Gift from Ultramar

So I made a reminder bookmark for myself, and began to look at the book, entangled in chains. I had an ethical contradiction with it, and it was quite serious. The point is that this little book was a hybrid product of the dusky genius of Cegorach's followers and a few mechanics and inquisitors. A sort of "psyker ability enhancer," at the expense of... the demon in the book. Then again, perhaps there was nothing left of Laginia's personality at all, there was that option, and what the book does with the captured demon was of no interest to anyone and, as a consequence, was not described.

But I had to admit that I felt a little sorry for my demonette. And most importantly, the obvious "reformatting" of her, by feeding her with the energy of a world foreign to me, was going on, so that the result could turn out quite a comfortable companion in all respects.

However, she is a demon. I was a little bit like a demon, and I was a little bit like a demon, and I was a little bit like a human, too. And changing the "energy balance" does not necessarily change the ethical concept to one that pleases me. The second thing is that not only do I not know how to do it. But I CANNOT work with warp as a psyker, which is obviously necessary to extract or at least check on "how's my succubus doing".

But in general, it's a pity about the girl, despite her demonicness, I appreciated my feelings and experiences. So, when I get to Enciladus, Saturn's satellite with the vast library of Ordo Malleus, I'll have to ask about the possibilities there.

Actually, the venerable Inquisition's warp was quite amusing. At least half of the "venerable" and aged Inquisitors bore the marks of distant "chaos marks. Well, maybe less, but - there were, and quite a few. That is, evidently, for some time followed the path of outright radicalism, up to mutations and the like, and assessed what and how, and abandoned that path.

And they were not burned by fire, it should be noted. Though I've hardly ever seen anything like that on my Ordos brethren, which is also an important factor.

With these results of both thinking and practice, with Vallios the Reductor and a dozen heavily laden servitors (I think these biorobots were stuffed into the Reductor for joy that he would finally get away), I loaded onto the transorbital shuttle. I said goodbye to Maximus rather warmly, I did not make any other relations, and to be honest, being busy all the time and not getting much sleep.

Suddenly a pair of gray knights crossed the road to my person, stroking the voxcoders of their helmets:

- Honorable Inquisitor Terentius Alumus? - one, more decorated with trinkets than the silent other.

- Exactly, honorable Astartes," I said, a little tense despite the "honorability. - What is your need?

- No need," the gray knight cut off, taking off his helmet, as did the other spaceman. - A message from the brothers, Inquisitor.

Then the second, with his paw behind his back, pulled out an ultramarine-colored box, about the size of a medium-sized chessboard, with Ω on the lid, skulls and all. And on both hands he held the box out to me. And after I accepted the handoff, both nodded and marched away, attaching helmets to their heads as they went.

Hmm, a gift from the Ultramarines, funny, I smiled slightly as I pressed the skull, which opened the box with a click. Under the lid was quite a leather parchment, scribbled in Latin, or rather High Gothic, there were seals on gold chains. And beneath the parchment was a soft silk cover, protecting the contents. Well, let's start by reading, I decided, handing the box to one of the servants with a free paw.

We boarded the shuttle and I read the parchment. And here's what it said:

To the Honorable Inquisitor Ordo Malleus in the Service of the Imperium of Mankind, Terentius Alumus rekomu: Rejoice! - From the Master of the Forge of the Order of Ultramarines, Adeptus Astartes of the Imperium of Humanity, Fennias Maximus. Good wishes and gratitude to you!

Having been notified by Brother Sergeant Claudius Green of your feat of preserving the Sacred Banner of the Chapter from desecration by the Xenos infestation, Brother Captain Ixion has sent a petition to the Armamentarium of the Order, to grant a gift appropriate to the honor of the Order and your service to it. Being enlightened, I, Master of the Forge of Ultramar, find it a worthy gift from the Order that will save your loins to fight for the glory and benefit of the Imperium of Humanity. Accept this gift and wear it with honor!

Master of the Forge of Ultramar and the Order of Ultramarines, Fennias Maximus

written on the day 156 of the year 512.M41

Hmmm, what did Claudius spout that I was honored with a message by the Master of the Order of Ultramarines himself? In general, the information I found, which I was legitimately looking for - I wondered who fate had brought me together with - described the Blues as simply fairy nerds and formalists. In addition, with an inordinate amount of pathos and importance, completely delusional "exploits" like sending snipers and terminators on a space wanderer.

In general, this point was seasoned with a fairy tinge of venom and mockery, moreover, who wrote the inquisitor was not deprived of Talia's attention, so that the report was read with interest and not without a smile.

So, a space wanderer is a ship left by the crew, alone to begin with. And, left necessarily in warp, the crew found themselves in the Ocean of Souls as these very souls. As a rule.

In warp, or more precisely, in its "navigational part," currents, and quite constant ones, are the only "constant. But the concentration of immaterial is not enough to translate the ship's matter into energy. And this vessel begins to whirl along the current, often pushing and splicing with other vessels, asteroids and other material fauna of the "warp current". But the Geller field, for example, can work! Not on all wanderers, not encompassing the wanderer completely, but it can. And there can even be oxygen. And even life, though rarely. Mostly demons, as is clear, or warp-cut remnants of the crew or crews. Overcorrupted in a way that's often worse than a demon.

Wiggling this wanderer through the current of warp. Often "tossing" in certain areas into "matterum" and picking it up again. And they, instead of being atomized, are hunted. And they are hunted by everyone who is not lazy: the ships that make up the manifested wanderer may be from the Dark Era of technology, and this is technology long forgotten in the Imperium. A xenorasy ship, with reproducible or understandable xenotech. Banal, a ship from the time of the Emperor's Crusades (an operation designed to unite humanity into a single structure, after breaking through the Eyepiece of Awe and isolating humans on planets for a millennium) and containing albeit reproducible goodies, but lots and free, instead of few and expensive.

Accordingly, the Inquisitor in the Ultramar subsector requested support from the Ultramarines. And they sent him... on warp-overcorrected ships... with lots of passages, corridors, small cabins... Two squads in terminator armor, my ass!

The armor is a small mech, about three and a half meters tall, with a couple of half-meters in the shoulders. Costs like a mansion on Holy Terra, sort of not even produced at the moment, due to loss of technology. Possesses its own Warp Jump Engine(!), which moves the owner a short distance and protects the marinade inside from spoiling in every sense. In general, the thing is exclusive, expensive and in general.

So, in the narrow and skewed corridors of the wanderer driven two dozen of these artillery towers, much slowed and retarded: even astartes with inertia can not cope well. In addition, ninety percent of the weapons on these platforms are long-range artillery, which is inapplicable to the Wanderer, and hand-to-hand weapons.

Kind of fierce armor and the same hammers, claws, and swords. Not too sensible, but bearable. But not a damn thing - demons and mutants on such wanderers are melee-oriented, and in close combat break open this armor, holding artillery fire, if not as tin cans, close to it.

The brother yelled and whined and squeaked that they should at least give him scouts with bolt-guns instead of these coffins, to which they poked him with "Astartes Codex" and told him they couldn't, and that Macrag is so tough that he has nobody to send but terminators, for Christ's sake.

After swearing at the dumblocks and pissing on the exclusive venom and bile in his diary, the brother went to the Wanderer. A dozen hours later, the battered Inquisitor and a pair of wounded veterans made their way to the ship, pursued by warp-warped, hooting mutants. The other terminators, with their expensive armor, the wanderers' natives let them go for clubs, knives, and food.

As a result, the unexplored wanderer disappeared into the abysses of warp, the wanderers lost valuable equipment, brothers, and most importantly - the genetic material, the so-called "gene seed" formed by the mutant Astartes organism and allowing to mutate in Astartes for the next generations, without severe pathologies and mass deaths.

And, as the seed of this story, the Ultramarines "Mercifully forgave the civilian who caused so many brothers to die. Because the brothers acted according to the Code, and therefore died because of it."

And here are these kinds of types wanting to do me some kind of gift. On the other hand, though, Claudius didn't seem to be an idiot, I thought as I took the box from the attendant and curiously lifted the pad. On the pad was a metal skull, or rather the front half of it, and a spiky half-circle, a sort of arc like a halo around it. Some kind of relic, from the "Emperor will protect" series, I mentally chuckled, grasping the skull to examine it from all sides.

To my surprise, the "halo" not attached to the skull in any way rose after it and hung over it at the same distance, regardless of its position and waving.

- Never seen an individual void shield generator, Terentius? - he noticed my poking his finger into the gap between my skull and my "nimbus", Reductor.

- Admittedly, no," I answered honestly. - On titans, ships, heavy armored vehicles," I listed my descriptions, "yes, but I've never seen an individual one before.

- No wonder," Magos said. - The technology was lost during the heresy. It's true that the Adeptus Ministorum have made some kind of counterpart. They call them rosaries, they don't share the technology," Grudge could be heard in his emotionless voice. - But it's more of an ersatz, a reconfigured distortion field, not a hollow one. But you got a real rarity, which will undoubtedly serve you well.

- And how close is it to the fields of heavy equipment and how does it work? - I wondered, curious and even grateful to the ultramarines.

- Undoubtedly it will not hold back a titan or a ship shot, but it protects from hand weapons for a while, from firearms, energy and cold steel, as well as medium artillery, - the Reducer answered. - True, such specimens work for about five minutes continuously, then they accumulate energy for about twenty-four hours. Or pulses, but I think you get the order," to which I nodded. - It turns on by itself, protecting the life of the host. I couldn't reproduce the technology and understand it," he flashed his eyepiece greedily at my precious, which I moved away from the mechanodendrites out of harm's way.

- Must the armor be attached? - I asked.

- No, Inquisitor," replied Reductor, indifferently, but clearly saddened by the fact that they would not allow me to uncover the relic. - By the way," he visibly shook himself, "we must recalculate the parameters of your armor with this device," he gave out, plunged into the recalculation.