Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Trials

Fu Qinghai was assigned to an empty room next to Ogotai's, previously occupied by a fallen Space Marine. A private cabin was a high privilege on a starship, as most crew members shared quarters with two to four others.

Fu Qinghai was roused early by Ogotai.

In space, there was no concept of morning or night, but Fu Qinghai still felt like he hadn't slept enough. Bleary-eyed, he followed Ogotai through the bright, narrow crew corridors.

As they walked, Ogotai explained, "Under normal Legion procedures, hundreds of boys of the right age are selected by the Stormseers and undergo years of closed training at the Legion's fortress-monastery. Only the top performers are chosen as candidates for the ascension process."

Ogotai kept his eyes forward, his expression serious. "I'm not one to break rules or cut corners. Since there's no one to compete with you now, you must meet the standards of the top three candidates from the monastery. Only then will I allow you to undergo the ascension. And Magos Kurnos has a method for rapid organ cultivation. I won't give you two or three years."

"Within a year, you must meet the prerequisites for the transformation."

Fu Qinghai asked, "What if I don't meet them in a year?"

Ogotai turned his head and grinned darkly. "Then I'll give you an escape pod and throw you off the ship. You can fly back to Cheslatan."

Fu Qinghai swallowed hard. They were probably light-years away from Cheslatan by now. Going back in an escape pod? Yeah, right.

They arrived at a heavy door marked with hazard warnings.

Ogotai verified his identity, and the door slid open.

Inside was a massive steel cage, surrounded by various melee weapons and ranged firearms.

Ogotai shoved Fu Qinghai into the cage and pressed a few buttons on a control panel. The cage door slowly closed.

Ogotai said calmly, "Set to minimum intensity. Stop threshold: minor injury."

"Begin."

As soon as Ogotai finished speaking, a metal fist swung horizontally from Fu Qinghai's left.

"Bam!" Fu Qinghai was sent flying, crashing into the side of the cage before collapsing to the floor.

"Complete. Minor injury." A monotone electronic voice announced.

Fu Qinghai lay on the ground, groaning.

Ogotai smirked. "Too weak."

'''

In the mess hall, Ogotai and Fu Qinghai sat across from each other. Ogotai crossed his arms and stared at Fu Qinghai.

"Your stomach is still that of a normal human. You can't consume Space Marine rations, but eating more to build up energy reserves won't hurt."

Fu Qinghai looked up from a mountain of food, his face twisted in discomfort. "But I can't eat anymore. I'm stuffed."

"Keep eating. You stop when I say so," Ogotai said emotionlessly.

The nearby crew members occasionally glanced over, whispering among themselves.

"I really can't eat anymore. I'm about to throw up," Fu Qinghai pleaded.

"Bang!"

Ogotai slammed Fu Qinghai's face into the pile of food, making the plate and table shake.

'''

And so began the daily grind of brutal training.

The pre-ascension training focused more on physical conditioning and mental fortitude than skill development or tactical learning. After all, Space Marines had near-immortal lifespans. Once ascended, they had plenty of time to learn military skills.

But even with the focus on physical and mental conditioning, Ogotai's standards were grueling enough to push Fu Qinghai to his limits.

As the days and months of relentless training passed, Fu Qinghai lost track of time. The passage of days blurred, and his memories grew hazy. He almost forgot he was from Earth, that he was in the Reincarnation World.

The voice in his head hadn't spoken again.

Thanks to the advanced medical technology of the Warhammer universe and occasional attention from Magos Kurnos, no matter how badly Ogotai tortured Fu Qinghai one day, he would be fully recovered by the next. However, the memory of the pain remained, etched into his mind.

After a brief warp jump upon leaving Cheslatan's orbit, the starship had been traveling at sub-light speed through the vast emptiness of space. The monotonous journey gave Ogotai plenty of time to torment Fu Qinghai.

Each Legion had its own criteria for selecting Space Marine candidates. Some Legions favored deadly elimination games, while others set specific monstrous targets as tests.

Fu Qinghai could sense that Ogotai had his own obsessions. Recruiting new blood on the starship went against Imperial and Legion regulations, so Ogotai wanted Fu Qinghai to excel, to prove his judgment was sound.

Before he knew it, four months had passed.

'''

In the training cage, Fu Qinghai stood in the center, wearing only a pair of shorts. His body was covered in scars and bruises. He bent over, panting heavily.

"Beep—Low intensity, one hour, complete." The emotionless electronic voice echoed overhead.

Outside the cage, Ogotai watched the exhausted young man and smiled with satisfaction.

He hadn't told Fu Qinghai that the training cage was designed for Space Marines. Even at its lowest intensity, it was beyond what a normal human could endure.

Ordinary humans weren't allowed in the training cage. Even the top candidates from the monasteries hadn't trained in the cage before their ascension.

Ogotai hadn't intended to torture Fu Qinghai to death. The frigate simply lacked the specialized training facilities of a Legion monastery. He had to make do with what they had, and the training cage was the best option.

To his surprise, Fu Qinghai had endured.

The towering Taral appeared silently beside Ogotai, watching Fu Qinghai catch his breath in the cage.

"Magos Kurnos says he's ready. What about the boy? Is he ready?"

Ogotai chuckled. "He's doing well."

The burly man with the bowl cut continued, "The kid's baseline physical condition is good. No radiation contamination, no hidden injuries, no strange addictions."

"That's rare for a lower-hive kid."

Ogotai narrowed his eyes. "Most importantly, despite his usual cheeky attitude, he's endured all this training. His pain tolerance, his mental fortitude... I don't know what's going on in Locke's head, but I know something's driving him. Something I can't understand."

Taral shrugged. "Everyone who becomes a Space Marine has strong willpower."

Ogotai snorted. "He has other talents too. You'll see."

Meanwhile, Fu Qinghai, slumped in the training cage and gasping for air, couldn't hear the two men talking just a few meters away.

His black hair was damp with sweat, clinging to his forehead. His ears were ringing, and his mind was foggy, barely able to think. After enduring endless attacks from all directions, Fu Qinghai was nearly spent. This was his longest session yet.

After a long while, Fu Qinghai finally looked up at Ogotai outside the cage. Ogotai nodded, signaling that he could come out.

Fu Qinghai staggered to his feet and followed Ogotai out of the cage.

Four months of intense training had taken a toll on Fu Qinghai's body.

Every organ and part of the human body has a different lifespan. Overuse and excessive strain can lead to premature wear and tear.

Combat athletes and football players are more prone to dementia in their later years. Similarly, sprinters' knees, tennis players' elbows, and basketball players' ankles often suffer.

But neither Ogotai nor Fu Qinghai were worried about this. Once the ascension process began, these issues would be resolved.

The transformation into a Space Marine wasn't just about implanting gene-seed organs.

Artificial organ modification had existed since the Age of Strife on Terra, when uncontrolled genetic engineering ran rampant, creating all sorts of modified warriors who fought fiercely on Earth.

Yet it was the Emperor and his Thunder Warriors—the unstable precursors to Space Marines—who ultimately unified Terra.

It was said that the genetic engineering behind the Space Marines came from a deal between the Emperor and the Chaos Gods, rather than pure technological innovation.

And legend had it that the Emperor had tricked the Chaos Gods. No one knew what the Emperor had promised them, but he hadn't kept his word. In retaliation, the Chaos Gods scattered the twenty Primarchs across the galaxy.

But that's a story for another time.

The point is: the transformation into a Space Marine is different from ordinary augmentation. In a sense, it truly is an elevation to a higher form of life.

'''

In a dim, cramped cabin, a table and two chairs were set up.

Fu Qinghai sat two meters away from the table, while Ogotai and Taral sat across from him.

"Ahem..." Taral cleared his throat. "Under normal procedures, this would be conducted by officials from the Departmento Munitorum. But we..."

Ogotai cut him off with a wave of his hand. "No need for formalities. I'm not interested in your life in the lower hive, Locke. I only have one question for you."

"Why do you know about the White Scars' internal rebellion?" Ogotai's piercing gaze locked onto Fu Qinghai's eyes.

Fu Qinghai thought, 'Here it comes.'

The White Scars' internal strife was known throughout the Legion. The expedition fleet included not only Imperial crew members but also Remembrancers. These civilians didn't understand military discipline or confidentiality protocols, but that didn't mean the rebellion was common knowledge.

Communication in the Warhammer 40K universe was difficult at the best of times. Even the Space Marine Legions relied on fragmented messages from Astropaths. How could a lower-hive kid like Locke have access to astropathic communication? Especially after Horus' rebellion, when the Chaos Gods stirred up warp storms, cutting off most astropathic communication across the galaxy.

When his earlier attempt to bluff Ogotai had failed, Fu Qinghai knew the Space Marine would eventually press him for the source of his information. He just hadn't expected Ogotai to wait this long.

Fu Qinghai took a deep breath and said, "I saw it in a dream."

"A dream?" Ogotai and Taral asked in unison. They clearly hadn't expected this answer.

"Yes. Whether you believe me or not, I saw it in a dream, and I firmly believe what I saw."

'Just make it up as you go. Whether they believe it or not is their problem.'

Ogotai and Taral exchanged a glance, their expressions thoughtful. 'A psyker?'

Both men thought of this possibility. There were many types of psykers, and precognition was a major category.

Ogotai said sternly, "Kid, you'd better be honest. No tricks. This determines whether you can undergo the ascension."

Fu Qinghai shrugged, leaning back in his chair, and said nothing.

"Precognition involves seeing fragments of the future. Do you think this counts as precognition?" Taral asked, tilting his head.

"If he's a psyker, things get more complicated... involving the Black Ships, Scholastica Psykana, Legion Librarius..." Taral muttered to himself.

"..." Ogotai understood what Taral was getting at. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Did our Navigator say anything when Locke came aboard?"

Taral replied, "That's what I was going to say. If Locke had psychic potential, Vanriel would've spoken up."

Ogotai asked, "Could it be because he's just a Navigator apprentice, so he couldn't tell?"

"Who knows," Taral said with a shrug.

Due to the warp storms, the Navigator hadn't been of much use lately, forcing the 'Shortsword' to travel at sub-light speed.

Humanity's communication and travel were heavily reliant on the warp. Psykers were humans mutated to channel warp energy. While most psykers were feared and shunned for being dangerous and uncontrollable, two types were exceptions: Astropaths, who facilitated communication across the Imperium, and Navigators, who used their third eye to see the Astronomican's light and guide ships through the treacherous warp.

As the two men discussed this in front of him, Fu Qinghai remained silent.

One lie required a hundred more to cover it. The more he spoke, the more mistakes he'd make.

The history of the White Scars came from novels he'd read in his past life. For this life's version of himself, it was like a dream. Saying he saw it in a dream wasn't entirely false.

After some discussion and a few more questions about Fu Qinghai's "dream," Ogotai made his decision.

"Never mind those bureaucratic institutions. We don't even know if Locke has psychic potential. The kid's one of us now. We'll deal with the psyker stuff when we reunite with Yesugei."

And so, this rudimentary political screening came to an end.

*****

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