The transition from the habblocks of ferrocrete of the massive Hive City to the sight of the galactic void from inside the voidship was far too quick. He managed to do what he wanted and created a few skills that allowed him to get into space and assemble the different large parts of the voidship.
Orb of Survival (Active) Lv. 1
| MP: 150/min
| EXP: 0.00%
| Creates a protective field around the user that allows survival in otherwise uninhabitable environments.
| The orb adapts to external threats and maintains a stable internal condition.
Effects:
| Generates breathable air if none is present
| Regulates temperature (heat and cold resistance)
| Reduces damage from environmental hazards
| Additional Effects:
| -50% damage from heat and cold
| -40% damage from acid
| -40% damage from poison
| Slight resistance to toxic environments
| Duration: Sustained (while MP is available)
---
He had to level this up quite a bit to survive in space without a problem, but he made it. This was now an additional skill that would allow him to survive. That was always welcome. And what's more, he would be able to fuse this skill with the [Psionic Mana Shield]. But he would first level both of those up to the maximum and only then do it.
But that wasn't all. Gerhard had to somehow move in space, and to do that, he first used his [Psychokinesis], which worked, as he also used it to assemble the ship. And that was a good example. But then, the system was there to once again be the MVP and created this skill:
Flight (Active) Lv. 5
| MP: 15/min
| EXP: 0.00%
| You can fly using mana by counteracting gravity and generating propulsion.
| Flight speed, stability and altitude depend on mana output and control.
Effects:
| Enables sustained flight
| +25% movement speed while airborne
| Moderate aerial control
| Slight reduction in fall damage
| Additional Effects:
| Increased altitude capacity based on MP
| Improved manoeuvrability with higher DEX and Mana Control
---
Gerhard's new voidship was an impressive piece of compact technology, not the sprawling, gothic cathedral-cities of the Imperial Navy.
Granted, it wasn't pretty, and Gerhard didn't have enough time to install the weapons systems he wanted, but it was a relatively sleek, high-performance ship of diamantine and adamantium.
It had an advanced Warp drive, a Gellar Field and a larger version of Gerhard's Prismatic Mana Core. On a Gerhard scale from 'barf' to 'nice', it was a comfortable 'meh'.
It was his first spaceship, and he was under immense pressure to speed up. It was so much that Gerhard even got a Quest, for the first time.
Quest Alert
| Atarine Hestia wants to reach Arraissa as fast as possible. Get through the tumultuous Warp and get her there as quickly as possible.
| Time Limit: 1 Month
Completion reward:
| +500,000 EXP
| Increased closeness with Hestia
| Skill: [Void Walker]
Completion failure:
| Decreased trust from Hestia and the Sisters of Silence
--
Honestly, Gerhard liked Hestia, but he would have spat on this quest if it weren't for the skill he would acquire. Void Walker would most definitely allow him to increase his orientation within space and the Warp, so it was invaluable, especially since he was not interested in ever employing a Navigator.
He was going to create FTL voidships, of course, but that would take time and even then, [Void Walker] would be invaluable. So he had to get it. The downside, of course, was that he was beta-testing the ship in very real, very dangerous environments.
But what was he supposed to do? It was for the grind, and he had to leave as soon as possible anyway. Because if Arraissa had already been attacked, the Great Rift was just around the corner. But time was relative, especially in the Warp, so Gerhard hoped they would make it.
.
Inside the compact bridge, every seat was occupied by the key players of this strange, growing odyssey.
Gerhard sat in the command seat, his eyes focused on the task at hand. The large, diverse assembled screens were interfacing directly with the ship's logic core. Unlike Gustav, which was a cream of the crop creation of Gerhard, this voidship wasn't going to get an Artificial Spirit. He needed to perfect his craft first.
Hans and Sera Vahl manned the tactical and reactor stations. Hans' movements were practised, and with purpose, as he knew everything about the ship there was to know, since he was there and helped Gerhard create it. Sera, on the other hand, was less sure of herself.
"I hate spaceships," she said. "And I hate Xenos who follow us on a massive rock, too."
"Don't see it as a spaceship, but a big floating block of metal. You don't even have to look outside. As for the Orks, they'll follow on the Rok, but it's doubtful that they'll exit the Warp at the same destination as we will," Gerhard tried to placate her worries.
But it was clear that Sera really didn't like the idea of 'flying'. But naturally, she tried to hide how uncomfortable she felt and toughed it out. She had lived with the Sisters of Silence for these months and had forced herself to endure their presence. So this wasn't going to be much, she told herself.
Lencillus stood like a silent sentinel near the viewport, his hands resting on the pommel of his new Guardian Spear.
Gerhard had managed to extract some secrets of the Space Marine armour, especially those of the Terminators. And since he was the literal Gamer that he was, he managed to advance his skill in [Smithing], [Weapon Smithing], [Engineering], [Legendary Creation] and the others so far, that he finally created an Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour.
And what a glorious moment it was.
Lencillus stood rooted on the spot when he was presented with it. He truly hadn't told Gerahrd anything about how the Custodian armoury was created, and yet, there he was, standing in front of a full set of Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour and a Guardian Spear.
But not only that. When he looked more closely at the carcass of the auramite armour, Lencillus found that all his thousands of names were inscribed within. All of them. Each one of them was in perfect order and just like his previous power armour.
Needless to say, Lencillus's view of Gerhard changed again after that. It was a 'present' as Gerhard called it, and what a present it was. Lencillus would come to realise this truly, but the armour he wore was leagues beyond what regular Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour was.
It was a legendary grade idem, after all. And so was the Guardian Spear.
Hestia, Kaelen, and Liora, the Anathema Psykana, occupied the rear sensory pews, their presence acting as a stabilising "null-anchor" for the entire vessel. Having them on board was dangerous when travelling through the Warp, since they were targets of all Warp denizens, who hated them with every fibre of their being.
"Systems check," Gerhard's voice was heard through the ship.
"Mana Reactors at 100%," Hans reported, her eyes tracking the flowing cyan energy on his consoles. "Program installed and ready. We are airtight and void-ready."
"Auspex is clear, and the sensors are functioning well," Sera added, a grin tugging at her lips. Not one out of happiness.
"Well then, let's give this a go," Gerhard said.
He gripped the control couplings. The ship worked differently from a regular Imperial Vessel.
"Initiating turbine burn. Hold on."
The Mother pussbucket slowly increased speed until it punched through the atmosphere. The sky of Ludos Prime transitioned from a sickly, smog-choked grey to the deep, velvet black of the void as it grew smaller and smaller.
As the stars grew larger and moved closer, a heavy silence settled over everyone, knowing this was the moment it would be revealed whether they would all die. Even the Sisters of Silence seemed more focused, their gaze fixed on the shimmering reality-blur at the edge of the ship's prow.
"We are approaching the Mandeville point," Gerhard announced. "Hestia, prepare the null-casing. Hans, get ready to activate the Gellar Field. We're doing this the 'Gamer' way."
A Mandeville Point was defined as the minimum distance from one's destination that was safe to transition in and out of the Warp without interference from the gravity of stars or other celestial bodies. If one prematurely entered or overshot their exit from the Warp, they risked catastrophe for not only their own vessel but also nearby worlds.
As for the null-casing, as Gerhard put it, that was a little precaution he had taken and which was only possible because his skills could affect reality to some degree. And right now, that was through everything he created.
Hestia nodded solemnly. The three Sisters closed their eyes; their combined negative psionic presence projected into the specially designed port. This then flowed right into the Gellar Field, and an invisible shield mixed with the Gellar field around the ship's hull. Unlike Imperial ships that relied solely on Gellar Fields, Gerhard's ship used a fusion of his own technology and the Sisters' natural void in the Warp as protection.
It wasn't perfect, but as he said, it was beta testing.
Gerhard looked at the destination coordinates: Arraissa, which Hestia and Lencillus had taught him. Everything was more or less a ramshackle of the bare necessary things to jump into and out of the Warp and get to Arraissa.
"Hans, prime the Warp-drive to 28.9292-888° and make the wavelength fit that of the Prismatic Mana Core. Lencillus, lock the Gellar-Core."
The ship began to vibrate as the Warp drive activated and a tear between realities opened. A swirling vortex of pinkish-red and iridescent malicious energies began to form in front of the ship.
"Initiating Warp Jump in three... two... one."
Gerhard slammed the throttle forward.
The Mother Pussbucket vanished and started to travel the currents of the Warp. There were no windows to look out of, as Gerhard had them closed to prevent Sera from going insane. Inside the ship, the world turned inside out. For a split second, everyone felt the sensation of falling upward.
Then, the ship stabilised. Thanks to the Sisters and Gerhard's mana-tech, the ship remained a bubble of perfect, silent calm amidst the screaming chaos of the Sea of Souls.
"First jump successful," Gerhard said, exhaling a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.
He looked at his companions, his gaze lingering on the holographic display of Arraissa. They were now inside the Warp. Now, they had to see whether they could make it out again.
"We're on our way. Let's see what else the galaxy has to throw at us."
Liora reviewed everything and finally signed with Thoughtmark.
'It is smoother than I expected. You have a way of silencing even the abyss, Gerhard.'
"Let's not be hasty. We're barely in. I have nothing to go off on, whether what I did was good or terrible. The null-field may as well be our doom."
'Have some faith in yourself, Gerhard. I have never heard anyone do what you have,' Kaelen signed.
"They're right. You should be incredibly proud of what you created. But I am also uncertain what might happen. We shall see," Lencillus said.
.
Aleya had returned to the transport ship, on her way to the Cadamara, hardly bothering to evade the clusters of frantic air traffic that threatened to stop her. The PDF had been fully mobilised by this point, naturally too late, and the dark black flyers of the Arbites units were now present.
Aleya was deep in thought as she docked. She was pulled inside and secured the interceptor, after which she made her way to the command bridge, where Captain Erefan waited for her.
"Widespread damage to major planetary infrastructure," he reported. "No sign of enemy units remaining in the system."
After saying that, he remained quiet, awaiting her orders. And they needed orders, since they were now all alone and had nowhere to go. Aleya thought about her options and the sentence on the door of Lokk's chamber.
He calls His daughters home.
Aleya was still in a state of shock and grief. Captain Erefan must have felt that she wasn't in any state to give orders, so he did it himself. He turned to the crew.
"Take us out of orbit," he commanded. "Beyond augur range, then hold for further instructions."
The Cadamara swung around, bumping into some of the remaining wreckage and then boosted the plasma reactor, shooting out of the upper atmosphere. As they picked up speed to exit the system, a massive Astra Militarum troop carrier emerged from the horizon.
This was the cleanup group. But Aleya doubted that they would fully realise what had happened and why. She watched as Arraissa shrank quickly as Cadamara's engines reached max speed. She knew that she would most likely never again set foot on the planet. So she looked for as long as she could, to burn the sight into her memory.
'Carry on and send Slovo to my quarters,' Aleya signed to Erefan, who nodded his head.
In her quarters, Aleya went through the items she had taken from Hellion, the planet where she had come across the cult she destroyed. She tried to find out anything she could that would tell her the reason or sense of the attacks. She wasn't aware of the 13th Black Crusade, so her reaction was sensible.
After a while, the Navigator, Slovo, entered her chamber. His face revealed his extreme wariness in Aleya's presence. Being a psyker in her presence was so much worse for normal humans like the Captain and the rest of the crew. But he had relatively good control over himself and remained respectful despite his emotions.
"You asked for me, lord," he said, while bowing.
Slovo was by no means the best Navigator there was, shockingly. The only personnel the Sister of Silence enclave could get to work for them were those who couldn't secure service with a more palatable branch of the Imperium, for whatever reason.
In Slovo's case, this was his addiction to a minor sense-dulling narcotic. In a way, he needed it now more than before.
Aleya gestured towards a great swath of human flesh that she had taken from Hellion. She had found this particular piece on the wall of the cult she destroyed and had felt that it seemed important.
Slovo walked up to it and looked across the swirls of blood that had been painted on the piece of flesh.
"Hmm..."