Indomitus Bellum Chapter 37

"Arvael, wake up damn you," the words rang in his ears, stirring him out of a deep slumber. It was difficult to discern any meaning, their significance distorted by the murky clouds that filled his spirit. Again the words came, forcing a ripple of discomfort within him and the feeling arose that he should be doing something. The black clouds resisted his awakening, trying to smother him in a choking lethargy but a hint of defiance sparked within him. His will hardened to a diamond point then with a surge of superhuman effort Arvael opened his eyes.

The Librarian gasped as he awoke, pulling his head up from the nape of his neck where it had been hanging. It took a few seconds for his autosenses to focus and his helm's vision blurred before finally settling down. Arvael found himself suspended off the floor, pinned to one of the seven great pillars. He was spread-eagled, limbs lashed down with thick tendrils of slimy fungal matter. He instinctively tried to break his arms free but he was completely enveloped, trapped in unbreakable shackles. Reflexively Arvael tried to summon forth his Psychic power but found it was beyond his grasp. The tendrils were forcing a debilitating lethargy into his mind, trying to drag him back down into unconsciousness. He required a constant effort merely to stay awake and he could not spare the attention to reach for the door in his soul, from whence his power flowed.

Unable to free himself Arvael looked about, his head still having some freedom of movement. He found his compatriots similarly imprisoned, each of them bound to a separate pillar. To his right Lieutenant Smyth was held securely in a cocoon of tendrils, the Sword of Thiel hanging a mere inch from his straining fingertips. That was a nasty touch; Smyth could see the blade but could not reach it, a cruel taunt regarding his helplessness. Beyond him Sergeant Orath was engulfed in tendrils, his heavy plate needing twice as many restraints as the others.

Beyond him Arvael could just make out the form of Yones, while to his left Megaro was hanging from a pillar of his own, still trapped as when they had arrived. Further left Shade-Seer Imix was hanging loosely in a web of tendrils, his body still and unmoving. Even Psychically powerless Arvael could sense the energies forcing Imix to remain asleep, so much that it was guzzling immense amounts of power from everybody else's prisons, which was why they were awake and he was not.

Arvael's motion drew attention and he heard Smyth's voice exclaim, "Finally! He's awake!"

Arvael looked over and groaned, "What happened?"

From further away Orath spat, "That wretched whoreson Fiett betrayed us!"

There was a deep and threatening growl as a resentful voice uttered, "Duplicitous filth!"

Arvael turned his head and saw Megaro was also awake, the renegade Chaplain stirring in his own bonds. The tendrils holding him down were taught with tension and Arvael realised he was fighting them, constantly pressing forward in a relentless effort to break free. It was a wasted effort, for the cocoon held him securely but Megaro cared not, his spirit obstinate and unyielding. Arvael knew that he would fight to his last breath and die before surrendering.

Arvael addressed the Chaplain saying, "We thought you were behind this treachery."

"Then you are a damned fool," Megaro snarled, "Fiett came to my cell and overpowered me with unholy strength, I woke up here, bound and imprisoned. He will pay for his treason; I will rip out his hearts and make him watch as they stop beating."

But suddenly another voice interjected, "Do any of you comprehend that I can hear you talking?"

Arvael's head snapped up and his gaze found Fiett standing near to the altar with his helm off and a gore-soaked knife in his hand. His face was filled with a mocking glee and his eyes shone with a terrible fervour. Yet more shocking was that his arms were coated in blood, thick transhuman blood staining him to the elbows. Arvael gaped dumbly for a second then his eyes spotted a corpse on the altar and three more on the floor around it, Primaris Marines, all dead and lifeless.

"Arkias, Maral, Nabalai, Sonatas, he murdered them all," Yones hissed from his own pillar.

Orath growled in turn, "I'm going to kill you for that."

Fiett turned to face them and tutted, "So rude, after all my hard work bringing you here."

In response Megaro jerked in his bondage and roared, "You faithless cur! I name you Traitor and condemn you in the name of the Divine Emperor!"

Fiett glanced at him and spat, "Save it, year after year I've been silently putting up with your spiteful vitriol, but no more, it's finally my turn to be heard."

Arvael forced down a glut of angry bile and hissed, "How could you do this?"

Fiett smiled wickedly and confessed, "I'm sorry but I lied to you, when I told you I regretted leaving with Megaro. Truthfully, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I finally saw a universe beyond the restrictions and boundaries the Chapter set upon us. I was finally free, to explore my potential, to be whoever I wanted to be."

Furiously Megaro roared, "I saved you from the heresy engulfing our Chapter and you threw it back in my face!"

Fiett's smile evaporated and he snarled, "You?! You didn't save us, I saved us! When we were lost in the warp, when the crew were taken by the Daemons and the rot, I was the one who made a bargain to save us. Did you think it was your faith? That your prayers led us back to realspace? No, it was me! The Daemons of Nurgle spoke to me, offering power, salvation and immortality. I accepted the bargain, I let the Grandfather plant a germ of his power in my flesh and he delivered us to where he needed us to be."

"I'll kill you!" Megaro bellowed.

"Shut up," Fiett snapped, "You have no idea how much we despise you, how many times we've wanted to see you dead. No… no death is too quick for you, we want you to suffer."

Arvael glared at him, fury building in his hearts but he icily hissed, "Why do you keep referring to yourself in the plural?"

Fiett grinned once more and said, "Well… I couldn't get around the Crusade's security on my own, all those intricate wards and the Psykers probing constantly for taint, so I recruited a partner."

Suddenly there was the clumping of armoured boots and out of the corner of his eye Arvael saw another Ceramite-clad body entering the fane. Shocked gasps arose from all when they beheld the thick Gravis armour, marked with the emblems of the Unnumbered Sons. The wearer's face was exposed, displaying a superior smile over the familiar features of Captain Kieva.

Smyth gasped as he saw his Captain enter and he uttered, "Kieva? But… but.. no, it's not possible!"

Kieva jauntily strolled up to them and Arvael saw he had something in his grip but the Primaris Marine looked up and said, "Hello Smyth, in trouble again?"

Smyth sounded dumbfounded as he spluttered, "How… what… how?"

Kieva grinned as he replied, "Lost for words?"

Smyth uttered in shock, "But… but no Primaris Marine has ever fallen to Chaos!"

Kieva snorted at that and said, "You bought that line? Propaganda, Smyth, pure propaganda. Of course some Primaris have fallen, but it has all been covered up. The old Chapters would never accept Primaris Marines into their ranks were they to learn we are no purer in spirit than they."

Smyth still sounded aghast as he breathed, "Why?"

"Why not?" Kieva retorted, "All I have ever wanted is recognition, to make my mark on the galaxy but the Senior Commanders never showed me a modicum of respect, they never gave me a chance to shine. Deep down I always knew I was going to be forsaken, sent to reinforce some insignificant Chapter as the Crusade moved on. Then Fiett arrived and showed me how pathetically small my dreams were."

"No," Smyth whispered in denial, "This is a trick…"

"There's that optimism again," Kieva sneered, "How many times did I tell you hope was useless? Hope held me back, the hope of earning my superior's respect, but once I tasted despair so many other possibilities opened up. I always wanted to make a mark on the galaxy but Fiett showed me how to carve a wound that will never be forgotten, a scar that will never fade. Nobody ever respected me, but soon all will fear me!"

Arvael saw Smyth was struggling to believe his own eyes but interrupted to say accusingly, "You were behind the destruction of Inerus."

Kieva chuckled triumphantly and replied, "Inerus was a Beta test, to work out the Knicks in the curse. We still can't get it to work on Space Marines but mortals are helpless to resist its power."

Suddenly Yones gasped, "You sabotaged the Omnissiah's Bounty! Ingvis was right, that was no accident!"

Kieva smirked as he said, "Poor Ingvis, always sticking his nose in where it wasn't welcome."

With that he raised the object in his hand and revealed the decapitated head of Sergeant Ingvis. The dead eyes stared lifelessly and the jaw hung low as Kieva gloated, "Ingvis saw more than he was supposed to and I had to kill the fool."

"Ingvis!" Smyth roared as he wrestled to break out of his confinement, "You bastard! When the Custodian Guards get here they will rip you to shreds!"

Both Traitors chuckled at that and Kieva jeered, "You idiots, why would the Custodes come when nobody has alerted them?"

"What do you…" Yones began to say then suddenly cried in shocked realisation, "RUSTY COG! You never even spoke to them, did you?!"

Kieva carelessly chucked Ingvis' lifeless head aside and said, "Nobody knows you're here, nobody has even noticed you're gone. And even if they do, they will never detect Nurgle's mirror world."

Arvael's hearts were burning in outrage but he forced himself to say, "What I don't understand is why you needed to lure Captain Toran into a trap."

But Fiett laughed aloud, "Toran? We don't want Toran! He's not important or special, he's a complete nobody. The Storm Heralds are nothing to us save a means to an end. Our real objective has always been your friend Imix."

"Imix?!" Arvael exclaimed as he glanced at the still unconscious Shade-Seer.

"Yes," Kieva replied smoothly, "Imix is a most potent psyker, a walking gateway to the warp. With his power fuelling our rituals we could spread the curse to every mortal on the ship and accelerate the conversion from days to minutes. We tried to ensnare and trap Imix so many times but he's a wily one, always one step ahead of us. It was utterly frustrating, especially since we had to bury Nurgle's gifts so deeply, lest we fall foul of the layers of wards that riddle this ship."

Fiett added, "Thankfully the Grandfather's servants showed us a better way, for there was a soul who could draw Imix out of hiding. You, Arvael, the Daemons of the Warp told us that Imix would take an interest in you."

Angrily Arvael spat, "You used me to lure Imix into a trap!"

Then Smyth snarled, "You want to destroy the Macragge's Honour and tear out the heart of the Crusade!"

"Very insightful," Kieva commented, "The same insight that kept you digging into our affairs. I tried to warn you off, but you just wouldn't quit. Then when you mentioned bringing in the Custodes… well, that's when I knew you were going to get in the way of our plans."

Fiett elaborated, "The End Times are at hand, but this Crusade is actually managing to turn the tide. All the Ruinous Powers are determined to stop it. Nurgle has already dispatched his most powerful servants, but Mortarion is too conventional… too sentimental. He thought invading Ultramar was the way but there are subtler methods available to us. We will graft a Greater Daemon into Imix's soul and enhanced by his power the curse will overrun this ship, converting every mortal on board. Then our Undead army will kill the Imperium's last hope and the Indomitus Crusade shall fail."

Orath growled, "And where do we fit in?"

"You?" Kieva snorted, "You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, you will make useful sacrifices, your lifeblood will complete our rituals and draw forth a Great Unclean One."

Hatefully Megaro growled, "When I break free of this I am going to kill you, slowly and painfully."

Fiett shook his head and took his up knife as he said, "Now, now Megaro, there's no need to be rude. I shall let you watch as I tear out Yones' hearts, then Smyth's, then Orath's, then Arvael's. I trust you're paying attention, I want you to feel this."