Editing Ghosts of Rage (Warhammer High) (section)

=== Life on the Frontier ===

Two hours Later, Furia had lost the feeling in her arms. However, that did not stop her from slamming the table in frustration, groaning at her failures.

She had gone through dozens of searches of all possible ships that had come and gone from Nenavist. None of them came up with results of Space Marine ships of any sort. No Legiones Astartes had ever come to Nenavist, let alone for any World Eaters on a recruiting mission. She had hoped she would find her homeworld in recruiting range, but that was not the case. She had to now think of something else. Furia suddenly wished Isis was here to help.

Her thoughts returned to home as she suddenly felt very homesick. She wondered how school was going for her cousins and Simon. How her father was taking her disappearance. How things had changed since she had left. She wondered if she should return home and stop with this search. But her grandfather had sent her here for a reason. He wouldn’t have made her travel halfway across the galaxy for no reason.

But maybe that was it. Maybe he wanted her out of the picture, to protect her and everyone else. Maybe this was his way of telling her that she needed to be as far away from Terra as possible.

The more Furia thought about it, the more it made sense. There was no space marine homeworld anywhere nearby. This was on the southeast end of the galaxy in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing here for her to destroy or hurt. Indeed, she was quite alone.

As this sudden realization set in, Furia sighed, knowing full well she deserved such a fate. She wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone she cared about anymore.

“Dang this room is cold!” a voice said behind her. She spun around, not having heard the room’s door open.

Somehow, Gradgral’s shuttle pilot had found her, even in the bowels of the Mechanicum complex. She got a better look at the man for the first time. He was a small fellow, barely five foot six inches by her estimations. With short cropped navy brown hair and a trimmed beard, he looked well into his thirties. The man smiled as he shivered, teeth clattering.

“How did you find me?” she asked him, not in the mood to talk as she felt like depressed with her current revelations.

“Not hard, needed to ask where the hot sexy normal was. Some guy up top seemed pretty pissed off when I mentioned it to him. You getting along with the locals?”

Furia was no longer in the mood as she grabbed her bag and walked past him towards the door, done with her search. The pilot was persistent as he followed. “Was it something I said?” he asked, seemingly desperate.

“I’m not in the mood,” she growled at him, but the effect was lost on him.

“Come on, you always this uptight?” he said as he stopped in the hallway, giving up on his chase.

She stopped as well as she turned to him, her eyes glaring. She wanted to do nothing else than to pummel the man into the ground, turn to her anger like she always did. It wasn’t because of his flirtations or his remarks, but because he was the only person around that she could vent her anger upon.

But she realized that was the reason she had to leave her home in the first place. The anger she could barely control that fueled her to destroy. Maybe it was time for a change.

She looked at him. “What do you have in mind?”

The man was ecstatic. “There’s a bar most of us norms go to hang out on this planet. Its pretty good for a Mechanicum world. Nice drinks and entertainment.”

Furia breathed for a moment, dissipating her anger as she nodded. “Sure, why not.”

The man smiled even harder as he jogged up beside Furia, walking with her towards the elevator. “By the way, name’s Kilau Tohne.”

She grunted. “Kate Gunnar.”

Within a few minutes, the duo walked out of the port and into the heat of the sunset. Even though it was the end of the day, it was still warm and humid. Within seconds Furia felt her clothes stick to her skin. “What’s with this humidity? Isn’t this planet just colonized?”

Kilau chuckled as they walked into the empty road. No cars could be seen in any direction between the massive rows of buildings. “You see that?” he said as he pointed to a large tower in the distance. She hadn’t noticed it until then. The structure was at least ten kilometres high, emitting white smoke from the very top. “That’s the atmosphere generator. It’s supposed to help colonize the planet into something liveable in the next century or so. Too bad it’s broken.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Furia asked.

“They tried to make it rain, but instead it got very humid. Funny, something breaks on a Mechanicum planet and nobody can fix it.”

Furia chuckled at that. She stared at the needle like tower for a bit longer before turning her attention to where they were going.

It was easy enough to tell which one was the bar from the many small structures that surrounded the port complex. Most mechanicum buildings were very similar, a sea of metal boxes lined up in proper order. All were from a standard template, and none differed from the design.

All except the structure up ahead. It had bright flashing lights and an illuminated sign, “Honor’s End”. It was the only building on the dusty cement road that had a crowd outside. Music poured into the streets as she could feel the bass from the speakers inside.

As they walked to the entrance, the large bouncer in the front stepped aside and let Furia in, growling at the pilot behind her. The building seemed half full, crowds of people across the many tables having drinks and sharing stories. Most of them wore Imperial uniforms, meaning they were part of the administration of the planet. Even though the Mechanicum were in charge, the Imperial bookkeepers still needed to keep track of what was going on.

As they both approached the bar, the pilot turned to her. “You are legal, right?” he asked beside her. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “To drink. And maybe for other things.”

“You like to push your luck huh?” she asked him as she waved the bartender over. “Two beers. He’s paying.” She pointed at Kilau. The man nodded and went to get their drinks. She dropped her bag by her feet before turning her attention back to him.

“Well, if I am paying for the drinks, you might as well respond to my poor attempts.”

She shook her head. “You need to give a reason for woman to sleep with you. Flying prisoners ain’t exactly the most impressive thing in the galaxy.”

The pilot puffed his chest out. “I’m a war hero. I flew hundreds of missions, dropping death unto the enemy while being shot at by dakka jets. I even received a medal from a Primarch for my bravery.”

Furia spun her head and stared at him. “You met royalty?” she said, much more interested now. Kilau leaned in and smiled, feeling he finally found something to impress the girl.

“Lord Mortarion himself congratulated our bombing wing, giving a speech to all of us about how we helped his own Astartes against the Ork horde on Seadelant. He was immensely pleased with all of us. Even though he was incredibly nauseating to be around, it still was probably the greatest day in my life.” The drinks arrived as Kilau paid the bartender before continuing. He opened his bottle, took a sip and nodded. “It’s a shame with what happened with Lady Morticia. The shooting that is. I hope she has recovered quickly and safely.” He raised his beer at that before drinking it.

Furia shook her head at that comment. “Why do you care?” she asked him. “You don’t know them personally. Why does it affect you?”

Kilau glanced at her, a confused look on his face. “Why wouldn’t I care? All the daughters are important to the Imperium. They are the leaders of the future, for a time of peace and growth. They are symbols of hope for people who have none. I felt horrible for a weeks after I heard what had happened to Lady Morticia. To hurt someone so innocent and friendly is appalling to me. And then she had the will to go to court and face her would-be killer. That’s brave right there.”

Furia looked at him steadily, surprised by his words. “You mean that?”

“Every word. Why, you hate them or something?” Kilau looked at her strangely, as if the thought had never occurred to him.

“No. Just seems like you almost worship them.” Furia remembered how the Morticia’s shooter was a Emperor worshipper, suddenly wondering if Kilau was capable of such devotion.

“No, not anything like that. They are just people I look up to, you know?”

She chuckled at that, sipping her beer. “Not really. Didn’t exactly have many role models when I grew up.” She paused and shook her head. “No, that’s a lie. My last boyfriend was the only person I wish I was more like. Helped me through some tough times, even if I was a bitch.”

“Last? What happened?” Kilau wasn’t flirting anymore, seeming sincere in his interest.

She shrugged. “Life got in the way. I left my home and haven’t gone back. Been over a year now.”

“Sounds tough. You ever regret it?”

She paused and thought back to her sudden realization that day. “No, it was for the best. What about you Kilau, got any family? A girlfriend to return home to?”

“Nope. My night is clear of any responsibilities if that’s what you are asking.” He smiled mischievously and she grinned at that, shaking her head. She had no plans to sleep with a man she had just met. Still, Kilau was turning out to be someone she actually enjoyed talking to so far, which was rare indeed.

“You know, if you actually acted like yourself instead of a sex maniac, you would probably have more luck with the ladies,” she commented.

“Tried that through my teenage years. Didn’t work. That’s why I became a Navy Pilot. Usually it is all I need to say. Guess you are different.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Furia mumbled.

He nodded slowly. “I had a feeling though. I mean, I don’t know many young women that go around and beat the warp out prisoners so easily.”

“Just have good genes, that’s all. I learned to fight very early on, not necessarily for the best reasons.” Indeed, most of her learning came from fighting with Hana and Freya. But he didn’t need to know that.

Her attention turned to a man that walked up beside her at a mostly empty bar. He leaned over the bar and ordered a drink, waiting patiently beside her. Furia’s eyes  turned back to Kilau as he spoke.

“Well, I’ll be very honest. You look too unscathed to be someone who fought a lot. Either you are very good or just pulling my leg.”

She shrugged. “As I said, good genes.”

Kilau nodded as he grinned. “Yeah, must be to give a body like that.”

She sighed, not sure how to stop him from talking like that without having to break his arm. She was about to ask him again, this time more sternly, when she felt something brush up against her leg. She turned around and noted the man beside her had disappeared. Looking down quickly, her bag was gone too.

“Son of a bitch!” she yelled loudly as she saw him run out the bar at the opposite bar. Growling in rage, she chased after the man, leaving Kilau at the counter, completely confused at the situation.

She ran out past the bouncer looking around, her eyes flaring. “Where did he go?!” she shouted at the large man.

The bouncer seemed a bit shocked at her current demeanor, and pointed down the road away from the port. Instantly she was off, running at high speeds as she noted the man’s speck in the distance. Most people weren’t sure what to make of her as she ran faster than most humans possibly ever could.

Her target dipped in between two buildings with her bag in hand. She had to break early from the intense speed without toppling over herself. Skidding to a stop, she turned and made her way down the short alley to the next street over, where she noted him running into another alleyway. Picking up the distance between them with her superhuman agility, she began to follow the man farther and farther away from the core of the port area to the outer reaches of the small town.

In this area, the building began to look a lot less uniform, seemingly built at random. This seemed to be a worker area away from the administration complexes near the port. It was obvious the equivalent of the slums of the planet.

Furia didn’t notice the change of scenery as she had closed the distance to the thief. With one final leap, she tackled the man into the ground hard, making him land on his side. Her small bag left his grasp and fell beside him.

The man, bald headed and quite young, groaned in pain at the attack. Furia was unharmed as she stood up and looked down at the man. She would take care of him in a second, as she walked over to her bag to check her things.

She picked up the bag and found it relatively untouched. That’s when she noticed that several men had come out of the nearby buildings and looked at her, all grinning as they surrounded her.

“You in the wrong side of town, girl,” one of the large men shouted at her. His friends agreed as they continued to surround her. Furia stood in place as she looked at each of them in turn. There was six in total, along with their friend who was struggling to get up. Each seemed to be unarmed except for the man who spoke to her, who seemed to have a small knife in his hand.

“Then I will be on my way,” she said calmly, not sure if having a fight within the first day of her arrival was the best way to live in peace.

“Nuh uh. We have a toll here you need to pay. You ain’t leaving till you paid the toll.”

She growled at them as she flexed her arms. She assumed she knew what they were looking for as payment since she was a young female. “I should warn you, I bite.”

The man chuckled as he played with the knife in his hand. “Good thing all I am looking for is a tankard worth of your blood.”

Furia was taken aback by the statement, suddenly realizing that these men were not looking for her body, but something a bit more sinister. They began to close on her as she wondered if running was a better option. It didn’t matter soon enough as one the men charged her wildly, trying to catch her from the side.

Her lightning primarch reflexes were too fast for the man however, as she raised a foot and kicked him in the chest a moment after. Adrenaline started pumping through her veins as time began to slow down in her eyes. The men’s movements around her seemed sluggish and slow as she surveyed the area quickly. She had caused significant harm to the man with the kick as he fell backwards. Five of them were untouched, and then there was the other guy who was getting up from her tackle. She had her work cut out for her.

Another man closed the distance, this time trying to tackle her down to the ground. She fell backwards, grabbing the man’s shirt as he closed in on her. Falling to the floor, she pushed her legs into his chest and sent him flying over her, into a friend of his. Both of them toppled to the ground as she easily used the momentum to roll back up to a crouched position.

Unfortunately for her, the other attackers had closed the distance. Two of them immediately jumped on her as she tried to get back into a defensive stance. Even though she was stronger, the mass of a fully grown man tackling her was enough to send her back to the ground. The man roared at her point blank as he used his position to hold her down, quite successfully.

Before Furia could free herself, another man tackled her attacker, sending the duo off to the side. Furia glanced over to see Kilau to her ‘rescue’, struggling with the man on the ground. Furia got up as she noticed the rest of her attackers had also recovered. Some were wary to attack again, while the bloodlust of others had no hesitations as one man charged headfirst at her.

Furia quickly swung her right fist into his head, timing it perfectly as she knocked the man out mid charge, sending him running to the ground to the side. It didn’t matter as the rest of his companions followed behind him, this time using their numbers to their advantage.

Even though she immediately knocked one out, three others grabbed her arms and legs and held her in place. She struggled like a caged beast, trying to use her brutish force to free herself. The men that held her were surprised by the strength of such a small girl as they couldn’t hold on to her for long.

“Damn she’s strong!” one of them yelled.

“Hold her steady, this one is a fine addition to our cause!” She recognized the voice to be the man she spoke to earlier. He walked up with what looked like an aerosol can in his hand. Whatever it was, Furia didn’t want any piece of it as she struggled even harder.

It was too late as the man sprayed the can into her face. The smell of the gas released was strange, being something she thought she recognized. She blinked as she breathed the gas in for a moment, unsure of where she knew it from.

The men around her smiled as they let her go, making her fall to the ground. As Furia slowly stood up, the man with the knife nodded. “Welcome sister.”

A quick kick to the groin made him shut up quick as Furia’s anger had not disappeared, only slightly delayed. She punched another man beside her as the attackers no longer wanted to deal with her, backing off and grabbing their fallen companions.

She roared furiously as they ran off, leaving her and a bloody Kilau to their own devices.

“We showed them,” the pilot said, his eye swollen and his nose bleeding. Other then that, he seemed perfectly fine.

Furia nodded slowly before clutching her head with both hands. Pains shot through her skull as she fell to her knees, unable to cope with the sudden mental stress. “Hey, you alright?” Kilau asked beside her, but she didn’t answer. This was probably the worse headache she had ever had in her entire life.

It was so bad she didn’t notice Kilau topple over beside her. A shadow appeared over her as she struggled to look up at the newcomer. She didn’t have much a long time to look as the shadowy man raised his arm. She barely felt something in her arm before she the tranquilizer took effect.