📢 Author's Note – Chapter 2 Drops! 🦅
Thanks to everyone who read and supported Chapter 1! 🙌Chapter 2 continues our dive into the early rise of the Multiversal Imperium. The Raven's true nature? Still a mystery. The Emperor's ambitions? Getting a whole lot bigger. 💥
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Chapter 2: Seeking Cooperation
"Yes, I come from another universe. The myriad heavens are vast and boundless—there isn't just one reality like yours. And as a traveler, I've got the ability to hop between different universes."
As the raven explained, it tilted back its head and opened its beak wide.
In an instant, cascades of light erupted from its maw, streaming upward in brilliant torrents. The luminous threads wove themselves through the air, manifesting countless visions that hung suspended in the chamber's gloom.
Some images burned with crystalline clarity, unfolding like chronicler-reels of distant wars and alien worlds. Others writhed in temporal chaos—fractured glimpses that split into manifold perspectives, flickering and rewinding in endless cycles as their chronologies collapsed upon themselves.
This occurred because most universes possessed linear time-streams, flowing ever forward like the inexorable march of conquest.
Yet some realities bore multi-dimensional temporalities, spawning parallel timelines and permitting passage through past and future alike. When displayed, such chronologies appeared as madness given form.
"The glory of the infinite cosmos surpasses all mortal comprehension. If you're willing to work with me, I can help you travel to other universes and claim their power and knowledge for your own."
The Emperor's voice cut through the spectral display. "What payment do you demand? I shall not believe you covet nothing."
"When you alter the predetermined fate of those universes, reality itself bleeds unique primordial energy. That's what I feed on." The raven's tone grew casual, conversational. "It's a win-win deal, really. Nobody loses out."
"I do not treat with entities of unknown provenance." The Emperor's refusal rang with finality.
"You didn't say that when you made your bargain with the Chaos Gods to steal their secrets and primordial power."
For the first time, the Emperor's impassive countenance shifted—a shadow of gravity darkening His features.
"How do you possess knowledge of this?"
The raven closed its beak. The cascade of light ceased, and the myriad visions dissolved into nothingness.
"Everything that's ever happened leaves traces in the fabric of reality. I can read those traces. When I entered this universe, I started downloading its information."
"You went into the Warp on Molech and cut a deal with the Big Four, stealing Chaos power and knowledge with their help to achieve your goals. You also tricked them pretty thoroughly—they're absolutely furious with you right now."
The Emperor studied the creature before Him, His eyes narrowing to slits of judgment.
No taint of Warp-corruption marred the raven's essence—it bore none of the telltale spiritual rot that marked the Ruinous Powers' servants, as for its claims of being a transdimensional wanderer, that remained to be verified through deed rather than word.
Custodian-Commander Valdor shifted beside his master, guardian spear crackling to lethal readiness as arcs of disruption energy wreathed its blade. His helm's auspex arrays swept the chamber in desperate search patterns, augmented senses straining to detect some invisible foe.
From the moment the Emperor had touched the enigmatic sculpture, it had dissolved into coruscating light and vanished. Since then, his master had begun speaking to empty air, even drawing blade against an adversary that existed beyond mortal perception.
Valdor stood mere meters away, yet perceived nothing. Regardless of the detection protocols he employed, the chamber remained barren of threats.
"What transpires here? To whom does my Emperor speak?"
"Who threatens Him? Those accursed Chaos Gods?"
"Where do they hide? Why can I perceive nothing?"
Valdor raised his spear, auramite helm turning as confusion and helplessness warred within his transhuman heart. To witness his gene-sire converse with nothingness bred unease in his engineered soul.
"My Emperor, are you unharmed?"
The Master of Mankind emerged from contemplation, fixing His gaze upon the Custodian.
"I am uninjured."
"Then why do you speak to the void?" Valdor's concern bled through his vocal grilles. "Shall I summon the palace chirurgeons to examine you?"
The Emperor glanced between Valdor and the raven that paced through empty air.
"You cannot perceive it?"
"Perceive what, my Emperor?" Valdor's head swept the chamber, finding only stone and shadow.
"He can't see me. Only those who are chosen or those who've gotten permission from the destiny of the protagonist of destiny can see me. It's a protection mechanism for the protagonist, making sure our transaction stays private."
The raven paused mid-stride, then added with a shrug, "Of course, you're not really in that category. I mean, there aren't many things in this reality that could actually beat you, but the protection mechanism still works."
The Emperor's voice carried imperial authority. "Can you render yourself visible to him?"
"Sure, if that's what you want."
The Emperor nodded once. "Make it so."
A bewildered Valdor watched a raven materialize from nothingness before his very eyes. The creature regarded him with what might have been amusement.
"Hey there, Valdor! Esteemed Commander of the Imperial Custodes. Want to grab some fries down at the docks?"
Valdor's response was instantaneous.
His form blurred with transhuman speed as the guardian spear's point found the raven's throat in a movement too swift for mortal eyes to follow. Protection of the Emperor was not merely the Custodians' duty—it was their fundamental purpose, encoded into their very genetic structure.
Never would Valdor permit any threat to approach his gene-sire.
"How rude! I offer friendly conversation and fast food, and this is how you respond?"
The raven adopted an expression of exaggerated hurt.
Valdor remained unmoved, his voice a growl of barely contained violence. "Daemon. Begone from this realm."
"Valdor." The Emperor's hand pressed the spear's haft downward. "It is no daemon."
"It seeks to deceive you," Valdor insisted. "My Emperor, the parasites of the Warp excel at such subterfuge."
"I perceive no taint of Chaos upon its essence." The Emperor's certainty brooked no argument.
Seeing his gene-sire's resolve, Valdor reluctantly lowered his weapon.
The Emperor turned once more to the raven. "You claim the ability to transport me to other universes, to grant power and knowledge. How can you guarantee this is not some elaborate snare?"
"I can't give you a rock-solid guarantee, but this is your only shot at actually winning." The raven's tone grew serious. "Those Primarchs you were using to anchor your new super-soldiers? The Chaos Gods already stole them, but you haven't given up. You're still secretly continuing the project."
Valdor's eyes widened behind his helm. This intelligence was classified at the highest levels, known to perhaps a handful of souls in all the galaxy. Yet this creature spoke of it as casually as one might discuss the weather.
If the entity served the Dark Powers, then every stratagem they had devised likely lay exposed to their enemies' gaze.
"I can tell you straight up—those Primarchs you made aren't dead. They're scattered all over the place, going through trials of destiny. When you launch your conquest of the stars, they'll come back to your side."
The Emperor studied the raven with growing silence, His thoughts turning inward like the gears of some vast cogitation engine.
The creature knew too much. Far too much.
"You've planned this beautiful future for humanity, but you're destined to fail. People caught in destiny's current can't change its course, no matter how hard they struggle."
"Everything you do leads to the same predetermined ending. You've got prophetic abilities—you should be able to see plenty of futures, and most of them are pretty dark and depressing."
"In the end, you'll lose everything. The empire you're building with your own hands, the Custodians you personally trained, the friend who's always helped you, the humanity you've always wanted to protect—they'll all just face a slow death."
"You speak falsehoods to breed despair," Valdor interjected.
"Do I, though?" The raven smiled with what might have been pity. "Maybe you should ask the boss you serve whether he thinks my words are lies? Or do you just not believe in his incredible power and foresight?"
The Emperor remained silent.
His lack of denial served as acknowledgment of the raven's prophecy.
To contend with the Chaos Gods was no simple matter. Should He fail, humanity's fate would be darkness absolute—eternal war without hope of salvation.
Valdor stared at the raven, his grip tightening on his guardian spear as killing intent radiated from his frame like heat from a forge.
The raven continued its aerial stroll, utterly relaxed. It knew Valdor would never strike without the Emperor's command. The Custodians never questioned their gene-sire, nor would they disobey His will. Valdor embodied this iron law made flesh.
"If you're willing, I'll send you to the first trial world. When you complete the mission, you'll return with a reward. I guarantee that reward will be massively helpful to your plans."
Valdor looked to the Emperor, reading consideration in His immortal features.
"My Emperor, do not heed its honeyed words. Should this prove a trap, should you become unable to return, all our stratagems shall crumble to ash."
The raven interjected, "Even if I'm lying, Terra's already unified. Even if the Emperor leaves, this place becomes a new cradle for human civilization."
"You haven't even fully mastered Webway technology yet. If something goes wrong, all of humanity gets screwed. A gambler's desperate bet is worse than just giving up—at least that won't make things worse."
Every plan the Emperor had wrought was founded upon the Webway's promise. Whether the unification of Terra, the creation of the Primarchs, or the coming Great Crusade—all were merely means to an ultimate end.
The Webway, which would permit humanity to traverse the galaxy without risk, isolated from the Warp's predations, represented the true goal of the Emperor's grand design.
Both the Emperor and Valdor heard the raven's words, and for the first time, their eternally composed features betrayed shock.
The Webway project was beyond classification—only three beings in all the Imperium knew its full scope.
"Only from outside this universe can you get the power and knowledge to change it. If you're willing to cooperate, I can also help you get complete Webway technology from other universes."
"I need a day to recharge the energy required for universe-hopping. You can think about it and give me a definite answer this time tomorrow."
After speaking, the raven vanished with an audible 'pop,' dissolving into wisps of white mist.
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