26 – On the Ship

26 – On the ShipI sat strapped into an uncomfortable seat as the shuttle shuddered and screeched in the effort of breaking through the atmosphere, half a minute passed like that, with me wondering whether this junk blowing up thousands of meters in the air would kill me or not. By some miracle, the shuttle calmed and with a few tendrils of my soul energy passing through its reinforced walls, I sensed no air around it. I was in space for the first time ever, yeah it was on a shit ride and I couldn't watch the enormous planet getting further and further away but I still felt giddy. When I opened my eyes as the small tendrils retreated through my connection to my... whatever that pond of soul energy was in the immaterial, —I should come up with a name for that, can't call it the Warp anymore— I found Selene staring at me weirdly from the other side of the shuttle. It was somewhat weird that she wasn't somewhere closer to the pilot but maybe she wanted to keep an eye on me or whatever, not that I minded. "Something on my face?" I raised an eyebrow at her as I ran my fingertips over my cheeks and lips despite knowing nothing was on them. I found myself enjoying the effort I had to put into reading Selene, unlike the rest who were like open books with my telepathy. Well, aside from the Magos, what was his name again? I'm sure I recorded it somewhere in my mind. "No," she answered, seeming more confused than suspicious, "I just didn't expect to see an Inquisitor enjoy flying on a faulty shuttle that much." "Hmm," I narrowed my eyes, "Why have you decided to become a Rogue Trader? Aside from the relative freedom of course." "Money, Power, and the Thrill of it all, I reckon," she said after a moment of thought, "though I didn't have much choice as I was an only child so I inherited the Warrant of Trade by default." "I'm not too different," I shrugged, "Money, Power and Freedom are a given as an Inquisitor but I try to enjoy every little thing that sends a jolt of thrill through me," I smiled at the woman, "not knowing whether this junk of a shuttle will explode while trying to exit the atmosphere is quite thrilling, thank you for the experience." "...you are welcome," she now looked at me even more weirdly but just shook her head as I grinned at her probably like a lunatic. I'd make for a good Ordo Xenos Inquisitor in my honest opinion, I knew more than most of them about the aliens and I got the usual Inquisitor insanity by default. Being near unkillable by usual methods tends to warp someone's personality. "Got any Astropaths on board?" I asked a few moments later, my grin fading away with the question. "One," she shook her head mournfully, "the psychic shockwave sent the rest either into raving lunacy or killed them outright, only the Astropath Transcendent remains, though she is comatose." "Well damn," I looked at the ceiling, "oh well, whatever, we got bigger problems than alerting others right now." "A Tyranid invasion would need to be reported," she nodded at me, "but we have to survive it first to do that." "Right," I shrugged, "Not sure how we are going to get anywhere though, I don't know if your navigator mentioned it but the Astronomican has gone poof a few months ago," I said as I made a mock explosion gesture with my right hand. "He did," she was looking at me weirdly again, I wonder why? *snicker* "He was also in a bad state when we left the ship to land so he might be dead by now." "That would be bad," can I act like a Navigator? Maybe if I could eat him somehow, get that third eye thingy for myself. "We'd be trapped on this planet with a Tyranid fleet coming right at us," she stated with a stony face, "Yes that'd be bad." "Right?" I nodded in self-satisfaction, I think I like this woman, feisty. We stayed silent for a few more minutes before I decided to ask something that came to mind just now. "Would you mind if I exterminated the mutants crawling around your ship?" I was sure to find some interesting ones living near that disgustingly radioactive reactor. "I don't think you need my permission to do your job," said Selene with a raised eyebrow and I just shrugged. "It's your ship," I stared into her questioning grey eyes, "I've met some Rogue Traders that'd take me doing that like I've deflowered their daughters or something." "I see it more as you curing her of a disease so go ahead," said Selene and I nodded back thankfully, a good relationship with her is going to make my life much easier. Silence returned until the metal hull started screeching again as it connected to the Wanderer. It was an interesting setup, instead of entering a hangar or something this smaller ship that was far too large for a shuttle connected to the underside of the large ship. Mechanical tubes and limbs extended from both and interlocked until the two were held firmly together. The connecting hallways depressurized as we stood in front of the bulkhead, watching the blinking red lamp turn green. The bulkhead opened with a loud screech, not having seen oil for probably the last century which overshadowed the hiss of air rushing between the two rooms. "Would you like to go hunting now, or..." Selene looked at me, throwing a questioning sidelong glance at my seemingly unarmed form. "I want to check on the Astropath Transcendent and the Navigator beforehand," I said with a glance at her before returning my gaze to the hallway leading into the main ship. "Sure," she nodded easily, an Astropath Transcendent is a psyker soul-bound to the Emperor himself, something like a very binding warlock pact, they should have a small shard of HIS soul in them too. I stood above the sleeping form of the Navigator, the man who apparently was called Aaron Follanx, he seemed to be in his fifties with his skin pulled gaunt against his skull. I'd have thought he was wearing chalk as skincare with how pale he was but I guess Warp energy isn't the best for your health either. It is a very addictive and destructive drug, almost as much as the godlike power it gives to psykers. From this close, it was evident that the Navigator wasn't the source of the radiant light that helped me first notice this ship. That light was coming from a few rooms away, where I'd been told they are treating the Astropath. Navigators were an interesting breed, while psykers were gateways into the warp, people like this man were windows. They could glimpse into it but couldn't draw on its powers and his soul signified that. He shone brightly but only a bit brighter than the Captain and his little soul floated on top of the dark waves of the warp like a tiny boat. His mind was calm but active, nothing like what I'd expect from a comatose person. His thoughts raced wildly, dreaming about whatever people dreamed about in this grimdark future. I cared not besides his relative stability, I retreated from his mind and turned my attention towards what was actually interesting. "Want me to wake him up?" I tilted my head as I threw a glance at Selene standing a few meters behind me with two of her spec-ops bodyguards looming over her shoulders. "If it isn't too much trouble," she nodded and her gaze switched to the slumbering navigator. My palm was draped over his skull with my fingers digging under his disgustingly mangy hair. My psychic power didn't need direct control to work but they didn't know that. I glanced at the third eye in the middle of his forehead, now closed to the world but I knew it to be the source of his powers. It'd be so easy to kill him, absorb him, and assimilate his powers. Just like I'd done with everything interesting so far but not now, I didn't want to be stuck on this rock and only this half-dead man could guide this ship through the hell that was the Warp. My palm didn't need to touch him for my psychic powers to work but it did help in concealing the hundreds of tiny white tendrils extending from it and into his body. They phased through his body as they felt, touched, and sensed how his body was made up. Even without eating him, with my expanded knowledge about the human genome and mutations I reckoned I'd be able to replicate his powers with a bit of trial and error, especially since he won't notice a few of his cells and hair going missing while sleeping. His body was weak and without nutrients which I had to restore just a bit with my own stores of bio-energy as I call it, even his pale cheeks got some color to them after a few seconds of me pumping energy into him. I went over his whole body with my microscopic tendrils another two times just to make sure I memorized everything correctly before I sent a tiny pulse of soul energy into his mind. The man jerked and sat up like a spring, jumping to his feet next to his medical bed like a hyperactive kid as his three-eyed gaze flickered all over the room before landing on Selene and then finally me. His two human eyes were focused but the third on his forehead was glazed over and looking around still like it couldn't find what it was searching for. "Lord Aaron," Selene drew his attention, "are you alright?" "Ah," he blinked owlishly at me once before tearing his gaze away and focusing in on Selene, now with all three of his eyes, "Fine? no... PHENOMENAL, I haven't felt this great in centuries." Selene snapped her head away as she saw his tar black eye starting to turn in her direction but one of the medicae staff wasn't so lucky, a single peek into the abyss of the Warp sent her convulsion on the floor but a moment later one of Selene's Shadows took him away. The man grinned and I was afraid his skin would crack and flake off under the strain but he even spun around a bit before zeroing in on me with a curious look in his sunken black eyes. "Do you not have a soul?"