MarazhaiYou gasp, sucking in the poisoned air, each breath scorching your insides with liquid fire from throat to lungs. Every cell in your body is engulfed in maddening pain, as if you are being doused in molten metal, skinned alive, and subjected to yet another form of torture. You hear sounds coming from somewhere far away: the moans of your people, the shuffling of bare feet... and light footsteps slowly getting closer.
Marazhai"Rogue Trader. A long-awaited meeting indeed." You can barely see anything through the haze of agony but you still remember the voice well: the voice of the xenos who devastated your capital world. Marazhai's face is hidden behind a helmet, but his tone leaves no room for doubt: he is smirking.
MarazhaiThe xenos turns his attention to someone else. "You have proven quite useful, mon-keigh. An uncanny quality for your kind." He is speaking to Achilleas, who is lying nearby, his pale face contorted in terror and pain, and his eyes wide open and tearful. "I may find other uses for you in the future."
YOU"Achilleas! You vile traitor!"
Achilleas Scalander"Y-Your Lordship/Ladyship, I..." Achilleas shakes his head, grimacing from the pain wrought by the poison gas.
Marazhai"Do not judge him so harshly, Rogue Trader. I have yet to meet a mon-keigh who can resist my powers of persuasion." You hear a predatory laugh from inside the helmet.
MarazhaiHis last words fill your head like the deafening echo of a ship's siren. The gas creeps deeper into your lungs, eating away at them hungrily, as the agony spreads down your every limb. You are suffocating.
Marazhai"Are you enjoying the sensation? I had this poison made for you! Who could have thought that a mon-keigh would one day earn such an honour: a special gift from a Dracon? But your suffering..." The xenos leans closer to you. "I knew the taste would be exquisite were I to add a touch of the Drukhari's talent for extracting anguish..."
Marazhai"However, there will be time for that later. No matter how I wish to play with you all one after another, I need you for a purpose, Rogue Trader. Commorragh awaits you, all of you. Mandrakes, take them. Leave none behind."
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YOU"What did you do to him, xenos?"
Marazhai"Nothing untoward. We merely had a conversation. It happened long ago when I was visiting your pitiful planet. You thought the burnt mon-keigh escaped with his life because of his talents? No. He escaped because I let him go. But not before ordering him to arrive at my command with you in tow. Which he did as soon as I sent him the signal."
MarazhaiHis last words fill your head like the deafening echo of a ship's siren. The gas creeps deeper into your lungs, eating away at them hungrily, as the agony spreads down your every limb. You are suffocating.continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I will see you both dead!"
MarazhaiMarazhai clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "You disappoint me, mon-keigh. I have heard the pleas of millions and the curses of billions. You can do better."
MarazhaiHis last words fill your head like the deafening echo of a ship's siren. The gas creeps deeper into your lungs, eating away at them hungrily, as the agony spreads down your every limb. You are suffocating.continues where this line first appears above
YOU"May the God-Emperor guide my hand when I bring punishment upon the traitorous heretic and the unholy xenos!"
MarazhaiMarazhai clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "You disappoint me, mon-keigh. I have heard the pleas of millions and the curses of billions. You can do better."continues where this line first appears above
Marazhai(sequence)
Heinrix"Damn... you..." Heinrix growls hoarsely as he tries to get up, driven more by rage than by physical strength. "I... will strangle... you both... myself..."
MarazhaiMarazhai nonchalantly kicks the arm Heinrix is using to prop himself up and he tumbles to the ground. "That seems unlikely, mon-keigh. Both of your fates are now mine to decide."
Achilleas Scalander"Forgive... Forgive me, Master van Calox..." Achilleas's voice is trembling with sorrow and regret.
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PasqalServo-drives whine under the Tech-Priest's scarlet robe in a dogged but fruitless attempt to lift his body. "The inferior flesh... has betrayed me..."
Marazhai"You must have punished it poorly, iron mon-keigh. No matter. As a captive, you will learn how to apply the art of torture to make it fear the very thought of betrayal."
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KibellahKibellah reaches for her weapon with one hand while trying to support herself with the other. "How could... intoxicants... overpower me..."
Marazhai"I was warned that one of the mon-keigh was fond of experimenting with incapacitating substances. This gas contains something prepared just for you." With a gloating sneer, the xenos steps on her head, pushing it into the floor with a crunch.
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Solomorne"Glaito..." Solomorne is either trying to reach out to the cyber-mastiff or gesture a command to him, but the dog is lying still, completely unresponsive.
Marazhai"A futile effort. I was informed that the mon-keigh might bring some of their primitive toys here with them, so I made sure that the toxin accounted for their particular quirks."
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Eogunn"Vascular filters are failing... the penetrative capacity of the toxin is extreme..." His bulky frame collapses. Blood streams from the Manipulus's nose and eyes, but his focus is pinned on his companion drifting listlessly at his side. "Nuncius, save yourself..."
MarazhaiWith a look of triumph, Marazhai thrusts his hand forward, seizing the servo-skull. "Whining is futile, though your pleas are music to my ears, mon-keigh. This bauble belongs to me now. As does your pathetic life."
end of branch
Entry point 3 of 3
MarazhaiMarazhai takes a close look at your companions squirming in agony, then gestures nonchalantly to someone you cannot see. "Bring in the injectors. The mon-keigh I promised to Tervantias are among them. I do not want these wretches to move an inch until they are in the hands of the Archmachinator."
Marazhai"As for you..." There is a disturbing gleam in the Dracon's eyes. "You will have your share of paralysing dreams too. But I am going to keep you. You are far too precious to be surrendered to a madman playing with fire."