Cole's been a little fed up lately. As a former Caliban Knight living under an assumed name, his life had been pretty peaceful: leading workers on strikes and sticking it to the PDFs by day, working as a bartender at a bar by night, and braiding his adopted daughter's hair whenever he had a spare moment. Then his unreliable old comrade showed up at his door.
Varius, an Iron Warrior, former Warsmith and now down-on-his-luck pirate, arrived aboard a battered, modified merchant ship and immediately asked Cole to help him take down the Word Bearers.
Cole was ready to refuse. That is, until Varius made an offer: once the job was done, Cole would be owed a favor, plus a brand-new power sword.
Cole: "I have a daughter now."
Varius: "???"
After ten thousand years alive, fighting Orks, taking on the Eldar, and going up against Dreadnoughts, the Warsmith was at a loss for the first time in his life. He couldn't understand how the ruthless warrior who had once single-handedly stormed a Chaos stronghold had turned into a doting dad who put on a sweet voice to soothe a child.
And even worse, the mighty Warsmith was now being forced to moonlight as "Uncle Varius."
"We agreed we'd be bad guys together, and now you're secretly raising a kid?"
"Shut up. Keep it up and you'll be the one soothing Lyra next time."
