"I don't know if my mind is prepared. Perhaps this was the wrong choice of aspect," said Kaela. Her fingers rested at the collar of her undersuit as she considered removing it, quitting the training, and asking to be reassigned. "The meditation will prepare you. You're not the first to have doubts about this, and you aren't going to be the last, either. Come on, I'll help you into the armour." Elonora, already clad from the waist down in half of her bulky, red and white suit, knelt down and slipped a hand beneath Kaela's foot, lifting it up and placing one of the boots beneath it. Kaela, despite her hesitation, was unresisting. She allowed her foot to be guided into the first piece of the suit, ruminating about what was to come as Elonora secured it in place, attaching the ceramic greave next, the parts clicking together effortlessly. "Still can't dress yourself?" On the next bench down, Sasha had already donned the majority of the suit, leaving only the helmet and major parts of the carapace to be added. The latter pieces, far too bulky for one person to handle, were supported on racks at the far end of the fitting room, where the wearers had to manoeuvre themselves into them before detaching them. At least two of the trainees had ended up on the floor during the process. "It figures," she continued, "I always did think you showed a certain lack of initiative." "Leave her alone," said Elonora. "You aren't helping. This is going to be difficult for all of us." "Hmph. Speak for yourself." Sasha gathered up her long, black hair, tying it out of the way behind her head. "See you in the meditation chamber," she said, "if you can make it in time." "Don't listen to her. She's as apprehensive as the rest of us, she just hides it well." "You think so?" said Kaela. "I know so. Nobody would take this lightly. If something goes wrong - well, let's not dwell on that. Come on, get the rest of the suit on, or we really are going to be late." Elonora finished her own process of suiting up, and then helped Kaela with the last few trickier parts of securing the armour in place. The only remaining squad members in the room, they went to the armour racks to claim the last two suits. "Elonora?" "Yes?" She stooped beneath the massive shell of the carapace, standing up into it and beginning the process of securing it in place. "Thank you," said Kaela. "I'm sorry for being so negative. I'm sure we can get through this together." Elonora grinned at her, thrusting her fist forwards with the thumb raised, a gesture they had seen a pair of Mon'Keigh using once which seemed to suggest that everything was okay. Reassured, Kaela relaxed into the armoured suit, feeling the myriad clicks and mechanical twitches as the carapace coupled itself to the undersuit, moulding itself around its new user. The white dome of the helmet clicked down over Kaela's head, plunging her into darkness for a moment before the computerised display was activated, showing everything around her in a bluish tint, translucent numbers and figures overlaid. The suit throbbed; she could feel the vibration through her entire body as the warp core began its charge cycle. Kaela took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly. Things really were going to be okay. --- They joined the rest of the squad of trainees in the meditation hall, the exarch giving them a cold glare as they assumed their places, cross-legged, on the floor mats. It was important, they had been told, to focus one's mind before the jump, to strengthen one's ego and resolve as much as possible to shield oneself from the influence of the warp. The wraithbone circuits in the suits would provide some protection, but a certain amount of psychic interference was inevitable. With a thought, Kaela attuned the suit's communicator to the group channel, and joined in the chanting. She had no idea how long had passed before the exarch decided that the time was right, instructing them to stand and move out to the training area. She opened her eyes, and saw from the helmet display that it had been forty minutes. She was sure that she was feeling the effect of the meditation: she was calm, and centred. She sensed the cool confidence of her squad mates around her. Beneath the holographic sky of the training ground, the squad assembled. Naturally, Sasha was the first to step forward when the exarch called for someone to be first to attempt a jump. She stood before the rest of the squad, giving the impression that she was looking down at them all. "We're going to start slow, to minimise your exposure to the warp," the exarch explained. "In your own time, I want you to jump to the marker I've placed." A symbol appeared on the area map in Kaela's helmet display. The exarch had designated a point twenty metres from where the squad was assembled. "Is that all?" came Sasha's voice over the communicator. Kaela watched Sasha crouch down, steadying herself in the manner they had practiced hundreds of times before now, but never leading into an actual warp jump. She heard the characteristic throb of the warp generator, and her display automatically dimmed in the instant that Sasha disappeared in a burst of light. A few seconds passed. Then a few more. One of the squad started to ask, "is she-", before the armoured figure reappeared five metres away, sprawling onto the ground as she tried unsuccessfully to break her fall. Kaela grimaced as retching sounds came over the squad channel for everyone to hear with perfect clarity, followed by a liquid gurgling noise. The exarch and two of the squad mates reached her in a few seconds, lumbering in their suits. One of them helped Sasha to remove her helmet, and yellow-brown vomit spilled out of her suit on to the ground. She was pale and shivering, and got halfway through raising her hand to her mouth before expelling another stream of vomit onto a squad mate, who was too slow to step out of the way. "I think young Sasha here has demonstrated the difficulties that can be involved," said the exarch, "with one's first warp experience. But believe me, a bit of nausea is the least of your concerns. Sasha, go and clean yourself up," he said. "Now, who wants to be next?" Kaela watched the next six of her squad mates attain varying degrees of success. Elonora went third, managing to land only three metres off-target while keeping her breakfast down, which made her feel a bit better about her own chances. Kaela had been shy to step forward to volunteer, which eventually meant that she was the last to attempt the jump. She could feel the eyes of her squad mates on her as she stepped towards the exarch - although the feeling was supportive, rather than judgmental. Especially with Sasha out of the picture, everybody else seemed to be willing her to succeed. "This is going to go fine," said the exarch. Kaela realised he was communicating to her on a private channel. "Remember the training and the meditation. The suit's going to do most of the work, just focus on keeping yourself together in there. Now go. Do it." The suit interface accepted the marker coordinates, highlighting them in green. Three powerful throbs from the warp generator resonated through Kaela's rib cage, and then everything went white. She felt as if she were being pulled in all directions, her body was twisted through impossible angles. Her vision filled with static snow, and she realised it wasn't in the suit display, but her own brain. Flashing numbers ticked over to higher and higher values, and she felt her throat tighten as the text changed from green, through to orange, and then red. For a moment she saw the marker, and her squad mates, far in the distance. Her ears filled with a deafening hiss, and she blacked out. --- There was something smooth and soft alongside Kaela. She blinked her eyes open, realising that she was lying down, and that "alongside" was actually "underneath". There was no sign of her armour, in fact, she realised that she was completely nude, and quickly gathered the silken bedding up to cover herself. Silken bedding? That was out of place anywhere on the Craft World. She took a look at the walls of the small room: curving arches of black stone over a thickly-carpeted floor, and concluded that she was very far from home. The bed was the only furniture here, aside from a bronze censer suspended overhead, which was emitting wisps of sweet-smelling smoke. The odour made her head swim. Tying the bedding around her as a makeshift robe, Kaela stood up and reached for the door, having no idea what she might find. It opened while her fingers were still inches away from the handle, revealing a huge space, cathedral-like in proportions. She staggered backwards. "I See Our Guest Is Awake," a voice boomed. She couldn't localise the sound, it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "Arrange A Welcoming Party," it added. Forms materialised in front of her, female to a first approximation, if one ignored the occasional presence of a taloned foot, or lobster-like claw in place of a hand. Six of them in total, emerging out of nothing and accompanied by the same, sickly-sweet smell of the incense. One of them whisked the bed sheets away from her, leaving her naked, attempting to cover herself. The figures didn't have much more clothing than she did: sparse bits and pieces of leather covered certain parts of their bodies, but left little to the imagination. Another stepped forward, and Kaela thought she almost had Eldar-like features: high cheekbones, a gaunt face, even the ears tapered to points that protruded through flowing, blue hair. She had a chance to get a close-up look at the creature's face as it leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. Taken by surprise, Kaela threw herself backwards, feeling hands grasp her from behind. She wasn't naive about the sorts of beings that dwelled in the warp - the Farseers that had trained her along with the rest of the squad had gone into detail about what might be waiting for them during each jump, and about the fact that there were certain powers who had a particular interest in Eldar souls. "Let go of me!" Of course, the plea was useless. The daemons giggled in a disturbingly girlish manner as they manhandled her back into the room, one of them closing the door while two more pinned her down on the luxuriously soft bed. "Why resist?" said the blue-haired daemon. Her imitation of the Eldar language was flawless. "We're not going to hurt you. Quite the opposite. Would you like something to eat? To drink?" (she gestured at one of the other daemons, who was now holding a silver tray, heavy with exotic fruits, droplets of moisture beading on their surfaces), "or perhaps you'd like to fulfil a more... carnal desire?" Fingers traced their way along Kaela's collarbone, coming to rest beneath her chin. They belonged to a daemon whose skin was a purple hue, the areolae of her uncovered breasts a deep violet. She bent over and kissed Kaela on the forehead, before clambering onto the bed and straddling her. Kaela's arms strained as she tried to resist, to throw the creature off, but it was too strong. She pinned Kaela by her wrists, looming towards her to take another kiss. Kaela twisted her head sideways, feeling its lips against her cheek. "You're wasting your time," said Kaela. "We- we've been trained for this. Even now, the Farseers are- mmh!" she was interrupted as another daemon took her head in its hands, forcing her to face upwards as the one looming over her thrust its forked tongue into her mouth. She could feel the creature's breath on her face. Off to one side, the purple-haired daemon picked a grape from the fruit platter. "You've been told that this sort of thing is bad, is a corrupting influence," she said. "And I suppose you all believe it without and first-hand experience, hmm?" The daemon opened her mouth and plucked another grape from the bunch with her teeth, then nimbly slipped onto the bed between Kaela and the creature that was pinning her. "We're going to show you the truth," she said. "All of us were, after all, borne from your own race's decadence." She kissed Kaela again, while some unknown number of hands caressed her calves, her thighs, and a few even higher up than that. Somewhere in the middle of all the tactile chaos, the grape passed from the daemon's mouth into Kaela's, and it burst between her teeth as she clenched her jaw. It was the sweetest, most delicious thing she had ever tasted. "How much longer do you think you can hold out?" the daemon said. "Do you even want to, any more?" Kaela glowered at her, unable to maintain her angry expression as a tremor passed through her body. The incense clouds swirling above morphed lazily into geometric shapes, and the walls seemed to be breathing. Her thoughts became clouded and confused. The next time she felt another pair of lips against her own, she welcomed them. Purple skin, slick with sweat, slid against Kaela's pale body. The daemon moved aside, and she felt another's teeth bite down softly on her nipple. The last remnant thought of resistance fled her mind as she surrendered her body to the hands and tongues of the creatures surrounding her. The creatures mounted the bed, entangling themselves in the growing heap of writhing, slick bodies. Kaela felt wetness against her fingers, and saw that one of the creatures was holding her hand between its legs, its skimpy garments long since discarded. She made use of her fingers, assuming the creatures were at least slightly similar to Eldar physiology in this regard. It probably didn't matter - she expected they could change their form to whatever was most appropriate. Her efforts were rewarded by another hand (she didn't know whose) seeking out the wetness between her own thighs and sliding a pair of fingers inside her. The pointed tip of a crustacean claw traced a path over her chest, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. Her suspicion about form-changing proved to be correct. Some of the daemons were dismounting now, leaving only the blue-haired one remaining on the bed, kneeling before Kaela. The creature's genitals seemed to be undergoing some kind of transformation - a thick mass of flesh was slowly emerging from what had previously been an unmistakeably female set of organs. Kaela watched the change with apprehension. By the end, there was no doubt that the creature had become male. It pinned Kaela once again by her wrists, its organ pendulous between its legs, with Kaela knowing full well what was to come next. The activity up to this point had left her ready to receive it: the creature slipped inside without issue, copiously lubricated by Kaela's own juices. Tears welled up in her eyes as it forced its way deeper inside, she was sure something within her would tear. She whimpered, and the daemon put a hand over her mouth, silencing her. It commenced a steady onslaught, Kaela's body and the whole bed moving in time with the creature's thrusts. Around her, the other daemons either looked on, or, not yet satisfied, pleasured themselves or each other. Her eyes met those of the daemon above her, and she found that she could not look away. Everything else in her vision faded into a blur until all that remained distinct were the eyes, gazing down, piercing into her. The tempo of the thrusts quickened, and the pressure mounting in Kaela's most intimate region became unbearable. The creature removed its hand from her mouth, allowing her to cry out, the creature joining her with an eerie howl as it emitted its daemon seed. A warmth enveloped her, and for a moment she visualised a white-hot point of light that passed from the daemon's body to her own, through the moist, fleshy interface between them and coming to rest within Kaela's own body, nestling within her. She snapped back to reality as the daemon, apparently not entirely spent, disgorged the remainder of her seed over Kaela's belly and chest. The creature dipped a finger into the substance, sampling its own flavour. She offered some to Kaela, and she accepted without a thought. The creature grinned as Kaela licked her fingers clean. She lay in a daze, feeling the retreating warmth inside her as the sensation faded. The daemons seemed to be leaving the room. Kaela tried to sit up on the bed, but found she was feeling limp and weak. The walls were breathing again, and the bed covers were rippling gently beneath her. One by one, the daemons returned, carrying the pieces of her armour. She was unresisting (and uncomprehending) as they handled her this way and that, slipping her into the undersuit and then securing the outer pieces in place with total expertise. Eventually she stood on wobbling legs, the suit's servos compensating for her weakened muscles. "Now go," said the blue-haired creature. It planted a kiss on Kaela's cheek, before securing the helmet on Kaela's suit. "We'll be seeing you again soon, anyway..." The warp generator throbbed. Kaela's body was once again pulled through incomprehensible dimensions, her mind filled with confused, muddled images of what she had experienced. What had just happened to her? Was she tainted now, somehow corrupted? She swallowed hard against bile rising in her throat, concentrating on her suit display. All values were within their normal ranges. The image on her visor lightened, and the objective marker came into sight, marked with a green icon. She materialised gracefully, dropping a few inches onto the ground, with her squad mates watching from exactly the same positions she had remembered them in. Why hadn't they moved? Weren't they worried about how long she had been gone? The voice of the exarch came over the squad channel. "Textbook," he was saying. "Two point five seconds transit time, and she was within two metres of the marker. Next time, I want everybody's performance to be at least that accurate. Good job, Kaela."