{picture}
As certain as the sun rises and falls, so too are men picked from horrid worlds… horrid lives that they have lived… for such an individual is perfect to be chosen! To be chosen to risk it all to become one of his angels!
A great but terrible honor! For many never rise to the occasion to become one! For in the end… their sun sets early in their harsh lives! For they either fall in the training or on the doctor's table! For it is not easy to make a man into a child of his! Even the children that are systematic and genetically made for such an honor, fail when it's their turn…
But even if they succeed in becoming one of his angels, their hell has only started! Brainwashed and prodded to lose what made them human, they must then go on suicidal missions… missions where death is a sure thing! Though many call it an honor to die for him… is it really an honor….
To live a starving life only to die at the hands of some mutant… some alien… or some heretic… In a world not they're our own… or the vas coldness of some chaotic space long forgotten in the warp! Sure, there are millions upon billions of humans throughout our imperium... But does that make it right?
I for one don't have an answer for that… for answering such a question is to doubt our emperor's will! Thoughts considered too extreme to even be called out for heresy! For in truth, the angel selection process is one of our better methods than some of our other projects…
but even so! A life loss is a resource loss! And we all know how Guilliman hates it when resources aren't properly handled!
→→→→→→→→→→→→→Log made by a member in the Dartmento Processium, log year unknown
As Layla touched those frigid windows while staring out to a space she had never seen before… But could only ever dream about… Her mind was in Aw, as she glared at the suns and moons around her planet… While the stars were lost, in the back… Behind the sun's light… she found them…
she found them to be the most beautiful lights she had ever seen! Even those who were swallowed by the warping in space and time! The beautiful cosmetic colors of the warp only added to the poisonous nature of space!
What a beautiful canvas that lay before her eyes, a canvas that was but equally scary as it was deadly! She knew the horrors that just waited in those cosmetic seas… where any misstep would lead to death… but then again, what path could she tread that didn't lead to death in this wide universe she now called home?
But while she pounded the beauty of space, it failed to charm her as much as the sensuality of her own world! For even in space, she could see the world's oceans! She could smell the world forest … while simultaneously hearing the animals within them!
To breathe in its fresh air, which has yet to be fully consumed by mechanicus industrialism! It was a feeling she could not describe with words! She loved her world but did not know why! It wasn't Earth… It wasn't a world she grew up in. Hell, she barely saw any of it…
Yet she loved it all the same!
[lovely… isn't she… a world so untouched by man… by human hands… A clean world ready to become a new hive world!] said Danica to the stary-eyed Layla
{Hive world? Is it, not a resource world?} question Layla with furious eyes.
[Umm? OH! No! The higher-ups decided to strip this world into a new hive world to make up for the fall of Nostramo and others like it. What? You don't like that idea?} replied Danicia
{No! I don't like the idea… a hive world is a world that is void of color! And breeding ground for our enemies! It's a place where snobby rich kids rule, while the lower levels are quickly forgotten… I don't wish to see a world like that…} replied Layla
[I see… then I guess you don't wish to see Terra! You know the birthplace of humanity!] replied Danicia
{So! It's not my birthplace! This world is! And I wish to not see it destroyed!} argued back Layla
[Not destroyed… ugh… I wonder, do you even understand how fragile a world really is? How easy it is for a world to be here one day and gone the next?] replied Danicia
{I do… which is why I joined the order!} replied Layla with pride
[OH! Is that why? It wasn't because a certain someone suggested it?] replied Danicia with a sly smile
With a slight blush, Layla said nothing and just enjoyed the rest of the trip as they made it back to the creepy jungle canopy.
[Listen, Layla! I know you like the view in space but remember, out there in that pitch black… lies both your future and death. I want you to understand that there is a bigger galaxy out there waiting for you and to not limit yourself to such a small world such as this.] said Danica with worry
{I understand Lady Danica, but no matter where I go in that vast void, I'll always remember this beautiful world…} replied Layla as she got off the ship and began walking back to her friends
Watching the small fleeting back of Layla, Danica said to herself:
[Remember it's beauty… huh…. I wonder if you will still see it the same after you return…]
Layla Pov
As Layla walks with a mind filled with many thoughts, she catches a glimpse of Mary looking in her direction. And for the briefest of moments, she could have sworn that Mary gave her a look that was filled with hesitancy! However, unsure how Layla felt by the look, Mary still embraced her with a hug while crying in joy that Layla was alright. While Molly interrupts the happy reunion by saying in a pitched voice by the end:
[Oh! You survived! Great! You know, I didn't believe it when they told me where you went after we fell unconscious… And here I thought you didn't have what it took to be a warrior! I guess I was wrong… Now please tell us what it was like on board a real starship!]
But as Layla finished her recounting of her short stay onboard the Lion's Daughter, Molly said:
[Aw! You basically didn't get to see much of anything on the ship! Well, at least you got to see something beautiful…]
{what do you mean? Is the jungle forest not pretty to you?} replied Layla
[hell no! Lately, we've been seeing…]
{Animals with strange appearance…} interrupted Layla suddenly
[yes! But how did you know? Could you see them in space?] replied Molly
Layla didn't reply with words, instead, she gently pointed into the distance… as the girls turned to look where Layla was pointing, Molly yelped and said:
[yes… that's what we've been seeing!]
For just between the jungle trees, stood a small pitch-black goat with many eyes that acted in a strange demeanor. Feeling the unsettling stare of the goat, the girls subconsciously reached for their weapons, as the goat disappeared into the jungle forest.
Now what unsettled the girls wasn't just Its weird look or the bizarre fact that there was a goat in the middle of the jungle, but the way it moved as it turned around to leave! For It moved with intelligence beyond what a normal goat should have!
Concerned, Layla said:
{Care to explain what I just saw!}
[Well… the people in charge say that they are just natural mutation… and not to worry about it… but after seeing that! I am beginning to worry, that they are hiding something!] replied Molly
{Just beginning to worry? How did they look before you started to worry about it?} question Layla
[well first off, it wasn't that bad! For the first few days, there were only a couple of jungle cats and other insects that had a few odd looks but that was about it! Nothing out of the ordinary!] replied Molly
{Wait hold on… a few days! What do you mean by a few days?} replied Layla
[Oh! The Canoness didn't tell you? You've been out for almost a week now!] replied Molly to the shock of Layla
{Do you mean to tell me I've been in space for a week?} replied Layla
[well, not exactly… more like one… you were in the emergency medical tent most of the time… after all, you weren't actually injured... Physical at least…] jumped in Mary
[she's right! They were too preoccupied with the critical injury to bother with you… well, thats what the hospitaller in charge said… but we did find it odd that you had a tent all to yourself and was guarded by Madam Danicia herself!] said Molly
{Wait! She guarded me personally! Are you sure!} replied Layla
[Of course! Why would we lie about such a thing?] replied Mary with puffed cheeks
{Sorry! I 'm not calling you liars… it's just… well anyway… Are we still just supposed to survive in this jungle for… how long again?} replied Layla trying to change the subject
As Layla's two friends locked eyes with each other with suspicions, Molly said:
[well, they said they're not going to be sending more recruits… something about it not being safe… I don't really know… but they did order us three to make it through the jungle and reach the town on the other side within a week. Did the Canoness not tell you?]
{No, she didn't… but then again, I left without asking… but hold up this doesn't make any sense… why would they not send new recruits? Didn't they already solve the Blood cult thing? And if the jungle is still too dangerous why have only us three go it alone?} replied Layla
But while Layla was questioning the madness of it all, Danicia was busy monitoring the wild animals in the jungle as they were undergoing mutations in real time!
[My lady… are you sure it wise to let the last few recruits cross the jungle forest alone? I understand you left behind gifts throughout the jungle, even in paths one should not take, but will it be enough… The rate of mutations is beyond the norm for any world!] said Danica's assistant
[I know... Something big is happening right under our noses… but based on the reports and test results, it doesn't look like it's connected to any chaos god were aware of…] replied Danicia
[yes… and it not of human hands, for we tested for everything! The only thing it can be is either nature itself or aliens! But my Lady about the recruits?] replied the assistant
[umm… I'm inclined to believe that it is probably alien… and in truth, that's what worries me! As for the recruits let me worry about that I have my reasons!] replied Danicia as she watched a simple bird in a tree abruptly grow sharp teeth around its stomach and devour its eggs!