My Little Rogue Trader

by Tyrannosaurus_Tux

14 - A Meeting on the Mount

The red giant froze. He was standing about three meters away. He fiddled with a ring on his finger. I broke eye contact. I put a hand to my head as the memory of everything before threatened to overwhelm me. A name broke through to my conscious thought.

Magnus.

Magnus smiled again. "You always were a rascal, Edo," he said. I huffed. I sat back down on the stone bench, unable to stand further. I tried to steady my shaking hands.

Magnus noticed. "Everything alright, uncle?" He asked as he approached the bench. "Did you have a rough voyage?"

Before I could stop myself, I had retorted, harsher than I wanted, "You... have... no... idea."

I cleared my throat as Magnus sat down next to me, and watched the park. "So, what's the latest?" I asked, trying to deflect attention away from me. I saw Magnus look away, considering my question.

"Well," he thought aloud, "I hear that the Auric Rogue Trader Chever van Ryjack has made First Contact with a friendly alien empire to the far east of the Imperium. It was none other than Guilliman that the Emperor assigned to formalize relations. We'll see if we can't include them as new Imperium-kin."

Good, Old Edo sounded in my head, causing me to twitch. We need all the guns we can take.

If you know something, Old Edo, now's the time to tell me.

...

Naturally, Old Edo seems to be unhelpful.

I scoffed, something Magnus noticed. "What?" He asked, with a smirk. "You don't believe in your dear nephew?"

The question makes me blink. "No," I said, slowly. "Just my cynical mind."

"I... see," thought Magnus, before I saw him stand up, and place a large hand on my shoulder. I saw him gaze into me.

No... not this again. His singular eye glowed white as he peered into my past few months. I was helpless to resist. I... he saw the limits of my new life. The pain I suffered as a result of the assassination attempt. My meeting with the Word Bearers. My internment and prayer. My calling on the Light... that's it! I took a deep breath, then brought it forth. Magnus widened his eyes as I repulsed his incursion into my mind.

A slight pressure burst, and I heard a sound not unlike the rushing of wind as the Red One fell backward. He barely kept from falling onto his behind. I kept the light in my waking mind, feeling it restore strength to my limbs, enabling me to stand. I breathed, then let it go again. I did not immediately tire after.

"Remarkable," Magnus breathed. "You've awoken."

I met his eyes, feeling more like his equal than before. "What do you mean by that?" I asked with a slight growl. "I nearly died, and all it did was awaken this... power?"

The trees swayed in the soft wind. They had no opinion.

"No," denied Magnus. "That's not all it did." He thought for a moment. "I need... to check on some things. Speak with my people. You need to talk to your peers, Cota and... Ricarda." With that, he walked off in a rush. If it wasn't for the visible palace in the distance, I would've been... a little lost.

It was then that I looked at my palace more critically. It was... nostalgic. I couldn't really say why, at first. It was made of several layers, and my eyes widened as I realized that it was an entire walled city, with a few layers to it. Bright stone walls, covered in carvings, the wall surrounding old-fashioned stone buildings with tiled roofs. The wall itself was guarded by many golden statues... of me, of my Princesses, of the Emperor, of the Solarch, and the Primarchs. There were many more... but I could not name them. Heroes? Friends?

Martyrs? ...The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Imperium.

I shook that thought away, and looked to the palace building itself, at the top of the city. It was... splendid, yet... strange. It was ringed by many pillars, of an architectural style that I knew was wholly different from the spires of Hassia Prime. Different even to my own ship. Many shining marble domes rose above the curtain of pillars. I could also see massive alien trees transplanted onto my estate. As strange as they were beautiful.

You must seek out the other Rogue Traders, and re-establish your superiority over them. You must be the master of your own home.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"Shut up, daemon," I moaned.

Excuse me? Excuse me!?

I had looked up some literature on my terminal and was prepared for this. I hissed, "You're... an amalgamation of thoughts and feelings given... a form of psychic energy. Whatever. You're a daemon. I had hoped that prayer had cast you out."

I'm you, idiot.

"Shut up!" I screamed. "Be useful, or be gone!"

Finally, blessed silence. I sighed. I marched towards my palace, nose filling with all sorts of natural aromas. Grasses, trees, flowers... it was all here. I heard... the rustling of leaves, a soft wind carrying cold, salty air from the ocean. I took a deep breath. Maybe everything was going to be fine after all.

I had finally made it over to the wall when I noticed something rather strange. It was covered in... something, but I couldn't tell what at first. Strings of... silver? No. Engravings. I walked closer to the wall and ran a hand over the marble. I read aloud,

" ... Jade Lance... Pose Omadax of Mars... Cloist von Hassia..."

They were names. I didn't need any other clues to know what their names being here meant. They reached from the wall's foot, near my ankles, to the top. My vision blurred, and I could not read any other names. The Von Hassia Dynasty... I remember. Many of my sons and daughters... they gave everything. For my cause. For the Rogue Trader. For the Emperor and the Solarch. For the Imperium. It became hard to breathe. I don't even remember falling to my knees, hands clasping at the names on the wall, as if I could touch the memory of them... as if I would ever have even met these people.

I heaved. I fell to my hands and knees. I scratched my brain for any sign that I remembered... any of these names, but nothing came to mind.

I wanted to curl up and cry. Instead, I felt myself being hoisted up by a pair that I hadn't noticed. When I blinked and rubbed away the moisture from my eyes, I looked around to see who had gotten me to my feet. I looked to my left, then my right, and then I spun around.

There was nobody around. I spun around again and even looked up. Nothing. Nobody there. I crossed my arms and rubbed them. I shivered.

You need to keep going. I blinked at the thought, but... I did not resist. I shivered and then turned to see the names, all of them who... who still need me.

Did you see that? Old Edo asked. I shrugged, because whatever it was that helped me up was unhelpfully nowhere to be seen. I need to think.

I furrowed my brow but continued to the gate of the city. I neared the archway when I heard a loud buzzing again. I turned my head to see that strange aircraft again. It swooped over my head, on its way to my palace. It then quietened, as if it had landed. Finally, I could see a few Guards at the gate, along with Princess Azure Fire, sitting in the driver's seat of a small, boxy car. The olive green car (...jeep?) had four seats, four tires, and had the Hassian shield painted on the front doors. She waved me over, and I made myself comfortable in the passenger's fabric-lined seat.

"Everybody's waiting at the palace proper, Lord. Did you enjoy your walk?" Sweetly asked Azure.

I nodded. "I ran into Magnus," I reported, as I absentmindedly buckled my seatbelts. I looked down and noticed what I was doing. Some habits never change, I supposed.

Twisting the keys with a click, the Machine Spirit awoke with a soft whir. The vehicle's frame came to life with Motive Force, power drawn to electric motors under the car's hood. Movement made possible thanks to the Charge Vault also hidden within the metallic hood.

I blinked at the strange thoughts but realized it had something to do with Polarscale. I looked at Azure, who said nothing as she focused on driving down the perfect cobblestone streets of my palace city. I blinked, remarking at how smooth of a ride it had been so far, the electric engine humming as we passed over a smoothed cobblestone street. We made our way uphill, a winding road that wound around and around to the palace itself.

I blinked away the hallucination of the street being made up of skulls. I rubbed my eyes.

"Doth... your nephew know?" Asked Azure.

"He does..." I answered with a wince. "I could not resist his looking into my mind." Any bystanders stopped their daily business to bow before my coming and going. No matter if it was a plain-dressed worker or a pompous noble, nobody was above the Rogue Trader here. It made me... uncomfortable.

No, scolded Old Edo. You earned this. Their respect. Their loyalty. Without us, none of this would be here. These subjects would never exist. This world would not even have a name.

I... I rubbed my neck. I remember... before it was Hassia Prime. Nothing but rocks. Same with this hilly island. It's now a glorious palace, a place of wonder and authority... but I remembered the Imperial Palace back on Earth. I wasn't exactly going to foot the bill for a continent-sized house... not that I needed it.

Or wanted it.

Right. As we drove onward, I noticed a new crowd. No... it wasn't a crowd. It was a parade formation. My Mercator Guard sent a column to greet us.

"The Lord Captain comes!" Announced the man in front. He wore a big, feathered red beret hat, the width of which easily covered his shoulders. He drew his officer's sword in a salute. The pommel and his shoulders were covered in gold tassels. His white mustache and beard were sculpted perfectly. He wore a shining breastplate covered in medals; a testament to a lifetime of fighting.

Behind him stood a banner bearer, holding aloft the company colors. "Hassian Mercator Guard" was printed on it, surrounding an elaborate design, of a becrowned skull flanked by lasguns and halberds. The Honor Guard were indeed carrying halberds, as well as enhanced hellpistols with connected power packs on their belts. I blinked, but I did not say anything as we passed the line of immaculately ordered ranks of parade-dress men, who fell into line behind the vehicle behind Azure and I. She was driving fairly slowly, so they did not have to march at too quick a pace.

We proceeded in relative silence up the road, winding up and to the left as we gradually increased in elevation. It was then that I saw yet another honor guard, this time in parade dress whites, golds, and blues.

I blinked, my memory serving well here, thankfully. I could tell from their white kepi hats that they were of the Lomathier Dynastic Legion. Many of the worlds that Ricarda had visited and... acquired had abhuman populations, represented in her personal army of human mutants. It was a veritable roster that stretched from the humble, diminutive Ratlings—uh, the ponies prefer to say... oh, I can't remember. "Hobblits", or something. They proudly carried scoped long rifles on their shoulders, and ratty hair on their faces.

The next tallest of these had beards almost as tall as they were, but just as wide. These squat... Squats carried a special kind of weapon, a high-caliber rifle with an attached shotgun. It made for a boxy weapon, somehow matching their broad builds perfectly.

But the Ratlings and the Squats were dwarfed by their larger brethren, hulking Ogryns with their big guns and broad metal shields. Good Heavens, these brutes were even taller than Space Marines! One of them carried the Lomathier banner, an overly decorated thing with a lot of fleur-de-lyse flowers on it, bearing the name of their Dynasty aloft.

As we drove past them, I also saw some other abhumans in the mix. Some beast-faced, cloven-hoofed soldiers, as well as cat-eared.... cat-looking freaks. I try not to judge, but those felenids have those weird, furry faces. The abhuman honor guard fell into line, their movements a little bit more relaxed than the Hassian Mercator Guard. There were even a few griffons amongst the guard, officers with medals and honors.

Quietly, Azure spoke up to me, saying just above a whisper, "A diverse bunch. If I hadn't seen them in action, I'd have thought this assortment too..." She licked her lips, thinking. "Dysfunctional." After a moment, she added. "It's too bad that they have to work for her."

We proceeded up the road, climbing ever higher, passing right around the city that was my palace. As we went higher, the villas and residences that we passed became even more elaborate, ever more high-class... especially for the settlement around my own palace, something that easily outshone them all. Was it that I was the wealthiest resident (which was true), or was it that none dare be more outwardly opulent? A word emerged from my mind; Insulae. As the island rises from the sea and my palace rises from the rest of the city, so do these high-rise dwellings rise from the city streets.

I knew to expect one final honor guard on the street, so it came as only a minor shock when I saw the cream-colored armor. Head to toe. Some differences, some different stripes of color, but they were all the same. Same build. Same height. Nearly the same armor, too, save for the officer and the flag carrier. A bundle of cloth around the shoulders, down the back, or the waist, but they were all the same. An involuntary shiver ran down my spine as I realized that these soldiers were vat-grown replicae, the House Vlucht Genome Army. Even though I saw something like 20 soldiers in that honor guard, it felt like I was being looked at by one man with the same faces. The same eyes that stared from more than a dozen visored helmets.

They marched in lockstep behind my vehicle. Their movements were unnaturally precise, exact in sync with one another. I saw the winged roundel of Cota's banner.

"They're good, I'll give these sons of vats that," Azure commented. "Their existence... Lord Captain, is an abomination. I... can't argue against their effectiveness, just... their nature."

We proceeded in relative silence. I heard the clap of feet on stone, and the turning of the tires.

Finally, we neared the palace gates. Brass horns sounded, and I got a good view of the palace grounds. More greenery, but what really caught my eye was the strange arch. It was white as bone, almost as if... my eyes widened. We were passing directly under a webway gate, the one intended to connect to the Imperium's own extradimensional network. It was absolutely surrounded by big, multibarreled sentry guns, ones that also ringed my palace proper. I looked behind the vehicle, only to see the honor guard take up a parade position as they waited for me to enter the palace, proper. I remember my throne room was underneath the large dome, like an old basilica.

To my surprise, Azure kept driving up the slope inside. It would seem that my throne room could be accessed even from the road. I rubbed my head, thinking of reasons as to why. Before I could dwell on it, however, I was inside my very own Throne Room.

It was a marble wonderland, full of gold and colorful splendor. Many priceless spheres hung from the ceiling by silver chains, their likeness carefully crafted into the likenesses of my worlds. The white light from outside was filtered by stained glass windows, depicting a heavenly host of me and mine in fertile, green fields. My throne itself was made from carved white stone, capped with onyx and golden decorations. The sign of the alicorn-aquila stretched over the top. It was padded with red cushions.

It was the most expensive-looking chair I had ever seen.

No, Edo. There is another.

There, in front of my throne, surrounded by more immaculate nobles and stoic guards... stood Cota Braidi Vlucht, and Ricarda Cremont Lomathier. Cota was wearing a pilot's G-suit. A helmet sat in one of his hands. He was flying the ornithopter I saw overhead. His red mustache was trimmed, and his hair was cut very close to his head. Meanwhile, Ricarda wore her short, blonde hair down, and was wearing a simple black dress, her arms covered by dark, smooth sleeves. Gold rings with amethyst studs shone from her hands, one hand covering another. The whole of the room bowed to me as I exited the electric runabout, standing on a giant gold mosaic of my dynastic shield.

And then the other Rogue Traders greeted me.

They started by bowing deeply, a motion that I repeated without thought.

"Welcome home, Lord Edo," said Cota, cordially. The very image and sound of a southern coastal gentleman. Refined. Proper. There was something in his blue eyes that gave me pause, something present in Ricarda's eyes as well.

Now, it was Ricarda's turn to add, fidgeting with her hands, "I, for one, am glad to see your safe and profitable return to the Imperium. Let us have tea, ey?" A stab to the brain, revealing nothing. Where was the imperious she-devil of the painting? The all-assured commander of planets and squadrons?

The lessons of last week on courtly behavior were completely lost on me as I said, gesturing with a hand, "Yes, my... fellows. Let's."

---

This has to be the most expensive hot leaf-water I've ever tasted. Of course, my memory is somewhat... absent as to the kinds of tea I had before, but this definitely had the... qualities of expensive hot leaf water.

The three... the two of us sat in the study, an oversized library and indoor garden, complete with fireplace seating and paintings. Of course, today, the paintings above the fireplace were that of Cota, Ricarda, and I, looking very pleased with ourselves. I felt like an imposter beneath their gaze. Cota had just excused himself following a call from a servant. It apparently could not wait. That just left Ricarda and I to tend our dainty, gilded teacups. My blue eyes met her violet eyes, and we suddenly had very little to talk about beyond empty pleasantries.

We had compared realm sizes, relative wealth, the strength of our armies, and even which of the Emperor's sons we were close friends with. Old Edo was pleased with my performance, but I got a sense of something... unspoken. Each of us carried all-too-recent wounds. All of us sometimes betrayed a sense of sadness, of loss through our eyes.

Ever since I came back, I was somewhat... blinded by light every time I closed my eyes. The proximity of massed humanity, of allied kind... it was enough to drown put my own glowing inner sun. And yet... there was something more still here.

Ricarda, finally tired by it all, put her face in her hands, rubbed at her eyes with her fingers. She sighed a shuddering sigh.

"Real talk?" She asked, her voice much quieter.

"...Sure," I replied, my own bravado absent from my speech.

Ricarda set her teacup down on a carved wood side table and stood up, stretching her back, legs, and arms. I blinked as I realized that she was wearing an armored undersuit, too. Cota, too. Even in the heart of power, in the lap of safety, surrounded by more guns than trees in a forest...

"Something bad's happened, hasn't it?" I wondered aloud. Ricarda froze. She nodded. I supped the last of my own drink and set the cup down. I shook as the ingredients worked their magic. "Neuro-stimulants." Very fast acting, borderline military. It made me shake a few times.

"It's... nothing, eh," she dismissively said with a wave of her hand as she paced around our circle of leather seats and tables. "Nothing my... best and brightest couldn't deal with. Nothing my bodyguards couldn't dispatch. Nothing..." Her voice shuddered as she rounded around back to me. She looked at her worn, thin hands. "Nothing that my doctors can't put back together."

She suddenly sat down, wedging herself between me and the chair. My hair stood straight up as she reached around to hug me on the shoulder, pulling me closer. My hand, instinctively, found her shoulder as Old Edo screamed something in my head. A sound I could not hear past the rushing of blood and the pounding of my heartbeat.

"My memory", Ricarda admitted, "is not what it once was."

Even Old Edo shut up about that one, as even the sounds outside seemed to die.

Could this mean...? What did she even know about herself? About me?

She pulled me into a full hug as she finally asked, sincerely, "Edo...

are you my son?"

Author's Note:

Truthfully, the first cover art for this fic was something I made a long time ago for a collaboration that fell apart and then recycled for this fic. Now, I've made a new cover art. Do you like it?

Also, I've drawn Silver Sword.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Chaos is playing Displaced against both sides to keep the balance of conflict?