Warhammer 40,000: Knights of Steel
By Alssadar
Chapter 3
His eyes opened, and all he knew was pain.
It was very similar to the pains he had endured during the procedure to become a space marine, a yearlong surgery without anesthetics, though he had no solid slab to which he was contained. And instead of a dark cellar with only the white armor of an apothecary, Kadotus stared into the infinite space of oblivion and everything, all at the same time. Swirling forms of every color imaginable was available to his sight, in all shapes and sizes, of all creatures and imagination, breaking reality and psychics simultaneously in a pressure that nearly broke Kadotus' mind apart.
He was cast out into the warp.
His body was struck by some unknown force, causing him to be flung outwards into the maelstrom, colliding with some other object that was mathematically impossible. Scrambling to understand the figure, he was struck again, pain erupting as he suddenly came to the realization that most of his internal organs were broken and operating only at the limit to stay alive.
Something was toying with him, not willing to let him die.
The realization would have shocked a normal man into fear, but Kadotus was no normal man. Besides, the chaos of the warp could have easily torn apart any normal human's armor, if not the pain that would have killed them. Whatever daemon was playing with the sergeant wanted him alive, Kadotus connected through a weak chain of logic, to exact whatever task it could not perform in the mortal realm. The daemon would speak its lies and deliver him back into normal space to enact its plan. Through this path, Kadotus knew it was his only way to get back to his brothers, but he questioned whether his soul would be tainted by the act, the last vestiges of his purity cast away by the fiends beyond the veil.
As he pondered, another bolt struck him in the back, flinging him forward, heading towards a large structure that was floating amidst the chaos of the Warp. The building made Kadotus' mind struggle as the rectangular tower's angles added up to more than 360 degrees, but when he came to impact the walls, it held true and corporeal. Seizing his chance of a physical object to hold, Kadotus dug his fingers into small chinks in the bricks, and raised his power fist, activating it and punching through the wall. It was then he realized his bolt pistol was missing, possibly lost amidst his torture in the Warp; nonetheless, he was to carry on regardless of his armaments and find a way to return to his brothers unscathed by corruption.
Floating himself in the zero gravity, he pushed himself into his custom portal to find himself in a vast palace, whose dimensions would not fit the building he saw on the outside. Floating along an elaborate hallway fixed with lighting arrangements and painting of aeons past, he came to a door made of a wet pink substance.
Steeling himself, Kadotus floated alongside the door's handle and pulled it open. Suddenly, there was sound around him as a visible flood of some gaseous substance filled the chamber, shrieking as it found its way out the hallways into the Warp. As Kadotus held onto the side the wall, the gasses stopped their call and subsided, a loud clang emanating from down the hall, where the sergeant had made his entrance. As if in concurrence, the pink door closed in a soft, squishing sound.
Kadotus pushed himself off the wall to examine the next room, but gravity suddenly appeared, letting the marine fall heavily upon the brick floor with a thunk. Standing up, Kadotus scanned his helmet's visor, letting his armor's automatic systems evaluate the area. After ten seconds of waiting, small words arrived in a coded format: "System clean—breathing level is optimum for survivability."
With a sigh, Kadotus removed his helmet and clipped it to his waist, before settling down against a wall. It was a dramatic relief to be given a rest as he felt his body heal from whatever wounds had been inflicted upon him in the Warp. He paused and looked at his reflection in his helmet's visor: his face was now pockmarked with several gashes and clotted blood. A large scar ran across his forehead, and the two service studs were removed from his skull, each proof of his 100 years of service as a space marine, now left as bloody holes on his head.
The color of his eyes were still indeterminable.
With his break in order, Kadotus closed his eyes as the pain subsided, letting himself rest until his body could operate at average efficiency. After what seemed like a brief moment, Kadotus was back up again, his power fist activated and his free hand clenched in a similar fist. Pushing open the pink door, he came into a large room filled with lines of statues that lead to a second level, which was hidden behind a large wall. Kadotus was able to hear the sounds of bardic music hailing from over the wall, with a deep-toned voice singing along.
It has to be a daemon, Kadotus thought to himself as he scanned the room, gazing up the detailed statues of guardsmen, tau, orks, and even chaos marines. Walking as quiet as a superhuman in heavy power armor could, Kadotus began his trek down the lines of stone bodies, slightly paranoid as their eyes seemed to be following him, but he dismissed the thought and muttered a prayer to the Emperor for strength.
And so now he approached the stairway, solid stone carvings bearing images of battles and daemons beyond imagination. Taking steady steps up the stairs, the singing never stopped nor fluctuated for an instant. Whatever the beast was, it had poor hearing, Kadotus guessed, as a fully armored space marine could be scarcely stealthy in such an bland
Unless the daemon already noticed him and was simply playing him as the fool, he pondered, reaching the end of the steps. But, nonetheless, what else was he to do? He had to approach this daemon, and either banish it or use it to return to his brothers.
Walking a few feet along the gray wall, he came upon its end, a gray pillar lined with golden trims, a scene of a million dying mortals engraved in a spiraling course. Kadotus' eyes caught it for a second before he tore his eyes away—lest he be caught in the corruption of the unholy. Taking his turn around the corner, Kadotus was revealed to the beast and its stone flock.
The creature itself was a mutated creature of human form, laying down against the wall behind it, at least five meters in height. It looked like a large, perverted doll made by some insane toy maker, with its skin seeming to be made of a rough-spun fabric that was old and fraying. Its limbs were lumpy as if it was stuffed wrong, and its left arm was weak and limp while the right was bulging against the daemon's skin. The creatures head itself was massively orb, bearing two black, beady eyes and a wide mouth that spread around from one side of its head to the other, singing to its companions. And as Kadotus had guessed before, it actually didn't have ears. The daemon nodded its weighted head upon seeing the sergeant, and continued his song, closing its eyes and leaning back.
Kadotus spared a look at the daemon's entourage. They were similar to the stone figures he had seen before, except these were given animation. They played instruments ranging from winds to strings to several instruments unknown to Kadotus, with the corrupted form of a heretic pushing wind through a flute while a guardsman frozen without an arm tapped a light beat on a drum. The small form of an eldar sat against the wall, strumming a harp as a stone space marine sang in a deep voice.
Turning back to the daemon, the beast smiled at the sergeant. "Welcome, my friend. How do you find the music?" The beast grumbled with a lighthearted tone.
Kadotus made no reply, simply staring at the patchwork fiend in front of him.
If the creature had eyebrows, it would have raised them. "Are you a mute, then? I say, though, your brothers have a wonderful tone for music. Such a waste for you, my poor servant."
"I am a servant of the Emperor of mankind, daemon filth." Kadotus replied, staring into the daemon's black eyes. The daemon stared at the marine for a second, and Kadotus saw a small stone being flying about the fiend. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a necron scarab, its multiple talons moving in some kind of code.
"Of course you are." The daemon said, raising its limp left arm to point at his flock. "They once served their respected leaders as well, but I taught them the true acts of art, and they decided to never leave this realm. 'Tis a pity I cannot hear their songs, yet they strive so hard to make me aware of their talent." The patchwork daemon said with a sigh, shaking its large head.
"These statues are all your servants, fiend?" Kadotus asked the creature, glancing at the singing marine, whose stone armor allowed no designation of his chapter. Returning his eyes to the daemon, he saw the scarab translate his speech for the creature.
"They are not servants, merely those who pursue the greater beauties of art, as given by the wisps of the webway and mysteries of the warp." The daemon spoke, rolling its small feet in circles on the ground. "But enough about me and my entourage, my friend, what is it that you seek in my chambered halls that you would destroy my halls and fling some of my precious artwork into space?"
Kadotus glared at the daemon. The fiend was not speaking any lies, besides the recruitment of its servants, only simplicity and of its art. Was there a hidden group of daemons with honor that hid themselves away in the warp? Kadotus instantly crushed the stray thought from his head, lest the idea corrupt him. This false image was of how the daemon gathered its following and corrupted entire populations to its cause.
The stray though suddenly entered his head, there is no sense in lying to the daemon, as they know all that you known and even more. The thought sounded foreign, yet slightly reminiscent of his teachings as an initiate. Sparing a look at the harp-playing eldar, he spoke, "I was cast here by a daemon during a travel through the warp. I do not know how I survived, but I seek return to my brothers." He glared up at the daemon, whose eyes focused on the scarab that translated into sign language.
"Ah yes," The fiend spoke, "You are a brother of the Knights of Steel. It was your ship that past by my realm several days ago... I give my condolences to your brothers; your ship was a work of art. The tapestries and murals that hung in your halls were beautiful."
"You speak as if my brothers are dead, creature." Kadotus frowned. "Despite our lacking strength, our ship would not fall to such an incursion." The creature had finally started his lies to the sergeant, to sway him to chaos—but he would not fall.
"They are, sergeant. For that, I can at least give you some memories of your loss." For this, the daemon raising his thick right arm, swaying its frayed end as the loud gasping sounds of breath were heard from the floor below them. Seconds later, two stone eldar appeared bearing a crate between the two, settling it down in front of the sergeant. Glaring at the stone figures, they bowed and went to their master's side. "Find whatever instrument you seek and play for our guest," the daemon spoke to the two.
As the eldar moved to join their fellow musicians, Kadotus settled his power fist on the chest. Staring up at the daemon, his hands found the clasp, and he lifted up the top. - And there they were, four flags that once hung in the company's chambers, not seen by anyone but the brothers of the chapter. They were specific, as well, the direct notations of the 2nd company, with the individual honor roles of the brothers who served in the conflicts, all the hundreds of names listed in perfect script, as if it were they were the real thing.
"I thought you may like these gifts, sergeant. And I may help you to stir your revenge." The daemon grumbled as it turned back to face the musicians.
Kadotus lifted the final flag to find a burnt, worn out cloak, that was all but similar to the one Nage wore, the clasps and remains of the sash attached. But on the black cape rested a sigil painted on with dried blood, in the shape of a hand holding an axe. The icon was familiar—the Vehement Raiders, the enemy they fought on Lavot se Povleče. Ripping the cloak up, Kadotus knew the role he would have to adapt to return to the mortal realm.
"The Raiders are no friends of mine, I can assure you, sergeant. They destroy statues and murals, and burn sights that are beautiful in the rising sun. They have also conflicted with my art collectors across the galaxy, as well as their damnation of my soul." The daemon spoke. "For this, I would see them pay for their crimes, and I will allow you to take those flags as my gift." The fiend rose its limp arm, pointing at the sergeant. "I will cast you through the warp close your planet, in an area where a ship might be able to provide transport. All I seek on my end is the Raider's demise."
Kadotus put on his metaphorical mask and gazed up at the daemon. "Then why do you send me to Holvir if the Raiders were in the Warp? Surely, they meant to pursue and return to Lavot se Povleče?"
The daemon smiled with its sharp teeth. "I sometimes forget how unknowing you humans are until I speak with one. The Raiders become tired with the planet of the lions, and have now put their sight upon your steel knights' home. Even now, they have boarded your ship and killed its crew. With such a task force, they have disguised themselves and adopted your codes—and daemons to form doppelgangers. They mean to destroy you from the inside, whether it means the wholesale destruction of your planet, or the chapter in general, I have no idea."
The lies of the fiend had driven his patience to the end. "Listen to me, you daemon fiend." He took a step, kicking the chest away. "There is no truth in your words, only lies to corrupt and hollow me from the inside." He took a step, and the musicians stopped their playing. "And I am a true servant of the Emperor."
"Whether you deny or accept my words, the fate is still to come; your chapter is to fall by the Raiders Vehement, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Your decision has sealed this fate." The daemon shook its head. "A pity, your craftsmen were talented and could have become great students of mine. So, take your leave sergeant. Let your brothers die, and acknowledge your weakness, that you truly are corrupt and this downfall is all your fault. You know nothing of the real world, as you hide yourself away from your brothers. You are no true warrior." It snarled, the corner of its mouth turning into an angry snarl.
"So speaks the liar to the faithful!" Kadotus roared, activating his power fist and rushing at the daemon.
"Your choice, sergeant. Seal your fate." The strong hand waved, glowing with a purple glow along the frayed edges. As Kadotus jumped to deliver the punch, the glow stopped and Kadotus' last sight was of the daemon freak smiling at him.
Kadotus opened his eyes, and he could see the outlines of space all around him. It was normal space, which reassured the sergeant as his mind struggled to find its bearings. Judging from the air supply remaining in his tanks, Kadotus had been asleep in space for at least three hours, and the time since his battle with the daemons onboard the Blade of Alacrity was four days ago. The flow of time in the warp is abnormal, but Kadotus knew he needed every second. He knew he had to return to his chapter, and request a librarian and chaplain simultaneously to be purged of the daemon's influence.
In further examining his environment, Kadotus noted of how he was in the space above a large, light-brown planet, which bore many of the characteristics of being an agri-world, providing food for the vast legions of worlds in the Imperium. But, even more important, he noticed a large structure orbiting the planet, with scores of ships, merchants most likely, traveling in and out at a constant pace. I shall secure a ship, a psyker, and my location. From there, I will return to my brothers and submit to authority for deliverance and purgation.
Activating his Imperial frequency, it took a further hour for a ship to notice and bring him to the spaceport, which was further identified as Canlyn, of the Cynthania system. The station had a further report of 172 docked ships, with only 46 of them prepared to be launched within a day, and 13 within the next hour. Of those 13, only one had the warp drives necessary to cross the distance to Holvir within three days, and Kadotus would rather return to his brothers as fast as possible.
After speaking with the leader of the spaceport and being told it would be a bad mark for both him and the chapter to simply steal the ship and whatever crewmembers onboard, he would need to request permission to board the captain's ship, and act with the necessary Imperial authority in order to achieve his goal.
Stalking down to the lower levels of the spaceport, Kadotus passed by a group of sleeping drunks, all of which who were robbed of their possessions besides their underclothes. After giving an angry glare at the bouncer, he walked past the doors into the hazy light of the spaceport's bar. The dim lights stationed several levels above set the stage for the dark corners as men drank their wages away rather than waste it away on something more useless to their situation. The air was thick with smoke from cigarettes and warmed food, though Kadotus' eyes were able to see clear through them. Besides, he knew his target, and he knew his crew. All thirty-four members of the Belligerent Enterprise, a ship chartered by the Merchant-Daimyo organization of the Edo clans. The ship itself was not of Edo, but of the subsector Uncylies, therefore, its loyalties could be swayed and no further questioning by the Edo organization would be in order, as they would simply guess they either were lost in the Warp, or betrayed them to a rival organization. Nonetheless, the situation given was nigh perfect for Kadotus.
Ignoring the drunken pleas of men whom thought the sergeant was after them, he crossed the levels as men ran away at the sight of such a giant, often bringing silence to entire floors at a time as the devout began praying at such a rare sight. But, Kadotus had no use for them. Upon reaching the seventh level, he spied a large table bearing the high-ranking crew of the Enterprise, the captain, second-in-command, navigations officer, engiseer techpriest, defense, medicinal, and human resources heads. His memory matched them with the descriptions given of them, and so he approached the table as a drunken man began puking and pleading for his life. Moving aside of the man's excrement, he approached Captain Niccalou, the graying, bearded captain raising his eyes slowly to meet the approaching space marine. Following his gaze and the silence that stilled the floor, the remainder of the Enterprise's crew looked upon Kadotus, their eyes a mixture of awe and fear, with the old, balding defense officer Beyett having his eyes drunkenly stare off in two different directions at the same time.
"Captain," The sergeant said in his approach, ignoring the watching eyes of the other merchants around him. "In the name of the chapter of the Knights of Steel, I am requesting permission to board your ship and head to the planet of Holvir. We will leave within the hour and head through the warp in order to reach my destination within less than three galactic days." Although he was requesting permission, Kadotus knew that he was demanding this of the captain. Meeting eyes with Niccalou, the captain blinked a couple times before standing up.
"Of course, my lord. I shall call the men to their posts and order the proper rituals to the machine-spirits. With optimal time given for my crew, we shall meet your expectations to the point." The captain saluted sharply, as an ex-naval officer would do, given what his record spoke of him. Niccalou's fellow officers stood and performed the same, minus Beyett who fell over, breaking his glass into scraps, a large piece wedging itself in the man's face. As the man began yelling, Alegre, the ship's doctor, leapt to the wounded man. Niccalou flushed with embarrassment in front of the space marine. "We shall discipline our defense officer upon leave, sir, as well as ban the use of alcohol onboard the ship, my lord." A brief sigh was emitted by the young techpriest, who immediately straightened up and bowed for Kadotus.
"That will be all. I shall arrive on your ship and we will leave posthaste. Any crewmember not onboard within an hour shall be left on the station." Kadotus turned away as Niccalou saluted once more. Traveling down a level, Kadotus' mind was a flurry with information streams that were being read to him through his helmet's connection with the station, bringing further detail on the crew's past and all of their relations with anyone. And it seemed that officer Beyett had a horrible record for being drunk and starting fights whilst intoxicated, Kadotus noted with a slight smirk.
But his flow of knowledge was interrupted as he noticed a man was standing in front of him, his body braced as if he was trying to stop a charging horse by standing still. Kadotus noted the slight dilation of the man's pupils and haggard breathing from his throat, and his super-human senses could notice the alcohol on his heavy breath. "You...you let my sister die!" The man cried out piteously, his eyes suddenly crying. "You let the fiends take her down while you just...stood by and watched!" The man was obviously a horrid wreck of depression from whatever event he was describing, and this one chance at affronting his imagined killer seemed to bring the man his strength. In his right hand was a glass bottle, held tightly in his grip as a weapon.
Kadotus stood still and watched the man cry his eyes dry, wiping them and shouting more nonsense as the bar watched in silent horror of what the man's fate was to be. "I never knew your sister, human." The sergeant spoke angrily at the man's accusation. "Nor did I stand by and let her die if I did."
The man shook his head. "It was you who killed her—ripped her head right off!" The drunken man turned to one of the onlookers. "They...they brought their daemons and killed them all!" The man staggered back to face Kadotus, taking a swig.
"What planet do you speak of, you drunken lout?" Kadotus tightened his power fist to activate it.
"Lavot...*hic*... Lavot se Povleče!" The man cried, and charged at Kadotus, his bottle in hand. The sergeant simply stood and let the man charge, the wine bottle breaking uselessly on his armor, and the fists that pounded afterwards were not even felt by Kadotus. After several seconds, the man's fists stopped and his tears began once more, his weeping face gazing up into Kadotus' helmet. "Why...why did you abandon us? Are we not the Emperor's faithful?" The continued his sob, sinking down to the floor, his head level with Kadotus' knee.
Kadotus breathed heavily through his nose and removed his helmet, taking half a second to adjust his senses to the influx of the heavy bar scents, of fear, beer, piss, and mankind's filth. Kneeling down to the drunk man, he pulled his face up to gaze into his eyes. The man stared in shock as his eyes wept, both of them gazing upon Kadotus' left eye. "Know this, human. I was never on your planet, nor do I know of its existence." He lied, and raised his power fist to the man's shoulder, settling it upon his bones. "But know this, you are one of the Emperor's faithful, and he shall grant you your purchase for devotion." The drunken man nodded, and let more tears flow down his cheeks, as he could find no words to speak against the giant of ceramite and muscle. "And know this," Kadotus said, moving his power fist. "You shall be with your sister in the Emperor's peace."
The fist tightened around the man's head, shattering it instantly with a flow of blood and brains to the surrounding area. The crowd backed away in silence upon the scene, gazing at the marine with fear and terror, their scents easily detected by Kadotus. "Let it be known that this is his price he paid for assaulting one of the Emperor's kind, and I gave him his execution for his crime. Pray you follow the same, lest you find yourself in the same fate."
Walking from the scene, he descended another floor, but a robed man stood in front of him. Without a crowd to encircle and draw attention, Kadotus was brief. "What is it you seek, human, your death like the drunken failure above?"
The robed man shook his head, his face obscured in the shadows of the bar. "Nay, my lord. I am but a simply psyker, and I wish to aid you in your travels—I, too, have the need to go to Holvir, and I could provide my talents to relax the navigator's ailments." The man nodded eagerly. "It is my duty to serve the Sons of Dorn, no matter their derivation of the original lords, and I shall not fail you, my lord." The robe was pulled back to reveal a crest of the order psykanis upon the man's bald skull, the man's eyes a pit of black holes. Along the man's cheek rested a tattoo of the Imperial Fists legion, a clenched fist.
Glaring over the psyker, Kadotus spoke, "You may accompany us, psyker, but watch yourself. I do not take kindly to witches and their kin."
"With good reasoning, my lord." The psyker said with a bow. As he came up, he met Kadotus' eyes. "It will serve me well to know I served the Red-Eyed Servant." With that, he left, turning his back into the men below, becoming simply another robed man in the sea of mysterious figures.
Sparing a glare of suspicion at the crowds around him, Kadotus started heading towards his target.
