"Armoring?"
Enkidu looked up, his gaze filled with a sharp, undeniable hunger as he turned toward Telax.
To wear his own suit of Power Armor was the dream of every Astartes initiate. Once armored, a warrior wasn't just prepared for higher-intensity battlefields—it ant he had finally beco a "mber" of the brotherhood, no longer a re "consumable" standing only one rung above a mortal serf.
Even in a Chaos warband, where there were no sacred oils, hymns, or chaplains to bless the plate—where the gear was often scavenged from the corpses of the fallen—it still represented a vital threshold. At the very least, it ensured you wouldn't be casually slaughtered by a senior marine on a whim.
"Pah!" Telax spat toward Varex, reluctantly sheathing his broken sabre. "Now you're willing to part with the plate? I thought you were going to hoard it until the stars guttered out."
"Hardly. The timing simply wasn't right," Varex replied with oily insincerity. "According to the old ways, an initiate trained for a decade. Weapons, vehicles, strategy, and etiquette—all had to be mastered before they earned their place among us. You've only worked them for three years. Why would I give precious ceramite to 'imperfect' little things?"
"The old ways? How long has it been since those existed? Stop wasting my ti and give the access codes to the Armory."
Telax cut through Varex's rambling with blunt demand. The warband leader's mutilated face twitched before he voxed over a string of encrypted ciphers.
"Fine. You and your 'little thing' can go fetch it yourselves," Varex sneered. The failure of the sacrifice had clearly drained his confidence. "I look forward to seeing if he remains quite so... compliant... once he has his own armor."
Telax didn't even bother to acknowledge the taunt, turning and striding away with Enkidu in tow.
In the corridor, the rhythmic thud of their boots on the tal decking created two distinct tempos. Telax led the way, his stride heavy and purposeful, his broken blade clinking against his hip. Enkidu followed a step behind, his mind still racing through the chaotic events of the last hour.
Whatever had happened today, it was far beyond the norm.
He had been sent to the Velvet Abyss on a simple delivery, only to be dragged into a Slaaneshi banquet. As a Chaos marine, he wasn't surprised that Varex was obsessed with depravity or that he wanted to corrupt him through a ritual—that made sense. But why had the ritual failed?
A hall full of Slaaneshi veterans, a Magus presiding over an Aeldari sacrifice, and yet an explosion had occurred with no external attackers?
He rembered clearly: he hadn't attacked the sorceress yet. He hadn't even unleashed his psychic power. It had happened before he could act. And the scent in the ruins afterward... it was too fresh. It didn't sll of Slaaneshi musk or Warp-sulfur; it slled of an ancient, prival forest.
Sothing had interfered with that sacrifice in a way that defied logic.
"What are you thinking, recruit?"
Telax's voice drifted back, laced with a subtle, dangerous chill. Enkidu snapped back to the present.
"I am wondering how this happened, Lord Telax."
"Go on."
"It is all too convenient."
Enkidu focused his mind, beginning his defense. Varex's attempts to sow discord had been heard by everyone; if he couldn't prove his loyalty now, he would lose Telax's protection—or worse, beco his next target.
"After arriving on the Velvet Abyss, I sought the Apothecary. Varcus intercepted ; we fought before I reached Morpheus. After delivering the samples, I intended to return to the Lash, but the shuttle was gone."
The cloud on Telax's face cleared slightly, though his focus remained sharp.
"I found Virsuto in the hangar. He offered to show the ship. Then Varcus reappeared and escorted to the banquet. I was forced to duel Varcus for Varex's amusent, won a blade, and then... as you saw, the altar exploded."
"And what do you think caused it?" Telax stopped and turned, his eyes like needles, attempting to pierce through Enkidu's mask. "Varex claims you sabotaged the sacrifice. Give a reason to believe otherwise."
Enkidu t his gaze, his posture firm.
"If you truly believed his words, why would you have defended just now? Furthermore, if I had truly sabotaged a ritual to the Dark Prince, why am I standing here talking to you instead of being a pile of weeping sludge on the floor?"
"You had better be innocent," Telax said, his gaze softening slightly, though he wasn't finished. "Now, one more question: how do you view Varex?"
"Do you truly think I would support a creature like that, Telax?"
"...No. You are not his kind. Not yet, Brother Aeternus Komnenos."
Telax ca to a sudden halt before a massive, reinforced tal door that looked out of place among the ship's more ornate sections.
The Armory.
Even though Enkidu had a realistic understanding of his warband's poverty, the sight of the Armory still tested his composure.
They were destitute. They were "Night Lord" levels of broke. He half-expected to see a crate of stolen Imperial chainsaw-teeth and a sign saying 'Will Raid for Prothium.'
A few suits of Power Armor, cobbled together from various marks and scarred by centuries of battle, stood on racks—these were clearly the most valuable assets in the room. Beside them sat crates of damaged lasguns, a few bolters, and a pitifully small number of magazines. As for "Warband Relics"? There were none.
Telax tossed his broken sabre into a scrap bin with a loud clang. He spent several minutes digging through a pile of discarded blades before finally unearthing a longsword that wasn't too badly notched.
Enkidu turned his attention to the suits that would beco his second skin.
Nearly every set of plate reeked of machine oil mixed with that cloying, sweet perfu. A few were draped in layers of dried skin and trophies; arc-sparks hissed and jumped across the joints, a clear sign that the machine spirits within were agitated and poorly maintained.
He looked around, realizing there were no Techmarines here—not even a servitor. He would have to maintain this himself.
"I believe this set suits best," Enkidu said, pointing to a suit at the very end of the row. Compared to the others, it was more battered and lacked ornantation, but it looked clean.
"You're sure about that one?"
Telax arched an eyebrow. He had expected the "noble" Aeternus to pick sothing more flamboyant.
"This is enough," Enkidu said, beginning to disassemble the components from the rack. "I am eager to share this news with my brothers. And once we return, I'll need you to teach how to properly appease its spirit."
"As you wish."
Telax stepped forward and began to help him strip the plate.
~~----------------------
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