Festum Gladius Chapter 43
A hush swept over the battlefield as Ajax entered the dock, Space Marines and ghouls given pause as they recalculated the odds. Ajax loomed over the combatants, his frame battered and torn but still towering in stature. His right arm was a tangled mess of broken barrels and there was a definite limp in his left leg, he looked like he had fought through the worst carnage the galaxy had to offer yet his zeal was not dampened. While everybody froze he acted, grabbing a ghoul around the waist before hurling it headfirst into a wall.
From afar Hevostan stood in slack-jawed amazement as the Honourable dreadnought waded into the fray, bellowing threats and exhortations of violence. The ghouls were quick to react, a half-dozen turned from the Storm Heralds and threw themselves at his battered frame, clawing at ruptured plates with their hooked hands. For most foes such an attack would have been foolhardy, hands against a Dreadnought, but their unearthly strength saw them rip hanging panels free and tear furrows into the remaining plates.
Ajax reacted with full fury, kicking them away with his metal feet and slamming them aside with great sweeps of his power fist. Each impact smashed ghouls down, leaving them shattered upon the floor but they refused to stay dead. Lurching upright upon twisted limbs they returned to the fight, tottering after him with heads missing and chests squashed flat. Such a horror would have unmanned most souls but Ajax had confronted the nightmares of the Warp and Xenos filth of the outer darkness for millennia and he reacted the only way he knew how.
His fist caught the arm of a mobile crane, a caterpillar-tracked machine driven by a mindless servitor. He roared in anger as he heaved it around, dragging the machine along even though its tracks squealed over the Ferrocrete floor. By swinging his entire torso around Ajax swept the crane through the ghoul's ranks, mowing them down with all the difficulty of a man scything wheat. The Honourable cried aloud in vindication as he threw the crane away, tumbling over and over to crush several more ghouls and also slam into a knot of Storm Heralds, sending them flying in all directions as they evaded the unexpected strike.
"Throne's sake!" Orath spat in Hevostan's ear, "Who's side is he on?!"
"His own," Hevostan replied grimly, "He is still infected by the data-djinn, he can't tell friend from foe."
It was true, Ajax was trying to keep the ghouls at bay, hurling machines and debris into their masses. Derricks, water bowsers, even chunks of Ferrocrete torn from the ground were heaved into the fray, regardless of where they hit. Many ghouls were bourne over by the impacts, crushing limbs and chests, but so too were the Storm Heralds. Random lumps of metal and Ferrocrete bombarded their positions, forcing them from cover and breaking their defensive lines. Ajax's assault was doing as much harm to his own Chapter as the foe and his voice cried aloud in confusion, "DIE FIENDS…where are my Brothers… THE ENEMY IS AT HAND…"
Hevostan's hearts fell as he realised Ajax was as much a threat now as he had ever been, but then he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. A ghoul had evaded Ajax's barrage and slinked near to him, trying to claw its way up his back. The Dreadnought saw it coming and spun about, snatching it around the chest in his great power fist. He raised the scarlet-clad horror high and squeezed, triggering the disruption field built into his hand. Lightning flared as arcing energies ripped through the ghoul and burned it from the inside out, incinerating silver tendrils and overloading the Aeterna Node buried in its heart. The ghoul threw back its head and shrieked as smoke poured from the rents in its armour but was helpless to resist as Ajax reduced it to a charred lump of gristle and dropped it at his feet, leaving it inert and unmoving.
"Did you see that?" Hevostan gasped, "He can kill them, Ajax's weapons are potent enough to end them."
"Bit busy here!" Orath snarled.
Hevostan was jerked from his trance as he heard the retort and saw the others still engaged with the pair of ghouls. The horrors were rent by terrible wounds, guts hanging out of torn bellies and ribs poking through holes in their armour but they were still upright and still fighting. The Techmarines fought to hold them back but could not land a killing strike, the living were only buying time until the ghouls broke through their defence and killed them too.
Hevostan knew he couldn't kill them either, but perhaps he could slow them down. He twisted the controls on his Transonic rifle to their most potent setting and cried, "Get clear!" Everybody threw themselves aside as Hevostan pulled the trigger, sending screaming infrasonic waves forth, shaking the air with rippling distortions. His aim was low, not at the opponent's feet but the ground under them. Ferrocrete shook at a molecular level, atoms dancing under the influence of sonic barrages and the material lost all cohesion, turning into dust. The ghouls were left standing upon a swathe of dusty quicksand and their weight dragged them down to their knees, sinking into a pit carved underneath them.
"Quickly!" Hevostan barked as he cut off his rifle.
"Go for the legs!" Orath bellowed, "Aim to dismember!"
Smyth and Geryon swept in from behind, power weapons crackling as they swept low. The bluesteel sword cut off a ghoul's legs with two sweeps, the Photonic axe needed only one to do likewise. The ghouls collapsed with a hiss of frustration, trying to crawl out of the pit with arms alone but their leverage was poor and they could not free themselves. Hevostan left them behind as he set his rifle into his shoulder and began running into the fray, heading for Ajax's position.
The other's followed suit and Smyth gasped, "What are you thinking?"
"We have to reach Ajax," Hevostan spat as he swept for targets, "He's the only one who can kill these things."
"If we go near him he'll kill us too," Orath snarled, "Leave him to it and let him thin their numbers while we regroup."
"Not an option," Hevostan snarled, "Ajax can't stand alone, they'll overwhelm him. Without him we have nothing that can stop the Aeterna Paradigm. We have to work together or die."
"If you hadn't noticed he's still raving mad," Lytek spat, "He'll kill us too without hesitation."
"I can fix him," Hevostan proclaimed, "I have the kill-command for the viral-clade. Get me near him and I can clear his eyes."
"And if he's too far gone?" Smyth pressed.
"Then we die fighting," Hevostan growled.
With frantic steps the party advanced, moving along the dock as best they were able. Everywhere they saw ghouls and Storm Heralds battling tooth and nail, giving and receiving the most terrible of blows. Space Marines grappled with horrors missing faces or with holes blown straight through them. Explosions rang loud as grenades were hurled, only to see lurching nightmares charge out of the blasts, battered but still moving. Knives flashed and swords cleaved limbs but to no avail, making little impression.
Hevostan saw an Intercessor fall with his throat torn out, only for a lurking Node to burrow into his chest, reanimating the body and sending it against its former Brothers. A Tactical Marine fell with three ghouls ripping his guts out but with his last moment he triggered a plasma grenade, reducing them all to ashes. High above blue and scarlet clashed as Champion Novak duelled with the Red Hunter's Champion Maxath but there was no time to watch the pair trade blows. The Storm Heralds were overwhelmed by the nature of the foe, yet they remained stalwart and true, holding the line despite their mounting casualties. They were the Emperor's Finest and their courage never wavered, not even in the face of death.
Suddenly a trio of ghouls emerged into the Hevostan's path. He instantly lifted his rifle and fired, blasting them with Infrasonic waves. Ceramite flew away in strips, flesh parted and bones were exposed as their outer layers were peeled off but the ghouls were not set back. They lurched at the Space Marines with hands that were little more than bones wrapped in silver tendrils as they hissed their challenge.
Hevostan braced for the impact of their charge but suddenly Orath was between him and the ghouls shouting, "Keep moving, we'll hold them here."
"I won't abandon you!" Hevostan shouted.
But Geryon raised his photonic axe high as he yelled, "Go you fool, we'll buy you the time to reach Ajax!"
Hevostan knew it was true, he had to reach Ajax. He was the only one with the kill-command, the only one who could clear Ajax's sight. So even though his hearts screamed in denial he turned his back upon his Brothers and left them to fight the ghouls, running for the embattled silhouette of the Contemptor. He heard Amaron bellow in pain but did not look back, running for all he was worth as his Brothers shed their blood to delay the foe.
Ahead Ajax was beset by four ghouls, surrounding him on all sides. The Contemptor swung his fist around in great sweeps to clear space but he could not bring the focused wrath to bear necessary to end them for good. Every time he tried to grab one the others would pile in, ripping armoured plates from his hide and it was only a matter of time until they tore out his innards. Like a pack of mastiffs harrying an ursal they would end him with a thousand bites.
Hevostan saw his path was blocked and twisted the controls on his rifle, selecting a low-power but broad blastwave. A squeeze of the trigger sent a rippling distortion through the air, catching the ghouls surrounding Ajax and sending them staggering, unharmed but distracted for a moment. The blast shook Ajax too and the Contemptor fell to one knee, oil leaking from his joints profusely like he was gushing blood. Hevostan saw his chance and sprang high, catching a rent on the sarcophagus to heave himself up and plunge his fist into the gap under the sensor-dome.
As his data-spike touched optic-feeds he felt the blessed rush of contact surge through him, projecting his awareness into realms Binaric. Inside the Sensorium Hevostan found Ajax's eyes still infested with the vile data-djinn, polluting his vision and driving him mad. The last remnants of Hevostan's info-praetorians fought it but they were making no effect, only serving to muddle the visual feeds even further. Like a rotten mould covering a fallen tree it sank its corruption into Ajax's mind, turning him into a raving feral thing. Hevostan was forced to admit it was a potent conjuration, Abdael had indeed forged a hex proof against his finest counter-viral charms, but this time he had the kill-command.
With a mental impulse Hevostan unleashed the kill-command, streams of Binaric incantations spilling forth to beset the viral-clade. It tried to fight back, throwing up firewalls and access denials but it could not resist. It had been made to be vulnerable to this invocation, deliberately designed to shut down when ordered to. Abdael never built anything without leaving himself a failsafe and the viral-clade was helpless to resist. The kill-command tore through its heart like a multi-melta through a Taurox, disintegrating it into random scrap of code leaving the visual feeds unobstructed and clear at last.
Hevostan was snapped out of his trance as Ajax shook like a mule and roared, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
Hevostan was forced to slam his servo-claw into a plate to avoid being thrown off as he yelled, "Honourable Ajax, we are under attack!"
"WHERE HAS THE ALPHA LEGION GONE?!" Ajax roared, "WHO ARE THESE RED FIENDS?"
"Your senses have been befuddled by a dark hex, but you are freed. We need you now, the Chapter needs you!"
"THIS IS A LIE, YOU ARE A FALSE SHADE!" Ajax bellowed.
But Hevostan countered, "Heed me! The chapter is in peril. These horrors cannot die save by your power. Your Brothers cry for aid and only you can save them!"
Ajax was silent for a moment then growled, "YOU BETTER NOT BE A DAMNED HALLUCINATION. GET BEHIND ME AND COVER MY REAR. MY LITTLE BROTHERS NEED AJAX ONCE MORE AND I SHALL NOT FAIL THEM."
Hevostan dropped to the ground as the Dreadnought surged to his feet and took up a stance in the rear. Already the ghouls were regrouping, coming to surround Ajax and tear him asunder. Hevostan gritted his teeth as he stood his ground, gripping his rifle tight. A ghoul tried to come at them, angling for Ajax's exposed knee joint but Hevostan fired a quick burst that drove it back, repulsed by the sonic waves. Another and another came at them but Hevostan drove them back with short blasts, aiming to hold them at bay long enough for the Honourable to engage.
Behind his back he heard the grinding of damaged pistons and he winced at the state of the Contemptor's mechanisms. Yet crackling arcs of lightning flared over the shoulder of the Dreadnought as Ajax snatched up ghouls one by one and incinerated them in turn. While Ajax killed the ghouls Hevostan concentrated on protecting the flanks and back, keeping the rest at bay while Ajax worked. Charred corpses soon piled up and Hevostan had to skip aside to let Ajax grab the last one, cooking it to a husk in his grip.
"Hurry!" Hevostan cried, "We are needed elsewhere!" He led the way, Ajax stomping behind as they advanced into the dock. He led the Dreadnought back the way he had come and soon found those he had left behind, still battling on. Smyth, Geryon and Orath were on their feet, trying to hold back a trio of ghouls but Sigas, Amaron and Lytek were flat on the ground, bleeding profusely. Geryon was wrestling with an Aeterna Node, that was trying to burrow into his chest. Hevostan wasted not a moment to let loose a diffuse blast that sent it flying away in pieces but also staggering Geryon. Then Ajax charged into the fray crying, "GET AWAY FROM THEM!"
With swing of his arm he knocked the ghouls aside, then he grabbed them one by one to incinerate them in his fist. The others sagged in relief and Smyth hissed, "A timely rescue but is he on our side again?"
Hevostan affirmed, "Ajax's vision is clear, once more he is counted among the loyal."
Orath spat, "He's killing ghouls, that's good enough for me."
Yet Geryon hissed, "A handful of ghouls have fallen, but dozens remain to be defeated."
It was then that Ajax dropped the last charred corpse and growled, "DOUBT ME NOT PRIMARIS WHELP. I HAVE FACED WORSE THAN THIS AND EMERGED VICTORIOUS. FOLLOW ME AND I'LL SHOW YOU HOW IT'S DONE!"
With that Honourable Ajax led them back into the fray. All wounded and weary but determined to fight on regardless. Hevostan followed in the Dreadnought's wake, and knew the odds were still steep, but with the Contemptor leading them they had a slim chance. United at last with their oldest Brother the Storm Heralds would not flag or fail until the battle was over, one way or another.
