This story is an unofficial story based, without permission, on the Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property owned by Games Workshop Ltd.
After the gun cutter had docked aboard the Warp Diver Varlas had been immensely surprised at the sheer scale of this vessel. And yet he was still wary as he progressed down the loading ramp from the gun cutter. He had opted to don his equipment belt - his pistol on his left hip and his sword on his right. Before he even put a foot on the docking bay deck, servitors were attending to his ship.As Varlas walked into the vastness of the loading bay he was approached by a young woman - a navy rating by the look of her. Her head was shaved bare and shone in the luminance cast by the glow globes above and her skin was elegant ebony. She wore a stern look upon her face. It was obvious to Varlas in that instant that she was a career woman.
Varlas noticed that the woman looked him up and down appraisingly. She didn't look very impressed, Varlas thought. "Lord Caledan, I presume?" she said, her voice as stern as her look and clipped like an officer.
Varlas bowed his head formally. "I am, though Varlas will suffice." He smiled to her warmly.
"Very well, follow me, sir," she replied, without responding to his gesture.
The smile dropped from Varlas' face as he realised that she was indeed all business all of the time. The freight elevator went up several decks and stopped to let out several crewmen who stepped out to take Varlas' belongings to his quarters - only two of them, as he brought very little with him.
The elevator continued up to the bridge deck. Nothing was said during that time. The naval rating was too stiff and Varlas still too grief stricken to persist in conversation for its own sake. The freight elevator ground to a halt and the doors slid open on well-greased running tracks. The smell of incense flooded Varlas's senses as he walked onto the bridge, the smell conjuring up images of home and the grand hall of the ancestral house. Flashes of Ernestus assaulted his mind before he made a mental adjustment and blocked it out.
The bridge was a flurry of movement and activity. Varlas felt a slight crawl under his skin as he sensed another psyker aboard - quite powerful by the feelings he was getting. The naval rating that had accompanied him walked towards a tall dais at the centre of the bridge. Atop the dais was a large throne with cables that were built in and trailed across the floor of the bridge in a serpentine manner.
The rating nodded to Varlas to allow him to approach the command deck. The guards around the command deck switched their rifles to safe and walked in a regimented unity from the bridge to the freight elevator that Varlas had arrived in. One or two spared Varlas a nod, which he returned.
Varlas walked over to the command deck, being careful to avoid standing on any of the snaking cables at his feet. As Varlas rounded the dais and looked upon the command throne he saw an elderly man who had been wired into several interfaces. The interfaces enabled the captain to feel every part of the ship as an extension of himself. His heart beat regulated the ships speed and his neural links managed cogitators on a ship wide scale.
"Welcome to the Warp Diver, young man. I am Captain Tideman, ex-admiral of The Terran Fleet at the Eye of Terror," said the captain's old yet strong voice in a formal manner. Varlas bowed.
"And I am Varlas Caledan, daemon hunter. Tell me, Captain, I have sensed another psyker on board. May I ask whom that may be?" Varlas asked delicately, unsure of how to proceed.
The old Captain nodded his head as much as his enhancements would allow. "Yes, that would be the ship's Astropath, Velena," the captain replied.
"An Astropath and a full crew? But the records say that your ship is no longer under Imperial requisition," said Varlas.
"This is true, Varlas, but as I am a distinguished member of the Navis Nobilite they allowed me to keep my crew and Astropath. Besides, we may yet be called back to the Eye, though I doubt it. Also, the crew stayed because they wished it. They are a faithful bunch, and I don't know what I would do without them," said Tideman. As he looked around his crew many of them saluted or bowed. The servitors remained at their stations oblivious to the world around them.
"Ah, I see. Forgive me, I'm not quite accustomed to naval standards and traditions," replied Varlas, a little embarrassed.
Tideman made a small gesture indicating that the naval rating should step forward and introduce herself.
"My name is Nika Rasa, second-in-command of the Warp Diver. Should you need anything during your stay then I will do my best to accommodate you," she said, once again in a clipped professional tone. In the better lighting Varlas could see her eyes were a steely blue that seemed to dance with the passion of her calling.
"If you would follow me, sir, I'll escort you to your quarters," Nika said, gesturing towards the freight elevator they had arrived in.
"Lead the way, ma'am," Varlas said humbly, careful to show respect where respect was due. The last thing he would want was to be on the wrong side of the crew. He most likely wouldn't be popular when they found out he was a psyker, but there was little point adding fuel to the fire.
The hallways were wide enough for two people to walk side by side, as Varlas and Nika had been. The surfaces were spartanly decorated. Every metre or so Varlas would spot Imperial propaganda and awards of valour, mostly for service in the Eye of Terror. The lights that lit the hall were set in ornately fashioned skulls made from ceramite. The light from within the skulls made them look possessed.
"So how is it that this ship got its name, Nika?" Varlas asked wondrously, staring down the hall. Nika shot him a stern look not that he seemed to notice, she wasn't used to being addressed without her title but let it go seeing as though she technically wasn't an officer any longer.
"The vessel arrived at the Eye having been rushed out of the docks upon its completion and had no official name. But it was the fact that the ship would dive into the warp hole that is the Eye of Terror on hit-and-run missions that earned it the name Warp Diver,' Nika finished, a certain amount of pride entering her voice. And why not from serving aboard such a venerable vessel as this? Varlas smiled to himself, Uncle Brelor certainly knew how to pick them.
Nika indicated that they had reached his quarters. His door looked like every other door on this deck.
"Ah, uniformity. Might I ask you a question, mistress Rasa?" Varlas said, trying to placate her; he had felt her annoyance at him using her first name.
"Of course, sir, what is it?" she asked, happier now that he realised her seniority.
"May I train with your guards in the training dome?" Varlas wondered if it would be allowed, Nika seemed to think for a moment.
"I should think that it would be fine. Just one thing, sir," she said.
Varlas raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
Nika spoke with a wry smile: "Try not to get hurt, sir." She turned smartly on her heel and walked off briskly. Varlas smiled to himself, Nika suited a smile, whether she realised it or not.
Varlas placed his hand upon the gene scanner beside the door and the door opened with a mechanical hiss as it drew back. Varlas's quarters were as spartanly decorated as the rest of the ship. Within was an ablutions station, a sink, a smartly made bed and a small shrine to the Emperor of Mankind. Varlas knew he would be making a lot of use of the latter.
Hive World Terra