A God Reborn is a Gods and Idols fan novella. Set in the past and present of the GaI universe, it will be set around two races, the long extinct Sooma or ''Blood Phantoms'' and their pantheon of gods The Dragon Gods and Humanity


The story will follow Caleb Hunt, a human scavenger for the Orlisean Imperium who comes into contact with ancient relic of the Sooma and his travels and transformations after. Nikita a member of a secret cult whom is trying to bring down the Orlisean Imperium and Vash'Taar a Sooma who has been newly promoted to the Excelsior Caste, the highest honour a Sooma Warrior can achieve, as he fights astride his Wyrm for the glory of his gods and the death of his enemies.


This is now completed. I hope that you enjoy reading it.


Part One: Stranded


Part Two: Benefactor


Part Three: Monument


Part Four: Rescue


Part Five: Transformation


Part Six: Escape


Part Seven: Battle


Part Eight: Ascension


Epilogue: A Black Star

Caleb Hunt


''Re-entry vector is too steep. Death imminent unless re-entry vector is manually recalibrated.'' An alarm rang out and a computerised voice repeated the same warning over and over ''Re-entry vector is too steep. Death imminent unless re-entry vector is manually recalibrated.'' The rear door to the small bridge of the shuttle pod opened and a man stumbled in swearing at the computerised alarm. Sitting down in the one chair in the small cramped bridge space and strapped himself in as the turbulence of re-entry began to violently shake his small space craft. His fingers danced nimbly over the controls of the shuttle and the shaking subsided as stabilizers kicked into action, providing a buffer for the turbulence. Again his fingers traced an intricate dance over the controls and the front shutters began to open, light streamed into the bridge and the man shielded his eyes from the harsh brightness. He stole a glance out of the window and saw that while he was barely into the atmosphere the re-entry vector was completed miscalculated and he was dropping like a stone, nose first. He needed to recalibrate the re-entry vectors and fast if he did not want to become another dead artefact on this barren planet.


Caleb Hunt was the man who's fingers danced so elegantly over the shuttle controls trying to correct the re-entry vectors and level the old small shuttle pod out. He was a scavenger for the Orlisean Imperium, a human empire that spanned across eight star systems. They employed Caleb as well as hundreds of other scavengers to fly out into the depths of space and try and recover old artefacts from long dead civilizations to bolster Imperium understanding and technology. The Imperium supplied him with a ship, supplies and destinations to scavenge in return for any valuables he found were to be claimed in the name of the Imperium. He loved his job, it allowed him to travel across the vast blackness of space. Away from the bustle of civilizations he felt a sense of calmness, a lasting peace away from the long arm of the Imperium. However the last few missions the Imperium had sent him on had proved fruitless and he needed to gain something from this mission otherwise his contact would be greatly displease and the Imperium would strip him of his salvage rights and take away his ship and shuttle pod. Caleb lent forward and looked out of the bridge window and saw that the ship had levelled off and the decent speed had slowed. Gently patting the ship he whispered words of encouragement to her, when it came to equipping scavengers the Imperium did not break the bank and so he was given an old R12-S534 model Star Cruiser that was once used for scout missions and intercepting enemy fleets by the Imperium Navy. Along with the R12-S534 star cruiser which he called Jessie, he was given an ancient DS-312 Shuttle Craft that was meant to be used for re-entry purposes but many scavengers had died because of age of the DS range of shuttles and the countless re-entry purposes that put a lot of strain on the structural integrity of the craft. For surface scavenge missions the Imperium had provided him with a ten year old suit of Power Armour.


Power Armour was a bulky form of metal plated armour that the Heavy Mechanized Troops of the Imperium wore into battle, the suit had its own two day supply of oxygen and a fail safe system that converted the wearers carbon dioxide emissions into oxygen as well as numerous on board systems for aiding the wearer in battle. A Power Armour suit could withstand nearly all small arms fire and anything up to an ionized plasma beam.


The shuttle was rocked by an explosion, then it began violently shaking throwing Caleb from side to side, he put his arms around his head protecting himself from the metal of the shuttle as he was violently smashed into the walls. An alarm began droning over the system and a computerised voice spoke.
''Starboard stabilizer has suffered a critical overload. Internal turbulence levels increasing. Please replace starboard stabilizer.'' The on board computer repeated over and over again and again as Caleb struggled to his feet admit the increasing turbulence.


He gripped the chair and managed to re-strap himself in before the shuttle was tossed into a three-sixty spin. Caleb began hastily pressing buttons to release the small drone he had in the cargo hold and order it to use components of the port side stabilizer to stabilize the starboard side of the ship. The small drone would not survive long after fitting the stabilizer and Caleb was loath to lose the drone, which he had owned for a long time and developed it's progress, installing upgrades but it was a necessary loss so he was able to live long enough to buy a new one.


The next step in securing a safe landing was righting the shuttle, he manually took control of the shuttle and the spinning increased as it was released from the automated controls. Trying to control the spin and fix the shuttles course he lost his grip on the controls and as he began to pass out he herd the mag boots of the drone as it padded it way across the hull.

Sharp noises cut through the dark as Caleb slowly began to wake up, his head was still pounding and the noises cut through the weariness. His eyes shot open as he fully realised his predicament, his hands races over the controls like two blurs as he tried to correct the course of his shuttle. The drone had did the job it was required to do it, partially fixing the stabilizer on the starboard side using parts ripped from the port stabilizer. Due to the fact he only had one full stabilizer for the whole shuttle it could not fully compensation for turbulence and when he was passed out the shuttle had veered widely off course from his intended landing position. Caleb ran every emergency program he could and opened all emergency systems to try and stabilize and slow down the shuttle. During the spin the shuttle had ended up nose first again and the planet's surface was approaching fast. Caleb managed to partially right the position of the shuttle before the emergency systems failed. No wonder they failed he thought. They were ancient systems that weren't designed to cope with these situations.


The shuttle was going to crash, of that there was no doubt, luckily for Caleb he had managed to level it off somewhat which would mean a smoother landing than nose first. As he unstrapped himself from the chair of the bridge a structure outside caught his eye as the shuttle went speeding past. Was that a building, still standing? He shook his head and cursed himself for wasting precious seconds. Seconds he needed to get into his power armour before the ship crashed.


He ran along the small corridor behind the bridge and punched the panel that opened the small cargo bay doors. The old DS-312 models like this were originally design for taking passengers to and from surfaces to space stations but once they became outdated the Imperium retro-fitting the passenger bay as a small cargo hold. In its prime it held an impressive fifteen passengers, now however it barely held Caleb's supplies, let alone any artefacts he scavenged. In the far corner stood his power armour, all dented and scratched.


He scrambled over the boxes of food and water he had packed for this journey and began pulling on his power armour, first the boots then the torso plating, the arm and leg greaves came next and so on until all the pieces of his armour were on and slotted nicely into each other to form an air tight suit.


Then came the thunderous crash that threw Caleb across the cargo hold like a rag doll as the shuttle bounced and skidded across the harsh rocky surface of the barren planet. Eventually the shuttle came to a halt and Caleb gingerly picked himself up from the floor of the cargo hold. Surveying the damage he cursed vehemently. One of his two water crates had broken and spilled all over the cargo hold, which had ruined two thirds of the food. Caleb used the on board computer within his power suit to interface with the ship's systems. He opened the airlock between the cargo hold and outside and the air within the cargo hold was sucked out. Next he punched in his personal key-code to the engineering room which housed the Fusion Warp Engines.


In the event that the bridge was destroyed the engineering room housed a second distress beacon and the hardware unit that housed the on board computer. Caleb opened the engineering room and a wave of radiation poured out from the room sending the Geiger counter in his suit into overdrive. He silent swore, the engine had been damaged meaning that he could not use the shuttle as a shelter. The warp drive would continue to spill radiation until it suffered a critical failure and exploded and as Caleb fully expected the emergency protocols and systems had been burnt out during the re-entry and crash.


Regardless of the radiation pouring out of the damaged drives he needed the holodisc that was the shuttle computer. He stepped into the engineering room and ignoring the alarms of his suit opened the case of the hardware unit, after he entering a second key-code a holodisc was ejected from the unit. He took the holodisc and pushed it into a similar slot upon the armour on his left arm. The shuttle computer partially loaded into his power armour computerised systems. To conserve power he had to quickly shut most of the systems down apart from the mapping systems. He needed to find that building structure that the shuttle had flown past. It would serve well as a shelter for the time until the Imperium responded to his distress beacon. Before leaving he grabbed the mobile distress beacon, not as powerful as the beacon build into the shuttle it would have to suffice as the warp drive was not reliable. He spent the next while dragging the food and water crates outside and seeing what he could take with him.


As the sun was beginning to set over yet another alien landscape as Caleb trudged off away from his crashed shuttle dragging a crate of water and food behind him, he was stranded on this rock for now.


Nikita

Nikita ran down alleyways trying to lose her pursuers. The meet had been a trap and she had nearly been captured. Now she ran for her life knowing that the organisation behind the failed meeting was tracking down the other members of her group in this city, maybe even on this world and executing them one by one. She bumped into back street merchants and people going about their business leaving a chorus of angry shouts in her wake. No matter how far and fast she ran she could always hear the footsteps and shouts of her pursuers. She was getting tired and needed to find a safe house soon. Taking a turn into another alley that she hope would lead her back to the main market place where she could get lost in the crowd but to her dismay it was a dead end. She turned around to escape again but it was too late, her pursuers had caught up.

She slowly crouched down to reach the small laser pistol in her boots, if she was going to die she would take as many of them with her. As she gripped the handle half a dozen guns pointed in her direction. There was shouting from the midst of her pursuers and a man strode forward. The man she was supposed to have the meeting with, the man who had betrayed her.
He reached into her boot and removed the laser pistol, he looked it and chuckled then turned back into the crowd of his men as they surge forward and knocked out Nikita.


Nikita woke with a groan, trying to move she found her arms held down. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in a small cell dimly lit and her arms and legs were strapped to a cold metal chair bolted to the floor. She realised she was not alone as a man stepped into the light. The man had a pockmarked face and stank of sweat and cheap liquor but Nikita knew who he was. He was the spy-master for the Orlisean Imperium, a cold calculating and ruthless man who would torture her to the edge of death to get the information he wanted and then when she would be ready to make a deal for her life he would kill her for betraying her principles. He waved a small pistol in her face, it was the same laser pistol that she previously had tucked into her boot. He took the pistol and fired it once against the wall behind her then with the end of the barrel still smoking hot he pressed it against her cheek searing a small burn into her flesh. She blinked away tears that came to her eyes. The spy-master, Krall smirked as he took the pistol away.
He spoke with a thick drawl that indicated he came from the Far Rim, the outer edge of the Orlisean Imperium Nikita mumbled at him. The doctor stole a glance back at the doorway before continuing. Nikita mumbled again as the doctor poured more liquid onto some gauze and began dabbing at her wounds again. A few moments later the doctor packed his supplies away and left the room. Krall stepped forward and cut him off before he could progress any further.
The doctor flinched back at the smell of cheap liquor and he cleared his throat before speaking.



Then there was a sudden popping sound from inside the cell and a white light flashed around the edges of the door. Krall grabbed the doctor, threw him out of the way and wrenched the door open. There was a man inside the room, he held a blue glowing orb in one hand, a gun in the other and he was helping Nikita to her feet. Upon hearing the door open he fired randomly into the doorway to prevent anyone from entering the room and with a final groan Nikita struggled to her feet and held her arms around the man's neck as he pulled a small lever on the orb. With another popping sound and white flash the duo were gone causing Krall to curse and scream at his misfortune.


The duo who were in the cell moments suddenly appeared in a long metal corridor, windows on one side and old peeling advertisements plastered to the wall on the other. The man gently rested Nikita against the metal wall, reached into a pocket in his large trench coat and pulled out a needle and injected a clear liquid into Nikita. A few moments later Nikita groaned loudly and struggled to her feet. She went over to the window beside the man and looked down at the planet below, the planet she was just on being tortured for information. She gently rested her hand on his arm and he turned to look at her.
She smiled.
She looked around at the corridor. Don looked away from the window and stared at the old advertisements.
Nikita chuckled, fortunate for them that there was such a place as this abandoned station.
Don shook his head.
She put her hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her.
Don ran his hand over the scar on his cheek, a motion she had come to learn meant he had bad news to tell.
He handed her the orb and she saw that instead of a blue glowing colour which meant it was powered up and ready to be used it was a dull shade of blue.
She threw the orb to the floor shattering it and began pacing around and cursing.
Don cut across her swearing. She stared at him questioningly. A look of horror spread across her face.

Nikita stepped closer to him.





Vash'Taar


Vash'Taar felt truly alive. Here he was soaring through the air without a care in the world on his very own beast... no it was not a beast, a Wyrm that's what the High Excelsior called it. Vash'Taar felt the cool wind whip back his long hair as he soared far above the landscape of Petyo, his home world. Today was a good day, today he had been promoted to the Excelsior Caste. The highest honour a Warrior-Priest could achieve and in reward he was given his own Wyrm. He looked down at the beast between his knees. It truly was a remarkable creature, half-flesh and half-machine, grown in the spawning pits and bonded to him today for only the Excelsior Caste were given the honour of being bonded to the Wyrm as they were the considered the Sooma that were favoured by the Gods.


As soon as the bonding ritual was over Vash'Taar felt an immediate kinship with his Wyrm. It was a beast of raw power like him with the ability to rip it's enemies apart with its claws or vicious teeth and it could easily smote them with its fire breath, a gift given to the Wyrms from the Gods. Vash'Taar was truly in awe of his Wyrm, he had yet to name it but it was a magnificent beast coloured in a deep red hue, like the blood of his enemies. The Wyrm was still small compared to her brothers, only around thirty feet in length but the Wyrm-Master had told him that it would grow and gain more powerful as they fought in more battles and slew more enemies.


He gently squeezed his knees into the neck of his Wyrm and the massive beast began to nose dive through the air, the wind whipping furiously past Vash'Taar's ears. He held on tightly to the spike in front of him, one in a series of spikes that ran the length of the spine of the Wyrm. With the ground was fast approaching Vash'Taar gave another gentle squeeze of his knees and the Wyrm pulled up and elegantly landed on the ground.


As he dismounted the beast the High Excelsior came walking over and Vash'Taar bowed, not due to any sense of weakness like a slave but out of respect, the High Excelsior could tear his throat out if he deemed it worthy.
Keeping his head bowed he replied.

Vash'Taar stole a glance upwards and looking down quickly and shamefully.
The High Excelsior smiled
Vash'Taar bowed deeply as the High Excelsior walked away. He was going to battle, as an Excelsior.


Three days had came and past in a blur and here he sat astride his Wyrm, Asture'Taar, beside his brother Excelsiors ready to ride into battle for the glory of the Gods. Out on the plains in front of them stood a massive machine that would generate a portal allowing the Excelsiors to travel to the enemy planet as the vanguard of the Sooma. The rest of the Warrior-Priests and Warrior caste would travel to the enemy planet by means of Star-fleets and arrive some days after the Excelsiors had begun the attack on the defenders. An immense presence was felt around the plains. It caused the Wyrms to shuffle around uneasily and caused more than a small spark of fear in the Excelsiors. The presence was crushing as it invaded both the heart and the mind and overwhelmed the very senses of those it touched. The portal machine began rumbling and moving and the presence was gone. The portal between worlds, a glowing blue light began to expand within the confines of the machine until it reached the very edges. The call to war was sounded and the Excelsiors surged forwards towards the portal before it closed.


The world upon the other side of the portal was far removed from anything Vash'Taar had known. For a start it was cast in a harsh yellow light that took his eyes a moment to adjust to but it was the creatures of this world that truly amazed him. They were mechanical creatures. Creatures seemed to be powered by wind up gears and glowing stones. The portal had opened up in what appeared to be a city of theirs destroying several buildings in the process, everything of these creatures seemed to be dependant upon the glow stones and wind up mechanical devices. Vash'Taar sat astride Asture'Taar taken aback and trying to absorb as much as he could when another Excelsior flying through the portal roared at him to move out of the way. He suddenly snapped back to his senses and kicked his heels into Asture'Taar and she took flight flying around the magnificent city.


He was still trying to take as much in as he could when he spotted a group of the mechanical men fleeing again he kicked his heels into Asture'Taar and she began diving towards the group. Vash'Taar drew his blade and soared past the group he aimed a powerful swing at the largest mechanical man and felt his arm jar as the metal of the blade struck the metal of the man who tumbled under the force of the blow. As Vash'Taar flayed about him with his blade sending mechanical men flying and scattering in all directions Asture'Taar picked up three smaller ones, hatchings, Vash'Taar concluded and flew upwards. Once they had reached a significant height Asture'Taar loosened her grip on the men and they plummeted towards the ground like stones, shattering into a million pieces of machinery. Vash'Taar felt the Blood Lust rising within him and Asture'Taar plunged them both into the battle.


The battle had begun so well, that first city had fallen within days and the Excelsiors pushed onwards in search of more mechanical men to sate their Blood Lust but the other cities were better prepared for the Excelsiors and they had fought back as zealously as the Excelsiors had attacked. Soon the Excelsiors began to fall, at first it was just one or two but soon enough they began to fall in larger and larger numbers until they had been forced into an unthinkable retreat. Now Vash'Taar sat astride Asture'Taar on top of a mountain range serving as a look out for the front line of the advancing mechanical men. The mountain range served as a current base for the Excelsiors who hoped the massive rock range could protect them from the worst of the mechanical men's weapons. Vash'Taar felt hopeless, a feeling and that was alien to him but even more than that, he felt fear and that shook him to his very core. He was an Excelsior they did not feel fear.
His name echoed around the clouds. He looked around to see if someone was calling his name but there was nothing there, no fellow Excelsior and there was no sight of the mechanical men on the horizon. He began to doze off comforted by the fact the Star-fleets would arrive within a few more days.


Vash'Taar awoke to the sound of battle, he opened his eyes and saw that further down the mountain closer to the ground the remaining Excelsiors were battling it out with the mechanical men's flying machines and losing. He kicked his heels into Asture'Taar to waken her from her slumber and she flapped her wings a few times before leaping off the edge of the mountain and nose diving towards the raging battle below. Then the voice that spoke his name before spoke to him again, only inside his mind. Vash'Taar did not know whom the voice belonged to but he feel a similar presence to the one on the plains many weeks before. He spotted the small portal, big enough just to fit himself and Asture'Taar. It was position just beneath one of the flying machines of the mechanical men. Vash'Taar gently squeezed his knees and he felt pressure building up in Asture'Taar's throat, the pressure dissipated as massive ball of fire was released from her mouth and aimed in the general direction of the flying machine in their way. The ball slammed into the machine and clove it in two as Asture'Taar sped through the wreckage and into the portal to a new safer world.

This world seemed similar to home, it was bathed in light from a blue sun and the voice spoke to Vash'Taar again. Vash'Taar dismounted Asture'Taar and sunk to his knees in the lush thick grass of this world. He was stranded for now.

Nikita


Nikita and Don sat shivering on Sat-5 as the remaining atmosphere grew thinner and thinner. They had been stuck there for nearly 30 hours now draining what little was left of the already meagre atmosphere and now that the final decline had begun they both would die here. Nikita groaned and slumped down the war closer to the floor. Don reached over and checked her pulse, it was faint but it was there. The shot that he had given her when they had arrived had only lasted three hours, after that the injuries of the past days came crashing back down upon her like a tsunami. He had told her to sleep to try and prevent her suffering.

Don repeatedly ran his thumb up and down the groove of a scar on his cheek, a tell tale sign that he was worried. His eyes began to grow heavy as he spotted something moving outside of the window. He couldn't be sure what it was but it looked like a faint plasma trail burning against the blackness of space. If it was a shuttle he could perhaps get a signal burst out to them. Don struggled to his feet and shuffled over to the console on the wall behind them and began re-routing the dieing power into the external communications system, one burst was all he needed to get the attention of the shuttle. As the burst was sent the already dim white lights shut off completely to be replaced by darkness. Don tried to shuffle his way to the window but he collapsed, his eyes heavy from the lack of sleep and oxygen. He fell forward and smashed his head on the cold steel floor as the lack of oxygen took its toll.


Nikita groaned and struggled to open her eyes admit the harsh light that was cast into them. She heard voices and saw shadows moving above and around her. She fell into another sleep as she was lifted and carried away. Nikita woke again, this time she could see someone standing over her, there was a light shining into her eyes. She tried to gather her surroundings as she felt a small prick on her arm and heard the shadow speak.



Nikita awoke and found herself in a small metal room lying on a bed. She rolled over and felt a stabbing pain in her arm, she pulled off the sheets and saw there was a IV needle in her arm connected to a bag containing a clear liquid. She gently pulled the needle from her arm and slowly stood up and surveyed the room. It was small, only one bed and a small amount of floor space that was taken up by a large black bag. Nikita froze as she saw it, it was a body bag and she knew it. Slowly she reached down and unzipped the bag revealing the face of her rescuer, Don, his eyes were closed and there was a large patch of dried blood on his temple. Whoever had picked them up must have killed him. She stumbled back to the bed and sat down in shock as the door to the room opened and a man walked in. Nikita glanced briefly at him and figured him as a pirate or an illegal salvager raiding abandoned stations. He looked at her then at the body of Don on the floor and back at Nikita with a slight smirk on his face. He moved in front of her and leaned down so his face was in hers.



Nikita closed her eyes, took a deep breath and gripped the needle tightly in her hand. She opened her eyes and saw the man's face was still close to hers. She studied his face, it was covered in lumps and bruises like he was on the receiving end of too many beatings, he smiled a toothy grin at her. She noticed one important fact about him, the way he stretched forward left his throat exposed. Moving with all the speed and grace of a cat she plunged the needle into the man's jugular. His eyes widened in shock. Out came the needle and again in plunged into the flesh of the man's neck with a small wet thud that seemed to satisfy Nikita. The man stumbled back and Nikita stood up off the bed and countered his awkward movements with her graceful ones. Again and again and again, in and out, in and out went the needle ripping hole after hole after hole into the man's jugular. As the man frantically tried to escape Nikita he tripped backwards over the body of Don and his head crashed into the wall snapping his neck.


Nikita quickly searched the man's body and retrieved a projectile blaster from his waist. She opened the door to find a small corridor across from her there were two doors that were marked 'Lavatory' and 'Mess'. To her left the corridor ran down to another door from where a faint humming sound was coming from. To her right the corridor ended in a small double doorway that she took for the bridge and headed in that direction. She put her hand on the pad beside the door and they slid open and revealed a small bridge occupied by a man dressed similar to the other. The man in the chair spoke as he swung around.
He froze mid sentence at the sight of Nikita standing there with a projectile blaster trained on his chest. The man had strapped himself into the chair leaving no way he could reach his weapon in time and get a shot off. Both of them knew it. Nikita gave him a wry smile and pulled the trigger on the projectile blaster. The kickback from the blaster jolted her back a step and caused her to wince in pain but the damage it did to the man from this close a range was far more extensive. Weapons like that were designed to be used at a range of four feet and the unfortunate man in the chair had been ripped apart at the waist by the blast.


After clearing out the dead man Nikita sat down on the bridge chair and opened up the shuttle systems, the destination already programmed into the shuttle was a unexplored system three parsecs from the system she was picked up in. She wiped the navigation data and re-programmed the shuttle to take her to the Kessel system half a parsec away from her current location. There she would be able to dock at a station and swap shuttles. She went back to the bedroom and looked at the body of Don, he had been her friend for so many years. They had done so much together and now he was dead. She gently slapped herself there would be time to brood over Don later, for now she had to find out what to do next. Unzipping the bag fully and began searching Don for any clue as to the next instructions but there was nothing. The scar on his cheek caught her attention it seemed too red and slightly puffy for an old scar. She pulled out Don's old pocket knife she recovered and gently sliced open his cheek along the length of the scar and a small holodisc coated in blood fell out at around the halfway point. Nikita wiped the holodisc clean and took it too the bridge, injected it into the port and waited for the message to begin. She heard a man clearing his throat, it was Don, there was no image on a holodisc this small, inside it was just an audio file.
it began There was a pause in the audio file.How had they gotten on board?. Had she slept through the journey as well as the warp gate travel. It mattered little as the two hooded figures left and Nikita hurriedly followed them. She left the metal of the shuttle behind and followed the hooded figured down a corridor hewn into rock, was she underground. Catching a glance out of a window she saw that was in an asteroid field. She smirked to herself, the asteroid field would provide perfect cover to hide a shuttle in and mask the source of signals. The two hooded figures stopped at the end of a corridor and stood on either side of a door, Nikita continued onwards the door slamming ominously shut behind her.


The room was also hewn into the rock of the asteroid, as was the table and chair situated in the middle. Nikita wasn't alone in the room, there was a figure draped in a large hooded cloak at the far end of the table but it felt like there was more than just the two of them. She felt a strange alien presence touching at the edge of her mind. The figure whom Nikita assumed was the Benefactor stood up and Nikita saw that he was huge, eight feet in height at least and built as if it was also hewn from the same rock as the table and chair. The Benefactor held out a hand and Nikita saw a black scaled, clawed hand underneath motioning for her to take a seat at the table. She sat down in the cold hard chair as the hooded giant spoke to her.
The voice growled at her almost animal like. Nikita went to speak but the Benefactor cut her off. Nikita became angry that he spoke of Don but never bothered to ask about his presence.
She almost spat the words at the figure. The Benefactor half rose from his chair in rage and Nikita felt the presence push further into her mind beginning to overwhelm her.
said the Benefactor

Caleb Hunt & Vash'Taar


Caleb sighed it had been around a day since he had set off his beacon and still he was stuck on this barren rock of a world huddling in a small building. He struggled to his feet in his heavy power armour and checked the level of water in the crate he had managed to bring with him. He sighed again and slammed the lid shut, the water was a quarter gone already, he had been using more than he thought he would use due to his need to cool his body from the heat that built up inside the power armour. He had plenty of food but at his current rate of water consumption he would last around two or three days more. Turning away from the water crate he decided to explore the building he was using as a shelter, that way if Imperium ships picked him up he could potentially have some artefacts for them. The first three rooms he searched proved to be useless, they seemed to be dormitories of some kind, hard stone beds lined one wall and burn marks on the walls indicated some form of torch or light. As he tried to open another door and this one provided a much greater resistance. Caleb took a locked door as a good sign something valuable was located behind it. He set his shoulder to the door and pushed. Again and again he tried to push the door open, straining and sweating until he finally fell to the floor tired from his attempts, the door had failed to open. Caleb punched the ground in frustration, cracking the stone floor, as he caught his breath.


Vash'Taar walked the grounds outside the small temple. He had been here for several weeks now and the events surrounding the failed attack and his subsequent rescue were still confusing to him. No matter how many times over the past few weeks he tried to piece it together and understand the bigger picture he could not come to grips with it. He was an Excelsior, it was his duty to fight not to think. Yet he had no-one to fight, he could not think straight and these feeble priests were no help to him. He paused in his walk of the grounds as he saw the High Priest walk towards him across the grass coming to a stop a few paces from Vash'Taar. He took inner delight at the distance that all the priest kept from him even when they were addressing him, he instilled fear in them and that made him feel good.
the High priest nodded his head slightly.
Vash'Taar almost spat the words, this creature before him was no true priest. The true priests were those Warrior-Priests whom lead the legions into battle for the glory of the gods, this 'priest' before him was a servant-caste whom looked after the places of worship.
Vash'Taar looked at him confused for a moment then he realised that the High Priest had come to tell him that now was the time he would be granted and audience with the voice whom had brought him to this planet all those weeks ago.
The High Priest grew uneasy and began shuffling from feet to feet causing Vash'Taar to smirk. The priests had been terrified of Asture'Taar from the moment they saw her and Vash'Taar took great pleasure in making them feel uncomfortable.
Vash'Taar turned his back to the High Priest and held his hands upwards in the air. Asture'Taar would hear his call via the bond they shared and return as quickly as possible. Vash'Taar turned back to the High Priest and motioned for him to lead the way.



Caleb had spent hours trying to pry open the stone door with anything he could find, stones, metal bars, he even tried kicking it down using the added force of his power armour and still it remained firmly closed. He could not explain why he wanted to get behind the door so badly but the longer the door remained closed the longer he felt the need to get behind it. He paced the corridor in front of the door trying to think of new ways to open the door when he had an idea. He could hurry back to the shuttle and eject a piece of the warp core engine, it had not gone critical and exploded yet and a small enough piece would still be dangerous enough to blow open the door once it went critical. The more he thought about the idea the more it seemed like the sensible thing to do and he began checking and double checking the seals on his power armour to maximize protection from the deadly radiation when the building was rocked by an explosion. Caleb leaned against a wall for support as stones and rock came tumbling from cracks in the ceiling and other more distant parts of the building seemed to collapse. Caleb cursed loudly, that explosion was the warp drive going critical. He tried the door again in the hope that the explosion had loosened the hinges or shaken the lock loose but yet again the door failed to move. In an animal rage he began pounding on the door with his fists.


The High Priest lead Vash'Taar up into the Temple and past the dormitories where he had been sleeping on cold stone beds and to a large stone door that Vash'Taar had been told to stay away from due to some forbidden seal. There was symbols and ancient lettering carved into the stone of the door but Vash'Taar could not make any of that out. He watched as the High Priest placed his fingers into slots on the door. Then he turned his left hand clockwise and his right hand anti-clockwise and then removed his fingers. For a moment nothing happened and suddenly door was opening with an inrushing of air it swung inwards on its hinges and revealed a set of stairs that lead down into the earth. Vash'Taar looked towards the High Priest who had a smirk on his face that made him feel uneasy, he held out his hand and motioned for Vash'Taar to take the stairs downwards.
he asked. The High Priest shook his head.
Again the High Priest motioned for Vash'Taar to take the stairs. He stepped through the doorway and descended the first three steps when the door swung shut behind him with a grinding clash of stone upon stone. He leaped back up to the door and began shouting for the High Priest to open it and free him, pounding his fists upon the door. Upon the other side of the door the High Priest put his fingers back into the slots on the door and returned them to their original position resealing the door. He walked off with a smile on his face knowing that he had served his mistress well. Vash'Taar pounded upon the door again and again until his fists hurt and his voice was hoarse. By now his eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the corridor and he fumbled around for the edge of the door. He found the edge and managed to wedge his claws into the small gap. He began straining with all his might to shift the massive stone door when a voice spoke to him.
It was the same voice that had spoken to him on the battlefield all those weeks ago, the voice that had led him here. However there was something strange this time the voice spoke to him, he could feel no presence invading his mind. Follow this beacon and I shall tell you more, a green light appear hovering in the air in front of Vash'Taar, he covered his eyes against the light and allowed them to adjust before following the quickly retreating light down the stairs.


Caleb had long since stopped pounding on the massive stone door and began sobbing to himself, he could not explain why but he had a primal desire to get beyond this door. His life would not be worth living if he could not even achieve that. He beat on the door with one fist and something strange happened, with an inrush of air the door opened and swung inwards revealing a set of stone stairs leading downwards into the earth. Caleb took a step back as the door swung open, he felt mixed emotions. Elation that the seal of the door had been broken yet there was cautiousness that seemed more like his normal self. He crossed the threshold of the door and descended the first three steps when the door slammed shut behind him with a grinding of stone upon stone. Caleb ran back up the stairs and began pounding on the door trying to open it, fingers searching out the edge as he tried to pry the door loose just a little bit to gain some leverage. Nothing happened and Caleb knew that nothing would happen, the door was sealed as tight as if it had never been opened. A green light appeared behind Caleb, turning he saw some strange beacon hovering in mid air in the passageway. Suddenly it sped off down the stairs and Caleb rush after it. Caleb did not know how long he had been chasing the light, time held no meaning down in the bowels of the earth. For an age it seemed like he had been chasing the green beacon, following it as it twisted and turned in the old musty passages hewn into the rock deep under the surface of this planet. The green beacon turned a corner and Caleb lost sight of it for a moment speeding up to follow it round the corner, he found himself in a massive cavern. Caleb stopped in shock. The green beacon had gone but there was a purple light the middle of the cavern that was emanating from a large stone obelisk. The obelisk was entrancing and it caught Calebs attention as soon as he laid eyes upon it. It seemed that longer he stared the longer he felt empowered by it. It was the same feeling as when he tried to get through the stone door. He stared in doe eyed wonder at the purple light as it danced around the stone form of the obelisk and he began dragging his feet across the floor of the cavern towards the centre, towards the obelisk and the light. The closer he came to the obelisk the more the purple light retreated inside it and upon reaching the centre the light was no longer flowing all around but it was centred in several small glowing orbs up and down the length of the obelisk. Caleb licked his lips gingerly and slowly reached his hand out to touch the nearest purple orb. His touch was too clumsy and his hand passed right through the orb and fell upon the cold stone of the obelisk where it sat, frozen for a moment. Then Caleb's whole body began to jolt as if he was receiving an electric shock. He was thrown backwards across the cavern and smashed into the floor knocking him unconscious. The purple light faded away and a wind swept through the cavern.


Vash'Taar had been following the green beacon for what seemed like an age and he was still in the underground passageways. He felt uneasy being underground, it did not seem natural to him to not be able to see the sky and the thought of all that rock and dirt above him pressing down ignited a small spark of fear in him which he was loathe to admit to. The green beacon sped up around a corner and Vash'Taar covered the distance in a few bounds to keep pace. Vash'Taar halted at the sight that greeted him around the corner. There was a massive cavern with some sort of stone tower in the middle. The green light had gone and was replaced by an eerie purple light. Vash'Taar became drowsy looking at the light almost as if it was trying to capture him. He shook his head and turned away from the cavern with the intent to try and find his way out but could not resist a look back at the purple light. The voice that had been absent during his long journey downwards spoke to him again.
Vash'Taar seemed unconvinced and it took somemore urging from the voice to convince him to enter the cavern. He slowly walked towards the light with his arm out stretched eager to communicate and find out what had happened to his Excelsior Brothers and who had set them up. He reached the stone tower at the centre of the room and hesitated a moment more before plunging his hand into the purple light. His hand shot through the light and his claws scraped against the cold stone beneath. He held his hand still for a moment waiting for the voice to speak and when nothing was forthcoming he opened his mouth to address the voice when he was suddenly jolted repeatedly the last of which sent him flying backwards over the cavern to land with a thud against the stone floor.


The High Priest screamed at his followers to get things right, otherwise the mistress would be displeased. The two dozen priests he was screaming at hurried up with their task of herding the Excelsiors beast Asture'Taar into the cavern that would be her resting place. They poked and prodded her into the centre of a ring of stone towers, each wrapped in a purple light. Once Asture'Taar was in place the High Priest quick spoke four words of power given to him by his mistress and the purple light sprung forth and stretched out between the stone towers forming a barrier that trapped the beast. Upon speaking the fourth word the beast itself stopped the thrashing and slowly began to turn into the stone that surrounded it, eventually looking like it was hewn from the rock. The High Priest smiled and ushered his followers out of the cavern. His mistress would be pleased with the work they had done today.


Caleb lay unconscious on the cavern floor as the wind swept through the cavern drawing the purple light away. The light flowed through caves, caverns and passageways away from Caleb until it came to another chamber much like the first. In this cavern there were more stone obelisks arranged into a circle and the purple light stretched between them to form a barrier to protect the object in the middle, a large stone Dragon. The purple light on the wind flew around the chamber a few times before smashing into the purple light that formed the barrier. The barrier melted away and the chamber was cloaked in darkness. The stone dragon in the middle of the chamber briefly roared into life before it began to crumb and fell to the chamber floor in a pile of dust and rocks.

Nikita

Nikita paced back and forth across the bridge of the cruiser. It had been two weeks since she had seen the Benefactor and she was beginning to become more and more nervous with this mission. The Benefactor had specified to her that she had not much longer than two weeks to complete the mission. If she incurred another failure then he would deem her life forfeit. She had been given a mission that at the time she assumed would be easy. Travel to a barren planet and pick up a half dead Orlisean Scavenger but this task had proven far more complicated than she had anticipated. The Benefactor could not give her an exact location of the planet, only a generalised region of space in which he said the signal originated from. So for the past two weeks she and the crew of the cruiser that the Benefactor had provided had flown all over the region of the galaxy known as Smoulder in an attempt to find this lost Scavenger. There were a few beeps from one of the bridge consoles and Nikita hurriedly rush over.
She queried the woman sitting at the console. The woman slowly shook her head in response.
Nikita looked at the woman questioningly. Nikita hurriedly ordered the helmsman to plot a course and sitting down in her command chair she prayed to her gods that this was the Scavenger she was looking for.


We they reached the mass that the scanners were reading it turned out to be an old Orlisean R12-S534 Star Cruiser. These kind of ships were old, outdated even when her father was small. Typical Orlisean Imperium move she though.Give those that you want to better your Empire the worst goods. She ordered a scan of the ship in hopes that the Scavenger was on board and they would not have to go down to the planet looking for him. Sadly the scan turned up no results and now she was kitting up with a landing team on board a shuttle heading for the planet. There was a small buzz then the pilot spoke over the intercom.
Nikita swallowed heavily. If the scavenger was dead then so was she. She ordered the pilot to take them to the source of the radiation. Several minutes later she was stepping out of the shuttle and onto the edge of a medium sized crater, the Geiger counter in her suit began ticking away noisily. She cursed vehemently for several minutes over the suits comm. systems. If the scavenger was inside when the warp drive exploded then was little hope of finding any part of him that had not been vaporised. Still she split up her team and ordered them to search the nearby area for any shuttle wreckage. After around an hour of searching her team came back carrying only handfuls of metal which had survived the blast. No-one had found any trace of a body. They all climbed back into the shuttle to search the building they had scanned as she considered sending another team over to the old Star Cruiser. If she could not find the scavenger alive, perhaps she could find the thing that the Benefactor wanted to bargain in exchange for her life.


The shuttle was approaching the building when suddenly it was rocked by something smashing into it. Nikita opened the communicate to the pilot.
The pilot just stammered back as the ship was rocked again.
Nikita rolled her eyes. If that pilot was drunk, she would have him air locked as soon as they were back aboard the cruiser.
She called back. The shuttle was rocked a few more times before the pilot managed to land it securely on the ground. Nikita ordered the air-lock open and the team exited the shuttle. They had landed near the building and she ordered the team to spread out a little in search of this mysterious dragon that the pilot had claimed to have seen. They all reported nothing and she opened a comm. line to the pilot.
She stopped mid sentence as a large transparent blood red dragon appeared in the air above them. The dragon was soaring downwards towards a member of her team quickly gaining speed. As the distance between the dragon and the man grew shorter and shorter the beast opened its mouth to reveal rows of sharp white teeth. The man turned around and saw the dragon just as it reached him. The beast snapped its transparent jaws shut around the man then disappeared into the ground. Nikita and the rest of the team raced over to the man, who was now lying on the ground. She and the others all gagged at the site of the man. He was lying on the ground in two parts. His torso several feet away from his legs with all his entrails hanging out, floating around in the low gravity of the planet. Then it appeared again, above them, diving downwards towards the group.
Screamed one of the landing team as they all began to spread out trying not to become the next victim of the dragon. Several of the team pulled up their weapons and began firing at the dragon.
Nikita called over the comms. As she herself brought her plasma rifle upwards and aimed at the beast. A combination of plasma and ballistic rounds were fired at the dragon. All having no effect, passing through the transparent creature like it was not even there.


Three more people the dragon had killed as they ran to take shelter in the building. The pilot had managed to get the shuttle away safety at her orders. Now the landing team which originally consisted of eight men and women was down to four, including her. They had searched some of the building so far, coming across what seemed to be small dormitories. Little square rooms with stone beds fixed to a wall and faded in burn marks, indicating that some torch or other form of lighting was used. Another room had stone pews hewn out of the rock facing some kind of alter that had dried crusted blood all over it. This building gave Nikita an uneasy feeling. She was sure that it was some temple to a long forgotten dead god...a dead god that demanded blood sacrifice. She was kicking her heels, wasting time in the entrance hall of the building when she got word over her intercom of a locked door. She met up with the two other members of the team and they all made their way to the locked door. The door was huge, bigger than a man by half and it, like everything else in this building seemed to be carved from the very stone of the planet. She looked questioningly at the woman who had found the door.
Nikita nodded and smiled a thank you for the effort.
The woman looked back quizzically for a second before answering.

Was all Nikita replied as she lead the other two team members back into the entrance hall. It was not long before the third team member came jogging back into the entrance hall and they all crouched down against the far wall as there was a small blast, ever so slightly shaking the building. To their great surprise the door was still standing when they. All that the sticky explosives had done was to blow all the dust off the door and the small stone lodged in cracks had become loose.
The woman who had set the charges began. Nikita noticed something on the door. Something she had not seen before through all the dust before. There was ancient carving and letters on the doorway but there was more, there seemed to be holes, no finger slots she corrected herself as he drew closer to the door. She slotted her gloved fingers into the slots and turned the small circles within which they rested. When they would turn no more she removed her fingers there was a sound of stone grating upon stone as the door slowly swung open.


Nikita stood in the door frame looking downwards. Upon the other side there was a set of stairs that descended into the earth. She turned back around to face the team.
She pointed at the woman who set the explosives and a man. She motioned to the remaining woman. She turned off and headed down the stairs quickly followed by the two others. There was a grating of stone upon stone again and a loud crash as the door swung shut behind them. Sealing them in the passageway. They had searched the passageways for a good while, which had amounted to nothing. While there were initial footprints in the dust they were quickly lost and Nikita and her team found themselves lost in the passageways. They stumbled upon many open caverns and many different dead ends. One such open cavern had a ring of large stone towers with a small pile of dust in the middle, she shuddered at the thought of the poor creature that was once that dust pile. They had been searching for what seemed like hours when they came across a chamber with a tall stone obelisk. The obelisk was in the centre of the chamber and it was emitting a faint purple light. ON the far side of the chamber the light was reflecting off a metal surface and the three of them rushed over to find a man, their scavenger lying unconscious on the ground in a full suit of Orlisean power armour.
The man complained as they struggled to get the scavenger up.
Nikita smirked as she pulled out a cable from her suit belt and plugged it into a port on the scavenger's arm. Perhaps he had mapped a quicker route out of these tunnels.


Nikita stood at the window to the medical bay watching the man. He was still unconscious. Gods only know how long he had lain in that state. Certainly the two weeks that she had been searching the Smoulder region for him and possibly longer. She hoped he would wake up soon. Not only because she hoped that he was ok but mainly because she feared that he would be useless to the Benefactor unconscious. Leaving the medical bay window she headed off to her bunk to get some sleep. They would meet up with the Benefactor soon enough.

Vash'Taar & Caleb Hunt & Nikita


Vash'Taar slowly opened his eyes. He tried to move his arms and found them bound to a metal table. He tried lifting his head to see where he was but another strap was placed across his throat fully restricting his mobility. He heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps padding across the floor when suddenly a female head appeared in his vision. The female smirked in disdain at him, causing him anger. He clenched his fists and tried to break free of the bonds that held him down. His struggling caused the female to laugh at him. A sound which deepened his anger.
He queried. She bowed her head in reply. Closing the door she headed back down the metal corridor in a sullen mood. She hated the priests they were subservient wretches. It was a Sooma's duty to become as strong as one could. To climb over the backs and dead bodies of enemies and allies alike. These priests however gave themselves to serving others and that irked her. She could not understand why the commander kept them around, let alone spoke normally of them instead of spitting at their very name. However she did her duty and informed the priests. The commander stood up and exited the stone room via an archway. He walked down another corridor that had been hewn into this asteroid and through an open doorway into a small alter room. He smiled in satisfaction, the priests had prepared everything perfectly. Just as they would for his master. He knelt down before the stone pedestal and dipped his clawed fingers into the small bowl of blood. Fingers dripping with blood he began to draw intricate symbols on his face as he began a low murmured chanting. After several minutes of this he was suddenly became still as he felt a presence almost overwhelm his mind. A voice boomed inside his head.
The commander fell to the floor prostrating himself before his master.

The commander lifted his face from the floor and held his arms open wide. A white ball of light began to shine in front of him growing bigger and more intense as the seconds passed. As the rays of light washed over him he felt calm and at easy. All worries about his masters plans fading away as he bathed in the light. Suddenly both the light and the commander were gone. Vash'Taar strained against his bonds harder and harder attempting to break free. He did not like what those priests had done and once again in a short span of time he was feeling that dreaded feeling no Sooma Excelsior should feel. Fear. He suddenly felt an overwhelming presence nearly crush his mind.
Vash'Taar eyes widened as the artefact that the priests had left hovering above his face began to glow and a thin stream of amber twirled it way downwards towards him.


Caleb crouched down in his cell scratching at one of the several bumps that had appeared along both of his forearms since touching that monument. He had woken up in this cell, a prisoner, gods only know how long after he touched the monument. He had not been told why he was here, or where here was. Three times a day his meal was delivered by a man wearing a soldiers' uniform and at least once a day a doctor came along accompanied by two more soldiers. None of these men had so much as even spoken a word to him. Today however he would get some answers. He heard the tell tale padding of the soldier walking down the hall. Walking towards his cell to give him his lunchtime meal. He heard the key go into the lock and the bolts sliding, next came the creak of the door opening and the two footsteps of the soldier stepping into the room. Caleb jumped up, knocking the food tray into the soldiers face he grappled with the man reaching for the pistol in the holster at his waist. The two of them continued to struggle for control of the gun when the soldier opened his mouth to call for help Caleb smashed his forearm into his throat, slamming the man's head against the metal wall of the cell and crushing his windpipe. The man instantly gave up the struggle and slumped to the floor unable to breath. Caleb took the pistol and cell keys from the dead man and exited the cell, finding himself in a long metal corridor with doors at either end. The decision of which way to go was made for him when the door to his right opened up and a women began walking through. Caleb began firing the pistol in her direction and took off down the corridor towards the door at the other end. He made it through the door as gunfire rattled against the other side. Caleb looked down at the pistol, it was a simple ballistic design, ancient and reliable, it would do the job of getting him out of here. The room he had entered was carved entirely from stone. There was a large stone table in the middle, surrounded by stone chairs even the light was held up on stone pillars. He saw an archway on the other side of the room and began heading towards it when a voice cut him off.
Caleb spun around looking for the voice and eventually found someone sitting at the head of the table. Caleb pointed the pistol at him, causing him to chuckle.
He asked. The person at the head of the table stood up and held his arms out wide. Standing eight feet tall and seeing the black scaled and clawed hands Caleb decided that this was no man. The beast, or whatever it was spoke in a loud voice.
Caleb cut him off.
Again the beast chuckled a deep throaty sound that unnerved Caleb. He asked.
The beast roared. The door that Caleb had entered burst open and the woman he had shot at rushed through pointing a plasma rifle in his direction. The beast turned and spoke to her.
Caleb dropped his pistol allowing the woman to escort him back to his cell.


Over the next few days the doctors began to visit his cell more and more regularly. This increase in visits coincided with the bumps on his arms growing bigger. Three days after his break out attempt they had all begun to turn black and hard and no matter how much he itched and picked at it, he could not remove the black scabs. A week later the first of the bumps had broke through his skin and some hard bone like substance began pushing its way through. He had grown weaker all the while. Refusing to eat at first only to grow hungry later on and be unable to keep his food down. Whatever the doctors were doing to him was changing him. Transforming him into something else. Some kind of beast man like the one who claimed to command this prison. Caleb lay on the bed in his cell softly groaning. He was drenched in sweat and his body ached in constant pain. His finger and toenails had recently fallen off and they had become dried and crusted with blood. He had could barely move without causing agonising pain in multiple parts of his body. A key scrapped against the metal lock, the sound grating against his ears. The door swung open causing light from the corridor to spill into the room forcing him to raise an arm to protect his eyes against the harsh glare. He vaguely heard someone issue orders before he was picked up and placed on a stretcher passing out from the pain. When he came to he found himself strapped tightly onto metal slab. The beast man appeared in his vision.
The beast man disappeared and Caleb heard low chanting. The chanting continued for what seemed like an age but when it stopped, that's when it started. The most intense pain he had ever felt. Ripping him apart from the inside out and Caleb prayed, he prayed for mercy.


The thin trail of amber light that streaked down from the artefact touched Vash'Taar's forehead and his mind exploded. He could see everything. Images raced across his mind's eye. First he was racing across the stars feeling freedom like never before. Then he was holding some kind of meet with others who's voice spoke but he could not make out any sounds. Next he was granting life to the Sooma themselves showing them and guiding them and blessing them after they won battles. Vash'Taar was in wonder and awe what he had seen. What he had experienced was beyond words. Then the voice spoke again bringing him crashing down to reality.
The thin trail of amber suddenly grew thicker and more visions raced across his mind. Visions of plotting. Visions of death. Visions of a god Grantrithor


Nikita looked through the window. The man, Caleb and undergone some radical drastic changes while strapped to the metal slab. His mouth had grown out like that of a wolf, with large blood red fangs. He had grown in size almost doubling in height and build. Those bumps on his arms had grown into large spikes, three on each arm. Where he once had finger and toenails he now had large sharp claws that could easily cut her in two and all over his body was covered in large areas of black scales. He seemed like the Benefactor. Only much more powerful. His red eyes seemed to burn with an intelligence that was not human. The Benefactor walked down the corridor and looked at both the former human and then Nikita and smirked. He spoke with awe in his voice.
Nikita just stared at the creature that use to be Caleb beyond the fragile glass window. Nikita looked at the Benefactor questioningly but he shrugged off her stares. He pushed her onwards and she headed for the shuttle he had given her for this final mission. As Nikita left the hallway the Benefactor marvelled at the site of once human beyond the window. It had all been accomplished thanks to his efforts. He would truly be rewarded now. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and tentatively entered the room. The creature was flexing his hands. Opening and closing them when it heard the door close. It turned round with a start and squinted those red eyes at the Benefactor kneeling prostrate on the floor.
The creature open and closed its jaws several times, as if it was trying to get use to speaking. Eventually it spoke, in a voice that cause fear and dread in all who heard.
The Benefactor cowered away from the voice.
The creature rose up and opened its claws threateningly.

The Benefactor stammered his voice breaking in fear. The creature lifted one foot off the floor and brought it crashing down on the Benefactor's skull shattering it into a million tiny pieces and spreading his brains all over the room. The creature looked down at the dead body of the Benefactor and smiled. It had power, immense power. Bursting through the door it set upon any and all personal it could find aboard the station, slaughtering them and feasting on their raw flesh.


The creature stood before the airlock doors that lead onto the only ship docked with the station. Something strange happened then. A small voice in the back of its mind asked it a question.
Who are you? The creature was taken aback. It was not use to questions it had always expect instant obedience. Not knowing what to do it answered.
I am Vitriol. Lord, God and Master of the mighty Sooma.
Why are you here? What are you doing? The voice asked next.
I am here to retake what was lost to me. I am here to remake what the Dark Star unmade. I am here to forge a new empire on the ashes of your old one. A face appeared at the window of the airlock, a woman's face. The voice spoke again.
Do not kill her. She will help. Being ordered by the voice made Vitriol angry. He was master not the small voice in the back of his mind.
I will do as I please. Was all he replied before nearly overwhelming the voice in order to keep it silent. He closed his eyes and reached out to touch the woman's mind. The airlock doors opened and Vitriol walked through them and onto her ship

Vitriol & Nikita


Vitriol slouched uncomfortably in the shuttle as Nikita sat on the bridge piloting the ship away from the station. Vitriol kept a small connection to her mind open and gently tried to probe to see what she knew. They had gained significant distance from the station when there was a beeping sound. They were being hailed by another vessel. A bigger vessel. Something that Nikita knew as a 'Cruiser'.
Nikita opened the communicate channel and responded as Vitriol listened closely both to the conversation and her thoughts.

Nikita's thoughts turned to shock and Vitriol forced himself on her mind, taking control of her. He shut off the communicate link and opened a false one, planting seeds in her mind.
He slowly released his grasp on her allowing the seeds of the idea to grow within her mind until she took them to be the truth. With her mind fully in her control again and believing the lies that Vitriol had planted she turned around and spoke to him.



Nikita's fingers glided over the shuttle controls as she began evasive manoeuvres in an attempt to dodge the impending fire power of the cruiser. Vitriol tried to steady himself as the shuttle rocked from side to side as it dodged the Gatling fire of the cruiser. The shuttle was rocked by an explosion causing Vitriol to growl at her.
Nikita was flustered. It took every ounce of her effort to maintain the current manoeuvres and even then she was not sure that they would be able to dodge the cruiser and make it to the warp gate safely.
She screamed back but Vitriol had already read the doubts in her mind. From what he could understand of her human mind. This cruiser was far bigger and more powerful than her small shuttle but they had one advantage. If they could knock the sensor arrays off the external hull then they could make a better escape. He once again probed Nikita's mind. This time searching for information of cruiser layouts and designs. If what he was about to do was to work he needed to make sure that he was in exactly the correct position. For it could only be done once. Finding the information he desired he left a small part of his presence inside her mind and he began preparing himself. Closing his eyes he began channelling his power into a protective cocoon around him causing the air to shimmer with a greenish glow as more and more of his power was concentrated. Once he was satisfied with his shield he began to channel his remaining power into transporting himself to the cruiser. A white light began to shine from his chest and it slowly spread out to envelope his entire body. There was a flash of light that caused Nikita to turn around and to her amazement Vitriol was no longer on the shuttle.


Vitriol was out in the blackness of space. Running full speed across the exterior hull of the cruiser towards the sensor array. The power shield that he had created to protect himself against the cold emptiness of space was quickly dissipating. He reached the sensor array and stuck out a clawed hand shearing all the metal antenna, rendering the sensor array useless. Still running along the length of the hull he quickly focused his powers towards transporting himself back onto the shuttle. The light flashed again and Nikita turned around and saw Vitriol standing there gasping for air.
She shouted.
Was all he managed to growl before he collapse onto the shuttle floor. Sending full power to the warp drive Nikita made a beeline for the warp gate while the cruiser was still firing blindingly at their previous location. After setting in the coordinates for her final mission and engaging the auto pilot Nikita unstrapped herself from the bridge chair. She headed back into the small corridor that barely contained the mass that was Vitriol. She looked down at him resting with his eyes closed. Apart from the fact that he was some kind of hybrid beast he looked almost peaceful.


His eyes snapped open causing her to startle. She smiled down at him as he looked at her. Together they had made it out of that system and away from the traitors on the cruiser. Suddenly his arm shot out and a look of shock passed over her face. Slowly looking down she saw a huge clawed hand protruding from her chest. The hand closed and ripped out a chunk of flesh. As she collapsed to the floor dead Vitriol ate his fill regaining much of his spent power.

Vitriol


Vitriol looked at the humans standing before him with disdain. Filthy creatures he thought. They were wearing defensive clothing and carrying an assortment of weapons, all standing eager and ready. At his command they would launch themselves into fierce battle against their brothers, fathers, sisters and other loved ones that lived in the Orlisean Imperium. At his command dozens fleets would launch against nearly a dozen worlds crippling them and allowing him to take control of them all one by one. At his command the final stages of his grand plan would be in motion and nothing could stop him. Vitriol simply nodded at the humans stood before him. They lifted their weapons in the air and shouted war cries. The war for control of the Orlisean Imperium had begun.


The initial assault had caught the Imperium completely by surprise. Compromised from within several worlds fell in the first attack, unable to deploy their defences. However once the word had spread the other worlds had managed to activate defence protocols making it much tougher for the rebels to take the worlds. Now they were bogged down in several systems at once engaged in both fleet and ground battles trying to overthrow the Imperium. Vitriol was sitting aboard the flagship the Ursa engaged in such a battle above the Imperium home world of Petyo. The tide of the battle swung between the two sides. At one moment it seemed that the Imperium had an advantage the next it was the rebels with neither side able to exploit their advantage and turn it into a win. He had just ordered the Ursa into the fray and the ship was tearing enemy cruisers apart with its Missile Launching arrays and Artillery Suites and every now and again it would launch a Targeted Nuclear Warhead with devastating consequences. The tide of the battle was turning in their favour again as ship after Imperium ship was torn to shreds by the Ursa causing Vitriol to smile with glee at both the death he was causing and the prospects of an end to the battle. The Ursa was suddenly hit by an enemy salvo causing Vitriol to growl and lash out at the woman manning the defensive console killing her instantly. Upon seeing the Ursa enter the fray it seems the Imperium had thrown their flagship into the battle as well. The two flagships squared off against each other, manoeuvring into better positions. As soon as they were in position each flagship began firing salvo after salvo of Missiles and Artillery rounds towards each other in an attempt to be the victor. The space between them quickly became a dead zone as cruisers, destroyers and fighters from each side were caught between the fire and quickly churned into scrap metal. It was around an hour into this duel that a startling fact was brought to Vitriol's attention.
The weapons master's sentence was cut short as Vitriol leaped across the bridge and sank his teeth into the man's neck draining the life from him.
He said, gesturing towards the man who's life he had just taken. Feeling the power grow within him he closed his eyes and concentrated. He began to expand his thoughts outwards until he could 'feel' the exterior hull of the ship. With an extra push he was outside in space looking down at the Ursa and the battle. Even now he could see that the Ursa was firing less and less rounds with each salvo in an attempt to conserve ammunition to prolong the fight. He searched around the system until he found what he was looking for and sped off towards it. He came to a stop in the middle of an asteroid belt and he began another search, this time for the biggest rock that he would be able to move. Easily locating such a rock he firmly grasped his powers around it and began to drag it back across the system towards the battlefield. Due to the large distance between himself and the asteroid it moved slowly at first but as it grew closer and closer it began to pick up speed as he was able to devote more power to it. Eventually the asteroid was flying across the system approaching the same speed as a shuttle warp drive when he released it from his grasp. Bringing his thoughts back to the edge of the Ursa he watched with immense delight and pleasure as the large asteroid collided with the Imperium flagship. The metal of the ship buckled under the immense force of the rock and large sheets that made up the exterior hull began to sheer and break off. The structural integrity of the ship soon broke down and the Imperium flagship began to split it half. Bodies and air escaped from the collapsing ship as the interior pressure was broken. The asteroid had done its job, the Imperium flagship and by extension its fleet, had fallen. Now the ground battle began.


Vitriol stalked through the streets of Petyo slashing his claws this way and that at any body, civilian or military that came across his path a band of rebel soldiers following him at a distance. He had no plan other than to simply kill and feast on as much life as he could to bolster his power. A soldier ran out into the street in front of him carrying a simple rocket launcher. Vitriol stood still and smirked as the man fired the rocket towards him, easily swatting it away with his powers. In three large bounds he had covered the distance between them and now he stood before the soldier who remained rooted to the spot. Vitriol enjoyed playing with this man's mind, he terrorised him with thoughts and images of what he was going to do all the while keeping control over the part that commanded his motor functions, preventing him from fleeing. Eventually Vitriol decided to put the man out of his incredible misery and took a claw and swiftly ran it the length of the man's torso splitting him from gut to throat in one fluid motion. The rebel band had caught up to him as he began tearing at the man's flesh and stuffing it into his widening jaws consuming his life force and absorbing it into his own power.


They stood around in great discomfort as Vitriol was feasting when he suddenly lifted his head and began sniffing the air. He carried on like this for a few moments when he sprang up and sprinted down the street leaving the rebel soldiers behind. He sprinted through the streets following the ever growing scent until he ended up in an open square. Looking around the square he saw large metal obelisks and pillared buildings decorated with large banners. The place stank of incense and burning candles but there was the unmistakable smell of power over the top. He snorted in displeasure when he realised he was standing in the temple district. Just like a priest to beg his god for mercy he thought. The smell of power grew ever stronger indicating that someone was expending an immense amount of. Following the smell he sprinted off towards the largest temple. He reached the bottom of the temple stairs and stopped again upon seeing two acolytes standing guard at the top. He leaped up the stairs three at a time knowing full well that acolytes had no power and could do nothing to harm him. He was like a blur as he shot by them slicing both of their throats with a claw. Now he was inside the temple the smell of incense was stronger but the smell of power was nearly overwhelming he could almost taste it.


Following the trail he delved deeper and deeper into the temple until he came upon a large set of doors. Behind those doors was the source of the power. His mouth was salivating as he could taste it in the air. Walking up to the door he clenched his fists and pounded. The door did not move. Again he pounded and again the door did not move. He could sense the priests beyond the door grew more urgent as the power within the room grew. Harder and harder he pounded directing his power into his fists as the door began to splinter and shatter. He pounded the door over and over and over until his fists were covered in splinters and large chunks of wood lay on the floor at his feet. He stepped over the pieces of wood and into the inner sanctum of the temple. Inside the room there was a small obelisk that was brimming with power. Standing in a circle around this obelisk were twelve priests, several who had begun to cower away at his presence but most remained still arms raised towards the obelisk chanting some ancient verse. Vitriol leaped for the nearest priest with a maniacal glee. Apart from the few who cowered the remaining priests stood their ground and held their resolve, chanting until he claimed their life. With the final priest bathing in a pool of his own blood Vitriol turn his attentions towards the obelisk itself. The priests had spent most of its power in whatever prayer to their god they were chanting but there was still enough left for Vitriol to increase his strength. Calming his mind from the blood lust he gently reached out towards the obelisk with his thoughts and drained its power into himself, growing both physically and mentally.


Something felt different as he descended the stairs. He did not feel any different, other than feeling more powerful. No it was something else, something on this planet had changed while he was inside the temple. As he descended the last stair and stepped into the square something immediately caught his eye. In the centre of the square there was a woman but to Vitriol he did not seem like any of the other men on this planet. She was wearing golden armour and she carried a golden tipped spear. Vitriol carefully stepped closer to this woman and saw that there was a faint white light surrounding her, almost like a protective shielding. Vitriol studied the woman's face, unlike the other women he had seen this one seemed to have no flaws on his features and her auburn hair was flowing behind her although there was no wind. The woman pointed her spear at him and spoke.
Vitriol merely laughed this woman was brave to challenge him so but she would die none the less. Without warning he began sprinting towards her extending his claws for a killing blow when he was close enough. However she dodged his hand with the graceful movements of a dancer and with the sharp edge of her spear she sliced into his left leg. Vitriol came to a halt and turned to look at the woman not understanding at all how she had dodged his attack. Then he felt a burning pain in his left leg and upon looking down he saw that he had been cut and his blood was spilling onto the street. Rage grew within him and again he sprint across the square towards her slower than last time due to his leg injury. She dodged his attack easily and inflicted a wound upon his torso this time. He clumsily patted at the wound as he unleashed a howl of pain and rage to which the woman responded with a laughter that seemed to float and linger on the air.
Vitriol snapped angrily at her.

She said. Vitriol snarled in defiance. If he tried to sprint towards her again she would simply leap out of his way and inflict another wound on him. Instead he leaped towards her in three bounds unleashing a furious attack with his claws designed to mangle enemy flesh. The woman in the golden armour however countered his every move, blocking his attacks with the butt of her spear. Vitriol however would not relent and summoning more power he continued his relentless assault on her, forcing her backwards across the square but no matter how much he attacked she always blocked matching him perfectly. At a brief pause in his attack she ducked and rolled ending up behind him. However just as she followed his movements he followed hers following her swiftly and managing to land a hit on her golden armour, leaving five large claw streaks across her chest plate. The woman staggered back at the hit and as he went for a follow up attack she tried to force herself onto his mind with limited success as he was fully unprepared for a mental assault. He was now the one who staggered back from the mental assault as he attempted to counter by forcing her out of his mind and he into hers. She however was prepared for such an attack since first laying eyes on him and the two forces of will clashed with each other, neither gaining the upper hand. With such raw power being exerted the stones of the square began to crack and splinter beginning at their feet it spread out in a large circle. Vitriol suddenly pulled back from the battle of wills and leaped over the force of her will that was now pushed out towards where he was standing. Vitriol, now standing behind the woman swung both his arms towards her, claws pointed outwards in a killing blow. The woman had over extended her will due to his sudden withdrawal and she reacted slower than she normally would. One of Vitriol's clawed hands punched through her side and into her lung, the other went through her helmet and skull. Clenching his fists he pulled his arms wide, tearing the woman in two different directions. Vitriol stood still panting for a while, trying to regain his breath and heal his wounds. Before long he set off back into the city in an attempt to strike at the heart of this planets government.

Vitriol & Caleb Hunt

Vitriol stood at the bottom of the grand stairs that lead to the Imperial parliament the seat of all power in the Orlisean Imperium. Before him at the top of the stairs were the remaining members of parliament, kneeling in surrender. He smirked as he looked up at them. He would make them surrender one by one while projecting horrible images of death and torture into their minds. Then when they had surrendered this world and all world in the Imperium he would take great pleasure killing them all slowly. Putting his foot on the stairs he was half a dozen steps from the bottom when the voice in his mind spoke again.
Vitriol began to overwhelm to voice to keep it silent when it spoke again. She is coming. Vitriol looked around in confusion.
Who is coming? Where is she? He demanded of the voice in his mind but the voice remained silent. Continuing to ascend the stairs he was about a quarter of the way up when he felt an immense presence in his mind. His head darted around quickly looking for an explanation when he saw behind him at the bottom of the stairs a beam of light that seemed to reach down from the heavens. Inside the beam of light descend towards the ground was a woman. Vitriol chuckled and headed back down the stairs. However this one seemed different from the last, where as the previous woman wore golden battle armour this one wore a simple white robe and where the other one carried a spear this one carried no weapon at all. Ha more fool her Vitriol thought. As he reached the third step from the bottom he suddenly found himself unable to move. He struggled and strained to move but he was held firm, growing angry he opened his mouth but the woman spoke before he could.
Vitriol snorted in disgust.
The woman rolled her eyes.
Vitriol's rage grew. His plan could not be flawed for it was HIS plan.
He spat. Before he could continue he cut him off.
The woman slowly walked forwards as she continued. Vitriol was snarling and straining to be free of the hold now as the woman stood a step below him.
The woman chuckled as she stepped up to the same level as him coming face to face smiling in his face she said.
Vitriol's eyes widened in shock. She was lying, his plan was foolproof, he had outsmarted the dark star, he had survived the death and rebirth of the universe. The woman's hands rose and clasped the side of his face. Vitriol felt her presence in his mind unable to block it out, only now realising who this woman was. She was Orlis, Goddess of the Imperium. He felt her in his mind as she addressed the voice.
Caleb Hunt. Hear me now. I answer your prayers.
Lady Goddess I am here. Forever your servant. Vitriol was unable to do anything, his powers seemingly cut off from him.
Rise up Caleb. Rise up and ascend. Take your place as my newest Archon. Vitriol began to shake in rage and he tried to use the power of his will to assault Orlis but he was truly helpless as Caleb's presence began to fade and he was ascended from mortal to immortal. His presence in Vitriol's mind was gone and only Orlis remained keeping him anchored here.
Vitriol the Abomination. Your plan is undone. Her presence was soon gone as well, leaving Vitriol alone. With the lack of an anchor his mind began to fade, slowly at first but more and more rapidly as time progressed. Imagines flashed across his mind, playing out his time in reverse order. From the ascension of Caleb all the way back to his initial possession of Vash'Taar. His mind completely gone now, the body of the human/Sooma hybrid that was Vitriol slumped down the stairs lifeless.

The Dragon Gods


Asture one of the Sooma Dragon Gods roared. Seven of the eight dragon gods had descended to the planet Petyo to help their creations fight against the vanguard of chaos. The fight was in their favour but they were incurring heavy losses. There was a loud ear shattering roar and Asture saw a white and gold dragon materialise beside her. She screamed at him as he unleashed a torrent of fireballs in the direction of a horde of chaos beasts.
He snarled back at the blue dragon beside him. Shadows flew over them darkened as hundreds of winged chaos creatures descended towards the battlefield. All eight dragon gods roared simultaneously and flapping their wings they shot up off the ground speeding off to meet the winged creatures in the air. The battle was furious and fierce, for ever dozen chaos beasts they killed there was always a dozen more to take their place. Every wound they inflicted on the dragon gods seemed to sap their power a little but still they fought relentlessly, snapping with jaws, slashing with claws and burning the chaos creatures with their fire breath. Asture ripped the head from the last chaos creature and the skies were once again clear but without their presence on the ground the chaos creatures had nearly overwhelmed the Sooma defenders. Swooping down at immense speeds the dragon gods unleashed fiery death burning and charring the forces of chaos. Emboldened by their gods return to the battle the Sooma defenders began to fight harder and eventually starting pushing back the horde of chaos forces One by one the dragon gods landed in amongst the horde of chaos and began hacking and slashing with claws and tails.


The battle against chaos had raged for days before the Sooma and their Dragon Gods eventually routed the horde of chaos. Now the eight dragon gods stood together in a circle each trying to regain power and strength that was lost over the battle, dozens of Sooma milled around each one tending to physical wounds. Asture looked across the circle at Vitriol.
Vitriol looked at her questioningly. Vitriol snorted.
Asture smirked at him in disbelief.
She stopped her sentence short as the sky had turned dark. The Dragon Gods looked upwards, swooping down towards them were thousands upon thousands of winged creatures. The Dragons Gods took flight. The battle had begun again.


It was the sight behind the winged creatures that sparked fear into every living soul in creation. It was a dark star. A Black Star.

i enjoyed reading it very much macatord. The last few chapters i thought kind of took a turn i didn't expect. But i enjoyed it very much so. Keep up the good work!

I thought there were times it was overly cliche but the sheer length of it more than made up for that.

When Vitriol walked into the temple and drained the power, I was reading.... and wishing that it was possible to do so within the game. Seriously, there were a few flaws grammatically (Sorry, I'm a perfectionist, I'm not trying to put your story down) But the plot was absolutely awesome. It did take a couple unexpected turns (death of Nikita) But it was awesome.

Ya, thanks for the ''spoiler alert'' Icefire..

I'm really glad you enjoyed it :D

Only a few grammatical flaws...wow that's much better than I normally am :D

But the fact you enjoyed is awesome ^_^

which is why you read the story before the comments :D

Sorry for the double post, quick question. Did we ever find out what happened to Vash 'Taar (I think that's how his name went :P)

The Vash'Taar/Caleb Hybrid was destroyed because Caleb was the link for Vash'Taar to exist in the future so when his mind was ascended Vash'Taar was send back to his own time to face the hordes of the black sun....and well I'll let you guess what happens next :)

Vash-Taar go bye bye? :D