Speculum Enigmate Chapter 19

The bridge rocked with the violence of battle, aberrant masses of enemies surging forward in an attempt to overwhelm the Reivers. There was no trace of humanity in their eyes, only the overpowering need to obliterate the intruders in their domain. The crowd moved as one, surging and regrouping like a flock of birds wheeling through the sky. Each one of them acted as an individual being but coordinated with their fellows in an inhuman manner. It was the Broodmind, the psychic union of their minds blended with the Xenos impulses of their alien forebearers, driving them into battle like a lash in their subconscious.

The midst of the combat Sergeant Gotram fought to hold back the tide, slashing and hacking at the crowd. He lopped off hands and plunged his knife into eyes with relentless fury but no matter how many he cut down more would press forward. The Hybrids were relentless in their ferocity and scornful of losses, trampling the injured underfoot in their ardour to reach the Space Marines and tear them limb from limb. The bridge grew slick with spilt blood, rivulets of salty hot vitae dripping off the surface to drive the Crotalids below to frenzy. One slip would see the Reivers crushed underfoot or toppled into the churning waters, where they would be snatched up by hungry jaws.

Yet that was not Gotram's primary concern, his attention was focused upon the centre of the bridge, where Jediah duelled the Genestealer Purestrain. The duel was vicious, each one of them moving so fast they became a blur. The Purestrian lashed out with the razor-sharp claws on each of its four arms, its strikes like lightning bolts as they tore Ceramite armour, leaving vicious gouges in the plate. Jediah should have been totally outmatched by this foe but somehow he held his own. His Fractal-edged short sword stuck and sliced, tearing bloody welts into Chitin, giving back as many wounds as he was suffering. While he did this he dodged and weaved, somehow always managing to be in a position to avoid a death strike. Rending claws skittered over his pauldrons and breastplate but the angles were poor and the alien could not land the fatal blow it needed to end the duel.

Gotram fought against the press of enemies in his desperation to reach the duel and intervene but the weight of the foe was against him. No matter how hard he fought he could not break through the waves of bodies coming at him. He was a man trying to hold back an incoming tide; no matter what he did he could not deny their advance. Then he saw it, the worst sight imaginable: two more purestrains bounding through the crowd, seeking to join the fray as the lesser Hybrids fell back, clearing their route.

"Ware!" Gotram yelled as they split up, one heading for Jediah to end the duel, the other coming right at him. Gotram lost sight of the duel as his vision filled with a snarling maw, vicious fangs coming at him like it intended to swallow him whole and flashing claws angling for his heart. Gotram reacted instinctively, by dropping his left shoulder and presenting his Pauldron. Every Reiver carried a thicker plate on his left side, to honour the spirit of the wargear and in extremis it also served as an effective ablative shield. Rending claws tore through thick Ceramite and Gotram gritted his teeth as the force of the impact nearly bowled him over. Yet he dug in his heels and stayed upright as the alien screeched in frustrated rage. The Xenos' arms flicked backwards, driven by sinews like steel hawsers and the Ceramite plate ripped free, shorn from Gotram's armour entirely.

The Sergeant was outraged at the offence to his armour's pride. A son of Terra and of Mars he felt the affront doubly and it drove him into a mad charge, meeting the Purestrain chest to chest. The Genestealer had not expected its victim to react so and it screeched in alarm as Gotram's knife stuck upwards, driven into its side. The point slid between Chitin plates and drove deep, spilling thick purple blood in torrents over Gotram's hand and down his arm. His grip grew slick on his knife but he drove on, pushing for all he was worth. He looked into his enemy's eyes, those dark pits of alien horror and beheld its spirit. There was no trace of humanity in those orbs, no empathy, no mercy or understanding, only the relentless need to conquer and pervert all that was good and pure in the Imperium of Man. Its alien impulses were corrupt and vile, loathsome unto the hearts of any true Warrior, but there was rage, a deep and burning rage that Gotram recognised as the need to kill and destroy. Gotram hated this being as he had hated no other, he wanted the alien to die, he wanted its filth wiped from the universe. But sadly it was not yet dead.

The Purestrain's mouth opened and from within shot forth a barbed tongue, hung with glistening sacks containing Omnissiah only knew what. Gotram flung his head aside as the tongue darted for his skull-mask, missing by an inch. It drew back in an instant and stabbed again and again, each time nearly spearing Gotram through the face. The Sergeant had no choice but to fling himself backwards, pulling free his knife as he did so with a wet slurp. The Purestrain sagged slightly as thick blood poured from its side but it drew itself up and prepared to strike again.

Gotram crouched low in readiness to meet it once more but suddenly from the crowd of battle came Brother Ortal, the Reiver diving for the Purestrain's back with a cry of righteous condemnation. "No!" Gotram yelled but it was too late, the Purestrain flipped about with impossible velocity, reacting with a speed that made even a Space Marine's eyes water. Its Rending claws flashed and caught Ortal across the chest, tearing through his breastplate to leave behind gouges that spilt Transhuman blood. Ortal was flung to the ground and Gotram could not see if his Brother lived or not, yet his foolish charge had bought a second of respite.

Filled with righteous wrath Gotram leapt for the foe's back as the Genestealer spun about. Its claws flashed again but Gotram was not aiming for its heart and the talons passed harmlessly overhead as the Reiver went low. His shoulder hit the ground and he rolled between its feet, knife darting out to tear through the alien sinews behind its knees. The Purestrain screamed as its balance was lost, staggering drunkenly to one side and it stumbled. Instantly Gotram bunched up and brought both boots to his chest, then kicked upwards, driving his feet into the Purestrain's rear. The Genestealer screamed as it was propelled forward, foot claws digging at the bridge and arms lashing out at thin air but nothing could deny its momentum as it was sent hurtling over the side. Gotram rolled over and got to the edge just in time to see the Purestrain seized by a massive pair of reptilian jaws, clamping across its chest in a death grip. Rending claws tore at the snout but it was helpless to resist as the Crotalid dove under the water, carrying it away to drown in the waters.

One Genestealer had been defeated but two more yet remained. Gotram jumped to his feet and turned, expecting to find Jediah's corpse but to his utter shock the Lieutenant was yet standing. One Purestrain was staggering back, a vicious tear across its chest, the other was on its knees with Jediah's sword rammed into the back of its neck. The Marine was bloodied and battered, his armour smote most cruelly and painted purple by alien blood but the warrior was yet fighting. Jediah ripped his sword out and chopped downwards, bisecting an arm wrapped in Chitin as the Purestrain collapsed in a gory heap at his feet. Then Jediah spun to meet the second Genestealer with the shorn arm held like a weapon.

Rending Claws struck for his hearts but Jediah deflected this with the Chitin limb in his hand as his sword sliced across a shoulder blade. The Purestrain lashed out with another arm, tearing over his side but Jediah stuck upwards with the Chitin limb, tearing Rending Claws over its chest in a brutal uppercut. The Genestealer reeled from the unexpected blow and in that instant Jediah was upon it. His sword was lightning as it stabbed and hacked, dicing the hide to pieces. The Chitin limb slashed and gouged, slicing long furrows into the alien's flesh, its armour no match for its own kind's talons. The Purestrain was falling back desperately, unable to defend against two forms of attack and it's simple mind quailed as it tried to respond. Its arms went low to block a stab from the sword but in doing so left its head exposed. Jediah saw the opening and swung wide, slashing the Rending Claws of his improvised weapon across its neck, tearing clean through to decapitate the alien entirely.

The Genestealer froze for an instant, then it keeled over, head rolling free to leave Jediah standing triumphant over the body. The crowd of foes wailed at the sight, their vaunted elite had been bested and they began to retreat, falling back hissing and snarling like animals. Gotram breathed a sigh of relief as they withdrew along the bridge, almost doubling over as his gene-implants burned hot, working to restore his equilibrium and make good a score of wounds he hadn't noticed taking. Even a Primaris had limits and it would take a moment for his genhanced body to return to maximum efficiency.

He saw Ortal on the floor, clutching his chest where massed Larraman Cells were forming a dense knot of clots over his ragged wounds. Gotram didn't dishonour him by offering to help him up, such a display of weakness was intolerable, but he did say, "Ortal, are you going to die on me?"

"Not today," Ortal replied in a voice of suppressed pain, "Just glad we saw them off."

Gotram agreed but Jediah's head spun about as he barked, "Are you insane?! They're not retreating, they're forming a firing squad!"

Gotram's eyes snapped up and he saw that the Hybrids were indeed doing so. Their retreat had let them spread out along the stone walkway beside the churning waters and they were presenting lasguns and autopistols, far more than the Reivers could hope to withstand. Gotram's jaw dropped as he realised these Hybrids were no mindless mass of berserk drones, they could think and act tactically. Their Broodmind had failed to overwhelm the Space Marines with brute force and now it was changing tactics, determining that shooting them from afar was more effective than the hack and thrust of melee.

Ortal wobbled to his feet and spat, "Grit in the Cogs, looks like they remembered they have guns."

"I was counting on them forgetting that," Gotram muttered as he glanced over his shoulder, "We have to fall back to the far side."

"Too far, well never make it," Jediah snarled, "Quickly, target the far end of the bridge. Shoot the bridge!"

Gotram was stunned by the nonsensical order but he was conditioned to obey and his pistol was in his hand and a fresh magazine slammed home in a heartbeat. All the squad followed suit and let forth a volley of mass-reactive fire, aimed for the join of the bridge to the walkway. Bolt-rounds slammed into the Ferrocrete and bored within, detonating a second later, like small charges. The Ferrocrete span shuddered under the impacts, its ancient structure weakened by the passage of centuries and the erosion of water droplets. The rock cracked and crumbled under the onslaught, then it shattered, dropping a six foot length of stone diagonally into the frothing waters.

Gotram was dumbfounded as to what any of this had accomplished and saw the Hybrids raising their guns, preparing to slaughter the Reivers in one volley. Yet even as fingers tightened on triggers there was a ferocious roar as something huge and hungry burst out of the water. Jaws as long as a man's body, attached to a heavy head and scaled body, clawed its way up the ramp, driven by four clawed feet and a thrashing tail. It was a Crotalid and it propelled itself out of the water, driven into a feeding frenzy by the scent of blood in the water and the warm meat hovering just out of reach. With a ramp onto the balcony the Crotalid surged up into the packed ramps, its jaws snapping up three Hybrids in one lunge and knocking a dozen more off the ledge with the sweep of its tail.

The Hybrids panicked at the unexpected assault, turning their guns on it in a mad scrum. Las and solid rounds pattered off its hide, barely scratching the scales but it cared not. The Hybrids were stymied by their packed ranks, unable to bring concentrated firepower to bear and in the confusion they ended up shooting a lot of their fellows. The Crotalid surged forward, grabbing another pair of Hybrids in its jaws then diving off the ledge into the water with its prize. But there was no relief, for another Crotalid was climbing up the ramp, and another and another, forcing their way along the ledge in both directions as they tore through the packed Hybrids in showers of gore and blood. The Hybrids retreated but there was nowhere to run, they were cut off from the tunnel they had entered through and trapped against the hard walls of the Adequect. In a few moments they were all seized by hungry jaws, carried away into the water to be devoured at leisure.

The Space Marines were left on a spur of Ferrocrete, standing proud above the churning waters and Gotram gasped, "How did you think to do that?"

Jediah replied coldly, "For a true warrior everything is a weapon, even his environment."

Gotram was impressed but spied Hernaa's body and lamented, "They cost us a Brother."

"Casualties are inevitable," Jediah decreed, "Collect his weapons and ammunition, we need to move."

Gotram said, "I'll mark this spot in our armour logs, perhaps we can return and claim his body to have his gene-seed reclaimed."

"Doubtful," Jediah uttered, "We need to move twice as fast now."

Gotram was confused and said, "I thought we beat them."

Yet Jediah had already turned and was jogging towards the other tunnel as he proclaimed, "We beat nothing but one small tendril of the Broodmind. The rest of the filth will know we are here, we have to reach the heart of the infestation before they send everything they've got to finish us off!"