Falsa Verum Chapter 13

The roof was low here and the air was bad, a moist and clammy smell that forced its way into the nostrils and tickled the back of the throat. It was all-pervasive, unavoidable no matter how one tried to forget it. The smell reminded one of decaying mould or maggoty meat, an unappealing aroma of age and rot. Zeck tried to breathe through his mouth but it was giving his throat a furry feeling so he had no choice but to endure the smell.

The twists were holed up in a derelict gap between two shafts of metal that had slumped into each other. They had fled here following the battle with the monstrosity, hurrying away before anyone could catch them. Sounds of heavy feet had chased them, evidence that hunters were scouring the area. Only Zeck's antenna had let them avoid detection, his abilities taking them away from the pursuing Masters. Yet the web had closed inexorably and the twists had been forced to go deep, sinking into the bowels of the Hull until they bordered upon the Freeze itself.

Here they had stopped, taking rest as they figured out what they would do next. They had chosen this spot because it was well concealed, but also because it had light. In one corner a column of strange glow arose from a short pedestal, shining motes that floated upwards in a steady stream. Zeck had never seen the like but Beta had called it Hololithic projector, whatever that was supposed to mean. Alk seemed fascinated by it, crouching before the lights and trying to catch them in his huge hands. His meaty paws passed through the lights without impediment, leaving the stream exactly as it was but he did not seem annoyed. Each time he missed he would chuckle under his breath and reach out once more, trying to catch another light.

In another corner Zeck, Lynia and Refus were huddled together, muttering between themselves. Refus was talking resentfully, "Damn it, Munny deserved better."

Lynia concurred, "No arguments here, that was a bad way to go."

Zeck knew what they meant, Munny had died screaming, covered head to toe in flames. It had been hard to witness, the little twist had stood no chance against that monstrosity. Zeck had never seen anything like it before, none of them had and he doubted that even together they could have done anything more than irritate it. Even his laspistol, which he had once thought of as a fearsome weapon, had proved completely useless. No wonder Beta hadn't been concerned when they first met. Had the Master not done something weird they would all be dead now.

Zeck's attention was dragged back as Lynia said, "We should leave him."

Zeck realised she meant Beta but Refus looked panicked as he protested, "We can't, we'd never get away."

Lynia snorted, "Not likely in his condition."

That made all their eyes turn to the Master, who was slumped in a corner. Beta looked at death's door, sprawled against a bulkhead with his legs flung out before him. He head was in his chin and his staff leant against his shoulder as black fluids dribbled out the wound in his side. Beta had seemed tireless and invincible, leading them into the dark until they found this spot and then he had collapsed. Since then he hadn't said a word, silently sitting there without moving.

Lynia growled, "We should never have agreed to go with him."

Zeck agreed, "I said that earlier, but what other choice did we have, he'd have killed us if we refused."

Refus looked worried as he said, "You don't think he can hear us... do you?"

"I wouldn't put anything past him," Lynia muttered.

Refus looked at Zeck and said, "Maybe you should talk to him."

Zeck started in surprise and said, "And say what?"

"I dunno," Refus replied, "Tell him we're off."

Zeck snorted, "You tell him."

"No," Lynia argued, "He's taken an interest in you. You're the only one who can reason with him."

"Yeah," Refus urged, "You do it."

Zeck glared at them but knew he had lost this argument. Testily he turned his back on them and walked away, headed towards the fallen Master. Zeck carefully examined Beta as he closed, seeing no movement and for an instant dared to hope the Master had died. But just as he was about to grin Beta stirred and said, "What do you want?"

Zeck stopped a few paces shy of Beta and swallowed to clear his throat then said, "We've been talking, we think this is as far as we can go."

Beta lifted his head slightly and said, "No, we must press on."

Zeck dared to say, "You can carry on if you want, we're not going any further."

Now Beta's gaze came up and he fixed the twist with a steely glare as he growled, "We shall continue."

Zeck felt his fear and resentment warring within him but he knew what the Master could do and his sense of self-preservation won out. Instead he dared to say, "What was that thing?"

"An old enemy," Beta growled, "One I am glad to be rid off."

Zeck mused, "It felt… wrong. All dirty inside, like a dead normie left to rot too long."

"You sensed that?" Beta mused, "Anurax was tainted, Chaos had claimed him."

"Koas?" Zeck wondered aloud.

"The Ruinous Powers," Beta ventured, "The Four Gods of the Warp."

"Oh, the Four," Zeck said, "We hear of them, our tribe never really got into that but some of the twist clans worship them. They say they grant magic powers."

"Fools," Beta snarled, "Chaos rewards the strong, not pitiful filth like that. Those clans can bray aloud and cut themselves all they like, the Dark Gods will take no interest in them."

Zeck dared to say, "But you and that other one…"

Beta drew in a breath now and uttered, "We of the Legion take what we need, but no more. Chaos is our tool, we do not let it rule us. Anurax went too far, he was overwhelmed by the power and ultimately became its puppet. The Legion refuses to bow to anyone, we chart our own course."

"Legion, is that what you call yourselves?" Zeck asked.

Beta nodded and explained, "We were one of twenty Legions, forged long ago by a tyrant Emperor. He made us to fight his wars but he cared not for us. We were tools, limited and bound to his whim and that of his Primarch sons. They forced us into a war greater than any other, a Heresy that tore the stars apart, but they refused to give us the weapons we needed to win. We could have reeved across the stars and become the supreme power in the galaxy but they refused to accept that Chaos was the tool we needed to use. They preferred we remained limited and bound to mundane strictures. The Alpha Legion could have become rulers of all, but they would not take the necessary steps, so they had to go."

Zeck was lost but he could sense the truth of Beta's tirade for the Master was revealing his real thoughts. The Twist didn't know who he was referring to but he sounded angry, this was an old grudge, left to fester for a long time.

Carefully Zeck pressed, "So why are the Masters after you?"

Beta breathed out and said, "Power is a complicated thing, a new lord came and decided he did not want to share power. I was a threat to him and he decided to remove me from the board. I can't blame him really, I would have done the same sooner or later, but I intend to make him pay regardless."

Zeck was doubtful about that and said, "How? You can barely walk."

Beta shook his head and said, "My wounds are significant but I will manage. All I need is to reach my weapons cache, there are items there that will ensure my victory."

Zeck looked at his wound and remarked, "I don't think you will make it that far."

"A Legionaries' will is steel," Beta declared, "I only need a little time to recover."

"Let hope so," Zeck muttered, "My laspistol won't do much good if the other Masters find us."

"You provided a distraction," Beta commented.

"I… I was aiming for the head," Zeck confessed.

"Ha," Beta muttered, "We'll have to work on your aim."

For a moment Zeck almost forgot how much he loathed all the Masters, but suddenly there was a flash behind them and Zeck turned to see a peculiar sight. The shimmering projection had disappeared, the rising spots of lights fading as another image formed The outline was blurry and obscured by static, but the sight was unmistakeable, another Master. The lord was sitting in a chair and staring out of the projection as if looking right at Zeck.

Alk took a step backwards and whined as his new toy was taken away from him but Zeck was enthralled and gasped, "What is that?"

With a grind of damaged machinery Beta laboured to his feet and snarled, "Harrowmaster."

The image in the projection began to speak, the voice issuing from a tiny patch on the pedestal. It sounded tiny and oddly high pitched but Zeck assumed that was because of the broken-down nature of the projector. The figure was speaking and Zeck tried to follow what he was telling them but it was hard to follow. The being was making references to things he didn't understand and talking about events he had never heard of. Without a context none of it made sense but Beta seemed to understand everything, he sounded irate as he growled, "No… no, he can't be."

Zeck frowned but the projection wasn't done yet, slowly he reached up and removed his helmet, revealing the face beneath. Even through a distorted projection the face made him step back in shock. The being was powerful and stern, as all masters were, but the eyes were a blaze of malevolent intent, boring right into him. Zeck's jaw fell as the hard eyes held his gaze, trapping his vision and holding it in a vice. He couldn't look away from that hypnotic gaze, his will was dissolving and his body froze as an instinctive fear whelmed up within him. He was trapped and helpless, ensnared in that gaze like a rodent before a viper, waiting for the strike to come.

Suddenly there was a shower of sparks and a brilliant light that burned for a single moment then snapped off. Zeck blinked as the image disappeared, leaving behind green blobs in his vision. Zeck shook his head and blinked hard, trying to see again and slowly his sight returned. He looked up and saw Beta standing with his staff rammed into the base of the pedestal, which was now sparking erratically.

Beta's wounds seemed to be overruled by his will and he sounded angry as he spat, "No, this isn't possible."

Zeck swallowed to ease his throat and he said, "What was that?"

"It doesn't matter," Beta growled, "He's dead, both of them are. The Primarchs are dead."

"What is a Primarch?" Zeck queried in bewilderment.

Beta however was still muttering to himself, "I made sure of it, I made sure that they died. I know they are gone… but then I never saw the bodies. Could it be; could Omegon have evaded his doom? No… no I refuse to believe it. This is some trick, it has to be."

Zeck wasn't following this and asked, "What is going on?"

Beta finally returned to his senses and he looked at the twist as he growled, "It is nothing, I merely need to adjust my plans."

Zeck frowned as he said, "I don't understand what's going on."

Yet Beta had already stepped aside and had started making marks on the floor with the tip of his staff. He described a large circle upon the ground and then began etching strange runes around the edge that hurt Zeck's eyes to look upon. The twists gathered together and Lynia asked, "What are you doing?"

Beta continued his workings, meticulously etching symbols into the floor as he muttered, "Something I really wanted to avoid."

Refus inquired innocently, "Like what?"

"Perform a summoning," Beta stated, "We are going to call forth a Daemon."

The Twists all looked at each other in befuddlement and then Zeck spoke for them all as he said, "What's a Daemon?"