Upon waking, I find myself in a familiar place once again. ROB waits for me, nursing a cup of coffee beside a spread of treats. I settle in next to him, savoring a sip of the brew and a bite of the sweets. I release a sigh and say.
"Ah, thank you for this. Staying on the ship makes it impossible to find organic treats like these."
"Don't mention it, Kael. However, let's get down to business, shall we?"
"Yeah. There must be a reason why you summoned me here."
ROB nods his head solemnly.
"Indeed. I'm here to inform you that your time in the Warhammer universe is coming to an end. There is only one final task before you return home. Don't worry; you've fulfilled your end of the bargain by surviving this universe for years. I'll ensure your soul avoids the Warp and returns safely to your original body on Earth if you died before this final task."
"So, what is the mission?"
ROB waves his hand, projecting a massive hologram. It depicts a daemon with blood-red skin and a face reflecting the agonizing screams of millions. It wields a pair of axes dripping with boiling gore, beneath a set of blazing horns. Wings of fire and blood unfurl from its back, radiating an intensity that makes my skin crawl. The overwhelming scent of metal and decay is enough to make me retch.
"Is that...?"
"Khorne, yes. He is manifesting in Realspace soon. As the God of Blood, War, and Slaughter, he does not fear death and is instead eager to battle against you. While he cannot sustain himself in Realspace for long, his mere presence wreaks havoc across the galaxy and can break reality if left alone long enough. The Emperor and Isha will eventually be able to banish him if you leave them be, but it will push back what you have done for this universe by half. That is your objective. You need to kill Khorne."
"Is that even possible? My build is theoretically capable of killing the unkillable, but that's just a theory. I don't know if it will actually work."
"It will. The Stinger ability is your trump card. Khorne is aware of Ea and has prepared a counter."
"He can counter it?"
"Yes. Enuma Elish separates Heaven and Earth—or in this case, Realspace and the Warp. Anything in its path is reduced to nothingness by the attack. However, Khorne can alter the laws of reality to pull his realm into Realspace. As its absolute ruler, he can diminish Ea's effectiveness."
"That's cheating."
"Welcome to a higher level of reality, my boy! It isn't as rigid as people think. It's fluid. With enough power, you can reshape it as you wish."
I grunt and let out a heavy sigh, finishing my coffee and the last of the treats.
"So, I have to rely on Sting and the Black Barrel."
"Exactly. In fact, I have a suggestion for your grand finale."
"Oh? What is it?"
"What if you sacrifice yourself by channeling your entire life force into the Black Barrel to slay Khorne? It would create a ripple effect that stabilizes the galaxy, achieving a relative peace. Your lifeforce is enough to create another Red Realm of Void where peace will be established, and this time, it will encompass almost a third of the galaxy. You'd leave this grim world with a bang and leave an everlasting legacy. I'll ensure it's painless and immediately return your soul to Earth. What do you think?"
"Sure. Why not? Sounds like a plan."
"Just be careful. Even though you won't truly die, I'd much prefer you go out while taking Khorne with you."
"That's blunt."
"True. But I still have a universe to fix, and your success makes my job much easier."
"Speaking of jobs, what's my reward when this is all over?"
"That's a surprise. But I promise you'll never have to work another day in your life once you're back on Earth."
I look at him for a moment, hesitating. Finally, I release another sigh. I rub the back of my head and say.
"What if I don't want a purely peaceful life? I appreciate the quiet moments, but being here has awakened something in me. I want to explore the stars and meet new people. I don't think I can stay in one place for more than a month with this much adventure. Hell, even my time in Hive City is full of adventure if you look at it from a certain angle."
ROB grins broadly.
"I can fulfill that. You can have both: a comfortable life on Earth and the means to explore the cosmos. Give this last assignment your all, and the reward is yours."
"We have a deal, ROB. Let's do this."
I pause, looking down at my empty cup and plate.
"Second round?"
"Hahaha! Of course."
With a snap of his fingers, my cup refills, and fresh cookies appear on the plate. Let's enjoy this before rejoining the battle.
==||==
When I open my eyes, I'm back in my bed. Candles, incense, and various holy scripts surround me.
"My lord."
I look over to see Rita approaching me, followed by a retinue of clergy, priests, and tech-priests. When they reach me, they bow their heads, and the priest starts to pray to the Emperor and me.
"Rita. Show me the current state of the battlefield."
A Tech-Priest hands her a dataslate, which she passes to me. A hologram flickers to life when I turn it on, displaying the chaos outside. Daemonic vessels emerge from the Warp, only to be intercepted by Imperium ships before they can form ranks.
Not only that, I can see alien-like ships, and by the look of it, they are Eldar's ships. Daemons are not the only things that attack us. I can also see other ships that look like Eldar ships, but are more pointy and darker. That must be Dark Eldar's ships.
We are surrounded.
Despite being surrounded, the Admiral commands the ship with masterful ease. All the ships form ranks that make sure no long-lasting damage can be found in the bigger vessels. Not only that, but he is also commanding this ship flawlessly. I can see that every battery is firing at full capacity; each weapon fires in waves so the others can reload. Not only that, my modifications are clearly paying off.
The anti-teleportation arrays I installed successfully repel daemons and cultists attempting to board. I can see daemons and cultists floating in the void before being blasted by missiles and lasers. Additionally, the new forcefield generators allow the ship to only use its Void Shields in an emergency state to weather the heaviest strikes. The force field takes care of most attacks and only breaks down after sustained, continuous fire. That is where the Void Shield enters the field and holds for a minute to the force field to recharge.
"What about the surface?"
"That…"
Rita glances at the tech-priest, who takes out another dataslate for my review.
"This is the most recent data from the surface, O Omnissiah."
I frown at the images on the dataslate. The first image shows me that Jaghatai Khan has joined the fray, but he is not coming alone. I can see Lion El'Jonson, the Primarch of the Dark Angels, and Leman Russ, the Primarch of the Space Wolves. They are locked in combat with the Daemon Prince Angron. Meanwhile, the Emperor and his Custodes face off against Lorgar and Perturabo.
In the distance, something is crawling through a rift in reality, the shadow of Corvus Corax in his daemonic form. I can see his raven-like head roaring and its blood-red eyes looking at Lorgar with such hatred that it can make Khorne's daemons blush.
"How old is this intel?"
"Two hours, twelve minutes, and twenty-seven seconds, O Omnissiah."
"I see."
I leave my bed and look at the others.
"Prepare my armor. I'm heading to the surface. Something massive is coming, and I need to be there when it arrives."
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