Reviews:
HolyKnight5: Don't worry, I remember Cawl. And yes, he is doing just that. And you have a good point, so I changed the previous chapter to include slipspace bombs. The master of the 10th company is the one who trains the scout marines and aspirants. I personally can't see John being a very good teacher, he's a good leader but he just doesn't seem like the type to teach. So I made him third company instead.
ThousandSonSorcere: Thank you for your input! And don't worry I'll write a few chapters from the perspectives of some of the other spartans a bit later.
Strong-bot: Fair point. I'll just chalk that up to the Custodes already being injured from battle.
Azrael The Deplorable: Oh, I'm sorry. Would you prefer I include something like the daemonculaba? The first couple of chapters had to be written in such a way as to progress the story. The bulk of the grim darkness will come in future chapters. The point of the story is to write about spartan 2s receiving Astartes augmentations and thus they needed to get into the astartes some how. Proving their worth in battle against Orks seems like a method the Astartes would use to me. And it's not about their personalities it was about their fighting styles. They can be psycho-indoctrinated like all Astartes or did you not know that was a thing? Also, exterminatus weapons are typically prohibitively expensive as well but the Imperium still uses them. And I doubt they would be any more expensive than typical vortex weapons.
Warden of Eternity: I don't know about a reaction, but here are some guardsmen using a warthog!
Orion78: Spartan augmentations are not genetic. They're all surgical and chemical. Astartes augmentations are genetic and those genetic alterations are the reason they are incapable of reproducing. There is no reason the male spartans would be any different in that regard. The only way astartes are ever reproducing is if female astartes are created. But that would come with its own challenges considering the fact that there are no female primarchs.
Spartan-666: That would be nice and wholesome. But you're right, it's not gonna happen.
"DIE, HERETIC SCUM!" Shouted Commissar V'domier Fenoff as he unloaded a heavy bolter into the Skitarii of the Dark Mechanicum from the back of the Warthog. "On your left, Cinkosky! Watch out!" He then shouted to the driver as he noticed a Daemon Engine turning its attention towards them.
"I see it, sir!" Zack Cinkosky, the driver, shouted back as he swerved the Warthog to avoid the Daemon Engine while the Commissar unloaded his heavy bolter, meanwhile Sergeant Frohock fired his grenade launcher at vehicles and infantry from his spot in the passenger seat as they drove past.
"Emperor curse these bastards! This is by far the worst battle I have ever been in! AND I'VE FOUGHT DARK ELDAR!" Sergeant Frohock shouted as he blew a dark Magos to bits with his grenade launcher.
"Shut it, Frohock! This may be the worst, but by the Emperor it won't be our last! The Adeptus Astartes are coming soon to act as reinforcements and once they arrive these heretics will burn!" The Commissar shouted.
"If we even survive that long!" Cinkosky retorted as he ran over a pair of Skitarii.
"We will survive! Remember, Cinkosky, the Emperor protects!" The Commissar yelled between bursts of heavy bolter fire.
"Right… What on Terra is that thing?!" Cinkosky shouted as the three of them witnessed something massive fall from the sky a fair distance away. They could all feel the heat from its entry into the atmosphere and when it impacted the ground it caused a massive earthquake. Once they were finally able to get a good look at it they saw it was some sort of massive drop pod. Moments later it opened and a massive warmaster class titan of the Dark Mechanicum came lumbering out.
"Is that an Emperor damn titan?!" Sergeant Frohock exclaimed.
"It would appear so… Cinkosky, drive to the east where the fighting is the lightest! I need to call in reinforcements but I can't do so with heavy bolter fire obscuring my words over the vox!" The Commissar ordered.
"Understood, sir!" Cinkosky yelled back at the Commissar before turning the Warthog and driving towards the east.
Once they were closer to the edge of the battle the commissar activated his vox unit and said, "This is Commissar V'domier Fenoff, enemy titans have been deployed, I repeat, enemy Titans have been deployed! Requesting immediate Titan-killer tank deployment at my coordinates!"
A response came almost immediately. "This is General Kamir, your request has been received, Commissar. Titan killers will be deployed in approximately ten minutes… By any chance do you know what class of titan we should be expecting?"
"I have no idea! It appears to be over forty meters tall, if that narrows it down any!" The commissar responded.
"Hm… Understood. General Kamir over and out."
[General Kamir]
"A Warmaster titan then… That's not good… And, of course, there have been reports of multiple Imperator class Titans armed with anti-ship weapons and even Emperor damned Ordinati guarding that hole in the planet. The Dark Mechanicum appears to be taking this battle surprisingly seriously…" The General muttered in thought. "Magos, have you had any luck in deciphering their communications and finding out what exactly it is that they want here?"
The mangos nodded slightly. "Indeed. The Heretek's pathetic attempts at encrypting their communications is no match for the will of the Omnissiah. Unfortunately, while they have mentioned several objectives and locations they are assaulting and I have been listening in on their orders and strategies, they have been very careful not to mention their true intentions. So we still have no idea what this planet is or why they are here."
"I see… How unfortunate. And, of course, our fleet lacks exterminatus grade weapons and they have been going to great pains to prevent any of our ships from being able to break off to perform such an action in the first place even if we did have them… Emperor damn it all." The General cursed as he examined the hololithic display of the planet in front of him.
[On the battlefield]
"GAH! Frak! I've been hit!" Cinkosky cursed, clutching his wound with one hand while continuing to drive with the other.
"Did it hit anything vital?!" Commissar Fenoff shouted over the heavy bolter fire.
"No, sir!" Cinkosky responded.
"Then keep pressure on it and keep driving! We can inject biofoam later! Just be glad these bastards aren't using radium weapons right now! I've fought alongside the Adeptus Mechanicus before being assigned to this regiment and they have zero qualms with using radioactive weapons!" The Commissar ordered.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and heat and sound and the Warthog was sent tumbling off to the side, throwing everyone out.
After rolling to a stop, Cinkosky coughed and tried to force himself up only to fall back flat on his face. He tried again and this time he succeeded in getting onto his hands and knees. Looking up he saw a galvanic rifle pointed directly at his face.
Before he could even react the Skitarii pulled the trigger and everything suddenly went dark.
"Cinkosky!" Sergeant Frohock shouted, seeing his friend's head get blasted off. Drawing his combat knife from his belt he charged the Skitarii and impaled it through the eye, only to get stabbed through the chest by a bayonet in return.
Seeing both of his squadmates dead, Commissar Fenoff cursed and unloaded his bolt pistol into the Skitarii whilst charging them with his chainsword. However, he was caught off guard as a grenade went off next to him and blew one of his legs off and blasted him full of shrapnel. As he lay there bleeding out on the ground his vision was momentarily filled with golden light. Once the light died down he sat up a bit and saw an angelic being in iridescent golden armor standing between him and the Skitarii. It took him a moment but he recognized the figure as Saint Celestine.
Then he saw other figures appearing. Astartes clad in burning skeletal armor who proceeded to assault the forces of the Dark Mechanicum the very instant they manifested.
Seeing this the Commissar couldn't help but laugh, as much as doing so pained him. "The Emperor has sent his angels! Hahahaha!" He then began coughing furiously as blood began filling his mouth. When the coughing fit was over he layed back down. Having seen this divine event the Commissar was able to rest easily knowing the Dark Mechanicum would be denied their goal, whatever that goal may have been. He continued laughing and then chuckling to himself until he eventually lost the strength to do even that and he passed out from blood loss. Even so, he died with a smile on his face knowing retribution had come and the Dark Mechanivum would pay for their sins.
[Saint Celestine]
Saint Celestine looked around the battlefield for a moment and watched as the Legion of the Damned and several more Living Saints appeared and assaulted the forces of the Dark Mechanicum. Looking up at the Titan striding across the battlefield she saw a swarm of drones assaulting it, cutting through its arms and legs with beams of energy.
It seemed that the one controlling this planet was intent upon helping them rather than the Dark Mechanicum. This was good. The parasite entombed here could not be allowed to be set free.
Wielding her sword, she flapped her wings and launched herself at the forces of the Dark Mechanicum and began cleaving into them.
[John 117]
The Rock along with the fleets of all ten Dark Angels companies exited the Warp and arrived in orbit of the artificial planet above which a pitched battle between the Imperial Navy and Dark Mechanicum was taking place. The Dark Angels immediately joined the fleet of the Imperial Navy in battling the Dark Mechanicum's fleet and the tide of the space battle began to shift in favor of the Imperium.
Under orders from the Supreme Grand Master Naberius, John-117, the Master of the Third Company, marched towards the hangar of his Battle Barge accompanied by his command squad. He had two missions. The first was to provide support to the Imperial Guardsmen fighting the Dark Mechanicum on the planet's surface. The second was to find out what this artificial world was, what the Dark Mechanicum's goals here were, and to deny them those goals by any means necessary.
"Are you alright, brother? You seem more grim than usual." Leon-011, the company Champion, inquired.
John nodded. "I'm fine." He lied. He was in-fact not fine at all. Ever since they entered the Warp after having received that call for aid he had been having some of the most horrific nightmares of his life. Visions of parasitic monstrosities that infected human flesh and twisted it into grotesque forms spreading across the galaxy had been the only thing in his dreams these past weeks. He wanted to dismiss it as the typical nightmares that accompanied warp travel but something buried deep in his subconscious told him otherwise.
"If you say so… I personally have a very bad feeling about this world. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before but I can't remember how or when. Like a half remembered dream… or nightmare." Leon stated.
"Hm… I feel similarly… Once we are on the surface, everyone be on your highest guard. I don't think the worst thing on this world is the Dark Mechanicum." John ordered.
A few minutes later they all reached the Thunderhawk. After they were all inside, the Thunderhawk raised up and began flying down towards the surface of the planet at breakneck speeds. Not long after that they touched down behind the lines of the Imperial Guard, who were currently assaulting an encampment of the Dark Mechanicum.
Exiting the Thunderhawk John was greeted by the sight of Imperial Guards fighting Skitarii of the Dark Mechanicum, Daemon Engines battling Leman Russes, Baneblades, and M850 Grizzly tanks, the Legion of the Damned assaulting the Dark Mechanicum and even several Living Saints. He immediately drew his master crafted plasma rifle and opened fire on the Skitarii being fielded by the Dark Mechanicum. The rest of his squad did the same, except for Leon who charged forwards with his combat shield and master crafted power sword raised and began assaulting the Skitarii from close quarters.
The Conversion Field of John's Iron Halo flashed with light as it deflected beams from arc weapons and shots from galvanic rifles as John returned fire upon the dark Skitarii. Eventually his Iron Halo gave out and the backup energy shield projectors installed in his dark green artificer armor kicked in. Eventually those fell as well and shots started hitting him directly. Fortunately his armor held out long enough for his Iron Halo to recharge.
Seeing one of the Dark Magos in charge of these Skitarii, a horrifying mass of mechadendrites with barely any flesh left to speak of, John put his master crafted plasma rifle away and drew the Purgatory Sword, a relic of the Dark Angels that he had been granted the honor of wielding. He then charged at the Dark Magos.
The Magos fired malefic weapons of vile design attached to the ends of several tentacle-like mechadendrites as John charged. Volkite beams and super heated plasma splashed across the Conversion Field of his Iron Halo. Once John was in range he swung the Purgatory Sword only for the Dark Magos to meet his blade with a power sword of his own. John then used his significantly superior speed to hold onto the Purgatory Sword with one hand while striking out with his offhand to grab the mechadendrite holding the power sword and rip it completely off the Dark Magos' body.
The Magos responded to this by attempting to cleave him in half with several other mechadendrites. To John's enhanced perception the mechanical appendages were moving at a crawl and thus he responded by dodging backwards out of the way of the mechadendrites. He then rammed his shoulder into the main body mass of the Magos, knocking it off balance, before cutting it to pieces with contemptuous ease.
With that Dark Magos dead he put the Purgatory Sword away and once again drew his master crafted plasma rifle, which he proceeded to fire at one of the Daemon Engines, melting a hole through it. Fortunately it was too focused on the baneblade currently assaulting it to turn its attention upon him. So he kept shooting it until it eventually collapsed and died.
Several more drop pods landed, killing more Skitarii and deploying more battle brothers from the Dark Angels Third Company along with multiple dreadnoughts. It was then that the battle truly began in earnest.
John began giving strategic orders to the battle brothers who had just arrived, directing them to key locations across the battlefield. Meanwhile his command squad pressed as far into enemy lines as they could in order to deal as much damage as possible.
After several hours the battle was nearly over and it was clear the Imperial forces would win. Thus John took it upon himself to capture one of the Dark Magi leading the Dark Mechanicum's forces alive. This one being particularly fleshy and thus less likely to be able to self terminate in the middle of interrogation.
After severing all of the Magos's limbs and mechadendrites he personally dragged the heretek to his company's Chaplain and said, "Find out everything this one knows about this world and why the Dark Mechanicum is here."
"I won't tell you anything, Astartes! The Dark Gods curse you, I will die first!" The Magos roared.
The Interrogator-Chaplain scoffed before grabbing the magos by the throat. Forcing the Magos to look into the eyes of his helmet the Interrogator-Chaplain said, "Oh, you'll tell me everything I want to know. It's only a matter of when. And who knows, perhaps I may even get you to repent."
"You may request assistance from a librarius if you deem it necessary." John stated.
"Hm…" The Interrogator-Chaplain hummed in thought for a moment before tightening his grip on the Magos's throat. "If you make me resort to calling upon a librarius to drag the secrets out of you, you will regret it." He hissed. He then turned and began stomping off towards a Thunderhawk with the Dark Magos in tow.
After that John approached a guardsman and asked, "I am Company Master John of the Dark Angels Third Company. Who is your leader?"
"That would be General Kamir, my lord." The Guardsman informed him.
"Take me to him." John ordered.
The guardsman nodded before turning and walking away. John and his squad followed the guardsman to a tent near the back lines. "General Kamir, the lord astartes wishes to speak with you."
There was some rustling in the tent for a moment before a large man with extensive augmetics exited the tent. "Thank you, guardsman. You are dismissed." The general stated before looking up at John and making the sign of the Aquila. "My lord, I am humbled by your presence."
"General, I need a situation report." John stated in a commanding tone.
"Of course. As far as we are aware the Dark Mechanicum appears to have arrived only a few days before us. Still they have already made quite a foothold upon this artificial world and they seem quite intent upon keeping it, though we are making quite a foothold of our own. We are unsure as to why the Dark Mechanicum has such an interest in this world just yet, unfortunately, but I would assume that it has to do with whatever technology is present here. We have witnessed what appear to be defense drones of sorts assaulting the Dark Mechanicum. That being said, these drones have left us alone so far and have in fact helped us on a few occasions so we have returned the favor by letting them continue killing the Dark Mechanicum unhindered, at least until we find out what's controlling them and their intentions. It would also appear that the Emperor has deigned to send multiple Living Saints and whatever these burning Astartes are, so I can only assume whatever is going on here is of the utmost importance." The General explained.
"I see. Do you know of any priority locations that the Dark Mechanicum seems to be focused on getting to or keeping?" John inquired.
"Well, according to our techpriests who have been intercepting their messages, this planet appears to be hollow. There is an entrance to the interior of the planet that they seem very intent on keeping, I'm sure you've already seen it from orbit. We have been assaulting the entrance in hopes of gaining access to it but we have met with little success as their defenses around those locations are quite hard to crack. They have multiple Imperator class Titans armed with anti-ship weapons stationed there. Trying to fly a ship in there right now would be suicide. There are other locations that have been mentioned as well but they are all inside the planet itself. The one they talk about the most is something they are calling the Main Data Repository but they appear to be meeting very heavy resistance from the drones guarding this planet. Then there is something they are calling the Biological Repository where they seem to be meeting even heavier resistance, much to their frustration. There is also something they are calling the Cartographer which apparently has a full map of the planet, they already have control over that." The general explained.
"You will give me the coordinates of these entrances and these repositories." John ordered.
"Of course, my lord." The general stated.
Once he had the coordinates, John messaged Supreme Grand Master Naberius. "My lord, I have been made aware of several areas of importance to the Dark Mechanicum and several important facts about the planet itself. Sending you the data now."
After a few seconds John finally received a response. "The Deathwing and Ravenwing shall be sent to the entrance. Once they break through, your company is to make your way inside the planet with the fourth and fifth companies. After that your goals are to secure these repositories."
"Understood, my lord." John stated.
"So we're going inside the planet… Which repository will our company be targeting?" Brother Karael, the company ancient, inquired.
"I'll have to speak with the other Company Masters but I intend to focus on the Data Repository since that appears to be their main goal." John stated. He then sent a message to the rest of the company informing them of their orders and called thunderhawks for pick up.
About fifteen minutes later he and the rest of his company arrived at Entrance-04. The Deathwing and Raven Wing along with the Fifth company were already there fighting alongside the Imperial Guard.
As soon as they landed John drew his master crafted plasma rifle and charged towards the nearest Daemon Engine, a Maulerfiend, firing at it the entire time. It responded by charging at him as well. Once he was within range John swapped his plasma rifle for the Purgatory Sword and began cutting into the beast. It struck out at him with its lasher tendrils. Seeing everything happening in slow motion, John cleaved through the lasher tendrils before even a single one could strike him.
Furious, the Maulerfiend attempted to smash John with its fists. John took that opportunity to get under it and sever its Magma Cutter. He then grabbed it with both hands and lifted it up off the ground before throwing it backwards onto its back. Once it was down, John proceeded to cleave its head off with the Purgatory Sword.
Looking around John spotted his next target, an Onager Dunecrawler. He immediately began shooting it with his master crafted plasma rifle. It took exception to this and tried to fire back at him, however he was careful to track where all of its guns were aiming and keep sprinting well ahead of its aim so it was incapable of hitting him. Eventually the damage accumulated to the point the Dunecrawler could no longer withstand it and it exploded.
Seeing a particularly dense cluster of Skitarii John drew a grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it. Moments later the skitarii were blasted to pieces.
This battle went on for even longer than the previous one as the Dark Mechanicum had significantly more forces mustered in this location to guard the entrance to the interior of the planet and to guard the Imperator Titans themselves. But eventually their forces fell and the Imperator Titans were brought down from within via the valiant efforts of the Deathwing and the Living Saints that accompanied them in their infiltration of the massive war machines.
As soon as the last Daemon Engine was destroyed, the last of the Skitarii were being wiped out, the last Ordinatus was destroyed, and the last Imperator Titan was exploding, John approached the massive entrance and looked down into it. He then saw what the General had meant by calling the planet hollow. The metal exterior of the planet was actually just a shell, similar to a dyson sphere. The actual planet was underneath the metal shell.
"Interesting." Said a voice from beside him. Turning his head to look he saw the Company Masters of the Fourth and Fifth Companies standing beside him all doing the same thing, looking down into the entrance.
John then said, "We should discuss how we plan to go about this. My company and I will focus on the Data Repository."
"Then my company will take the Cartographer." The Master of the Fifth Company stated.
"That leaves my company with the Biological Repository." The Master of the Fourth Company said, continuing to watch the Skitarii's body slowly fall to the ground.
"Then we are in agreement. Good hunting, brothers." John stated.
Soon after that Thunderhawks and the Pelican dropships of the Imperial Guard were flying into the entrance.
As the Third Company was flying towards the Data Repository the Thunderhawk John and his command squad were flying in along with many other Thunderhawks was suddenly shot out of the sky by concealed Icarus Stormcannon Arrays.
As soon as the Thunderhawk tumbled to a halt, John punched a hole through one of the walls before ripping it open as the normal exit, while ripped open, was planted firmly against a rock wall and was thus impossible to get through. After climbing out of the hole he ripped open he turned and watched as what remained of his command squad climbed out, dragging the corpses of the brothers who died in either the explosions or the subsequent crash. The only two who survived other than John were Karael and Leon. John frowned at this.
"We'll have to mark these coordinates so an apothecary can come retrieve their gene seed and recover their equipment and bodies later." Leon stated, looking down at the corpses.
John just nodded silently before activating his helmet's built in vox unit and saying, "This is Company Master John-117, every surviving member of the Third Company begin making your way on foot. We'll regroup at the Data Repository. Secondary objective, if you see the anti-air emplacements that shot us down, destroy them and any others you see on the way to the Repository."
Drawing his plasma rifle John looked at Karael and Leon and said, "Let's get moving."
They then began marching forward with weapons at the ready. As they were walking, the vox unit in John's helmet sparked to life. "Co… Mast… rogat… go… re here… me thi… Flood… lan… to u… wea…" John could tell it was the voice of the Interrogator-Chaplain he sent to interrogate that Magos he captured but whatever he was saying was so obscured by static it was impossible to understand. Though the one word John heard clearly rang in his mind like a gong. Flood. He didn't know why but that one word set off emergency sirens in his mind. It was like something buried deep within his subconscious was trying to warn him of something.
"What was that? I can't hear you." John responded to the message. No response came. He then looked at Leon and Karael and said, "Something's wrong. We need to get to the Data Repository as fast as possible."
"What's going on?" Karael inquired.
"I don't know yet, but I intend to find out." John stated. He then turned and began sprinting in the direction of the Data Repository. Both Karael and Leon followed close behind him.
As they were running, a blast from an Arc Rifle suddenly impacted the Conversion Field of John's Iron Halo, followed by a continuous volley of more. John turned and saw a full Platoon of Skitarii firing at him and the others. Raising his mastercrafted plasma rifle he returned fire. Between John, Leon, and Karael the Skitarii didn't last long.
As they were about to turn and start running again, however, they heard the roars of a Soul Grinder Daemon Engine which then came crawling over a rock formation and into the clearing they were currently in before immediately opening fire on them with its Harvester Cannon. All of them dodged out of the way and ran behind cover.
"You two go! I'll take care of this abomination and meet back up with you at the Data Repository!" Leon shouted.
John considered his options for a split second. On the one hand he did not want to abandon Leon to fight this thing alone. On the other hand, his subconscious was absolutely screaming at him to move and he knew Leon was skilled enough to survive this. "Alright. Good luck, brother."
"Hmph… You know you've always been the lucky one, John. Now get moving." Leon said, motioning with his power sword.
John nodded and continued sprinting in the direction of the Main Data Repository with Karael following close behind him. They continued running for several minutes before John noticed a flash of light. Looking back he saw Karael missing his head and a Magos with a Volkite Blaster standing on a nearby hill.
As Karael's body fell to the ground the Magos laughed. "Foolish Astartes, you will die here along with your brothers and your bodies shall be fed to the grand parasite!" It then fired his Volkite Blaster at John.
John dodged the shot and returned fire with his plasma rifle, blasting the Magos to pieces. Even as the Magos fell it continued to laugh maniacally. "The Imperium shall finally fall as it is devoured by the parasite and the Mechanicum shall rule all in the name of the Dark Gods! Tremble, Space Marine, as my brothers and sisters will soon unleash your doom!"
John marched over to the Magos and pointed his plasma rifle straight at the Magos's head. "Not if my brothers have anything to say about it."
The Magos just continued to laugh hysterically until John blasted his head off.
With the Magos dead John approached Karael's body and marked the coordinates. He blamed himself for Karael's death. He should have noticed the Magos sooner. Regardless, he didn't have time to dwell on it.
He assumed that whatever this "parasite" was, it had to be in the Biological Repository. Thus he attempted to message the Company Master of the Fourth Company. "This is John-117, do you read me?" All that answered him was static. At this point he had to assume the Dark Mechanicum was using communication jammers.
Not having much recourse, John grabbed the company banner from Karael's corpse before turning and continuing to sprint towards the Main Data Repository.
As he ran he kept running into one obstacle after another, slowing his progress significantly, much to his frustration.
Eventually, however, he reached the coordinates given to him by the General and saw swarms of drones assaulting a large Dark Mechanicum force in front of a large metal structure. Several astartes and Imperial Guard forces were already there, their Thunderhawks and Pelicans having made it past the anti-air turrets of the Dark Mechanicum.
With the company banner in hand John charged forwards with his master crafted plasma rifle raised and fired into any Dark Mechanicum forces that got in his way as he ran straight for the Main Data Repository. Seeing what looked like a door he charged straight for it. Oddly enough it opened up before he could get within even fifty feet of it, leading him to believe something was controlling it and wanted him to go inside but not the Dark Mechanicum. He didn't have time to ponder this long before he ran straight through the open door, which immediately closed behind him.
Keeping his plasma rifle raised, John slowed to a walk and looked around at the interior of the building. He saw a few drones fly overhead but they seemed to completely ignore him thus he decided to ignore them for the moment. Not seeing any other potential threats he continued forwards before seeing yet another door open and remain open as if waiting for him. Something was trying to lead him somewhere. Remaining on guard, he decided to play along for the moment and began following the doors as they automatically opened for him. He was led deeper and deeper into the facility until he came to what appeared to be an external catwalk or balcony. He walked to the end and a machine across the gap from the balcony lit up.
Looking he then saw a humanoid figure floating down towards him. "Who are you?" He demanded.
"I am what remains of the Forerunner, once known as the Librarian." Responded a calm and gentle female voice. As the figure got closer John could see that it was very clearly a xenos, or possibly some sort of abhuman. "My memories were retained to assist humanity on the path to the Mantle."
"A xenos wants to help humanity? What's in it for you? What is this 'mantle' and why do the Dark Mechanicum want it?" John demanded. His centuries of experience had taught him very well that if a xenos claimed to want to help mankind then it was either a trick or they had something to gain from it.
"The Mantle of Responsibility is a mixture of things. Philosophy, religion, and stewardship. It would take time to explain in full but the core tenet is that the most developed species should hold stewardship over all other life in the galaxy. However, you are wrong. This Dark Mechanicum does not want the Mantle. They seek the exact opposite. They wish to unleash something terrible to consume all organic life in the galaxy so they may rule unopposed. They seek to unleash an ancient and terrible parasite known as the Flood, which destroyed my kind eons ago. But they are fools to think the Flood will not destroy them as well." The Librarian explained.
"Unfortunately, it's already too late to stop them. While your brothers and those you call the Imperial Guard were fighting them, they have already breached the library and are about to unleash the Flood. That being said, all hope is not lost. If the Flood can be stopped in its infancy the galaxy may yet be saved."
"How do we stop it?" John asked, lowering his plasma rifle.
"You must…" She then trailed off and looked in the direction of the Biological Repository. "My apologies, they just broke its containment and it's already starting to spread at an alarming rate… To stop it, you must destroy all of the infection forms and combat forms and all of their spores. Under no circumstances can it be allowed to leave this world."
"Is there anything else?" John asked.
"I am already doing everything I can to slow the spread. There is more I would like to speak with you about but there is no time. The Flood takes precedence. When you leave this place, you must send one of your brothers back out of the entrance to inform the rest of your forces of what's happening and get reinforcements. Then when this is all over, we can speak again." The Librarian told him.
John nodded before turning and running in the other direction, back towards the entrance.
Author's Notes: I feel like I could have paced this better as well. So I might replace this chapter in a couple of days assuming I can figure out a way to do so that doesn't feel forced or too much like unnecessary filler. Anyway, this entire thing should last for three or four chapters at bare minimum regardless.
Just so you're all aware, John does wear a Mjolnir Mk IV helmet made of ceremite instead of a typical helmet. It's just a matter of preference as it offers decent enough protection as is.
I love reading comments so any thoughts or suggestions you may have would be very much appreciated! I don't mind criticism either since I can only improve if I know what I'm doing wrong. So don't be afraid to leave a review!