Adelana was still getting used to the fact that the blue sphere had popped then Commissar Tathe, Hayden, the remaining Imperial Guard and hundreds of civilians had suddenly just appeared behind them. It'd happened so fast Adelana and the others had almost shot them if Tathe hadn't made them stand down.
Now Tathe and the others had hunkered down beside the Throne Agents and with added their salvo, into the mass of Resurrected below. Although, it seemed many couldn't having run out of ammunition during their push into the tower.
That included Hayden who Adelana then stole a glance at, he sat a few metres away, his Long Las laid over his shoulder and staring into space with hooded eyes.
'Concentrate,' said Tathe causing Adelana to flinch and go back to her shooting. The Commissar knelt beside her, about half a metre away, but his very presence seemed to smother her.
He was also devastatingly handsome, even with the scars on his face and his salting hair. Adelana would describe him using the cliche 'tall dark and handsome.' Even more so than Hayden, but unlike Hayden, Tathe had an incredible amount of charisma just oozing from him and...
Adelana blushed and pushed the thoughts away, now wasn't the time for that.
'I should be up there,' said Tathe.
It took Adelana a few seconds to realise he was addressing her.
'U-u-u-up w-where, Commissar?'
'Up the top of the tower, fighting my father with your boyfriend.'
'H-he-he isn't my b-boyfriend!'
'He isn't? Why not?'
'B-because I-I don't like him that way! Okay?'
'Okay, okay. My apologies, young lady, if I caused you offence.'
Adelana sighed. 'Why do you think you should be up there fighting with Attelus?'
'Because I am an Imperial Commissar,' said Tathe as he fired off another flurry. 'It is my duty to bring my father to justice and your...friend might need my help. Emperor only knows what my father has become.'
Adelana smiled despite herself as she ducked to avoid a blurt of enemy lasfire along with Tathe.
'Well, you do not have to worry too much about Attelus needing help,' she said. 'If anyone can take down your father it's Attelus Kaltos.'
Despite just nicking him the punch would've broken Attelus bones if they weren't reinforced with wraithbone. The pain burst through Attelus' ribs, it made him cry out as he was flung from his feet. In mid-air, he curled himself a split-second before he hit the floor. The world turned into a whirling blur as he rolled with the impact and finished in a crouch, looking up just in time to see the general charging towards him, chainsword raised. The chainsword swung out in a huge horizontal arc that Attelus barely managed to duck.
'You are a fool!' the General snarled, as he smashed down for Attelus vertically, which Attelus side-stepped. The whirring blade crashed into the floor, leaving a large gash. The general rallied and began to slice for Attelus again and again with a wild mixture of downward diagonal and vertical blows, which made more grazes and in the sandstone and sent Attelus skidding and sliding backwards.
'See my strength?' snarled the General. 'My speed? Khorne gifted these to me! You could have been the same! But you rejected His gifts!'
Attelus clenched his teeth as frustration boiled through his hazed mind, he was sick of fighting enemies with such ludicrously longer reach than him, first Kalakor, the Bloodletters, the Bloodthirster and now frigging General Tathe. He was short, around 1.67 metres he'd always been short, he'd dealt with that fact a long time ago, but by the Emperor, it got to him now! Attelus sighed through his gritted teeth as he side-stepped yet another cut, that was just the reality of fighting in the 41st millennium, and whining about it wouldn't make any difference it'd just get him killed.
Especially now.
As if to emphasise this he barely managed to slip aside a thrust which almost came out of nowhere, the chain tore through his flak jacket, chewing the flak plate and black leather into shreds. Luckily for Attelus, the teeth were too sharp to become bunched into the material, so just passed through.
His heart bashing through his entirety, Attelus darted leftwards, leaping three times, each making a good four metres to make as much room as he could from the General's onslaught.
The General wasn't far behind, his sprinting footfalls and roaring Chainsword seeming to shake the whole, huge room.
'Blood for the blood god!' the General bellowed as he brought out his Chainsword in an upward, diagonal bash. Attelus slipped from its path, but not fast enough to prevent more of his jacket to fly away in shards, and the onrush of air hit him between the eyes, sending him stumbling.
'Skulls for the skull throne!' the General reversed it into a downward, vertical cut, which Attelus back-stepped. This time the strike smashed into the sandstone, sending out shards in every direction, Attelus' sword sliced out seemingly on its own, the powerfield vaporising any bits that flew his way.
Attelus grinned. 'Y-y-y-you w-w-wouldn't h-have taken my-my skull if you hit then, just destroyed it.'
'It does not matter how the blood flows. Just that it flows!'
The General turned on him then launched into another flurry of chop after chop, Attelus dodged and weaving through it, searching desperately for an opening to exploit. But while the General's attacks were fuelled with breath-taking ferocity, it was tempered with skill and speed, enough that with his superior reach Attelus couldn't take advantage of any openings. Attelus still had three krak grenades and two frag grenades left. And, well, his autopistol, too, but he doubted that would make much difference.
Even so, Attelus lunged back, drew his pistol and fired off a flurry of manstopper shots.
And, of course, they merely ricocheted off the General's chest.
The General stopped his offence and laughed. 'How pathetic! Khorne has gifted me immunity to such pitiful weaponry! You could have received this gift! Making it that you do not have to bother to jump and bounce around like some Eldar wench!'
Attelus frowned. 'I'd rather that...th-than s-s-sell my soul to-to-to Chaos.'
'You would rather sell it to a Xenos witch, then?'
Attelus' frowned deepened, how the hell did he know that? Kharkartskar knew about Faleaseen, so it made sense the General would as well. But what else did he know?
'I-I-I h-had n-no choice in th-th-that matter,' said Attelus. 'B-b-but y-y-yes, I w-w-would!'
'Little fool! Xenos are not meant to be trusted, least of all the damnable Eldar.'
'A-a-a-a-and I-I'm meant t-to tr-trust Ch-Chaos g-g-gods?'
'Yes! It is freeing; you just do not wish to because of the Imperial lies forced on you since you were a child.'
'W-well couldn't i-it b-b-b-be th-the same with th-the Eldar? I-I-I h-have seen w-what Chaos does and it-it's f-far m-more h-horrific th-than the Eldar...Well...The Craftworld E-E-Eldar...Anyway.'
The general let out a roar, that was so inhuman it caused Attelus to flinch and reminded him of Kharkartskar.
'It matters little,' said the General. 'You have rejected Khorne's gifts, He will not offer it to you again.'
An idea hit Attelus as he shrugged then he exploded forward. Taken off guard, the General barely managed to parry Attelus' thrust. Then the clatter of something drew the General's attention downward as Attelus leapt backwards.
The krak grenade exploded in mid-air, but the General had dived out if its radius, into a roll. But by then Attelus had already primed a second krak and threw it in the General's path. It exploded in front of the General's chest, vaporising half of his torso in a cloud of red vapour and threw him writhing and spinning across the floor a good few metres. The General's shriek of agony seemed to shake the room.
'C-c-can't b-believe th-that worked this time,' said Attelus. 'G-good th-thing y-y-y-you aren't w-wearing p-power armour.'
'You dishonourable cur! Khorne spit on you!'
'I-i-ifff there's o-o-one thing I've learnt o-ov-over the y-years is that-that honour i-i-is o-overrated and-and that co-combat rolls are-are s-stupid...Except, f-f-for when th-th-they're a-absolutely n-n-n-necessary.'
But by then, the General was already dead.
'Stop firing!' Dellenger yelled over the vox. 'Everyone stop firing now!'
Everyone did, Adelana and Tathe included, but it took them a good few seconds and they exchanged confused glances.
Tathe reached for his micro-bead. 'Why, Dell...'
The Commissar trailed off and his jaw dropped.
'W-what's wrong?' said Adelana as she followed his gaze, down into the foyer below and she gaped too.
The Resurrected were dropping one after another into loose, lifeless heaps. Like they just suddenly became aware they were dead.
'He did it!' someone cried although Adelana couldn't begin to comprehend who. 'The frigger actually did it!'
'By the Emperor,' said Adelana, as the comprehension finally dawned on her. 'Did...did Attelus...Did he?'
'I don't frigging know what he did,' said Tathe. 'But he somehow managed to stop them! He stopped them!'
Adelana couldn't help let the welling within her make her squeal and eclipse Tathe in a hug as the triumphant cries of the survivors around began to rise.
Their hug was cut short as Adelana reached for her micro-bead with a shaking hand, and tuned it for another channel.
'Attelus? Attelus?' she cried.
'A-Adelana? Th-th-that you?'
'Yes, it's me, dummy! The Resurrected, they're dying. So you got him? You got General Tathe?'
'I-I-I did, A-Adelana. So k-killing him-him d-did...W-what's th-that?'
'Wh-what's what, Attelus?'
'A light, it's-it's j-just a-a-a-appeared. A-Adelana I'll...I-I'll.'
Then he cut the link.
'Attelus?' she said. 'Attelus?'
'What's wrong?'
Adelana turned, Karmen, he eyes half-closed and her head was lolling on her neck, still sitting and staring at her. 'What's Attelus doing?'
'Something's wrong,' said Adelana. 'Something's very wrong.'
The white light had appeared in the corner of Attelus eye, and he turned to face it and became fixated. It was roughly shaped like a door and shimmered and wavered just above the floor.
'Wh-what in th-the Emp-E-Emperor's n-n-n-name?'
+I have been waiting...+
The voice echoed through all of Attelus' skull and seemed to shiver through every inch of his frame. Attelus wanted to ask, "for what" but found his tongue frozen in his throat and his feet began to carry him toward the light door like they suddenly gained a consciousness of their own.
+For over ten thousand years...For only one such as you can find my prison.+
A strange fuzzing began to cover Attelus' brain.
+One such as you imprisoned me here...he was a fool...More the fool to make it possible I can be found by Perpetuals other than himself. Or perhaps that was the limitation of the sorcery he used to +
Attelus clenched his teeth and tried to fight, to make himself stop, but it was like trying to stop falling.
+You have managed to break from my trance, impressive, but I have control of your body, so it makes little difference. For 10,000 years I have gathered power from the people who have lived in this world, you cannot defeat me.+
Attelus let out a growl and fought in spite of the words. But he wouldn't move, it reminded him of back in the base of Brutis Bones and his Moody Hammers, but far, far more potent. He had defeated that, overcome it so he could take Karmen in his arms and stop her from tearing into her beautiful face.
+I have been watching you since your arrival, little perpetual. I was the one who sent you that message; I am glad you. You are impressive, and you will make an excellent host.+
'H-host?'
+Yes. Have you not comprehended it yet? I am Kalncerak. The consumer of souls, I am the purest incarnation of death in existence, and thanks to you, I shall finally be free! Free to live in your little body in the Material realm and slaughter all that gets in my way, and you, little Perpetual will have to watch all of it through my eyes, trapped inside of me for all of eternity. But first...first I am so very hungry, and there are a few souls in the base of this tower...+
Attelus heart iced over as tears welled in his eyes. 'No! Please! No! No, no, no. No!'
The voice of Kalncerak only laughed as Attelus stepped through the door.
