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My army background submitted for your approval

Part 1

Ahhh…. Here you are skulking under a table of scrolls, how fitting. You are wondering who I am, I know what you think, you wonder why I have assaulted your City, murdered, your citizens and razed your homes to ash, what kind of monster I am that can crush tanks with a gesture and turn men to turn on each other with a glance, A being that has obviously slaughtered thousands of your kin, yet why do I deem to converse with a lowly wretch such as yourself and spend the effort to explore your ‘Library‘, Well come out from under the table and I shall tell you. I promise I shall not raise my weapons against you…. That’s right, sit down and I shall answer all these questions, and I shall tell you have of the ’true’ history of the Imperium.

It was so long ago, even now my memory remains as clear, those heart wrenching hours burned into my memory, my subconscious, no matter how much I wish to forget.
I am Set’menes and I was once a Philosophus of the Thousand Sons and Veteran of the Sekhmet, I was once a disciple of the Athaneans. I was capable of destruction, as were we all, but that was not who I was, what I trained for! For the Athanaens were capable of reading the mind and distorting the thought. I heard the thoughts and orders of my foes even as they were conceiving their plans, and so we were waiting for them.

Once many years ago, not that time holds much sway in this infernal place, We were outlawed, our skills and powers denounced by that farce of a trial, Banned from our research, just as ancient man once spurned new ideas and destroyed people and works of art and literature that dared speak out against the established order with suggestions of improvement for mankind, our Emperor, one of us, one of the gifted, spoke out and agreed that we should once again recede into the dark ages of man.
If only they had listened. If only If they had seen our gifts as what they were, My Lord Magnus’s message would have been heard in the golden halls of ignorant Terra, by the hypocritical master of Mankind. Horus would have been confronted as the corruption took root, we could have excised the taint at the beginning. But no! Mankind’s ignorant Corpse Lord had his Lap Dogs set upon us, we were brought to the brink of destruction. If they had only listened, and I am no Corvidae but the future would have been very different, Even if Horus had corrupted the others, and we had failed to excise the daemon at his heart, The Thousand Sons would have stood at the Emperors side on Terra, hearing the Traitors thoughts and guiding our defences, our kine shields protecting our Brothers, With Lord Magnus escorting the Master of Mankind upon the Arch Traitors vessel how could Horus have ever prevailed, for he could not possibly stand against two great minds and theirs, even Sanguinius may well have survived his encounter with the Dark one. But as I said. I am no Corvidae, and that is not what happened. What happened was the inevitable; mankind stuck its head in the sand and suffered the consequences.

The orbital barrage of the wolves was without warning, strange how none knew of their arrival, but regardless, our kine shields held strong. So the battle would be resolved face to face.
Initially we held, our powers decimating them, the Pyraes Titan strode once more at our command. Even the Custodes fell to our skill, our powers rampant… too rampant, some changed, I still see the faces of my warped brothers twisted in anguish, how were we to see the results of our studies run uncontrollably? If there was a failing here it was of the Corvidae… we were nought but children thinking we were masters. Without powers and skills we fought, our Brethren suffering the flesh change all around us, we could do nought but fall back, back to Magnus’s pyramid, and ultimately back to this blasted wasteland. I never saw Magnus’s fall, I only know of the battle with Russ through second hand reports, but from what it sounds like Russ was a Barbarian, whereas the Red King fought with skill. But alas I am afraid this story is too painful in its telling and ultimately the results were the same. Magnus’s somehow teleported us off Prospero, not that it was a paradise anymore, but a charnel house, of the type that occur all too frequently when the Wolves of Russ are let slip their leash.
So there we have it, our arrival on this planet seems to have been the manipulations of a power far greater than our own, We knew everything, and yet nothing. We stumbled blindly into this predicament not through and failing of our own but of not anticipating the ignorance of mankind and those unwilling to embrace illumination of the mind. Were our story to end there it would have been a dramatic enough fall, but what followed next was crushing.

As you remember, we had just arrived on this ’Planet of Sorcerers’ the buildings and shell of Tizca, or at least an exact copy of them surrounded us, making a wind blasted mockery of everything we had just left behind us. Renegades to the Imperium and as I have been told, Magnus had been inclined to throw our lot in with the Sons of Horus and they would undoubtedly loose their souls for doing so…. If only that was top be our fate, the other Traitors lost their souls, but we became ours. And to this there is one culprit to blame for this dastardly event Azhek Ahriman, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons.

I knew what they were doing, of course I did, an unguarded moment a lapse in concentration and all secrets are revealed. Did I stop them….. No….. Yet that is something I will regret. Ahrimans intentions were noble, an end to the flesh change, and an escape from our fate. Yet it did not occur the way as it intended. Our souls were seared as Ahriman and his cohorts cast their rubric, Those ‘gifted’ brethren such as myself were struck down, overloaded with an influx of power, if you can call it that, raw stuff of the Immaterium, those whose grasp of the Ennumerations slipped were struck down…. Along with our ungifted brothers, and their fate was much worse, their souls were burned, joined for eternity into their armour, no bodies of flesh anymore. They became nothing more than automatons, bound to my will.
I should have stopped them, I should have done something, but In truth I had secretly hoped for their success.
And we have been cursed for my laxity.

That is the story of the fall, and I will tell you of our rise. I still serve Magnus, brooding within his Obsidian tower, and to that end his goals are mine.
Death to the corrupt and intolerant Imperium!
Death to the Corpse Lord of Mankind!
Revenge against the Wolves of Fenris for their betrayal!
Slightly narrow minded view these days, but it is the means to salvation for Mankind, deliverance from the fire of ignorance that has plagued it since its earliest days. Make no mistake I will deliver it kicking and screaming if necessary, to a new enlightened age.

Now you may be wondering why I am telling you this…..
The answer is simple…. You have something I want, a book so it happens, and as your one of the gifted I will give you two options. You can join with me and hand it over, or I can rip its location from your mind! Now choose!

Part 2

Good Evening, Don’t be scared, remember I can read you as easily as you might read a Fictional Tome, and right now your Fear is overwhelming, so many questions in such a disorganised mind, Do not fret yourself blinded one, you are quite safe and will be well looked after. But alas we cannot continue our discussion with you cowering in the corner of your cell…There does this help? as I said when I first met you, those many months ago, the secrets of mind and emotion are no stranger to me, I have soothed your frayed nerves and bolstered your courage, there, is that better? Come on come out of your corner into the light and sit down…
Welcome to the Illumination, History would have recorded this vessel as a Strike Cruiser of the Thousand Sons, that is to say, history would have recorded it, had not been expunged by the Ignorance of Mankind. Regardless, I bid you welcome to my Home and Sanctum.

Not many mortals have stood within its confines, and you are the first in a long, long time. But your wondering, why did I drag you here? Out your entire civilisation, I save only you…. Why… Yes Yes your quite right I can read your thoughts, you cant hide them from me. Well I shall tell you for I have an offer to make.
That book you so kindly donated, it was entitled ‘Genome Manipulation in ProtoHuman Sub species’ its is simply a book of science, that is all, And in this day, that is Blasphemous, you should consider yourself lucky that it is I and not the Adeptus Biologus that found you, for I will not censor men of learning. Yes Yes, be quiet with your thoughts, I am coming to my point. As you should remember, My Legion was decimated and destroyed, It is my charge to rectify this damage, and restore our numbers.

That Tome was the last piece in the puzzle. I believe I have the capability to recreate the techniques used recreate Astartes safely and without the Genetic blight that plagued us before, I have found the solution that The Emperor failed to comprehend. Yes I know it sounds impossible, and for any Mortal man it might well be, but I am Set’menes, Scion of Magnus, and devoted of TZEENTCH. There is no problem that I cannot overcome should I turn my mind to… You doubt me… Never mind, it will not change what I have to say to you.

I wish you to be my first, my Acolyte, once long ago the gifted walked amongst us, chroniclers of our knowledge and Greatest amongst them was Kallimakus, calligrapher to my Lord Magnus... I wish you to be the same to me. Don’t dismiss what I have to say so quickly, for I offer much, I have selected you because you like me already walk the path of our master, a thirst for Knowledge, to change things for the better. You and I are cut from the save cloth my friend… also there is something else… When I first me you, I referred to you as ‘gifted’ the small spark of the psychic runs through your veins... I will nurture this latent talent, weave it into something fantastic. In the early days upon Prospero the gifted such as yourself would have been inducted into the Legion, alas you no longer possess the youth needed for such an adventure, but still our journeys are entwined together as Student and Master. Our journey together has long been seen, it is.... unavoidable... In ancient Grekkian legend, all mens lives and fates were but fine threads of cotton spun by three spinsters, and that they wove those lives together and through each other, and at a simple cut from their scissors a life would be ended. They had no idea how close they were, they were ridiculed for millenia, but it seems these Ancient Greks had more foresight and knowledge of the universe than their successors, these spinsters we now know as Tzeentch, the Great Manipulator, and so it seems that your thread and mine are entwined, I cannot simply end your life as to do that the tapestry of my life would but fall apart, we are so finely meshed together you and I, that should we part ways, the rich tapestry we would have created will become barren and thread bare, or even simply fail to exist at all. As much as it pains me to say it, I need you as much as you need me to save you from your ignorance.

You still reject my words? You turn your back to the quest for truth and knowledge? You may scoff at my offer, but you and I are not so different, I know your ambition, Your lust for knowledge and power, I know you sabotaged your esteemed colleagues work and took credit for it yourself, I know it was you that rescued the Grimoire Diabolus from the flames of the zealots of Imperium, a fanciful work of fiction I might add, but the sentiment is still the same. You and I could achieve so much….

You will consider it, of course you will, for this galaxy has much to offer, and not once have you seen or tasted anything but the bitter reality of your immediate surroundings, the sweetest knowledge is that you have to find. I look forward to joining with you… From this moment on you shall have your own quarters, and I shall begin preparations, you will make a fine addition to the followers of Magnus. Hail the Red King and the Great Manipulator.


Part 3

Ah, it is good to visit you once again, how do you fare in your new surroundings, I trust your room is to your liking, you look much better as well, how do you feel having throw off the shackles over your oppression, the robes of servitude discarded and now in the finery of one of my Chapter Serfs? Liberating isnt it.
I trust your training is proceeding nicely? Ah but of course it is, even now I see the flicker of enlightenment nurtured within your cerebral matrix. Having just liberated yourself with the lore that I have provided for you to digest before commencing your studies, already your mind is opening for what I have to offer.
But alas, I am afraid such tuition will have to wait for another day. For today I have need of your services, my Remembrancer. For it is your task to chronicle my achievements and our ascension to be one with the universe.

This last week we have struck a blow for the oppressed enlightened the unwanted dregs of humanity, the gifted. You recall 3 days previous the Illumination took part in a battle… not that I expect you to remember much of it confined in your quarters as you are. But those shudders were the firing of the Macro Cannons… I had obtained a golden opportunity. ..

A thought occurs to me before I continue, I forget that the Imperium of today is not the one for which I fought, all those millennia ago., and freedom of information and knowledge is unheard of in your previous life. Are you aware of the Psychics of your time and what happens to them? No? Such ignorance, but a forgivable one all things considered. The gifted are rare in your time, it is said roughly 1 in 1000 carry the capacity for psychic development that spark to nurture, yet only 1 in 100 of those have been deemed useful, the others either not powerful enough to be of use, or so powerful that to allow them life would be to unthinkable. I believe the Templar Sons of Dorn sums up the Imperium’s attitude quite aptly they ‘Abhor the Witch’. What happens to those gifted individuals… well allow me to enlighten you. There are those such as yourself who slip through the net, others communicate across the stars or the sanctioned psykers of the Imperial Guard or occasionally the odd shining star may rise in the ranks of the Inquistion, the Imperiums murderous secret police, or the physically superior may even number amongst the ranks of the brain washed Adeptus Astartes. But what of the others? Those who are deemed of no use? of little or slight power? They too are taken, Thousands upon thousands, millions even from across the galaxy are collected along with those useful. They are confined upon the Black Ships of the Inquisition, little more than vermin. From there they are taken to Terra… yes even you must have heard of Terra. Seat of power in the Imperium.. Golden Cathedrals, The Glory of the Imperial Palace, The majestic jewel of Segmentum Solar, and the site of the most long running and numerous mass Genocide in the history of humanity. Hundreads of Millions of gifted have been sacrificed to power the astronomican, or their souls fed to the Emperor to prolong his life upon his throne of gold. Millions left as withered lifeless husks… fed to appease a corpse… the Carrion Lord of the Imperium. It turns my stomach… this is the civilisation of the 41st millennia.. Millions slaughtered.. unwilling…. Alone… all because they have a gift…
Your silence says all… But I have digressed. I have struck a blow against this travesty… this extermination of the gifted. This week The Illumination engaged, and crippled one of the Black Ships of the Inquisition. I led the boarding party myself. My Rubric brothers stepping forth through the bowels of the ships… we exterminated… everything…. Everyone who was a Gaoler of those wretched vessels… Inquisitorial Stormtroopers… dead by the dozens.. I personally despatched the captain of that vessel… a vile war criminal, a mass murderer. He begged for his life, his death was not quick… In was painful… As I ripped the knowledge of his vessel from his mind, fleet movements and rendezvous points, and then I liberated the gifted. I freed them from their incarceration. Seven Thousand gifted, varying degrees of power and capability. Some show promise, the vast majority show a latent spark which could be improved with nurturing. Even now my Acolytes analyse our haul and induct them to our ranks, most will become my serfs, Crew of the Illumination, others will reform the Spireguard. Those few who are most physically and Psychically able, I will begin implantation proceedings, to commence their enhancement to Astartes the reformation of the Thousand Sons Legion, the beginning of a better Galaxy, of humanities evolution… But before enlightenment can take place… Ignorance must be excised.

Now do you understand… the world you lived in was a lie… brutal and unforgiving… I offer life for the gifted, the next step in human evolution. Everything else must be made to comply for humanities potential to be realised… Do you understand… What I must do… I must educate and enlighten… And those that cant be ‘enlightened’ I must destroy… It must be done… for humanities enlightenment and survival.

I will restore the Legion and the enlightened shall inherit the Galaxy… And I shall usher in this new Radiant Dawn.

It's nice writing, but I thought Kabal was Dark Eldar. It's sort of walking into a store expecting one thing while getting another.

Well Ahriman does have his Cabal... see your point though, but it is appropriate.