Secret Legion
Lord Araxus was angry. He was angry for two reasons: One he was waiting, he hated waiting especially when he was as close to a raging battle as he was now. So close that he could hear the screams of dying men and smell the chemical tang of weapons being discharged: Two his men hated waiting, it frustrated the hell out of them and the way his men dealt with frustration was to murder each other. They were pacing around like caged carnivores hatred and bloodlust in their eyes. He felt exactly the same as them but as he was the commander he had to keep his bloodlust down and only unleash it when he was in the thick of battle. He checked his chronometer, by its indication he and his men should be fighting their way into a breach in the cities defences right now. But he had received a coded message on his vox this morning telling him that there had been a change of plans and he needed to bring his men to this place. Complete vox silence was needed as the imperial defenders were monitoring all communications.
His vox operator had assured him that all the proper codes had been used so it was no imperial ruse. So he moved his men to the coordinates given in the message, they found themselves in a deep concrete culvert. Its walls were steep and there were huge piles of broken concrete before and after them. Lord Araxus had assumed that they were brought to this spot so that the enemy could not see them. That was then, now that it was five minutes past the time he was supposed to meet the person behind the message. He was beginning to wonder whether it had been a genuine message. Maybe this was an imperial ruse designed to keep his men out of the fight, he turned to his vox operator. He intended to contact the Daemon Prince vox silence be damned.
"Lord Araxus". Araxus turned and looked up. Standing at the top of the culvert was a tall figure in the armour of the Alpha Legion.
"Alpha". Araxus spat under his breath. He should have known that it was these shadow warriors who had sent him the missive, they were always up to something and once you had gotten enmeshed in one of their schemes you usually got out of them only at tremendous cost. They were not like a World Eater, a World Eater fought you face to face a screaming chainaxe in hand. An Alpha Legionnaire would plot and scheme you to death. No he would rather be a World Eater any day…
"Lord Araxus"? Araxus turned brought out of his reverie. The tall armoured figure was standing next to him. The armour the figure wore was the same as any other Alpha which served their secret machinations. You were never quite sure who you were talking to it could be the lowliest battle brother or a high lord of the legion.
"Yes I'm Lord Araxus, who are you"? Araxus demanded. The armoured figure inclined its head.
"I'm sorry my lord but I cannot tell you that, it's classified". Araxus smiled (which was an awful sight) had been expecting this sort of answer and so did not press the issue.
"Well you've got me here what do you want"? Araxus asked. The armoured figure pointed towards the city. As Araxus turned to look he vaguely noticed that there was a small number of Alpha Legionnaires on either side of the culvert.
"Change of plans my lord. At the end of this culvert there is a grate. My operatives have rigged it with explosives. When they are ready they will set off the charges and your men can assault the surprised defenders." The Alpha turned back to Araxus. Araxus glanced sidelong at the figure.
"These orders came from Distratix himself"? Araxus asked, he was keen allay his misgivings about this mission.
"No lord Araxus, these orders come from the Warmaster". Araxus' eyes widened.
"Abaddon". He said thoughtfully. A man he held in great esteem second only to Angron himself.
"The Warmaster is concerned that this city is too long in the taking and so asked my masters to intervene and bring it to destruction". The armoured figure went on. Araxus started just a little, the word destruction made him feel good inside.
"If the Warmaster wants it done then we will do it". Araxus said with the conviction of a born slaughterer. The armoured figure nodded.
"Once you have slain the defenders on the wall you are to link up with Distratix's Black Legion troops for an assault on the upper hives." Araxus nodded.
"Very well, when are the charges going to be set off?" He asked the armoured figure.
"Very soon my Lord things are almost ready". Araxus nodded wearily and looked around his men were still pacing excitedly and up on the sides of the culvert were the Alpha Legion. He blinked his eyes which seemed heavy all of a sudden were there more Alphas than before? It was hard to tell he wasn't sure how many had been there to begin with. He thought that he might try to count them all.
On a rocky crag overlooking the battle the Black Legion Daemon Prince Distratix paced angrily. Distratix was a four metre, two ton nightmare of snarling muzzle, fur and talons.
'Where in the warp is that idiot Araxus?" He asked his assembled aides. He looked down at the battle scape below, His Black Legion Marines were trying to force a way through the breach that the Iron Warriors artillery had smashed in the cities walls, but without the ferocity of the World Eaters they were making little headway. His aides looked at one another nervously, although all of them were battle hardened marines they did not want to attract the ire of their commander. Distratix looked back at them.
"Well"? All but one of the aides took a step backwards he looked at his colleuges with a mix of fear and anger. Distratix stepped up to the man and put his muzzle right in the man's face.
Well? Distratix's eyes bored a hole into the aides face, eons of death and destruction danced in those luminous orbs. The foul stench of the Warp puffed out with every breath Distratix took, the man tried not to gag. He steeled himself.
"Lord Araxus is gone my lord, he has not responded to vox hails". Distratix rose to his full height the man flinched a little but stayed where he was. Distratix turned and walked over to where some prisoners were chained he picked one man and pulled his face off a, thoughtful expression on his monstrous visage. The screams of the man were horrifying but nothing the aides had not seen before. The aide who had been volunteered by his colleagues looked at them triumphantly he had delivered bad news and not been killed for it, they looked back sullenly wishing that he had been killed. Distratix's act of torture had calmed him down a bit but he was still angry, he promised himself a long talk with Lord Araxus next time they met. He turned back to aides letting the tortured man slump back half alive.
"Send some Raptors to ascertain the whereabouts of Lord Araxus and his men. Make sure you bring Lord Araxus to me". The aides shouted their platitudes and went to work, Distratix lifted a finger a thin green ray sprang from it and hit the messengers back. The man stopped still, the ray slid all over his body covering it completely. The man started to scream and scream the screams slowly turned to gurgles as all the man's organic components were liquefied. The ray snapped off and the former aides armour slumped to the ground the remains of the man still oozing out of it.
"Clean that up"! Snapped Distratix, the rest of his aides scurried to do their masters bidding. Distratix turned with a horrible smile on his face and walked back into his tent. His men were smiling too their little plan to murder their friend had worked.
At the culvert Lord Araxus was about to reach breaking point, his blood was up and he needed action, he needed to kill. He spun to face the Alpha.
"When will…". He trailed off into silence. The Alpha was starting the process to remove its helmet Lord Araxus wanted to see what lay under that helmet desperately. Would it be scarred and ravaged like his own or perhaps angelically beautiful like the face of a member of the Emperors Children, it could even be a puss ridden horror like a Plague Marine.
"Tell me Lord Araxus, what do you remember about the time before the Heresy?" The question hit him like a bolt of lightning and sent his mind spinning back across the millennia. He started to speak, he spoke of the first time he saw Angron and how they had been moulded by their Primarch into a formidable force. He told of their many victories against impossible odds bought by the sacrifice of many of his brothers, the honours and heads that they had collected. Then his mood turned sour and he spoke of the other legions jealously and eventual hatred of Angron and how Horus had helped them see the truth. That the Emperor and his lapdogs were not the right rulers of the galaxy and that Horus and only Horus had the right to rule mankind, his anger had been rising as he spoke of the Heresy and now all he could think of was the many injustices that his Legion had suffered. He looked out at his men they had all stopped their pacing and were looking at him quietly as though they were lost in recollections of their own. Realisation dawned on Araxus' scarred face and he turned towards the armoured figure. As he turned he noticed that there were a lot more Alpha's on the sides of the culvert easily twice as many as his own warriors and strangely enough they were all holding chain axes. A thought drifted across his mind.
"Alpha's don't carry chainaxes". Anger bloomed in his mind, they'd been had, this was a trap and his men were in great danger. He reached for his own chainaxe the mighty Decapitator and fully faced his adversary.
"You…" Was as far as he got, the stranger had taken the helmet off and was standing there looking at him.
"Beautiful". Was the last thing he said before the stranger's sword took off his head, After his head had stopped bouncing and before all the blood left his brain, His eyes saw the Alpha's running down the sides of the culvert chain axes screaming, his own men reacting too slowly and the Alpha's chopping into them. Great arcs of blood and gore fountained into the air from the spinning axes, it was a beautiful sight he thought. Khorne would be happy that this bloodletting had taken place. Then his eyes stopped working and his soul was sent spiralling into the Warp to stand and be judged before his masters Brass Throne.
The fight was quick and brutal, before the Bezerkers had organised themselves into a defensive position the Alphas were in amongst them chopping, chopping and chopping. The end of the fight saw the Khornates slaughtered to a man while the Alphas due largely to surprise and the early death of the world Eaters commander had sustained fairly light casualties. The armoured figure had not taken part in the battle instead letting the other Alphas do the grisly work. Now that the battle was finished and the blood was pooling on the ground the armoured figure strode over to Lord Araxus' dismembered body. Prising Decapitator from his cold dead hand was not easy but finally the mighty chain axe was free. Once the blade was spinning at maximum rpms it was applied to the wound inflicted by the armoured figure's sword, Decapitator was then gently placed back in the Bezerker Lord's hand. The armoured figure straightened, as the downwash from the transports made the dust in the culvert swirl around and settle in the blood of the fallen World Eaters.
"Get the dead and wounded into the transports". The Alpha legionaries hurried to obey the command. Only when the last dead Space Marine was carried onto the transport did the armoured figure take one last look at the small battlefield and alight onto the transport. The flight to their cloaked carrier was brief and uneventful. They witnessed the flood of imperial reinforcements going to the surface at the same time that Chaos forces were starting to withdraw. The sight gave them some measure of satisfaction, but it was not enough to dispel their distress at seeing their fellow Marines injured or dead.
When the doors of the transport opened the Alpha leader stepped into a busy hanger, preparations were being made for the ship to enter the warp. Apothecaries rushed over to the transport and carried out the wounded. The dead would also be collected and their gene seed harvested, the Captain of the ship was waiting beside the hangers doors.
"Captain, take us into the warp, when it is safe bring us out I have to report to Lord Alpharius". The Captain bowed in the wake of the armoured figure. Later the Alpha commanders armour had been removed by silent assistants, the Captain found his commander sitting in a simple robe before a blank vid screen he announced himself with a little cough.
"Captain." The robed figure did not turn around.
" Commander, Lord Alpharius has contacted us". The Alpha commander sat more upright.
"Put him on". The Captain worked on the controls. An image of the Alpha Legions Primarch came into view. He was strikingly handsome in the classical sense, at the sight of the Alpha Commander his face split into a wide grin.
"Sister, how did you mission go"? She grinned, her smile mirroring that of her twin.
"It went well we delayed the Chaos forces enough to allow Imperial reinforcements to arrive. Araxus' mental defences were formidable but not undefeatable. We suffered some losses but that was to be expected when fighting Khornate troops". Her smile had faded at the mention of the causalities. Alpharius noticed her mood darken. He thought some good news was in order.
"My mission went off without a hitch two million Imperial citizens were massacred by Chaos Marines because we let them into the city. The Imperial defenders never stood a chance".
"That's good brother". Alpharius was sure that his success would cheer his sister up but she was still glum. He knew from experience that she liked to talk things out.
"What's wrong"? He asked her, she looked up at him.
"It never gets any easier some of those sisters I lost today have been with me since the beginning". Her eyes were glinting with tears but she would not let them flow. Alpharius nodded solemnly.
"I know". He said gently.
"What is it all for Alpharius"? She asked him.
"Why do we sacrifice our people like this"? A hard edge had crept into her voice Alpharius noted it and chose his next words carefully.
"Family, we do it for our family. For so long we have been torn apart by war, but soon sister we will bring our family back together. My plans have been a long time in the coming but they are almost at an end. Every little nudge that we give them brings our family closer and closer together. Now I have something in my possession that will bring all of my plans to fruition. But more on that later". He grinned and his joy was infectious, she felt her mood lifting not entirely she still missed her battle sisters that had fallen in combat but she'd had her faith in the plan restored. The losses however painful were worth it if they could bring their vast family back together.
"Are you feeling better"? She nodded.
"Yes thank you Alpharius". Her brother could always put her in a good mood.
"Good that makes me happy, when you have arrived at the rendezvous come aboard my ship I want to meet your latest husband". She nodded again.
"Goodbye Alpharius, I'll see you soon". Now it was his turn to nod.
"Goodbye Omegia". He made a movement out of sight of the screen and it went blank. Omegia sat for a moment, then smiled. Her mood lift had made her hungry.
"Time to see what the Captain is doing for dinner," she thought to herself as she left her chambers.
It is known that the Emperor fashioned twenty sons in his image to lead his forces to war across the galaxy. What is not known is that in a moment of indulgence he fashioned himself a twenty first child, a daughter. On the fateful day that his children were scattered across the universe his grief was total, but out of all his infants the one he grieved the most was his daughter little Omegia.
The Chaos Cruiser Annihilator was sailing silently through the stars. Distratix's chambers were a triumph of gothic architecture capped off with a massive viewport through which the galaxy revealed its splendour. Distratix was not interested much in the stars at this moment he was staring glumly out of the viewport.
"How did it all go wrong"? He thought to himself. He had the perfect battle plan and had executed it perfectly one thing had gone against him and it had cost him an entire world. An aide made his way to his masters side a data slate in his hands Distratix barely looked at him.
"Well"? The aide cleared his throat.
"The Raptors report my Lord". Distratix fixed the aide with a baleful glare.
"What does it say"? The aide swallowed audibly.
"The Raptors found Lord Araxus and his men". Distratix looked at the door to his chambers.
"Where is he? I thought I told you to bring him before me." The aide looked miserable.
"He's dead my Lord, he and his men. They were found some way from our position. It appears that they killed each other. Distratix sat back in his throne and snarled, black canine lips slid over his yellowed fangs. The aide waited sure that his death was imminent.
"Plot a course for the Eye I must report my failure to the Warmaster". The aide scrambled to do his masters bidding. When the aide had left Distratix swivelled and looked out at the cold blackness of space. Little did he know but the Galaxy was about to be turned inside out by WAR.