Indomitus Bellum Chapter 4
Over the city the wind blew, stirring washing left upon clothes lines and blowing doors shut with soft claps. It moved through empty buildings and down streets filled with mummified bodies, leaving a fine tracing of dust over everything. Many of the bodies were already starting to disappear, the beginning of a process that would eventually bury this city in a sea of shabby dust. Through the windy empty city the Storm Heralds advanced, sweeping building after building lest some unseen threat leap out and catch them unawares. They found nothing though, merely endless piles of bodies lying wherever they had fallen. They encountered countless dead but there was still no sign of any killers, whatever had claimed this city did not seem eager to reveal itself.
In the southern district Librarian Arvael had paused to examine a public fountain, a small metal font that spewed water into a stone trough. Arvael turn his helm to gaze at the spring, the connections between his helm and psychic hood pulling slightly and read an inscription carved into the stone. "Blessing of the Emperor," he read aloud, "We give thanks for His bounty."
There was a series of heavy stomps behind him and Arvael saw Orath approaching, his Thunder hammer and Storm Shield held firmly in his grip. The Terminator and his squadmates loomed over the area, filling the space with their awesome bulk. Orath and Arvael were escorting their vehicles deeper into the city, while Veteran Sergeant Matheus led the reconnaissance further ahead. Orath's immense weight resembled a walking tank, he had to lift his knees high with every step while his bulldog helm had a very limited range of movement yet he managed to convey his scorn as he spat, "Why are you poking that gewgaw?"
Arvael replied candidly, "I am gathering intelligence."
"Pah," Orath spat through his speaker grill, "What can rubbish like that possibly tell us?"
Arvael lifted his palm and cupped water from the spring then lifted it to his helm and sniffed, then declared, "Far too salty to drink, every drop of water on this world must be carefully filtered, but this is fouled."
"Librarians," Orath sniffed, "Always blathering nonsense."
Arvael disagreed, "Useful intelligence, the complex filtration system has failed but the pumps are still working. Whatever happened here occurred recently enough for basic machinery to keep running without operators."
Orath stomped about and said, "So the killers could still be nearby?"
Arvael sighed, "If you haven't scared them off with all that noise."
"Ha!" Orath sniggered as he gestured back the way they had come, "You do realise we have a Dreadnought, Rhinos and a Land Raider with us…. Its a bit late for stealth don't you think?"
Ajax seemed to have heard them talking for he turned and strode over to them. The war machine loomed over Orath, as the Terminator dwarfed Arvael, and Ajax stopped before the well. His sensor dome turned to face them and he said distantly, "Water."
Arvael frowned, "Honourable Ajax?"
"Water," Ajax repeated in a befuddled tone, "I no longer remember water tastes like."
Orath's aura flared with concern but Arvael gathered a sliver of Warp power and probed the Dreadnought's mind. It was eerie to be touching a mind that was half-machine, the cold grip of the grave already upon him and he felt the cracks in the ancient's psyche. Arvael watched for a response as he said said, "Ajax, we are searching for enemies."
Vaguely Ajax murmured, "Chapter Master Trago thinks the Alpha Legion has a base here."
Arvael dared to stir Ajax's flickering emotions as he said, "Trago is long dead, Phalros is our Chapter Master now."
Ajax's anger responded to the psychic stimulation and his voice suddenly boomed, "DON'T SPEAK TO ME LIKE I AM A CHILD. I KNOW OUR MISSION AND WE HAVE NO TIME FOR YOUR FOOLISH RAMBLINGS."
Arvael let go his power in relief, the Dreadnought's anger bringing him back to lucidity. Orath turned to face the Librarian, a question upon his lips but suddenly there was a double click on the Vox and Arvael's helm snapped around as he heard a youthful voice calling, "Scout-team Krassor to force commander Matheus, we have found evidence of combat in grid 011-030."
Arvael cut into the transmission and said, "Librarian Arvael, requesting permission to investigate, I am best suited to evaluate any findings."
Sergeant Matheus's voice came back, "Confirmed, let us know what you uncover."
With that Arvael jogged towards the reported contact, leaving the vehicles behind and followed by the weighty crumps of Orath's Terminators and Ajax's stomping gait. They swiftly passed down a side street, where Ajax's girth barely fit, and then emerged into another road, running parallel to the one they had been exploring. Arvael pulled up short here, for the piles of bodies were completely different to those they had seen before. Laid out along the sides of the road were more corpses but these ones had been blown wide open, revealing withered organs and many were missing limbs or heads. They had fallen in reposes of frantic activity, running to and fro, and Arvael's instant calculated that these people had not passed quietly or calmly.
Orath surveyed the scene saying, "Looks like somebody came through here with a bolter and let rip."
Arvael's gaze settled on a wall, which looked like it had been chewed away to leave a huge hole then he replied, "Possibly… but what did that?"
"Plasma guns?" Orath guessed, "Or maybe warp-fire, Traitors use infernal weapons."
"TRAITORS!" Ajax suddenly rumbled as his weapon systems cycled loudly, "THEY SHALL NOT BE SUFFERED TO LIVE!"
Arvael noted the sharp focus in the Dreadnought's voice, anger lending him a surge of vitality. Yet Arvael demurred, "Do not make assumptions, they are the well-springs of mistakes. Let us learn what the scout-novices have uncovered."
"Pah," Orath snorted, "Scouts are always jumping at nothing, like a feline scared of its own shadow."
Arvael ignored the slur and walked up the street, noting the piles of bodies strewn everywhere. They were all equally damaged, ripped to pieces by explosive rounds while odd craters bloomed here and there and the more Arvael saw the more he was certain they matched no weapon he was familiar with. Soon they spied a squad of scouts further down the road and they increased their pace, the youthful Scout-leader was stood in a camo-cape with goggles pushed back on his forehead and his jaw fell wide in awe as he beheld Ajax and the Terminators bearing down on him. Arvael grabbed his attention by snapping, "Novice Krassor, pick up your jaw and make a report!"
The lad blinked and then proclaimed, "We found this scene of battle, it stretches for miles through the city, we haven't determined the end of it yet but we did find this anomaly."
Arvael peered around the lad and spied another body lying among the dead, but this one was different to the desiccated corpses. It was a giant body, clad in Ceramite armour that had been gnawed away at the abdomen to leave a gaping hole right through to the other side. An elongated bolter lay alongside the corpse, its casing holed in several places. The ruined armour was clean in its lines, a shade of blue quite unlike the Storm Herald's own and marked with grey chevrons. It was also differently shaped to their ancient wargear, with modifications and ablative plates added so it could fit the enlarged frame of the warrior.
"A Space Marine," Arvael exclaimed in shock, "Mark X Tacticus plate, only Primaris wear that, though I don't recognise the Chapter markings."
Orath's head lowered as much as his hefty armour allowed and he growled, "What the hell was he doing here? And what killed him, his armour looks like it was gnawed by vermin."
Arvael knelt to inspect the body close up and he mused, "Unknown, but look at the positions of the corpses nearby, look at the ballistic angles of this scene. These people were killed by this Primaris, no doubt about it, he was killing them when he died."
Orath paused for a moment then said, "Primaris are stuck-up prigs but they don't kill without reason, why would one be shooting into a crowd of mortals?"
Suddenly Ajax rumbled, "YOU TWO WILL CEASE YOUR PRATTLING AND TELL ME WHAT THE FRAK A PRIMARIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE."
Orath stomped around to peer at the Dreadnought then asked, "You don't know?"
Ajax growled, "I HAVE BEEN ASLEEP FOR A DECADE."
Aravel was glad Ajax's mind was back in the here and now and informed him, "When the Primarch declared the Indomitus Crusade he also unveiled a new Founding. Not just new Chapters, but a newly invented type of Astartes, faster, stronger and refined to a higher standard. They posses new wargear and the most secret innovations of Mars."
"SO NOT TRAITORS THEN," Ajax grumbled irritably, "BUT INVENTION AND INNOVATION ARE STILL HERESY."
Arvael responded smoothly, "It was the Primarch's will."
Ajax was silent for a long moment then uttered, "WELL THAT IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCENARIO, BUT KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ME."
Orath chuckled, "Don't get so worked up, I've met Primaris and they aren't that impressive. Fancy gadgets or not, nothing beats Tactical Dreadnought plate."
"Be that as it may this is the first clue we have found," Arvael muttered, "We need to know what this Marine was doing here."
Orath's bulldog helm fixed upon the Librarian as he inquired, "What about the armour logs?"
Arvael checked the body but sadly reported, "Destroyed beyond recovery… I will have to employ more unconventional means."
The scouts and Terminators backed up as Arvael's psychic hood glimmered with power, nobody wanted to be too close to a Psyker at work. Deep within his soul Arvael undid the locks restraining his connection to the Warp and let a glimmer of power seep through. He could have let out a torrent but that would be counterproductive, for this he needed a scalpel not a sledgehammer. Arvael translated the power through his crafted neural architecture, forming it into a razor sharp implement, then he extended his mind and sliced into the dead Primaris' aura. Arvael's power was associated with the physical world, with the here and now, but the moment of death left traces behind, a shadow cast upon the wall of reality. Psychometry was a delicate art, more of a knack than a skill, but Arvael had undergone the required training.
He punched his probe into the dead warrior's aura and beheld the outer layers flying away, dissipating in the aether. He knew the aura would unravel fast once disturbed and pressed deeper, tearing apart the imprint of death left upon the world. Random impressions flashed by, the smell of lapping powders, the feeling of a bolt rifle kicking hard, the taste of recycled water and a sunset so green it could only have occurred on a Xenos world. The impressions came in a flood of random sensations, so finding anything genuinely useful was difficult, he was like a thief desperately ransacking a house, grabbing whatever he could before he was caught. He could feel memories slipping through his hands even as he tried to grasp them, the knowledge of who this warrior was and whom he was fighting frayed apart before Arvael's feeble grasp could secure them. Names, places, orders, even the warrior's identity were lost as Arvael fumbled for meaning and he felt his frustration mounting, throwing off his concentration.
With an effort of willpower Arvael forced calm upon his mind, reciting ancient mantras of stillness as he focussed his search upon the last warrior's last memory. Then he found something, a mental map the warrior had made of this battlefield. Understanding dawned and Arvael comprehended where this Marine had started from and where he was headed. Arvael's snapped his mind back to his body, feeling the weight of his bones settle on his soul. He saw the warrior's aura evaporate and he breathed out as he let go of his power. Arvael opened his eyes and knew that barely a second had passed for everyone else. He centred himself then declared, "I have the location of his abandoned base in this city and the direction they left in."
Orath gripped his Thunder hammer and said, "So what do we first? Search where he came from or see where he was going?"
"Not our decision," Arvael stated as he rose to his feet, "I better vox the Captain, he needs to know what we've found."
