Again, a chapter of very dark themes... then again, this is a dark story.
Enjoy!


Chapter 9

Milky Way Galaxy

Ultima Segmentum

Maelstrom Zone

Vera III

Arthur finished tapping this keyboard and pressed the enter key, finalizing his programming. Then he pressed few buttons and moved the mouse and placed several new items next to the avatar of El Sokauron on the screen. Arthur was a former-psychopath now infused with memories of two Chaos Marines. He was nothing but meticulous in his designs and plans. He even checked the cartographical layout of the Maelstrom Zone, near which his own ship, the 'Icon of Despise' was now located upon an insignificant world within the Maelstrom itself.

"I need to murder more lives so that I can recharge the amulet. Already, it dwindles in power."

He mused has he gently touched the amulet that had begun to fuse to his chest. The amulet itself seemed to have shrunk to look more like a golf ball cut in half. Bits of his skin had already clung to the amulet, slowly sinking the object of power into his own body.

"Ah, I can feel it now."

The power within the amulet pulsed once more as he tapped into it with his psychic powers. He now knew that charging the amulet with power would be more difficult each time he attempted it, unless something to reinforce the amulet's containment was found.

"Spirit stones… particularly a spirit stone of a Farseer is needed… Yet, my forces are not powerful enough to challenge a Warhost of Eldar that would protect a Farseer. It appears that I will have to charge the amulet the old-fashioned way."

His low voice whispered to his own ears as if he was talking to the amulet itself. He and the amulet were fusing together, but it would still be many millions of souls before they were completely one and become the true seed of the Chaos God.

Then with a single gesture, the portal to the Warhammer 40K universe tore open against the mirror, as mirrors were the best catalyst for the amulet's power.

Arthur moaned in dark pleasures as he stepped through the portal. The amulet was now rather low on enemy reserves having created the portal and many items, but it was going to be enough to sustain him for a while. Indeed, with his recent killings in Las Vegas, Arthur could truly commune with the amulet. He now knew that more acts of murder and destruction fused his essence to the amulet itself, and with each kill he had made, he was privy to greater secrets of the ancient spell bound in the amulet.

Driven with dark purpose, Arthur looked around the chamber where dozens of items were now lying around. Through his communion with the amulet, he knows had understood more about the workings of its power and its limitations. For one thing, he could design and summon items of great power and they will be brought to reality without a problem. The items he has summoned would remain even if Arthur and the amulet were somehow destroyed. Once summoned, they became real. Not only that, each summoning cost same amount of energy from the amulet, no matter how powerful the object was. There were limitations, but such was very minor inconvenience. The limitations were certainly problematic, but given the advantages of summoning forth incredible wargears and artifacts out of thin air and the power of immortality were too good to give up.

Having come through the portal naked, Arthur called forth his psychic powers to adorn himself with the Terminator Armor he had designed, programmed and placed just before coming through. From the greater knowledge about the limitations of the amulet, he now understood and felt closely about his need for a powerful suit of Terminator Armor to protect him rather than having his faith in the amulet's power, or at least until his amulet and he became even more powerful. Indeed, with the cost of reviving himself when he has been damaged to the point of neutralization, he needed new safeguard for himself beyond a mere Artificer Power Armor to protect himself.

This Terminator Armor he wore was as elaborate as it was mighty. Named 'Mantle of Eternal Despair', it was a heavy set of powerful armor. On its back was an eight-pointed star of Chaos, but the top five arrows were enlarged while the bottom three arrows were only the half-size, which Arthur designed as the mark of him, the Lord of Terror. In the heart of that Chaos Star was the 'lidless eye', also his mark as the Witch King of Despair and Terror. His fondness of the darker creatures and symbols of the Lord of the Ring was as great as his fondness for Lovecraftian horrors that he so deeply enjoyed.

The armor's shoulder pauldrons were exaggerated like all Power Armors of this era, but this armor's decorations were of pure evil. On his right shoulder, there were five iron horns protruding from the edges of the pauldron, making the whole thing look like maw with ten fangs. In between the horns was a great lidless eye, burning in indigo flames and crimson core and black pupil. On the left shoulder was the small sculpture of an iconic beast wrought of charred iron. It was the 'Morghastur' the alternate avatar of El Sokauron, and it was a creature most foul, and it came from the twisted mind of Arthur. He knew that this new creature, an amalgam of so many horrors, was going to be his Greater Daemon when he would ascend to the godhood. As a Chaos God, he would need a suitable Greater Daemon, and the Morghasturs, the Deliverer of Terrors, would be his.

The creature was indeed fearsome, and if it had been real, then it could easily have driven many mortals insane just through its visage. Its face was like that of a lion but encased in overlapping scales with five slits that beheld glowing red eyes that burned like the Sauron's lidless eye. While its face was feline, its jaws were like that of an alligator, but filled sharp fangs that reached upward beyond the lip of the creature. Around the neck were long tentacles with terrible claws at the end, and its four arms wreathed in flames were also ended in six tentacle-fingers and two tentacle-thumbs. On its back was a pair of bone-wings, and the creature stood on a pair of digitigrades legs that ended in terrible bird-like feet with five toes.

It was not just the pauldrons that were so elaborate. On his chest was the Chaos Star of Terror, as designed by Arthur himself, and on every rung of that eight-pointed star were tiny screaming skulls with glowing indigo eyes. His greaves were like all Terminator Armor greaves, massive and powerful, and on those greaves were foul markings of devil-worship, a black pentagram that glowed in gold and twisted and turned in a black vortex, perhaps representing the void of despair. And encased in such mighty and corrupt armor, Arthur breathed easier as he put on his new helmet. Two long horns protruded from the side, reaching down to the front of the helmet, while two horns were located above the lower ones and pointed forward and twisted up like the horns of goats, and the last lone horn grew out from the forehead like that of a unicorn but in a 'S' formation.

This armor took much energy from the amulet. The armor itself was worth same amount of energy as any other, but the extra powers vested in to cost thrice as much. Then there were the weapons. Two weapons were newly made by and for Arthur just before he returned to this universe. On his left hand, a mighty Storm Bolter with brass and gold decorations of most foul symbols, and a single serrated blade crackling with disruption field. This was to be the infamous 'Fear of All', the legendary Storm Bolter that would slaughter hundreds of thousands in its master's hand. On Arthur's right hand, he now held a new sword called the 'Fang of Tribulation'. Programmed on his computer back in his original universe, the sword was based on the Wailing Doom of the Avatar of Khaine. Its blade was that of the Wailing Doom but coated in the texture of the Daemon Sword, with all its fangs and glowing eyes. Arthur increased the glow of the sword and changed the handle and hilt with that of a Space Marine Force Commander's Power Sword. With the glow of the disruption field changed to indigo and made large, the sword looked as if it was eating the light rather than emitting it.

Arthur's eyes carefully looked over every piece of his armor and weapons, and he smiled in unadulterated pleasure at the thought of his own hands slaughtering through hundreds of thousands of mortals.

"This would do."

Then he turned to his newly gained items all sprawled over the floor.

"A successful person always keeps his things organized."

With a crackle of psychic power, he twisted the walls of the Captain's chamber into large daemonic shelves, and placed his items upon them. Then, after putting on some of the artifacts and items on himself, he grabbed a skull made of bronze and charred iron with a black Chaos Star before walking out of the chamber.

Outside, he saw two Cultists how tremble in his presence.

"You!"

"Yes, lord?"

"Bring my Astartes brothers to me, and all your fellow Cultists. I shall be in the Cargo Hold Primus."

"At once, my lord."

Arthur went directly to the largest cargo hold in the ship, and he cast his psychic powers into the Warp, drawing incredible energy through the walls of the ship, and created a large unholy pentagram filled with daemonic languages that destabilized the spot.

When his minions had gathered, Arthur cracked the special skull he brought and cast it into the small vortex now formed over the pentagram. With a thunderous howls of screams and screeches, a Chaos Temple from the Dawn of War 2 slowly rose into existence. It was one of a kind, and no other had this particular Chaos Temple. Massive Warp portal resided beneath the eight metal plating pieces. From this, Arthur could summon forth all manner of Chaos forces, except for the daemons or any psyker.

In fact, he could even summon forth a Loyalist Space Marines if he used a little more of amulet's energy and did some radical programming back at his house, but even then he could not summon psykers. Entire Eldar race, Tyranids and Orks were out too. Only Imperial Guards and Space Marines were other options but Space Marine Librarian was out of the question too. Orks were actually a possibility when summoning forth, but after they were grouped in certain numbers, the amulet's control and power over them would be interfered by the growing WAAAGH!, which would most certainly let the Orks become feral.

For now, however, Arthur could only summon forth Chaos forces at tier one, and only to the population limit of 100. The problem was that Arthur had installed and used the 40K Destroyer Mod on his PC, and thus he could summon nine Chaos Marines and add an Aspiring Champion to make a full ten member squad, but that would cost 50 population. Even if he had the resources, he could only summon 2 squads, and it would take some time to summon them forth. Besides, Arthur was low on amulet energy, so he could not conjure more resources, nor could he increase the population limit. The population limit would give him 50 more population but it would cost nearly as much energy as forming a portal.

For now, he would have to be satisfied by the capability to summon two squads. He had ordered the cultists to bring forth the metal orbs that constituted the 5000 points of Requisition gained by the 'cheat', and he ordered five hundred orbs to be thrown into the Warp vortex swirling under the metal flaps as the payment. The automated summoning began with loud humming sound and vibration of the deck. However, it would still take a better part of the month to summon Arthur's new minions.

So, instead of waiting around, he commanded his ship forth.

"It shall be another twenty four days before my new minions are summoned. We shall not tarry during that time. We shall assail an Imperial world, and I shall devour the souls of the fallen."

While the Cultists roared in approval of this announcement, the Chaos Marines were still skeptical and merely eyed the strange new Chaos Temple that now resided in the heart of the ship. Ignoring their concerns, Arthur growled new orders.

"Man the consoles, we head to the Magog Cluster! To the Rook System!"

"My lord?"

One of the two surviving Chaos Marines dared to question Arthur only to back down at the Terminator Armored Chaos Lord glaring at him.

"I will brook no questions to my command. OBEY!"


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Milky Way Galaxy

Ultima Segmentum

Maelstrom Zone

Magog Sector – Rook System

The 'Icon of Despise' arrived at the Rook System in mere two days time, guided by the increased psychic might of Arthur. His powers had grown with the devoured souls of those he had killed, and the fear that his Cultists felt continued to feed him focus and power over the Warp. They soon found themselves in the hidden orbit around Rook III, a frontier world. It was a world near a Warp rift, and it was a world in turmoil. Guarded by no more than a single beleaguered regiment of Imperial Guards, this new-found colony suffered greatly during the chaos of the Badab War, whose devastation still remained across the surface of the planet. Many thousands of criminals and former mortal supporters of the Tyrant of Badab had gathered and settled here, watched by the overstretched eyes of few hundred Adeptus Arbite forces and held together only by the guns of the five thousand or so Guardsmen, whose morale and number continued dwindle as the time passed. It was here that Arthur made his first assault against the Imperium.

Rook III consisted of a single city of a million souls, and they had a small star port that harbored six Valkyries of the Imperial Guard, and a dozen Imperial Guard posts around the edges of the walled city to contain and protect the citizens. The Polisium was the heart of the city, awkwardly named Rookopolis. The Polisium was a part of the city built upon a tall hill, very much like the polis of the Ancient Greeks of the ancient Terra, whose histories have all but forgotten save for the snippets of loose information that had somehow managed to clung on to various texts. While the Rookopolis was the centre of the Rook III's politics and martial power, the real economic powers were held by the eleven large towns, whose total combined population nearly matched that of the Rookopolis.

There was a division between the capital city and the walled towns, and their political powers were decided by the number of smaller villages that supported either side. The villages, numbering nearly a thousand, represent the last one third of the population. There were outlying settlements but they were so easily destroyed by the inhospitable climate and land of the Rook III that only the villages with thin but tall walls could be counted.

While the capital city was held and ruled by the Arbites and the Imperial Guards, and the towns held by the local nobles with watered-down heritages who maintained power with their private armies, the villages were ruled by the gangs. Many gangs were small, formed from the people of the village itself, and armed with crude autoguns and melee weapons. Yet, it was the gangs that held the actual lives of people in their hands.

It was into these that the Chaos Lord El Sokauron struck. Perhaps taking doctrines of the Night Lords Chaos Marine Legion to heart, Arthur's meager forces infiltrated the slums and dark alleys of the Rook III's eleven towns. Taking on the capital city was too much and was against the plans of the Chaos Lord, but the walled towns were insulated just enough and populated densely enough for the acts of terror without discovery by the incompetent private armies of the nobles.

Arthur's Cultists were newly clothed and shrouded in the sorcery of Arthur's own creation, and they began to blend in. At night, they found local gangs in various drinking places, and raids of devastating effect had quickly silenced and murdered the gang leaderships. Against stronger gangs, Arthur and his Chaos Marines took personal charge. Three nights passed, and nine of the eleven towns had fallen into the hands of the Terrorkind, the new gang that now united them. Soon, villages and their gangs were being absorbed into the Terrorkind's influences. Murder, arson and a variety of other crimes filled the streets. Insane psychopaths, driven to lunacy by the works of the Chaos Sorcerer Lord, began to cover the streets of their gruesome arts. Within the one week of the Chaos Lord's arrival, all of the walled towns and over three hundred villages were on fire and their streets empty but for the gruesome displays of murder and mayhem.

Rumors of a cult that raped and murdered women and children began to enter the capital city, and the people became afraid. The city's walls were shut at night, and guards were posted so that evil creatures could not enter the city. Yet, the towns were asking for the deployment of Arbitrators and Guardsmen to quell the hell that now filled the streets of the towns. By day twelve of the Chaos influence, six of the eleven towns lost their nobles as the fear-driven mobs rushed their manors demanding action. Agitated by the increasing number of Chaos Cultists, the mob turned on the nobles and even their private armies turned their guns against their former employers. By day sixteen, all the towns and half of all the villages were in absolute uproar as fear and murder and dreadful perversions filled their lives. Huge mobs of thousands were gathered, and instigated by powerful orations of Chaos Cultists, they marched on toward the Rookopolis.

Even as the burly men marched in fear and anger against the Imperial oppressions and those Imperial Guards who enforced the oppressive regime, those left behind began to lose all hope. Entire villages fell into deep depression. Despair was everywhere. Even without any viable suspects, murders and mutilations continued. Bodies of women were carved with horrible symbols and twisted into various unnatural positions and were nailed to the doors of their own homes, while children screamed as their legs were chopped off and hooks plunged into their backs. The idea that nothing could relieve the evil that seeped into their homes began to settle into their minds. Despair deepened, and dozens of women killed their own children before committing suicides in utter desperation. They did not know that death would not relieve them of their fear.

Other survivors of the horror began to find their minds becoming unhinged by the constant stress and fear. Their minds began to unravel in the face of utter and terrible despair that knew no limits to its depth. Then a voice whispered to them. It was such a sweet voice to those who surrendered to despair, and such horrifying voice to those trembling in fear. It threatened and cajoled, it mocked and soothed, and it tempted them with a relief from the fear and contentment in despair. Its ways were simple. They only needed to trust in their new god, the God El Sokauron. In him, they would know peace, and they would no longer fear or despair. So they believed and offered their souls to find a moment of relief. They became fanatic Cultists, and like the Christians and Muslims of old Terra, they began to lose all reason.

Their new god indeed granted what he had promised. They no longer needed to fear, because they had become the thing of fear. They moved in silent mobs of a few dozen, carrying a small bundles of electric wires bound together to make a flail of exposed wires. The wires were connected to a small electrical machine that inflicted electric shock to those struck by it. Any who didn't follow their new god were found, whipped. If they converted, they would be left in peace, but if they did not convert, they were dragged to village square and were flayed alive and fed to dogs. At night, as to the whispered words of their new god, they hunted women and children. Once caught, their prey was ravaged with all manner of dark imagination. They reveled in their own cruelty, not remembering that it was this that they had feared most.

On the day twenty-three, the Colonel who commanded the Imperial Guards surrendered as the mob overwhelmed the Guards and the wall. The mob quickly slaughtered or converted the population of the city, and many Guardsmen were already joining the mob. Fear and despair had already set into the hearts of the Colonel.


END OF CHAPTER 9