810.M30, Pacific Segmentum, Sabbat Worlds, Verghast planet
Jorren Nox, now a full grown looking man at 10 years old began to walk out of the waste pipe. Then there is a pause in his steps…
'There is no need for me to go back. I must be clear on the knowledge I have before I leave this world.'
He decided against going back to the upper hive levels. There is no longer anything for him there. His only duty now is to aid the one who created him and protect him on his journey.
And in this manner Jorren Nox disappeared from planet Verghast.
Meanwhile, his parents returned to their home, like any other day. They made food, including some for Jorren. They kept it for him as they went about their day planning for what is to come next and getting ready to sleep.
2 hours into sleep they both woke up in confusion. Their eyes flashing with a blue purple tint, and Mr Nox had a star appear in his eyes
The planet of Varghast was not yet aware of the horrors they would face in the coming period. There was no forewarning, only the sudden change that began.
A man one among millions who stopped mid-motion on an assembly line and forgot what his hands were for. The manufactorum floor of Karth Vire's lower hive never slept.
Conveyor belts roared pistons hammered, and heat shimmered through the air in thick, oily waves. Roric Halvek is one worker who moved in repetition, their lives measured in quotas and rotations.
He had been tightening the same sequence of bolts for eleven years. Which was why it took him several seconds to realize something was wrong, although his hands were still moving it did not follow his instructions like he is used to.
He stared at them as they carried out the motion repeatedly.
"Halvek! Snap out of it!" someone called from beside him.
He turned towards Jast his friend and colleague who has been with him in this factory for over a decade.
"Do you hear that screech in the ventilation? It's cutting my ears" Jast asked.
"What whistle?" Roric asked with a frown forming on his face
Jast's expression changed slightly, a hint of fear washed over him. "It's been going for three minutes."
Roric tried to listen for any sounds but could not find any. The factory hum rang the same as it has for the past decade. Then through the hum of machines he heard it, a slight sharp sound that rang constantly, one he had previously not heard before.
The supervisor called a halt for the day of work. He assumed there was a situation that needed the guilds attention, instead of risking more damage causing the guild to lose production and in return cause him to have his payment reduced.
"Probably just pressure bleeding within the system" someone muttered.
"Yeah," Jast said quickly. "Yeah, that should be all."
Roric nodded at him, though still experiencing the whistling sound that had apparently stopped for Jast when the machines were turned off. Which he was still experiencing, assuming it would cost him going to the infirmary.
A scream shook the whole floor as a woman dropped her tools and began clawing at her own face, saying…
"Get it off…get it off…"
Behind her, the impossible happened. Her shadow peeled away from her feet, separating itself from her as the lighting flickered causing the shadow to stretch.
It grew on its own into a humanoid with long arms and a twisted head, with its mouth opening far more than should be possible for its biology.
Someone laughed out as he watched this scene. What would happen when the impossible became real and so close, the mind would break.
The screaming stopped abruptly … as the woman's body folded inward and her organs spill through her mouth. Her bones snap and crunch as they tear through her flesh to become visible to the outside.
In that same moment her shadow now collided with her, repeated the previous laugh that came out of a worker. This made the entire place go silent for a brief second, prompting the entity to turn and towards the others.
It stuck at the person closest to it, he raised his tool to defend himself on instinct. But it passed through him like something without form and when it emerged on the other side the fell to the floor in chunks of meat separated into neat squares.
This triggered the rest of the workers. They ran with all their might hoping to not be the one behind when the monster attacks again. Around him, workers scattered, some screaming, some laughing, some standing perfectly still as their shadows began to ripple.
The shadow saw this and began to multiply. At least that is what it looked like. Distortions created copies of itself and they moved together. Then something grabbed Roric's arm.
"Move!" Jast shouted from behind.
Instead of taking them all at once the shadow seemed to be playing with them. It created distortions in the perception of the workers causing them to miss steps, tripping over each other and still ending up in the same place.
Roric turned back to see the shadow and the world corrected itself like a living being. When suddenly the air solidified, walking, moving, and breathing became a chore within the entire manufactorum floor.
Everything halted, for a fraction of a second the time itself gave way to something….then it collapsed. The space within an area began to compress…
A glimmer similar to a shield appeared but it was not a shield it did not defend, it forced space to reject itself directly between Roric and the advancing thing the floors gave out as it was pulled into a single point.
Machinery groaned as metal bent toward the sudden singularity.The entity hit it first.Its form stretched instantly, pulled into a thin, screaming filament as the gravity intensified beyond tolerance.
But that was not the end, workers nearby were dragged off their feet.
Jast screamed as his grip on Roric was torn free by the force as his body was yanked sideways, bones snapping audibly as he was pulled into the distortion.
Roric himself dropped flat, clutching at the ground as the force tried to peel him upward.
The singularity screamed as it pulled in the last of whoever it could grab and closed with a BANG! … Bodies fell on the floors what remained of them at least, a mixture of bile, bones, sinew, and metal, all mixed together.
Roric got up slowly, looking around to confirm that the entity was gone.
Above, on a maintenance gantry overlooking the entire floor, Jorren Nox lowered his gaze.He had been the one who had caused this, had had intended to creat a barier to help the people but…
He awakened his tattoo too early, to the point that he had not truly experienced using it before he tried. Jorren observed the aftermath with a slight change in his expression, he could feel the souls that were lost but he also knew there were more important things to do.
He adjusted his understanding of his ability,
'So i am basically a void engine running inside a factories fabricator'
He had never considered the corruption spreading from him to the rest of the planet, but he could not dwell on it.
Sirens came announcing the arrival of the Guild Alliance Defense Force which responded within minutes. Their arrival brought hope and organization to the scene, as the survivors panicked and screamed.
"Multiple casualties," one trooper reported, scanning the crater.
"No active hostiles detected," another added
"Belay that," a third said
"Traces of anomalous bio-signatures. The air is still ionised." The squad leader stepped forward, studying the damage.
"Sanitize the zone. Use the heavy gels and incinerate everything" The squad leader looked at the scene and a thought came to him.
'Could it be that those mutants have come to Verghast as well' he thought to himself
Promethium flames washed over the crater, consuming what remained of bodies and blood alike. The fire burned too brightly for a moment, colors shifting unnaturally within it.
Roric was pulled aside, wrapped in a thermal blanket he didn't feel.
"Verbal confirmation worker, identify your designation" someone asked
"What happened?" Roric opened his mouth to respond, yet nothing came out
"I don't know," he said finally
Jorren turned away, as he contemplated his exit from this planet. He had a location he had to go to, and could not be delayed any further. He needed access to the guild seniors escape vessel, he needed access codes and timing.
And far above, in a quiet hab-block, a woman stood at a door, waiting. A man sat beside her, staring at nothing as a faint whistle echoed in his mind.
Jorren oblivious to this, went on to carry out his plan.