Seven
"If you can confront the xenos, look upon the xenos, even think upon the xenos, without revulsion, then you are as damned as they are."
-Inquisitor Loffengar, Ordo Xenos
There was silence, broken only by the crackling of flames as a village burned. Houses that were once homes where honest, hardworking folk raised their children and lived their lives in contentment were now being reduced to burnt out husks. All the laughter and happy memories erased from them, to be replaced by the dark shadows of ruin and death.
All the inhabitants of this once peaceful place were dead, the lycans had seen to that. Everywhere one looked there were hacked up bodies and gouges in concrete walls from the impact of autogunfire.
Silence hung over this place like a funeral shroud, broken only by the faint roar of engines as a dropship landed on the outskirts of the village to deploy it's deadly cargo before departing.
If any of the villagers were still alive they would have seen a sight very few Imperial citizens ever got to witness in their lives. Five giants encased in silver armour with golden pauldrons advanced through the empty streets, their heavy guns trained on every shadow and opening as they passed them by. From their pauldrons could be seen a stylized black dragon.
'We are too late, brother-sergeant Peleas.' One of the giants said, his face hidden behind a silver and golden helmet, he indicated the blood splattered on the walls of the houses with a wave of his massive gauntlet. 'The auspex shows no life signs here, human or otherwise.'
Peleas turned his gaze from the mangled corpses to the Astartes. 'You might well be correct, Ywain.' He said. 'But the Librarian was adamant, there could be survivors. I will not depart before we have searched in every house or under every rock. We owe these poor souls that much.'
'As you say, brother-sergeant.' Ywain said. 'But surely there are other settlements which require our aid? These houses are inhabited only by the ghosts of the dead. We were too late to save them, should we not seek to avenge them?'
'We do not doubt the word of the Librarian, or the commands of captain Artelius.' Peleas said sternly. 'I commend your zeal, Ywain. But we must stay true to the Code. We shall avenge the innocents who were slain here, but we will do our duty to the Chapter and humanity first. Are we clear?'
'By your word.' Ywain replied and hammered his fist against his breastplate. 'Forgive me, brother-sergeant, it was never my intent to cast doubt.'
Peleua nodded when he heard the deep voice of brother Cador calling out.
'Brother-sergeant, I am picking up life signs on the auspex.'
'Lead the way, Cador.' Peleas said.
…
She was safe here. As long as she stayed hidden the monsters could not find her and she would remain safe. She was good at hiding, in better times she and her older brother would spend their free time playing hide and seek in the village. Through these daily excursions she had got to know every nook and cranny of her village. She knew how to move about her home unseen, where the best spots were to spirit herself away if she wanted to escape from her chores. Like the place where she now found herself, it was the cellar of a cottage that was already a ruin since before her family moved to this frontier town. Some said it was haunted by the ghost of its former owner. Yet all she had ever seen was the odd squirrel-roach. If a ghost haunted this place she had yet to run into him.
It had seemed that the only haunting was done by the smell of the fresh rolls of the bakery not far from the ruin. The close access to a supply of fresh sweet cakes combined with the sinister reputation made it one of her favourite hiding places if she wanted to disappear for a long time.
A tiny sob escaped from her lips as she thought of those times, not so long ago yet somehow it seemed like an eternity. She immediately covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide and fearful. She remembered the last words her brother had said to her before picking up the antique rifle which hung above their hearth.
'You go and hide now, Mira.' He said, his young face grim. 'Find a good spot and stay there, quiet as a mouse. Just like we used to, remember?'
She had nodded at him, not sure of what was going on.
'Good girl,' Her brother had said with a tremor in his voice. Then he was out the door and gone to join the defense. It was only later the screaming started.
Tears were streaming down her face now, she tried desperately to keep quiet as her grief sought a way out. She had little doubt that the monsters had gotten him. They got everyone.
Don't she told herself as she felt her throat tighten and tears began to well up in her eyes, a sign she could no longer maintain her silence. The monsters will get you.
She was snapped back to the present as the ceiling of the cellar began to shake, she could hear thunderous footsteps above her.
Her heart began to race as she could hear muffled voice.
Stupid. She thought as panic began to set in. Stupid. Stupid. Now the monsters will drag you away, just like they did with ma.
Light flooded into the cellar as the hatch was ripped open with such force it was wrenched from its hinges.
When her eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light she gave a shrill yell of fright as a silver and golden helmet with red eye lenses looked at her.
'Brother-sergeant.' A deep voice said, amplified by the vox unit of the helmet, before turning away from her to address someone beyond her vision. 'This mortal lives. By the Unknown Primarch, it is a child!'
'Acknowledged, Cador.' Another voice said, this one more gravelly. 'Stand back.'
Her eyes widened even further as a silver giant descended into her hiding place, his huge bulk easily filled the entire room. She tried to scramble away from the giant, but the cold stone wall of the cellar stubbornly refused to give way.
The giant removed his helmet with a hiss of pressurized air escaping. She was surprised when she saw his face. She expected to see images conjured up by her nightmares. Instead the face that looked at her was human. Just several sizes too big.
Green eyes were set in stony features, crowned by short black hair. The giant knelt on one knee before her, a warm smile appeared on his face as he extended a hand toward her.
'You are safe now.' He said in a surprisingly soothing voice. 'Will you come with us? The xenos will not hurt you, you have my word.'
She placed her slender hand in the silver gauntlet as she finally recognized them from the Scholam picts and the many sermons of the town priest. Space Marines!
She was safe.
With that all the grief and loss she had been fighting to keep in came flooding out like an onrushing river.
Peleas lifted her from the ground and cradled her in his arm. 'Hush now, child.' He said to her. 'The Silver Knights have come.'
…
Ywain watched as Peleas emerged from the cellar with a child in his arms. The girl could be no more than 8 years old. What was once a fine dress now hung in tatters around her slim frame and her blonde hair was matted with dirt. Ywain catched a glimpse of ice blue eyes before the child buried her head into Peleas's power armour. The Silver Knight took pity on the girl as he realized she was probably the only survivor of this place. No child should have to bear the knowledge that all she once knew and loved was destroyed.
The feeling of pity for the girl began to fade as it was replaced by rising fury. The animals who had razed this place to the ground would have to be found and butchered, honour demanded no less. The Code was clear: the death of an innocent left a debt that could only be paid in blood.
He was interrupted from his musings as the auspex began to chime. He regarded the green lit screen and saw several runes blinking.
'Brother-sergeant,' he said with a grim voice. 'I am reading xeno life sings. They are closing fast.'
Peleus did not reply immediately. First he placed the child gently on the ground next to Cador, watching the child standing next to a fully armoured Astartes was an almost comical sight. When he saw Cador look quizzically at the child before shielding her behind his armoured form Peleas turned to Ywain. 'Then we shall repay the destruction they visited on this place ten times over.'
The Silver Knights roared their approval, vengeance would come at last.
…
Dhanskaelk led his pack back to the village they had visited such brutal destruction on last night. His warriors were thorough in their butchery as commanded by the het'skar, not one of the hated humans had survived. Some had fought, some had begged, but it in the end it had mattered not. All had become meat.
The lycan pack was supposed to link up with the rest of the horde, but some instinct had caused Dhanskaelk to linger. Several of the pack had questioned his decision but after he had torn out the throat of one of the dissenters to assert his leadership the rest fell in line again.
The pack leader was proven right as a silver landing craft had streaked above them to touch down by the ruined village, it had delivered its cargo and took off again. This had promised the rich reward of more slaughter, so he lead his pack to the village. They advanced in silence, the only sounds were the rustle of their segmented armour and the meaty thud of trophies impacting against them.
Dhanskaelk licked his lips in anticipation of the slaughter to come.
…
Peleas lost no time to organise his five Silver Knights into a defensive position, they stood clustered before the gate of the town's church. It had thick stone walls and provided a secure position to fall back too. Though he intended to face these xenos face to face, not cower in a house of worship.
He would also not vox to the Thunderhawk for extraction. If caught in the open there was little chance that Mira would survive and he could not stomach the idea of fleeing from this xeno filth. No, they would make a stand and the aliens would find only ruin and death waiting for them here.
Mira was casting frightened eyes over her surroundings in bewilderment, not quite grasping what was happening.
She almost cried out in fear when Cador placed a gauntleted hand on her shoulder.
'Stay behind me, little one.' The Astartes told her. 'No harm shall befall you while I draw breath.'
She nodded at the giant and moved behind him, she scrambled into the church when she heard the familiar snarls and howls of the monsters that had slaughtered her family.
Peleas had little time for words of encouragement for Mira as a hard round struck his pauldron, impacting against the Chapter symbol proudly engraved there.
The enemy was here.
Peleas revved his chainsword and fired his boltpistol at the first xeno to charge into his sight. It was a small and runty thing, it looked like a youth or perhaps a sub-species pushed to the front to take a bullet for whatever horrors lurked behind it. Whatever the case, it ceased to exist as the round from Peleas's boltpistol caused it's head to explode in spectacular fashion. The lycans paid little heed to the brutal death of their comrade, they trampled the body in their frenzy to close with the five Silver Knights. The foolishness of this course of action became apparent when the other Astartes opened fire with their bolters. A hail of explosive rounds cut down the front ranks of the pack in an explosion of blood and gore.
The wiser of the xenos now scrambled for whatever cover they could find while the more foolhardy of the pack closed the distance and clashed with the Silver Knights in hand to hand combat.
One of the lycans leapt at brother Anir, a wicked looking hacking blade aimed at the joints near his elbow. The xeno immediately regretted this course of action as Anir responded with a swift back hand that shattered the alien's jaw. The lycan was sent flying back into the xeno ranks, howling with agony. Anir followed up with a quick burst of his bolter that ripped another lycan apart.
'These xenos make for good sport, Kahedin.' He said to the Astartes next to him.
'Aye.' Kahedin replied as he forced several lycans into cover with bolter fire. 'Let us slaughter them and be done with it.'
Peleas meanwhile was a whirlwind of death, impossibly fast in his silver armour as he moved from enemy to enemy. Everywhere he went his chainsword revved hungrily and the charging lycans were dismembered as accurate bolter fire from his brothers kept the rest at bay.
The teeth of Peleas's chainsword bit deep in the chest armour of a massive, black furred lycan warrior. Judging from the amount of ornamentation on its armour he reckoned it to be some sort of leader. The sergeant snarled as he applied more pressure and the metallic sparks were soon replaced with a fountain of gore and alien screams as he carved the xeno's chest into red ruin. Another lycan attacked from the left, but Peleas responded by hammering his pistol on the alien's head with such force the magazine stove in the alien's skull.
'Marwolaeth ydym ni!' Peleas roared in the tongue of his homeworld, far flung Mephista, as he fired a series of bolt rounds that each claimed a lycan life. It meant we are death in that strange tongue and was uttered by the grim warriors of Mephista's feuding kingdoms when no quarter would be given or asked for.
'Mae marwolaeth wedi dod ar eich rhan!' The other Silver Knights said in reply. Death has come for you.
Now the real slaughter would begin as the Astartes drew their long combat blades and charged into the reeling lycans. All except Cador who kept his vigil over Mira.
The three crashed into the lycan ranks alongside their sergeant. Their hearts blazed with fury as they sought to avenge the lost souls of this village. The fires of their anger were stoked even further as they saw the horrific trophies that dangled from the lycans' armour. This atrocity demanded nothing less than complete extermination. Combat blades sliced into alien flesh and adamantium encased fists snapped bones with ease as the Silver Knights exacted their vengeance on the aliens before them.
The sight of their leader and now their pack members being butchered in the Silver Knights onslaught was enough to break the back of the lycans' morale. The xenos began to back away from the seemingly unkillable Astartes who strode amongst them like demons intent on a harvest of blood and souls. Humans were not supposed to fight like these monsters, they were only dumb meat to be butchered and consumed.
Their courage broken the xenos finally broke and ran, only to be hunted down by the merciless Silver Knights.
'Lladdir y bwystfilod.' Peleas voxed to Cador when the last lycan was killed, its neck snapped by the sergeant. The beasts have been slain.
Cador voxed his acknowledged and turned to Mira. 'Come, little one, let us be gone from this cursed place.'
