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[b][i]The Council of Nikaea[/i][/b]
[b][i]After the Duel[/i][/b]
[b]Eiohsa’s private quarters, aboard the [i]Ultima Ratio[/i][/b][/center]

The private quarters of the Sixteenth Primarch had changed substantially since last Kaldun had seen them. The tables and benches that filled its hall still lay covered in half-assembled machines and half-realized dreams, manuscripts and technical documentation, but they had been pushed aside rather haphazardly to make way for a bed - though the term was loose at best.

A veritable army of machinery hummed and whirred about the Sixteenth Primarch as she lay within her quarters, staring vacantly into the void above her. Dark thoughts raged within her, a black thunderstorm that roiled with the contained energy of the gods as it fought against her mind. She stared up with eyes unblighted by scars and the damage of her duel. Both hands had been attached to various diagnostic equipment that maintained a steady readout of all her vital information. What was most notable was what was not there. A conspicuous absence beneath the blankets that covered her form, wherein her left leg ought have been. She barely breathed, staring blankly ahead as her mind replayed, in perfect detail, the events of the duel. Over and over and over and over and over again. She felt her body begin to burn. She felt the hands that grabbed at her. They had been so [i]real[/i]. She had even forgotten, for a time, who it was she fought - and why. A part of her longed to simply lie within this room until the end of time. To rot away and disappear into the shifting winds of the universe. Part of her wanted someone to come and end her now - a final mercy. 

But none came, and her mind turned its formidable might inwards upon her as she stewed in isolation.

The doors to her chamber slammed open with a loud bang as Kaldun kicked them open and strode through, a barrel of ale in hand. “Sister! I have come to celebrate your glorious battle against our brother! Even though it may have ended in defeat, you put up a good fight and showed the world the might of the Sixteenth Legion!glorious battle against our brother! Even though it may have ended in defeat, you put up a victorious fight and showed the galaxy the might of the Sixteenth Legion! Not only that, you showed Augor that his ‘oath’,” here Kaldun made dismissive air quotes with his free hand, “would neither be easy to fufi nor would it be likely! While victory would have been preferred, I see no reason to mourn this defeat!” 

He paused, looking at Eiohsa. “And yet, instead of being among your daughters singing songs of victory, I find you here mourning! Why?! There is no reason to do so!” He sat down next to her, cracking open the barrel of ale. “There is, however, a reason to drink!”

Eiohsa didn’t respond initially, staring listlessly at the ceiling. After a moment, she turned her head to face her brother, her eyes blank and focused on some point half past him in the distance. “Celebrate?” She asked, scarcely comprehending him. “What is there to celebrate? The madman will continue his mission to destroy me. He will bring harm to who knows how many. He will lay waste to all I hold dear, if he can.” Her words were hollow, as though she scarcely realized their meaning, reciting from some blank manuscript within her mind. “I will have been humiliated before the galaxy by his broadcast. I do not matter. But my legion? My people? My cause?” She shook her head, returning to her prone position on the bed. “Had I been at my peak, I would have destroyed him. And humanity would have been better for it.”

Kaldun turned his head, like a confused puppy. “A good fight is always worth celebrating! Even if Augor was foolish enough to break his word to the Warmaster, effectively breaking his word to our Father or [i]Ominssah[/i] as he calls him, he isn’t stupid enough to think that destroying your empire would actually help the Imperium! And even if he is so stupid as to think that would do anything other than harm the Crusade, as soon as he tries he will be punished for not only treason but being an Oathbreaker! And then [i]I[/i] will be able to fight him, and [i]I[/i] won’t be as distracted as you were during the fight! I watched the recording with Usriel! You lost focus several times, though given your empathy and recent events it was not unexpected!”

He shook his head, sloshing his ale as he gestured to emphasize his point. “If you had killed him, you would have been a traitor! Killing your family in a duel would have turned the whole of the Imperium against you, and may I remind you that you already have a good chunk of the Imperium against you in our other siblings and their legions! No, even if you would have handily crushed him without other issues bothering you, no deaths was the best outcome of the duel! It ensured a final end, and a way to protect you should he not see that end!”

“He will pursue it regardless, Kaldun. He is a mad dog, convinced of his own absolute dogma without exception. Those who challenge it must be purged, in his eye.” A single tear ran down her cheek. “And now I have brought ruin and death to my people. To what extent, I do not know.” 

“But… I… I would not have [i]killed[/i] him. Just as he would not have killed me.” She murmured, “I would have, however, humbled him before the Imperium and his cult, and shown humanity the power of truth.” She looked up to him. “Do you know what I saw when I fought him, brother? You saw my distractions, as did all who observed. But do you know what it was that distracted me during that fight?”

“Eiohsa, either you would have killed him, or nothing would have changed! If you had spared him he would have just claimed that your witch powers, powers he possesses no less, overcame him and he is still in the right and blah blah blah, you know how he gets! You can’t humble those fanatics! You can only end them! Augor is, so far, a loyal servant to our father and the Imperium at large! Even if he is a fanatic. Killing him is the only way to stop his kind and you could not kill him! This was a duel you were set up to lose!” He shook his head, finishing his ale and refilling it from the barrel. “My best guess was thoughts of revenge on Sarghaul or grief over your daughter, but I did not truly know, no!” He snorted and laughed to himself at the accidental wordplay.

“I saw you.” She murmured. “I saw you. And Daena. And Wolfram. And all of the others. And the Emperor.” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “I… I had failed. All of you were judging me. Sentencing me to death. I had forgotten I was even fighting Augor. I was sentenced to die by the nameless, faceless monster I fought.” She coughed, pushing herself upright as she looked her brother in the eye. “I relived the destruction of Arretius - the first world destroyed by my hand. I felt the heat. I felt their betrayal. Fresher than it has ever been. You do not understand, brother. The very earth itself warred against me, I could swear it.” Even to Kaldun, she could not bring herself to reveal the full truth. The skeletal hands that gripped her flesh and tore bloody chunks of her body from her, trying to drag her into the ground. The hungry [i]malice[/i] of the earth as it tried to consume her whole in rage against its creator - she who had failed humanity. Daena standing over her, ready to end her on the Emperor’s words. “It was [i]horrible.[/i]”

Kaldun waved a dismissive hand, ale sloshing over once more. “Stress visions! Some of my Golden Legionnaires get them from time to time! With your unrelenting empathy, combined with the horrors that you had witnessed before here, combined with the stress of the council meetings with father, and combined with the duel against your own brother it was all too much! Even for a primarch! Your mind needed release! It found them in relieving horrible memories and creating horrible new visions to torment yourself with! Nothing more, nothing less! Of course they were horrible, they were designed by your own mind against you! Your own worst enemy is yourself, as the saying goes!” He offered her a mug. “Here, drink! It’ll help you feel better!”

“I…” She trailed off. “If your Auxilia are afflicted by similar visions, brother, I implore you not to brush it off as mere stress. Even if it [i]is[/i] brought on only by mental trauma, the extent of such cannot be brushed aside as harmless. For their sake, and if not them, for me - look into it?” She tried to force a smile, but was unable to. Dead, emotionless, dispassionate eyes looked up at him, the color seeming to have drained from them. “I am sorry, brother. I do not think it a good idea for me to drink now.”

“They are not visions, I assure you! Even the ones that are seen by our mortal Psykers rarely come to pass, and the ones that do are so broad as they would have been more impressive not to pass! Things like ‘You will die in a hail of laser fire tomorrow!’ When they were the ones blessed with the glory of leading the charge to break through defenses! Or, ‘your mother will die soon!’ When she was already on death's door for months!’” He waved a dismissive hand. “Stress hallucinations! Stress hallucinations! They get a few weeks to months of rest and then they are ready to go back onto the field! You will too, after you rest!” He shrugged and finished the offered mug himself before putting it next to him. “And you have to make sure that you are rested mentally as well as physically! Going into battle like you are, uncertain and stunned, will help no one at all!” He sloshed his ale again, empathetically. “You lost today, that is true! But you won’t lose the next battle! Even if Augor is foolish enough to continue his vendetta, you will be prepared this time! Unless you let this miasma cloud your mind and sight! Do not let this loss erase the victories you achieved from your mind! You have brought the Emperor’s gaze upon Sarghual and his abominations! Their crimes will be revealed and justice brought upon them! By us if we are lucky! You helped prevent the Edict of Tolerance from being removed, a move that surely would have weakened the Imperium! These are all great victories that should be remembered, not forgotten!”

“Assuming I live that long.” She muttered, turning away from him. “I can scarcely recall what was and was not real of that duel, brother. It… it was so real. I felt it. My skin being torn to shreds in their hands I-” she stopped herself, drawing breath. “I was sentenced to death. How am I to know that such will not come soon? Will my final acts be nothing more than sowing more discord within the Imperium than any other before me? I defy the Emperor daily - and I am unable to change. My days are numbered, and I fear that that number is a small one. I was hoping that… I was hoping it would not be until we had finished the crusade. That I could at least do what I was made to do. But if I cannot even do that… what use has the Emperor for a broken tool? And who will do the deed? Nelchitl? It’s selfish - but I don’t want my last moments to be hearing her laughter as she sets off to burn my people.” 

“Nonsense!” Kaldun declared, refilling his mug. “You met the Emperor before this duel, yes? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think he told you anything of the sort! Our father is many things, but he is not hesitant and he is not one to beat around the bush! If your death was to be ordered, he would have ordered it while you were away from your strength! He would have ordered it while you were surrounded by those who wanted to kill you anyway and the rest would be loyal enough to accept his order! Then he would tell some lie to your Legion, get them to break down into manageable groups, and have them all massacred!” He paused, drinking from his mug. “Or at least that’s what I would have done!” He said with a shrug. “Point is, if our father wanted you dead the best time would have been right as you stormed in with evidence of Sarghaul’s crimes! You were emotional, distracted, and you have your entire legion here with you! The other legions together would be able to put a perfect ambush to deal with you!”

“But he did not order that, did he? No! What happened when you spoke to our father? Did he scold you, threaten unimaginable punishments for your transgressions, swear upon a false god that he will bring vengeance upon you and your daughters?” He snorted, drinking from his mug again. “I doubt it!”

Eiohsa remained motionless for a time, long enough almost for her brother to believe she might not have heard him, lost in her own mind. But she looked up to him, the normal light blue of her eyes having given way to the same gold they had taken on during the duel. “I… I did. Yes.” She murmured, “I… I asked him if he was going to, even. I told him… that I was tired. That I was ready. That if there was no place for me in the Imperium of the future, to spare me fighting for a utopia I would never see.”

Her gaze dropped from his, looking to the far wall as she stared into space. “He told me that… some day I would build cities and wondrous things for him. That I would some day make reality the dreams cultivated in my mind by his hand. But… how do I know it is not a lie? I did not think it so, then. But now?” She felt empty, dead. Deep within her, a tiny spark struggled against the darkness, a spark she dared not hope could blossom again. “He yet has use for me. I know this. I am a useful tool of his. How many other Legions can do what we do? How many others will follow his orders no matter how many of us die? How many will shun honor and glory to die, forgotten, in the mud and shit and blood of the trenches on some far-flung reach? I, and my Legion, are favored tools. Kaldun. That- that’s what I have come to believe. That is what has allowed me to continue on as I have. And I fear I have finally broken. Or that I am near it. What can be done with a broken tool but to discard it? And yet…” she looked up at him again, some miniscule spark returning to her eyes. “You think… not?”

“Of course not! Even if you are broken, do you just throw away such a valuable tool? No! You broke my mortal father’s spear when we first met! Did you throw away the broken pieces? No! You rebuilt them to be stronger and more efficient! So it should be with you! You believe you are broken! Fine! Rebuild yourself to something stronger!” Kaldun sloshed his mug around to enunciate his point, spilling more baalrosi golden ale. 

“That is what you need! To rebuild yourself with control over your powers and prepare your daughters for the coming crusade! We have more galaxies to bring under heel, and justice to bring to the Lurkers!” 

Kaldun nodded, pleased with himself. “Yes! That is a good plan!”

Eiohsa coughed. She pushed herself up from the mattress. “You are right, I suppose.” She murmured silently, after another uncomfortable silence had elapsed. She didn’t look at him - not at first - but the golden light emanating from her eyes intensified almost imperceptibly. “I am shattered. Broken. Torn into a million pieces and scattered to the winds. A million chips and cracks have worn me down over time - and the events of the past days have finally broken me.” She sighed. “I don’t know if there’s a fire hot enough, but I will try to find it. If I do not… who will?”

“I will, of course! I was right that you need to reforge yourself, and if you cannot find a fire hot enough to reforge yourself, I’ll find it for you! The Golden Conqueror does not fail!” Kaldun declared, sloshing more of his mug before draining it with an air of finality.

She looked to Kaldun, forcing a hint of a smile with enormous effort. “I’ll take a mug of that, if you’re still willing.”

“Of course, I brought two mugs for a reason!” Kaldun laughed, filling the other mug and thrusting it into Eiohsa’s hands with gusto.. As he did so Eiohsa’s ale soaked instruments finally had enough, letting out a piercing alarm as the Baalrosi golden ale seemed to have damaged something important. 

“Hm! Your machine spirits are angry sister!”

Eiohsa forced a small laugh. “They are, it seems, yes.” She said, choking down the bitter drink. “The Yudsvashnika insisted on their use - though they told me themselves they know not what to make of my insides.” She forced another laugh, slightly more genuine. “One of them made the comment that I must have gotten too ambitious in my early years and rearranged too many things. Cheeky little thing. I like her.” She sighed. “Thank you for visiting. You have certainly given me much to thi-”


The door crashed open as a bevy of unarmored Astartes forced their way into the room, followed by a dozen more in full armor, and armed to the teeth. “My Primarch! Are y-”

The group stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the laughing form of Kaldun. Some seemed paralyzed with indecision, but one of them, young and filled with energy, marched forward. “Out!” She insisted to Kaldun, furious, “Out with you! Get the… get the booze out of here! That’s for the dining hall, not for, oh Nitya will be furious. Out! She needs time to recover and you are not helping at all! Out! Shoo!” She seized Kaldun’s hand and pulled - though even the form of an Astartes stood no chance of budging the Primarch. The others stared, mortified, those without helmets looking between the three figures in uncertainty.

Eiohsa laughed out loud, genuinely now. “I think you’d best do as she says, brother. I fear for your safety if not. I will be fine. Go, and I wish you luck with whatever it is Father has assigned you.” 

She smiled as the protesting Astartes pulled her brother from the room, making mental note to commend her bravery, and remind her of some proper manners. The mug of ale had been taken from her hand with an insistent and disapproving frown, but she could not bring herself to resist. The machinery did little, but it comforted them to think they could in some way help while she recovered - and who was she to take that from them?

Silence descended on the room once more, broken only by the hum of the remaining machinery, and she drifted back to sleep. Soon they would leave for Obscurus.
[hr]
[b][...End Log.][/b]
[b][...Terminating.][/b]
[b][Imperial Thought for the Day: Rejoice, oh brave warrior, for thy triumph may only be at hand borne on the back of true camaraderie.][/b]