You know, after such a long time of not writing this story, I wondered if it would be hard to get back into it and keep up the updates. But these last few chapters have revealed it is easy as it has ever been. If this keeps up, I might be able to do updates almost weekly till the end of this story. No promises, but it's looking good at the moment.
Chaos is the Prize Chapter 80
"There is nothing which will stop the man who has one [referring to gene-seed]. He will be a monster among monsters. They will be our greatest work, and I doubt anyone will ever surpass it."
-Amar Astarte
"We are made human by the blood.
We surpass humanity by the blood.
We lose our humanity again by the blood"
-Provost Willem (translation version)
It had taken only the smallest amount of planning.
The call of Sythonax could not be ignored. Ceruleon understood the gravity of the call, even if he was not been too keen on trusting Daemons, especially as he had only been burned so very recently, but Orchid and Sangur, ever the eager followers of their Gods and willing to listen, decided that Sythonax needed to be consulted. The old ascended one of the Legions reached out to the Legions so very rarely that it must have been important.
So the three of them came together in their hideout for a plan of action. The first course of action was clear. They would use the remaining fuel they had and fly to Argus. Argus had an immense Atlesian military presence, so with any luck, they would be able to steal some more fuel, if not from the base then maybe connected supply chain. Following that that, they could think about making the long-distance flight to Terra, after they had confirmed the situation with Team RWBY and JNPR.
The only problem was that when they reached Argus, they learned the train had been attacked on the way, and there was no trace of the Beacon teams.
"Well this is just great," Sangur snarled as he punched the recently stolen large canister of aircraft-grade refined dust fuel that was stored in the crew bay of the Night Reaver, which was parked far outside the radar reach of Argus. "We finally had a solid lead, we flew here to catch up to them. And they went and got themselves lost on the way!"
"It is unfortunate," Orchid agreed. His thoughts were at work to determine what they should do next. "We need to adjust our plans accordingly. Let's see…"
It had been Orchid's plan to make contact with the Beacon teams and determine what the situation was like regarding Cinder Fall who was after them. Perhaps even ambush the woman and her minions if they attacked here in Argus. Orchid would have preferred it, rather than having to travel further to the home turf of the Atlesians, which rought great risks. But that was all impossible until the teams decided to show up. Fortunately, they knew the destination was Atlas, so the teams would almost certainly pass by Argus. For now, the only valid course of action was to wait. But the question of Sythonax was still on the table.
Some time was passed pondering and arguing. Sangur was afraid that if the Beacon teams had been stranded in the wastelands, there was a chance that Cinder Fall could track them down and attack before they could make it to Argus. Or that the teams would simply be claimed by the dangers on the way, and their bodies would never be found. Sangur was of the mind they should fly into the wilderness and search them by using their aircraft. Ceruleon and Orchid dismissed the idea as highly inefficient.
Eventually, they determined waiting in Argus was the wisest course of action, and that someone should remain there do it while Night Reaver would make a quick flight to Terra to meet the Daemon Prince. One of them would stay and wait for Beacon teams or Cinder Fall to appear, and two would make the journey to Terra and back as fast as possible, only a couple of days hopefully. Since Ceruleon would fly the aircraft, the only thing that needed to be determined was would it be Sangur or Orchid to make the trip with him.
Orchid would have preferred to do both jobs himself, for he trusted Sangur with neither. Sangur would attack at any signs of Cinder Fall in Argus if he stayed, but if Orchid stayed he could only get the second-hand knowledge of what the Daemon had to say. Ceruleon made it sound like the Daemon's information was vital, and Orchid was eager to hear it. Maybe the Dark Prince had something to grant him, to help him in his mission.
After weighing the options, Orchid came to a decision that objectively it would make the most sense for him to stay in Argus. After talking it over with Sangur and Ceruleon, they came to an agreement. They would go, Orchid would stay.
It was only after Night Reaver was a but a spot in the horizon that Orchid remembered he would have to look after Sun Wukong as well. Cerulean had drugged the faunus unconscious to stop him from regaining and using his Aura to escape, but eventually, the faunus came to, for Orchid had only wrong kinds of drugs. He hung the tied-up monkey to dry from the wall of the apartment they had claimed and called it a day, making a mental note to try and remember to deplete the boy's Aura regularly.
"Sooooo," Sun started chatting after a while. "Tell me somthing, who are you guys anyway?"
In the next few hours, Orchid heard the whole dramatic life story of Sun Wukong, and wondered if he should have made the choice of being the one to leave for Terra
Smarg stared at his hands in the light of a small makeshift fireplace as he waited for the small underground intersection crosspoint to start filling with his cousins. His coal-black skin was the same before, still very much human. It was such a strange thing to imagine the power of the empyrean flowing inside those very human hands.
"Is it not good that it can be kept hidden? You should be grateful, it is not always the case…"
Smarg, Ferro, Ivorian and Chromos had been the first to arrive, as they had been the ones who had called the others out. They were the only representatives from their respective Legions. They had put up the fire and sat down to wait, and soon the dark corridors of the underground Palace started to deliver the other to the meeting.
"Two from the west, servants of the Dark Prince…"
The first of the others to arrive were the two Emperor's Children Neophytes, Amelhyst and Fuchsian. Smarg hated those two, Slaaneshy scum as they were. The two of them cautiously remained at the edge of the chamber, near the corridor they had arrived, as if ready to flee at the first signs of danger.
"You two look sleepy," Chromos pointed out to the two Children.
"Yeah, we have not been sleeping very well lately," Fuchsian replied. "You know how fun it is to sleep every night in the absolute torturing cacophony that is caused by Tsagaan crying his vox unit out in the forge chambers?"
"Yeah, I understa-"
"Its really fucking fun as a matter of fact!" Fuchsian continued. "Now Shrike chased us out of there since we were tossing pebbles at Tsagaan to make him cry louder. It's horrible. I want to go back to sleeping in the forges, where I have slept for the past six months!"
"Slaaneshi freaks…" Smarg muttered under his breath.
"Knights from the north…"
Indeed, two Dark Angel Neophytes emerged from the north corridor. Obsidiel and Lonan, if he recalled their names correctly. Smagr hated them too.
"Warriors of Ultramar…"
As with the others, the Ultramarines came as a pair too. Smarg did not know their names, nor did he care to, for he knew he would hate them anyway.
"Scion of the Warmaster…"
Of the Sons of Horus, only one showed up, cautiously remaining back like the Emperor's Children on the opposite side of the intersection chamber. Smarg thought his name was Fern, but he was not sure. Yes, he hated the guy despite of it.
"Is there anyone you do not hate?"
"Can't think of anyone," Smarg said silently.
"A Zealot…"
A noise of dark mutterings and strange inhuman sounds could be heard echoing from one of the corridors.
"What the hell?" Chromos asked as he turned to look.
"Close, Word Bearer," Smarg replied without looking.
A single Word Bearer had apparently decided to grace them with his presence as well. The noises died out as soon as the progeny of the XVIIth stepped into the light of the fire. Another unknown by Smarg, but not unhatted. Smarg did not recall inviting any Word Bearers, and maybe the zealot had just stumbled upon them, for the expression of the Neophyte looked as if he had found them all having a dark sadistic ritual, for which he had not been invited.
"Greetings," the Word Bearers said as the only one present to deliver such greeting upon arrival. "Blessings of the Gods upon you all."
"REALITY CANCER DEVOUR YOUR SOUL AS WELL," Ferro greeted back.
"I take offense to that… Ravens incoming…"
The last Neophytes to arrive to the meeting were the Reven Guard. There were three of them, meaning all of the ones the Legion had when not counting the recruits still being elevated in the halls of the Apothecarium. And Shad was leading them. Oooh, how Smager hatted Shad. He could not think of anyone he hated more than that cocky little bastard, and the far back going feeling was mutual.
"Kill him..."
After a moment of waiting, Smarg determined no one else was coming. The appointed time had been passed. He looked around. Gathered into the intersection chamber were young warriors from eleven different Legions, which was a decent gathering.
Smarg rose to his feet from where he had been crouched by the fire.
"My dear cousins, welcome," he said to the Neophytes around him.
"Fuck you, get to the point," One of the Ultramarines returned the greeting. "Why did you summon us?"
"Right… as you may have heard, our elder siblings are talking about plans after the new recruits have been elevated to bolster our ranks. The food supply of Laguna is limited, and we had a record batch of recruits this time."
"So we gotta thin the ranks to avoid starvation…" Amelhyst remarked with a smile, had resting on the handle of a knife.
"No no no, our elder brethren took steps to avoid that. The Pact of Terra must be upheld, and they would rather not us fall on each other's blades the moment our numbers swell again. That is why they have talked about, as some of you may have heard, the Diaspora."
There were muttering among the Neophytes in the chamber.
"And in preparation for that Diaspora…" Smarg continued, I have called some of you here today." Smarg glanced at Shad.
"Is there any specific reason why you summoned us specifically? Some Legions are not represented, and I know everyone did not receive invites," The Word Bearer asked.
Smagr narrowed his eyes at the zealot for a second before addressing everyone in the chamber. "Well, I summoned those of you here specifically because we are all such super good Legionnaires-"
"That is not true, and you know it!" One of the Ultramarines cried out.
"Anyway," Smarg continued. "I issued to the summons to talk about the future. Like once we spread out from Terra, what are the inter-Legion relations like. Stuff like that. I thought we could sit by the fire, roast some marshmallows-"
"Those are salt crackers you have by the fire," Obsidiel pointed out.
"Gossip about who is with who, who would be good Warmaster material, who you gonna backstab the moment you can, and my personal favorite, CLST on all our dear relatives."
"What, CLST? Is that something for you to separate crazies from the normies?" Fern asked.
"Oh nononono," Smarg said. "The abbreviation comes from the words: Crazy Legionnaire Screening Test."
Fern facepalmed.
"What, if you want to work with absolute lunatics that is up to you," Smarg barked angrily to the Son of Horus.
"What was that about Warmaster?" the Word Bearer asked.
"Right, like who do you think would make a good inter Legion Warmster if such a time comes," Smarg elaborated.
A couple of Neophytes laughed at the idea of them ever getting together enough to appoint anyone.
"What, you think you would be Warmaster material?" Amelhyst asked.
"I never said that," Smarg rebutted. "For all I care, you guys can think someone like Smurfus would be a good Warmaster."
"Smurfus as Warmaster?!" one of the Ultramarines cried out. "Ultramarines are against this!"
"Why?" Chromos asked. "Smurfus is an Ultramarine…"
"Well yes he is, but HEY HELLO!" the Ultramarine replied.
"Well, I for one will never work with any fucking Iron Hands." Amelhyst declared.
Ferro gave the bastard a heavy-lidded stare. "OH REALLY?! WHAT A FUCKING SURPRISE! WHY MIGHT THAT BE?!"
"You know why. There are two principal reasons." Amelhyst continued. "Two reasons that stand in the way of our cooperation. One is your pathological, unreasonable, one might say headless hate for us, and the other is that we are a bunch of untrustworthy pricks."
"I AGREE WITH YOU ONE EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID YOU FUCKERS!"
"When the Diaspora comes, we will be ready-" Lonan said, earning an elbow perk from his brother Obsidiel, as if he had intended to slip out something he should not have. Lonan glanced at Obsidiel and seemed to correct what he had been intending to say "We are the Legiones Venatores, Remnant cannot hope to stand against us."
"Indeed, as long as we have love, friendship, numerical and qualitical superiority, and potential for tremendous violence," Fern chuckled.
"Is qualitical even a word?" Chromos wondered outloud.
"Grammar within, grammar without," Fern laughed.
"It's not… you know what, fuck you!" Chromos snarled.
"Let's just hope you will all be still there to see it when the Diaspora comes," Shad said with a snide smile.
Smarg turned his attention to the Raven Guard. "And what makes you say that?"
"Just that after the Diaspora it might be hard to keep in touch and settle some old scores… need to take care of those before that. Keep that in mind, clumsy lizard."
Exactly. "Is that a threat?" Smarg asked.
Shad narrowed his eyes. "...Yes."
Smarg rose to his full height and stretched out his arms. Unlike Shad, he was not armed. From now on, he did not need to be armed. "Then what are you waiting for, Shad? I am right here. Too scared to face anyone without trickery, coward?"
Shad raised his brow. From his expression, it was clear he had never expected Smarg to respond to his taunts so boldly in front of everyone. Shad was a skilled duelist, one of the top Neophytes, and Smarg had never displayed the ability to match him.
"Who are you calling cowards…" Shad hissed.
"Well, feel free to prove me wrong…" Smarg snarled.
"You want to settle this here? Now?" Shad asked as his hand moved to the pommel of his short sword. "You really that eager to meet the end?"
"Someone's end, yes." Smarg answered. He beckoned Smarg with one of his hands. "Come, coward. You and me, one against one."
"As you wish," Shad replied angrily, as Smarg's words were getting to him. He pulled forth his sword.
The other Neophytes quickly made space, retreating to the openings of the crosspoint corridors and forming a circle around Smarg and Shad. The two other Raven Guards retreated as well, confident that their brother had this one in the bag.
"Bring it, lizards scum."
"As you wish," Smag replied and moved forwards. "Crush him," he whispered.
"As we wish…"
In the next moment, Smarg's body smoldered and twisted as his flesh was reshaped by the power of the warp. He grew in size and mass. Slanted horns sprouted backward from his head. His hands crew into great talons. Spikes and barbs sprouted from his black steaming and hissing flesh. The sensation was... exhilarating...
Shad never saw it coming. Before he could correct his chaarge, Smarg's Daemon Possessed hulk smashed into him.
The Neophytes around them scattered, most of them fleeing from the scene back into the safety of the dark corridors.
Smarg and the Daemon worked in perfect unison, two spirits, one body. He grabbed Shad's sword hand with his talon hand and twisted it aside. His other massive hand reached out and caught Shad by the head. He brought Shad down and smashed him to the ground on his back. One of his feet, now resembling a bladed hoof, pressed on the Raven Guard bastard's chest. Smarg kept hammering pinned Shad and crushing him against the stone. In mere moments after monstrous applications of strength, he could feel Shad's immature Aura be broken. Only then did he stop his assault.
Shad wheezed under Smarg's twisted hand that was still holding firm around his face and head. "I… I yield…" Shad gurgled.
Smarg smiled. The Daemon in his flesh laughed. In the next moment, he crushed Shad's skull against the concrete floor.
"To the Warp with him… Delicious..."
Smarg stood up. His flesh started to take back its former shape as the Daemon withdrew its might from his veins. In a moment, he was just as he had been, as a human, staring down the corpse with a red smear for ahead. There were no traces of his transformation on himself. Not even his clothes had been damaged. Then he looked around.
Ferro, Ivorian and Chromos were the only ones in the immediate vicinity of the crosspoint chamber. Smarg could spot only the Emperor's Children and the Raven Guards at the very edges of perceptions along two different corridors, and the Slaaneshi servants vanished as soon as he spotted them.
"We have no grudge with you!" one of the Raven Guard yelled from the safe distance. They feared him. Smarg relished the feeling of being feared. "Whatever scores you had with Shad, they died with him!"
"So they did," Smarg barked back.
"Sooo… we are cool?" the Neophyte asked.
"We are cool..." Smarg replied. The sons of the Raven vanished into the darkness.
"We should kill them…"
"Yes, but later," Smarg replied silently.
"Was this whole meeting just so you could get rid of Shad?" Chromos asked behind Smarg. "You could have told me."
"I could have, but I also wanted to have the meeting. I guess we must reschedule now. Gotta get that CLST done, so we know who can be worked with in the future."
"...So, how long have you been a Possessed?" Chomos continued.
"A couple of days. I had Maroos help me with it, it was not a fun process I can tell you. I never want to experience something like that again. It's not a very powerful Daemon, but its good and controllable."
"Who are you calling not powerful?!"
"What did Maroos ask in return?" Ivorian asked. Smarg ignored the question.
"When were you gonna tell us then?" Chromos asked.
"Well, you know now."
"WHAT DO YOU CALL YOUR FOUL WARPSPAWN?"
"Kill him…"
"It goes by the name of Revon," Smarg introduced his Daemonic body partner.
Ferro was already all over the body of Shad.
"Guess we should take that to the Apothecarium. I heard Ceruleon arrived this morning with Sangur. Maybe he can check if the proganoids of Shad are mature enough for harvesting. Check if he has an organ donor card," Smarg laughed at his own jest.
"NO WALLET, I ALREADY CHECKED!"
"One more death in the Legions," Ivorian said with a bit of melancholy. "Life is indeed not a birthright,"
"I guess," Smarg grunted. "Let us hold a second long moment of silence for our fallen cousin, during which talk is of course permitted. Starting: now. Oh, and I will have that sword, Ferro, thank you very much."
"There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush."
-Scriptorus Munificantus
"Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."
-Ares
I had a bit more written here but decided to leave it for the next chapter. There were some new Neophytes named here, but I will not bother adding them to the character list in my profile, for they are not very important.
Leave a review, if you feel like it, and have a nice day.