Suffer Not The Radiant

Chapter 4: The Feats of an Astartes

They posed but a handful of inquiries, yet he fired back with a barrage of his own. The confusion within him was palpable, his ignorance of this realm laid bare. He thirsted for unambiguous understanding of his whereabouts. And in turn, the gift of lucidity was bequeathed upon him.

Verily, this was Terra, though not from the selfsame universe as the man's origin, as his interrogators asserted. At first, he refused to accept this as truth, even resorting to threats of violence against them, doubting the very veracity of their claims. The world he found himself in was a fragmented one, akin to Terra from aeons before the great Unification Wars. He was shown the strife between two versions of Earth, dubbed "Omega Earth" and "Alpha Earth," with him hailing from the latter. The former was teetering on the precipice of utter collapse, and had begun to ransack this home world. Radianite, the lifeblood of this realm, was revealed to him, serving as the primary source of power for machinery, structures, and even the people themselves. The populace, dubbing these entities as "Radiants," were seen as repugnant aberrations in the eyes of Ranesk, who deemed them no different from the loathsome psykers.

Ranesk was then introduced to the preeminent force for harmony and concord in this realm - Valorant. A coalition of humans and Radiants, bound together by a common objective to quell the menace of rogue Radiants and repulse incursions from Omega. Ranesk pondered why Alpha did not eradicate their adversaries with nuclear fire. 

After all, their world was on the brink of perdition, and their populace was beset by ceaseless affliction. Why not rid themselves of the scourge and alleviate their own suffering? He inquired of his captors, but they dismissed such notions as barbarous and inhumane.

Morals are a nuisance.

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Following the questioning, Ranesk was transported yet again in a vehicle of unknown make. The interrogators spoke of the government desiring to "see what he can do" implying that he would once more have the opportunity to unleash his bolter's deadly payload. The vehicle eventually arrived at a location known as Alanbrooke Barracks, purportedly the site of his forthcoming trial..

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Exiting the elongated rectangular vehicle that had ferried him since his arrest, Ranesk was greeted by a motley crew of individuals clad in strange garb, emblazoned with unsightly insignias. Once again, there were those donning ominous black suits as well. Among them, a man with an askew cap approached.

"Good to meet you Ranesk. I've read your file. Seems like you are packing a lot of firepower just from that gun alone. You can call me Henry, General Henry. " the man with the cocked cap spoke.

Ranesk nodded in assent. 'A general...most intriguing,' Ranesk thought to himself.

"I assume you want to end this quickly?" the general inquired.

"Yes," Ranesk replied.

"Follow me," the general turned on his heel and strode toward a gargantuan edifice bearing an unfamiliar emblem. Ranesk trailed behind, trailed closely by the assorted spectators who had gathered to behold his display of prowess.

"This is the firing range, you—" General Henry began to explain before being cut off by Ranesk's unemotional interjection.

"I am aware of what a firing range is," Ranesk replied flatly.

...

"Right, you may use your weapons. Let us start with a basic target that does not move" General Henry declared, sidling over to a nearby control panel.