The first thing that came into Verne's mind was "Am I in?"
He blinked. He looked around. He was standing in a verdant field of grass. Fine, soft grass that you usually see in the movies. But then again most planets have that kind of grass. Mother Nature has her ways sometimes.
Anyway, he stood in that grass field while he wondered where he was. He took a deep breath, and got a whiff of the fresh country air. And the fresh scent of the grass. He looked up at the sky and saw how sunny it was. Thankfully there was sufficient cloud cover, which meant it wouldn't be too hot.
He took his first few steps before he realized he was barefoot. He looked down at his feet and frowned. Where had his shoes gone to? They might not be anything special, but they were his shoes.
Yes, he thought to himself, I am in.
He continued walking on before he saw a tree. He had no idea where the tree came from. It just stood there by itself in the middle of a grass field, its leaves flapping in the slight breeze. He walked up to it, stopping only a few feet away from it. He stroked its bark lightly with his left hand, feeling the tough, gnarled wood on his fingers and palm. He took a quick sniff at the bark, and could tell from its mint-like scent that it was a pine from the Dvordanian species. Such species of pine always had a very nice minty smell to them.
So... this could be Dvordania. But then again Dvordanian pines and other such variants of the species can also be found elsewhere. He frowned at the insight.
He looked around again, hoping to find some other hint to where he was. Then lo and behold he saw a signboard that, moments ago, didn't seem to be standing quite close to the tree.
He casually went to it, examining the words inscribed on it. Some of the words were faded, but he could still tell what it said. The sign said:
Canaris IV. Thargorium System. Haladi Galaxy. Yorkshire Universe.
Verne frowned again and stroked his chin. There must be a mistake. Why is he here on this planet? It's known only as a pretty substandard holiday destination, plus the fact it's in a Universe that has little significance to even the Forces of Disorder ever since the collapse of the Hykhani Gate in the Gor'than Region.
So why here? What was he being led to?
He heard the sound of laughter, and it caught him by surprise. He reached for his holstered K&M 9mm, but then remembered he didn't have it with him at the moment. Only instincts kicking in.
He turned around, and there on his left there was a family. A father, his wife and two kids who were busy chasing a butterfly as it flew (in a seemingly panicked way) all around the parents. Verne noted that they were having a picnic. It seemed like fun.
The parents were smiling and laughing away at the antics of their kids. The kids were really enjoying themselves. The butterfly, if it could talk, would probably say how devilish they were and how they needed to learn manners. IF it could talk.
The family paid no heed to Verne's presence. It's obvious that they don't realize he's even there in the first place. It didn't bother him any bit.
In front of Verne was a river. It flowed pretty fast, but not as fast as others. Maybe it flowed from a lake somewhere nearby. He couldn't really think of any lakes on the planet at the moment, though.
There was something about the river, though. He noticed there was something strange about it. Was it the color of the water flowing? He raised an eyebrow. Then he took a few steps forward.
Yes there definitely was something about the water. However the shining sun didn't make it easy for him to see the difference. Verne decided to kneel and scoop some of the water, hoping to find something.
There was an odour in the air. It smelled a little like ozone. Thankfully it didn't stink that badly.
And then he looked back at his hands as they held some of the river water. The water was red.
It was blood.
A scream. Verne almost jumped. He looked up and saw the same family he was watching earlier on. It seemed the little girl screamed, and now she was running for her father. Both her parents looked agitated. Worried even. Where has their boy gone to?
The sky was getting darker. Was it now? Verne glanced to the heavens and saw thunder clouds looming. Very fast. Very, very fast in fact. He couldn't help but gulp.
Something was looming from the horizon. It looked like smoke. There was a tremor, and the girl began to cry. The young boy had returned to his parents, crying too. Verne wondered what was going on.
The sky was almost pitch black. Thunder boomed from somewhere as lightning began to flash. It also began to rain. There was another smell taking the place of ozone. God, it smelled horrible. Like it was the smell of a thousand rotting, bloated corpses piled on top of one another and left for the vultures to pick on.
There was something about the rain too. As it began to pour, Verne realized it was raining blood. He felt a little disgusted. Calm yourself, he told himself, you've faced things like these before haven't you? Yes he had. He should just-
The tremors became greater in magnitude. The family remained where they were, both children crying softly now. Both parents were hushing them in whispers. Verne was worried about what was next.
And moments later it happened.
The earth began to split. Without warning, a crack appeared on the surface and edged its way in a zig-zag. The crack split open in between the family, separating the father from the mother. The children began to cry again, the girl crying for dad and the boy for mother. Verne fell when the crack continued to burst open, sundering the ground only a few inches away from his feet.
The shock ran down his spine. It took him a while before he decided to pull himself up.
The storm raged on unabated. The rain of blood had stopped, Verne noted, but then it started raining fire. Raining fire? Before Verne could even register it, everything suddenly exploded in a bright flash. A flash of colors. Verne shut his eyes almost immediately and crouched down on the grass - if it was still grass.
And what followed were screams. Dear God, those screams would be burned in his head for all eternity. It was the small, unfortunate family - they were screaming. In pain. In agony. In fear. Their screams were echoing across the entire area. Their screams echoed in the deep corners of Verne's mind. Their screams almost seemed like they would never end.
The cries of the children especially were the worst. They would just cry and cry. But it didn't sound like they were upset. They were crying from the pain.
Verne risked a glance. He saw madness all around him. A rage of colors twisting and mixing in entropy, where the sky once was. Everywhere around him everything was distorted. Twisted in malice, in sadism, in evil. Twisted by the Warp.
Around him the screams went on. Verne shut his ears with both his hands and screamed as well. But he was screaming for everything to stop.
He risked another glance. In front of him, where the family had stood, were instead four daemons. Daemons? They had to be daemons; everything around here was in the tainted grip of the Empyrean. God, had they seen him? If they did he'd be in trouble.
The screams had somehow turned into laughter. Bone-chilling laughter. Sadistic laughter. Laughter that seemed to eat at your soul, consuming it utterly. It was all too much to take. He had to get out. Get out, get out, get out...
Another tremor, and the ground in front of the daemons exploded. Dirt, mud and sand scattered far and wide. The ground started caving in, forcing the daemons to back off quickly or else fall to their doom.
There was a loud groan. Verne thought it was the ground as it gave way to the quakes. Then a hand appeared from the depths of the sinkhole. A giant hand.
Moments later, a grotesque face appeared from the ground. Grotesque couldn't even fit the description of what he saw. But Verne just couldn't take it and puked the contents of his stomach out onto the ground. It felt as though he was retching for a full minute.
The monster hauled itself out of the sinkhole. The four lesser daemons began to laugh - that very same spine-chilling laugh - and dance around their master or whatever it was. It chuckled at the sight of its minions showing their servitude to him.
And God, he smelled worse than a pile of rotting bodies. He smelled like... like... Verne began to retch again as the horrific stench began to seep into his nostrils and pollute his airways. He honstly felt like dying right there, had he not steeled himself much earlier in anticipation for something like this.
But nevertheless, it was still too much for him to handle.
It took him awhile before he realized the monstrosity was looking at him. Right at him.
Verne didn't take any chances. He began to bound away as fast as he could. He could hear its minions cackling as they gave chase after him. He started to pray, pray that he would come out of this alive, pray that everything will be-
* * *
Verne woke up with a start, and realized microseconds later that he was drenched. He looked up above him and saw Major Jude Revenian. He looked around worriedly before he realized he was in the Major's room, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He saw the Major was carrying a bucket. And standing next to the Major was Colonel Tyrone Jermanis of DRONOS' 81st Legion, 12th Company. The both of them were looking worried.
He coughed. "How long was I out?" he asked the Major, rubbing his eyes.
Jude shrugged. "Twelve minutes, approximately," he replied.
Verne nodded and slowly stood up from the makeshift bed they prepared for him on the floor. Tyrone quickly stepped forward to offer a hand, but Verne held up his own hand first, asking him to wait.
Behind the Colonel, Dr Hanson LeChaye was doing some scans. After about a minute or two, he nodded to himself and turned to face the other three.
"He's clean, gentlemen," the scientist announces smilingly. "Zero percent Warp residue in his mind."
"Thank you, Doctor," the Major promptly answered, before offering his hand to help Verne.
"I'm fine, Jude. I can walk by myself."
"Even after what you saw there?"
Verne stopped and looked at his friend. It was pretty damn obvious that Jude was agitated, but of all the others he knows that what Verne is doing is necessary in any case. Risks are a part of the whole plan.
"Jesus, Verne," the Major added, a tinge of disapproval in his tone, "if it wasn't for the fact you were convulsing and puking all over the floor, I'd not have dunked you."
Verne noted the mess he made not far from his makeshift bed and frowned.
"It's all part of the risks," Verne calmly replied, pouring himself a shot of Jude's Tellavirum whiskey. "You of all people should know that."
The Colonel stepped forward with a look of uncertainty. "What did you see this time?" he asked the psychic.
Verne drank the whiskey deeply. Setting his glass down, he responds: "A world called Canaris IV. It's in the Thargorium System, Haladi Galaxy, Yorkshire Universe."
The Major raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And?"
Verne kept staring at his glass. Everything he saw, everything he's heard... it still chills him.
"Chaos will pour forth when it begins to rain fire and when pestillence spreads near and far. The daemon is at work here, aided by its armies of heretics."
The Colonel was really looking displeased now. "This cannot be allowed to happen," he said after a moment of silence. "Despite the fact Canaris IV is a relatively unimportant location, it is still very close to Order's territories as well as the borders into the Outer Fringes."
The Major nodded, mostly to himself. "I'll ring up High Command and tell them what we're up against. Hopefully we'll have a couple of psychic knights to help out."
Before the Major got to leaving, Verne turned around to face him.
"Have them send us a contingent of Grey Knights as well, if possible" he told Jude.
Jude stopped dead in his tracks and faced Verne, a bewildered look clearly written on his face.
Verne sighed. "The bad news is whichever damned force is coming over to Canaris IV, they're summoning a Greater Daemon of Nurgle. The worse news is, they're summoning Ghovorraash the Pestilent."
* * *
'I am the instrument of Father Nurgle's will
I spread the joys of the Rot
I enlighten these mortals in my pestillence
I show them what it truly is to be clean
I teach them how to purify the unclean
Fear me ye mortals
I am Ghovorraash
Devourer of Impure Hearts
Scourge Host of the Pestillent
Poisoner of True Minds
Let this be fair warning
For I shalt not be kind to ye
Feast I shall
Until all of the Universe becomes Nurgle's own.'
He blinked. He looked around. He was standing in a verdant field of grass. Fine, soft grass that you usually see in the movies. But then again most planets have that kind of grass. Mother Nature has her ways sometimes.
Anyway, he stood in that grass field while he wondered where he was. He took a deep breath, and got a whiff of the fresh country air. And the fresh scent of the grass. He looked up at the sky and saw how sunny it was. Thankfully there was sufficient cloud cover, which meant it wouldn't be too hot.
He took his first few steps before he realized he was barefoot. He looked down at his feet and frowned. Where had his shoes gone to? They might not be anything special, but they were his shoes.
Yes, he thought to himself, I am in.
He continued walking on before he saw a tree. He had no idea where the tree came from. It just stood there by itself in the middle of a grass field, its leaves flapping in the slight breeze. He walked up to it, stopping only a few feet away from it. He stroked its bark lightly with his left hand, feeling the tough, gnarled wood on his fingers and palm. He took a quick sniff at the bark, and could tell from its mint-like scent that it was a pine from the Dvordanian species. Such species of pine always had a very nice minty smell to them.
So... this could be Dvordania. But then again Dvordanian pines and other such variants of the species can also be found elsewhere. He frowned at the insight.
He looked around again, hoping to find some other hint to where he was. Then lo and behold he saw a signboard that, moments ago, didn't seem to be standing quite close to the tree.
He casually went to it, examining the words inscribed on it. Some of the words were faded, but he could still tell what it said. The sign said:
WELCOME TO RUANIS, CANARIS IV
Population: 300 000
Home to Beautiful Sights of the Ruanian Mounts
Enjoy your Stay!
Canaris IV. Thargorium System. Haladi Galaxy. Yorkshire Universe.
Verne frowned again and stroked his chin. There must be a mistake. Why is he here on this planet? It's known only as a pretty substandard holiday destination, plus the fact it's in a Universe that has little significance to even the Forces of Disorder ever since the collapse of the Hykhani Gate in the Gor'than Region.
So why here? What was he being led to?
He heard the sound of laughter, and it caught him by surprise. He reached for his holstered K&M 9mm, but then remembered he didn't have it with him at the moment. Only instincts kicking in.
He turned around, and there on his left there was a family. A father, his wife and two kids who were busy chasing a butterfly as it flew (in a seemingly panicked way) all around the parents. Verne noted that they were having a picnic. It seemed like fun.
The parents were smiling and laughing away at the antics of their kids. The kids were really enjoying themselves. The butterfly, if it could talk, would probably say how devilish they were and how they needed to learn manners. IF it could talk.
The family paid no heed to Verne's presence. It's obvious that they don't realize he's even there in the first place. It didn't bother him any bit.
In front of Verne was a river. It flowed pretty fast, but not as fast as others. Maybe it flowed from a lake somewhere nearby. He couldn't really think of any lakes on the planet at the moment, though.
There was something about the river, though. He noticed there was something strange about it. Was it the color of the water flowing? He raised an eyebrow. Then he took a few steps forward.
Yes there definitely was something about the water. However the shining sun didn't make it easy for him to see the difference. Verne decided to kneel and scoop some of the water, hoping to find something.
There was an odour in the air. It smelled a little like ozone. Thankfully it didn't stink that badly.
And then he looked back at his hands as they held some of the river water. The water was red.
It was blood.
A scream. Verne almost jumped. He looked up and saw the same family he was watching earlier on. It seemed the little girl screamed, and now she was running for her father. Both her parents looked agitated. Worried even. Where has their boy gone to?
The sky was getting darker. Was it now? Verne glanced to the heavens and saw thunder clouds looming. Very fast. Very, very fast in fact. He couldn't help but gulp.
Something was looming from the horizon. It looked like smoke. There was a tremor, and the girl began to cry. The young boy had returned to his parents, crying too. Verne wondered what was going on.
The sky was almost pitch black. Thunder boomed from somewhere as lightning began to flash. It also began to rain. There was another smell taking the place of ozone. God, it smelled horrible. Like it was the smell of a thousand rotting, bloated corpses piled on top of one another and left for the vultures to pick on.
There was something about the rain too. As it began to pour, Verne realized it was raining blood. He felt a little disgusted. Calm yourself, he told himself, you've faced things like these before haven't you? Yes he had. He should just-
The tremors became greater in magnitude. The family remained where they were, both children crying softly now. Both parents were hushing them in whispers. Verne was worried about what was next.
And moments later it happened.
The earth began to split. Without warning, a crack appeared on the surface and edged its way in a zig-zag. The crack split open in between the family, separating the father from the mother. The children began to cry again, the girl crying for dad and the boy for mother. Verne fell when the crack continued to burst open, sundering the ground only a few inches away from his feet.
The shock ran down his spine. It took him a while before he decided to pull himself up.
The storm raged on unabated. The rain of blood had stopped, Verne noted, but then it started raining fire. Raining fire? Before Verne could even register it, everything suddenly exploded in a bright flash. A flash of colors. Verne shut his eyes almost immediately and crouched down on the grass - if it was still grass.
And what followed were screams. Dear God, those screams would be burned in his head for all eternity. It was the small, unfortunate family - they were screaming. In pain. In agony. In fear. Their screams were echoing across the entire area. Their screams echoed in the deep corners of Verne's mind. Their screams almost seemed like they would never end.
The cries of the children especially were the worst. They would just cry and cry. But it didn't sound like they were upset. They were crying from the pain.
Verne risked a glance. He saw madness all around him. A rage of colors twisting and mixing in entropy, where the sky once was. Everywhere around him everything was distorted. Twisted in malice, in sadism, in evil. Twisted by the Warp.
Around him the screams went on. Verne shut his ears with both his hands and screamed as well. But he was screaming for everything to stop.
He risked another glance. In front of him, where the family had stood, were instead four daemons. Daemons? They had to be daemons; everything around here was in the tainted grip of the Empyrean. God, had they seen him? If they did he'd be in trouble.
The screams had somehow turned into laughter. Bone-chilling laughter. Sadistic laughter. Laughter that seemed to eat at your soul, consuming it utterly. It was all too much to take. He had to get out. Get out, get out, get out...
Another tremor, and the ground in front of the daemons exploded. Dirt, mud and sand scattered far and wide. The ground started caving in, forcing the daemons to back off quickly or else fall to their doom.
There was a loud groan. Verne thought it was the ground as it gave way to the quakes. Then a hand appeared from the depths of the sinkhole. A giant hand.
Moments later, a grotesque face appeared from the ground. Grotesque couldn't even fit the description of what he saw. But Verne just couldn't take it and puked the contents of his stomach out onto the ground. It felt as though he was retching for a full minute.
The monster hauled itself out of the sinkhole. The four lesser daemons began to laugh - that very same spine-chilling laugh - and dance around their master or whatever it was. It chuckled at the sight of its minions showing their servitude to him.
And God, he smelled worse than a pile of rotting bodies. He smelled like... like... Verne began to retch again as the horrific stench began to seep into his nostrils and pollute his airways. He honstly felt like dying right there, had he not steeled himself much earlier in anticipation for something like this.
But nevertheless, it was still too much for him to handle.
It took him awhile before he realized the monstrosity was looking at him. Right at him.
Verne didn't take any chances. He began to bound away as fast as he could. He could hear its minions cackling as they gave chase after him. He started to pray, pray that he would come out of this alive, pray that everything will be-
* * *
Verne woke up with a start, and realized microseconds later that he was drenched. He looked up above him and saw Major Jude Revenian. He looked around worriedly before he realized he was in the Major's room, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He saw the Major was carrying a bucket. And standing next to the Major was Colonel Tyrone Jermanis of DRONOS' 81st Legion, 12th Company. The both of them were looking worried.
He coughed. "How long was I out?" he asked the Major, rubbing his eyes.
Jude shrugged. "Twelve minutes, approximately," he replied.
Verne nodded and slowly stood up from the makeshift bed they prepared for him on the floor. Tyrone quickly stepped forward to offer a hand, but Verne held up his own hand first, asking him to wait.
Behind the Colonel, Dr Hanson LeChaye was doing some scans. After about a minute or two, he nodded to himself and turned to face the other three.
"He's clean, gentlemen," the scientist announces smilingly. "Zero percent Warp residue in his mind."
"Thank you, Doctor," the Major promptly answered, before offering his hand to help Verne.
"I'm fine, Jude. I can walk by myself."
"Even after what you saw there?"
Verne stopped and looked at his friend. It was pretty damn obvious that Jude was agitated, but of all the others he knows that what Verne is doing is necessary in any case. Risks are a part of the whole plan.
"Jesus, Verne," the Major added, a tinge of disapproval in his tone, "if it wasn't for the fact you were convulsing and puking all over the floor, I'd not have dunked you."
Verne noted the mess he made not far from his makeshift bed and frowned.
"It's all part of the risks," Verne calmly replied, pouring himself a shot of Jude's Tellavirum whiskey. "You of all people should know that."
The Colonel stepped forward with a look of uncertainty. "What did you see this time?" he asked the psychic.
Verne drank the whiskey deeply. Setting his glass down, he responds: "A world called Canaris IV. It's in the Thargorium System, Haladi Galaxy, Yorkshire Universe."
The Major raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And?"
Verne kept staring at his glass. Everything he saw, everything he's heard... it still chills him.
"Chaos will pour forth when it begins to rain fire and when pestillence spreads near and far. The daemon is at work here, aided by its armies of heretics."
The Colonel was really looking displeased now. "This cannot be allowed to happen," he said after a moment of silence. "Despite the fact Canaris IV is a relatively unimportant location, it is still very close to Order's territories as well as the borders into the Outer Fringes."
The Major nodded, mostly to himself. "I'll ring up High Command and tell them what we're up against. Hopefully we'll have a couple of psychic knights to help out."
Before the Major got to leaving, Verne turned around to face him.
"Have them send us a contingent of Grey Knights as well, if possible" he told Jude.
Jude stopped dead in his tracks and faced Verne, a bewildered look clearly written on his face.
Verne sighed. "The bad news is whichever damned force is coming over to Canaris IV, they're summoning a Greater Daemon of Nurgle. The worse news is, they're summoning Ghovorraash the Pestilent."
* * *
'I am the instrument of Father Nurgle's will
I spread the joys of the Rot
I enlighten these mortals in my pestillence
I show them what it truly is to be clean
I teach them how to purify the unclean
Fear me ye mortals
I am Ghovorraash
Devourer of Impure Hearts
Scourge Host of the Pestillent
Poisoner of True Minds
Let this be fair warning
For I shalt not be kind to ye
Feast I shall
Until all of the Universe becomes Nurgle's own.'
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