Extremus Fors Chapter 28
Hypras was deaf and dumb, his senses stopped by suffocating darkness. The universe did not exist outside his head, there was no sense of other minds, no flowing energy from dimensions unseen. Hypras could neither perceive the higher realms nor touch them, reduced to the level of a blunt. So cold, so isolated, no wonder mortal minds were weak. It was the Null's aura that made him so, the vile, hateful nothingness of a Pariah, torture for any Psyker to experience. Yet despite all that Hypras still had his eyes and saw Galhuan die.
Two forms thrashed in combat, one in blue, the other silver. They exchanged blows in a furious duel, spraying meltwater everywhere, then came the fatal blow. Novak twisted and spun, ramming his blade into Galhuan's flank, spearing him through the hearts with an expert strike. Hypras' outrage flared, battling with denial and shock. A Grey Knight had died, cut down not by a fiendish Neverborn but a lowborn cur, one of the failed Astartes. The universe was upended, an affront to everything that they stood for. The only possible response was rage. Unfortunately that would have to wait, for Arvael's fist flew into his jaw.
Hypras fell back, splashing into the water as the Storm Herald bore down. Hypras swallowed pure water, feeling the multi-lung engage to keep it from filling his lungs. Ceramite gauntlets locked about his throat, trying to throttle him. The lack of oxygen was no issue for a Space Marine, but the crushing pressure squeezed his spinal cord and threatened to cripple him. His limbs grew cold and numb, while his head slammed back into his psychic hood. Thrashing water filled his eyes and his ears heard the booming echoes of boots crashing through the pool, kicking at the hot rocks below. He tried to lever himself over, to unbalance Arvael but the Librarian bore down, using immense weight to great effect and pinning Hypras. He was trapped.
Hypras' fists hammered at the armour of his foe, but could not penetrate. He could not move; he could not breathe and his entire body tingled with unnatural sensations. Almost darkness took him, but then he felt it. The tingle wasn't the steely grip of death but an altogether more unfathomable experience. The electric tang of warp-energy. The Pariah, that last random shot had done its work, the Null was down and his effect dwindled. Not totally, not enough to fill Hypras with power, but flickering and leaking warp-energy back into the world. Not dead then, but wounded, possibly dying, the Null was hurt badly and Hypras was empowered once more.
Hypras reached for the immaterium and found small droplets of energy seeping into his mind. Not enough to cast his most potent conjurations, not enough to throw lightning and blast enemies with Kinetic hammers. Perhaps enough to influence the material world, but only in the most basic and elemental fashion. Hypras doubted he would be able to conjure a spell that would defeat these Storm Heralds alone, but then he did not fight alone.
The Grey Knight reached into the Aegis and found it weak and flickering. Galhuan's loss ached in the minds of his kin, like an amputated limb not yet compensated for. They grieved, anger tainting the union, but still Mordad, Agriff and Pelleus were feeding power into their shared mindscape, power enough for Hypras to draw upon. The Librarian drew their might into himself, then swollen with borrowed power fashioned a complex weave, binding his will to the material world.
Water exploded around him, blasting into Arvael's face. A torrent of pure liquid threw him back with unexpected force. An Astartes' weight was no mean thing, but Hypras condensed the water, lacing it with ice to give it heft and rigidity. Arvael was blown off Hypras, tossed aside by a blue tendril that threw him away and sent him soaring back to land with an almighty splash.
Hypras rose from his prone position, propelled by a tidal wave lifting him to his feet. He saw his Brothers still embattled, meeting Storm Heralds face to face as the fight raged. Pelleus was battling two warriors now, Novak leaping to join the fray. Hypras put a stop to that with a gesture, causing a dozen tendrils to arise and wrap around the Champion's limbs. Novak staggered as ice formed, as hard and unforgiving as steel, dragging him down and weighing upon his arms. He fought back with the strength of his genhanced frame and power armour, trying to sheer the shackles apart. Hypras however replaced ice as fast as it broke, ensuring a continuous pressure remained.
Novak was forced to his knees, unable to move and then Hypras stuck again. Cortha was hit full on in the chest, which formed a frozen straightjacket around his limbs. Arvael was encased in a block of ice, thick and unforgiving. Geryon was wrapped in blue snares and pulled off his feet, hung upside down in the air, helpless to break free as his arms dangled. Hypras had disabled all the Storm Heralds, unfortunately that left an angry Dreadnought to face.
"UNDYING WITCH!" Ajax bellowed, "SPAWN OF LAZAR!" His assault cannon erupted, spraying rounds in a lash of fire. Hypras shot upwards, twin columns of water surging under his boots to propel him out of the way. Bullets passed harmlessly under him, peppering the walls but finding no Ceramite. Hypras rose twelve feet into the air, then he began to run. His boot extended into empty air, but when it came down it met a rising column of water. He trod upon it, letting the previous pillars collapse as he took another step, and another. Every time his boot came down it encountered a plume, shooting up with just enough force to sustain his weight, keeping him aloft as he sprinted laterally to the Dreadnought.
Ajax gave chase, assault cannon flaring as the war machine raged. Hypras was barely a second ahead but he had a plan. He reached the wall and let the pillars collapse, dropping to the floor as he commanded a wall of ice rise between him and the Dreadnought. Bullets hammered home, spraying ice everywhere but not reaching the Librarian. Thwarted Ajax resorted to brute force, running straight at the barrier. His fist made powder of it as he crashed through, rampaging into the narrow space between walls, only to find Hypras had relocated.
In the moment Ajax's sight had been blocked Hypras rolled around the barrier, safely out of the way and once the Dreadnought was in position, he brought the cave down. Tons of ice fell, battering at the war machine. He was inundated, unable to escape or move out of the way. Ice swelled into the joints of his mechanisms, gumming gears and pistons, water poured into his weapons, flash freezing to disable and jam. Ajax thrashed and yelled, he discharged his fist in flaring arcs, but Hypras poured on the weight, burying him in tonnes of snow till Ajax could move no more.
Hypras stood up and shook moisture from his limbs as he muttered, "That's better."
"Faithless cur!" Cortha yelled, "Release us and fight with honour!"
"On your knees."
"The Storm Heralds shall never..."
"I said kneel!"
A lashing tendril sliced low, catching Cortha in the back of the knees and causing him to stumble. The Chaplain fell, still struggling with his straightjacket, bits of it falling away only to be replaced instantly. Hypras sneered at their impotence, enjoying seeing these scum made helpless by his power. Truly the sons of Titan were a superior breed, as he had always thought. The other Grey Knights gathered themselves and Hypras held out a hand, causing a surge of water to bring his staff. He was holding five Space Marines in vices of elemental force, yet no strain showed on his face. His mind was honed and focused, maintaining a psychic feat that would have left most Psykers thrashing on the floor.
Hypras growled, "Now justice shall be done."
Novak spat, "You can take your justice and shove it up your..."
He was silenced by a whip slamming into his helm, ice spraying wild as Ceramite rang. Hypras sneered, "You have drawn Grey Knight blood, taken the life of nobler warrior than you will ever meet again. For this alone the sentence is death but as for the rest. Looking upon the forbidden, speaking back to your betters, daring to lay claim to that which belongs to Titan, for this your entire Chapter will suffer. Take comfort in knowing you shall die today, for I shall make it my life's mission to see your Chapter destroyed. The Storm Heralds shall know the full wrath of the Ordo Malleus."
Novak's helm rose in defiance, "I may talk a lot, but you fill the air with babble. You're still weak, unable to finish us off. Trying to hide the fact we have advantages you don't. "
"Thank you for reminding me," Hypras sniffed, "Mordad, make sure the Null is dead."
"Actually," Novak laughed, "I was talking about Geryon."
Hypras' head snapped about and he saw the dangling Techmarine aiming a weapon. A small pistol, so tiny and unthreatening, yet the effect was staggering. A thin dart of dull iron flew the distance and struck him in the upper cheek, punching through skin and muscle to lodge in his gums. Hypras' world collapsed instantly as the unearthly vileness of Null-iron burrowed into his bones. Nothingness, distilled and refined absence, engulfing his soul. The terrifying suffocation of a Null burning inside his flesh, cutting him off from everything. Pride and ambition, glory and brotherhood, all these were lost, leaving him an empty husk, without power.
Ice shackles collapsed instantly. Novak shattered his bonds as he surged to his feet and Cortha roared as he took up his weapon. Geryon dropped like a wet stone into a pond while Arvael burst free of his freezing gaol. The Storm Heralds emerged ready to fight but the Grey Knights were already withdrawing.
Hypras stumbled as grey-clad hands grabbed his pauldrons, heaving him back. He heard shouts ringing as if from a great distance, muffled and making no sense to his addled wits. "Fall-back! Fall-back to the tunnel... Make haste... Into cover, into cover... Fire Brothers, fire upwards... Collapse the entrance on their heads!"
Thunderous retorts of Storm bolters hammered his ears, as flashing blazes lit the darkness. Hypras barely saw it, lost in a fog of nihilistic horror. He saw not the remaining Grey Knights firing into the ceiling, did not witness the narrow tunnel collapsing, raining tonnes of debris into the passage. The Storm Heralds were trapped beyond as the Grey Knights retreated, breaking from the fight and disappearing into the maze of passages and caverns that riddled Lujan Minoris. Hypras could do nothing save stumble along, supported by his Brother's arms. They fled into the depths, enemies on all sides. Traitor and loyalist alike seeking their end with equal vehemence.
