In the Name of the Emperor

Longer chapter this time around everyone. Enjoy!



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When they came to a solid gray, what looked like metal, door, the first thing Jenavive did was look up to Khamaad. "You said we were on a ship. How come there are metal doors on the ship? What kind of ship are we on? What body of water?"



"We are on a space ship. This door is one of the many that separate people from sections of the ship. As for what kind of ship, we are on a..." he stopped for a moment to think of a way to describe the ship so she might understand. "We are on a ship that sails through space."



"So there are hundreds of people out there with oars, rowing us through space? Isn't space weightless? And if there is nothing to create friction, how do we move? If there is nothing to sail through, like water, how do we move? Is it even possible?" He chuckled and shook his head a bit.



"You are very smart. Space is our ocean and we move on warp power child. For now, that is all you need to worry about. All will come with time." she just nodded and the metal door slid open with a small whooshing sound. The first thing she spotted, was more light. Looking around before stepping out, she saw thin tracks of illuminated rectangles. When she opened her mouth to start with another question, she was gently pulled out of the room and her mouth shut. They took a right and started down a very long, seemingly endless hall.



Right outside the door however, were two very large, very black and white monsters, just like on the planet. She sucked in a breath and took two steps behind Khamaad.



"Worry not, these are not those which attacked your people. These are those that saved you." She swallowed thickly and nodded once. The hand atop the helmet moved to start reaching towards a leg. Or what she assumed was a leg. She had almost reached it when her hand was grabbed and she as turned to face Khamaad. "Do not touch. They are very sensitive about their armor Jenavive."



"But I just-"



"Never touch armor without the strictest permission. Ever." She simply nodded and turned back to look at the giant monster. Well, monster wasn't right, Khamaad said they saved her so she'd just stick with golem.



"What are they?"



"They are called the Black Templars."



"And what are they?"



"They are soldiers for the Imperium of Man. We call them Space Marines."



"Space...marine...odd name." She turned to look at the golem. "My name is Jenavive. What's yours?" She smiled timidly. Nothing happened. The head didn't move and she didn't even hear a breath. Jenavive frowned and waved here little hand. Still nothing. Giving a frustrated sigh, she turned and looked at Khadaam. "Are they deaf, mute or both?"



"If they chose not to speak, it is their prerogative child." He smiled at her failed attempts to speak before leading her along.



Mixed with the Black Templars were regular humans. When she tried to engage some in conversation as they walked down the seemingly endless hall, she got sneered at by some, cursed at by others and ignored by the rest. She didn't say anything to Khadaam, but he noticed and tried to cheer her up. Unfortunately, she ignored his attempts at funny faces.



Jenavive looked around as they walked, and as they turned another corner, finally at the end of that endless hall, she noticed a man in a wheelchair with six arms. He was following behind a big, fat man. There was also a floating skull. She had to blink a few times to make sure she was actually seeing a man who had six arms and a floating skull. Sure enough, they were actually there and she wasn't having a vision.



"Lord Khadaam, what is that doing out of it's cage? Weren't you going to destroy it?" The fat man stopped and looked down at her with a sneer before looking at Khadaam. His attitude completely turned Jenavive off.



"I am a girl in case you didn't know Sir. And my name is Jenavive." A swat to the face made her head snap to the side. Tears formed from the force and the sting, but she forced them to stay in her eyes.



"Do not speak out of turn filth. You have no name because you are nothing-"



"How are the preparations Anton?" Khadaam's voice was hard as steel and cold as ice. The fat man held back a shutter.



"The Blackship has been contacted and they are en route. The Cannonness said it would take them three days to get to us." The man looked down at her again and she stuck out her tongue. He raised his hand and closed it into a fist. In an instant she went sailing into the wall across from her, back hitting the wall with a hard thud. Khadaam had Anton pinned up against a wall with a large black arm across a pale, nearly double throat.



"You will not strike a psyker of the Imperium again Anton. She is under [i]my[/i] protection and I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand for taking away a potential battle psyker. Do I make myself clear Anton?" The fat porker just blinked his eyes rapidly. "Very good." The fat man slid to the floor coughing horribly when Khadaam removed his arm and turned his back to make sure Jenavive was alright. She saw the very dark look that Anton gave Khadaam but thought better about saying anything in front of the porker. "Are you alright?"



" 'm fine. Stiff." She stood and dusted off her behind, wincing when a muscle in lower back spasmed. she grabbed Khadaam's two fingers when he held them down to her and they continued on. she did look behind her to see the porker getting up and glaring death at her. she stuck out her tongue and watched a vein tick in his head. The battle was hers.



"Don't antagonize people Jenavive. You will not like the outcome." Okay, she'd been caught with her tongue out. She sighed.



"But he called me an "it" and acted like I was some sort of monster. I'm an eight year old child, how can I be something disgusting?" She said it all like it made perfect sense. And it did.



"You are not...you are not a normal child Jenavive. He knows that as does everyone aboard this ship. There are those who would seek to destroy the lot of us, those with the talents you and I harbor." They stopped at a door and he started pressing some numbers on a part of the wall beside the door. The door opened and he walked her inside. It was a sleeping chamber. There was a bed, made in black blankets with the same symbol as her amulet stitched onto them. There was a small bedside table, a pitcher of some kind, a wash basin and there was some sort of contraption in the corner behind a curtain. There were no windows and the same rectangular, illuminated strips ran along the ceiling in here as they did outside. The door slid shut behind them and she turned to stare at it for a moment before looking up at Khadaam.



"I'm a normal kid. I can't do anything special. I mean, I am kind of smart...but that's it. I don't see why he had to call me an "it" and why would someone want to hurt you?" She thought about it for a moment. "You are pretty nice and I think you've only scared me once...and it was my fault I guess." She shrugged before walking over to the bed and sitting on it. "What's that in there? And why aren't there any windows? Is there any paper and a pencil that I can have? A book maybe?" Her stomach chose that moment to rumble very loudly.



"Food first dear one and then we shall ask your servitor about books and paper and a pencil. As for that, come here." He walked over to the contraption and he explained to her that it was a toilet and what she was supposed to do. "It is just like your chamber pot, except we have no one who will come around and empty a pot, so after you complete your business, you push this knob and all of your waste is discarded by itself."



"So cool. We needed one of these in the palace." It took her a moment but Jenavive realized what she said and a sad look crossed her face. She just walked out of the small bathroom and back tot he bed where she sat atop it. "Are you going to leave me now Khadaam?"



"I'm afraid that I must dear one. I have duties I must see too. But should you need anything, you will have your own servitor. And if it is of great importance, you may tell your servitor to come and fetch me."



"What is a servitor?" As she asked, the door opened and a man...or what she assumed was a man, came in on wheels. There were metal parts on his body, from the waist down. he had no legs, they were just wheels inside an odd looking...track? Half of his head was metal and his right eye had a strange red light coming from it. There was no pupil, it was just a red light.



"How may I be of service?" The voice it spoke with was soft yet very...strange. Forced almost. Monotone. Emotionless.



"That is a servitor." Khadaam explained. He turned to the servitor and cleared his throat. "Inquisitor Khadaam Furgo Tolth, clearance Alpha."



"Computing." There were a series of beeps before it spoke again. "Welcome Inquisitor. How may I serve you?"



"I want you to remain at Jenavive's side." Khadaam stepped aside so the servitor could take a picture and commit to it's memory banks the face of his new charge. "Should she need anything, within her clearance parameters, you will retrieve it for her. Meals three times a day with a bath at oh-eight-hundred. Understood?"



"Yes Inquisitor."



"Go get her a tray of dinner."



"My pleasure Inquisitor." The servitor left and Khadaam turned to her.



"After your meal, go ahead and try to get some sleep alright? Remember what I said." Jenavive nodded and he smiled, giving her a small wave before leaving.



And she was alone. Somehow, she knew that she would be alone for the rest of her life, if she lived a while. It didn't sit well with her. Sure, she had known what being alone was before in her life, but there had been Verrun, her father, the King or Maricce to play with, antagonize or engage in conversation with. Now...there was no one. She turned her face into her pillow and gave into the pure exhaustian of the last hours.