Murmurs Across the Warp

The words of the message vanished from the screen. It was sent coursing through the lifelines of the frigate, the Helena. The commands would relay the message to an astropath, deep within the ships sanctum, for delivery across the warp with secure protocols. The warp was a term that hardly even scratched the surface of the world beyond their reality. Beyond worlds, beyond space, beyond the very recycled air she breathed was the realm of chaos. That realm is home to beings of unimaginable power and cruelty, daemons that feast and prey upon the souls of Pandora's reality. Only by the grace and power of the almighty god Emperor were humans able to create technology and have faith to resist being torn asunder, during deep space travel, by these monsters. Humans are far from perfect, and it is unwise to misjudge the raw power that the warp can weild over the realm of men.
Canoness Pandora leaned back in her aged wooden chair, mulling over the thought of something passing across the warp, securely. The old chair, which was designed for a much larger and more languished imperial officer, did not plead or resist under the steady shifting of the woman's unfamiliar physique. The desk was metal, with wiring and wear that suggested it was wrought from some derelict and placed intently in this office. Somewhere in the Emperor's vast empire, a garbage scowl is missing its helm. To her left was a small alcove that could be used to store uniforms, but the doors were welded shut, rather poorly she thought to herself. The single item to adorn the empty walls was a piece of crud metal polished so finely it could have passed for a lasconnon lense. Clearly several deckhands were ordered to engage in the polishing of this bare metal and slap it up with the intention to mock their newest addition to the ship.
Pandora stood up, careful not to dislodge the flimsy wires that managed to power the archaeic consol. The entire ship shuddered as it traversed the warp, a distant moan of the hull echoed through empty corridors. Her entire station flickered with power loss, the spartan lights lining the ceiling shuddered and blinked sharply. Her tan colored fatigues hung loosely from her slender shape as she manuvered around the bulky metal barrier and stood infront of the makeshift mirror. Unconcerned about the constant precarious situation the ship and its denizens faced as they sped towards their destination. The ship blazed a brilliant signature for all the warp to sense, and right now she new there were fiendish beings pressing and tasting the defenses of the vessal. These defenses were projected by astropaths, reinforced by rituals and augmented by ancient shielding devices. The Emperor protects, she thought to herself.
Pandora pushed the tan headgear up and off, matted tresses of curly fiery red hair lit up the mirror. The woman could not help but admire the efficiency of the reflection, it shone back the color of her vivid locks and perfect cream colored skin The pigmentless color of her eyes shone a harsh and icey blue. She hardened her sharp facial features and glared deeply into the image cast back. The stern look that quelled even the most obnoxious officer and resistant penitent sent a quiver up her spin. Her eyes looked down at the hands that dealt death in the Emperor's name, smooth and elegant came to mind. The fact was the rest of her was just that, hardly the image of a bride of the Emperor, battle tested across alien worlds, scarred and mangled in the glorious service of his name.
The first thing anyone saw was a woman of grooming, a carefully scultped hive princess, perhaps even the matron of some wildly considered "morale" vessel full of ladys to service the Imperiums heroic masses. The many that looked only from afar would keep this perfect fantasy playing in their mind, while the few that reached this maiden of death face to face gave little credence to their previous thoughts. Many snap smartly when first exposed to the intensity of her eyes. Chasing away any thoughts of impurity, or lust before they fear their mind read and they are punished thusly for such heresy.

-More to Come