I awoke to a coughing fit. Strong enough to double me over and make my throat feel raw and tender. The air tasted of oil, smoke and metal with the rancid smell of waste and burning meat filling my lungs as I struggled to bring some measure of control over myself.

 

With the fit gradually passing I took the chance to examine my surroundings. I was in a shockingly wide hallway, several dozen paces across with pipes and shielded cables running along both of the walls with thick metal grating covering them. Every half a dozen metres or so along the hall was a yellow light fixture illuminating the hall. I was laying before what looked like a barricade. 

 

Stacked metal and wooden crates supported by various broken pieces of furniture and refuse blocked any passage along the hallway while the opposite direction extended off in a gradual curve that obscured any destination that could be reached in that direction. Tire marks worn into the smooth metal flooring indicated that this was a causeway for vehicles more than for people. It’s obscene scale testament to that.

 

Corpses were also scattered about here and there. Some piled up and slowly burned while others were scattered about with terrible wounds. All of them around a makeshift altar. A terrifyingly familiar looking altar. One that made my heart skip a beat and the deal I just struck seemed like the stupidest decision of my relatively short life.

 

It was an altar to chaos.

 

I pushed myself to my feet, feeling unsteady, weak and small. I was clothed in rags and fiendishly hungry, horribly thirsty and as I gathered my wits about me I found that that was the least of my concerns. 

 

It was missing.

 

That IT. 

 

I grasped at myself and in a panic pulled away the rags covering my form to find a skinny, malnourished and ill defined but distinctly female body. This was me. I felt a sort of numb resolve come over me as I took everything in. Fury and anguish over my current predicament was hardly going to fill my groaning belly. I shuffled forwards and gathered up my rags, slowly slipping back into them as I inspected the site of some horrible massacre and ritual. Picking through the corpses for pretty much anything at the moment. 

 

My commitment to survival despite everything was rewarded as I found several canteens with metallic and chemically tasting water from the corpses. They were all dressed in much the same way as I was with some of them concealing knives, little morsels of what I really hoped I had correctly identified as food in their rags. Scattered about were metal pipes with handles coated in cloth to make crude clubs offering some insight into what had happened here.

 

Some of the bodies had icons carved into their skin, others had tattoos. Familiar symbols such as skulls and the imperial aquila dominated over half of the group while the remaining lot had carved icons of chaos into their flesh. It was a religious conflict that had seen the death of dozens of men and women. People donned in little but rags in this metal place.

 

(Insight reached +50XP)

 

I blinked, but the notification was not something I specifically saw. It was more fundamental than that. It was something that I suddenly knew I was now aware that I had gained experience by deducing the cause of the massacre I had found myself in. There could be no doubt, this was the system of power that the Pale man had offered me. I had not considered it would be something so straightforward but that was a small glint of hope in this miserable place.

 

And that was a good question itself, what exactly was this place? A hive city? A starship? I truly had no way of knowing, gravity seemed normal but that told me very little in truth. I considered the question as it would be vital for understanding just how fucked I was while I gathered everything I could from the area.

 

I now had a large pile of rags, canteens, knives and a pitifully small pile of food. I also had a few dozen coins that could be a currency or perhaps a religious token, or both. I hurried to gather what I could only for my body to burn from overuse at what little activity I had engaged in. 

 

(Objective accomplished, Gather Supplies +50XP) 

 

I scoffed, my little pile of rubbish was hardly ‘supplies’ but I was not going to say no to experience points. Even if I had no idea what exactly a point was worth and what I could do with it.

 

As if to answer my question I became painfully aware of just what exactly I could purchase with my XP. 

 

(Experience Point Purcheses limited to aptitudes and special boons only until all aptitude slots have been filled. Aptitudes will inform future power progression as they will reduce the cost of spending experience on associated purchases and boons.

 

Aptitude Slots: 0/8 filled

 

Available Aptitudes:

25 XP, Weapon Skill: Grants +5 to the Weapon Skill characteristic.

 

25 XP, Ballistic Skill: Grants +5 to the Ballistic Skill characteristic.

 

25 XP, Strength: Grants +5 to the Strength characteristic.

 

25 XP, Toughness: Grants +5 to the Toughness characteristic.

 

25 XP, Agility: Grants +5 to the Agility characteristic.

 

25 XP, Intelligence: Grants +5 to the Intelligence characteristic.

 

25 XP, Perception: Grants +5 to the Perception characteristic.

 

25 XP, Willpower: Grants +5 to the Willpower characteristic.

 

25 XP, Fellowship: Grants +5 to the Fellowship characteristic.

 

40 XP, Offence: Grants +2 to both the Weapon skill and Ballistic Skill Characteristics as well as Low-Tech weapons training.

 

40 XP, Finesse: Grants +4 to the Agility Characteristic as well as Ambidexterity.

 

40 XP, Defence: Grants +2 to both the Toughness and Willpower characteristics as well as dodge training.

 

40 XP, Tech: Grants +4 to the Intelligence Characteristic as well as Tech-Use training

 

40 XP, Knowledge: Grants +2 to the Intelligence and perception Characteristics as well as Logic training. 

 

40 XP, Leadership: Grants +2 to the Fellowship and Willpower Characteristics as well as Command training.

 

40 XP, Fieldcraft: Grants +4 to the Toughness Characteristics as well as Survival Training.

 

40 XP, Social: Grants +4 to the Fellowship Characteristic as well as Charm training.

 

100 XP, Psyker. Become a Conduit for Warp Energies.)

 

The idea of requiring choices to be made now that would affect my ability to progress within the system in the future was concerning, I would have to carefully decide how to spend my experience points. I glanced about the hall before checking my current status in the system.

 

(Name: Livia Waydri)

 

Well that was simply wrong. My actual name was...

 

Fuck.

 

Stop! No, don't think about it, don’t dwell on it, survival first and foremost! Fuck the Pale man! But first focus on not dying! I pushed onwards and looked over the rest of my status.

 

(Race: Human

Sex: Female

Hight: 5’4, 162cm

Build: Emaciated)

 

Well there was little arguing with that at the moment. Much as I would want to. Not having my loyal companion with me was disappointing but better than being dead I assured myself. Being short was just another blow to whatever self confidence I had however.

 

(Characteristics: 

 

Weapons Skill: 22 Ballistic Skill: 19 Strength: 20

Toughness: 26 Agility: 22 Intelligence: 24

Perception: 22 Willpower: 26 Fellowship: 28

 

Fate Points: 1

 

Skills:

None

 

Talents:

None)

 

I frowned and moved to try and lift a crate placed against the barricade in an attempt to gauge what exactly ‘Strength: 20’ meant and found little success. I supposed that meant that strength 20 meant very little. It seemed that the value 20 meant below average.

 

That made my intelligence score a particular concern. I did not feel stupider, did that mean I was always below average? I quickly terminated this thought process and returned to investigating the system. In particular I noticed that the system was trying to highlight one of the sections of the system.

 

(Available Boons: 

 

100 XP, Boon of the Flesh: Grants +10 Fellowship, you will constantly produce enticing pheromones increasing arousal and attraction to you, +5% alignment.

 

100 XP, Boon of the Muscle: Grants +10 Strength, your body becomes more resistant to damage and heat, gain +1 unnatural toughness. +5% alignment.

 

100 XP, Boon of the Mind: Grants +10 Intelligence, you become able to decipher any and all written and spoken languages. +5% alignment.

 

100 XP, Boon of the belly: Grants +10 Toughness, Your body becomes highly efficient in breaking down food, you can eat almost anything without danger and any food you eat will keep you sated for longer. You no longer suffer the effects of most common illnesses. +5% alignment.)

 

These left little question about what universe I was actually in and how utterly fucked I was. Things were dire and despite the power of the boons offered they would preclude me from gaining any other purchases at the moment. It might be a good idea to put off anything that would increase any sort of ‘alignment’ too.

 

I was rudely distracted from my musings by an inhuman roar echoing out against the cold metal of the colossal hall I had found myself within. Putting to bed any notion that I was alone here. I tried to settle on a plan of action as my heart thundered in my chest and I considered praying to whoever would listen that whatever had made that sound did not find me but thought, for the moment at least, better of it.