Stranded
In the empty void of space, reality contorted as a sparking hulk came spiraling out of the Warp. It kept its forward momentum only briefly, its undamaged engines flickering and dying with a final cough of light. Soon the rest of the ship went with it, exterior lights and undamaged viewports winking out one by one until only a quiet wreck hung in space.
Their reserves were spent. The Sanguinium Martyres would go no further.
“Damage report,” Mattias said, his voice weary. It had been only hours after their escape from Solemnace, and only now was he coming off the adrenaline rush of combat. Slumped over in a chair on the command deck, he waited for the captain’s report to come through. Resigned to whatever fate awaited him, he paid no mind to any others as they went about their duties.
Most were busy cleaning up what had once been their Astropaths. Such a loss would have made him furious at any other time, but now...
“Three engines destroyed, the rest are unresponsive,” the captain started. “Void Shields... offline. Weapons batteries are reporting twenty percent integrity, all others unresponsive. Hull Integrity currently stands at forty percent, stable. Life support systems as sixty percent, though they will most likely stabilize closer to forty. Communications... offline.” The Traitors knew to cripple us thoroughly.
“Casualties?”
“... Reading fifty five percent, with a margin of error of two percent.” Mattias said nothing, reaching up with his left hand and massaging his face as he mulled over the report.
Even if we got the ship up and running again, we don’t have the strength to man it effectively. After a pause, he spoke again.
“How long until we are reported missing?”
“Our planned transit time to Solemnace was two years, one month, and twelve days,” the captain replied. “With the Warpstorm that brought us there, our current damage, and with our Navigator and Astropaths dead, I cannot say for certain when we will be missed, if we are not already. Perhaps if Lady Tara is able to, she can reach out to the Empress and alert her to our plight.” Mattias paused. Given the events on Solemnace he was uncertain if Twilight would be up for anything for a few days, but if it gave her a chance to speak to the Empress...
“My lord?” Mattias blinked as the captain drew him back to reality.
“Apologies, just mulling our course of action,” Mattias said, standing up before continuing. “Our first priority is getting communications back online; if we can get a distress signal up then perhaps we will not have to suffer out here alone for much longer. Speak with Magos Aryll and start organizing repair teams and have all power rerouted from our guns and shields... for now.”
“Yes, my lord. Any further orders?”
“I’ll leave that to your discretion. Alert me if we are spotted by anything.” and with that Mattias closed the communication, standing in silence for a minute longer as he mulled further. A part of him wanted to leave, to return to his room and wait for the situation to stabilize somewhat... but on a crippled ship stranded in Empress knew where in the galaxy, stability was beyond fleeting.
Step up and be the leader, Mattias, he thought. That’s why you’re still alive, isn’t it?
Mattias turned and exited the room, tucking his hands behind his back as he walked down the hall. The passage was darker than normal, no doubt due to the hammering the ship had taken, but he knew the path well enough to not get lost. The only obstacles would be whatever had been knocked loose from the fighting, statues and machinery lying in broken heaps waiting for servitors or crewmen to come and clear them away. Mattias continued in silence for several minutes before a light in one of the rooms ahead caught his attention, a sole pinpoint among the dark that drew him like an insect to flame.
He paused as he realized he’d reached the upper mess halls, empty save for a lone Sister of Battle seated at one of the central tables. From afar Mattias could easily make out Naomi, the Sister Superior looking down into a steaming mug of tea oblivious to all around her. Deciding that walking alone would do him no good, Mattias stepped into the hall and approached Naomi.
“Lord Mattias,” Naomi said, still not looking up from her tea. “I would have thought you would be directing the repairs.”
“I’ve done all I can,” Mattias said. “I’m not the Empress, so I cannot rebuild this ship on my own. Aryll will have a full diagnosis soon and will take point on repairs.” he took a seat across from Naomi before continuing. “I suppose you had similar thoughts as I?”
“My business is killing the foes of the Imperium. What do I know of repairing derelicts?” Naomi took a sip from her tea, turning her eyes to meet Mattias. “... I would be in my quarters, but Tara has always encouraged me to be more... open.”
“You’re still alone here.”
“Small steps, my lord,” Mattias let out a short chuckle at this. The two sat in silence before Naomi spoke again. “Tara is not doing well.”
“I gathered.” Mattias sighed, resting his chin on his knuckles. “I’d go down to see her myself, but I seem to have a knack for sticking my foot in it when it comes to her emotions.”
“She may bear armor and blade, but she is still a civilian at heart.” Naomi took another drink from her tea. “I never got a chance to feel what that was like, to know innocence and peace and see the good in all people... Perhaps that’s why I am here, lest I be the one to ‘stick my foot in it’ as it were.”
“She’s connected well with you and your Sisters, though,” Mattias pointed out. You, at least, didn’t contemplate killing her out of paranoia.
“Perhaps, but I know where my strengths lie. I am a soldier, an instructor; I tell a Sister to come, she comes, and I tell her to go, she goes. I can clear a trench or duel a champion well enough, but to console one such as Tara in her grief?” Naomi shrugged, brushing her hand against her branded cheek. “My scars are much older. For Tara, I leave her recovery to the younger Sisters; they have experienced similar loss more recently than I have.”
“You speak of Morya, then?” Naomi stopped, raising an eyebrow as Mattias continued. “It came up during my research on our way to Romana Prime. Since I was not there it was mostly an academic point.”
“For the sake of everyone, I would keep it at that.” Naomi looked back at her tea. “My girls will bring Tara back from the brink. Even Judith could do wonders for her right now... she just needs to take the step to heal first.”
“Sooner would be better,” Mattias straightened up. “I don’t want to rush this, Tara doesn’t need that kind of stress, but our communications were destroyed during the battle and all our psykers save Tara and Angelique went with them. Tara needs to contact the Empress for our rescue, or we’ll be stuck out here for months at best before anything happens to find us.”
“We will do what we can,” Naomi said, taking yet another sip of tea. “But this will only progress at its own pace. It took me forty six years to even begin to make peace with my scarring at the hands of the Eldar; for Tara, only the Empress knows how long until she heals, if she ever truly does.”
“For her sake, I hope it is soon,” Mattias said, looking down at the table. “For all our sakes...”
...
Mir’shen was dead.
Twilight sat on her bed, staring at the far wall of her room. Her armor lay in a cluttered mess on the floor, the joints still sparking with residual magic from when she had removed it. Her sword too lay among the rest, pushed off to the side so she would not slice off a hand or a foot when she put everything back together.
Mir’shen was dead.
She stared ahead, her hands tucked in her lap as she tugged on a seam in her jumpsuit. For its proximity to the outer hull it was a miracle her room was not damaged during the battle, a fact that Twilight would have been grateful for in any other circumstance.
Mir’shen was dead.
Twilight wanted to cry. She really did. It would be so easy, just to collapse and weep, pour everything out and wait for Spike or Fluttershy or Celestia to come and tell her everything would be fine... but Spike and her friends were a universe away, Celestia who knew where.
The Imperium had no time for tears. So she would have none.
A knock at her door jolted her from her thoughts. She smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her suit before rising. “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Tara,” the muffled voice of Rebecca called. “Veronica and I brought you some food. Would you like us to come in?” Twilight opened her mouth, but stopped herself. The old Twilight, the weak Twilight, the Twilight who let Mir’shen die, that Twilight would have said yes, embraced the Sisters and poured her soul to them.
The Imperium has no place for that.
“No, just leave it there,” she said finally. “I’ll come get it in a moment.”
“But Tara... are you sure?” Veronica asked. “No one should remain alone in their grief.”
“I’m fine,” Twilight countered, forcing a shrug as she stood and moved towards her armor, picking up a few segments before speaking. “I’ll be out in a few minutes. Just leave the food and I’ll get to it, don’t you worry.” there was a mumbled reply, but soon Twilight heard a small clank and the sound of the Sisters walking away. Once she was certain they were gone, she let out a sigh and continued to gather her armor.
“I’ll be fine...” she muttered. “I’ve pulled through before, and I can pull through again. Then I can make sure no one dies again... Make sure no one dies...” she stopped, glancing at the pauldron that bore her cutie mark. She gave another sigh before pushing the armor away with her foot. “Most powerful mortal magic user and I can’t even save one person. What does that have to say about me?”
She paced, returning to her bed once more as she clenched and unclenched her hands. Here she was, cooped up inside with so much more to do. Why was she still worrying about things; they got the Unbound Flame, they escaped the Chaos Fleet, why worry?
Mir’shen was dead.
Twilight would have gone back to sitting, but a growl from her stomach brought her back to reality. I should eat... she thought. Grief waits. They’ll need me strong if we’re going to get back to the Imperium. She turned and stepped towards the door, opening it fully as she peered out into the darkened hall.
It took her only a few seconds to realize she was not alone.
“The mare clutches to the darkness,” Angelique whispered. The psyker was sitting opposite to Twilight’s door, her knees pulled up in her chest as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “She strikes it to save the spark, but the drake stands alone against the serpent.”
“... I wonder how much you really know about me.” Twilight said, looking down at the platter the Sisters had left her. It was nothing much, a few small rolls and some protein paste, but it was better than nothing. “Ever since I met you you’ve always spoke in riddles, and you always seem to talk about me as ‘the mare’.”
“The eye falls and the sons of the dragon rise,” Angelique said, staring into space as if Twilight were not there. “The mare... does she see what she needs? Does she know what the answer is?”
“If I did, would you still be here?” Twilight asked, her voice sharp as she took up the tray. “You should get some rest. Go find Bianca, maybe; she at least can take care of her charges.”
“The pillar breaks, but not yet...” Angelique said, finally looking up at Twilight. Her eyes were dark, sorrowful, and Twilight could see lines of tears on her cheeks. “Do you know the answer? Does your answer please them?”
“What would you know about anything like that?” Twilight snapped, almost dropping the food as she glared at Angelique. “All you ever do is talk nonsense. Can’t you focus and break through the madness on your own? Why do I have to help everyone that comes to me with a problem, and why am I so bad at it? Why does your stupid Imperium have to be so insane all the damn time!?” Angelique said nothing, pulling her knees in tighter as she looked away from Twilight.
“The flower shines a light in the darkness, and the mare will know the answer.” she said, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“Well I don’t know the answer. I don’t seem to know the answers for anything around here, because you all keep changing the questions on me. And you know what? Fine. I don’t care about having any answers, and I won’t give any if all of you are just not going to care anyway. What do you have to say to that?” a pause, Angelique merely staring ahead as Twilight snorted. “That’s what I thought. Now please, just leave me alone.” and with that she stepped back in her room, slamming the door shut on Angelique as the psyker continued to stare into the dark. Twilight stood at the door, her hands quivering as she did her best to calm herself back down.
That’s how it has to be, she thought to herself. The Imperium wants me to be focused, so I’ll be focused. I’ll save them all, and show them just how powerful I really am.
I’ll save them... this time, I will.
She set the food down, her hunger forgotten as she returned to her bed. She sat up straight, folding her hands in her lap once more as she peered at the wall, waiting for... something. What, she could not say, and she doubted she would ever get a true answer.
All she could see was Solemnace. After all, Mir’shen was dead.
...
The little one knows, and yet you claim knowledge. You cannot see, not yet... perhaps it has to be forced out.
You already know the answer. The answer to the one question that will save your life, and theirs.
But then, you do not want to answer that question, do you?
What do you think they have lost? What will you lose?
What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your friends?