Chapter 85

Chapter 85: A voyage among the stars has a certain peculiar charm, but so does time spent with family

The Armada of Shattered Stars represents the armed forces of the Eldar species and as an organization predates all other forms of government created by the Eldar that have been created after the first War In Heaven. This is so because it was created during it and for most of it was the only form of government we had.

We were born in a war, have spent millions of years fighting it and once it was gone it needed something, anything to fight, because out new biology demanded war and with the exception of the Krork which all our simulations and future sight confirmed we would lose, there were no other species we could fight. Due to this our own equivalent to the Age of Strife started, an Age with a million different names depending on who can remember it.

The most common name for it is The War in Heaven, but it wasn't one, for our Divines did not fight among themselves in it, as for the first time in their lives they were confused as to what they should do, for our very species was fractured and fighting each other to fulfill a psychological and biological need.

Isha tried to cure us of it, she failed, Khaine tried to scare us back into sanity and it failed, Asuryan tried to manipulate someone into winning the wars and it failed, Lileath tried to show us dreams of what we could have if we accepted peace and it failed, Vaul tried to tinker with our souls and it failed and the Royalty of the Singing Swords kept encouraging war as they tried to win it and they failed.

All of that changed with Malekith and the rebirth of the Children of the Stars and his reinterpretation of our past from creatures of war, to creatures of art that turned war into an art but that are now capable of more.

Through all of this and more the Institution that fought agaisnt the C'tan, the necron and every single horror in the Great Wheel remained and turned ever deadlier and despite all of that its greatest assets were not the Swords of Khaine, nor the Eyes of Lileath, the Talismans or Forges of Vault or the Bonfires of Asuryan, it was the Trees of Isha, the miraculous artifacts that could remake an Eldar in minutes and bring us back from death to the peak of health.

The Trees of Isha were former priests of Isha, individuals which have agreed to sacrifice themselves for our people and in their compassion give up their personhood to save others, and in doing so created the single most obscenely powerful piece of divine infrastructure in the galaxy because the Trees of Isha? They are subjected to Divine Edicts. And Divine Edicts treat all things with the Soul of an Eldar as an Eldar and as such the Armada has learned that this applied to everything, including Ship-Eldar.

The Divine Mother of the Eldar and its many children can rebuild Armadas that would have species with claims of galactic domination, if we did not exist, quiver in fear in minutes and it also serves as the benchmark for our tolerance of other creatures living in our galaxy.

If you are able to kill an Eldar through such an obscene and arcane way that a Tree of Isha cannot bring us back then we have decreed that you will cease existing in this galaxy one way or another, and you will either leave or we hunt you and your entire species down until you are no longer here to bother us.

The last Species that could do that were the Mon'Keigh, a species of barbarous monsters who were blessed with such an obscene talent for murder by Evolution that they achieved what humanity could not, what the Necrons are no longer capable of and what few other species have been able to achieve since our Adoption and they managed to defeat multiple Eldar fleets, destroy dozens of Trees of Life and kill trillions in a way that could not be reversed.

Humanity has not managed it and they could delete reality on a local level and all other species that still exist can't do even that, for all species have their own nonsense and with the exception of the Krork, no other species is capable of matching us in our Nonsense when we decide that enough is enough. And right now I am facing the wrath of two women that have decided that enough is enough and that they are sick of my nonsense.

"No Bessar, you cannot call yourself a pirate." My navigator treacherously declared.

"What even is with eldar men and becoming pirates, first my father and now you!" My younger sister bemoaned and furthered the treachery of my crew against their ship

The two women are not quite as scary as the Armada, but the Armada is hiding and the two Eldar women are two swords that are far too close to my heart. Quite literally in this case.

I ate my own bridge for materials as I don't need it, but I do need more armor and materials for a third generator and I am extremely slow at generating Wraithbone and in a hurry so the two are forced to stay in my core room for now as the rest of the ship is in no state to hold them.

"Loot calls to the soul of all Eldar men, it sings to us 'Oh sweet hero, save us from the greedy hands, the hands of those that do not know our worth, give us love and know what we are worth and spend us well brave hero, then save us from the fools that do not appreciate us again and again, oh sweet hero.' and us poor creatures can't do anything but obey." I sang melodramatically.

I was not planning to actually call myself a pirate ship and scare hapless fools into giving me their booty, no matter how much the prospect made me giggle. No, I just needed to keep the two women mentally engaged while I turned the thing of too many curves and too little armor I was given into something more pleasant to be in.

My younger sister received her lesson on what it means to be disposable to beings that live beyond time and the Navigator managed to put me into Orbit of Anaen as the craftworld looked in fear at how I grew more weapons and armor and turned from a being of smooth curves to a being of harsh lines in the form of sword.

"I did not agree to be a pirate Bessar."

"I have standards priest."

The two women huffed at my words and knew quite clearly that if I wanted something I would be getting it. This argument was for my own amusement and theirs as I adapted to my current existence.

I did not lie that the life of a ship-eldar is not a pleasant one, albeit I hid a lot of things as to why. The most important reason few individuals like eldar turning into ships, despite the obscene tactical and strategic advantage it provides to them is that it is a lonely existence and Eldar are a civilized species, and for civilization you need large numbers.

Eldar ships on the other hand are distant from others which are not like them, highly protective of their crews and generally speaking look at others like them with suspicion unless their crews are very, very close and intermingle regularly.

I currently have none of that, just two women serving as my crew and a particularly large fleet of fools orbiting a miserly woman and looking at me in fear.

I sighed in false defeat and put my dreams of being a pirate back where they belonged and took stock of what was going on with my body. The third reactor is now up and running, the spinal shuriken cannon is operational, the psionic enhancer is still growing, my Pulsar Lances have been enhanced and my outer hull is fully formed. All that is left are the Solar Sails and those should be done in minutes.

My living quarters have been reduced to make room for everything and now a 3 kilometer ship that could have kept a crew of thousands for years as well as transport dozens of fighter jets and thousands of passengers barely has enough space for a fifth of that.

At least they have food and water that can keep them running indefinitely now.

"The refurbishments are nearly complete, once they are done I will have to reacclimatize to flying with this body which shouldn't take long. Geinna Mara I will require your assistance with that." I informed the two.

The navigator nodded but my sister looked curious. Both of them were beneath my core in specially made chairs to keep them comfortable, safe and informed of the current status of the ship with visual reminders while my Navigator was also psychically connected to my hull.

"What did you do to the ship?" Laciena asked.

I suppose that was a fair question. She is going to live in it for a bit, and if you don't know what you're looking at it could be quite confusing to read the detailed information I am making available.

"I replicated the prow Pulsar cannons and turned them into broadsides, two twin pairs on each side and made myself wider to fit them, and Instead of Pulsars I now have a shuriken cannon as a spinal weapon. I have also recreated a Psy-amplifier to allow me to project my psychic might over a large distance more easily and now have three energy reactors to keep everything running. My Keel still has the Torpedo Launchers which is all that can be said has remained unchanged about my old self. Oh, I've also added a shield and modified the existing Holo-fields to military standards, the old ones were far better than I expected but not quite as good as those I know of.

I've had to re-purpose the space for a crew and supplies, but my food and water fabricators should keep a few hundred people fed, all that is left is to grow two more Solar Sails for increased speed and redundancy and I should be done." I explained.

I am no longer fully symmetrical as I do not wish to make myself that wide but unlike my navigator I cannot bring myself to care for that nonsense. Being close to a kilometer wide is enough for me, I do not need nor have the materials to become a battleship.

"Why did you have to pick this… design?" The Navigator asked with a wince.

The two of us were connected as is appropriate for my navigator and ship to be in order to make sure everything is fine and she did not like my modifications as they felt alien to her.

Joke's on her though, my modifications are pretty tame compared to what I was told most ship-eldar do to themselves.

"Elaborate on which part displeases you, it might be something I've missed and it is better to deal with such issues now and not when they become critical." I ordered.

The two women were seated beneath my heart, I could feel every single minute detail of their existence, from their souls, to their breath to every single atom that composed their physical shell as they stood and waited for me to be finished. Laciena was patiently waiting for the next stage of my plan to be over, but Geinna Mara was drowning in discomfort.

My design choices either had a flaw or it is just her sensibilities getting in the way and it is better to deal with them now.

"The shield, it will interfere with the Holo-Field."

"No it won't, the lack of shields on Craftworlder ships is due to them emulating marine animals with the spiritual properties of remaining hidden and striking from the shadows before slinking off into the shadows with their prey and shields interfere with the Emulation process and reduce the effectiveness of all systems and designs, but I do not Emulate such creatures and thus do not suffer from the same issues. You have other reservations with my design, lay them out to me."

That was a half-expected question. Craftworlders build their ships for Alpha strikes primarily and all parts of their ship designs are purpose tuned for striking the enemy from the shadows then returning to them to strike again at the next opportunity. She is used to a different doctrine that I do not subscribe to.

The Armada does not operate like a knife in the shadows, but like the knife of a serial killer. We will separate our enemies into smaller groups with our alpha strikes and create confusion in their ranks then repeatedly stab our victims however many times is required until they die as we dive straight into their midst. Our Holo-fields are not meant to keep us hidden but confuse our enemies for enough time that they do not have enough time or coordination to fire on us and we can start killing.

She took a deep breath as she considered her next words carefully. I could feel my Younger Sister taking in the words with rapt attention as it seems that she wished to know more of her new… home…

'The gods played me.' I thought with amusement.

Home is where the heart is, and variations are common sayings in both human and eldar languages and right now I am the home of these two women, I am to look after them, take care of them and if needed be die for them as is appropriate for a ship to do for its crew, almost like marriage but not quite. And I can't run from them, nor does the ship have enough crew for me to disentangle and leave them be, which I will have to do the moment I am able.

"The broadsides." She replied simply.

The lack of symmetry was left unsaid by the woman who was raised in a society where ships are meant to be symmetrical.

"I do not care for symmetry, the broadsides provide enough coverage for long and medium ranged fights and at short range the torpedoes can make any enemy pay for thinking they might be able to make use of it. If that doesn't work then it is because I am being overwhelmed with sheer numbers and I am dead regardless." I responded.

She did not like that response but she had one more question and I could guess as to what that was.

"If you have a problem with the shuriken spinal canon don't, it's an Armada design made specifically to deal with large battleships." I continued.

Craftworlders did not like using ships with solid projectiles for some reason, but I did not care for it. A weapon is a weapon and it does not matter what form it takes as long as it can kill what I need it to.

"How does it work?" My Younger Sister asked.

I so adored her curiosity, soon my adorable little apprentice will be everything I hoped of her and more.

"You remember my lesson on shuriken weaponry and how skilled warriors can increase the power of their weapons? There are two way one can do so, either with increasing their skill in enhancing their weapon or increasing the weapon's size and available energy. I did the second and now my weapon fires a volley of thousands of shuriken that each hit with the power of a frigate grade star cannon but it requires a lot of time between each volley."

My Shuriken Spinal Canon was no Shuriken Canyon that could fire hundreds of such volleys at once, but it could hit just as hard the one volley I could make every hour without breaking it. My daughter's battleship was made with solely that weapons system in mind and was three times as long as I was. In comparison my small 3 kilometers of length didn't even have shuriken weaponry on it before I made it.

My Younger Sister nodded at that but I could feel that my navigator still had another question.

"I can feel the ship, why aren't you screaming in pain?" She asked as she winced.

Oh, I forgot about that, changing one's body is a painful process after all and she has integrated herself with some of my systems and while I am keeping the pain from reaching her she can feel the fact that I should be screaming like a man being cut by multiple cleavers while being bathed in acid after being skinned alive and being tenderized with a hammer that broke every single bone of my body.

"Priests are built different." I gave her the most accurate answer I could give her.

She pursed her lips and accepted the non-answer for what it was. I couldn't exactly tell her I had more in common to a daemon than an Eldar by this point and that my physical body could safely be ignored by my soul as long as some small part of it still lived.

People tend to not react well to finding out their priests considered a flesh and bone body optional.

Minutes passed and my body slowly stopped pretending it wasn't in pain anymore and I could finally fly and so Fly I did. I kept a respectful distance from Anaen as I spread my Solar Sails wide and danced with grace and agility hard to match by other species.

My sensors, both mundane and psychic turned towards the large number of ships going and coming from the Large Island sized ship that continued to grow and what I saw was more than just the physical body, but the soul of the ships.

Sometimes they were mere flickering shadows, other times the ghosts of their captains half-synchronized with their ship, other times it was as if the ship was the soul itself and not an Eldar but none of them could compare to the Goddess they called Home. Anaen was a woman who pretended to sleep and yet kept an eye barely open to look over her children and I could See a content smile flickering in and out of existence as she was bathed in starlight.

Her hull glimmered with ethereal beauty to my mundane senses as well as to my psychic ones as even in her sleep she moved with that grace and poise of divinity.

Her children looked upon my hull and I could feel their instincts both salivate and scream in warning. I did not fit what their instincts told them was a fellow predator of the deeps, my wide profile making me look more like the things they would hunt, but they saw me turn with almost the same speed, if half the grace.

Their emulation of the Predators of the deep seas and millennia of experience building starships showed in how graceful their ships were and my modified hull could not match them there, but I did not mean to try, for I would have failed even if I did. I am not a graceful dancer like my daughter, but a gun-sword and implement of murder. My enemies will die, their hulls will break and they will see me as I break them and kill all that they have ever known.

'Calm, the craftworlders are not a threat.' My navigator sang.

I did so, for the instincts of a murder-ship are difficult to control. It will get better, but until then I will need assistance to keep myself from falling fully to the Murderlust of Khaine. My weapons powered down and I informed the craftworlders that my tests of my systems were complete and that I apologize if I scared them.

They sent me a response that there was no issues on their end as they were told what I would do. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to not point charged weapons at them, but only just, for the Navigator stopped my instincts from taking over.

"Thank you my navigator, now I would like for the two of you to make yourself comfortable as I prepare for Communion with Anaen." I informed my crew of two.

"Will we be able to participate?" My sister asked.

The other woman's head whipped to her as she hasn't considered that question before. I guess what she was seeing was straining her sense of reality already and more of it would probably break it.

"Don't be absurd, that's impossible!" She all but screeched.

It wasn't and my amusement clued her in to the fact that priests don't care much for what Craftworlders think is possible.

"Sure, I am a diplomat and so I am used to translating between different types of experiences. Just go to sleep and when you do so I will guide your dreams to join me." I informed them.

So what did I care about ships and Eldar not thinking in the same way, I could have talked with Anaen as a flesh and blood eldar with ease but she refused to accept my calls. I can easily bring them into our conversation and translate.

"How?" She asked numbly.

"Priests are build different, now go to sleep. I want to see this." My sister said and preempted my response.

She made herself comfortable on the large chair and fell asleep in seconds, and her fellow crew-member joined her shortly with the speed of a true warrior.

I re-made the very uncomfortable-to-be-in shadow to make sure that their seat belts were fixated properly and that they were secure and then proceeded to make a full scan of my structural integrity fields. Once all came back as optimal I prepared myself for what was to come as the Harmonization process started.

Reality melded and folded as the molt of existence was shed for the truth of the dreams. Life had meaning and its meaning was dreams, light became nourishment and sound an enemy as stardust became atoms and atoms became giants that faded into non-existence.

Two flickering specks of dust became my sprites that danced near me as I took shape and the light became shadows and shadows became light and from the light I emerged.

I was dressed in blue and white robes reminiscent of my ship self and it was covered in the weapons I was armed in. My pauldrons of cloth were Pulsar lances whose tips glowed, on my chest rested the torpedo tubes and at my side rested my sword which was also my shuriken spinal canon.

My crew spun around me and I instructed them to remain silent for their own safety, for my influence could only extend so far and if Anaen were to fully focus on any of them their souls might not survive. The cute little sprites obeyed as I searched for my quarry.

My eyes were cameras and radars and a hundreds different senses my soul now interpreted only as sight to ensure my crew could watch with me and I saw her. Sleeping on a bed of wraithbone and suns rested a woman with hair as smooth as silk and shining with silver light. Her eyes the molten core of worlds pressed into a Sapphire that shined with inner golden light and her skin as red as a dying star. Her robe was Wraithbone white and covered it fully and on it rested the many weapons, real now or not made yet but planned for the future.

In her chest rested a being of green flame and darklight sleeping sweetly and my heart all but melted at the sight of my son sleeping at the chest of his new caretaker and adoptive mother.

Adoptive mother who still pretended to sleep while holding my baby.

'Lady Anaen.' I whispered.

My voice was the voice of a surgical knife bathed of the antiseptic of Murder, a thing of fear and hate laced with despair and villainy.

Her half waking children sensed me and looked on cautiously but still continued their routine as I spoke to their mother. Their mother radiated contentment as she continued to pretend to sleep.

She had the grace to not snore at least.

'Lady Anaen, I would not be able to talk to you like this if you could not hear me, please stop pretending.'

I considered if I should bring forth the big guns as the woman did not seem interested in talking unless forced to by propriety.

The woman still continued to pretend to be asleep and my sensors narrowed. If she wishes to play these games then I will do so as well, for I am half man and so is my son and if there is something a human can do well is play.

"Lady Anaen, I did not give my son to be raised by a lazy and rude layabout, but to be raised by a refined Lady of Starlight and Secrets kept in the Night. I insist that we talk of his future at the very least, lest I take him somewhere else as your behavior is unbecoming of a Daughter of Asuryan and Gea and adoptive mother to my son." I said this time more sternly.

I did not beg, for I have no reason to beg. I have been a good guest and showered her children in gifts and healed them of maladies and wounds and granted them the chance for vengeance for slights incurred. All of this has earned me an audience at the very least, but if that was not enough then I would have to go beyond propriety and talk of the child I have left in her care and that she cradles protectively at her chest.

She has felt what he can do and now knows that her children will need him even if to experience past the birth of the New Divine is barred to her until after it is born. The rules can be bent only so much until they break and if they break then we lose too much time and preparation.

Asurmen must be born, he must rise from the shattered dreams of Illiathin and grant her children and nephews the guidance they need for a chance at survival, and for that things must remain on the preestablished rails until the birth of the New Divine. One third of our plans require Asurmen to exist, and half of the rest would be made less risky by his presence.

We need him a lot more than her and her children, no matter how much my order likes them.

Her right eye fully opened and spoke with half a mouth as the other half calmed her children with sweet lullabies.

"Grandson of the Unborn, Son of Vanquished Apocalypse, Brother of Mockery, Beloved of Murder, he Whose Sharpness is matched by his Valor and is Eclipsed by his Madness, Husband of Royalty." She spoke in language of gravity and golden plasma.

She left my son to sleep in the bed and left him there to sleep. Solar Sails unfurled like feathers on her red skin and she rose from her white bed and floated towards me until she was a respectful distance from me.

Her left eye remained closed.

"Lady of Secrets, Daughter of Light and Discipline and Beloved of Apocalypse." I responded with the titles I knew her to have.

It was an archaic way to meet others by referring them to their titles but it seems to be the way Craftworlds preferred to be addressed and I made a mental note to use it in the future. The Divine love teaching us lessons and priests are very fast learners as nobody wants remedial classes.

The woman in front of me would have been beautiful to most senses and even I could readily admit it, but it was not her beauty that captivated me but her eyes. They were not the eyes of a goddess, but the eye of a convict awaiting execution for they were empty of emotion and hope but not yet pride.

"I know that death awaits me, child of two worlds, why have you come to disturb my slumber?" She asked.

I considered her words.

She is to be the home of one of the Phoenix Lords, Bahharoth, the Cry of the Wind and disciple of Asurmen and whose home was destroyed by a Khornate Chaos Lord.

"I offer salvation and friendship." I replied simply.

I knew of her fate and the ignominious death that awaited her at the hand of the Trash God of Bloodshed and Skulls, but she knew not that it has already been averted. She is almost as mighty as she would have been when she fell and her children will grow stronger still. With the changes I have wrought, all her children need is to spread the wisdom and humility I know they have among each other and they will prosper, even if they might not be as strong as Ulthwe or Biel-Tan become.

Her eyes remained pitiless and empty of emotion as they stared into my soul

"Do you claim to be able to kill your own grandmother?" She asked mockingly.

"I almost got her once before she adopted my own mother. The Divine have asked me to cease my attempts and focus on my secondary project as her Birth was deemed Useful."

That got an emotion and she recoiled in shock.

"A cure has been found?"

I nodded.

"I have found a cure, yes, and it has already been administrated into the Eternal Matrix. It is being kept from the New Divine until her birth as my siblings have prepared a special insertion method. You can see it if you look properly."

Her eyes squinted in concentration as she tried to peer into my future and past but she failed. A glimmer of a dark blade, and the echo of a single drop of blood that splashed on the floor was all that remained of her attempts as Khaine made his intention clear.

She will not get a second warning and she knows it.

"How?"

"Chaos always makes things worse for itself and it tried to play with things it shouldn't have and now will pay for it." Was all I answered.

The circumstances of my birth were too convoluted for them to not have been involved and probably made possible. The Pantheon is not above making deals with trash and the Chaos Gods have made a deal to save their fourth sibling and ensure my existence and that is all I know.

I do not wish to know more, especially as part of the deal was that I personally will not involve myself in their nonsense until after the Astronomicon is lit as long as they do not involve themselves in my existence. My siblings have told me this in preparation for my Audience to Anaen and I will abide by the agreement.

She looked to the sky, past the border of the Empire, past the Empire of Ten Million Suns and into Mallius, into the Craddle of Infinity and the Birthplace of the Small Singing Swords of the Ancients.

There she saw the Dagger of Darkness that my peers and disciples have been building to stab the New Divine upon birth and saw that most of the Periphery has been building it as my Medicine Peddlers prepared to serve Divine Will.

'The children of my medicinal blade, my disciples.' I cooed.

Those that walk the path of healing through Murderous Medicine continue their work, for many Eldar have started to learn independently what it means to be a Master in the Making of Murderous Medicine and slowly my poison seeped through the Empire and prepared itself to guard various webway routes in preparation for the Evacuation of the Periphery worlds.

Most would go to join Craftworlds, for despite their foolishness they offer the most leisurely lifestyle. Others that wish to be left alone will join the Exodites, some will join my Wives' people, especially the families of priests and the princes and princesses we favor.

The rest will go on and become animals for my apprentice to teach discipline to, and even if it will take him 10.000 years to teach the former vermin that, I trust Vect that he can handle that much at least, even if he fails to forge a new crown. Vermin learn slowly but they do learn after all.

"It won't kill her." The red skinned goddess which pretended to be the same size as me observed.

"Medicine is rarely meant to kill the recipient." I answered.

She nodded uncertainly at that and fell into silence and I sighed.

It seems that she wants me to be the one that breaches the subject of my son.

"Take care of my son, please. He is a respectful and hard working boy and deserves parents that can give him what he craves." I pleaded.

If there was one thing that would get me to plead was my family, and the creature I made from the flames of Khaine and psychically manufactured Phophex was family, for the flames of Khaine came from my soul too.

She looked back to the sleeping boy awaiting her back in her bed and who pretended to not look at us. It appears he already started picking bad habits from his new mother.

"Why would you give him to me?" She asked softly.

She grew attached already which made me smile.

"I created him with a specific purpose in mind, a purpose he failed to live up to, but yet he still acted as a son should and sought to respect his father and help him how he could and for that I truly accepted him as my son. Unfortunately nothing he can do can truly help me in my mission, for all that he can do I can also do with ease, and so I must leave him in the care of someone where his skills may further my schemes." I answered in the same tone.

My son opened his silver eyes but did not cry and I could feel him even as he stood in the sword my Clan Leader gifted me so many years ago that he missed me.

"Do not cry for me my son, your new mother will give you all that you would wish for and introduce you to her sisters so that you may help them as well." I sang to my son.

My brave boy nodded and went back to sleep and I turned to the woman to whom I entrusted him to. My gray eyes looked into her golden eyes as I awaited her response.

"I will look after him Wise one." She declared.

I nodded at that and awaited for her to breach the topic she wished to as I looked at the lights around me.

Her servants and children danced for the Attention of their mother ship and she smiled at them as they did so, for they could sense their home has awakened and rejoiced at the Divine Revelation.

"I should probably offer tribute, considering my children's actions." She declared plainly

"I would prefer it that you didn't." I replied with a grimace.

The last thing I needed was a tribute. I did not have time to go on a side-quest, but it seemed to smug lesser goddess thought otherwise.