent excelled at skill at arms, we were sorely lacking when it came to heavy weapons and the like. We only had a couple dozen daemon engines, and not a single tank. Not that our mode of warfare lent itself to using such contraptions but sometimes, you had to just grind people to dust.
Something that our new Adamant Corps 'friends' could hopefully help with. Beyond their personal expertise in such matters, I had a suspicion that Gabriel would attempt to acquire more exotic weaponry for the warband. Something that Camael and I also wished for, albeit on a smaller scale. That was why we sought out one Petiurtes Sola, one of the Adamant Corps' Warpsmiths and the closest thing they had to a quartermaster.
"So, you want to buy some of our stuff?" he said gruffly. I wondered whether he actually had Iron Warriors' gene-seed, or if anyone did in this day and age. I suspected so, given that he clearly wasn't a Primaris marine, standing a full two heads shorter than myself. Not that he was to be underestimated, his extensive suite of bionic implants would more than make up for any deficiencies in the genetic department.
"Actually we just stopped by to bask in the Adskapesht weather. I hear it's lovely this time of year," I replied, wondering what else he thought I'd be doing here.
The miserable bastard didn't even acknowledge my attempt at humour, despite my utterly perfect deadpan delivery. "Well? Out with it!" he snapped.
"How are you for plasma weapons?" Camael asked.
Petiurtes's scowl deepened. "We've got a few. Mostly taken from loyalists, since they don't make them here. It's mostly just Daemon engines now. Give me a minute while I fetch some for you to look at."
I waited for him to fully leave the room before I spoke. "I'm pretty sure the bloody Cadians were more cheerful when Abaddon split their planet in half," I said quietly.
"Is that more or less cheerful than a guardsman that's being eaten by a Carnifex?" Camael replied.
We weren't waiting long, Periurtes returning before I could formulate a response.
"These all came from a new Primaris chapter that we attacked, so they should fit you pair just fine," the Warpsmith grunted. "Plasma Pistol, you can't get a better sidearm than one of them. Plasma Incinerator, these are the most common, they're pretty similar to a regular Plasma Gun except they don't blow up as much. Heavy Plasma Incinerator, for when you want maximum firepower. Hope you don't mind wearing a back mounted power pack though. Assault Plasma Incinerator, just like the regular one except it's got a fancier targeting array. Makes it easier to land shots since they do have a slower muzzle velocity than a bolter… for a price of course."
"I've got a number of suits of power armour and an assortment of weapons," I replied.
If the miserable bastard scowled any harder his face would've snapped in half. "You mean the piss poor shite the Emperor's Children left you with? That's why you knockoff Blood Angels came here in the first place!"
"What they lack in quality it makes up for in quantity," Camael insisted, even as I saw his eye twitch. I wouldn't have been anywhere near so diplomatic after that insult. "I've got 7 entire suits of power armour, and Melekh's got 23."
Periurtes snorted derisively. "30 piles of shite then? They might collectively be worth a plasma pistol at a push-"
"Don't treat us like idiots," I replied, keeping my hand under the table so Petiurtes wouldn't see it crackle with blue lightning as I channelled the Warp. "You said it yourself, you mainly make Daemon engines here. Would you really deprive the Adamant Corps of enough power armour to outfit half a dozen full squads?"
100 CP gained, current balance: 510 CP
Spoiler: MORTAL KOMBAT 9-10 - Babality (cost: 200 CP)
If there was ever a bad time to receive a new boon from my patron, it was now. I now regretted taking my helmet off, as I had to bite the insides of my mouth to keep myself from laughing at its sheer absurdity. Unlike the first boon that I'd rejected I could actually see potential uses for this, but having to wait two decades for the affected individuals to reach adulthood made it too impractical.
I was leaning toward purchasing another Singularity once I'd hopefully recruited a skilled Heretek. One in particular wasn't affiliated with any of the corporations which ruled the world that originated them, but would instead allow for the creation of additional augmentations. Ones that would be cumulative with my own existing augmentations, both as a Space Marine and as a vampire, and which could also be applied to my brothers once I'd taken over the Angels Transcendent. These Singularities, more than any other boons I'd earned thus far, would be key to conquering the galaxy in the name of Slaanesh.
For now, I returned my focus to the conversation, neither Camael nor Periurtes having noticed my momentary lapse in attention. I hadn't initially been planning to use telepathy to get a better deal, but after this obnoxious twat decided to be rude for no reason I would instead milk him for all he was worth.
The particular Warp technique that I was using was much more subtle than Dominate, or even a Compulsion. It instead just made the target much, much more suggestible. This state was easily broken, too fragile to be of much use in combat, but for a delicate situation like this? It was perfect. This particular technique originated from the daemons of Slaanesh - the negative aspect - for when they sought a more subtle means of manipulation.
Sure enough Periurtes began to look somewhat dazed, his expression softening. "Well, I suppose you've got a point there, we can always refurbish any old suits," he mumbled.
"Yes, exactly," Camael replied. My hand was well within his view, so he could tell what I was doing. "How much for the Assault Plasma Incinerator and a Plasma Pistol?"
"Well, let's say… five suits of power armour," Periurtes said, as Camael and I had to fight to keep ourselves from smirking.
"Make it three," Camael replied.
"Mmm, four, and that's as low as I'll go," said the Warpsmith, not having lost his mental faculties completely.
"In that case, why don't you throw in an electrolysis kit as well?" he added. Since all plasma weapons used compressed hydrogen gas, electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen made supplying ammunition trivial. That was one of the more overlooked benefits of plasma weapons, their logistical footprint was tiny.
"Well… sure, why not, I don't often deal with honest folk like you," Periurtes replied. My eyes bulged as I forced myself to not laugh.
"How much for the Heavy Plasma Incinerator and a Plasma Pistol?" I quickly asked, mainly to cover up my amusement.
"Six suits."
"Four."
"Five."
"Fine, but you'd better throw in an eletrolysis kit for me as well," I replied. It would have been easier if people around here just took credits, but I couldn't complain too much. A Heavy Plasma Incinerator was worth far more than a few suits of power armour. Objectively better than a bolter, being as powerful as an older pattern Plasma Cannon which also having a longer range and being more compact, the only downside being the extortionate cost. A cost that was entirely due to their artificial scarcity, not because they required any particularly rare or expensive components to make. Due to how jealously guarded their technological secrets were among the squabbling Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, there were very few Forge Worlds capable of producing new plasma weapons. I supposed it never occurred to any of them how little their political influence would matter in a galaxy that's been conquered by Chaos, orks, tyranids, or literally anyone else.
"Was there anything else?" Periurtes asked.
"Yes actually," I replied. "I'll need a set of equipment suitable for installing bionic implants, spare parts for such operations, and 100 servitors."
"Bionics?" the Warpsmith asked, surprised. It was the greatest level of emotion I'd seen of him while under the influence of my Charm technique.
"Of course," I said shortly, wanting to get my business over and done with as soon as possible. "It must be capable of a wide variety of different augmentation procedures."
I spent the next few minutes describing what I needed. Assuming I did successfully recruit a Heretek to work for me, I'd spend 400 CP on the Singularity necessary for human augmentation. To that end, I purchased just about every piece of equipment or spare part I could think of that would be even tangentially relevant, wanting to get it over with now. Going back and purchasing more things after my Charm spell had worn off didn't seem like a very good idea.
For the cost of a couple more suits of power armour and a few bolters, I secured everything I would hopefully need, while arranging for the equipment and servitors to be shipped onto the Tears of Sanguinius as soon as possible, before my Charm spell wore off. By the time Periurtes realised he'd been had, I'd be long gone from this planet. Even then, I was sure that he'd be too proud to tell anyone what had happened.
I left Periurtes's domain with a spring in my step, cradling my wonderful new toy, an act that Camael mirrored with his own weapon. We waited until we were out of earshot of the Warpsmith before we both burst out laughing.
"You used telepathy on him, didn't you?" Camael grinned. "Was he even aware you were doing it?"
"Not in the slightest," I grinned back. "By the time anyone realises what I've done, assuming they ever do, we'll be back on our way to Baal Superior."
"Those other things you bought. They're to do with this new boon of yours?"
I nodded. "The technology I have at my disposal, from this other plane, has the potential to flip the entire galaxy on its head. I'll need the resources of the entire warband to unleash its true potential, but there's still plenty I can do. Other forms of augmentation, for example."
"You never struck me as the type to go the way of the Iron Hands, Mel."
"Not that kind of augmentation," I replied. "These ones will reinforce my body, not replace it. Against Gabriel, I'll need all the reinforcement I can get."
"And they'll presumably be applicable to others as well," Camael mused.
"That's the real trick, Cam," I said, only vaguely aware of how manic I sounded. "If the Primaris gene-seed was the next step in human augmentation, this is… the next step after that, I suppose. Applicable to both baselines humans and Astartes."
"You're going all-in on transhumanism then?"
"I don't see why not. Anyone that wishes to improve themselves will have the opportunity to do so. First though, I need to find a half decent Magos Biologis…"
AN:
I haven't found any images of a female techpriest that I liked, so the next chapter might be delayed until I can generate my own. When I'm making up original characters instead of just using existing ones in a particular setting, it's pretty much a necessity.
The bit about watering down helapoiesis is something I only realised from scouring the Library of Ruina wiki after I'd written the previous chapter. The creation of things from singularities isn't really elaborated in much detail. For most of them the singularities themselves aren't even described at all, the Tearful Thing being one of the few exceptions, so I'll have to take some artistic license.
There will be other perks besides Library of Ruina stuff don't worry, I just find magitek the most fascinating category. Also, I intend to be quite frugal when it comes to buying perks, since most Celestial whatever fics have an annoying tendency to just by everything then never use 95% of them. I don't want that to happen here.Last edited: Aug 6, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:EVENGODSMAYDIE, Xryuran, Sorain and 151 others