The Fall pt1

Elyash entered the main circuit chamber alogn thousands of others running, the circuit was overloading, jsut when he had thought there was no emotions for him to experience tahat he had not he, and those with him through the link they had in the warp aswell as the fact that they were still linked throught the circuit, was introduced to an entirly new one terror. Fear was one thing that they had experienced thousands of time reliving the battles their ancestors fought against the necrotyr, but terror like this, perhaps if any soulstones had been recovered from the battles with the c'tan themselves there woudl have been terror but now it was an entirly new emotion. Elyash looked around him several faces was savourign the emotions letting it flow through them and flow out of them.
Fools! he thought they are taxing the circuit furhter. He for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, and probalby would be several lifetimes for non eldar, mastered his emotions and shut them of from the glowing warming vastness of the warp. He felt isolated abandoned and cold. But it was better than dead. Still a deep dark place in him hungered for death, the final sensation, the one thing he had not experienced, the soulstones could share all experience up to death but what happened after was not part of this realm and so could not be stored in the stones. He shut that emotion of too. How long had it been since he had done that, chillingly he realised it was probably decades ago. And he was one of the circuit technicians, he had to be responsible once in a while, others here had probably gone centuries without even thinking. He saw his childhood friend Aldeyesh close by, Aldeyesh had spend his last two centuries eating sleeping and experienced his childhood love Adana, though he had never really been with her, he had experienced her through the eyes of another, through the circuit. Adana had been dead for atleast ten years now Elyash realised. It was a chilling thought, the circuit had been contructed to allow the eldar to share their knowledge with common generations, not to share what should have been a private matter with every eldar in existance.
They reached the open area before the dias holding the controll stone of the circuit. The main controll stone, set in place by Avernia of Atash more than million years ago. She had created the first circuit that all other circuits on the other maiden worlds had grown out of. The greatest creatrion of the eldar people, and it was shining with inner light, pulsating like a heartbeat. about to crumble unde rthe pressure of all the emotions flowing thorugh it. The eldar had grown to many, used the circuit to lightly and now it was failing. Even shielded from it and the warp Elyash could feel the warmth of the circuit burning him. The crown stopped, but Elyash and several other circuit technicians hurried towards it, not thta they had any real idea what to do, this wasnt suposed to be possible, the circuit was suposed to grow to allow for more inout if it was strained. It's scope should be that of the warp itself, infinite. But it was not so. The flashing got faster and stronger, Elyash saw eldar men and women collapsing on the floor screaming. Their pain spilled over into others, most never thought of shielding themselves, some probably didnt even rememeber how. Then the flashing and the heat got so instense that Elyash had to stop. Then a single flash and the circuit was quiet. Totally quiet, totally dead. In horror Elyash looked on it, the stone conencted to the circuit here and on thousands of worlds grew cold. Then he saw it, a little girl was standing naked before the main stone. He wondered what she did there then felt a rush of uneasiness as the emotions of his fellow eldar flowed over him, admiration, reverence and sexual desire. He turned to look at them in shock, she was a little girl such emotions for a child was wrong, the sight that met hi eyes chilled him, several hundred eldar behind him had collapsed their eyes was empty their souls was gone. Other was caught in some kind of trance staring at the girl. Elyash turned his eyes back to her, he knew her. She was Hevenra the daughter of Avernia, the first eldar ever to submitt an experience into the circuit, and she had been dead for at least a hundred thousand years. Elyash had seen her through the eyes of others as he went through his traning. Even seen the ceremony when the circuit was first opened.
She opened her eyes and looked at them, if he had not shielded himself he knew those eyes would have consumed him, had he not worked for close to a millenia with the circuit he wasnt sure how much diffrence his shielding would have done.
”I thirst” she said, she walked up to one of the technicians and touched him, he collapsed into a pile of convulsing flesh then stopped moving. Even shilded Elyash knew he was dead. This wasnt Hevenra, this was the infinity circuit, the thirst of the eldar race given form. And she would consume them all and still thirst.
Then he felt something else, something even more fundamental than the compulsion to seek out desires, it made the blood boil in his veins and pushed back her effects on him. He knew if from the old memories, the attack command, the call of Khaine. The very reason for the eldar to exist. He smelt burnt ozone and turned. At the end of the hall stood a giant armoured in burning armour, his hand dripping with blood and a mighty curved sword in his hand. Atleast that was how Elyash experienced him, the psychic emissions was so strong they clouded the physical form of this being.
”Thirster in the dark!” it said looking at she who thirsts. ”I am the reaper of souls, I have come for you!”

Raphael gets an assignment

Raphael hesitantly entered the chamber. Being called before the primarch himself was an honour, and he could think of no way that he could have made himself worthy of it. The room was large but despite that it was wholly dominated by one massive table in dark oak. Totally round. Around the table stood chairs, here the primarch would meet the company captains under his command, it was as far as Raphael knew a replica of a similiar room from which the lion had ruled on Caliban. The room was mostly deserted now, there was only one person in it besides himself. If person could even be used for such a being. The table was large and took up most of the space of the room, yet it seemed small and unimportant besides the giant who sat in the largest chair. His armour was gilded with lions heads wings and vines, yet the armour seemed bland before the majesty of the man in it. The primarch Lion el'Johnson, the lion son of the forest. He sat absolutely still beside the table, staring out in the distance lost in thought.
Raphael knew better than to disturb the lord of the first legion, so he stood silently by the door. A company captain might have allowed to sit down, Raphael didn't know, the inner circles rules was for the primarch and the inner circle to know. It didn't matter Raphael wasn't inner circle or even a company captain, for him it was unthinkable to sit in the presence of this demigod. As was it to force his presence on him.
For a long while he stood there looking at his lord and master, then the lion suddenly shook his head as if to physically shake a thought out if his head, he suddenly realised Raphael was there, he didn't look surprised and definitely not startled, but there was a slight widening of his eyes that betrayed that he was a bit uncomfortable that Raphael could have entered the room without him noticing. Then a moments hesitation, Raphael wondered if his company captain had been wrong and the primarch had not sent for him after all.
”It's captain Raphael now isn't it?” The lion finally said.
”Yes my lord primarch” Raphael answered with relief. The lion did not ask him to sit and Raphael did not ask to.
”The Imperium has won a massive victory at Ullanor, the emperor is retiring to Terra to build his Imperium leaving one of his sons as warmaster of his forces” The primarch told him.
Rapahel opened his mouth, but the primarch interrupted him.
”It will not be me” there was a hint of bitterness in the words ”The emperor has seen it fit to a point my brother Horus to warmaster” not bitterness... concern?
”A fine choice my lord, the Luna Wolves are second only to us, Horus is a good general”
”That he is, but sometimes to clever for his own good” the lion muttered then continued ”The emperor has taken his personal honour guard with him back to Terra, all eighteen companies. As well as the full force of the legio custodes. He has asked that each of the primarchs send a force to act as a honour guard for the new warmaster. No specifics to how large this force is to be have been given so I will send captain Kellaniel and five hundred space marines” Half as many as had been in the emperor's dark angel's honour guard, not few enough to make it an insult but few enough to show that the lion considered parading not to be the duty of the space marines and this new warmaster not the emperors equal.
”I understand” Raphael said, wondering if the primarch truly knew how much he read from the situation. The primarch laughed, it was a dry bitter laugh but a laugh none the less.
”I sincerely doubt that captain, which is why you are here, I will make you understand”
”Sire?”
”Your commanders have said you are something of plotter captain, always looking to peoples agendas, always seeking to gain an advantage. While I may normally have no patience for such behaviour amongst my Dark Angels, there are times when... special talents... may be useful”
Raphael's mind raced, considering what the lion had just said he tried to not to do it but he couldn't help but run through the information sort it and evaluate it, it was simply his nature. He thought he knew where the lion was going with this and it frightened him, because if it was true then...
”Do you remember when we first met, captain?” The primarch asked, the question took Raphael aback but how could he forget.
”In the hall of servants, on my home world, after we had cast down the tyrants and joined the Imperium, you spoke to all of us who would be given the chance to become space marines”
”Yes, we stood under the statues of your gods, and I told you the imperial truth, do you remember what you responded?” How could Raphael forget he a mere human had spoken out of turn to the primarch of the Dark Angels legion, and almost contradicted him.
”While it may be true that there are no gods, the things that the servants worshipped were real, whatever they are I have felt their presence their thirst” Raphael cited himself. One of the marines of the lions bodyguard had lifted him from the ground in one hand and told him to deny the existence of false gods, and Raphael had done so. He did not think the primarch had remembered the incident nor that the boy who spoke out of turn was the captain who stood before him.
”Yes, you could feel their thirst, I though nothing of it at first but then they told me you were a psyker” the lion said ”And that thirst, if you felt it again, would you recognise it captain”
Raphael was startled was the primarch saying what he thought he was saying?
”I... but... the Imperium doesn't believe in gods or daemons, what...?”
”My reasons to ask is for me to know captain, what is for you is to obey, answer my question”
”I would recognise it my lord” Raphael said quickly ”That is if i was to reach out, which I am forbidden to do by the edict of Nikkea”
”And if I were to order you to reach out” The primarch said beginning to stand.
Raphael went down on one knee, clasping his right hand over his chest and lowering his eyes.
”As you said my lord, for me is to obey, you are my primarch, for me your words is the will of the emperor” He heard how the primarch sat down again, and that dry laugh.
”You truly do speak like a politician captain” the lion scoffed ”Very well this day it suits my purpose. You will accompany the honour guard sent to my brother Horus, you will... keep your eyes and ears open”
”For what my lord?” Raphael dared to ask though he doubted he would be given an answer.
”I'm not sure, but I have a feeling you'll know should the time come. You may leave me captain”
Raphael got on his feet bowed again though the lion no longer paid any attention to him, and and turned to leave.
"Captain" the primarch halted him "Should you encounter any other worlds with similiar religions to that of your home world, I would very much want to hear of it, now you may go" Raphael bowed again and left. The primarch had been right he had not understood, but he planned to remedy that. Parts of it he had understood, the lion wasn't sure about the imperial truth, it was concerning that he would think that the gods of the servants may be out here as well. As concerning was being asked to spy on the warmaster. They had always been told how the primarchs was united, a brotherhood, set on protecting mankind. Turns out there was at least some sibling rivalry. And being ordered to break the edict of Nikkea, regardless of what he had told the primarch Raphael was fairly certain the order to do so had not come from the emperor. He could not imagine the lion being disloyal though. The primarch of the first legion had his flaws, Raphael knew that well enough, but lack of loyalty was not one of those. Raphael hurried towards the bays, he had to try to get a word in with Anntheus before word got through of his reassignment.