Disclaimer: See the Prologue
Chapter 38 – Before the Despoiler
The fleet was holding orbit over the planet, where at any time wanted it could launch several plantery bombardments; not enough to destroy the planet as if in an Exterminatus, but to make the crater base even more a crater into the planet' surface.
On board the Great Fox, which was still attached to the twin battle-barges, which were on either side, Peppy came across something disturbing on his terminal.
"My God," he begun out loud.
"What is it?" Beltino asked, walking over to him.
"The scanners are picking up Chaos energies that are reading off the darn chart!" Peppy exclaimed, "It's beginning to consume the entire planet."
The frog glimpsed at Peppy's terminal, seeing charts and percentage rates rise through the roof.
"I can only assume that the gate is open," Beltino said, "What if it consumes everyone down there, especially…"
He exhaled painfully.
"…Slippy?"
"That can't happen," Peppy said firmly, "Slippy, Fox and the others all have good hearts and cannot be taken by Chaos. Jacques told me himself."
"How does he know that?" Beltino asked again.
"He's faced Chaos before," Peppy explained, "When it blew up Cerinia."
"I…see," Beltino said, his doubts put to rest.
Back on the planet's surface in the Chaos Temple, Fox stared in disbelief at the daemon gate, and how Andrew just jumped into the portal taking Krystal with him, and also how Jacques chased after him. As he got up, his intent to jump through fresh in his mind, a daemon charged at him.
He cried out as it was about to sink it's teeth into him when Calgar came about and pummelled it with his fists.
"I know what you're thinking," Calgar said, frowning as he killed the daemon, "And it is suicide."
"I'VE GOT TO HELP THEM!" Fox yelled, distressed.
Calgar turned to him, "Listen to me, they are as good as dead. No one has ever gone through a daemon gate and came back. No one…"
"I DON'T CARE!" Fox cried as he ran toward the gate, only to be grabbed by his arm and yanked back violently, where he landed at Fara's feet.
"Fox!" she exclaimed as she crouched to him, "Are you alright?"
Calgar, with his bolters blazing, ran up to them and said, "We'll hold our position for 5 minutes. If they are not back in that time, we are leaving. I don't know how long this planet is going to last."
"What?" Falco cried amidst the heavy gunfire as the Space Marine and the daemons tore into one another, "Why?"
"Chaos will slowly tear this planet apart from the inside," Calgar explained, "I say we've got at least twenty minutes until it explodes."
"Shit!" Falco cried.
A daemon suddenly lunged at Falco, where he cracked it across the head with the butt end of his rifle and shoving the barrel in it's mouth, pulling the trigger and sending it back to The Warp and the Eye of Terror…
…where Jacques found himself to be in once his vision cleared after going through the unholy portal, which bombarded him with visions of pleasure, temptation, desire, death, destruction and utter, pure Chaos. With all his willpower, he had not allowed it to corrupt his soul.
He found himself lying before the gate on the other side, which was the closest thing to Hell…or that it really was actually Hell in itself.
The Eye of Terror.
He got up on his feet where he realised he was on a tall mountain looking over a barren land where the blood red sky circulated with thunder and lightning among the grey clouds. Ravenous daemons and beasts of Chaos roamed over the sky and flew in the air, as well as hundreds upon hundreds of Chaos cultists and Marines, all coloured red.
'By the Emperor,' he thought, 'I am on Khorne's planet.'
Suddenly several daemons of different kinds barrelled towards him, intent on entering the material world. He extended his staff forward and glared, where he then produced a blinding light.
"BACK YOU SPAWN OF CHAOS!" he cried.
They all cried out in fright as they were driven away, the power of Cerinia chasing them off. Jacques then suddenly remembered why he was here…
"Krystal!" he exclaimed his thought out loud.
His eyes widened, before glaring and clutching his staff. He had to find her get her off this damn plane of existence. His senses were telling him she wasn't far off.
And she wasn't.
"Krystal!" he cried out again, seeing her tied to a stake at the bottom of the mountain, where he saw Andrew standing before her, clutching a knife.
And she was crying out and struggling against he binds.
Taking note that the law of gravity doesn't apply in the Eye, he jumped off the face of the mountain and slowly floated down towards their position, him as angry as a Space Marine could get.
"OIKONNY!" he cried out.
Krystal looked up at the sky and gasped happily at seeing her protector coming down towards her, as did Andrew, who was shocked.
"What the fuck?" he cried out, "How…?"
He landed before them, and swung his staff against the monkey's head, sending him falling onto the ground.
"No one threatens that Princess of Cerinia," he cried out.
"You stupid moron!" Andrew exclaimed as he picked himself up, "If I don't sacrifice her, Khorne will destroy us all."
As he stepped forward towards Krystal, intent in breaking her from her binds, Jacques froze…shocked.
"What?"
Clutching his knife, Andrew explained, "If I don't appease the Blood God, he'll destroy Lylat, killing everyone who has the precious red liquid running through them."
Jacques glared, "I should have known you have made a pact with the Destroyer himself. You have fallen, Andrew Oikonny..."
He clutched his staff, a determined look crossing his face
"…and I must kill you before your Chaotic leanings destroy all life in the universe."
Jacques spun his staff and swung towards Krystal, cutting her binds off, where she fell onto the ground. She quickly got up and stepped over to his side.
"Run to the gate," Jacques said, still glaring at Andrew, "Run for your life."
"No," Krystal replied flatly.
Jacques turned to her suddenly, eyebrows queered.
"I'm not going to leave you here alone," Krystal said, looking into his eyes, "Not this time."
Jacques, turned away from Andrew, couldn't help but smile slightly at the vixen, who smiled back in return. The tender moment came to a close when…
"Oh, how romantic," Andrew interrupted mockingly, gripping his knife firmly, "You can both watch as each other dies."
"Do your worst, you stupid ape!" Jacques exclaimed.
Andrew charged, where suddenly crimson energy surged through him and he leapt at Jacques, whose eyes widened as he was punched backwards towards the ground and dropping his staff. He then begun feeling the monkey's hands around his neck.
'No,' Jacques thought painfully, the air being strangled out of him, 'He's infused with Chaos.'
"Where's McCloud?" Andrew asked, smirking, "Too chicken to jump through into here as well?"
For a response, he was given a sharp kick to the side, which send him falling off him, courtesy of Krystal who held the staff. And she wasn't too happy.
"You little bitch!" Andrew cried and lunged at her, Chaotic energy swimming through him.
He swung his knife at Krystal, who blocked each blow the monkey delivered, before countering with a swing to his kneecap, which brought him down.
"You were saying, Andrew?" Krystal smirked.
Andrew cried out and thrust his hands forward, knocking Krystal over a few feet. She gasped at feeling Chaotic energies smash into here.
"I was saying," Andrew said while getting up, "You're a little bi…"
He didn't finish, as he felt Jacques grab him from behind, lifting him off the ground. He wrapped his arms around his chest and held tightly, while Andrew squirmed in his grip.
"You dare threaten the Princess of Cerinia?" Jacques whispered menacingly, "You'll have to deal with me."
"Let me go…ya' big lug!" Andrew cried.
He realised too late that Krystal was standing before him, holding her staff in one hand and his combat knife in the other. And she looked very disturbed.
"Do it!" Jacques cried, "Kill him."
The monkey panicked and struggled harder against his grip, "No, no! Wait!"
She drove his combat knife through Andrew heart, where he let out a silent cry of pain, before blood poured out his mouth.
"Just like Fox said…"
He gripped him by the throat and walked over to the side of a chasm, crushing his throat as his overwhelming hatred took hold of him.
"…Burn in Hell!" Jacques quoted.
He then threw Andrew's corpse down the dark chasm, the knife still embedded in his chest and pierced through his heart. He and Krystal watched as his body disappeared into the blackness, before fading out of sight…forever.
Krystal sighed and held Jacques by the arm, "It's over."
"Not yet it has not," the Marine corrected, "We have still got to get out of here."
They looked up at the red sky and could see that the daemons were circling them; so they turned around to walk away, when suddenly…
"Jacques?" Krystal said, "What's wrong?"
"I sense something…terrible," he replied, pupils widened in horror.
They then heard massive, loud laughter which almost pierced their eardrums; which they suddenly blocked their eyes.
"Ahh!" Krystal cried, dropping her staff.
Getting down on one knee because of the sound, he grabbed the staff and impulse was telling him to spin around, which he did so and saw a very terrible sight.
"By the Emperor…" he gasped.
Floating up from the chasm was a large human encased in defiled, Chaotic armour and in his arms was Andrew's corpse. Jacques and Krystal backed away as the fallen human feet touched the edge of the chasm.
He then dropped the body and stared down the Space Marine and the Cerinian Princess. Jacques glared, waved the staff around and pointed it at the fallen human, as if daring him to make the first move.
He drew his own pulsating sword, brimming with dark energy.
"Don't even think of challenging me, Ultramarine," the fallen human begun, "You would not last a minute against the likes of me."
"Who are you, fallen one?" Jacques queried.
The human chuckled, "And I figured you'd recognise me at first glance."
"I have been asleep for thirteen years," Jacques pointed out, "Refresh my memory."
The human took another step forward, before replying, "I am Lord Abaddon."
Jacques and Krystal's eyes widened upon hearing him sound off his name.
"Abaddon the Despoiler?" Krystal gasped.
"The one and only, Your Highness," the human replied smartly, "You have grown. How long has it been…?"
He gripped his sword tightly.
"…thirteen years?"
"You bastard!" Krystal glared, "What do you want with Lylat now?"
"You wiped out the only Lylatian race who could ever oppose you," Jacques commented, "What more do you want? You can never have Lylat. It's people will not let you
The both of them sensed a large horde of Chaos Space Marines brewing behind them, all armed to the absolute teeth and that at any time the Despoiler wanted, he could snap his fingers and Jacques and Krystal could be torn apart.
"You're a xeno-sympathiser?" Abaddon said, "I'm surprised the Inquisition hasn't put you down."
Jacques smirked sharply, "They haven't yet."
Krystal quickly turned to him, shocked; hearing him say that the Inquisition will kill him for meddling with 'aliens.' All the while, they were being surrounded by almost thousands of Chaos Space Marine, Cultists and daemons.
"For destroying my plans to conquer Lylat once and for all, you will both die slow, horrible, agonising deaths. But before you do, I'm going to share something with you..."
If he weren't wearing his helmet, Jacques and Krystal would have seen him smile evilly.
"…something which will shatter your spirits for which it will never heal."
"Try us, fallen one," Jacques said.
Abaddon took another step forward, where he was before Krystal and Jacques, who tightened his hold on his gun.
"I know that you are the last of the Ultramarines 2nd Company," Abaddon said, "And I know you were never given a specific reason why you were sent to guard a world of xenos."
Jacques had a shocked expression on his face, "How…?"
"The False Emperor and the Lords of Terra sent you all down there to secure Cerinia as it was at risk of being consumed by The Warp. For you see there were two kinds of Cerinians at the time: 'Good' one…"
He then said the next kind more menacingly.
"…and the righteous Dark Cerinians."
'The evil ones who tried to destroy the Royal Family and the planet?' Jacques thought, 'I knew I was sensing something unsettling about them. I am such a fool!'
"The 'Good' Cerinians drew their power from the so-called 'Elements of Nature' – Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Earth – while the Dark Cerinians drew their powers from The Warp. They were close to bringing forth the power of the Dark Gods to Lylat until you lackeys of the False Emperor landed.
"You wiped out all the Dark Cerinians, forcing the taint to stop spreading. The Good Cerinians thought you were you so convenient they joined in slaughtering their own people, resulting in the complete genocide of half the population of the planet."
Krystal couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"The 2nd Company only stayed on Cerinia to make sure no more Cerinians would turn to The Warp. You were practically watching over them, where at any time you could be given the order to exterminate the rest of them."
Jacques shook his head; "You are lying. The Lords of Terra would never sink that low. We would not be that aggressive towards a race so far away from our own territory. We were told."
"That's what you choose to believe," Abaddon continued, "But it is the truth, and it is what you must have wanted after spending so long drifting amongst the planet's pieces."
Jacque's eyes widened once again, "How do you know that?"
He then turned to Krystal.
"Your Imperial 'friend' here was only around to make sure you don't decide to take after Chaos, and that he could have killed you and your family at any time."
Krystal glared, "You go to hell!"
"We hoped that any more Cerinians would turn to Chaos to full their deepest desire. But none did, as they begun to adapt to the Imperial's so-called good will. So we influenced the Venomians and their leader Andross, and his Orkish mercenaries, to invade."
He then laughed.
"You didn't stand a chance. We destroyed Cerinia, loosening the Imperial grip on Lylat. It's basic really. If we can't have Lylat…"
He then sheathed his sword.
"…then no one can. We would rather destroy it then let it be taken by the False Emperor."
Jacques was becoming furious towards his attitude, but he smiled, "You have failed, Abaddon. You're servant has fallen."
"Maybe," Abaddon said, "But I'll simply find another."
"Not if we can help it," Krystal declared.
Abaddon surprisingly nodded, "Well, good luck to that."
There was silence amongst them for a few moments, where the only sounds being made were of the thunder cracking above them.
"I'm glad we had this talk," Abaddon said, "Now…"
He drew his sword.
"…this is going to hurt."
Jacques smirked slightly, "Only for you."
He wrapped an arm around Krystal's waist and gripped the staff, which then charged with powerful elemental power. He then jumped into the air…
"No!" Abaddon cried.
…before bringing the staff back down, producing a very huge ground quake half-a-mile long, sending ever Chaos soldier off his feet, and those close enough were torn apart, splattering blood and gore all over.
Abaddon was only stunned by the blast, but he quickly regained his senses.
"KILL THEM!" he ordered out loud, "KILL THE LAPDOGS OF THE FALSE EMPEROR!"
The both of them jumped high into the air, the gravity causing them to go up high. Jacques gripped the staff in preparation for a Soul Blaster. Abaddon's eyes widened.
'How could he know how do perform that technique?' he thought, alarmed.
Jacques gritted his teeth…
"Hold onto me, Krystal!" he exclaimed, before discharging the massive energy blast which sent them flying up towards the mountain, and the blast itself vaporising any Chaos there was.
Krystal closed his eyes, feeling Jacques' armoured arm around her waist, holding her tightly to him. With him, she knew she was completely safe. With the beam propelling them, they flew into the daemon gate…
…and everything once again became black.