Authors Note: Welcome to a story of secrets and lies, of treacheries and plots a thousand years in the making. Welcome to the story of a Legion of Hydras.
Just a heads up, soem things in this might contain spoilers, but not unil much later chapters. The spoilers will likely come from Deliverance Lost and Legion.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in this story except for the characters, some names, and some of the weapons. Everything else belongs to Games Workshop and Black Library.
The ship corridors hissed with steam and the walls looked riddled with rust and decay. As Lysander caught his breath leaning against the wall the ground began to tremble. The mob rounded the corner and charged towards Lysander's slumped form. As he raised his head he could see the glinting knives and short shanks that glittered in the leading boys hands.
Lysander turned away and ran, disregarding the age-old rule of never leaving the path on a space hulk. As he ran deeper he could hear the sounds of infighting among the mob as they decided whether or not to give chase. All he had done was take a piece of nutribread, but food was scarce and the gangers would defend the resource with everything they had. To even accidently break the strict rationing regime was an offence punishable by death. Lysander looked behind him and could see that the mob was beginning to break apart and dissolve as their confidence in the deep of the Hulk waned. The creatures that dwelled this deep were fierce and dangerous, monstrous beasts and feral orks walked these halls and slaughtered those that dared to enter their realm. Lysander could feel the cold setting inas he ventured further.
I'm going to die in here, a frozen corpse thought Lysander. The deeper ships of the Hulk had failing life support systems and this one would soon be impassable. As he walked the corridor looking for a sign or a terminal to give him directions the lights flickered. It was common for ships this old to start to degrade from neglect, but the ships lights never flickered. It was unheard of to intentionally destroy any light source and some of the gangs even spent time fixing up lights and restoring them. Light was the only way to survive and was as vital as food. Flickering lights meant one thing, a warp disturbance.
This hulk did not have a set route and traveled at random sometimes dipping in to the warp only to reappear moments later, but even then Lysander would have felt the cold rush of leaving real space and warm reentry to the materium.
Only one of the mind beasts could have disturbed the power lines and caused the flicker. Lysander realized that if one of the mind beasts was there soon a horde of insect swarms would be on him ripping and tearing him to pieces. It was considered a feat of great ability to slay a mind beast and even more to enter its lair. The lairs of these beasts were often treasure troves of weapons and supplies, if you controlled one other would flock to you and a new gang might even start. Lysander was not a fighter though and had no other choice. He ran.
The cold air whipped and stung his eyes as he ran deeper into the hulk the chattering noise began and grew louder.
As he ran Lysander thought, If one of the mind beasts catches up I'm dead and no one would even know. Lysander looked around and saw the shadows of the bugs rising up around him. The air was split with a wet slapping sound and a sharp pain ripped into his side. As he fell he could see the door to and other ship, like the gangers the swarms were territorial and would not cross boundaries. Lysander could feel the cold metal grates pressing into his face. He dug his fingers in to the holes and dragged himself forward trying to rise, but before he could get to his knee the heel of his foot exploded in pain. The chittering swarm had reached him and now he had no chance to survive. The swarm would devour him down to the bones and leave his skeleton there to serve as a warning.
As the rest of the swarm raced towards him, Lysander tried to throw the leading creature off his foot and bashed it against the wall. The creature's eyes glazed over and slumped over, but its jaws were locked and still were digging into his foot. The corridor lit up and the mind beast floated towards him, the tendrils of power emanating from its exposed brain. The swarm seemed to unify around it and acted as a cohesive group charging to kill. As the first of the swarm reached Lysander he pulled out his shank and shoved it into the eye of the first bug. A hollow victory as no matter what the swarm would eventually over take him. Even as the beast slashed his chest and legs he could see the doors control panel flicker green and hiss. A single shot rang out and the mind beast flinched, as the beast moved to attack the source of the noise a burst of shots impacted its brain and it exploded into a shower of gore. With the larger beast the bugs lost the will to fight and turned on one another, Lysander leaned against the wall and peered into the darkness beyond the door trying to see what had saved him.
The glowing barrel of a large gun emerged from the depths and it panned about the room. Once the gun dipped down and the figure-stepped through Lysander could feel the terror rising back up and adrenaline began pumping through his body. A fully armored Chaos Marine stepped out of the misty darkness and kneeled next to Lysander.
The giant mag-clamped the bolter to his belt and reached up to his helmet. There was a soft hiss and a clank as the helmet lock disengaged and the giant removed. Lysander stared up into the face of the marine. The marine had a coppery skin and a heavy brow. Most remarkable were his eyes, the corridor was dim and yet they glittered a bright green. The marine leaned down and picked up Lysander's bleeding body and threw him over his shoulder. The marine carried him into the darkness and Lysander finally allowed his body's need for rest to overtake him.
When Lysander came too he was lying on a cot on a dank room. Lysander set up and tried to stand when he fell face first to the ground. His legs felt like they were on fire and he couldn't move, the pain overwhelmed him and he blacked out.
When he awoke again he lay there and thought about what had happened. The gangs had chased him into the hulk and then the bugs attacked, from then on he had a faint memory of an Astartes appearing. Lysander thought about what he knew of the marines.
The only things he knew about the warriors were the rumors and myths exchanged around the chem-fires. People had said they were giants and Lysander had seen that to be true. Most of the warriors lived in the eye of terror as roaming war bands and raided the imperium, but this one was alone. The marines were like gods on a battlefield and one well places marine could turn the tide of battle. Lysander wondered what this marine was doing camped out on a hulk. Some war bands operated from hulks, but they were the less temperamental ones, the hulk Lysander was on was not the least bit agreeable. Any attempt to steer it had resulted in the plasma reactors in the ships going critical.
There was a soft click and the door slid inot the wall as the marine walked through. This was the first time Lysander could really see his armor. The armor was a deep blue with a greenish tint around the edges. There was an ornate chainsword attached to his belt and a bolt pistol clipped to his leg. The marine was wearing a mismatch of armor plates that did not seem to flow together. It was evident that it had been repaired many times from the bumps of sealant and the deep scratches s on the shoulder pads. The marine disengaged his helmet and pulled one of the large chairs up to the tableside.
"Roll onto your back, I need to check the wounds you suffered," said the marine, his voice was not a harsh guttural noise like many of the gangers, "If the wounds are infected by the poison of the tyranids then you will need more serious attention."
The marine reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out an auspex device and ran it over Lysander's legs. The device beeped when it ran over the bandaged area of his legs. The marine stared intently at the device for a while longer then stood up.
"The wounds were deep but the claws missed the vital tendons and arteries," said the marine, "luckily for you the poison was not particularly toxic and your immune system fought it off." The marine picked up his helmet and placed it on his head and attached it with a click. He set the auspex in the cupboard and pulled out an chemical pack. The marine smashed it against the wall and laid it on Lysander's head.
Lysander could feel the chemicals in the pack seeping into his head making him drowsy, it was a much nicer way to knock someone out. Lysander could feel his grip on the world loosening and sliding away.
Lysander coughed out, "M name is Lysander." The marine, still facing the door, tapped a button on the side of his helmet. There was a click as the armors external vox turned on.
The marine started out the door as he spoke, "My name is Alpharius."