69 The Promise
Null, most commonly known as blank, is a human who possesses a rare gene (Mutation) that with no presence to the psychic presence, in this case, a warp. With no presence in the warp, these individuals can make Psykers completely useless by simply being near the proximity or killing them within a few seconds.
Only humanity can naturally produce blanks, but it is extremely rare to birth one and have one survive among normal life. This is because the average person, including parents, will experience the irrational feeling of unease and hostility against the newborn with blank ability. For this reason, blank babies have a low chance of survival, and ones that survive will be pushed away from society as outcasts or hermits.
As blanks naturally disrupt the warp, nullify any psyker ability, and are impossible to detect through psychics ability, they are also entirely immune to the daemonic possessions and corruption to the Chaos. For this reason, many organizations within Imperium seek blanks and use them when the opportunity is given.
While their existence and ability can hinder warp travel and the ability to use warp within Imperium sanctioned Psykers, the blanks are one of the most sought after and very important to the Imperium of Man.
When the Imperium discovers them, the infamous Black Ship will collect the blank individual and never be seen or heard from again. Only two paths will set sail for these blanks. Either join Imperial Officio Assassinorum to become fearsome Culexus assassins, or if you are a girl, you will join Sister of Silence, an all-female organization you do not want to have a relationship with at all. They serve the Emperor and work with Adeptus Custodes as a personal guard against warp threats such as daemons and other psychic entities, and they are very good at it.
One of the well-known blanks is Jurgen, the aide to the Commissar Cain. His ability saved Cain multiple times during Cain's adventures and helped him withstand Chaos sorcerers, daemons, and even the mighty Genestealer Patriarch. As a blank, Jurgen is somewhat uncomfortable to be nearby, but his poor hygiene and smell mask the truth of his existence even to himself as he doesn't know.
The other well-known blank is Jenetia Krole, also known as Soulless Queen of the Imperium and Knight-Commander of the Silent Sisters. She personally led the Sisters of Silence in the War Within the Webway after Magnus the Red literally shattered the psychic barrier the Emperor made before starting his own Webway project. Also, during the Siege of Terra, Krole countless World Eater Space Marines and even saved Ollanius Piers. Ultimately, in the end, she was slain by the World Eater while fighting Captain Kharn the Betrayer of the World Eater Legion.
Blanks are very rare, and rare beings who can bring true death to the warp entities such as daemons and Chaos Marines. As they completely cut the connection to the warp, when the daemons are slain, their souls wouldn't return to the warp and wait to be resurrected by the hands of their gods. To bring true death, requirements are few and not much known among the general population. An overwhelming amount of psychic power, ritual, or unique relic like the Emperor's flaming sword can finish the job.
Not all blanks are all-powerful and strong enough to fight psychic beings. For example, Jurgen is an untrained blank who naturally emits nullifying power to help Commissar Cain during his adventure. Meanwhile, Jenetia Krole, trained blank, can make herself invisible and fought Thousand Sons' powerful sorcerers in single combat. The power of the blank is indeed powerful but like any other powerful ability, it requires training and understanding to fight greater foes and win.
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After William input the name of the new Space Marine chapter, a bright light consumed him and everything around him. Similar to how Emperor's light, William embraces the light, and within a few seconds, the man with a much greater body emerged.
Standing 9 feet tall, weighting much greater but primarily due to iron-like tough muscle, William's physical and mental capability completely changed to a new level. If William the Space Marine was level 50, and Emperor's Champion was level 75, the Blacksouls Chapter Master is now level 90 with new abilities at his disposal.
One of William's abilities is absolute control of his blank psychic nullification. His new Space Marine Librarians will require nullifying shielding and device to have basic interaction with regular humans without killing them. William, on the other hand, won't need one since he has control of his ability (Unless he goes complete berserk) and is fully capable of adjusting its power at will.
There is a story where a single guardsman went ahead in the battle and faced Culexus Temple Assassin, blasting full power to the enemy target. Instead of stepping back and closing the door, the guardsman pointed his lasgun around and blew his brain just because that course of action was a much better option at that moment.
"Interesting result. I didn't expect you to have a 100% success rate and have no signs of organ failure." The Mother finishes her bio-scanning and complements the success of William's transformation. After spending couple more hours in the testing area, William fully adjusts to his new body, including his strength, reflex, speed, and endurance. Just before William could ask the time, something new and very familiar entered the room.
Carried by ten drones, a newly made Hercules variant terminator armor, armed with two melee weapons and modes, is present to William. The white-colored terminator armor is the same design, but William can tell that this version is much more superior to what Makato had. The duel power fists equipped with combi-bolter and combi-plasma are new, but William sensed something different.
"This is completely new armor from what I returned. Why are you giving this to me?"
"Because I designed this armor after I evaluated you. You can generate unknown frequency, which could harm being with psychic ability. I see a benefit and equip this armor with an amplifier to generate a greater level of power. You warned me of this 'Chaos,' and I prefer to have an ally who can survive rather than die. I have no use for a dead ally." The AI explained it to William, and before William could reply, more drones entered the room with tons of equipment and items.
"These are weapons and power armors based on your Tech-priests' information I retrieved and five auto surgical equipment of my own design so you can 'upgrade' your soldiers. I made sure these are compatible with your current technology and will help your men from making a smooth transition with new gene-seeds." The drones present William with crates of metal boxes containing his own Space Marine gene-seeds.
Looking around, William saw hundred of standard Mark X power armor of the Space Marine, but the only difference is the helmet where instead of two eye lenses, it has a long thin visor just like his terminator armor. The color is white, just like William's terminator armor, but according to the Mother, the armor's color can be adjusted and even have a quick panel so individuals can quickly change the armor color for different types of mission such as stealth mission.
The weapons are standard Imperium only by the design appearance but are equipped with old technology that could devastate even the heavy tank. One of the secret modules is that every piece of equipment, including the simple pistol, has a built-in self-destruct chip that could blow itself up in massive proportion if it falls into the wrong hand.
As for the gene-seeds themselves, the organ that grants Blacksouls the nullifying power gives off a massive backlash in case it falls to the wrong hand or claws. The organ itself generates a small nulling effect which could harm the uninvited person who implants it into himself and cause the powerful pulse to harm others around him. As for the being who consume the organ will experience surprise within the organ. The genetic mutation will prevent complete adaptation and copying of the gene-seed and instead spread like cancer with no hope to stop the infection. This is because hidden inside the organ contains a tiny organic ball containing nanobots specially designed to fight back any hostile, including a perfect predator who adapts based on consuming other DNA.
Finally, a medium-size metal box containing a portion of the STC that could place William into a new threat among 40k factions. STC does hold peak humanity, including its advanced technology and ability to fabricate anything at the press of a button. The value of the STC is no laughing matter. Even the Eldar who mock and call humans' Mon-keigh' considers STC a valuable relic that could possibly save them from the 'She who thirst.'
(Based on my understanding from YouTubers and Lexicanum, I decided to make an STC device matter converter, fabricator, and easy to change shapes. The easy explanation of Nanotech.)
"This is way too much for the simple reward of placing my hand on some computer screen. What is your catch? Absolute control of the armor when the time comes? Hidden agenda to take over the Milkyway galaxy?" William said to AI with more suspicion, and the answer he received was simple and easy.
"I give you all this so I can leave this world. You see all these as precious gifts of a lost empire, but for me, they are nothing but a few spent energy and could easily replace by different matter sources. Now, when you are ready, it is time for you to complete your side of the bargain as I did for you." Mother and the drones exit the large area and leave William alone with a room full of priceless resources. After thinking over what AI said, William begins to touch each crate and place them on his inventory. When it is done and checking the inventory description, William found no foul play from the Mother nor any hidden traps that could jeopardize his new chapter.
'Nothing suspicious. I have everything she promised and even more. All this for simple hand on the screen, I still can't believe it.' William thought to himself and exited the room as the floor he was standing on began to move. When he arrives in the control room is connected, and the drone projecting Mother is hoovering next to the computer table.
"Are you ready, William?" AI asks with patience even though her salvation is a few steps away from the table.
"Before I do anything, answer my last question."
"Sure, what is your question?" The drone towards William and hoover in front of him.
"Are you coming back to Milkyway galaxy, to the Solar system, and to Earth after your mission is over?" William asks his question with a sincere voice and curiosity, for he hopes the Mother won't come back, but a small portion of him hopes she does so she could bring back the Emperor.
The AI didn't answer William's question immediately, but she gave her answer.
"No. My mission is to the new generation of humans and to usher them to reach their full potential. The current Milkyway galaxy is too dangerous and a threat to my mission, so it will be logical for me to abandon it entirely instead of reclaiming it back. Does this answer your question?" The Mother said those words cold-heartedly and calculated tone as if she lost hope entirely. Based on Admechs' information, Earth and everything AI knew is no more, a by-gone era of humans, embracing hypocrisy, prejudice, and religious zealot group worshiping a man who is extraordinary as a god.
William can somewhat relate to AI's situation. If he somehow knew that his Earth and everything within is different beyond recognition, William wouldn't dare to come back at all. Nothing will connect him to his past, and only a few things will remind him of what he had before losing it all.
"I understand what you mean behind those words." William walks past the drone and Mother and approaches the computer table where the panel shines bright, ready to accept permission from the human. Without saying anything, William placed his hand on the panel and initiated the ark ship's lunch sequence to teleport through space and time. At the same time, the screen turns red and small needles puncture William's hand, retrieving his blood and converting his genetic information to be pure computer data. When the time comes, this data will help Mother construct a new type of humans and give them a significant advantage on their next evolution compared to other species in the new galaxy.
[The emergency warp teleportation will launch in five minutes. Please clear the launch area.]
William equips the terminator armor and changes the color of his armor based on Legions of Blacksouls. When it is done, he turns around to see the AI, who is hoovering near to him, waiting for the final stage of the plan.
"I will fulfill my promise, and you will complete your mission for humanity. You will not be forgotten as long as I live." William said his final words and kneeled to his one knee to place his hand on the floor. With simple command and will, William took the mountain-sized ark ship of the Dark Age into his inventory and reappeared to the outside world where his army waited for him.
The late afternoon sky gave off blazing red color as the sun slowly set. William realized that he was standing in the middle of the large crater where a mountain-sized ship used to be.
Extending his hand, William brought out the ship from the inventory, and the mountain-sized ship reappeared.
William stepped away and kept his distance away from the ship while his army began to descend from the base camp, and some of his battle-brothers communicated with William about his situation. William, explain what happened on a need-to-know basis until he can adequately inform them and wait patiently as the final count down starts.
Just before ark ship was about to jump to warp, William heard Mother's voice from the vox channel. [Be cautious, I detect an unnatural phenomenon within the capital city of the Legellan.]
The ship vanished before William could ask the Mother as she and everything within the ship teleported away to the warp. William never saw Mother or the ship again; their existence and records were long gone before Emperor came out of his man cave to unite the Earth. William, the last witness to meet humanity's true AI with a mission to restore humans turn around and is greeted by a woman who jumps out from her horse to hug him while his battle-brothers, Imperial guards, and Sisters of Battle approach him.
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Meanwhile, The Capital City of the Legellan
"What do we do? We only have a city defense force, and none of the other lords bother to send reinforcements or messages of any kind." One of the priests of the Holy White Mountain starts to panic and cannot process the upcoming demise while his fellow priests divide into two separate factions due to disagreement.
The first group began to talk about negotiation and even surrendering to the 'Knight Lord of the Metal' and see if there was a chance of them surviving and, most crucially, maintaining their power and riches. Some even considered changing their religion from 'Holy White Mountain' to something called 'Emperor of Kind,' which sounds very benevolent deity to work for.
The second group rejects every word coming from the first group and maintains their stands on fighting the outsiders. Even if they lost the main force and the hero's death was damaging to their public appearance, the White Mountain provided them before and will provide them a victory.
"We will hold our city and country as one even if we have to spill blood long before the siege begins." One of the priests from the second faction drew a short sword from his concealed robe and pointed it towards the first group maliciously.
"You fool, don't you see we have no other option? We only have half of the main force behind the city walls and lacks leadership. Where are we going to get our general for the army to lead? They all went to the battlefield and got captured!" The head of the first group shouted and was about to confront the priest with the sword until both men suddenly collapsed with their eyes rolled back and began to shake as if they were experiencing seizures. Others quickly came to their aid, but when they saw two men's faces, they saw expressions of pleasure.
"You folks are still the same hypocrite, just like I remembered. Oh, how I missed this world." A seductive voice of a man rang the main chamber, and personal guards of the church immediately collapsed with their hands on their ears. They didn't last long for their eardrums ruptured and brain liquified, but their facial expressions show very differently from their brutal death.
"Show yourself! You are in the holy ground, and I command you to show your face to us!" The senior priest ordered, and a reply came to him with two Daemonettes appearing out from the shadow and ripping the man into pieces.
"Oh, honey. Daddy's home." A large purple skin humanoid dropped from the high ceiling and twisted his entire body as if he was dancing, synced with a piece of ballad music and performing to the crowd. At the same time, the large human drew his two beautiful swords from his waist and started slaughtering every member of Holy White Mountain like a bloody ballerina. In a matter of seconds, the main chamber is soaked with blood, and only the butcher stands in the middle, not even a single drop of blood ruining his perfect purple armor.
"Now, what is next? Oh, yes. Time for round two." Makato Amano, who recently died and experienced hundred years of warp the Dark Prince could offer, returned home as Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. While he is glad to be back as the protagonist of his own story, he invited a few new friends to help him out this time.
Multiple large warp portals appear inside the Legellan capital city as a vast band of Noise Marines and daemons of Slaanesh perform their musical performance as their audience sufferers and killed by hundreds every minute. Coming out last from the warp portal, the Keeper of Secret step forward, his/her body covered with old scars, especially stomach having large stitches mark as if someone cut him/her long ago.
"I HAVE RETURN FOR YOU, THE CHAMPION OF THE ANATHEMA!"
