Speculum Enigmate Chapter 26

Things were moving fast, too fast. Events were spiralling out of control and he was swept along like a leaf on a river. For years he had carefully planned and schemed, building up intricate webs of allies and turncoats. He had arranged assassinations and back-alley murders, blackmails and extortions all in preparation for this day. Yet he had never pictured himself on the front line. Like most politicians he had thought he would be hiding in some bunker, letting others die and only emerging after the dust had settled to claim victory. He hadn't expected to be standing in an alley holding a laspistol.

Odrin was loitering around the base of the Imperial Cathedral, looking up at its soaring bulk with its hideous gargoyles and garish statues of Holy saints. It was an immense edifice, towering above the surrounding buildings, all jagged angles and dark stone. It didn't fit; it was an imposition upon this world and a brutal reminder of Terra's iron rule. Stamping down on this planet like a steel-capped boot. Long had he wanted this bastion of Imperial authority torn down, but now he was faced with the prospect of storming the front door himself he found his ardour lacking.

The First Secretary was keeping to a shadowy alcove, looking out over the bustling crowds lingering outside the door. He was wearing his fatigues but had added a flak jacket and a helmet, ugly things which he resented. He was an organiser and manipulator, his skills leaned towards politics not battle, but here he was leading the attack like some lowly soldier-caste drone. It was all Tyvis' fault, that old harridan had made it clear Odrin would be not be sheltering in safety but would be at the front. Odrin suspected she hoped he died; an irony since he had long wanted the same for her. Many evenings he had idly imagined her death, along with his many other rivals. In his more generous moments he had toyed with letting her live as his minion, keeping her in a subservient role. Then she had revealed her status as the Mother of the Kiith and the Magus of their cult. Even now he could feel her will in his mind, the Broodmind thrumming through him. He wanted to drop his weapon and slink away but he couldn't, the connection generated a searing headache every time he thought of disappearing until the fighting was over.

Odrin grimaced as he remembered his struggle to disobey but it was like trying to not breathe. No matter how he resisted the Broodmind drove him forward. Finally he had resigned himself to playing his part, agreeing to command the first wave of the attack. Still he wasn't going to be stupid about it, if he had to do this then he intended to survive. Which was why he was leading the attack on the Cathedral and not the Arbites' Precinct, he had no intention of going anywhere near that redoubtable fortress. Better to hit a soft target, or so he thought.

Around the base of the Cathedral crowds of devoted souls wandered through the broad doorway seeking spiritual guidance. They came from all walks of life and every caste, their heads turned by off-world notions and ideas. Meanwhile hawkers and shabby merchant-caste traders tried to sell trinkets and tokens to the gullible masses, bartering useless gewgaws for hard coin. Odrin felt insulted, partly because it went against the teachings of this world but mostly because it did not serve the Kiith. These fools should be rioting already, beating down the Dominus' door in outrage for the murder of her heir; instead they were getting in his way. So be it, he thought, if they would not serve his goals they could die with the rest.

From his vantage point he could see his kin hiding in the surrounding neighbourhoods, many Hybrids seeing the red sun for the first time in their lives. They had murdered the inhabitants of the homes and businesses surrounding the Cathedral, creating a staging ground for their forces to muster. They had brought up weapons and explosives from the depths, the result of years of smuggling and today they would be used for the first time. Now they waited only for his word to start the attack.

Odrin glanced at a chrono on his wrist and gulped as he realised he had nearly missed his cue. He hurriedly drew a laspistol and a short sabre from his hip, clumsily trying to fit his grip around the handle. Then he waved for those Hybrids he could see to make ready. He looked at his wrist again and counted down from ten, until finally he said, "Three, two, one…"

Abruptly there was a peal of thunder and as a terrible vibration shook the ground under his feet. High above a blazing fireball ripped out of the front of the Cathedral, blowing chunks of masonry and statutes into the sky. The crowds milling around the entranceway barely had time to look up before solid rock rained down upon them. Those directly under the impacts were killed instantly, crushed by tons of debris. Those further out were perhaps worse off, struck by smaller chunks or flying shrapnel they fell with shattered limbs and bleeding heads, feebly moaning in pain and confusion.

Flames and thick, acrid smoke poured out of the resulting hole in the Cathedral, signs that Odrin's efforts had succeeded. Long ago he had subverted agents within the Cathedral, dupes who hated the Imperials. They didn't need to be Kiith to serve his agenda; they had been willing to do anything to throw off the shackles of Terra. All he had needed to do was send word to them that the hour had come and they had willingly planted explosive devices within the Cathedral. They thought they were freeing Pascum from off-world rule, little realising that Odrin served far darker masters.

Odrin heard screams and cries for help but they were drowned out as distant explosives detonated, each one situated at a key position across the city. The Arbites Precinct, the spaceport, several nexus junctions and the Astropath's tower. The pattern had been designed to spread confusion and alarm, crippling any Imperial ability to respond in a timely fashion, leaving them vulnerable to what came next. From the largest road came a loud rumble, as something large and heavy sprung into life. Odrin saw a large transport looming into view, a machine that rode on four wheels and had a cumbersome bulldozer on the front. It had slab-like sides and a narrow vision slit, intended to withstand falling rock but equally good at stopping bullets and lasblasts. It was a Goliath, a mining vehicle that doubled as an armoured transport and it was being driven by a pair of Kiith Hybrids.

Alarm bells began to ring in the Cathedral, toscins wailing as the Imperials realised they were under attack. Like all Imperial facilities the Cathedral hid a fortress behind its ornate frontage, built to withstand a siege as much as for worship. A doughty blast-shutter began to fall over the wide door, a metre thick slab of Plasteel that would stop any attacker, but it was too slow. The Goliath barrelled into the square outside the door, rolling over people lying injured on the ground as it did so. Blood and bone fountained high as the dozer blade tore through the wounded, leaving a gory trail in its wake as the transport hit the steps leading up to the door and bounced high. The closing barricade fell inexorably, but the Goliath screeched to a halt and the door slammed into it. Tires sagged low as the suspension shattered, but the mass of the machine was too much and the door stuck fast.

"Charge!" Odrin bellowed with a courage he did not feel and from the shadows hunched forms leapt into motion. Twisted Hybrids with too many arms and talons for fingernails stepped into the light of the red sun for the first time and ran for the open door. They clutched lasrifles and autopistols, knives, mining picks and bore-drills, deadly armaments that would tear a man to shreds. They ran with a loping, bestial gait but they made swift progress regardless, bounding over the screaming injured without pause.

Odrin was running before he even knew it, his feet taking him out of cover to join the charge. It wasn't by choice, he had intended to lurk near the back but the compulsion of the Broodmind drove him forward, overriding his sense of self-preservation and making him run alongside his kin. He barely had time to consider what he was doing before his boots hit the steps and he leapt up the stone tiers towards the door. Hybrids were pouring through the door, scrambling around the trapped Goliath and disappearing into the dark interior. Meanwhile another Kiith member was sticking out of the roof of the transport, hands wrapped around a heavy stubber which he was firing into the interior with a hammering retort.

Odrin found himself ducking under the whining barricade and entering the Cathedral's long nave. He had been here before and always thought it garish, decked out in gold with spread-winged eagles and rows of marble columns. Ornate lecterns loomed over the mile-long interior, where preachers had harangued passers-by with talk of the damnation in the hell of the warp awaiting unrepentant sinners. The far end was always obscure, made faint by the distance of the nave but today it was hidden by smoke and ash.

The air was laden with ash from the fires raging through the ancillary chambers while coughing acolytes poured out of their dormitories and chantrys in the upper levels. Pallid-skinned monks and deacons staggered into the nave, wiping streaming eyes and coughing sickly into their hands as they fled the acrid smoke. They were met with gunfire and sharp knives, the Kiith shooting and stabbing them as they emerged. Confused and bewildered priests fled into the supposed safety of the nave, only to be cut down by merciless killers who grinned as they shot them in the face and stabbed them in the guts. The Hybrids vented a lifetime of hatred and frustration upon those who had forced them to hide in the depths, even though they had not known the Kiith existed, and none were spared.

A pool of rich blood soon coated the floor and Odrin grinned as he realised his plan was working. Scores of fat clerics and priests lay still, dead eyes staring into infinity, but not all for a few yet remained. Odrin's heard an angry cry of "Heresy!" and a ray of purest gold light blazed from the smoky end of the Nave. A Hybrid took the blast and burst into flames, her body igniting like a candle as ravening energies destroyed her utterly. From the smoke strode a man in a brown robe decorated with flames and rising eagles. He grasped a blazing staff in one hand, which radiated fiery energies and his eyes bore the light of a true fanatic. It was Archbishop Dunlas, come to defend his holy sanctum.

Odrin ducked back behind a pillar as Dunlas levelled his staff once more and let forth a ray of energy that smote another Hybrid and he roared, "In the name of the God-Emperor, begone foul fiends!" The Hybrids responded instinctively by firing las-shots and auto-pistols at him but they failed to touch his flesh. A corona of brilliant light surrounded Dunlas, refracting the energy and converting it to harmless light as a Rosarius on his breast pulsed redly. Dunlas fired again as he roared, "The fruits of treachery are death!"

Odrin looked longingly at the distant door, thinking of retreating to safety but the Broodmind quashed any such notions, sending a spike of pain into his skull when he thought of abandoning his kin. Like it or not he would have to fight. He risked a glance around his pillar and saw Dunlas incinerating a Hybrid who was trying to shoot him from afar. Seizing the moment of distraction Odrin leapt into a fast run, sprinting to the next towering column while the Archbishop's back was turned. He did not pass unnoticed for a ravening beam of golden energy shot over his shoulder as Dunlas roared, "I see you Heretic, He sees you! None can hide from the God-Emperor's vengeance!"

Odrin felt his skin crawling as the near-miss almost killed him but he reached safety and threw himself into the pillar's shadow. He knew it was scant cover, the Archbishop would round the pillar in a heartbeat but at that moment a half-dozen Hybrids tried to rush him, hoping the aura of protection would not work against melee attacks. Odrin glanced out from behind cover and saw Dunlas meet the first with a wide sweep of his staff. The end flared like a star as it made contact and the Hybrid fell away, his entire front seared black by radiant power.

Another tried to stab him with a bayonet but was given the same treatment, then one swung a whirring mining drill at the Archbishop, only to be blasted away in a charred heap. Dunlas for all his zealous preaching was no sop, he was a fierce combatant, strong as a hardened soldier and boasting the speed of one who drilled every day. Odrin realised that the Priest had been training hard, putting all his zealotry into preparing for the day when war came.

Dunlas relentlessly took attackers apart, but at the last he was caught between two Hybrids and forced to fling himself back, lest he be outflanked and cut down. Instantly Odrin moved, diving out of cover and stepping up to Dunlas' exposed back. The Archbishop sensed someone behind him and tried to swing about but Odrin was too close and with one thrust stabbed his sabre into the priest's back. Dunlas froze and his staff fell from his fingers, he gasped weakly and his lips uttered, "Emperor forgive me, I have failed you…"

Odrin felt the Archbishop's weight fall upon him, the body twisting as it toppled to wrest the sabre out of his grip. Odrin let it go, not wanting to keep it anyway. He should have felt elation at killing the Archbishop, a man he had dreamt of ending so many times, but all he felt was numb, like he had watched someone else acting out his deeds through a pict-viewer. Around him Hybrids surged forward once more, desecrating the Cathedral and rooting out survivors. Odrin could feel the Broodmind urging them forward, but in a quiet corner of his soul he resolved to find a way to keep it at bay. He had to find a way to impose a modicum of control over the situation or this uprising was going to get him killed.