PART ONE

Lord Ephelom gave out a long sigh as he stared up into the night's sky on Rigga. He longed desperately for the vibrant flowers and mighty trees of his homeworld of Scholl, but he had a duty to perform. He and the psyckers of the 3rd Warlock Company of the blessed Velutarian Kingdom had been chosen to lead the expedition into the tunnels under Rigga's administratory capital in order to make peace with the remnants of the Havariggan military government. These last weeks had seen the destruction of the Havariggan's wormhole stations, a blockade of their worlds and the pinning down of their sole remaining battle-ready fleets in the Gamma Draconis system. The war was over everywhere but in the tunnels of Rigga. Disturbing reports had been sent which suggested the Havariggans were intending to fight to the last, refusing to down their weapons or open their bunkers until the armies of Velutaria had suffered as much as the Havarigga could inflict.



Ephelom was just over 100 standard years old, but considered to be still in the prime of his life by fellow Velutarians. He was invigorated by his psionic powers, which were stronger than most Velutarians. He had held many positions in his past, but his considerable psionic strength led to a request by Emperor Hephanir that he hone his skills for battle and to lead his squads in the defence of Velutaria. Velutarians abhored violence, but no government in the galaxy had survived without a willingness to defend its people or interests. For this purpose the Emperor's holy fleets and Psyker Corps' were maintaned as one of the finest combined forces in the galaxy. They were necessary to defend Veluteria's borders, which spanned a full quarter of the galaxy, from Owiecryke and Karazat in the galactic west to Shashamara on the southern rim, all the way to Adbrade on the central ring. All told, members of 16 sentient spacefaring species were subjects in the Velutarian Kingdom's borders, some of whom Velutaria had blessed with the knowledge of the wider galaxy while their people still slept in the cradles of their homeworlds.



Tonight was a stark, clear night on the cold mountain ranges to the west of Rigga's administatory capital. Ephelom would have found the shooting stars of the night's sky beautiful if he were not keenly aware that they were the falling remnants of the Havariggan fleet stationed to defend Rigga, burning up in the atmosphere. The Diri, longstanding allies of Velutaria, were stationed in orbit and had intercepted several attempts by Riggan ships to escape or collide with the Diri fleet in suicidal attacks. Ephelom was saddened by the disregard the Havariggan's seemed to have for their lives.



The Havariggans were a short lived molluscoid species whos empire bordered Velutaria's east. They held no faith, knew no beauty and lived seemingly only to propogate a misguided notion that mechanical conversion was the ultimate end-goal of sentient life. Much of their species underwent some sort of modification, not always voluntarily, replacing limbs and organs and altering their brains to participate in a shared network, some more intrinsically connected than others, leading to an obliteration of the 'self' in Havariggan society. Ephelom found it repulsive. He himself had witnessed Havariggan soldiers with weapons grafted into their bodies directly, leaving them with no existance but as a maker of death, hobbled without an enemy to kill and ammuntion to consume. The experiences had only strengthened his resolve to bring the teachings of Velutaria to the civilians of the Havariggan empire, that they could discover the majesty of life as the Makers had given it to the universe, unmodified and free to prosper.



Ephelom had been a soldier for decades, and had participated in several campaigns, against both the havariggans and the djoramarr, the first true threat to Velutaria, who had long since been ecplised by the Blessed Kingdom. Yet despite his experience, he was filled with uncertainty and a deep, primal fear for what tomorrow would bring. He did not have the gift of precognition as the carefully selected pilots of the Holy Navy did, which allowed them to direct the fleets with impossible grace. Even so his powers gave him a limited intuituion for the future, and he could feel a deep uncertainty about tomorrow which he had never felt before in his long years. He settled down to sleep, and set his mind to prepare for tomorrow.

PART TWO

Ephelom and his squad led the delegation through the abandoned city towards the area where orbital reconnaissance had indicated an entrance to the tunnels was. It struck him as he stepped through the cold, bleak remains of the city that the Havariggans had no parks, no art, not even storefronts. Every building was uniform, grey and lifeless, there were no personal transports or any signs that lives were lived on these streets.



He saw some members of the delegation constantly watching the distance, ready for an attack. The reconnisance teams had made absolutely certain that the surface was clear of any signs of Havariggan activity. It seemed everyone in the city, soldiers and civilians alike, had entered the tunnels and bunkers below ground in preparation for a final stand. He strode confidently onwards, his robes flapping gently in the harsh winds that unceasingly blasted Rigga. The planet's surface was bleak and devoid of any major forests, forcing Havariggan proto-society to develop in and around the mouths of caves, where fungi were cultivated. Ephelom had devoted his spare time to studying their history as the campaign wore on, in preperation for when the governments would need to colaborate in order to restore peace and order throughout the Havariggan territories.



They reached the area designated the Diri navy as an entrance to the tunnels. Ephelom and his squad were leading a diplomatic delegation through this entrance, while dozens more squads simultaneously entered the tunnels through other entrances. They did not have the manpower to cover all of the identified ways in and out of the vast tunnel network, so the decision had been made to bombard key spots. The remaining Havariggans would have no choice but to face the delegation, peacefully or otherwise. Ephelom identified the bunker doors and motioned to his squad to cover him as he approached.



The doors were enormous plasteel rectangles, grey and black set in one of the buildings facing into an empty square which were commonly used by the Havariggan military as staging grounds and defensive positions. He saw no way to open the doors from the outside, as expected, and stepped back to join his squad. "We bring down the burning light of Bhiranna" he said, placing his witch-crown delicately on his head, bringing it to rest on his long, pointed ears. His squad adopted their prefered meditative stances, ready to combine their strength in order to bring to bear the mighty powers they wielded. Ephelom's witch-crown hummed with an energy he knew all to well as he felt his own strength augmented by that of his closest companions.



With a mighty crack, a bolt of incandescent purple lightning struck the bunker doors. The ground shook as the thunderclap echoed through the square, but it was only the beginning. Again and again Ephelom directed the eldritch bolts at the blocked entrance, each time leaving the doors glowing brighted and buckling further under the intensity of the assault. Within minutes the bunker doors had collapsed inwards. Ephelom felt dizzy after the exertion, but was glad to have shared in the powers of his companions again. His feeling of trepidation had grown stronger as they had neared the bunker, and he suspected he knew the reason why.



They led the delegation through the melted, collapsing doors and into the tunnels. He was overwhelmed by the acrid smell of Havariggan oils, necessary for their modifications. The tunnels were wide and dark, and led to a large elevator. Ephelom stopped the group; "Before we continue, I wish to scout the tunnels ahead." He focused his thoughts and sent himself roaming through the tunnels. He detected no signs of life in the immediate vicinity, but his projection could only reach so far underground and with no life as a beacon to follow. He didn't like to follow such a dangerous path without enough information, but it could not be helped.



PART THREE

The slow, clattering ride in the elevator deep into the tunnel network put the entire delegation on edge. Dimly light and loud, Ephelom shuddered at the thought of masses of civilians herded into bunkers at gunpoint by the Havariggan militias. Slavery was commonplace in Havariggan society, typically for miners and agricultural workers, crudely altered to better perform their roles in the lowest rung of their society. Yet there were no signs of rebellion or unrest. Ephelom had expected to encounter Havariggans making use of the chaos of the war to liberate themselves but their mines and factories ran uninterrupted until Velutaria's armies had eliminated the armed forces and interned the workers. He knew the Havariggans took their contributions to the society as a whole seriously, but surely they still yearned for self determination? He put the thoughts aside as the cage-doors of the elevator opened. They had reached the main floor of the bunker, which was expected to contain what remained of Havarigga's leadership.



As the delegation marched cautiously through the tunnels, they peered into the side corridors and open doors that branched from either side. Enormous storage rooms were filled with boxes of rations and vitamin supplements, suggesting the Havariggans may have been prepared to stay within the bunkers for years, wearing down Velutaria's forces. Ephelom shuddered at the thought of the violence continuing. He wished for the entire affair to be done with that he might return to Scholl Prime and its forests, but duty called. Their previous experience with Havariggan bunkers suggested every bunker was identical, with a control room in the center of a vast web of tunnels. As they creeped onwards to the designated room where the vestiges of the military government were expected to be holed up, it dawned on Ephelom that they had not needed to force open a single door since entering the complex. The Havariggans had left the entire complex unbarred and unguarded. Was it a trap, or an invitation? Neither possibility seemed good.



After what seemed like hours they came to what was sure to be the control hub of the tunnels. Wires, cables and lines of paint snaked out from all directions from underneath a squat door facing into a wider junction of several corridors. With a screech, a speaker system came alive and from it spoke a harsh, guttural voice, speaking basic velutarian; "HALT. YOU HAVE REACHED THE FURTHEST WE WILL ALLOW. MAKE YOUR SURRENDER AND RETURN TO YOUR JUNGLES, SCUM". The voice was filled with malice, distorted both by the speaker and most likely by modifications necessary for a Havariggan to speak velutarian. "You address Lord Ephelom, First Witch-Lord of Velutaria's th-" "I ADDRESS SCUM. IF YOU DO NOT SPEAK OF SURRENDER, LEAVE THIS BUNKER OR PREPARE FOR DESTRUCTION". Ephelom upholstered his Bright-Pistol and fired a bolt of searing energy at the set of loudspeakers the commands emanated from. "I will not be intimidated by a disembodied voice. Face us directly or we will enter this last vestige of your bunker by force."



With a crack, the low doors in the middle of the wall split and gradually slid open, to reveal the current representative of the Havariggan government. It marched out into the light of the Velutarian's glow-globes, revealing the extent of its modifications to the shocked delegation. Its right arm and shoulder up to the neck were fully mechanical, ugly and inelegant, clearly designed for modularity in order to fulfil tasks as required. Its lower jaw had been replaced with a small speaker to allow it to communicate in languages not compatible with Havariggan physiology, and huge portions of its core muscles had mechanical augments grafted on to allow it to carry greater weights. Ephelom was sure there was more beneath what remained of its skin. It was flanked by a dozen guards, all with weaponry in place of their forearms and armor covering most of their bodies. Though basic, Havariggan weaponry was brutally effective. Their heavy slug throwers and long pneumatic spikes had taken the lives of too many of Bhiranna's children, and their tactics were well suited to a war of attrition.



"I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF RIGGA. BE ASSURED WE WILL DESTROY YOU IF NECESSARY TO PROTECT OURSELVES. MAKE YOUR SURRENDER." The single, shallow eye in the centre of the Havariggan's forehead stared unblinkingly at Ephelom. He found it unsettling that it made no movement nor gestures, using only its speaker for communication. To Ephelom, a poet of Velutaria who spoke as much with his body as with his voice, it forced him to realise how unlike him the Havariggans were, and how impossible a true long-lasting peace would be. "I am here not to declare our surrender, but to request yours. Your fleets are gone, the surfaces of your planets are occupied and your people are trapped in these bunker. Will you not join us in rebuilding this sector anew, with a guiding light provided by us?" The Havariggan considered his words in silence. "THREE TIMES YOU HAVE WAGED WAR ON THE CONSENSUS. THREE TIMES OUR FLEETS HAVE SHATTERED AND OUR CITIES BURNED, AND THREE TIMES THE HAVAREEG WILL REMAIN. YOUR WORDS ARE EMPTY LIKE YOUR FAITH. THE ULTIMATE POINT FOR LIFE WILL BE TECHNOLOGICAL ASCENDANCY. THESE CONFLICTS ARE MINOR, AND YOUR EMPIRE AND ITS FALSEHOODS WILL BE FORGOTTEN. MAKE PEACE NOW OR BE DESTROYED".



Ephelom recognised that he could not truly communicate with this supposed representative of the Riggan population. Their bondage could only be broken through long term education in the teachings of Velutaria, free from the corrupting influence of the mechanical dogma of the Havariggan Consensus. If only Velutaria had encountered them earlier! The Juvans, Ultur, Mect-Pux and Sintomori had once held similairly harsh or materialistic beliefs, when they were trapped in their local systems, but the blessings of Velutaria had shown them the light. Ephelom wished the Havariggans had a similair chance to be shown the true path before they had colonized so many worlds and formed a despotic empire enslaved to their machinery. He sensed his fellow squads who had sweeped through the other tunnels nearing their position. "We wish for peace as you do, but it must be a peace in which the Havariggans are free to live a life of self-determination, as is the right of any sentient." He needed only to buy time until the other squads neared and the discussion would end with the decapitation of the Riggan regime.



"YOU WISH FOR HEGEMONY. YOU SPEAK OF SELF DETERMINATION WHILE YOUR SUBJECT SPECIES ARE GOVERNED BY YOUR SPECIES ALONE. YOU SPEAK OF PEACE WHILE YOU BUILD ARMADAS. YOU SPEAK OF FREEDOM WHILE YOU SUGGEST OUR PEOPLE EXCHANGE UNITY WITH THE MACHINE FOR BONDAGE TO A RELIGION HAILING A MORTAL AS DIVINE." Ephelom felt the disdain in the Havariggan's words even through the artificial voice. Less experienced members of the diplomatic delegation were clearly shocked, having never experienced such blind zealotry to what they considered nihilism. Ephelom felt even more sharply a sudden turmoil and an emptiness in his future as the 3rd Warlock Corps poised around corners and prepared to strike, and he realised it was his day to die.



"WE ARE WELL AWARE OF THE OTHERS WHO HAVE ENTERED OUR BUNKERS. THE CONSENSUS DOES NOT REQUIRE THIS BUNKER, NOR THE HAVAREEG WITHIN. I AM MERELY A SMALL PART OF THE GREATER NETWORK AND GO TO MY END WITH A PURPOSE. CAN YOU SAY THE SAME?" Ephelom realised the entire bunker was shaking. The Havariggans had set explosives throughout the tunnels, intending to bury themselves along with him and his men. Time slowed as he tried to comprehend his final moments. A bright-lance flew from a corridor and pierced one of the Havariggan guards, which barely flinched as it marched forward, the steady thud of its autocannon pounding the air as hot metal slugs filled the air. Ephelom threw his robes open and unsheathed his ritual wyrd-blade. It sang of sadness and loss as he cut his way through the Havariggans towards the leader, everything but revenge forgotten. He knew his sacrifice would not be in vain, and Velutaria would bring peace and the blessed words to the galaxy one day. But until that day, the sons and daughters of Bhiranna had no choice but to ensure the message was heard, willingly or otherwise.