The Attention Part 7 - Short Story (Final Part)

Vespera would like to rest in her chambers for the day. After the obliteration of her rival's primary fleet, and arguably the Imperial Crusade that is on her tail and the incoming Ork horde that would drown all the worlds ripe for conquest she 'inherited' the Kabal of the Turbulent Star overnight and took over all their spaceports and stronghold, in essence growing her Kabal twofold. But alas, she will not have her due rest. As she enters her chambers , a dark presence greets her. She did not immediately call for her Kabalites, but instead she activates the runes to activate the lights. Illuminated by the chamber's lights, Lord Ranisold is now right in front and Vespera could only wonder how he is alive, and that is before she noticed that he is in her room.

So far from her sources, the fleets are all but obliterated when one of the Imperial battleships detonated its warpdrive and caused a warp storm and engulf everything within. A warp storm engulfs everything, and surely there will not be a single part of his body available for his regeneration. How did he do it? She does know the answer to the question, but alas she is waiting for the answer to escape the lips of the Archon.

"A portable Webway portal is always handy especially when you are in a dastardly bad situation." The Archon speaks as if to answer Vespera's inner thoughts.

"I see...so why are you in my private chambers Lord Ranisold? Do you want to exact your revenge on me?"
" I could, but unfortunately I have the feeling that I was led into the chambers rather than sneaking in. You must have something planned."
"Indeed. I did let you in or else you will die a painful death."
Vespera's every step echoes with a certainty and grace of a sabrecat towards her bar of concoctions from across the galaxy. She then pours a glass of a concoction of some kind for both herself and her guest and walks towards the Archon, her movement as enticing as it is dangerous. 

"No worries Milord, it is not poisoned. I would not want to poison myself do I?" As the Archon takes the glass, he could smell that this particular concoction is not particular to the Dark Eldar distillery, but something else entirely. As she sits down upon her bed and crossed her legs, Ranisold could only wonder what is this woman up to.

"Tanith sacra would be the name of the drink. A particularly rare alcoholic drink, as the wold that produce it is no more. "

"So is this a way of saying that I am but a ghost?" The Archon sips the liquor and let the unique taste of the drink linger around his mouth before he swallows.

"A mon-keigh drink, but one that I grew to like."

" What are you suggesting here?"

"Well...I need a person who knows how to commands the fleets. So far none of my own people are capable."

"What about elements of my Kabal that you forced into servitude?"

"None are particularly bright and their experience with coordinating planetary invasions and fleet actions at once is nothing less than pathetic."

"And that is why you are entertaining me?"

"Yes, I know an space-bound Archon like you know best about these kinds of things. Indeed, I quite safely assume that you would meet me somehow after that incident." Vespera is playing around with the Archon, trying to inflict as much pain as possible with every word. She takes off her helm, and as her pale beauty reveals itself she gives the Archon a smile. All she needs for the Archon to do is to get the point of why she is still keeping him alive.

"Inyon lama-quanon." The Archon answered.

"Yes, I want to dominate. It may be or may be not what you want to do to me, but I know what I want. All I ask is for you to kneel.If you don't it is fine by me but...", Vespera takes out a locket and activates the rune on it, "you will find out soon enough what will happen if you don't." 

The Archon did not understand the significance of the pendant, but when he tries to speak, his mouth fails to move. Realizing what she had done to him, he could only look at her with venom in his eye. Vespera could only agree more with him. A creation of her private Haemonculi, the pendant allow one to jam any kind of electrical signals, from the shadowfields to the neurons in the brain. Of course she asked that the calibration is enough for a person to be fully paralyzed rather than stopping the life functions of a person. And before long, Lord Ranisold starts to kneel down as his legs buckled under his body weight.

"So I would take that as a yes." Vespera could only kneel down beside him and whisper to his ear.

"Now you will have my undying attention....." And Vespera chuckled, with the Dark City as the witness of this dark pledge.

The Attention Part 6 - Short Story

So intense was the desire of Ranisold to dominate Vespera that now for all intent and purposes, the Kabals are at war. For every world that Vespera seeks to exact her own brand of cruelty, Ranisold's forces will be there either exacting their own brand of sadism or both forces will arrive at the same time upon a world. In turn for this transgression upon her traditional prey, she decided to let the Archon taste his own venom and preyed upon Imperial shipping lanes that are the domain of the Kabal of the Turbulent Stars.

One thing leads to another and now whenever their Kabals meet, there will be a great conflict between them. Many an Imperial World have seen the Eldar Raiders descending upon each other at the same time that they are hunting down their human quarry. Indeed, Vespera have gotten the human transmission that said that there is an apparent 'civil war' between the Eldar race that is engulfing their region of space known as the Atema Sector. Vespera's Kabal and Ranisold's Kabals are evenly matched, but with slight advantages to their own areas of specialty; Vespera with planetary invasions and Ranisold with interstellar raids. 

So when the news that their feud have attracted the ire of an Imperial Crusade, Vespera knew that this feud is going too far. But she will not bow down to the Archon for the Kabal war will not end until one of the Kabal is subsumed into the winner's Kabal. But alas, she will need an ally or some sort, an ally that is not a Dark Eldar but yet is strong enough to take both Ranisold's forces and also the incoming Imperial Crusade. She wondered what kind of brutish strength will be up to the specific requirements that she needs to turn the tide when suddenly one of the Kabalite naval officers upon her bridge warns her of something that proved to be what she's looking for all this while.

"Milady, massive Ork fleet ahead." Vespera could only marvel at the vastness of the Ork fleet for it is perhaps one of the largest Ork fleet that she had ever seen in a long time. Throughout the entire expanse, the Orkoid fleet stretches like a great school of ugly, brutish fishes swimming around the void. One thing caught her eye immediately when she is examining the Ork fleet. 

"I do not see the biggest ship. Where is it?" Before long,  the sensors in her ships are detecting a massive warp portal coming out from above them. Vespera could only look at the massive space hulk with a certain amount of respect as the space hulk dwarfed her entire fleet in its shadow. It took a great ten minutes for the space hulk to fully exit the warp portal.

"Fire at the Space Hulk." Vespera's answer is solemn and confident, and her crew members fired upon the Hulk without hesitation. The void lance fire barely scratched the Space Hulk but the Space Hulk replied with a monstrous amount of inaccurate fire towards the fleet. Before long, thousands of Ork fighters exited the Space Hulk like a swarm of hornets and before long Vespera's Voidravens and Razorwings went out to meet the Ork flighter squadrons.

"Fire your lances upon the other ships as well." Vespera takes her time to enjoy the distiller's art of her drink. As the massive Ork fleet turned around cumbersomely to meet the new threat, Vespera gave in a final command to her crew.

"Retreat at full speed, and recall all the fighters back. But not so fast that the Orks lose us." Despite the questions in their minds, Vespera could see that the crew obeyed her without hesitation. Now, Vespera reckons she got the toll she need to bring down this entire sector of realspace.

The cat-and-mouse chase between her fleet and the Ork fleet lasted for several days, before she proceed to command her fleet to split up. Fully two thirds of her fleet disengaged themselves from the chase, and the remainder of her fleet is now the bait for the entire Ork fleet. 

"Milady what are you doing?" Selendra, her trusted handmaiden asked her Archite. 

"You will see. Just relay the command to the remainder of the fleet to continue on baiting the ork fleet down this path. You and your fleet will enter the webway portal to exit at this particular location. "

"But Milady, that is the....."

"Yes, and you know what to do." Selendra could only nod, and before long she exits the bridge. Vespera could only imagine how this particular plan will fare out.

"So...what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?" Ranisold speaks with voice as thick as oil and as smooth as velvet. Vespera's fleet, much diminished met with the Turbulent Star's Kabalite fleet. 

"I am here to talk a little about our current predicament. We both know that this feud is costing us precious time and resources, and thus I would like to propose a solution to our problems." Vespera notices a slow rictus building upon Ranisold's face.

"I would love to hear about this solution of yours. Surely you are expecting something out of this? I am paying attention to your every word now..." Ranisold is now a man filled with vainglory, his mind bent upon a single solution.

"Well, Lord Huenlar Ranisold, I would like you to pay attention to this." Before the Archon even notices anything, several streams of darklight appear from both sides of the Turbulent Star's fleet, and the elements of Vespera's fleet arrive from the flanks and in a crossfire of void lances, several of the Turbulent Star's vessels are destroyed or crippled.

"What is this??!!?" Huenlar's expression have turned to a man filled with rage.

"Farewell Lord Ranisold. I hoped you are paying attention to the fate that you deserve." Immediately the flanking elements of Vespera's fleet enters into the Webway once again, and just as the entry portals of the flanking attacks closes, Vespera could only enjoy the expression as his bridge receives the information from their sensors

"What? An Ork fleet and an Imperial fleet are coming our way?!?" Before long, a fusillade of portals appear from both sides of the Turbulent Stars flanks. The massive Gothic leviathans of the Imperial fleet appears from the left and the opposite portals gorge out the ramshackled monstrosities of the Ork fleet. The only certainty is that there is nothing the Turbulent Star fleet could do to turn away from both fleets.

"DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!" Vespera could only see the face of a man whose pride is hurt and perhaps a man whose suffering and agony had finally taken over with a large dose of rage.

"Likewise, Milord." Vespera's fleet retreats with full speed away from the onslaught that is about to follow, and with a smile on her face.

The Attention Part 5 - Short Story

This feels awkward, Vespera says to herself. With her father on one end and her potential assassin turned suitor on another having dinner together in the latter's fortress, she realized that for once she felt a little powerless. Luckily for her, she brought a pet along with her, a human child called Anna. So far the little one is quiet, but nonetheless alert. Her fear only made her more adorable like a pet should be, and Vespera patted the little one. The little one is hyperventilating and Vespera could only see how adorable this little thing is. But nonetheless, Vespera also realized that her own concerns between her father and Lord Ranisold is something as uncertain. In more ways than one, Vespera could sympathise with her little pet.

"So Lord Ranisold, I heard that you are the one responsible for the Hallidan System's demise." Vespera's father asked the Archon of the Turbulent Stars. Lord Ranisold takes his time to answer the inquiry, sipping a glass of an electric blue concoction before he answers the venerable Archon.

"Yes I do, Archlord Veizer. But what I do is nothing compared to what you did." As they talked to each other in alarming fluidity,Vespera could only see the verbal maneuvering with poise and elegance ready to strike out upon a weakness like a serpent. But nonetheless, it appears that these two are up to something, something privy to her understanding of the situation. The paranoia of treacherous lieutenants honed her own paranoia to be as sharp as a wych blade, but even now she is uncertain about these turns of events. Both their incubi bodyguards are standing behind their seat, ready to strike out with their klaives at a moment's notice. Compared that with her own personal choice of bodyguards, she could only hope that both these bodyguards will slaughter each other before she intervene in with her own. After a while, the Archons are silent, and there is nothing but venom in the atmosphere.

"Why are you interested in my daughter?" Veizer broke the silence.
"Inyon lama-quanon." Ranisold's answer is as blunt as it is distasteful to Vespera's ears. Inyon lama-quanon, to make one subservient to the other is a concept that the Dark Eldar are all to familiar to, and the word itself is the closest thing they have to love. But it could also mean enslavement and the usurpation of power. Right now, from the looks of it, all the meanings are viable to Vespera's understanding.
"Inyon lama-quanon? It's been a while since I have heard of such devotion to something. But nonetheless, I will honestly say one thing Lord Ranisold; my daughter is not yours, she's mine. If you want her, you will have to get through me. Perhaps you have heard of what happened to Lord Arcsael?" The old Archon tilted his head in anticipation of a reply. A coy but nonetheless blatant answer.
"Yes....I have heard. Even now his face is upon your helm." Vespera could see that despite his poise, the Archon's arrogance is hurt. For some odd reason, despite her hatred of her father he does things that is advantageous to her.
"Yes, you knew. So, now that it is done, shall we continue on with this exquisite meal?" The sombre mood of dining returns once again.


"As I would say my dear daughter, you are the only person in my Kabal whom I might extend a hand of forgiveness for an assassination attempt or a coup. So of course you are precious to me." The old Archon explained as they rode back to their stronghold. The dinner ended peacefully for wanting of better words, and after they left the compound, she asked her father as for the reason why he said the things he said.

"I may not be as strong as I was, but I still have the final say for some things that concerns the Kabal's future my dear. I will play that role for as lon as I live." Vespera could only thank her father for his concerns, and was glad that she was his property after all.

The Attention Part 4 - Short Story

An Archon is always a fearful thing indeed, even among the Dark Eldar, but even amongst all the Archons there are some that one rather not mess with, at least openly. Vect is one, but for Vespera there is another. And that Archon is here today in her stronghold. This particular one is unique as he used to be an Archon, but nonetheless gave his power away for the sheer fun of it. Vespera now holds that power.

"My dear....how nice to see you again." This particular dark eldar is clad in a rather baroque armor, even for the denizens of Commorragh and his helm is elongated with a rich flowing mane adorning it. Vespera can only give the dark eldar a courteous nod, and proceed to accompany the Dark Eldar down the hallowed hallways of the kabal's stronghold.

"Nice to see you as well, father. So how was your journey across what the mon-keigh call the Calixis sector?" Vespera always disliked her father's visit, for he tend to have a knack for timing it with some rather interesting conundrum that she currently face in her life.

"Very good, very good. But....I feel that for some reason, the journey is a little....dry." The old Dark Eldar speaks with a rather raspy, but sinister tone. Vespera can never forget that voice for as long as she lived, for it was the voice that she grew up with. She had never heard her mother's voice, for apparently she was a victim of an attempted assassination attempt upon her father. The fool of an Archon who planned the assassination had his face adorning her father's helmet which he wears at all time.

"Why is it dry though? Don't they have many souls for you to at least enjoy yourself?"

"Well, you know the ones my age. When we let ourselves go, we really just let ourselves go. I don't feel much anymore, and my eyes are not as sharp as they used to be. But if there is one thing I have sensed, I sensed that my dear Hierarch got something on her mind. You never ask me about my trips, nor care about my wellbeing ever since I gave you the Kabal. So again...what is on your mind my dear?" Despite the age of the old Eldar,one can see a deep and dark abyss of venom seeking out the truth from the helm's visor.

Still the same old calculating father, Vespera said in her mind. 

"Is this something about a rumor I am hearing? That the Archon of the Turbulent Star is courting a mate-to-be?" The old Eldar's expression is hidden behind the visage of a flayed face.

"N....No. Lord Ranisold only asked that I dine with him, and only if I want to." Vespera knew that telling the truth is perhaps the better option here. She never want to get on her father's bad side.

"Ah... I see, I see. So it is about the Archon I am hearing about. Well, I would personally like to meet this Archon myself, but I couldn't possibly meet him like this. I need....an excuse." The old Eldar tilted his head, as if goading Vespera to say something that he wants to hear.

"But father...I got no reason to meet him." However, Vespera know that that this reply will be insufficient for her father, for her father got something else on his mind.

"Well, my dear....I would like to be that reason. I would like to see if he is really what he is. If it is possible, please do so today." The old Eldar then decided to split away from his daughter and walks down the corridor. Before long, a retinue of Incubi proceed to emerge from the shadows surrounding the old Eldar and  escort their liege immediately to wherever their liege pleases. Vespera can only wonder what her father is thinking of at times, and she proceeds to contact her lieutenant.

"Selendra...send one of the scourges over to the Kabal of the Turbulent Star to announce our arrival later on today. Tell Ranisold that he would be expecting some rather interesting guests...."

The Attention Part 3 - Short Story

Verdant's World.

A beautiful world, where nature and technology blends together in perhaps one of the more beautiful worlds of the Imperium. The world's oddly toxic ground atmosphere is such that humans are forced to live upon great trees that extends itself towards the strastosphere, each housing a major human settlement, with the largest trees housing several human settlements. Other than that, it is as imperially law-abiding as any Imperial world can ask for.

A world that Vespera had chosen for her next realspace raid, and the world she chose primarily for its extensive communications array that could support whatever it is that is within Faolchu, the messenger-thing that had her Kabal even planning this invasion. How the name Faolchu came about, she never really knew but before long every Kabalite in her Kabal is calling the messenger-thing Faolchu. Clad in her elaborately-crafted ghostplate armor and her custom-made phantasm grenade launchers, she looked upon the world as a place that is just too bright for her, however due to its rather peculiar triad of suns the planet is always lit up. This also poses a challenge for her Kabal, for daylight often means that the defenders would be able to mount a more comprehensive defense and obliterate her forces.

This forced her to take a more insidious route to the planet. Using a small craft, she would infiltrate a small group of her finest Kabalites into the heart of the largest tree settlement and from there on, she would deploy several of her portable webway portals, allowing her forces to bypass the planetary defenses and wreak havoc immediately in the interior of the largest settlement, the cluster of settlements named Verdant's Heart.

If there is a webway portal linked upon this world, she would not have to make such preparations but alas this world is apparently not linked to the webway. For some reason, Vespera seeks to see the message by herself, and thus she will be joining her infiltration squad with Faolchu in tow.

The Attention Part 2 - Short Story

Vespera is somewhat annoyed that she is now forced to stay at all times in her kabal stronghold, the aptly named Tower of Venom ever since the attempted assassination on her life. Despite the fact that she managed to blunt their attempts and taking one of the kroots as her plaything, her she is rather curious as to who is this Lord Ranisold that is after her life. Thus she asked her Kabal to investigate the mysterious Archon. Today, she is being briefed by one of her handmaiden as to the identity of Lord Ranisold, surrounded by her favoured lieutenants.

The Attention Part 1 - Short Story

Nothing new here.....

Lady Vespera looks around the pleasure club that she is in, and sees that there is nothing that made her heart race. The usual electro-torture poledancing of slaves and bloodbaths raves are nothing new to her, as is the idea of modifying a mon-keigh to become a music machine in which a Dark Eldar artisan does his musical muse as the lesser Dark Eldar fornicating under the booming music, high on the latest drugs available in Commorragh.