Exitus Ultima Chapter 18
Arvael hit the wall so hard it dented, leaving a massive crater as he slid to the floor. His armour was wailing alarum and his breastplate had cracked. His ribcage was riddled with microfractures and he could feel every organ throbbing in pain. A single blow had done this to him, sending him flying away, a blow from a being with unearthly strength. Arvael had fought Traitors and Daemons alike, but he'd never been hit that hard.
He lifted his swimming head and saw the Reivers engulfed in battle. In the narrow hold Transhuman warriors fought hordes of furious mortals. Knives flashed, pistols blew out chests and throats were opened, as the violent fray consumed all. The Storm Heralds were fighting well and laying low many of the foe. Typically such a contest would end swiftly and in their favour, but the Alpha Legion had sent a weapon to level the playing field.
A monstrous fiend tore through the narrow passage, crushing all opposition beneath its terrible tread. Swollen muscles bulged between mismatch plates, more the suggestion of armour than actual plate. Fists like boulders swung wild, slamming Primaris warriors away with crushing blows. A face made huge by gigantism snarled in fury, and yet there was a hint of cruel intellect in those beady eyes. Knife blows barely nicked flesh hard as iron while pistol shots merely left shallow craters. It waded through the fight with ease. Strong as an Ogryn, resilient as a Xenos Borlac and cunning as an Ork Warlord, nothing seemed able to stop it.
The monster was confronted by three warriors at once Jediah, Gotram and Brother Tymon. Gotram flung himself high, trying to stab for an eye. Jediah went low, trying to circle about and slash the hamstrings. Tymon went for the groin, trying to sever the femoral artery. None of them made contact. An uppercut sent Gotram flying into the ceiling, to bounce off and slam into the floor. Jediah was caught by a backhanded blow that sent him crashing into the sacks of grain which fell on him in a heap. Many split open and bags of white powder burst, spraying narcotics everywhere. Tymon however fared worse, a hand wrapped around his gorget and hoisted him aloft. He kicked and trashed with his knife but made scant impressions, then the other hand wrapped about his skull and ripped his head clean off.
The mortal foes cheered at the sight and many yelled, "Hydra Glykonae!" Arvael however was already back on his feet. In the moments it had taken him to recover he had judged this creature was mighty in body and strong beyond the reckoning of Space Marines, but yet he had an advantage all his own. This 'Glykonae' fought as a conventional warrior, it had no psychic capacity. Arvael was more than a Space Marine, he was a Librarian and the realm of the arcane would be his salvation.
Arvael opened the door in his mind and drew deep upon the warp. Perilous amounts of power he summoned, testing the limits of his training. The chittering of Daemons pressed upon his mental defences, the Neverborn of Chaos attracted to the flare of his mind, but he held them at bay with ancient mantras as he shaped the power and sent it forth. The Glykonae turned to meet his charge, a low growl ripping from its mouth. One sweep of those fists would break Arvael, but suddenly a bag of grain slammed into it from behind. The creature barely flinched, but then another slammed into it and another, on and on, dozens, then scores of sacks, battering the monster from all sides. It staggered momentarily and then Arvael struck.
His force-morningstar slammed into the pile, glowing crystal head discharging Telekenetic forces that rocked the hold on its many wheels. The Glykonae snarled in fury as it took its first serious damage, a crushed shoulder leaving its arm hanging limp. The sacks of grain exploded in the backwash, spraying hidden narcotics everywhere. Clouds of white powder filled the air, coating the Space Marines in white smears. The mortals however breathed deep and sagged as the drugs hit their bloodstreams. They fell to their knees as psychedelic visions assailed their minds, leaving them giggling on the floor.
The mortals had been disposed of but the Glykonae was far from done. It rose from the heap of bags with a feral roar, already swinging its working arm at the Librarian. Arvael threw a Kine shield up to block, but the blow punched straight through, sending him flying backwards. He hit the floor and rolled, coming up to find the monster looming over him, arms raised to finish this fight. Arvael hastily reached for his powers but suddenly Jediah came out of nowhere. The Lieutenant jumped it from behind, sinking his blade into the thick neck, trying to sever vertebrae. The Glykonae roared in anger and shook like a mule, hurling Jediah off as its wound clotted with thick Larraman cells.
Arvael pressed his back to the wall as a shocking realisation rang through him. Larraman cells were unique to one breed, Space Marines. This thing was no random creation of Chaos, no mutant or Abhuman, not even a possessed. It was born of sacred gene-seed, it was an Astartes, aberrant and devolved but recognisably a Space Marine.
"What are you?" Arvael hissed in disgust.
"I'm… Alpfarus…" the Glykonae wheezed.
"You are an abomination!" Arvael snarled as he launched a Telepathic spear of agony into its head.
The Glykonae threw back its head as pain tore across its synapses, searing agony imprinted on its mind. It thrashed for a moment, then lashed out in torment. It put its head down and charged, blind rage coursing through its skull. Arvael saw it coming and threw himself aside at the last instant, letting it slam into the wall. With Glykonae strength behind the charge the metal of the wall parted, tearing open as the brute burst into the outside world. A vicious rent was torn in the wall, letting bright light spill inside as the creature fell out of sight.
Silence fell as Arvael breathed out in relief, "That was too close."
Gotram stood up rubbing his head, "What was that?"
"Some gene-seed aberration," Arvael replied as he moved to peer out the hole, "It must have been left in case we came, this was a… Glgh!"
He was cut off as a massive fist shot through the hole, wrapping around his gorget. A hairy arm heaved back and Arvael was dragged outside, flailing wildly as he was swung like a bell. His back slammed into the outer wall and he saw the Glykonae hanging to the outside of the carriage, clinging to sheer metal like a spider. It was furious and wounded all over, but had lost none of its strength or rigour.
The hand opened, trying to drop Arvael to the ground four stories below, but the Librarian summoned his powers and stuck himself to the wall, telekinetic bonds holding firm. The Glykonae blinked in surprise and snarled as that fist rose to crush him. Arvael rolled aside as the arm came down, slamming into the wall to leave a crater. The Glykonae roared in frustration but Arvael was getting to his feet. Telekinetic power stuck his boots to the vertical surface, with a little mag-lock assistance, leaving him standing horizontally from the side of the juddering vehicle as massive wheels spun at his feet.
"Annoying bug!" The Glykonae roared as it swung for him. Arvael stepped back, walking along the wall as his mind strained to keep him attached. The Glykonae followed, punching handholds into the surface as it swung along like a Jokero. Arvael turned and ran, feet clinging to the wall as if running on a flat surface. The effort required was immense; he was holding himself aloft with his mind and the feat taxed his limits. The weight of a Space Marine was considerable and his powers were not infinite, already his spirit was draining of energy, the torrent of the warp energy could not be sustained forever, lest he open himself to possession by a Daemon.
The Glykonae gave chase, determined not to let him get away. Arvael spied a narrow gap ahead, the slice of air between vehicles. He dove for it, pulling himself inside and grabbing onto the metal chains, breathing out in relief as the burden on his mind lessened. The two walls juddered to either side, jostling out of sequence, but he pulled himself in deeper, trusting the chains to take his weight. He was safe from falling but not the enemy, for the Glykonae followed him in, grinning in anticipation as it heaved aside rubber hoses to get at him.
"Nowhere… to run…" it taunted.
"I wasn't running," Arvael retorted, "I was baiting you."
"Eh?" the monster spat.
Arvael's response was to reach out with his mind once more. With the last of his power he grabbed the rubber hoses the Glykonae was hanging from and ripped them free. Gases and brake fluids spilled out as the tubes were sundered, dropping the Glykonae like a stone. A feral scream of anger arose as it plummeted, grabbing wildly for support but finding none. The fiend dropped four stories and disappeared under the bulk of the racing machine, causing it to jolt wildly as multiple wheels ran the creature over. Arvael counted the bumps, after three the bucking smoothed, after six it was barely a tremor and by the tenth it was barely perceptible. The Glykonae was dead, reduced to a smear on the salt flats, crushed into paste by the passage of many wheels.
Arvael's mind was bone tired and he released his power, glad to erect the walls around his mind once more. He pulled himself onto the roof and made his way back, feeling his soul ache all the while. As he got to the open hatch he saw Gotram rising, the Reiver looking to help as he called, "Where is it?"
"Dead," Arvael replied wearily, "I took care of it."
Jediah's head arose, "Took you long enough, we needed you here."
"No need to thank me for saving your lives," Arvael muttered testily as he dropped inside.
The interior of the hold was filled with bodies, dead and drugged mortal operatives of the Alpha Legion, laying where they fell. None of them was a threat anymore, too out of their minds on a mix of narcotics to care for fighting, many of them choking in frothing pools of spittle. Six Reivers stood among them, all that remained of the squad, not counting Arvael, Gotram and Jediah. This mission had cost them dear, and it was far from over.
Jediah knelt by a mortal and pulled down a collar to reveal the brand of a many-headed serpent, "This one is marked, some form of leader. You, get into his head and extract his secrets."
"My powers are drained," Arvael protested, "Give me a minute to recover."
"Quit whining like an aspirant and do your duty," Jediah snapped.
"You have no idea what I've just been through!" Arvael retorted, "The ways of the Librarius are beyond your ken!"
Jediah rose to his feet and his hand flashed, catching Arvael with a backhanded blow. Cushioned by a helm it didn't hurt, but the insult to his honour was galling. The Librarian's anger surged but Jediah growled, "I knew I should have thrown you out an airlock the day you revealed your powers. One look was all it took to show me you didn't have what it takes to be a Librarian. Duty calls and you bleat about rest, you are pathetic. You disappointed me then Arvael, and you disappoint me now."
Arvael's anger surged at the insult, but with it came a trickle of power. Rage stoked his spirit and allowed him to draw a trickle of energy into his mind, not much but enough for the task at hand. Glaring at the callous bastard he knelt and placed his hand on the head of the mortal, pushing a Telepathic probe into the meat of the brain. A cloud of narcotic bliss filled the man's head, unravelling his mind's defences. Whatever barriers the Alpha Legion had imprinted on his mind were falling apart in the drug-haze and Arvael saw a location, fresh in his mind. An underground cavern, under a distant city-state. The mortal had been there recently, it was important to the Traitors, perhaps their main base of operations.
Arvael stood up and said, "I've got a location, I think it's their main base."
"Then we don't need this lot anymore," Jediah stated as he leaned down and slit the mortal's throat.
Blood spilled freely as Jediah moved along the compartment, killing the operatives ones by one. Arvael watched sullenly as Gotram whispered, "Don't take it personally, he's like that to everyone. A bastard, but equally harsh, to all and sundry."
"I've known him longer than you," Arvael snapped, "And you could have said something to him."
"No chance, I'd rather live," Gotram snorted.
Jediah finished off the rest and called back, "Cease naval-gazing and move up the convoy. Kill everyone you find, then we call in the gunship to reduce these rustbuckets to ash. I want no evidence we were ever here." Arvael wasn't pleased but knew Jediah was right, this place was tainted and must be cleansed. Time was against them so they had better move fast. The location he'd extracted was tens of thousands of kilometres away, even by gunship it would take hours to get there. They had to move fast, the clock was against them and the slim chance of success was slipping away with every moment that passed.