I Was Born Nameless

First Impressions

Tobias woke up in a field still in his uniform. The last thing he remembered was fighting a warp spawn in the ship and then his world went black. 'Strange' he thought 'I didn't feel any pain, am I dead?' The guardsmen got up to see green grass as far as the eye can see, the only thing that wasn't green was a small pond shaded by a tree. Tobias walked towards the pond as it was the only thing of interest seemingly within miles in all directions. The air was peaceful and there was a serenity Tobias had not seen or felt in a very long time, it only made him all the more suspicious.

As he approached the tree he heard what sounded like faint whispers but what the whispers said was incoherent and foreign to the Voldarian. Dispite his instincts telling him to stay away from the pond his curiosity was driving him forward or at least that's what he told himself. The voices grew louder until they where practically screaming at him things he could not understand. While he could not make out their words he felt as if part of him knew what they were saying. They sounded welcoming, as if they where ready to embrace him with open arms; but he knew well enough that warm embraces welcomes false promises. Before he knew it he was at the edge of the pond, it's water was pitch black and seemed to have the same consistency of blood. He stared into the pool of darkness as the words became clearer

"Fear not Tobias Lorik, your not dead"

"Your no good to us dead"

"We know your struggle"

"We know you are just a pawn"

"Your just another guardsmen to those you fight for"

"Those you gave everything for"

"You are nothing to them"

"But we see the many fates tired to you Tobias"

"You have the potential to make them remember you"

"Make them worship you"

"You place in the great game is greater then you could even fathom"

"We chose you the be our vessel"

"Our champion"

"The planet you travel to to wage war will be what defines you"

"What remakes you"

"What turns you into a agent of change"

Suddenly a hand came up from the water and dragged Tobias by his collar down into the depths of the pond. He was pulled under the black water for what felt like an eternity until he was tossed out of the water into the streets of a ruined city. Tobias looked back to see any sign of the pond gone, his surroundings where a far cry from the field he was previously in. He could tell war was what tore this place apart, the veteran had seen it many times in his service. The streets were littered with corpses of both Voldarian and chaos soldiers with the occasional destroyed armored vehicles dotting the area. What caught his eye was the dead space marines both loyal and chaos. The loyalist marines wore the sigil of a creature with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion while some of the chaos marines wore what seemed to be a fiery drake devouring its own tail and the rest had standard Black Legion power armor.

"What the hell is this" He yelled into the air "who in the Emperor's name are you?"

"The Emperor has nothing to do with this mortal"

"But in a way I suppose he does"

"Look around you Tobias what do you see?"

Tobias looked and spoke plainly "a war zone, it's nothing new to me."

"Perhaps, but look towards the upper spires in the distance. Take note of the clouds and the faint glow coming from the windows."

Tobias looked to where the voice mentioned and saw one of the upper spires surrounded by dark clouds in contrast to the white clouds everywhere else. "What do expect me to see from here? That's miles away."

"Then let me show you what is to come"

"What's to come?" Before Tobias could ask another question he was transported to a room covered in occult writings and symbols. Scrolls and books containing what Tobias knows is heresy where open with parts of their texts glowing with unnatural power. In the center of the room there was a man with red hair and white eyes surrounded by twelve skinned sacrifices chanting in a language that was similar to what the voices spoke. Tobias spoke up "what is the nature of this ritual?"

"Interesting, I half expected you to attack him for his blasphemy"

"I know this is an illusion, your trying to show me something but your being anything but direct" the sergeant said watching the sorcerer.

"Where's the fun of being direct?"

"I'd much rather you get to the point if your not going to kill me, but know I will not forsake the Emperor or be a puppet on a string for you." Tobias spoke firmly dispite knowing he was at this deamon's mercy.

"Everyone is a puppet, you know that it doesn't matter who you are or what cause you believe in. Even the gods of chaos and your Emperor are puppets to their own nature."

"We know your not a blind zealot, you are something rare, a realist. You know what the galaxy is really like and you don't hide behind the dogma your Imperium likes to shouts like a broken record."

Tobias crossed his arms "Don't pretend chaos is any different, most followers are pretty predictable depending of the heathen gods they worship."

"I would of taken offense had what you said not been partly true. Last time I checked you guardsmen aren't supposed to know about chaos."

"It seemed the short time you spent with the Inquisition has educated you, I'm surprised you weren't executed after they were done with you."

"Thrones sake! Why am I here?"

"We need you to stop Crucible from becoming a deamon world. This man here believes he his about to become a deamon prince of my master but in reality we need him and those who supports him to fail."

The guardsmen looked perplexed "why would you want your own forces to lose in an endeavor such as this?"

"My masters goals are far beyond mortal understanding."

"Besides, we have no need of your soul and do not expect you to accept chaos"

"That would be counter productive for us if you are on the same side as the man you are trying to kill"

"How do you expect me to fight someone with the powers of the warp when I'm just a mere mortal, why me?"

"Because it has been shown to us that you are the one who must deal the killing blow if the future we want will come to pass. Worry not, this will benefit your precious Imperium as well. We will help you find the path but it is up to you to do the rest."

"How do I know your not lying?"

"We could be, distrust is a wise state of mind in this game."

"But who are you to miss an opportunity to kill a cultist leader?"

"Till next time mortal"

In an instant Tobias shot up from his cot in the barracks. He looked around confused until Jasper turned to notice he was awake "there's the demon slayer, back in the land of the living." Tobias raised an eyebrow "what do you mean?" The Private laughed "you killed a daemon and went strait to bed, not that I could blame you." The sergeant looked thoughtful, he didn't remember doing any of that. Jasper tilted his head "everything alright boss?" Tobias sighed "I'm fine, I just feel tired" he lied "well then rest up. We still have almost month until we arrive to Crucible."

The demolition expert left his sergeant alone with his thoughts. He wondered if it was all just a dream. It felt real to him and there seemed to be some rather large gaps in his memory. Eventually he drifted back to sleep where he dreamed of Alda.