He was with his pack, the radioactive wasteland surrounded them, left over from a rad bombardment several months ago, back when this place was filled with life. Now it was a wasteland of ash and fallout blanketing everything. The changer of ways stood proud and imposing despite its injuries, the avian daemon stood atop the body of his tech priest dominus. The foul creature's taloned foot pressed against his head, tattered rainbow wings spread wide and splattered with blood as he sang praises to his heretical god with a tongue no sane mortal could understand, as he cackled madly to the roiling heavens. The sky above crackled with purple lightning like reality was shattered like glass, the slash of the Sicatrix Maladictum being the most prevalent, also known as the Great Rift, a scar in reality spanning the full length of the entire galaxy. From its maw creatures born from mankind's literal darkest dreams and desires were vomited into reality. Below the tear, archaeopters and other aircraft dueled in dogfights with helldrakes, hell blades, and other heretical aircraft born in the darkness of the void beyond the light of the Machine God. The daemon opened its beak and let out yet another cackling laugh that reverberated within the minds of all who heard it.

Serberys Raider Alpha Gamma Vex-IX did not care, nor did his brothers and sisters in the in the corps and they charged forward as one to rescue their master, despite their own injuries from weeks of fighting without rest or repairs. Their cyber steeds kicked up dust and fallout as they cried in binary a challenge to a being more ancient than the light of some stars.

The creature glanced his way and then flicked its staff, he tried to send an impuls message to his mount to change direction but it was too late. Gamma's steed charged him right into the warp portal opening before him at full speed.

Gamma Vex's world became a kaleidoscope of color, sounds, and feelings overwhelming his augments. He felt himself stretched out. His body pulled across eternities as his meat and metal spaghettified as though tossed into the event horizon of a black hole. He fought to maintain his sense of self in the tempest of energy. Hold onto both his mind and his mount as laughter filled his ears from all angles. He fell and rose and fell and twisted and spun as the universe morphed around him. He saw terrible things, things not of the realm he knew, and faces he didn't know staring at him through the void. Then suddenly it was over in a blink.

He was now falling through trees and vines and greenery before crashing down into soft mud. His mount rose and chook itself, jostling the skitarii out of his shocked trance state. Instead of the vast grey wasteland, he was now in a dense jungle. The sky above him was clear and blue, and he heard noises consistent with no known fauna on the planet he was just on. He tried connecting to the noosphere, a vast web of data connecting many tech priests and their skitarii, only to find there was no noosphere here. He was alone.

For the first time since his ascension to a warrior of the cult of the machine... nay even before that, in his hive he had fellow orphans. This was his first time being alone in as long as he could remember.

He tried calling out in binary for any of his comrades. But no one answered. Then he switched to his rarely used flesh voice. His mouth was dusty and dry from a lack of use. His voice came out raspy and harsh making him cough, but still no answer.

With nothing better to do, Gamma Vex and his steed set out to exit the forest and get his bearings. As he rode he took careful note of the fauna around him. Finding it most peculiar, many creatures appeared to be crossbred blends of known creatures in his database. Or combinations between creatures and seemingly inorganic matter.

One such being he mistook for a series of rocks that he tried to use to cross a body of water. The rocks shifted and rose, revealing he was on top of a massive amphibious reptilian. Gamma Vex-IX pulled his galvanic carbine from its side holster and opened fire downwards. He racked more rounds with the lever action before finally getting knocked off the stone skinned creature and into the knee deep pond. Now on his side, he disengaged the magnets securing him to his harness and scrambled to his feet. He raised his rifle and then paused as he realized his rounds were now a precious resource. That hesitation led to the xeno spinning its body and smacking Gamma into a nearby tree splintering it.

Gamma got his first real look at the creature as it slowly approached leaving its mud hole. It was the size of a Leman Russ tank, though his rounds had bloodied it, crimson dripping in between its rock scales. Gamma took some satisfaction in that he at least injured the beast before he met his end. Just as he was about to accept his fate, his serbery pounced on the beast and dug into its face with the hooks above its hooves. It clawed and growled and the stone skinned beast hissed and tried in vain to bite it, but his serbery kept just out of reach, aiming for the creature's eyes. More blood splattered the forest till finally, the beast decided this prey wasn't worth it and retreated back to its pond to lick its wounds.

The cyber steed limped over to the injured skitarii and lowered its head. Gamma raised his still flesh and blood hand and scratched it underneath its chin, making the cyborg steed's tail wag in excitement.

he canted.

Tiredly he held onto the reigns of his steed, no, his partner now. The only one from his old world to follow him through the portal as far as he knew. The sun was starting to set now, painting the sky red. The retreating light was not helping him stay awake at all. He was tired and needed urgent medical care, but had to continue on and stay awake. Any time his attention started to slip and the darkness at the edges of his vision started to claim him, his serbery would stop and let out a binaric whine that woke him up, he rewarded her with a pat and they would continue on. He needed to find some way to--

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A pack of wooden wolves with glowing green eyes lept from a rocky ridge and surrounded him and his partner.

Alpha Gamma Vex-IX let out a sigh and pulled out his archeo revolver, only to again remember again just how precious his ammo was, and holstered it. Instead, he took out his power saber and activated it with a flick of the switch on the top, wreathing the blade in a blue force field. His organic hand shook with fatigue, so he passed it to his augmentic one, it wasn't his dominant hand but it would do better.

The wooden wolves started slowly circling them, barking and growling. Gamma Vex kept his eyes on the pack alpha, its piercing glowing emerald eyes meeting his blue luminous ones. They stared each other down, unblinking waiting for the other to make the first move so they could strike. Issuing a challenge to each other understood by warriors and leaders alike. The strong should always fight the str--

He was blindsided as one of the other wolves lept up and bit at his metal wrist holding the sword. He had been careless, distracted, and sloppy. He punched at it with his weak meat fist, trying to free it. Another one blindsided him yet again from the opposite direction. Its wooden jaws latched onto his right leg trying to tug him off. Yet again he was flanked by these beasts. Their sharp wooden teeth dug into him tearing at his augments and causing yet more blood to drip out from unhealed wounds. The blood spilled all over their faces and paused driving them into further frenzy like sharks. Another two wolves focused their attention on his partner, his mount bucked at them but fared little better at shacking them off than himself. While distracted the pack alpha took his chance to dive in head on and attack his throat.

Before the jaws reached him though, a glass bottle flew in from a shadow to the right and smashed into its muzzle. Gamma took the opportunity and headbutted the alpha throwing off its trajectory. The clearing was filled with purple smoke from the bottle and the wolves either retreated or fell over knocked out. His own steed also fell to its side trapping him underneath. He was too weak to shove her off himself.

As the darkness crept into the sides of his vision, he just made out the form of another quadrupedal creature slowly making its way through the fog, silhouetted by the just rising moonlight. It clopped forward toward him and he just made out some kind of black and white mohawk before finally his vision failed and consciousness left him.

Author's Note

Dividers came from Mechanicus 2 steam store page.