#schola progenium

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

Can Guardsmen become Commissars?, provided they pass the hypothetical general vibe check and subsequent gruelling training. Or is it "Once a Guardsmen, always a Guardsmen"?

You have to go through the Schola Progenium to become a Commissar. You only get to go through the Schola Progenium if you're the orphaned child of an imperial officer/official. A guardsman would be too old and not indoctrinated enough.

[cripitique]

Why hasn't GW created a warhammer 40k cookbook yet

Come on show us the good slide of life stuff (actual slice of life, not the slice of life)

Update:

I remember someone saying a slice of life plot in Schola Progenium should have all the high school anime cliches and I'm all for it

[plasmometer]

i have got to know more about louise, who is this little, big hat wearing, shy with women, troublemaker?

louise is my rogue trader from the hit game rogue trader by owlcat (super ultra recommended)

shewas born on board of a huge ship and was soon taken to the schola progenium following some unfortunate events.

they tried to knock the silly out of her here, but it only got worse. they tried to knock the silly out of her in the navy, but it only got worse. now guess what happened in commoragh.

louise is not evil, she just likes cruel jokes a bit too much, and has no sense of hierarchy. she values her freedom above everything and does things just to test the boundaries of her freedom.

i have more in her tag

[nerdnproud]

Emilia Brey. Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos.

This is a kitbashed model I've been planning and slowly accumulating parts to build for almost a year. Pretty happy with how she turned out.

As a student at the Schola Progenium, she was selected to become a Novitiate for the Sisters of Battle. The angelic Seraphim in particular caught her eye, and she wished to prove herself to be worthy of such an honor. She would not get the chance however.

While on route back from a training mission, their shuttle was attacked by Drukhari raiders. The elves slaughtered many, including their Superior, and took the rest captive. Emilia stepped into a leadership role and kept the faith of the survivors strong. She began to hatch a plan to seized control of the alien ship and get back to safety. The Dark Elves had entered back into real space to target another ship, and that was when Emilia and the few other Novitiates struck. While only managing to subdue one of the xenos together, they caused enough of a distraction from the fight that they couldn't focus on the fighting happening both within and outside their vessel. The Drukhari did not last long once boarding parties of Imperial guardsmen were sent over. There, they found the Novitiates and brought them back to meet with their commander, Lord Inquisitor Antonius Treth. Antonius was surprised by the Novitiates for surviving a Drukhari raid, and especially with Emilia and her tenacity and unwillingness to lose faith in the Emperor. He took her under his wing, training her to become an Inquistor.

After becoming an Inquisitor in her own right, Emilia Brey took command of a Deathwatch Watch Fortress. While she reveres the God-Emperor, she finds his creations, the Space Marines to be nothing more than a blunt tool. Something to use with little care for it's maintenance. She also gained the allegiance of a Mission of Battle Sisters from the Order of the Sacred Rose. A force that she is much more cautious with sending into danger when compared to the Deathwatch, while also trusting them far more with high priority missions.

Emilia Brey had a few decades of purging Xenos scum under her belt when Antonius reached out to her and instructed her to escort the Archmagos Invictorix to a planet infested with orks where reports of an STC had arrived from. With the help of the Adeptus Mechanicus, they kept the green tide at bay while searching.

Once they brought the STC on board, it all seemed normal until they attempted Warp travel. The STC began almost screaming, the ship systems were going back and forth and their readings. Eventually, the STC disappeared with a loud pop and their ships blinked back into real space. But their chronometers indicated they were now hundreds of years from when they were. Cadia had fallen. The Great Rift had torn the galaxy apart. They had arrived to see the galaxy even more war-torn and struggling to survive.

Once Emilia had a chance to get caught up on the events thst had played out while they were in the Warp, she decided to try and find a way through the Rift and to the Imperial Worlds that have been cut off from the Emperor's guiding light. That is where she is now, skirting the edges of the Great Rift. Searching for a secure path through and purging any xebos or heretics she encounters along the way.

[thisuserislilsilly]

Summary: A Sanguinala, Cardrean Penal Legion style.

Genre: Drama/fluff/wholesome/angst/Romantic tension/Bit of smut

TW: Foul language, blood, angst, wholesome, bittersweet, smut

Pairing: Commissar Gallius x Dormath(?) and Cardrean Penal Regiment (found family dynamic)

Note: I well try to cram some holidays special for my lovelies, pray Santa gifts me with writer inspiration

Goblin tag squad: @meervalv0 @echo-of-damnation @artemisareia

@finchly-tintinnabulation @cardinalcanis @jaghatai-khock

@druidwolf21

Drunken monologues

The commissar exhaled exasperatedly at the impatience of his troops, they hadn't waited for even the slightest order before the shuttles had opened and Cardrean had welcomed it's lost sons and daughters back just in time for Sanguinala. Days of coordination and orderly practices for that anxiously awaited moment had been thrown out of the window as soon as the regiment guardsmen had seen a fraction of their homes and Hive cities. No threat or yelled orders could had ever deterred their hearts and minds from disconnecting completely from their usual otherwise obedient forms.

Dormath, who had been standing by the sidelines with the widest shit-eating grin on his face, made his best attempts to calm his superior down, reminding him of the fact most of those guardsmen had barely touched their native planet in over a decade or more, like him; if Gallius had gotten over their fights and discussions over the most inconsequential things, he could more than well cut them some slack for behaving the way they had done as soon as they disembarked. In addition, just to throw more persuasion over at Gallius, the second in command reassured his superior that he would personally oversee the troops to reunite in a spot of the city they wouldn't turn into a mess once they left the planet and a cozy place to keep everyone in, reducing the chances some High Axe would randomly get in trouble at the other side of the Hive World with no possibility for Gallius to convince local Arbites to not shoot the Axe on sight. Groaning at how keen Dormath had used his words, Gallius made the commander swear three times upon his honor and his family's name that everything would go exactly as Dormath had told him; sighing and chuckling, the Cardrean made all the swears and promises, even offering his badges as a token of confidence in case Gallius needed more reassurance and then; with one slip of the finger an a salute, Dormath disappeared between the crowd of people passing all over the ship bay.

After saying a temporary farewell, Gallius went on foot to the only church in Cardrean, a semi-destroyed structure, corroded by years of constant shootouts happening all around and inside of it, there were some holes on the walls being worked on by servitors at the moment the commissar entered the holy building, the air smelled of gun smoke and the distinctive aroma of disintegrated flesh product of plasma shots, a mixture of odors far too familiar for the officer who paid no mind to it. At the feet of one of the shrines dedicated to Yumer Ishmel, the best Planetary Governor Cardrean had ever witnessed, Gallius took off his service hat, pulled back a few strands of hair and grabbed the pendant in which hanged a silver heart with a photo inside of it. His wife and child. The commissar sighed, how many years would that kid had if it wasn't for what had befallen them, how intelligent they would be and the remarkable student for the Schola Progenium the universe had missed out on. Gallius yearned for the touch of his late wife, specially in those holidays like Sanguinala represented; with talks of friendship and family all around people's mouth. He kissed the picture gently, letting a few tears roll down his cheek before tugging the photo close to his chest and beginning his prayer.

"I know it has been some time I haven't talked to you..." Gallius whispered, sniffing "But hey, I'm still alive honey...the Cardreans haven't been annihilated yet so I guess I have been doing my duty well. These days are the worst, like the year before this and the one before that one....I miss you and the kid...I miss you both still, there is not a day where I don't think of what we had and what could be if only....if only you two were here. It's not all bad news...I know I tend to say those first and spend more time detailing those that the ones you actually wanted to hear...but I've...met someone...got closer to them if I'm being honest; Dormath, remember him? The one that always wrote you about my health and if you could make me go soft on the regiment...that one...I've grown more than fond of him, too much, to the point some thoughts have been...troubling my mind lately"

The commissar wiped some sweat off from his forehead, he hadn't been this nervous since his final tests to become an officer of the Imperium, yet this felt much more complicated to even put into words. He perfectly understood there was nobody there, that the picture wouldn't spring to life or that there was anyone listening to his prayer, yet he endured; he had to get that off from his chest.

"I know you will laugh at this, probably tell me I'm that fool you fell in love with talking right now...but I wanted to ask you if you could forgive me...for loving him; for wanting to be with him. Our marriage vows said we would be together forever...but now there is someone else here I want...need to share with; I love you too, I always will...but you said I needed to continue on living and-" Gallius stuttered, looking down at the photo again and closing his eyes as he clenched his fist to not be overwhelmed by his emotions "And he...he's the one...I can go on with..."

Gallius stopped, hearing the echoes of distant hymns and Sanguinala carols that were beginning to fill the dirty streets of the Hive City; it was the sign he had spent too long reminiscing about the past and that his prayer had to be cut short. Sniffing into a handkerchief with the Imperial Aquila on it, the commissar blew all of what he had inside of his nostrils into the cloth, that then he proceeded to fold and throw away in one of the servitors close to the exit; he then turned one last time to look back at the statue of the Saint, nodded and walked down the busy streets towards the place where he had told Dormath he would wait him in.

The walk was a good excuse to glance around and see what changes Cardrean suffered on those holidays; which much to Gallius amusement it was not too much, the streets were still infested with drunkards that stumbled from door to door singing carols into the night, Arbites and soldiers alike got together to play a few rounds of the popular local game "Fool's roulette", consisting in passing around a blank gun and either accepting a challenge or telling one embarrassing truth, otherwise you tested luck with the gun to see if you hut yourself with a blank or the other option being there was nothing in the chamber of the gun; there were still bets being wagered on who would last longer in the Penal Legion, some soldiers testing the "fresh bloods" by giving them the beating of their lives to see if they would complain or not, Eternal Sisters making their rounds either returning kids to their homes or stealing little girls to recruit for their gang and, the most mundane thing Gallius could find before arriving at his intended destination. families putting the last decorations under their apartments rows or single floor rooms. That sight brought a tiny smile onto the commissar countenance, for a moment seeing part of his past life reflected in those little families and children so vigorously helping their parents.

The sound of guitars tuning, gangs speaking with each other in sensible tones of voice and mumbling between each other welcomed Gallius back to the people he knew the most; some crude decorations had been posted on the front of the city row that had been assigned to the regiment, with a single light sign that said "958TH" dangling in a very precarious position that the commissar knew it wouldn't last all night hanging there. Cheers received him, people patting the man in the back or saluting respectfully, not many mingled with Gallius at first, as the liquor hadn't kicked in any of the men boldness yet to have casual conversations with his superior, although that wouldn't last forever. They all formed a circle, moving chairs around and taking over the space they were inhabiting, making it theirs completely, with bodily fluids spreading everywhere being pat of that deal. A big, messy, loud, violent, crazy family with all sorts of types of stories, lives and relationships between each other.

"Well? What are you all waiting for opening the Amasec?!?!" Gallius beckoned, receiving hurrah's in response "Let's get this party started, Cardreans!!!!"

With his encouragement, the party began; the first drinks were passed around, a few games were played, some fights were made, people were already crying and laughing together, the whole regiment was present in the same room, enjoying each other's company, forgetting the horrors they had witnessed and the nightmares that kept them awake every single day. This was the only night were the commissar was just like one of the men, drinking, playing, fighting and laughing until his stomach hurt, he took care of his own clothes and washed them with his own hands, he ate with his own hands and he even played a few rounds of "Fool's roulette". Dormath had to come up behind him at some point and give him a piece of advice about what he should do if someone betted a dare he couldn't handle, something the commissar took in good faith and even joked about it.

Everything was going well, people were having the time of their lives, some were even already sleeping on the floor, others taking pictures and sending them to their families or loved ones, the place was slowly getting filled by the aroma of food being cooked in the back, Gallius even got up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen to see how things were coming along, he saw the food cooking away on the huge pot the regiment used for those occasions and smiled, he took a plate and loaded some of that delicious smelling food on it.

"Hey, don't eat everything, I'll go get my own plate!" Dormath joked, pushing the commissar away from the pot and towards the dining area. "What are you doing? I'm hungry…" Gallius giggled, drunkenly following the other man, sitting on his designated spot, which was next to Dormath, something he hadn't even noticed at first. "Today you aren't getting the special treatment sir, you're one of us, so you fucking eat like one of us!" Dormath joked around, pushing the officer to the side "And like one of you I get to flirt with whoever I want?" Gallius smirked, getting some reactions from everyone around "Sir, the kissing under the mistletoe already happened sir, I don't think Dormath here could handle another one" Kell chimed in, trying not to laugh at his own joke "I wouldn't mind" Dormath shrugged, causing everyone around to start cheering at him

Gallius just rolled his eyes, laughing at the comment as he dug into his food, stealing glances at Dormath from time to time and smiling when the other man would look back at him. He wasn't too sure if the other soldiers were making fun of them or genuinely thinking that something was going on, but whatever the case might be, the commissar didn't mind it. There was something nice about it, knowing people knew about how he felt and that he wasn't keeping it a secret anymore. The prayer had helped a hell of a lot with his confidence while the amasec had done it's thing to encourage his reckless behavior.

The dinner went on as any other, with jokes being told, insults being thrown and food flying from one side of the table to the other; Gallius was happy, truly happy, for the first time in many years. That feeling got to a boiling point when someone threw a joke about the commissar having feelings for Dormath, something that Gallius responded with a smirk and an "I'll tell you about it tomorrow"; causing his second in command to bury his head on his jacket out of embarrassment, making everyone laugh at the scene. The night was progressing and the amasec was now being shared with everyone that wanted a taste of it.

"Hey…Gallius…" Dormath mumbled, his voice weak and barely audible above the music, the noise, the conversations and the laughter around them "Hm?" The other man looked up, seeing his officer in a very peculiar state of mind, something that made his stomach flutter in excitement "What does my loyal soldier need from me?" "We can go later to your quarters…yeah?" Dormath drunken mumble got a laugh out of the commissar "My dear officer, you can't even stand on your feet, I doubt you'll be able to do anything if we get there" Gallius responded, caressing Dormath's cheek and feeling the heat emanating from him "Then let me stay in your room tonight…we can talk more there…" Dormath muttered, laying his head on the other man's shoulder "Sure…we can talk more about this later…" Gallius said, smiling as he kissed Dormath's forehead

The two men were interrupted by a few comments from the men around them, some saying "Don't fuck in front of us, take it somewhere else!", "Get a room!" or "Hey, save it for the bedroom, you two!". The commissar responded by saying a middle finger and taking a sip of his drink, Dormath was too intoxicated to respond, or even know what was happening, only that his head was on top of the man he loved and that he was tired. The two remained like that for a while, Gallius talking with everyone else, drinking and laughing, while Dormath tried to hold on to consciousness, only failing at that every now and then, getting a kiss from the commissar whenever that happened.

The party went on, people slowly taking it easier, with the music starting to brew up again from the mumbling mouths of the musicians, who now abandoned the most known Imperial carols and instead going with local lyrics.

"Oh mother, you who taught me everything I watch the lights up above and I think of you Those wonderful days under your warm arms I saw the crammed room, at first, the one that welcomed me home It came the beauty of the fire, taking my hand and showing How the world could be fine, could be beautiful like it My brothers and sisters on the Hives, who await for my arrival I ask for forgiveness, as we lay up here Hugged in warmth, with our souls resting at last I love you all, my friends, but I must return to war We'll see each other where the roads cross under the sun This I promise you, for all that we've been through Goodbye, at last, earth, who loved me whole"

The lyrics were nothing short of an ode to Cardrean and everything the planet had given to the regiment, but it was the perfect time for Gallius to say goodbye and get up from his seat, with a few people noticing it. He didn't say anything, just waved at them and left; he carried Dormath in his back towards his quarters, with a few whistles being heard behind him, something that got a smile out of him.

Dormath woke up soon after he had been laid on the bed, extending his arms out to Gallius while giggling drunkenly; the commissar just smiled at the display and decided to play along, giving his officer a kiss on the forehead and pulling him into a hug.

"You're…a very good person, Gallius" Dormath slurred, looking up at the commissar, eyes half closed "And you are an excellent soldier…the best I could have ever wished for" Gallius whispered, stroking his lover's clean shaven head "You promised…some…action…hmm?" Dormath cheeks flushed red "I…I can still be awake for a couple more minutes…heheh" Gallius took the little clothes he still had on him and slipped on the bed, smirking at Dormath who already looked at the commissar with the fire of desire in his eyes. Gallius moved closer, pulling Dormath by his shoulders and placing him on his lap, getting a moan out of the other man. The commissar kissed Dormath very roughly, biting his lips and pushing his tongue inside the officer's mouth, tasting everything he could in that heated embrace; Gallius started to caress Dormath's back, making his way to his shoulders and chest, where he stopped and began to grope and squeeze at his muscles and joints careful to not touch the switches of Dormath augmented arms, which made the officer whimper loudly into the kiss.

The commissar moved one of his hands down to the officer's crotch, unbuckling his pants and releasing the officer's member, stroking it in a rush to get a reaction out of the other man. Gallius let go of the kiss, now focusing on kissing Dormath's neck, getting a moan out of him when the officer felt Gallius bite him and leaving a mark there, a very rough mark that wouldn't disappear easily. Gallius stopped for a moment, seeing the other man's reaction; Dormath was breathing heavily, sweating profusely, with eyes closed and a smile on his face, he looked absolutely delicious like that. The commissar didn't want to wait any longer and took off his shirt, letting Dormath admire the view; the officer tried to reach out for Gallius body, but his arms failed him, so the other man did it for him, pulling Dormath in a hug and laying him down on the bed, beginning to lick his body from head to toe, leaving no part of him untouched.

Dormath couldn't take it anymore, he was burning up, his mind was racing and he felt like he could pass out at any time, yet he endured, whimpered for every little rough touch Gallius could give him, the officer desired that more than anything, the imposing hands exploring his most intimate parts, the mouth that gave no quarter to his body sucking it dry, the cock making its way into him, stretching his insides as much as it could.

The pleasure was almost too much for the officer to handle, he could barely move or form coherent words, only managing to moan and whimper when Gallius did something he really liked, that combined with the commissar's cock entering him again and again, made for an explosive cocktail. Gallius himself was going at it, the liquor made him feel very lustful and the rough treatment didn't seem to stop anytime soon, his thrusts became more powerful by the minute, Dormath's moans encouraging him to keep going, to push as far as he could go, to make the other man go crazy with his rough touches, kisses and bites.

The two were in heaven, or hell depending on the point of view from their unique form of "pleasure", the whole world forgotten, they had each other to satisfy their needs and nobody else mattered, not even the regiment itself. This kept going until both men couldn't hold it anymore, they came at the same time, Dormath's cock exploding its juices all over the place while Gallius filled up his partner once more, moaning loudly as he did. The two stayed like that for a couple of seconds before Gallius pulled out of Dormath, who whined at the sudden emptiness inside him.

The two panted, trying to catch their breaths, their minds slowly returning to earth from the high of pleasure they had reached, the two looked at each other for a moment, smiling and laughing at what they had done; later came the aftercare, with Dormath cuddling up to Gallius chest and the commissar caressing his head, gently. The officer fell asleep rather quickly, leaving the commissar alone with his thoughts, groggy as they were by the amount of amasec both of them had in the party, but there was one thing he still needed to do.

Gallius got out from the bed carefully, trying not to wake Dormath up as he dressed himself, put on his boots and went out for a smoke; the officer had woken up briefly, but he couldn't do anything except watch the man he loved go away. The cold outside hit Gallius face like a ton of bricks, it was nothing compared to the hot atmosphere inside his room, certainly not the temperatures he had endured on his native Agri-World as well. The commissar walked towards one of the balconies on the side of the building, where he took out his pack of cigarettes, lighting one up and taking a puff out of it. He looked down at the city, seeing all the lights and the people walking around, going home with their families.

"Gallius…?" Dormath yawned, hugging the man from behind "Are you okay?" "Yeah…just…needed some fresh air" Gallius whispered, smiling as he felt the other man's hug "And a smoke" "Can I have one?" Dormath asked, giving the other man puppy eyes over his shoulder "Here" The commissar placed the cigarette on the other's lips "Can't we stay in here until festivities are over?" Dormath exhaled some smoke that dissipated into the city below "No...no I could only afford to insubordinate for one day" Gallius giggled faintly "The warmaster got all furious on me for it" "What a fucking-" "Hey, language" The commissar looked over his shoulder and smirked "I was just going to praise his huge chest and manly features" Dormath replied with all the sarcasm he could muster at the moment

There was a moment of silence, then the gentle snoring of Dormath told the commissar the man had finally given up on his own tiredness; Gallius gently retrieved the cigarette and gave it another few inhalations before snuffing it out on the handrail and throwing it to the ground, carefully shifting in place to carry the officer sleepy form back to bed and lay next to him. There, he intertwined their legs together and closed his eyes too, letting slumber take him away. For once, Sanguinala had tasted as sweetly as it had been all those years ago with his first family.

"First" family, the commissar subconsciously smiled at the implications of that.

[cawyden-gaming]

Hey! Another OC question if its okay - what was Venria’s upbrining as a kid, and how did she discovered her abilities?

Hi, yes of course, it's a pleasure, thank you for asking ❤️

Venria was born as Venria van Maynard on the voidship where her father served the imperial navy as Lord Captain. The van Maynards came from a long line of navy officers, although due to the war heavily decimated until only Venria and her family remained.

Her older brother died one day during an attack and this is when her father decided to relocate his remaining family (to secure the few who were still existing of the von Maynards) to the fortress planet Wrath in the Segmentum Ultima, Sector Jericho Reach while he would continue his duty on board. Venria was 10 at this point.

With her younger brother Tiberius and a close friend who came from the schola progenium, she was visiting the naval academy. It was a good life for her, although she hardly ever saw her father. She was different then too - confident, often smiling and always looking for a challenge.

One day, she was 15, she led Tiberius and their friend Refijel (for whom she had developed romantic feelings but hadn't told him yet) to a search across the float (ghetto-like settlements on the shore of the single islands on Wrath, consisting of rough floating platforms and lashed-together boats) for a disappearing pupil from their academy.

What she did not anticipate was stumbling into a nest of cultists in the middle of conjuring a daemon with the missing pupil as a sacrifice. A fight broke out and this is when her powers emerged, saving her life when she was about to drown in the ice-cold water. She saw a vague form above her and in her mind called for help and the telepathic command forced the cultist to pull her out of the water.

It ended with Tiberius heavily injured and Refijel dead.

She heavily blames herself for what happened, leading Tiberius and Refijel to their doom. She also shot an inflammable container above the cultists to end them without regard for herself and her brother and friend. She often asks herself why she didn't hesitate and tried to find another way.

She got lucky though, as Wrath also contained a safe house for the Inquisition and an Inquisitor was already investigating the cult and got curious about her. She still doesn't know what potential he saw in her, but he was the reason she did not have to spend too much time in prison (psyker ward) and was spared the black ship. She was sedated and woke up in a secret training facility for psykers on a different planet and from there, after surviving, she was taken into the retinue of another Inquisitor as an acolyte.

But it was her mistake, not the psyker powers that led to this, which is why she does not see them as a curse but as an opportunity to do good to find some salvation.

She never saw her family again and her family name was changed to Aldor-Lexis.

Thank you again, that was fun 💜

[noir-raven]

Inquisitor Orion - The Farmer's Son

With the release of the Imperial Agents codex, i figured it was time to post my old Inquisition team from the old fan game Inquisimunda. Here's hoping the have a new life with the new codex! I'll be posting them over the next couple days.

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Orion was built and converted by me, but painted by a friend who i sadly no longer am in contact with - I'll put a similar disclaimer on models I own but did not paint.

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Orion is a young, puritan Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos, specializing in the Tau. Born on an Agri World in the Ultima sector, he made a name for himself as a guardsman, and managed to work his way up into the regimental command squad of the Tzardoma 9th regiment.

During a joint operation with Inquisitor Sigrid, she selected him personally to join her retinue, and after serving with her for a few decades, she promoted him to be an interrogator. Eventually, once Sigrid was granted the name of Lord Inquisitor, he was elevated to an inquisitor himself.

He a master when it comes to the Tau, and while they are not considered the greatest of threats to the Imperium, he prides himself on his libraries of knowledge on the various races that the Tau have allied themselves with.

As an Inquisitor, Orion takes a very personal, respectful stance towards his agents. He is known to join them for their dinners, or share bottles of his Amasec with them. Spending their time exchanging stories of their battles and lives before he recruited them.

He disregards the Schola Progenium largely - as much as they produce fine recruits for an inquisitorial group, He finds true veterancy to be prefered. His recruits stretch from noble born men like a pair of brothers known as The Twins, to underhive gangers who lived lives of crime and violence, such as the disgraced Stane.

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So that's Orion. To be honest, I may remake his model. I'm not happy with how he's clearly a space marine (rather than a human in power armour.) I am already considering converting up an older, more radical Inquisitor Orion. Particularly aiming to have him be less space-marine-y.

[archdrukhari]

Another character of mine, the Imperium commissar Deidra Righan. This is one of her sparring sessions at the Schola Progenium.

Day 19. Fury

If you will not serve in combat, then you will serve on the firing line.

She hails from an Imperium death world. She was orphaned and sent to the Schola Progenium. Deidra could have become one of the Adepta Sororitas, but was eventually assigned to the Officio Prefectus.

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Imagine there is a public service announcement before the heresy telling all parents to keep an eye on their kids or else it'll get kidnapped by a child stealing monsters who just loves children and raised them

"Imperial citizens! It is that time of the year again. The Child Snatchers are migrating and looking for new victims! Keep an eye out on your children and report any suspect looking individuals! If you don't want your kids anymore, send them to the Schola Progenium like a normal person! This PSA was sponsored by the Imperium of Man and Malcador the Sigilite."

[matrim-cauthons-hat]

Why should space marines have all the lightning claw and dedicated melee squad fun? presenting the assault scions of the Tobruskan 501st, the sort of madmen that only the schola progenium could predouce, ready to charge everything from traitor space marines to tyranids to try and give them a Spicy Slap, or at the very least put a mass reactive round in them before dying horribly

[sortyourlifeoutmate]

Today's random 40k snippet that popped into my head and I jotted down just-so happens to be:

“You serve the Emperor by dying, you do not serve the Emperor by getting killed!” One of the many things drummed into Commissars at the Schola Progenium was the ability to differentiate between these two things. It was the sort of subtle distinction those of lesser faith might fail to properly grasp.

Quite like that one.

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

What do you think dodgeball is like in the Schola Progenium?

If it's anything like rugby in the Schola Progenium, then the answer is "something you really don't want to play against Sororitas".

[vossn]

1, 7, and 22 for the RT asks

1. Where are they from? What is their homeworld like? Do they miss it?

Taidia is a relatively small Forge World, and as such it isn't quite as heavily moderated and thoroughly planned as some others (looking at you, Kathekt Nullis by @definitely-not-iorveth and the weird Genetor shenanigans going on there). It mainly manufactures projectile weaponry. Life there as a worker is the same punishing shift-cycle as basically everywhere in the Imperium, he was just lucky to not be in a part of the factory and living quarters with too many fumes or accidents.

He doesn't really miss it. He misses the people and the memories, but there's nothing for him to return to. Besides, he's now accustomed to a life on voidships, camps and wide open spaces, so the cramped alleyways have lost their charms.

He has a tattoo of Taidia's planet symbol though, mainly to cover up the symbols factory workers were permanently marked with.

7. Was there a defining moment in their life that influenced their Conviction?

The Schola Progenium: The Schola raised him to be a hardcore dogmatic, and that was that. It was an effective and strict brainwashing, and by the time he was done there was no spark of defiance left in him.

The Mutiny: First doubts began to bloom in his conscience after the death of the Lord Commissar Mayrie. Beforehand, he'd been taught that only heretics have doubts, but she was an intelligent woman who had always put the most logical course of action before all else - so why? Secretly, he still wishes he'd been on her side back then. His more Iconoclast views were born out of the crisis that followed her death. His work stance afterwards becomes "Do as I say, not as I do."

Becoming Rogue Trader: Not a change in conviction, but a change in the power he wields. He is now a weird Dogmatic/Iconoclast mix who doesn't really believe in either because he doesn't know what to believe in, but still enforces what he's been taught - because what else is there to do?

22. Do they have any augmentations? Were these installed out of necessity, or as a cosmetic choice?

Chest/neck: He has multiple interlocked plates covering the front of his torso and his neck, because post-factory accident he was so badly burned and so much of his inner workings exposed that they had to seal him back up like a tin-can, and vat-skin would not have done the job. Medical necessity.

Eye: His eye augment is a red glass disc (or rather, multiple rings forming one complete circle) surrounded by a metal ring that can be rotated to adjust lense and zoom. It wasn't strictly necessary, but the Commissariat deemed that for a sniper it would be nice to have two functioning eyes again. His augment is Mechanicus craft specifically fitted for sniping, thus the rotating lens. It is made to either attach to or replace a scope, and has some extra readings and features useful for the profession.

Nose: A metal plate over the bridge of his nose. It could have healed by itself given enough rest and maybe some correction to avoid breathing issues, but there wasn't enough time in the Schola, where a broken nose was regular business, so this was the way it went.

Leg: Only post-Commorragh. His leg got fucked up in the mutiny, and after the way down the corpse chute and breaking it a second time, there is just no way to heal it correctly. The core of the prosthetic is necessary, but it has an outer shell that is more cosmetic with the purpose to have roughly the shape of the functioning leg, to make the contrast less stark.

Thank you Finn <3

[plasmometer]

Rt ask game, 1 and 12!

1. Where are they from? What is their homeworld like? Do they miss it?

Louise was raised at Schola Progenium, so she doesn't know where she did come from. She was beaten up A LOT here, especially on the head - a part of the reason why she is like that. Louise doesn't miss Schola and probably wants to blow up the place.

12. Who amongst their retinue do they clash with the most?

By the quantity? Marazhai, but it is a fun game for both of them. By the quality? Heinrix. When he left her ship, Louise actually came up with a master plan. On ther way to Epitaph, she became close with Calligos, and through the careful words convinced him to slightly change his style. When Calligos and Heinrix saw each other and realised that they look the same, Louise nearly died of laughter. And then she fucking killed him and took his skull. It serves as a mug holder to this day

[remembrancerlexandrosschreik]

I just realized I didn't post these two yet. Behold, Inquisitor Katarin Criona, as well as her sanctioned Eldar "confidante" who just so happens to have the same last name, Katarin definitely didn't pull a fanon Guilliman and end up in a committed relationship with an Eldar. I post this today as a way to say Happy International Lesbian day.

By this, I mean she totally did and is only saying she isn't because, well, heresy.

I do actually have a nice bit of backstory written for them. You will likely remember Inquisitor Criona's more foundational lore from Luka's lore stuff. She is essentially a genetically distinctive clone of Luka who he treated as a daughter and then secreted away to the Schola Progenium when she displayed Inquisitor-grade psyker abilities and control over them, got instated as an Inquisitor, etc. Etc.

What I wish to discuss here is how Inquisitor Criona managed to find her way to having her most trusted member of her retinue be a sanctioned Eldar named Telbrae.

Inquisitor Criona hadn't meant to come across Telbrae, she hadn't even been aware there were any Aeldari on the world she had been staging an infiltration mission to destroy a warband of Slaanesh worshipping Night Lords known by the title of "The Children of the Masque", where she and her retinue uncovered a large amount of non-corrupted prisoners, most of which human, but the one in the most visibly worst condition being an Eldar of the Ynnari.

This Eldar was Telbrae, who had been taken prisoner and was being planned to be used as a sacrifice by the warband before Inquisitor Criona had found her.

Telbrae was so genuinely broken mentally by the torture she had suffered under the warband that, even though she knew the likelihood of an inquisitor returning such a favor, she made the immediate decision to repay this mon-keigh for saving her life.

Inquisitor Criona, being a member of the Ordo Malleus, didn't particularly despise the Aeldari, and simply had her retinue to open the cells and let the prisoners escape, saying they'll sort through them to see who needs or needn't be purged once they destroy the source of the corruption.

While most of the prisoners fled, Telbrae limped her way to the Inquisitor's vessel and raided a medical kit, using it to tend her wounds, before picking up whatever weapons she could find, and then making her way back to the Night Lord stronghold.

During the battle, Criona and her retinue were mostly successful, but as they approached the end of the battle, the warband began to push back and maim her forces, her Astartes retinue being gravely wounded, with them only managing to survive due to a sudden surprise attack as the champion of the warband being stabbed from behind, his mouth sputtering blood, and collapsing, revealing Telbrae wielding a bit of acquired Eldar tech Luka had gifted his daughter, a Harlequin's Kiss.

Telbrae then proceeded to collapse on her face from exhaustion, and awoke on Inquisitor Criona's flagship in the medical ward, with an Inquisitorial Rosette brand beside her. As she stirred, she discovered Criona behind her, where Criona told her what options she had. Either join her, where Criona would have to brand her with and make her a sanctioned xeno, where Telbrae would essentially become her servant, or be killed as there wasn't much way to secret an Eldar out of the ship.

Telbrae, upon analyzing the situation and managing to tell Katarin was being genuine with her frustration over the circumstances of recruiting Telbrae and the genuine intent to treat her as a proper member of her retinue, upon which Telbrae accepted. Resulting in the obvious of Katarin 𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘠 𝘋𝘌𝘓𝘐𝘊𝘈𝘛𝘌𝘓𝘠 putting the brand on Telbrae's forehead, while also offering her glove as something to bite down on so as for Telbrae to not end up screaming.

After this, Telbrae began serving as essentially part of Criona's retinue, alongside a few sisters of battle and one Justicar of the Grey Knights. Telbrae quickly proved her competence and value as a member of Criona's retinue during a battle where Inquisitor Criona found herself almost eaten by a Carnifex, hence the lost forearm, where Telbrae once again proved a keen assassin, stabbing the Carnifex, before swiftly dragging Criona out of harms way, and revealing Telbrae's proficiency as a bonesinger (ie. The eldar who make wraithbone stuff).

This is why Inquisitor Criona has a rather distinctive prosthetic hand, its actually an artificed wraithbone prosthetic which Luka augmented upon when he next met with Katarin and immediately jumped at the chance to understand how wraithbone works.

It was during this time Luka also gifted Katarin with a specially crafted power sword. A power sword which may or may not be made out of blackstone which Luka managed to successfully charge in such a way to repel the warp, which he achieved through trial and error.

The time where Katarin and Telbrae began to become close, was when that one puritan inquisitor attempted to hold Luka hostage. During this time, Katarin was, understandably, extremely stressed and increasingly volatile. During this time, Telbrae ended up essentially serving as a stress reliever for Katarin. By this I mean Telbrae found herself being used as a sparring partner so Katarin had something to throw a bunch of attacks at and tire herself out without actually injuring someone, because, you know, eldar are hard to hit. Yes, I'm implying sapphic swordfighting.

This caused their relationship to gradually evolve from simply respect to genuine friendship and then, as you can probably guess by the fact Telbrae shares the last name in that drawing, love. No, the two didn't get married as both know they'd likely be shot on sight, but the two do consider themselves as partners.

This became revealed to Luka when Telbrae and Katarin eventually arrived to that Inquisitor's ship and found Luka had killed him and was pilfering the Inquisitor's treasury, where he then proceeded to do the meme of "YOU DID WHAT WITH A WHAT?! KATARIN!" Before proceeding to calm down, do the classic dad duty of threatening Telbrae's life if she ever betrays Katarin, and then proceeded to go back to pilfering as much stuff as he could before Katarin and Telbrae managed to drag him back to the ship.

Now, for current lore for them, following a lore incident I will go into later, Katarin has essentially become the Inquisitor stationed within the Hephaeston system and its borders, as the prior Inquisitor of the region... shall we say, tried to pull a Months of Shame after Hephaeston II and Hephaeston III came under siege by Word Bearers and Iron Warriors respectively but managed to fend them off. That Inquisitor then got immediately beaten to death by both Arthurian Deus, chapter master of the Hephaeston Hammers, as well as three chapter masters of three chapters who were very closely tied by honor to the Hephaeston Hammers, as well as his own Grey Knights who were not going to put up with being put into attrition warfare against genuinely loyal space marines because of one Inquisitor with a fragile ego. Suffice to say, that Inquisitor is now dead, and Katarin has proven a welcome replacement.

Anyways, that is all I can think of for now. I will maybe add more later, maybe not

[thisuserislilsilly]

Summary: The beginnings of my memoirs about my life start, oddly enough, in my mid 30's when I was still just an inexperienced and "young" Rogue Trader. Little did I knew back then one fortuitous mission would change my life forever

Pairing: Crae Vullscat (Rogue Trader) x Isolde (beloved character of @meervalv0 :> )

Genre: Fluff, a bit of smut (at least in someone's mind...)

TW: Smutty imagination, foul language, blood

Goblin tag squad: @finchly-tintinnabulation @artemisareia @echo-of-damnation

@meervalv0 @jaghatai-khock @cardinalcanis @druidwolf21

Author's Note: I write these words in no way to repent myself for the things I have done in my life, nor because I feel any of the crazy stuff I have lived through needs to be documented, I just do this because I can and since the Schola Progenium days of my youth I have gotten used to write things down to not fall into madness and accidentally shoot someone after a bad day on the Ship's Throne. If any other person is seeing this, like you Osmi fuck off, please return it to my drawer or wherever you have found it, it ain't yours and it certainly does not hold any sacred texts...more like if you leak any of this stuff I'll shoot you down and then myself for heresy.

Life had been pretty simple and boring for me at that period of my life, the Vullscat were finally out of the poverty that had stricken on our Sector, trading was coming out pretty nicely and nobody in my ship crew had deserted yet or yelled at me for some stupid incompetence I could had committed. So, to shake things up a little bit, I decided to play Good Samaritan and have a go at listening to nearby calls for help, recruitment or bounty missions with some well amount of credits to spend in luxury planets or buying that nice cloak I had gotten to almost steal at Kuridian Prox.

From all the communications I could had received, one coming from a flagship of the Adeptus Astartes was certainly not in my wildest of plans for the day, so naturally as soon as it came through and I heard a deep male voice in an even lower tone than the commissar I had the displeasure of having in my ship I did the most natural, rational thing I or anyone could had done in that situation: Panic and cut the link off.

I giggled nervously for a moment at the absurdity of what I had just went through, but that cheer wouldn't last long as the communication Vox again lighted up with an incoming call; it had to be them, I knew their kind wasn't used to receive a no for an answer from frankly anyone that weren't one of their "brothers", so I just let it rang and rang and rang expecting whoever was at the there end of the line to get tired of trying and just hang up.

When the situation approached the five minute mark I knew my hopes were in vain.

"My Lord Vullscat, are you going to let that blasted alarm keep going until the end of times!?!?" My Seneschal yelled over the cacophony of sounds surrounding us

"I am sure they will give up soon, Gertie! We just need to hold on a little longer...!" I tried to excuse myself, shrugging

"Yes....Captain" Gertie went back to his post, this time touching his ear augmentations to mute the sound around him, leaving to me the horrible task of having to keep listening to the Vox alarms

Still, my name is Crae Vullscat after all, the most stubborn one of my entire family, the one that as soon as he got the Trader parchment of the House made way to a Paradise World and spent a third of the riches of the family in amasec, wine, cigarettes and other hallucinogens I rather not talk or even write about. Honoring that persistence I braced myself to endure the annoying beeping sounds for another five minutes before my ears begged me to answer the call already. As soon as I connected the line a commanding Marine voice almost left me deaf, if the alarms hadn't done that yet, rambling on about how insulting my behavior had been for not answering the call of "The Emperor's Angels" and that I would had a stern talk to their Chaplain as soon as I would poke my head out to the same planet as they were in.

After a few minutes enduring those speeches, the Marine finally calmed down, inhaled deeply and relayed the information he was actually supposed to deliver; I was to be formally contracted (or hired or threatened to be shot if I didn't accept) under the protection and custody of the Dark Angels Legion to engage in a secret mission. Success in said activity would guarantee riches, a parchment of honor that would basically let my ship go wherever I wanted to go without any explanations to give and the pardon of the High Lords of Terra for the increasingly worrying amounts of debt my House had been collecting since the dawn of our business; one that was far too large for me to not get excited at the prospect of being rid of it. I thought about the offer and it's risks for about...ten seconds before I accepted in a rush of words not even an Ogryn would had been able to understand; I was relayed the information of where to meet the representatives of the Legion in case I needed more details of what it would be asked of me to do and then, only then, did the Space Marine cut transmission, not before insulting me in a language I did not understand but I was pretty sure it was their version of the saying "go fuck yourself".

The time it took the "Tears of the Fallen" to arrive at the meeting system gave me enough time to actually reflect in what I was doing. If they had contacted a Trader meant they needed to do something off the record so either an illegal activity that could pull me into a heretic plot or, if my paranoia was unfounded, it was a secret operation so the enemy wouldn't suspect a thing if they had spies watching the Imperium. So either some shady stuff or a job only suited for a wild card like me; to be fair it wasn't the worst scenarios possible for Crae Vullscat (if we remember that time the Tear's was framed for the murder of an Imperial officer) to be in.

Still, it was dangerous, something to take very seriously, which is why I assigned Gertie to write my will in case I died there, leaving most stuff to my uncle while leaving absolutely nothing to my sister Vanya, that hateful bi-.

The shaking of the entire ship announcing we had gotten out of the Warp and entered real space stopped my trail of thoughts just when the fantasies were about to get really graphic on the depictions of the consequences I would face if I failed the mission tasked of me...or if I accomplished it but for some dammable reason it wasn't according to to what they would think it was "righteous". I shook those morbid thoughts aside, however, when the bridge between the two ships completed it's docking, leaving my crew on one side nervously waiting for the guests to arrive and on the other end of the bridge the Astartes were taking all the time of the world to make their wonky walk to us; it honestly was pretty funny when you're used to people moving with agility and fitness and not like a walking talking tank.

In all my previous encounters with Space Marines I had to admit they scared the absolute hell out of me, the size difference alone would had been a good giveaway of how far off my own league I was by interacting with what could had easily been almost Gods of the Imperium in my new pants that had been just ruined by me emptying all of one could call shit in them. Thank to the Emperor the only one that had noticed this involuntary, and totally shameful, act was Gertie who proceeded to spray me with a bit of perfume before the guests got too close.

"Rogue Trader Vullscat, I take it?" Holy shit, one of them was talking directly at me "Yes...my Lord?" I tried to remain as calm as possible one could be in that sort of situation "My name is Isolde, I will be the one to task you with this most secretive task" Holy Emperor's balls, it was a WOMAN Astartes

I froze in place for a moment by the force of the shock it had just hit me. I had read stories that Marines could be female, or as close as female those giant freaks of nature could be, but I had never imagined I would be standing in front of one, even less so that they would be addressing me directly and assigning me a task to do. I really hoped only the good parts of the Vullscat fame had landed on their ears and not all the problems we were facing...or how I wasn't particularly a monument to courage and uphold of the Imperial Truth; to be completely fair now I was just getting scared some of our mutant and abhuman crew was discovered by some of them.

"Lord Vullscat?" She arched one of her...white...perfect...beautiful...rather sexy I might add, eyebrows while looking down at me, directly at me. What was that phrase about love at first sight again? "Yes...! Yes uh, ma'am, it would be an honor to receive such a task from the First Legion, I will be most than honored in receiving my duty at your hands“ "Seriously Crae? For the Emperor's sake the only thing you took out of that is if you could kiss the ground in which she walks on! Stop acting like that!" Gertie bumped into me and whispered those words in my ear, but I was too entranced by Isolde looks to talk back at him "Very well, now come forward, this next information is for your ears alone" The white haired beautiful woman waved a hand at me and pointed to a table nearby

All of what I could think at that moment was how dirty that table was, it was a shame I hand't told my people to clean anything up to greet our guests although in hindsight for how crazy some of my crew were it was best they hadn't even tried to do something of the sort or the walls would had been adorned by heretics skulls. I caught only a few things Isolde told to me in that briefing, I was hunting one of the Legion "old associate" or brother or whatever, they were hiding in Hulmar, the main city of the planet that shared names with and that the Dark Angels couldn't give me too much help down there because something along the lines of honor and duty and by that part I was praying to the Emperor that she would stop talking so righteously and talk like a normal person for once.

Once again I have to stop whatever I was writing about to remark how beautiful she looked. Having to constantly look up to face her came with a few advantages, for example when I looked straight ahead I didn't had to look like a weirdo for having my eyes be directly in the view of her legs and hands whenever she was adopting a resting position without her arms crossed. I can say now, a long time after these events had transpired, that it was a tantalizing view. One that would make me question quite often if those long and clawed nails would hurt my back if I ever could convince her to spend a night, and probably the last night of my life, with me in my own quarters; those filthy thought did pop up a lot whenever she was talking or just staring at me as it was my turn to say something, part of why accepted to make such a crazy mission of hunting a "super human" that could absolutely wreck me in a fight in the first place wasn't "for the glory of the Emperor" or to restore anyone's honor, but because I knew that would put me in a good light with the lady and...push me into the right direction to make my move. A move to flirt with her, something to bask in as I would attempt to win her heart and probably get rejected and my head caved in for even suggesting the possibility of us having a go at sex; still it would be a helluva way to die though.

The sight wouldn't last forever however, just when she had given me all the details I was totally paying attention to, like I have already pointed out, she stood up, put her hood on and pointed to me while saying "Make the First proud, and you'll be rewarded"; I had to bit my lower lip to not suggest the reward was some wine and a private room. The other Marines stood up and left their chattering just when Isolde had said those last few words to me, they all made the sign of the Aquila and proceeded to go back through the same bridge they had arrived at our ship in. Everyone stood there staring like fools watching the guests leave, there was an awkward moment of silence as none of us wanted to break the tension and the sight every single human at my cohort had witnessed; the first one to speak up was Lars, who could not hold back any longer the thought that crossed through my mind too "Holy mother's luck we have just signed off our deaths".

Editor's note: The next part of this memoir has been heavily edited and toned down from the original copy, not only because Crae Vullscat spent two entire pages having a mental breakdown and going through multiple possible plans to catch said Fallen Angel but too because it contains heavy usage of insults, drug mentions and an illegal ring of contraband in the Homeworld of the Vullscat that for the security of their integrity has been erased and disbanded already. This editor sincerely thanks the readers patience.

Despite what the propaganda and the official re-telling of this story would say, I did not head to the largest bar of Hulmar to search for information or to slip into the worshippers of the Fallen to plan his demise, I was just thirsty, tired from all the planning and honestly lacking the faith that the task was even accomplishable by me or my subjects. I drowned my sorrows in bottles and more bottles of amasec thinking how would I explain the failure to the beautiful lady and not die in the attempt when, in my total drunkenness, I tripped and fell on a fellow that was drinking at that bar as well.

The man hadn't taken my clumsily drunk behavior in the best of manners, mainly because I didn't apologize for it and instead laugh that the wet mark I had spilled on him looked like he pissed himself, raising his fists in the air and shouting at me how much he was going to enjoy killing me and then selling my livers to the black market. My dumb brain made just enough neural connections to block the first punch headed my way and then mumble something about me being a Rogue Trader and that he should had shown some respect to the badge; that shocking revelation came accompanied by me flailing around the pin I had on my jacket that signaled me as one of those important folk. Now, this must be repeated again, I did not knew that man was a cultist, I did not know how did that misunderstanding led me to have a chat with him in one of the tables and then talking of business and how I could help him with something he needed help transporting. I just remember my luck again kicked in on that moment and that my silver tongue managed to convince the idiotic fool I was the right man for the job, that I was the best smuggler in the entire galaxy and that no cargo was too big or too small for me to get past the official requisitions made by the planetary defense forces.

No matter what I had said there, I came out of that bar with a new contact and a place to meet some group that would help deliver the "cargo" from their base to my ship, I just needed to tell my people about it and stay with the smugglers at all times to reassure them I would pull through with the deal. Which is why, after an entire night sobering up, throwing up and convincing Gertie I knew what I was doing, five of my finest and (only) volunteers came down with me to one of the backstreets of Humal to seal the deal. The gang that awaited us with a large box, the size of a Space Marine oddly enough, had their entire bodies covered in red tattoos, some with a star-like figure in them and other's with a inscription in a foreign language I had no intentions of knowing it; still despite the appearance they seemed to be nice fellows. They received me and my cohort with smiles, we exchanged money for the box and they left it up to us to take the cargo down to the docks....with no protection...laughing...and saying goodbye with the words "I hope you don't wake him up!" on their lips; not the weirdest behavior ever if I had ever seen those, I thought to myself, like an idiot.

Editor's Note: Yes, they were worshippers of the Chao god Tzeench.

According to my calculations and the map I had shown my crew, the docks were just half a mile down the road, passing through a wide open space empty of building that had the faded Inscryption of "Hooting passage"; no, neither my allies nor I did get the reason or the meaning behind the word "hooting", thinking it was a local internal joke or some kind of sound an animal typical of the zone emitted. We set off then, talking amongst us of what the cargo would be, still thinking of how we could get the Fallen out of hiding and what each of us would do with the money the Dark Angels would pay us with after all of this was over; Phawl even suggested the possibility of conning them out of more money, but that idea was quickly shut down when you think about their Librarians and how they could make your head explode with a thought if they so happen to read your mind so we best decided to not go through that idea. The evening passed relatively fast that way, having our own fun to distract us how heavy the cargo was and how cumbersome carrying the whole thing without accidentally dropping it was. Thinking back on that, the weight alone should've given me a hint that if it looked like an Astartes in a box and sounded like a snoring Astartes in a box, then most likely what was inside of the cargo was a fucking Astartes,

I would like to point out I wasn't the one that their grip slipped on one of the sides and made the box fall hard on the floor, it was Bilkis, if there is someone to blame for having the cargo fall to the floor, make the box crack and awake the Fallen tucked inside of that box was Bilkis, let the register say that every single time this situation is brought up on the upcoming years; the guy that made the Fallen wake up was B-I-L-K-I-S. Yes, the people that had given us the cargo were, we later found out, worshippers of one of the Chaos Gods, with said deity guiding them to dispose of the Fallen on our hands thinking the Marine was dead and the ones to be blamed for having killed an Adeptus Astartes would be us; it was lucky then that the Fallen wasn't dead or that the fall BILKIS caused didn't snap his neck, what was less lucky for us was the fact the Fallen immediately started to attack us, killing Andarah, Barb and Dolpham in less than the second it took me and Bilkis to scream out of panic.

Before the Marine could remove his fist from the chest of Barb, the only other crew member alive and I started to run as fast as our legs could allow us, to hell with the bounty, with the money, with the Fallen and the Dark Angels, we were now only worried in saving our skin; which is why we ran past the Hooting passage warning signs without thinking twice, if the animal that "hooted" was there and ate us then that fate was better than whatever a Fallen would do to us.

Now...there is something important I forgot to write when I retold the moment I looked at the old, dusty map; see, there was this stain of amasec in the holopad after I had accidentally sneezed on it, which may had covered an "S" in the name of that passage, right in the word "Hooting", in the left side just before the "H"....it was the "Shooting passage", a part of the city that had been given to the Imperial defense forces a long time ago to train their soldiers in a more realistic setting than the training fields of their bases. And it just so happens Bilkis and I walked right into it, triggering the first alarms of the base that there were some unauthorized personal running like madmen trying to cross said passage; the commander of their unit told me a day after these events had transpired that we were running so fast they confused us with some giant rats or, worse, Tyranids trying to breach their defenses.

We screamed....we screamed a lot once we heard bullets pass us by and impacting the walls around us, I may had confessed to Bilkis the fact I just got that mission because I wanted to bang some giant pretty lady, Bilks just hit me in the back of the head in the right moment to dodge a bullet headed to my brains, my luck hadn't ran out yet.

"Crae is the Fallen still chasing us!?!?!" Bilkis said once his legs were starting to give up on him, just a few meters away from the end of the passage "I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW OHSHITOHFUCKOHSHITOHFUCK I DON'T WANNA DIE YET I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE YET I CAN'T LET MY FUCKING SISTER HAVE THE TITLE YET-" I valiantly screamed back at Bilkis

A second later we heard the answer to our questions; for those uninitiated in the subject, it is possible to break the hard ceramite present in the armor of the Adeptus Astartes, it is rather easy in fact for a small army of guardsmen to do it, all you need is good aim and a sustained fire upon a specific zone of the armor and it will break or dent; yes it is hard, but it can be done. I know this now because at that moment all of the bullets that had fly past us were actually landing on the Fallen chasing after Bilkis and I, that was the reason why the giant hadn't caught up to us yet and why we heard some kind of metal being constantly punished behind us although neither Bilkis or me wanted to look back to see what it was.

Yes, the records suggest I baited the Space Marine to that kill zone for then later blast him away with the rest of my crew once we reached the docks. What it is not said, however, was my constant screaming once we got past the passage and entered the space ports; neither it is told how I shoved people out of the way or straight up threw some of them behind us as a human obstacle for the Fallen to surpass by caving their skulls in with punches and shoves out of the way. Still, for as much as anyone wants to criticize me for that I will gladly inform that bought Bilkis (who I may remind you was the responsible for the Fallen to break free in the first place) and me enough time to shout at the rest of the crew to open fire on the Marine. We threw ourselves to the ground for a moment later hear how Gertie led the firing line by targeting the helmet of the Marine and nothing more, which coupled with the sustained damage it had received from the Shooting passage before allowed the armor to crack and make the plasma shots and bolter rounds pass the thick armor and put an end to the Fallen life.

"Crae...what in the sweet spots of the Warp just happened!?!? Where is the rest of the crew??? Was that the Fallen? Did anyone check it is dead like for real dead? Can we loot the armor or is that illegal?" Questions and more questions started to pour down the Tear's crew as the moment passed and Bilkis and I reincorporated back on our feet "I...I...I need to...we have to....Oh by the Emperor I need to inform about this to the Isolde lady..." That was all what I managed to articulate with my chest wheezing

A couple of hours later, back in my chambers and with a stress ball on my hands to soothe me, the Vox told me about the arrival of Isolde on the Tear's; inhaling deeply I allowed her to come in and braced myself for seeing such a woman once more. She was dressed simply but finely, with some large robe covering her big musculature, a bow tying up her hair on the back of her head and some high heels that made her giant form even more massive. She was...gorgeous, she looked like a goddess and in a weird sense she kinda was, all things considered. She was smiling, or I thought that was what I should had interpreted from the weird expression on her face; two of the Dark Angels were escorting her, I could barely see them at the doorframe, not entering most likely out of respect for Isolde but letting her intentions of guarding her well known to me.

"The Fallen is dead, ma'am" I put on the best seductive voice I could pull "The will of the Emperor has been done, one less shameful sin has been lifted from your ears, my lady" "The Legion is grateful to you, Rogue Trader" Her tone was so formal, so devoid of any feelings "It is my pleasure to serve, it gives me time to explore the galaxy around us after all" I chose the words carefully, smirking "You are an explorer?" She bluntly asked, right to the point "Oh yes, most certainly!" I stood up from my chair and began doing some theatrics "I have explored from the cold lands of Edavrost to the jungles of Tarsilus, I even managed once to visit an Aeldari world before it was wiped out by Imperial forces and the Inquisitor in turn bombed the place"

Editor's Note: There are no proof of those names ever be used for Imperial Worlds, this part must not be taken literally, perhaps just some fantasies and made up names the Rogue Trader came up with to mask the true names of the visited worlds. He never visited an Aeldari world too.

I played the mysterious card up my sleeve, purposely turning my back on her and looking to the vastness of the space beyond the crystal windows of my study; glancing from time to time back at Isolde if what I had said had caught her interest. The Emperor smiled at me that day, for I will never forget the little drop on her serious facade to a fascinated look in her eyes.

"I did not knew I was talking with such experienced traveler, your stories must be certainly curious" Isolde looked around the room to some of the trophies I had collected throughout the years "I got many, in case you ever wish to hear some of them" I left the question hanging in the air, crossing my fingers "I could certainly think about it" Isolde nodded, preparing to leave already

Perhaps what came over me at that moment was desperation to not lose completely the opportunity to sway that big woman, or maybe I didn't wanted to admit I had been completely shut down by someone after using all the charisma and strategies to flirt I could had pulled out at that moment, Or even the possibility I was being selfish with how many times I could've died out there doing those stunts that I was absolutely sure I wouldn't and couldn't been able to repeat for anything or anyone ever. It doesn't really matter now, what matters is that I had enough guts in me to get ahead of Isolde and close the door on her right as she was heading out, just like that, so bold in my approach I didn't even count in what I was about to say or what I would do once I had closed the door on her.

I must've taken her by surprise too by the look on her face as I stood there, tiny in comparison but still holding the eye contact I could had with someone that big, I was even on my tip-toes trying to appear as large as I could. There was awkward silence that followed that stupid act of mine, for the life of me I don't know and probably never will know what Isolde was thinking at that moment; she just simply picked me up, like you would hold up a baby, right to her eye level; I gasped and held my breath, oh my fucking Emperor that was happening, there was going to be a kiss, oh boy was I ready for that, even thinking if it was going to be with tongue or not or if I would be able to steal a kiss in the cheek once it was over and then be able to feel how her face felt against my own oh fUCK SHE WAS GOING FOR IT.

Except she wasn't, she just held me like that for a couple of seconds, investigating my face proportions (I won't lie I made a smirk and tried to get to my good side), then dropping me off on the ground, attempted to make half a smile and then said "You're a dummy. I like that". Then without waiting for an answer, she forced the door open making me fall backwards and left the room. I sat there for a good couple of minutes, giggling to myself, to my luck, to the chance of having at least getting to be at her eye level; in a moment worthy of a 10 year-old kid I picked my personal Vox and called Gertie, doing little bounces in place.

I didn't even let him answer, as soon as I heard the click of the connection I screamed at the top of my lungs "GERTIE SHE CALLED ME A DUMMY!"