My sudden psychic attack caught my opponent off guard. Having shown no hint of my mental capabilities until now, I bypassed his preliminary defenses. But he recovered within a heartbeat, raising his mental barriers and launching a brutal counteroffensive.
“You are full of surprises, brother!” The man’s mist-like form rippled as we fought for control. “You have awakened psychic abilities, yet they aren't Warp-based. How does it work? What are its limits, I wonder?”
His counterattack hit me like a hundred-foot tsunami. Lacking experience on a psychic battlefield, my defenses crumpled. It took everything I had just to shield my core memories. If he gained access to my otherworldly knowledge, the end of this universe would arrive far sooner.
“Even in this weakened state, your unshakable willpower shines. That said, your inexperience has brought about your downfall, brother. I take no pleasure in making you suffer. You have already endured so much abuse from father and us…”
The words triggered a violent reaction in my chest, forcing a torrent of suppressed memories to the surface. Sorrow. Heartbreak. Despair. Hopelessness. The emotions flooded my heart. While the faces remained blurred, the physical and verbal abuse was clear as day.
---Flashback One---
I knelt on a cold stone floor, held down by unbreakable steel chains. As I stared into the blackness of the cell, the heavy door opened with a loud groan. A towering giant and a man of average height strode through the entryway.
“Here we are yet again…” The giant looked down at me with disdain. “How many times do you intend to disobey my orders? This is the tenth time this year you have been brought here for insubordination.”
“I’ve said it countless times, and I will continue to say it until you comprehend. I will not condemn humans and xenos alike to the abyss for the sake of your plans! There is a better way to achieve your end goal, but you refuse to reason. You’ve indoctrinated the masses with the idea that for humanity to survive, we must slaughter everyone else. The only reason you preach this is because of what happened—”
A crushing force pinned my body to the stone, stripping the strength from my limbs.
“You know nothing, boy! The books you read in the library do not paint a full picture of the horrors humanity endured during those dark days. If you weren’t still of use to me, I would have ordered your brothers to execute you by now. When I decide to release you, go rebuild your forces and resume your duties.”
Without another word, the giant turned and left. Once the room cleared, the remaining man knelt and looked at me with pity.
“Why do you continue to walk this path, Aremus? It has brought you nothing but endless suffering and torment.”
“Because… I’ve seen where our current path leads.” I lifted my head, meeting his eyes. “The suffering I’ve endured pales compared to what our people will face. Everything I do is to give us a fighting chance. If I must shoulder this burden alone, so be it. To me, all of you are worth the pain.”
He patted my head before rising and walking toward the exit. “Aremus… I am sorry you were born in this galaxy. We don’t deserve someone as kindhearted and self-sacrificing as you. Out of all your brothers, you understand what it truly means to be human.”
As the door shut behind him, a tear fell from his cheek.
I stared down at a burning world from the bridge of my flagship. Hours ago, it had been brimming with life, a civilization where humans and aliens coexisted. Amidst my negotiations with the local leaders, another military fleet had arrived in orbit and bombarded the surface. Before I could intervene, my crew had dragged me back to the ship to ensure my safety.
“Damn it, Aremus! Are you listening to a word I’m saying?”
I pried my gaze from the dead planet and turned toward the holodisplay. The man on screen looked back with disgust. His dark green armor still dripped with the blood of the locals.
“Why did you interfere with my negotiations? This world was about to accept our control without bloodshed. You committed genocide without a second thought.”
“Are you still going on about this? Father’s orders were clear: we don't negotiate with aliens, no exceptions. Stop treating them like anything more than they are—obstacles to be purged.”
“Our orders were to bring our assigned sectors under our control by any means necessary. I have done exactly that, with the lowest casualty rate of any fleet. You have your methods, and I have mine. Unless Father says otherwise, this territory is mine to conquer. Depart now, or I will remove you by force.”
We glared at one another across the light-years. With a scowl, the green-armored warlord signaled his fleet to prepare to leave.
“I am disgusted to share your blood. Since you are so keen on coddling that filth, let them keep your fleet supplied. Don’t bother requesting resupplies from home until your duties here are finished.”
“So be it. If that is our Father’s will, I will work with what resources I have.” My expression hardened. “I recognize that not all aliens are willing to coexist. Those who respond with violence, I strike down without hesitation. But the ones willing to talk, the ones who sheltered humans during the Dark Ages—they deserve a chance to have peace. What you call coddling, I call having a heart. Unlike you, I will not be led around like a sheep. I think for myself, brother. I am no one's lapdog.”
Enraged, the warlord slammed his fist into the console, cutting the feed.
---Flashback Three---
I stood on the burning remnants of a blood-soaked battlefield. Piles of corpses littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Countless civilians lay among them, but the overwhelming majority were hulking men in power armor. Half wore silver with metallic blue accents; the rest wore dark gray with bronze. A sharp pain stabbed my heart.
“The last of them has been finished, Father. What would you have us do now?”
The soldier who spoke wore the dark gray armor of the executioners.
“Burn the bodies once the collection is done. Come, brother, please don’t make me inflict even more pain on you today. I take no pleasure in this dirty work…”
My body tensed, boiling rage threatening to explode. The dead were my subordinates. They had followed me here under our father’s orders, only to be butchered like cattle. I knew this execution was retribution for going behind Father's back to seek proof for my warnings of the future. But this was too far. The responsibility belonged to me, not the men beneath me.
“Aremus… please don’t make me—” A hand settled on my shoulder.
“Don’t patronize me! We came here to help you, and you stabbed us in the back!”
I spun, delivering an earth-shattering blow to the man’s face. The impact launched him across the battlefield, his body skipping over the terrain for miles before coming to a halt.
His men descended upon me with cold fury. I drew my blade, cutting down my subordinates' executioners with unearthly speed. Not one could close the distance without being flayed to pieces.
“Every one of you is a backstabbing coward! You speak of honor and duty, yet abandon them when your Master commands. If my Father had an issue with my actions, the cross was mine to bear alone!”
The brother I struck returned to his feet, charging into the fray with a spear. As he drove the tip toward my shoulder, I teleported out of his line of sight, reappearing behind him to slash his back open.
“Stop this, brother! I don’t want to hurt you!” He staggered forward, spinning around to launch a flurry of strikes.
“Spare me your hollow sympathy. I saw your face while you led the slaughter. You reveled in their bloodshed—don’t you dare lie to me!”
I knocked his strikes off course, taking a shallow cut instead of the crippling blow he intended.
“I will see justice carried out for my sons!”
More soldiers rushed to join the fight. My brother was too skilled for me to risk opening my guard against multiple opponents. I had only one choice left: draw upon the power I had been forbidden to touch.
“If you want a chance to cut me down, you can wait until I have brought my brother low! Die!”
Unfathomable power radiated from my flesh, purple energy humming through the air as a fiery explosion scorched the surroundings into nothingness, vaporizing my assailants. My brother redoubled his efforts, our exchanges tearing the very bedrock apart.
“Stop this now, Aremus!”
“I begged and pleaded with you to stop countless times! The blood of my sons is on your hands. One of us is going to be carried off this field, and it won’t be me.”
I channeled the immense energy into my blade and brought it down. My brother raised his spear to parry, but my weapon phased directly through its shaft. Just as I was about to cut him open, a massive impact struck me from behind.
I launched across the battlefield, crashing into a pile of my fallen men. As I staggered up, a heavy war hammer slammed into my chest, knocking the air from my lungs.
“That’s enough, Aremus. Please stay down.”
I looked up to see another giant helping my first opponent to his feet. He gave the newcomer a brief nod before cracking his neck. They walked toward me in tandem.
“Stay out of this. My issue is with this backstabber, not you.”
“You are an intelligent man, Aremus. A fight against the two of us will not end well. Come quietly, and we will try to reason with Father on your behalf.”
I gave them an icy glare. My brothers had repeated those words for years, but never followed through. Our affection was entirely one-sided. They saw me as an eyesore; I had tried to form genuine bonds. Only one brother had ever opened up to me. At this rate, I doubted any others would.
“My dead sons lay scattered around us, and you ask me to yield?”
“Your anger is justified. In your position, I would be just as furious. But I am trying to stop more lives from being taken today. Please don’t make us do this.”
“Listen to him, Aremus. I know what I’ve done is cruel and deceitful, but I had no choice. Father’s orders are absolute.”
Engaging both was suicide, but I didn't care. The men and women dying in the dirt had been by my side since the dawn of my military career. They had fought beside me, celebrated with me, and shared the heavy burdens our Father imposed. My consciousness refused to yield.
“Brothers… we were born with free will and a conscience. Today, one of us ignored both to carry out the worst betrayal imaginable.”
The surrounding air vibrated as I tapped into a bottomless wellspring of psychic power.
“I have no plans to kill either of you, but I will have justice for those who followed me through hell.”
Both titans blitzed forward, weapons raised. As they swung, a bubble of kinetic energy expanded from my core, blowing them backward. Countless fiery spears materialized behind me, locking onto every enemy in the vicinity. With a thought, they shot forth like rockets, skewering the executioners before detonating in a chain of explosions.
My brothers batted the debris away, charging through the smoke. I unleashed a hellstorm upon them, still doing my utmost to avoid a lethal blow. No matter the rage consuming me, I could not bring myself to kill my blood. I still clung to the foolish hope that they would see reason.
Just as our weapons were about to clash again, the memory shattered.
---Current Day, Moments Later---
As old memories continued to return, I staggered backward, clutching my head. My opponent sensed the violent shift in my psyche and halted his assault. Apparent relief washed over his features as he dispelled his ethereal sword and stepped forward.
“Aremus, please forgive me. This was the only way I could think of to—”
My mind plunged into a thick, suffocating fog as my current consciousness struggled to process the sheer volume of a past life slamming into it. Through the haze, the fractured mind of my former self took hold, absorbing the truth of what had become of his homeland. Aremus descended into madness. He had endured centuries of torment and sacrificed his own legion for the Imperium, and in the end, it had all been for nothing.
“Shut up!”
A dark purple aura erupted from my flesh, vibrating with raw malice.
“I gave everything I had for my Father’s dream! My blood. My tears. My sons. My—”
An image of a woman and a newborn child flashed through my thoughts. The memory of a wife and son shattered the final dam, letting decades of suppressed torment boil over. A terrifying shockwave of psychic energy surged outward, causing the very bedrock of the arena to buckle and groan.
“Aremus! You must get a hold of yourself! Don’t allow the Warp to swallow you whole!”
“Why wouldn’t any of you listen to me?!” I backed away, blood streaming from my eyes and nose as the pressure tore at my physical form. “Everything I tried to prevent came to pass! The man I called my beloved father sacrificed his soul for a cold, unfeeling throne! My closest friends in the palace gave their lives to hold His damned project!”
As my wails of agony echoed into the void, my opponent tried to fight through the crushing gravity of my aura. His face remained completely obscured to me, but the towering, warlike presence he had projected all afternoon frayed. Beneath the fading illusion, his aura shifted, revealing the unmistakable signature of a frail, ancient elderly man leaning on a heavy staff.
“Aremus, listen to me. You must bring your power under control. This pocket dimension cannot withstand your presence much longer. If it shatters, your comrades will be cast into the abyss.”
It was easy for him to say. My current self fought desperately to lock down the floodgates, but the newly awakened half of my mind was inconsolable, drowning in the horrific revelation of the future.
Suddenly, Luxion materialized, his cloaking field dropping as his thrusters roared at maximum capacity to fight the psychic gale. He pushed through the pressure, his voice just reaching me.
<Do not allow this power to consume you! You must clear your mind and take command of it. Valeria believed you possessed a hidden strength that no other man had. Prove to me she was right!>
The mention of her name pierced right through the fog, hitting my fracturing psyche like an anchor. The madness receded just enough for my current self to seize the helm. With a final, agonizing effort of will, I forced the wellspring of power shut.
The maelstrom of psychic energy vanished. As the connection severed, a crushing fatigue settled into my bones. My limbs turned to lead, and the world spun out of focus as I collapsed into the dirt.
“Aremus!” The old man's presence rushed toward my side.
<Stay away from him! Your foolishness has already taken several irreplaceable people from me. I will not stand by and allow you to take another.>
In my last seconds of consciousness, dozens of humanoid combat drones phased into existence, forming a mechanical wall to guard my body. I wanted answers, but the darkness took me.
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