Noctem Oritur Chapter 40

Fast as lightning Toran struck, hearts burning to kill this filth but it seemed the blow was expected. Even as the point arced forwards the false brother was twisting away, writhing like a snake so the sword point only carved a deep groove across his breastplate. The mockery of a brother laughed and unsheathed a short power knife, that flared with red lightning, as he cried, "I take it you found out about my little ruse!"

Toran snarled as his world went red in a mad rush of anger and he launched a blizzard of attacks with his sword. He sent forth a darting crescendo of thrusts and slashes, that should have left his foe dead, but the Traitor deflected and parried every strike with sublime skill. Toran redoubled his efforts but could not break the web of defence, every slash countered, every thrust avoided with amazing skill. Then the Traitor countered with a thrust for the neck that would have taken Toran's head off. Only a desperate parry and backstep avoided death and Toran was left stunned. He was taken aback as he realised the scale of the deception he had been subjected to, the skill on display now was every bit the equal of Novak's and experience showed in every twitch of the blade. The hard truth was that the Halis Toran had known was never this good.

The pair traded blows at lightning speed, a blistering exchange of attack and defence where neither could find the advantage and Toran was growing increasingly aware that it was only the extra reach of his relic blade that was keeping him alive. Desperate for a distraction he called, "How could you do this, how could you betray us?!"

"Why not?!" yelled the imposter without pausing in his attacks, "I never cared about any of you, I was laughing at you the whole time, laughing at your smug faces!"

Toran angrily retorted, "No, that is not possible, nobody could fake our brotherhood for that long, not even you!"

The Traitor jabbed forward furiously and spat, "You think I am Halis but he was only ever a façade. I am Alpha: Moritat-Prime of the XXth Legion!"

Toran saw Alpha's hand flash to his belt and a tiny black orb was drawn forth. Instinct called on him to deflect whatever was coming but Toran didn't heed instinct. This imposter knew him well and was counting on him reacting as predicted. The arm seemed to move in glacial speed as the hand flicked the black orb at the Captain, but he was no longer there. As the sphere flew Toran hurled himself aside and the glassic ball missed him by a whisker. It struck a box behind him and shattered, spilling some rank-smelling ooze over the wood. In moments the structure rotted, corrosive filth chewing it apart at stunning speed. The box collapsed, triggering a slide of crates from above as the filth ate through everything it touched. Toran was left in no doubt that had it touched his Ceramite armour he would be dead.

He hastily regrouped but Alpha was not willing to give him respite. The Traitor came on again, knife flashing for Toran's eye in an attempt to end him once and for all. The Captain threw his arm up and the long blade of his sword nearly rammed through the Traitor, but Alpha twisted at the last moment, passing by but losing his chance to plunge the knife in. Yet that did nothing to stop his elbow slamming into Toran's helm with the force of a wrecking ball. Toran saw stars as he staggered but his arm was already in motion. Even as his vision turned purple he swung wide, sweeping the Sword of Thiel outwards to clear room. Through the haze he saw Alpha jump back to avoid the shining point, but then leap forward, knife held low to stab into his guts. Toran was caught in a vulnerable state, unbalanced with feet poorly placed, he needed a moment to redress his stance but knew he wasn't going to get it. Instead he lifted one hand from the hilt of his sword and grabbed his cloak, bunching the thick material in hand as he threw it into Alpha's path. The knife was entangled by heavy thread, it cut through with ease but still the force of the blow was blunted, knocked off by a hair to scrape over the armour of Toran's flank but not draw blood.

Toran threw a clumsy swing that drove Alpha back a step as he yelled, "You could have stabbed me in the back anytime over the years, but you hesitated didn't you Halis?!"

Alpha roared in anger and made a clumsy swipe as he yelled, "I am not Halis! Halis is dead and I am Alpha: ALPHA!"

Toran saw it then, the slightest chink in the armour, a psychological weakness he could exploit and he shouted, "Maybe you were once but you have spent too long with us. That's why you didn't want Daite to go with you; you didn't want to kill him. You hesitated before and you hesitate now!"

Alpha screamed, "No, it's not true!" as he made a wild sweep with his sparking knife, Toran leaned back as the cursed dagger swept by an inch before his face. Then he pounced forwards, bringing the Sword of Thiel up and extending with both hands to drive the point right into the cur's side. The blade penetrated armoured plate effortlessly and slid within, spearing deeply into the Traitor's chest. Toran felt the impact ring through him but yielded nothing, his hatred driving his arms further and further until the hilt clanged against plate.

Alpha's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped as the knife fell from his hands. He grasped feebly at Toran's arms for support as he slowly collapsed to the ground. The Captain was dragged down too as he kept his grip on the sword. Alpha's face went pale, for the sword had pierced two lungs but had missed his hearts and multi-lung. Still the energy field of the blade was slowly cooking his organs and death was now inevitable.

Alpha looked into Toran's eyelenses and whispered, "That was very well done, you were so strong… I am proud of you."

Those were the last words Toran had expected to hear and he saw the battle that had been raging within his opponent's heart. He let go one hand and pulled free his helm as he looked upon the Traitor. He hated this filth, hated what he had become and yet at the same time could not help but see Halis' face, a face he had trusted for decades. Torn in his hearts Toran could not help but say, "I was right wasn't I? There was too much of Halis in you."

Alpha shook his head weakly and said, "I thought it was him, I thought it was someone else's memories holding me back, but only now at the end can I see that it was me… it was all me. Yes, you were right… All those missions and identities I assumed, yet I never felt like I belonged somewhere until I became Halis… Are the others hale?"

Toran nodded as he realised despite his hatred of the Traitor he still grieved for the loss of a comrade who had been his friend for so long. He cradled the dying Marine's head as Alpha said, "That is good, they will live on despite everything... Do not tell anyone what I did, it will shatter their spirit and you will need that fire now… more than ever."

Toran could not bring himself to say that the squad already knew, he could only swallow his grief as Alpha continued, "You have to be strong… but know that your task is not insurmountable... This is no army Vorshaan is leading, merely a gaggle of warlords... none owe him loyalty."

He convulsed and gasped as pain shot through him, the sword's energy field tearing his insides apart but he gritted his teeth and said in a rush, "Vorshaan, his objective will be the gene-seed repository. Do not underestimate him, he hates all of you with a passion."

"I will not," said Toran as he watched his foe slip away.

Alpha was deathly white now but a faint twitch curled his lip as if he had heard a fine jest and with his last breath he whispered, "Being happy to die as Halis Paur... who would ever… have believed it..." Then he spoke no more.

Toran pulled free his sword and let the corpse fall limp, utterly torn between hatred, regret and sorrow. He heard the pounding of many feet and saw his squad approaching, their armour was torn and rent but they were all alive. He stood up and asked, "The other Traitors?"

Furion answered, "The Night Lords are too accustomed to ambushing those who cannot defend themselves, they are no good in a stand-up fight."

The rents in his armour told a different tale but Toran let Furion have his pride as he said, "The one who betrayed us is dead."

Novak spat, "Good riddance... his name shall become a byword for infamy and heresy."

"No!" barked Toran making everybody start in surprise not least of all himself, "No one can know what we have witnessed."

The squad's shock was apparent in their voices as Persion said, "You want to cover this up?!"

Toran faced them and knew for all his treachery the Marine he had known as Halis had been right about one thing, the truth now would crush the fighting spirit of his new-born company. Toran thought upon all the compromises he had been forced to make since being promoted, the pride he had put aside, the half-truths he had uttered and knew that there was no going back. Resolute Toran declared, "The battle hangs on a knife's edge and we need every brother to fight harder than ever before, if word of this gets out it will shatter morale and the Fortress will fall."

Bylan was kneading the haft of his banner in distress and said, "+Master, are you asking us to lie?+"

Toran lamented, "For the good of the Company we must. It leaves ashes in my mouth but our Brother's spirit are more important than our comfort. We shall say that a spy murdered Halis and Daite, but vengeance has been claimed. For the life of the Chapter that is the hard path we must walk."

Nobody seemed happy with the idea but Toran refused to let them wallow in misery as he declared, "Now gather your weapons and prepare for battle, we still have a war to win!"