Festum Gladius Chapter 29
Through the underbelly of the Fortress-monastery they advanced, packs of hunters swarming in dark corners and flushing out tunnels. They had the scent of their quarry and were boxing him in. Despite all their misgivings they were going to confront Honourable Ajax and bring him down once and for all. A day that would live in shame forevermore.
Hevostan gripped his Transonic rifle in cold hands as he crossed a thick pipe bearing Emperor-only knew what. He was alert and honed, ready for anything though his hearts were rocks in his chest at the thought of destroying the rampaging Dreadnought. After all Ajax had done for this Chapter, the countless victories he had won for the Imperium, they were going to corner him and put him down like a rabid Mastiff. It was dishonourable and vile to contemplate but it had to be done. Ajax had become a threat to all he had once stood for and must be destroyed.
Hevostan led their party along the pipe, wary for threats. Behind him came Geryon with his Photonic axes and Sigas with his grav-blasters held aloft on writhing mechandrites. Gaggles of serf-artisans followed, bearing electro-staves and haywire nets. In theory they would hamper the Dreadnought and slow him down enough for the Techmarines to inflict a telling blow but in practice Hevostan doubted they would last long against the Contemptor. They were not Space Marines, they were not trained for battle and hammered upon the anvil of war. He expected they would do nothing but die, yet still he led them on.
Across the depths under the Fortress-Monastery other parties of hunters swept. Hevostan dearly wished Angmatan was with them, the Forgemaster's weapons would have been decisive but there was immense ground to cover and not enough people to do it. Vox was choppy and distorted and coordinating their searches was getting harder. But they were close, Hevostan could feel it in his bones.
Ahead the pipe carried on but Hevostan paused as he came alongside an arched doorway. He frowned under his helm as he spied its contours and the High Gothic litanies inscribed along its edge. The entrance had been bricked up once, but the mortar had long crumbled to dust and the bricks had collapsed into a pile at his feet. Two statues fronted it, each one a fine rendition of an Astartes warrior in Mark IV plate, swords held point down in a knightly pose. The sight confused Hevostan, he had never been this way before and had not expected to find anything out of the ordinary. This doorway appeared on no plan of the island that he was aware of, but that meant little, nobody came down this far anymore and it may well have been millennia since anyone had laid eyes upon it.
Hevostan waved everybody back and pointed his rifle through the opening. Only thick darkness lay beyond and his autosenses could find nothing. There was a soft step as Sigas stepped up, drawing a servo-skull from his side. The cranium of a chapter serf honoured to be allowed to continue to serve after death. The skull bore a large camera in one eye socket and a torch in the other and a twitching metal cord hung from it, like a spinal cord. Hevostan waited patiently as Sigas sent his probe ahead, the small device floating high as it broke the darkness within.
After a minute Geryon said, "Well?"
"No sign of Ajax," Sigas sighed, "But you should see this."
Sigas stepped within and Hevostan followed, only to be brought up short by what he beheld. Beyond the doorway lay a cathedral, its roof high and held aloft by vaulted arches. A long nave of polished marble ran between the rising columns and in the space between stood short plinths. Each one held a relic, a broken knife, a shattered helm, a banner faded with age or an etching marked on stone tablets. Along the walls were frescos of ancient wars, faded into illegibility and the far wall contained an alcove, bearing a statue of a Space Marine, not in a triumphal pose but standing drunkenly as if wounded and his plate hollowed out by many wounds. Hevostan saw the face of this lost champion and beheld a warrior beset by woe and horror, one who had clawed victory from the jaws of defeat at the cost of his Brother's lives and a sea of blood.
"What is this place?" Geryon asked.
"We do not know," Sigas said, "This shrine appears on no schematics of the Fortress-Monastery."
"How is that possible?" Geryon asked, "This place is enormous."
"Imperial history is vast and has been rewritten many times over," Hevostan explained, "Perhaps this place was forgotten, or deliberately erased from history."
Geryon spotted a plaque on the wall and read aloud, "Dedicated to those Brothers lost in the Refaran Revenge Expedition. Chapter Master Incadle knew well the price of service and yet flinched not when duty called. Let his sacrifice be eternally preserved, though none shall ever know of it."
"I guess that's Incadle," Hevostan remarked as he gestured at the statue.
"Error," Sigas said as his internal cogitators whirred, "I find no reference to a Chapter Master Incadle, nor any mission that matches this reference."
"It must have been erased from the records," Hevostan sighed, "Whatever this crusade was the memory of it could not be allowed to endure. A shameful history wiped from the annals or a threat so dire none could be allowed to know it ever existed. Yet someone was not willing to let this pass and built a shrine, honouring their sacrifice even though none would ever hear of it."
"You firstborn and your pointless rituals," Geryon scoffed, "Who else would build a shrine never meant to be seen?"
Sigas retorted, "Somethings transcend glory and adulation. Obligations to the dead are not to be shunned, Whether future generations remember them or not.
Hevostan hastily stepped in and said, "Let us not start another argument. This is a dead-end, we should…"
His next words were cut off as an unexpected event occurred. From the far side of the shrine came the ringing of thunder and then the stone wall exploded. Fire and light, noise and shock rolled forth as a blizzard of stone shards flew into the nave, cutting down a dozen serfs and leaving another dozen stunned upon the floor with blood pouring from their ears. Hevostan felt the concussive blast slam into him as shards pinged off his armour but he reacted instantly, lifting his rifle and sweeping for targets.
Yet he was a hair too slow as Honourable Ajax charged out of a secret tunnel behind the wall bellowing, "FACE ME TRAITORS!" Hevostan let loose a wave of disruptive sound but Ajax moved so fast he barely clipped the Dreadnought. The Contemptor bore down on him with a snarl of mechanical fury and his fist swung like a pendulum as he roared, "YOU DEFILE THE SHRINE OF INCADLE, FOR THIS YOU SHALL DIE!"
Hevostan was forced to duck as the fist nearly took his head off and the crackling limb slammed into the column behind him, shattering it into powder. Hevostan dove right, hitting the ground with his shoulder and rolling over to come back to his feet. He snapped his rifle up, ready to fire again but found Geryon in his path. The Primaris had wasted not a second to dive in and his Photonic axe left blurring images in the air as he swung for a leg. It was a fast blow, sure and strong but Ajax reacted quickly, stepping into the blow and slamming his hip into Geryon's face. The impact jarred his blow off by a hair and the axe merely cleaved a furrow in his armour plates, leaving the piston limb intact.
"Get out of my shot!" Hevostan cried as he tried to find an angle but the pair were too close for him to risk firing. Geryon was in full retreat as Ajax bore down on him, swinging his axe to and fro to cleave chunks from the armoured front. In return Ajax chased him, matching the retreat step for step as his fist swung wide. One touch from that fist would end Geryon but the Primaris was fast and nimble, dodging and evading each blow. The power fist sailed over his head and shattered another column and another but the Primaris was left untouched.
Despite everything Hevostan was amazed by Geryon's skill and he could only watch as the pair danced through the shrine, totally mismatched in size and power but moving together regardless. Geryon backed away constantly as his axe leapt to and fro but for all his speed and surety he had not infinite space and his back slammed into a wall. Instantly Ajax's fist flew forward, seeking to end this upstart once and for all but Geryon ducked low and the crackling fist blasted a crater into the wall.
Geryon was pinned and one more blow would end him but then another soul intervened. From afar Sigas levelled his grav-blasters and let rip a shot, right into Ajax's back. Metal crumpled as gravitic forces crushed matter into a tiny ball, components shattered and vents broke open as the Contemptor stumbled. Geryon took full advantage of the moment to crawl free, getting out from under Ajax's feet and clearing Hevostan's shot.
Hevostan saw the opening at last and his finger pulled the trigger. Sonic disruption rolled through the air, shaking atoms themselves as the arcane weapon let loose its fury. The sonic blast caught Ajax square on and his armour trembled in the onslaught. The deadly vibrations were communicated through his frame in a heartbeat and delicate internal components rattled as the scrap of flesh within the amniotic coffin felt pain for the first time in millennia. Ajax stumbled to his knees and roared in mechanical agony as the combined onslaught smote him most cruelly.
"Keep it up!" Sigas roared as he fired over and over, "Hit him with everything you've got!"
"Serfs to me!" Hevostan cried, "Catch him with haywire and shock, disable him so we can finish this!"
From the back of the shrine the dozen surviving artisans ran forth, their long poles and heavy nets arcing with disruptive force. If they could wrap their nets around his limbs and stab him with their poles Ajax's mechanical parts would freeze up and short out, leaving him helpless. They had the advantage of numbers, position and superior weaponry but Ajax was not finished yet. His fist rose and his metal digits opened, revealing the flamer buried in the palm of his hand as he yelled, "BURN HERETICS!"
"Evade!" Hevostan yelled a heartbeat before the Dreadnought let loose a stream of burning Promethium. The onrushing serfs were caught full on and turned into blazing candles. They screamed and they wailed as they flailed in agony, bathed head to toe in sheets of flame. They fell down in torment but Hevostan had no time to aid them as the flames engulfed his armour. Heat slammed into him as fire sought to penetrate the joints of his plate, trying to cook him alive. The Machine Spirit of his armour wailed in alarm as it faltered, telling him he had seconds left to live.
In desperation Hevostan abandoned his attack and threw himself behind a pillar. Instantly the heat dissipated and he frantically beat out the flames on his limbs, praying his transonic rifle had not been harmed. In the corner of his eye he saw Geryon and Sigas taking cover as he was but of the serfs none survived, Ajax had killed them all. The three Techmarines were all that was left to confront the mad Contemptor but they had bigger problems for Ajax was back on his feet.
Hevostan had only a moment's warning as the dancing shadows shifted and something huge stepped through the blazing corpse-fires. He threw himself away from the pillar as the fist of Ajax ripped it apart, showering stone everywhere. He tried to leap clear but a rock caught him a glancing blow to the shoulder and sent him staggering. He fully expected to die in the next second but to his surprise there was no follow up blow. He turned to see Ajax charging down the length of the nave, fist swinging as he destroyed column after column.
Confusion rang in his mind as Hevostan gasped, "He's gone totally mad."
"Mad or not this is our chance to finish him!" Geryon snarled.
But Sigas yelled, "Are you blind?! Ajax's isn't mad, he's winning!"
Hevostan froze in confusion for a moment then his eyes rose to the vaulted roof above and his guts clenched in horror. The roof, that heavy mantle of solid rock pressing down on the shrine, Ajax was taking out the supports that held it aloft. The Dreadnought paused at the last pillar and as his fist drew back he roared, "AS INCADLE CLAIMED VENGEANCE AT HUERA SO I CLAIM YOUR WORTHLESS LIVES!"
"Get out!" Hevostan yelled as the Dreadnought struck. He put his head down and raced for the door. He heard the echo of the strike, he heard the pillar explode and the roof start to crack as tons of masonry shattered and rained down into the shrine. Yet he did not look back as he put his head down and ran, sprinting for the exit with every morsel of speed his legs could command. A terrible roaring filled the air as the roof started to give but Hevostan was already at the door, diving through it in desperation.
It took several steps to slow and turn, just in time to see Geryon and Sigas stumble out, then the roof broke and showered tons of masonry into the space. Rock and brick and ancient beams fell in with a roar of thunder, creating a shower of stone and dust that filled the space. Hevostan had one glimpse of Ajax retreating into the tunnel he had emerged from then a huge boulder slammed down over the doorway, sealing it forever.
For long moments the deluge continued, filling the shrine in debris, then silence fell and the destruction ended. Hevostan stepped up and pounded a fist onto the boulder snarling, "Rusty Cog! We almost had him!"
"We had nothing," Sigas spat, "Ajax outfought us from the start."
"Now we have no idea where he has retreated to," Geryon hissed.
"No," Hevostan snarled as he turned about, "We know he's in the area, we must focus all our efforts in pinning him down. I shall summon the Forgemaster and bring all our weapons to bear on this locale, Ajax will not get away again."
"And when we find him?" Sigas muttered, "How will that be any different?"
"Because we will outnumber him a hundred to one and shall not hesitate to spend our lives to bring him down. Next time destruction will be ours to wield and Ajax shall finally meet his end."